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| Avocation (n) |
something one does in addition to a principle occupation. |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:23:42 GMT |
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Aver (v)
The lawyer averred her client's innocence. |
-assert confidently or declare; as used in law, state formally as a fact
-to state the truth of something strongly
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:29:19 GMT |
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| Autonomous |
self-governing; independent |
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seaboy Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:58:23 GMT |
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Austere (adj)
austerity (n)
an austere childhood during the war |
without comfort; plain and without decoration; severe |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:49:21 GMT |
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Audacious (adj)
audacity (n)
He described the plan as ambitious and audacious. |
daring; bold |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:42:37 GMT |
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Attenuate (v)
attenuated (adj)
attenuation (n)
Radiation from the sun is attenuated by the Earth's atmosphere. |
to make something smaller, thinner or weaker:
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:22:43 GMT |
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Atrophy (v,n)
After several months in a hospital bed, my leg muscles had atrophied.
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-to waste away; wither to deteriorate; the wasting away of body tissue
-(of a part of the body) to be reduced in size and therefore strength, or, more generally, to become weaker |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:24:55 GMT |
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Assuage (v)
The government has tried to assuage the public's fears. |
to make less severe; ease or lessen (pain); satisfy (hunger); soothe (anger) |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:40:36 GMT |
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Assiduous (adj)
assiduousness (n)
The Government has been assiduous in the fight against inflation.
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diligent, persistent, hardworking |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:32:14 GMT |
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Ascetic (n,adj)
They live a very ascetic life. |
-practicing self-denial; austere
-avoiding physical pleasures and living a simple life, often for religious reasons
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:50:57 GMT |
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Artless (adj)
"Why did you take the money?" she asked the child. "Because I wanted it, " came the artless reply. |
simple and honest; not wanting to deceive |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:35:42 GMT |
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Arrogate (v)
They arrogate to themselves the power to punish people. |
to take something without having the right to do so |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:47:01 GMT |
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Arduous (adj)
arduousness (n)
an arduous climb/task/journey |
hard; strenuous |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:30:03 GMT |
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| Approbation |
approval; praise, consideration |
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seaboy Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:58:23 GMT |
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Apprise (v)
The President has been apprised of the situation. |
inform |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:37:41 GMT |
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Appease (v)
appeasement (n)
She claimed that the government had only changed the law in order to appease their critics. |
to prevent further disagreement in arguments or war by giving to the other side an advantage that they have demanded |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:50:12 GMT |
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Apotheosis (n)
Most people agree that her acting career achieved its apotheosis in this film. |
-glorification, glorified ideal
-the best or most extreme example of something |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:44:12 GMT |
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Apostasy (n)
In those days apostasy was punishable by death.
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-renunciation of one's previous loyalty or beliefs
-the act of giving up your religious or political beliefs and leaving a religion or a political party |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:34:40 GMT |
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Apogee (n)
At their apogee, the novels of Spillane claimed worldwide sales of over 180 million. |
the most successful, popular or powerful point |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:39:03 GMT |
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Apathy (n)
apathetic (adj)
widespread apathy among students |
Lack of interest or emotion; uncaring; indifference |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:48:13 GMT |
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Apartheid (n)
the long-awaited dismantling (= end) of apartheid |
(in the past in South Africa) a political system in which people of different races are separated |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:31:17 GMT |
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Antipathy (n)
antipathetic (adj)
He is a private man with a deep antipathy to/towards the press. |
aversion; dislike |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:36:49 GMT |
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Anomalous (adj)
anomaly (n)
In a multicultural society is it not anomalous to have a blasphemy law which only protects one religious faith? |
abnormal; irregular |
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seaboy Sun, 05 Apr 2009 04:33:41 GMT |
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Animus (n)
The author's animus toward her. |
hostile feeling or attitude |
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seaboy Fri, 27 Mar 2009 03:32:39 GMT |
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Androgynous (adj)
androgyny (n)
With her lean frame and cropped hair, Lennox had a fashionably androgynous look. |
Being both male and female |
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seaboy Sat, 28 Mar 2009 02:18:24 GMT |
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| Androgen (n) |
Any substance that promotes masculine characteristics. |
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seaboy Fri, 27 Mar 2009 03:09:43 GMT |
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Anarchy (n)
anarchic (adj)
The country has been in a state of anarchy since the inconclusive election. |
Absence of governing body; state of disorder |
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seaboy Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:48:44 GMT |
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Analogous (adj)
analogy (n)
The experience of mystic trance is in a sense analogous to sleep or drunkenness. |
comparable |
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seaboy Fri, 27 Mar 2009 03:26:28 GMT |
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Anachronism (n)
anachronistic (adj)
For some people, marriage is an anachronism from the days when women needed to be protected. |
something or someone misplaced in time; an obsolete (out of date) or archaic form |
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seaboy Fri, 27 Mar 2009 03:53:06 GMT |
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Amity (n)
The two groups had lived in perfect amity for many years before the recent troubles. |
friendship; peaceful harmony |
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seaboy Sat, 28 Mar 2009 02:05:29 GMT |
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Ameliorate (v)
amelioration (n)
Foreign aid is badly needed to ameliorate the effects of the drought. |
To make better; to improve |
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seaboy Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:30:08 GMT |
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Ambivalence (n)
ambivalent (adj)
her ambivalence towards men. |
the state of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes |
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seaboy Fri, 27 Mar 2009 04:10:05 GMT |
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ambiguous (adj)
ambiguity (n)
His reply to my question was somewhat ambiguous. |
unclear or doubtful in meaning |
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seaboy Sat, 28 Mar 2009 17:56:38 GMT |
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Amatory (adj)
amatory adventures |
-of or pertaining to lovers or lovemaking
-relating to sexual love |
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seaboy Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:51:17 GMT |
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Amalgamate (v)
amalgamation (n)
The different offices will be amalgamated as/into employment advice centres. |
combine; unite in one body |
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seaboy Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:55:29 GMT |
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Altruist (n)
altruism (n)
altruistic (adj)
I doubt whether her motives for donating the money are altruistic - she's probably looking for publicity. |
a person unselfishly concerned for the welfare of others |
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seaboy Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:52:43 GMT |
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Alleviate (v)
alleviation (n)
The drugs did nothing to alleviate her pain/suffering. |
-Relieve
-to make something bad such as pain or problems less severe |
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seaboy Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:56:16 GMT |
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Alacrity (n)
She accepted the money with alacrity. |
Cheerful promptness; eagerness |
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seaboy Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:56:51 GMT |
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Aggregate (v), n, adj
They purchased an aggregate of 3000 shares in the company. |
gather; accumulate |
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seaboy Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:54:14 GMT |
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Aggrandize (v)
An action intended to aggrandize the Frankish dynasty. |
to increase in power, influence and reputation |
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seaboy Wed, 25 Mar 2009 05:22:03 GMT |
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Affable (adj)
affability (n)
He struck me as an affable sort of a man. |
friendly, courteous |
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seaboy Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:54:47 GMT |
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| Aesthetic |
artistic; dealing with or capable of appreciating the beautiful |
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seaboy Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:58:23 GMT |
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Adventitious (adj)
an adventitious event/situation |
-accidental
-not expected or planned |
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seaboy Thu, 05 Mar 2009 05:57:43 GMT |
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Adulterate (v)
adulterated (adj)
adulteration (n)
There were complaints that the beer had been adulterated with water. |
-to make impure by adding inferior or tainted substances
-to make food or drink weaker or to lower its quality, by adding something else |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:47:15 GMT |
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| Admonish (v) |
-to counsel against something; caution, warn; reprove
1. to tell someone that they have done something wrong:
His mother admonished him for eating too quickly.
2 [T + to infinitive] to advise someone to do something:
Her teacher admonished her to work harder for her exams. |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:01:24 GMT |
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Adjure (v)
The judge adjured him to answer truthfully. |
-To beg or command
-to ask or order someone to do something |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:45:14 GMT |
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Adjoin (v)
The stables adjoin the west wing of the house. |
To be close or in contact with |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:51:08 GMT |
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Acrimonious (adj)
acrimony (n)
Their marriage ended eight years ago in an acrimonious divorce. |
-caustic, stinging or bitter in nature
-full of anger, arguments and bad feeling |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:44:17 GMT |
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Acrid (adj)
Clouds of acrid smoke issued from the building. |
-Sharp or biting to the taste or smell
-describes a smell or taste that is strong and bitter and causes a burning feeling in the throat |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:54:16 GMT |
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Acquiesce (v)
acquiescent (adj)
acquiescence (n)
Reluctantly, he acquiesced to/in the plans. |
-To comply, give in
-to accept or agree to something, often unwillingly |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 19:00:08 GMT |
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Acerbic (adj)
acerbity (n)
The letters show the acerbic wit for which Parker was both admired and feared.
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-Sour or astringent in taste, harsh in temper
-describes something that is spoken or written in a way that is direct, clever and cruel |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:52:49 GMT |
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Accretion (n)
The fund was increased by the accretion of new shareholders. |
-An increase by natural growth
-gradual increase or growth by the addition of new layers or parts |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:58:08 GMT |
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Abstruse (adj)
an abstruse philosophical essay |
Hard to understand; secret, hidden |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 18:56:11 GMT |
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| Abstemious (adj) |
-Sparing in eating and drinking; temperate
-not doing things which give you pleasure, especially not eating good food or drinking alcohol |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:07:06 GMT |
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| Abscond (v) |
Depart secretly and hide |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:47:46 GMT |
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Abrogate (v)
Abrogation (n)
The treaty was abrogated in 1929.
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-To abolish(=put an end to) by formal means
-to end a law, agreement or custom formally |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 16:29:56 GMT |
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Ablution (n)
Ablution is part of some religious ceremonies. |
-Act of cleansing
-the act of washing yourself |
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seaboy Fri, 27 Feb 2009 05:17:21 GMT |
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Abjure (v)
He abjured his religion/his life of dissipation. |
to state publicly that you no longer agree with a belief or way of behaving |
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seaboy Fri, 27 Feb 2009 05:21:22 GMT |
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Abject (adj)
He is almost abject in his respect for his boss.
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-Utterly hopeless, humiliating or wretched
-showing no pride or respect for yourself |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:14:18 GMT |
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Abeyance (n)
Hostilities between the two groups have been in abeyance since last June. |
-Suspended action
-a state of not happening or being used at present |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:18:31 GMT |
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Aberrant (adj)
aberrant behaviour/sexuality |
Abnormal or deviant |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 15:09:25 GMT |
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Abdicate (v)
abdication (n)
If a king or queen abdicates, they make a formal statement that they no longer want to be king or queen |
to renounce or relinquish a throne |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 05:10:44 GMT |
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Abate (v)
abatement (n)
The storm/wind/rain has started to abate. |
-subside or moderate
-to become less strong |
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seaboy Sun, 01 Mar 2009 06:56:21 GMT |
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