Powerful & Precise Choice of Diction and Emotional States

Vocabulary practice flashcards focusing on precise diction, tone, connotations, and emotional indicators from the PAD emotional state model.

PAD emotional state model

A psychological model used to categorise emotions through the study of nonverbal communication, such as body language, including emotional categories associated with the dimension of arousal.

Poignant

Causing a strong emotion, especially sadness or regret; touching or affecting someone deeply.

Impeccable

Faultless, pure, exact; being perfect without any faults such that it is impossible to criticise (often emphasising behaviour or appearance).

Unsightly

Ugly, repulsive; something unpleasant or unattractive to look at.

Insidious

Gradually and subtly causing harm; spreading gradually without being noticed and causing serious harm (originating from the Latin for 'attack from a hiding-place').

Vindictive

Inclined to seek vengeance, or proceeding from or showing a revengeful or spiteful spirit; deliberately trying to upset or cause trouble for someone believed to have caused harm.

Vicarious

Experienced through imaginative or sympathetic participation in the experience of others through watching, reading, or listening to their activities rather than doing it yourself.

Unnerve

To cause unease, alarm, or distress; to upset or frighten someone so that they lose their confidence or mental clarity.

Unnerving

Causing feelings of unease, alarm, or distress, often making one lose confidence or composure.

Emulate

To model on or follow in the footsteps of someone you admire by striving to master what they have accomplished, aiming to equal or even surpass them rather than just copying or imitating.

Reciprocate

To do or give something because something similar has been done or given to you, or to feel the same about someone as they feel about you.

Scrutinise

To examine someone or something very carefully to discover information; to look, study, or inspect thoroughly.

Predicament

A plight, quandary, or dilemma; a difficult or embarrassing situation in which you find it hard to get out of and do not know what to do.