100个最炫的英语单词

100

个最炫的英语单词

aberration

(n.) something that differs from the norm (In 1974, Poland won the

World Cup,

but the success turned out to be an aberration, and Poland have not

won a

World Cup since).

abhor

(v.) to hate, detest (Because he always wound up getting hit in the

head when

he tried to play cricket, Marcin began to abhor the sport).

acquiesce

(v.) to agree without protesting (Though Mr. Pospieszny wanted to s

tay outside

and work in his garage, when his wife told him that he had better c

ome in to

dinner, he acquiesced to her demands.)

alacrity

(n.) eagerness, speed (For some reason, Simon loved to help his gir

lfriend

whenever he could, so when his girlfriend asked him to set the tabl

e he did so

with alacrity.)

amiable

(adj.) friendly (An amiable fellow, Neil got along with just about

everyone.)

appease

(v.) to calm, satisfy (When Jerry cries, his mother gives him choco

late to

appease him.)

arcane

(adj.) obscure, secret, known only by a few (The professor is an ex

pert in

arcane Kashubian literature.)

avarice

1

(n.) excessive greed (The banker's avarice led him to amass an enor

mous

personal fortune.)

brazen

(adj.) excessively bold, brash, clear and obvious (Critics condemne

d the

writer's brazen attempt to plagiarise Frankow-Czerwonko's work.)

brusque

(adj.) short, abrupt, dismissive (Simon's brusque manner sometimes

offends his

colleagues.)

cajole

(v.) to urge, coax (Magda's friends cajoled her into drinking too m

uch.)

callous

(adj.) harsh, cold, unfeeling (The murderer's callous lack of remor

se shocked

the jury.)

candor

(n.) honesty, frankness (We were surprised by the candor of the pol

itician's

speech because she is usually rather evasive.)

chide

(v.) to voice disapproval (Hania chided Gregory for his vulgar habi

ts and

sloppy appearance.)

circumspect

(adj.) cautious (Though I promised Marta's father I would bring her

home

promptly by midnight, it would have been more circumspect not to ha

ve

specified a time.)

clandestine

(adj.) secret (Announcing to her boyfriend that she was going to th

e library,

Maria actually went to meet George for a clandestine liaison.)

2

coerce

(v.) to make somebody do something by force or threat (The court de

cided that

David Beckham did not have to honor the contract because he had bee

n coerced

into signing it.)

coherent

(adj.) logically consistent, intelligible (William could not figure

out what

Harold had seen because he was too distraught to deliver a coherent

statement.)

complacency

(n.) self-satisfied ignorance of danger (Simon tried to shock his f

riends out

of their complacency by painting a frightening picture of what migh

t happen to

them.)

confidant

(n.) a person entrusted with secrets (Shortly after we met, he beca

me my chief

confidant.)

connive

(v.) to plot, scheme (She connived to get me to give up my plans to

start up a

new business.)

cumulative

(adj.) increasing, building upon itself (The cumulative effect of h

ours spent

using the Learn English Online website was a vast improvement in hi

s

vocabulary and general level of English.)

debase

(v.) to lower the quality or esteem of something (The large raise t

hat he gave

himself debased his motives for running the charity.)

3

decry

(v.) to criticize openly (Andrzej Lepper, the leader of the Polish

Self

Defence party decried the appaling state of Polish roads.)

deferential

(adj.) showing respect for another's authority (Donata is always ex

cessively

deferential to any kind of authority figure.)

demure

(adj.) quiet, modest, reserved (Though everyone else at the party w

as dancing

and going crazy, she remained demure.)

deride

(v.) to laugh at mockingly, scorn (The native speaker often derided

the other

teacher's accent.)

despot

(n.) one who has total power and rules brutally (The despot issued

a death

sentence for anyone who disobeyed his laws.)

diligent

(adj.) showing care in doing one's work (The diligent researcher ma

de sure to

double check her measurements.)

elated

(adj.) overjoyed, thrilled (When he found out he had won the lotter

y, the

postman was elated.)

eloquent

(adj.) expressive, articulate, moving (The best man gave such an el

oquent

speech that most guests were crying.)

embezzle

(v.) to steal money by falsifying records (The accountant was fired

for

embezzling

?10,000

of the company's funds.)

4

empathy

(n.) sensitivity to another's feelings as if they were one's own (I

feel such

empathy for my dog when she's upset so am I!)

enmity

(n.) ill will, hatred, hostility (John and Scott have clearly not f

orgiven

each other, because the enmity between them is obvious to anyone in

their

presence.)

erudite

(adj.) learned (My English teacher is such an erudite scholar that

he has

translated some of the most difficult and abstruse Old English poet

ry.)

extol

(v.) to praise, revere (Kamila extolled the virtues of a vegetarian

diet to

her meat-loving boyfriend.)

fabricate

(v.) to make up, invent (When I arrived an hour late to class, I fa

bricated

some excuse about my car breaking down on the way to work.)

feral

(adj.) wild, savage (That beast looks so feral that I would fear be

ing alone

with it.)

flabbergasted

(adj.) astounded (Whenever I read an Agatha Christie mystery novel,

I am

always flabbergasted when I learn the identity of the murderer.)

forsake

(v.) to give up, renounce (I won't forsake my conservative principl

es.)

fractious

5

(adj.) troublesome or irritable (Although the child insisted he was

n't tired,

his fractious behaviour - especially his decision to crush his jam

sandwiches

all over the floor - convinced everyone present that it was time to

put him to

bed.)

furtive

(adj.) secretive, sly (Claudia's placement of her drugs in her sock

drawer was

not as furtive as she thought, as the sock drawer is the first plac

e most

parents look.)

gluttony

(n.) overindulgence in food or drink (Helen's fried chicken tastes

so divine,

I don't know how anyone can call gluttony a sin.)

gratuitous

(adj.) uncalled for, unwarranted (Every evening the guy at the fish

and chip

shop gives me a gratuitous helping of vinegar.)

haughty

(adj.) disdainfully proud (The superstar's haughty dismissal of her

co-stars

will backfire on her someday.)

hypocrisy

(n.) pretending to believe what one does not (Once the politician b

egan

passing legislation that contradicted his campaign promises, his hy

pocrisy

became apparent.)

impeccable

(adj.) exemplary, flawless (If your grades were as impeccable as yo

ur

brother's, then you too would receive a car for a graduation presen

t.)

impertinent

6