5000 Collegiate Words Vocabulary Review

Flashcards covering a wide range of academic vocabulary from the Ivy League Collegiate list, including definitions for terms in sciences, arts, and social sciences.

abase

To lower in position, estimation, or the like; degrade.

abbess

The lady superior of a nunnery.

abdicate

To give up (royal power or the like).

aberration

Deviation from a right, customary, or prescribed course.

abeyance

A state of suspension or temporary inaction.

abjure

To recant, renounce, repudiate under oath.

abnegate

To renounce (a right or privilege).

aborigines

The original or earliest known inhabitants of a country.

abridge

To make shorter in words, keeping the essential features, leaving out minor particles.

abscond

To depart suddenly and secretly, as for the purpose of escaping arrest.

abstemious

Characterized by self denial or abstinence, as in the use of drink, food.

abstruse

Dealing with matters difficult to be understood.

acme

The highest point, or summit.

acquiesce

To comply; submit.

acrimony

Sharpness or bitterness of speech or temper.

acumen

Quickness of intellectual insight, or discernment; keenness of discrimination.

adumbrate

To represent beforehand in outline or by emblem.

affluence

A profuse or abundant supply of riches.

alacrity

Cheerful willingness.

alchemy

Chemistry of the middle ages, characterized by the pursuit of changing base metals to gold.

altruism

Benevolence to others on subordination to self-interest.

ambiguous

Having a double meaning.

anachronism

Anything occurring or existing out of its proper time.

anemometer

An instrument for measuring the force or velocity of wind.

anonymity

The state of being unknown or of unknown authorship.

anthropology

The science of man in general.

apiary

A place where bees are kept.

apostasy

A total departure from one's faith or religion.

aqueduct

A water-conduit, particularly one for supplying a community from a distance.

archipelago

Any large body of water studded with islands, or the islands collectively themselves.

ascetic

Given to severe self-denial and practicing excessive abstinence and devotion.

assonant

Having resemblance of sound.

astute

Keen in discernment.

atheism

The denial of the existence of God.

auricle

One of the two chambers of the heart which receives the blood from the veins.

autocracy

Absolute government.

autopsy

The examination of a dead body by dissection to ascertain the cause of death.

barometer

An instrument for indicating the atmospheric pressure per unit of surface.

bellicose

Warlike.

beneficent

Characterized by charity and kindness.

bibliophile

One who loves books.

biped

An animal having two feet.

bowdlerize

To expurgate in editing (a literary composition) by omitting words or passages.

brevity

Shortness of duration.

cacophony

A disagreeable, harsh, or discordant sound or combination of sounds or tones.

calorie

Amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of $1\,kg$ of water $1^\circ C$.

chronometer

A portable timekeeper of the highest attainable precision.

circumlocution

Indirect or roundabout expression.

coagulate

To change into a clot or a jelly, as by heat, by chemical action, or by a ferment.

collusion

A secret agreement for a wrongful purpose.

connoisseur

A critical judge of art, especially one with thorough knowledge and sound judgment of art.

decagon

A figure with $10$ sides and $10$ angles.

deleterious

Hurtful, morally or physically.

demagogue

An unprincipled politician.

denouement

That part of a play or story in which the mystery is cleared up.

diaphanous

Transparent.

didactic

Pertaining to teaching.

dyne

The force which, applied to a mass of $1\,g$ for $1\,s$, would give it a velocity of $1\,cm/s$.

ebullient

Showing enthusiasm or exhilaration of feeling.

effervescent

Giving off bubbles of gas.

egregious

Extreme.

elocution

The art of correct intonation, inflection, and gesture in public speaking or reading.

epiphany

Any appearance or bodily manifestation of a deity.

equanimity

Evenness of mind or temper.

erudition

Extensive knowledge of literature, history, language, etc.

euphemism

A figure of speech by which a phrase less offensive is substituted.

fathom

A measure of length, $6\,ft$.

fiasco

A complete or humiliating failure.

fulcrum

The support on or against which a lever rests, or the point about which it turns.

garrulous

Given to constant trivial talking.

genealogy

A list, in the order of succession, of ancestors and their descendants.

gynecocracy

Female supremacy.

harangue

A tirade.

heptarchy

A group of seven governments.

ichthyology

The branch of zoology that treats of fishes.

iconoclast

An image-breaker.

idiosyncrasy

A mental quality or habit peculiar to an individual.

ignominious

Shameful.

impeccable

Blameless.

indigenous

Native.

insomnia

Sleeplessness.

jargon

Confused, unintelligible speech or highly technical speech.

jurisdiction

Lawful power or right to exercise official authority.

kilowatt

$1,000\,W$.

labyrinth

A maze.

latent

Dormant.

lexicographer

One who makes dictionaries.

loquacious

Talkative.

magnanimous

Generous in treating or judging others.

metamorphosis

A passing from one form or shape into another.

metempsychosis

Transition of the soul of a human being at death into another body, whether human or beast.

mnemonic

A system of principles and formulas designed to assist the recollection.

nefarious

Wicked in the extreme.

neophyte

Having the character of a beginner.

nihilist

An advocate of the doctrine that nothing either exists or can be known.

obdurate

Impassive to feelings of humanity or pity.

obsequious

Showing a servile readiness to fall in with the wishes or will of another.

omniscient

Characterized by unlimited or infinite knowledge.

panacea

A remedy or medicine proposed for or professing to cure all diseases.

philately

The study and collection of stamps.