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Stadlier Oxford G
WCHS Unit 13-G
Word | Definition |
---|---|
abstruse | (adj) extremely difficult to understand |
affront | (n) an open or intentional insult; a slight; (v) to insult to one's face; to face in defiance, confront |
canard | (n) a false rumor, fabricated story |
captious | (adj) excessively ready to find fault; given to petty critiscism |
cognizant | (adj) aware, knowlegeable, informed; having jurisdiction |
contrite | (adj) regretful for some misdeed or sin; plaqued by a sense of guilt; thoroghly penitent |
cynosure | (n) the center of attraction, attention, or interest; something that serves to guide or direct |
decorous | (adj) well behaved, dignified, socially proper |
deign | (v) to think it appropriate or suitable to one's dignity to do something; to condescend |
desiccated | (adj., part) thoroughly dried out divested of spirit or viality; arid and uninteresting |
efficacy | (n) the power to produce a desired result |
engender | (v) to bring into exixtence, give rise to, produce; to come into existence, assume form |
ethereal | (adj) light, airy, delicate; highly refined; suggesting what is heavenly (rather than earthbound) |
facade | (n) the front or face of a building; a surface appearance (as opposed to what may lie behind) |
ghoulish | (adj) revolting in an unnatural or morbid way; suggestive of someone who robs graves or otherwise preys on the dead |
incongruous | (adj) not in keeping, unsuitable, incompatible |
machination | (n) a crafty, scheming or underhanded action designed to accomplish some (usually evil) end |
mesmerize | (v) to hypnotize, entrance; to fascinate, enthrall, bewitch |
opprobrium | (n) disgrace arising from shameful conduct; contempt, reproach |
putative | (adj) generally regarded as such; reputed; hypothesized, inferred |