ling 2105 vocab 2
Terms
undefined, object
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- coalesce
- to come together as one; fuse; unite
- cogent (KOH junt)
- powerfully convincing
- cognitive
- dealing with how we know the world around us through our senses; mental
- cognizant
- aware, conscious
- colloquial
- conversational; informal in language
- collusion (kuh LOO zhun)
- conspiracy; secret cooperation
- commensurate (kuh MEN sur it)
- equal; proportionate
- compendium
- a summary; abridgement
- complacent
- self satisfied; overly pleased with oneself; contented to a fault
- complement
- to complete or fill up; to be the perfect counterpart
- concord
- harmony; agreement
- concurrent
- happening at the same time; parallel
- condescend
- to stoop to someone else's level, usually in an offensive way; to patronize
- confluence (KAHN floo uns)
- a flowing together, especially of rivers
- congenial
- agreeably suitable; pleasant
- conjecture
- to guess; to deduce or infer on slight evidence
- consecrate
- to make or declare sacred
- consensus
- unanimity or general agreement
- consonant
- harmonious; in agreement
- construe
- to interpret
- consummate
- perfect; complete; supremely skillful
- contentious
- argumentative; quarrelsome
- contiguous
- side by side; adjoining
- contingent
- dependent; possible
- contrite
- admitting guilt; especially feeling remorseful
- contrived
- artificial; labored
- convivial
- fond of partying; festive
- corollary
- something that follows; a natural consequence
- cosmopolitan
- at home in many places or situations; internationally sophisticated
- coup
- brilliant victory or accomplishment; violent overthrow
- covenant
- a solemn agreement; a contract; a pledge
- covert
- secret; hidden
- covet
- to wish for enviously
- credulous
- eager to believe; gullible
- criterion
- standard; basis for judgement
- culminate
- to climax; reach full effect
- cursory
- hasty; superficial
- curtail
- to shorten; cut short
- cynic
- one who deeply distrusts human nature; one who believes humans are motivated only by selfishness
- daunt
- to make fearful; intimidate
- dearth (durth)
- lack; scarcity
- debacle
- violent breakdown; sudden overthrow; overwhelming defeat
- decadent
- decaying or decayed, especially in terms of morals
- decorous (DEK ur us)
- proper; in good taste; orderly
- degenerate
- to break down; deteriorate
- delineate
- to describe accurately; to draw in outline
- delude
- to deceive
- deluge
- a flood; inundation
- demagogue
- a leader of the people, but more a rabble rouser
- denizen
- inhabitant
- deprecate
- to express disapproval of
- deride
- ridicule; laugh at contemptuously
- desiccate
- to dry out
- despondent
- extremely depressed; full of despair
- destitute
- extremely poor; utterly lacking
- desultory
- without a plan or purpose; disconnected; random
- dialectical
- relating to discussions; relating to the rules and methods of reasoning; approaching truth in the middle of opposing extremes
- dictum
- an authoritative saying; an adage; a maxim; a proverb
- didactic
- intended to teach; morally instructive; pedantic
- diffidnet
- timid; lacking in self confidence
- digress
- to stray away from the main subject
- dilettante (DIL uh tahnt)
- someone with superficial knowledge of the arts; an amateur; a dabbler
- discreet
- prudent; judiciously reserved
- discrete
- separate
- discriminate
- to notice or point out the difference between two or more things; to discern; to differentiate
- disdain
- arrogant scorn; contempt
- disinterested
- not taking sides; unbiased
- disparage
- to belittle; to say uncomplimentary things about, usually in an indirect way
- disparate (DIS pur it)
- different; incompatible; unequal
- disseminate
- to spread the seeds of something; to scatter; to make widely known
- dissipate
- to thin out, drift away or dissolve
- dissolution
- the breaking up or dissolving of something into parts; disintegration
- distend
- to swell; to extend a great deal
- distinguish
- to tell apart; to cause to stand out
- docile
- easily taught; obedient; easy to handle
- doctrinaire (dahk truh NAYR)
- inflexibly committed to a doctrine or theory without regard to its practicality; dogmatic
- dogmatic
- arrogantly assertive of unproven ideas; stubbornly claiming that something is beyond dispute
- dubious
- full of doubt; uncertain
- duplicity
- the act of being two faced; double dealing; deception
- ebullient
- boiling; bubbling with excitement; exuberant
- eccentric
- not conventional; a little kooky; irregular
- eclectic
- choosing the best from many sources; drawn from many sources
- edify
- to enlighten; to instruct, especially in moral or religious matters
- efface
- to erase; rub away the features of
- effusion
- a pouring forth
- egalitarian
- believing in the social and economic equality of all people
- egocentric
- selfish; believing that one is the center of everything
- egregious
- extremely bad; flagrant
- elicit
- to bring out; call forth
- elliptical
- oval; missing a word or words; obscure
- elusive
- hard to pin down; evasive
- emigrate
- to leave a country permanently; to expatriate
- eminent
- well known and respected; standing out from all others in quality or accomplishment; outstanding
- empirical
- relying on experience or observation; not merely theoretical
- emulate
- to strive to equal or exact, usually through imitation
- encroach
- to make gradual or stealthy inroads into; to trespass
- endemic
- native; restricted to a particular region or era; indigenous
- enervate
- to reduce the strength or energy of, especially to do so gradually
- enfranchise
- to grant the privileges of citizenship, especially the right to vote
- engender
- to bring into existence; to create; to cause
- enigma
- a mystery
- enormity
- extreme evil; a hideous offense; immensity
- ephemeral
- lasting a very short time
- epigram
- a brief and usually witty or satirical saying
- epitome
- a brief summary that captures the meaning of the whole; the perfect example of something; a paradigm
- equanimity
- composure; calm
- equitable
- fair
- equivocal
- ambiguous; intentionally confusing; capable of being interpreted in more than one way
- erudite
- scholarly; deeply learned
- esoteric
- hard to understand; understood by only a select few; peculiar
- espouse
- to support; advocate
- ethereal
- heavenly; as light and insubstantial as a gas or ether
- euphemism
- a pleasant or inoffensive expression used in place of an unpleasant or offensive one
- evanescent
- fleeting; vanishing; happening for only the briefest period
- exacerbate
- to make worse
- exacting
- extremely demanding; difficult; requiring great skill or care
- exalt
- to raise high; to glorify
- exhort
- to urge strongly; to give a serious warning to
- exigency
- an emergency; an urgency
- existential
- having to do with existence; having to do with the body of thought called existentialism
- exonerate
- to free completely from blame; to exculpate
- expatriate
- to throw someone out of his or her native land; to move away from one's native land; to emigrate
- expedient
- providing an immediate advantage; serving one's immediate self interest; practical
- expedite
- to speed up or ease the progress of
- explicit
- clearly and directly expressed
- extol
- to praise highly; to laud
- extraneous
- unnecessary; irrelevant; extra
- extrapolate
- to project or deduce from something known; to infer
- extricate
- to free from difficulty
- extrovert
- an open, outgoing person; a person whose attention is focused on others rather than on himself
- exult
- to rejoice; to celebrate
- fabrication
- a lie; something made up
- facetious
- humorous; not serious; clumsily humorous
- facile (FAS il)
- fluent; skillful in a superficial way; easy
- farcical
- absurd; ludicrous
- fastidious
- meticulous; demanding; finicky
- fatalist
- someone who believes that future events are already determined and humans are powerless to change them
- fatuous (FACH oo us)
- foolish; silly; idiotic
- fauna
- animals
- fecund (FEE kund)
- fertile; productive
- felicity
- happiness; skillfulness; especially at expressing things
- fervor
- great warmth or earnestness; ardor; zeal
- fetter
- to restrain; to hamper
- fidelity
- faithfulness; loyalty
- figurative
- based on figures of speech; expressing something in terms usually used for something else; metaphorical
- finesse
- skillful maneuvering; subtlety; craftiness
- flagrant
- glaringly bad; notorious; scandalous
- flout
- to disregard something out of disrespect
- foible
- a minor character flaw
- foment
- to stir up; instigate