anderson vocab 1-4
Updated for each weekly quiz
Terms
undefined, object
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- piquant
- agreeably pungent or stimulating to the taste
- fetid
- stinking; foully odorous
- burnish
- to polish, to make shiny by rubbing; a gloss or polish
- parable
- a simple story from which a moral lesson may be drawn
- quibble
- to argue evasively; a petty evasion
- copse
- a thicket of small trees
- punctilious
- scrupulous, exact
- mandate
- an authoritative order or command; the wishes of constituents expressed to their legislature or representative; to order a nation to govern a geographical area
- nebulous
- cloudy, misty, vague
- clandestine
- secret, hidden, underhanded, surreptitious
- bovine
- related to or resembling the ox or cow; both sluggish and patient; an ox or closely related animal
- castigate
- punish, chastise, or rebuke
- imperturbable
- unable to be disturbed or excited; impassive
- ethereal
- referring to the upper regions of space; light, airy, delicate, celestial
- elliptical
- resembling an ellipse or flattened circle; gaving a word or words omitted without being unintelligible
- jocose
- humorous, joking, facetious
- fealty
- the duty and loyalty owned by a vassal to his lord, mostly used poetically in modern language
- piscatorial
- of the fishes, fishing, or people who fish
- acrimonious
- marked by hard or biting sharpness, especially of words, manner, or disposition; bitter
- piscine
- of or resembling a fish
- liturgy
- the prescribed ritual for public worship in any of various Christian churches
- mime
- an ancient Greek or Roman farce; a clown; to play a part with gestures not words
- ephemeral
- lasting one day; short-lived, transitory
- millennium
- a thousand, especially a thousand years
- candid
- sincere, honest, impartial
- burgeon
- to put forth, to sprout; a bud, a sprout
- ecclesiastical
- of the church, or relating to the organization of th church or clergy
- propitous
- favorably inclined, boding well, being of good omen or auspicious
- carp
- to talk in a peevish, grumbling or accusing way; to find fault pettily or unfairly; cavil; a fresh fish
- bucolic
- rustic, rural, pastoral
- cursory
- superficial, passing rapidly over something without attention to detail
- dirge
- a lament with music; a funeral hymn
- epicure
- a connoisseur of food and drink; a person devouted to luxury and sensuous pleasure
- enigma
- a perplexing statement, matter or person; a riddle
- iniquitous
- unjust, wicked
- enjoin
- to order officially; to forbid or prohibit
- indigenous
- native, growing or produced naturally in a country or region
- patrician
- member of the nobility; noble, aristocratic
- forensic
- characteristic of or suitable for a court or public debate; referring to a lawyer skilled in this area
- chimerical
- imaginary, fantastic, unreal, absurd, impossible
- pliable
- easily bent or molded; easily influenced
- plebescite
- expression of the people's will by direct ballot
- jubilant
- joyful and triumphant
- parochial
- narrow, limited, provincial
- dupe
- to deceive, to cheat; a person easily fooled
- bellicose
- showing readiness to quarrel or fight
- frugal
- not wasteful, thrifty
- mentor
- wise and loyal advisor; a teacher
- fallow
- land plowed but not sown; left uncultivated; when describing the mind, untrained, inactive
- callow
- undeveloped, inexperienced, immature
- gourmand
- lover of good food; a glutton (It is important to distinguish the word and gourmet which connotes one with a fine taste in food and drink)
- cloistered
- secluded; hidden from the world, usually religious seclusion
- fortuitous
- happening by chance, accidental; lucky
- mull
- to grid; to cogitate or ponder; to hear, sweeten, and flavor with spice
- corroborate
- to support wih evidence or authority; to make more certain
- debacle
- overthrow; a rout; a sudden great disaster; a breakdown or collapse
- prude
- a person who is overly modest or proper
- munificent
- bountiful, lavish, generous
- jingo
- a person who boasts of his or her patriotism; one who favors an aggressive foreign policy
- harbinger
- a person or thing that comes before to announce what is to follow; to announce
- incognito
- with true identity not revealed; under disguise, with an assumed name; a person who is ___.
- nefarious
- wrong, wicked, villainous
- insurgent
- rebel, one who opposes authority; rebellious
- laity
- all people not included in the clergy; all people not included in a given profession
- minx
- a pert and saucy girl
- gargoyle
- a waterspout or ornament in the form of a carved animal, sometimes an imaginary one, projecting from the gutter of a building
- captious
- intended to entrap or confuse; quibbling, carping, faultfinding
- deleterious
- harmful, injurious
- knell
- to ring, especially for a death, funeral, or disaster; to toll; to summon, announce, or proclaim as if by a ____; the slow solemn sounding of a bell; an omen or signal of sorrow or death; any deep mournful sound
- crass
- grossly stupid; dull; coarse, gross
- madrigal
- a short poem which can be set to music; a song with parts for several voices
- persiflage
- light, frivolous, flippant style in speaking or writing; banter, raillery
- hyperbole
- exaggeration for effect, not meant to be taken literally
- parsimonious
- miserly, stingy
- prelate
- a high ranking ecclesiastic such as a bishop
- ambiguous
- doubtful or uncertain, especially from obscurity or indistinctness; inexplicable, capable of being understood in more than one way
- decidcuous
- shedding leaves annually; shedding antlers or insect wings
- muse
- to ponder, to mediate
- chagrin
- vexation, disappointment, mortification, embarrassment
- cadaver
- a corpse or dead body, especially of a person