Unit 7 & 8 Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards from lecture notes covering various English terms and definitions.

Acme (n.)

The highest point.

Attribute (n.)

A quality or characteristic belonging to or associated with someone or something.

Attribute (v.)

To assign to, credit with; to regard as caused by or resulting from.

Belittle (v.)

To make something appear smaller than it is; to refer to in a way that suggests lack of importance or value.

Convey (v.)

To transport; to transmit; to communicate, make known; to transfer ownership or title to.

Doctrine (n.)

A belief, principle, or teaching; a system of such beliefs or principles; a formulation of such beliefs or principles.

Excise (v.)

To remove by cutting.

Excise (n.)

An indirect tax on the manufacture, sale, or distribution of a commodity or service.

Exotic (adj.)

Foreign; charmingly unfamiliar or strikingly unusual.

Haggard (adj.)

Thin, pale, and careworn as a result of worry or suffering; wild-looking.

Jaunty (adj.)

Lively, easy, and carefree in manner; smart or trim in appearance.

Juncture (n.)

A joining together; the point at which two things are joined; any important point in time.

Menial (adj.)

Lowly, humble, lacking importance or dignity.

Menial (n.)

A person who does the humble and unpleasant tasks.

Parry (v.)

To ward off, fend off, deflect, evade, avoid.

Parry (n.)

A defensive movement in fencing and other sports.

Predatory (adj.)

Preying on, plundering, or piratical.

Ravage (v.)

To destroy, lay waste, ruin.

Ravage (n.)

Ruinous damage, destruction.

Stance (n.)

A way of holding the body; an attitude or position on an issue.

Defile (v., trans.)

To make unclean or dirty, destroy the purity of.

Defile (v., intrans.)

To march in a single line or in columns.

Defile (n.)

A narrow passage; gorge, canyon.

Dire (adj.)

Dreadful, causing fear or suffering; warning of trouble to come; demanding immediate action to avoid disaster.

Disarming (adj.)

Charming, tending to get rid of unfriendliness or suspicion.

Disgruntled (adj., part.)

In bad humor, discontented, annoyed.

Encroach (v.)

To advance beyond the usual or proper limits, trespass.

Endow (v.)

To furnish, equip, provide with funds or some other desirable thing or quality.

Fend (v.)

To ward off, resist; to get along, manage.

Impunity (n.)

Freedom from punishment.

Mien (n.)

Air, manner; appearance; expression.

Penal (adj.)

Having to do with punishment.

Pertinent (adj.)

Related to the matter at hand, to the point.

Predominant (adj.)

The greatest in strength or power; most common.

Prodigy (n.)

Something wonderful or marvelous; an unusual feat; a child or young person with extraordinary ability or talent.

Recluse (n.)

A person who leads a life shut up or withdrawn from the world.

Renown (n.)

Fame.

Perceptible (adj.)

Capable of being grasped by the senses or mind.

Plummet (v.)

To plunge straight down.

Plummet (n.)

A weight fastened to a line.

Proclaim (v.)

To declare publicly or officially.

Proxy (n.)

An agent, substitute; a written permission allowing one person to act in another's place.

Rankle (v.)

To cause anger, irritation, or bitterness (with the suggestion that the pain grows worse with time).

Scavenger (n.)

A person who collects or removes usable items from waste materials; an animal that feeds on refuse or dead bodies.

Stint (v.)

To limit, be sparing or frugal.

Stint (n.)

A limit or restriction; a fixed share of work or duty; a period of activity.

Stoical (adj.)

Self-controlled, not showing feeling in response to pleasure or pain.

Unflagging (adj.)

Tireless, continuing with vigor.

Apt (adj.)

Suitable, fitting, likely; quick to learn.

Awry (adj., adv.)

In a turned or twisted position or direction; wrong, out of the right or hoped-for course.

Bludgeon (n.)

A short club used as a weapon.

Bludgeon (v.)

To strike with a heavy club; to use force or strong arguments to gain some point.

Capitulate (v.)

To end resistance, give up, surrender, throw in the towel.

Chafe (v.)

To warm by rubbing; to wear sore by rubbing; to feel annoyance or dissatisfaction, annoy, irk; to strain or press against.

Chafe (n.)

A sore or injury caused by rubbing.

Tawdry (adj.)

Showy and flashy but lacking in good taste.

Turncoat (n.)

A person who switches to an opposing side or party.

Unassuming (adj.)

Not putting on airs, unpretentious; modest.

Wallow (v.)

To roll about in a lazy, clumsy, or helpless way; to overindulge in; to have in abundance.

Wallow (n.)

A wet, muddy, or dusty area used by animals as a sort of bath; a state of moral or physical collapse.

Waver (v.)

To move to and fro, become unsteady; to show lack of firmness or decision.

Abut (v.)

To join at one end or be next to; to support, prop up.

Attire (n.)

Clothes, apparel, garb.

Attire (v.)

To dress, adorn, or bedeck.

Avail (v.)

To be of use or benefit to; to make use of; to take advantage of; to profit or benefit.

Avail (n.)

Use, benefit, or value.

Crony (n.)

A very close friend, pal, chum, buddy.

Cryptic (adj.)

Puzzling, mystifying, or enigmatic.

Divergent (adj.)

Going in different directions; different from each other; departing from convention, deviant.

Enmity (n.)

Hatred, ill-will.

Fervent (adj.)

Very earnest, emotional, passionate; extremely hot.

Gaunt (adj.)

Thin and bony, starved looking; bare, barren.

Infiltrate (v.)

To pass through or gain entrance to gradually or stealthily.

Nullify (v.)

To make of no value or consequence, cancel, wipe out.