This site is 100% ad supported. Please add an exception to adblock for this site.

Critical Thinking

Terms

undefined, object
copy deck
Fahrenheit
temperature scale with a freezing point of 32 degrees and a boiling point of 212 degrees

"Paper catches fire at 451 degrees Fahrenheit."
subconscious
the part of the mind below the level of consciousness

"My urge to kick the dog was a subconscious one; it surprised me as much as it did the dog."
melancholy
sadness or depression of spirits; gloom

"An air of melancholy spread through the forest after the elf died."
exploitation
utilization of another person or group for selfish purposes

"Prison labor is an example of state-sponsored exploitation."
suffuse
to spread through with color, liquid, or light

"The morning sky suffused with deep colors."
subside
to settle down or become less; to be calmed

"I let my anger subside before I tried to talk with him. I didn't want to lose control."
intuitive
capable of knowing without reasoning or deduction

"I had an intuitive sense that the aliens were right around the corner."
mortal
destined to die

"Some have searched for a fountain of youth to escape their mortal fate."
manifested
plainly demonstrated, revealed, made evident

"His plans manifested in the death of his enemy."
scapegoat
one that is made to bear the blame for others

"Jews were used as the scapegoat during the Holocaust."
status quo
the state of staying the same

"I like the status quo; it's something that requires no adaptation."
beatific
marked by utter benignity; resembling or befitting an angel or saint

"Dressed in robes of white and seated upon the throne, the King looked very beatific."
cadence
balanced, rhythmic flow, as of poetry or oratory

"The rhythmic cadence of her speech was hypnotizing."
certitude
the state of being certain, greater certainty than circumstances warrant

"I felt with utter certitude that I would be assigned homework that day."
moor
a vast infertile land, covered with heath and peat bogs

"During our journey through the moor, I fell into many bogs."
strew
to cover by scattering

"The battleground was strewn with dead bodies."
verbage
a deliberate misspelling and mispronunciation of the word 'verbiage' that assimilates it to the word 'garbage'

"Her essay was verbage. It was over-wordy but contained no meaning."
welter
to wallow or roll about, as in mud or high seas

"The pigs weltered lazily in the mud."
filigree
ornamental work made from gold, silver, or other fine twisted wire

"He gave me a gold filigree ring for my birthday."
insidious
treacherous, spreading harmfully in a subtle manner

"The poison spread through his body like an insidious disease. When he learnt of its presence, it was too late."
totalitarian
having total control

"Communist countries are said to be totalitarian."
lassitude
weariness, lethargy, languor

"I began the day with vigor, but by the end, I was filled with great lassitude."
doublethink
believing two contradictory ideas at the same time

"Believing that 2+2=4 and also believing that 2+2 is not equal to 4 is an example of doublethink."
Orwellian
relating to the works of George Orwell, especially 1984, a book about a totalitarian state.

"Some new aspects of the anti-terrorism bill have an Orwellian creepiness to them."
archaic
outdated

"Because he spoke many archaic words, we could not understand him."
heresy
belief contrary to the popular opinion

"People were burned at the stake for heresy in Salem, Massachusetts."
servile
slave-like

"Peasants during the Middle Ages were servile. They worked hard and received little in return."
sinecure
a job that requires little or no work

"The president's job is not a sinecure because it requires a lot of responsible decision-making."
degradation
lowering in rank, character, or status

"The degradation of army discipline can be seen from the prison abuses in Iraq."
truncheon
policeman's club or a baton

"The murder weapon was a truncheon, so the police officer was immediately a suspect."
vapid
dull, spiritless, boring

"The lecture was vapid and I soon fell asleep."
cursory
hasty, without attention to details

"The bad teacher gave the essay a cursory glance and assigned it a grade without reading it."
diatribe
denunciation, bitter verbal attack

"The president unleashed a bitter diatribe against his opponent during the presidential debate."
engender
produce, cause, bring into being

"His insulting words engendered a fight."
ephemeral
lasting only a short time

"The effects of the pain killer were ephemeral. They wore off quickly."
dearth
shortage

"The dearth of food during the winter caused many people to starve."
hedonist
one that lives solely for pleasure

"The hedonist was happiest in the late hours, when the parties degenerated into debauchery."
carping
complaining

"Students are always carping about how much homework they have."
cache
secret hiding place, something hidden in a secret hiding place

"I kept my money hidden in a secret cache under my bed."
clemency
leniency, mercy

"Presidents and governors often show clemency to those on death row when their term is about to end."
imbroglio
a confused and complicated situation

"Arthur found himself in an imbroglio when several women claimed he was the father of their children."
undulate
to move like a wave

"The wheat undulated like an ocean of yellow."
paucity
scarcity

"There was a paucity of participation in the class."
abstemious
moderate in eating or drinking, abstaining

"He was abstemious with his food supply when he got stranded on a deserted island."
sachet
a small bag of perfumed herbs or powder

"She made a scented sachet and put it into her car to make the car smell better."
candor
frankness

"The candor of his speech made us realize that he didn't beat around the bush."
assiduous
diligent

"Her teacher praised her for her assiduous work."
vermilion
bright red

"The sun glowed in a vermilion color."
censure
critism
atrophy
wasting away

"He needed physical therapy to prevent the atrophy of his unused legs."
pallor
lack of color

"I could see the pallor of her face when she found out that she failed her test."
circumspect
prudent, cautious

"She was always circumspect when crossing the street."
assuage
to ease or lessen pain or distress

"He told her soothing words to assuage her pain."
cataract
waterfall

"The moisture from the cataract produced a rainbow."
ardour
emotional warmth or eagerness

"Their ardour was clear as they wrapped their arms around each other and kissed."
aggrandizement
an increase in rank, wealth or power

"Most governments are dedicated to self-aggrandizement."
unmollified
not soothed, appeased or pacified

"She remained unmollified when he bought her a new dog to replace the one he had killed."
cow
to intimidate

"The boy was cowed by the bully into giving him all of his money."
altrusistic
thoughtful of the welfare of others

"The altruistic girl shared her Christmas dinner with the poor."
solicitude
concern, care

"He showed great solicitude when he donated all of his money to the poor."
jaunty
perky, easy in manner

"Many people do not think Kerry has a jaunty smile."
contravene
to conflict with

"The time of his baceball practice contravenes his basketball practice."
vortex
whirlpool

"A tornado is a like a vortex in the air."
haricot
a type of bean

"Haricot is the name of a type of bean i like to eat."
devoid
being without usual, typical, or expected attribute or accompaniment

"Paul was finally devoid of any hope."
nostalgia
a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition

"I have a deep sense of nostagia about my high school years."
voracity
insatiable hunger

"the monster's voracity was legendary. It ate 16 pigs a day."
disillusion
the condition of being disenchanted

"with each new death, Paul became more and more disillusioned."
template
something that serves as or establishes a pattern

"world war 1 set forth a template for the way violence would erupt in our century."
ostracized
exiled, excluded

"young men during world war 1 often joined the army for fear of being ostracized."
futile
completely ineffective

"he died in a futile attempt to win the war."
trajectory
the curve that a body in motion describes in space

"the soldiers found themselves helpless under a crisscross of shell trajectories."
peat
decayed soil

"he found himself alone in the marsh lying on a bed of peat, surrounded by reeds."
ideology
a systematic body of concepts especially about human life or culture

"the soldier's longing for home was stronger than any war ideology."
discomfiture
frustration, embarrassment

"his plan to show up at the prom in an elephant suit was bound to end in discomfiture."
queue
a line of people

"i waited in a queue for 2 hours to ride Splash Mountain."
lorries
trucks

"the lorry trundled down the road."
gangrene
decay of tissue as a result of injury

"they had to remove his toes when they found gangrene under his toenails."
trundles
moves on wheels

"the lorry trundled down the road."
indefatigable
untiring

"in his new robotic legs, the soldier would be indefatigable; he could walk for days."
concord
agreement

"they finally found themselves in concord regarding their homework-they both hated it."
pithily
concisely

"journalists must write pithily."
acrid
bitter, stinging

"he disliked the acrid scent of smoke."
sallow
sickly, yellowish complexion

"the sallow youth must have been sick because nobody could look that yellow and still be healthy."
mastiff
large hunting dog
megalomania
delusions of grandeur
fodder
course food for cattle, sheep, etc
aberration
deviation from the right path, a mental disorder
trifle
a small amount
debauchery
indulgence in sexual pleasure
acquiesce
to give in by keeping quiet
chimerical
imaginary, absurd, wildly fanciful
dyspepsia
indigestion
appall
horrify
discern
see clearly, percieve
err
to make a mistake
esteem
value highly
feign
pretend
loiter
move aimlessly
meditate
think, reflect
obsess
beset, haunt
redeem
make amends for
regale
entertain
relent
soften
salvage
restore, save
wrest
pull away
brevity
shortness
chaos
confusion

Deck Info

108

permalink