English I Final Exam Vocabulary
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- abhorrent
- offensive to the mind; disgusting, loathsome, repugnant, repulsive, detestable
- abiogenesis
- spontaneous generation
- abstentious
- temperate, abstinent
- abysmal
- profound; immensely great, limitless
- acrid
- pungent; sharp in smell or taste
- aegis
- shield, protection; sponsorship
- agoraphobia
- fear of open spaces
- altruism
- unselfish concern for others
- anoxia
- state of being without oxygen
- anthropomorphic
- given human characteristics
- antipasto
- appetizer; hor d'oeurves
- aphephelion
- orbit's farthest point from the sun
- apropos
- appropriate, relevant
- arbitrary
- proceeding with whim; based on or subject to individual discretion or preference, or sometimes impulse or caprice
- ascetic
- self-denying; practicing great self-denial; one who practices such self-denial
- atrophy
- lack of growth, as from disease
- attaché
- member of diplomatic staff
- attenuate
- make thin, weaken
- extort
- wrest money or promise from someone
- auriferous
- yielding or bearing gold
- axiomatic
- self-evident (evident without proof or argument)
- bas-relief
- sculpture whose figure projects slightly from background
- facetious
- given to jesting; playfully jocular; Amusing; intended to be humorous; not serious; bantering; cleverly amusing in tone; said in jest without serious intent
- bathos
- sudden decline in style; anticlimax
- bibliophile
- lover of books
- fallacious
- containing or based on a fallacy; deceitful; intended to deceive; based on an incorrect or misleading notion or information; based on errorous ideas
- biogenesis
- life developing from preexisting life
- farcical
- exciting laughter
- biometry
- statistical analysis of biologic data
- bombastic
- using pompous language
- bourgeois
- middle class, lacking culture
- faux pas
- misstep, blunder; violation of accepted, although unwritten, social rules; false step [French]; figuratively, a social blunder
- cajole
- wheedle, coax
- fiduciary
- held in trust, confidential
- carte blanche
- freedom to do as on sees fit
- chagrin
- embarrassment, mortification
- cogitate
- think, deliberate
- filial
- befitting a son or daughter; designating the generation or the sequence of generations following the parental generation; relating to or characteristic of or befitting an offspring
- complacent
- very pleased with oneself; smug
- compunction
- regret, misgiving
- factitious
- apt to break out in to a passion; cross; artificial, sham
- conjectural
- hypothetical, assumed, supposed
- consummate
- perfect, superb; to complete; fulfill
- fusty
- state-smelling; musty
- convivial
- fond of feasting, drinking, and good company; merry, festive, or sociable; occupied with or fond of the pleasures of good company
- gauche
- lacking social grace or polish; tactless
- credentials
- documents inspiring trust; references
- declivity
- downward slope
- demitasse
- small cup of strong black coffee
- despotic
- tyrannical; autocratic
- genre
- kind, sort, category, style
- détente
- the easing or relaxing of tensions or strained relations (especially between nations)
- ductile
- able to be drawn out; docile
- Herculean
- displaying superhuman strength or power; extremely difficult; requiring the strength of a Hercules
- dysphagia
- difficulty in swallowing
- dysphasia
- speech impediment due to brain disease
- heteroclite
- Something or someone deviating from the ordinary rule; an anomaly
- eclectic
- chosen from various sources; selective
- emaciated
- unnaturally thin; physically wasted
- entourage
- cortege; group following and attending to some important person
- hypothermia
- subnormal body temperature
- ephemeral
- fleeting; short-lived
- hyperthyroid
- underactivity of thyroid gland
- exogamy
- marriage outside the social group
- extol
- to laud, praise, glorify, or honor
- ignominy
- shame
- impudent
- brazen, insolent
- indubitable
- certain; incontrovertible
- insatatiable
- incaple of being satisfied
- juxtapose
- put side by side or close
- lackey
- servile follower; toady
- loquacious
- talkative; garrulous; chatty
- maudlin
- weakly sentimental and tearful
- mercurial
- quick, changeable; crafty; eloquent
- myrmidon
- obedient; unquestioning
- necrology
- obituary; list of recently deceased persons
- obsequious
- excessively willing to serve
- odoriferous
- having an odor
- peon
- unskillful worker; landless laborer
- periphrastic
- roundabout, circumloculatory
- philatelist
- stamp collector
- picador
- the horseman who pricks the bull with a lance early in the bullfight to goad the bull and to make it keep its head low
- Pollyanna
- irrepressible optimist
- polymorphic
- having various forms
- precipice
- cliff
- precipitous
- steep as a precipice; hasty
- précis
- brief summary; synopsis
- preeminent
- standing out above all others
- reticent
- inclined to be silent; reserved
- salubrious
- salutary; curative; healthful
- satire
-
sarcasm, witty language used to convey insults or scorn; literary technique of writing or art which principally ridicules its subject; "Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own"
--Jonathan Swift - septuagenarian
- 70-79 years old
- tenacity
- firmness in holding fast; persistance
- tete-a-tete
- without the intrusion of a third person; in intimate privacy; literally "head-to-head" [French]
- tractable
- easily lead; docile
- untenable
- incapable of being held or defended
- valet
- manservant
- venerable
- worhty of repsect
- yclept
- named, called