100 words to Impress an Examiner!

  1. aberration
    • (n.) something that
    • differs from the norm (In 1974, Poland won the World Cup, but the
    • success turned out to be an
    • aberration, and Poland have not won a World Cup since).
  2. abhor
    • (v.) to hate, detest
    • (Because he always wound up getting hit in the head when he tried
    • to play cricket, Marcin began to abhor
    • the sport).
  3. acquiesce
    • (v.) to agree without
    • protesting (Though Mr. Pospieszny wanted to stay outside and work
    • in his garage, when his wife told him that he had better come in
    • to dinner, he acquiesced
    • to her demands.)
  4. alacrity
    • (n.) eagerness, speed
    • (For some reason, Simon loved to help his girlfriend whenever he
    • could, so when his girlfriend asked him to set the table he did so
    • with alacrity.)
  5. amiable
    • (adj.) friendly (An amiable
    • fellow, Neil got along with just about everyone.)
  6. appease
    • (v.) to calm, satisfy
    • (When Jerry cries, his mother gives him chocolate to appease
    • him.)
  7. arcane
    • (adj.) obscure, secret,
    • known only by a few (The professor is an expert in arcane
    • Kashubian literature.)
  8. avarice
    • (n.) excessive greed
    • (The banker’s avarice led him to amass an enormous
    • personal fortune.)
  9. brazen
    • (adj.) excessively
    • bold, brash, clear and obvious (Critics condemned the writer’s brazen
    • attempt to plagiarise Frankow-Czerwonko’s work.)
  10. brusque
    • (adj.) short, abrupt,
    • dismissive (Simon’s brusque manner sometimes
    • offends his colleagues.)
  11. cajole
    • (v.) to urge, coax (Magda's
    • friends cajoled her into drinking too much.)
  12. callous
    • (adj.) harsh, cold,
    • unfeeling (The murderer’s callous lack of remorse
    • shocked the jury.)
  13. candor
    • (n.) honesty,
    • frankness (We were surprised by the candor of the
    • politician’s speech because she is usually rather evasive.)
  14. chide
    • (v.)
    • to voice disapproval (Hania chided Gregory for his
    • vulgar habits and sloppy appearance.)
  15. circumspect
    • (adj.)
    • cautious (Though I promised Marta’s father I would bring her
    • home promptly by midnight, it would have been more circumspect
    • not to have specified a time.)
  16. clandestine
    • (adj.)
    • secret (Announcing to her boyfriend that she was going to the
    • library, Maria actually went to meet George for a clandestine
    • liaison.)
  17. coerce
    • (v.)
    • to make somebody do something by force or threat (The court
    • decided that David Beckham did not have to honor the contract
    • because he had been coerced into signing it.)
  18. coherent
    • (adj.)
    • logically consistent, intelligible (William could not figure out
    • what Harold had seen because he was too distraught to deliver a coherent
    • statement.)
  19. complacency
    • (n.)
    • self-satisfied ignorance of danger (Simon tried to shock his
    • friends out of their complacency by painting a
    • frightening picture of what might happen to them.)
  20. confidant
    • (n.)
    • a person entrusted with secrets (Shortly after we met, he became
    • my chief confidant.)
  21. connive
    • (v.)
    • to plot, scheme (She connived to get me to give up
    • my plans to start up a new business.)
  22. cumulative
    • (adj.) increasing,
    • building upon itself (The cumulative effect of hours
    • spent using the World English website was a vast improvement in
    • his vocabulary and general level of English.)
  23. debase
    • (v.) to lower the
    • quality or esteem of something (The large raise that he gave
    • himself debased his motives for running the charity.)
  24. decry
    • (v.) to criticize
    • openly (Andrzej Lepper, the leader of the Polish Self Defence
    • party decried the appaling state of Polish roads.)
  25. deferential
    • (adj.) showing respect
    • for another’s authority (Donata is always excessively deferential
    • to any kind of authority figure.)
  26. demure
    • (adj.) quiet, modest,
    • reserved (Though everyone else at the party was dancing and going
    • crazy, she remained demure.)
  27. deride
    • (v.) to laugh at
    • mockingly, scorn (The native speaker often derided
    • the other teacher’s accent.)
  28. despot
    • (n.) one who has total
    • power and rules brutally (The despot issued a death
    • sentence for anyone who disobeyed his laws.)
  29. diligent
    • (adj.) showing care in
    • doing one’s work (The diligent researcher made
    • sure to double check her measurements.)
  30. elated
    • (adj.) overjoyed,
    • thrilled (When he found out he had won the lottery, the postman
    • was elated.)
  31. eloquent
    • (adj.) expressive,
    • articulate, moving (The best man gave such an eloquent
    • speech that most guests were crying.)
  32. embezzle
    • (v.) to steal money by
    • falsifying records (The accountant was fired for embezzling
    • €10,000 of the company’s funds.)
  33. empathy
    • (n.) sensitivity to
    • another’s feelings as if they were one’s own (I feel such empathy
    • for my dog when she’s upset so am I!)
  34. enmity
    • (n.) ill will, hatred,
    • hostility (John and Scott have clearly not forgiven each other,
    • because the enmity between them is obvious to anyone
    • in their presence.)
  35. erudite
    • (adj.) learned (My
    • English teacher is such an erudite scholar that he
    • has translated some of the most difficult and abstruse Old English
    • poetry.)
  36. extol
    • (v.) to praise, revere
    • (Kamila extolled the virtues of a vegetarian diet to
    • her meat-loving boyfriend.)
  37. fabricate
    • (v.) to make up,
    • invent (When I arrived an hour late to class, I fabricated
    • some excuse about my car breaking down on the way to work.)
  38. feral
    • (adj.) wild, savage (That
    • beast looks so feral that I would fear being alone
    • with it.)
  39. flabbergasted
    • (adj.) astounded (Whenever
    • I read an Agatha Christie mystery novel, I am always flabbergasted
    • when I learn the identity of the murderer.)
  40. forsake
    • (v.) to give up,
    • renounce (I won't forsake my conservative principles.)
  41. fractious
    • (adj.) troublesome or
    • irritable (Although the child insisted he wasn’t tired, his fractious
    • behaviour - especially his decision to crush his jam sandwiches
    • all over the floor - convinced everyone present that it was time
    • to put him to bed.)
  42. furtive
    • (adj.) secretive, sly
    • (Claudia’s placement of her drugs in her sock drawer was not as furtive
    • as she thought, as the sock drawer is the first place most parents
    • look.)
  43. gluttony
    • (n.) overindulgence in
    • food or drink (Helen’s fried chicken tastes so divine, I don’t
    • know how anyone can call gluttony a sin.)
  44. gratuitous
    • (adj.) uncalled for,
    • unwarranted (Every evening the guy at the fish and chip shop gives
    • me a gratuitous helping of vinegar.)
  45. haughty
    • (adj.) disdainfully
    • proud (The superstar’s haughty dismissal of her
    • co-stars will backfire on her someday.)
  46. hypocrisy
    • (n.) pretending to
    • believe what one does not (Once the politician began passing
    • legislation that contradicted his campaign promises, his hypocrisy
    • became apparent.)
  47. impeccable
    • (adj.) exemplary,
    • flawless (If your grades were as impeccable as your
    • brother’s, then you too would receive a car for a graduation
    • present.)
  48. impertinent
    • (adj.) rude, insolent
    • (Most of your comments are so impertinent that I
    • don’t wish to dignify them with an answer.)
  49. implacable
    • (adj.) incapable of
    • being appeased or mitigated (Watch out: once you shun
    • Grandmother’s cooking, she is totally implacable.)
  50. impudent
    • (adj.) casually rude,
    • insolent, impertinent (The impudent young woman
    • looked her teacher up and down and told him he was hot.)
  51. incisive
    • (adj.) clear, sharp,
    • direct (The discussion wasn’t going anywhere until her incisive
    • comment allowed everyone to see what the true issues were.)
  52. indolent
    • (adj.) lazy (Why
    • should my indolent children, who can’t even pick
    • themselves up off the sofa to pour their own juice, be rewarded
    • with a trip to Burger King?)
  53. inept
    • (adj.) not suitable or
    • capable, unqualified (She proved how inept she was
    • when she forgot two orders and spilled a pint of cider in a
    • customer’s lap.)
  54. infamy
    • (n.) notoriety,
    • extreme ill repute (The infamy of his crime will not
    • lessen as time passes.)
  55. inhibit
    • (v.) to prevent,
    • restrain, stop (When I told you I needed the car last night, I
    • certainly never meant to inhibit you from going out.)
  56. innate
    • (adj.) inborn, native,
    • inherent (His incredible athletic talent is innate,
    • he never trains, lifts weights, or practices.)
  57. insatiable
    • (adj.) incapable of
    • being satisfied (My insatiable appetite for blondes
    • was a real problem on my recent holiday in Japan!)
  58. insular
    • (adj.) separated and
    • narrow-minded; tight-knit, closed off (Because of the sensitive
    • nature of their jobs, those who work for MI5 must remain insular
    • and generally only spend time with each other.)
  59. intrepid
    • (adj.) brave in the
    • face of danger (After scaling a live volcano prior to its eruption,
    • the explorer was praised for his intrepid attitude.)
  60. inveterate
    • (adj.) stubbornly
    • established by habit (I’m the first to admit that I’m an inveterate
    • cider drinker—I drink four pints a day.)
Author
chrislam999
ID
244482
Card Set
100 words to Impress an Examiner!
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100 words to Impress an Examiner!
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