Vocabulary Unit 5 ISkills Pre-University
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Transcript of Vocabulary Unit 5 ISkills Pre-University
Vocabulary Unit 5
ISkills Pre-University
Amnesty (n) a general pardon for an offense against a government; in general, any act of forgiveness or absolution• The government gave amnesty to the illegal
immigrants after they proved they were in danger from their home governments.
• The activist group Amnesty International seeks to endpolitical injustice around the world.
Autonomy (n): self-government; political control
• States have autonomy to set their own laws so long as they do not violate existing federal laws.
• All teenagers seek autonomy from their parents.Autonomous (adj): having the freedom or power to do what you want, especially a country or nation.
Axiomatic (adj): self-evident, expressing a universally accepted principle; something that does not need to be proved, because everyone can see it is true; something that goes without saying.• That the car had been totaled in the accident
was axiomatic.• One should not accept anything a politician
says as the axiomatic truth.
Axiom (n): a self-evident truth that needs no proof
Blazon(v): to adorn or embellish; to display conspicuously; to publish or proclaim widely• They will blazon the results of the
election all over the internet, TV, and radio.
• She blazoned her dress with pretty embroidery.
Caveat (n): A warning or caution to prevent misunderstanding or to discourage behavior
• Driving responsibly carries the caveat of knowing you must never drive when you have been drinking.
• You can do as you like at Six Flags with one caveat: make sure you follow all the park rules!
Equitable (adj): fair, just, embodying principles of justice• The two nations came to an equitable
trade agreement.
Extricate (v): to get free from entanglements or difficulties; to remove with effort.
• You will never extricate yourself from debt if you don’t stop spending money!
• It took the fisherman over an hour to extricate the turtle from his nets.Extrication (n)
Filch (v): to steal, especially in a sneaky way and in petty amounts; to steal something small• My son likes to filch cookies when he
thinks I’m not looking.
Flout (v): to mock, treat with contempt; to deliberately disobey a rule or law.• Flouting the rules of society can land
you in jail.
Fractious (adj): tending to be troublesome; unruly, quarrelsome, contrary; unpredictable; querulous
• Even the best of class will have at least one fractious student who tries the teacher’s patience.
Precept (n): a rule of conduct or action; a rule that helps you decide how to behave in a situation
• Many philosophies follow the precept that it is important to treat others the way you want to be treated yourself.
Salutary (adj): beneficial, helpful; healthful or wholesome• Studying will have a salutary effect
on your grades
Scathing (adj): bitterly severe, withering; causing great harm• The teacher was scathing of his
paper, which was full of errors.
Scourge (v): to whip, punish severely (n): a cause of affliction or suffering; a source of severe punishment
• She was the scourge of the class, forever getting them into trouble.
• Don’t scourge yourself over missing that assignment.
Sepulchral (adj): funereal, typical of the tomb; extremely gloomy or dismal.• There was a sepulchral aura about
the classroom after we all did so badly on the test.
Soporific (adj) tending to cause sleep; relating to sleepiness or lethargy (n): something that induces sleep
• My class frequently seems to have a soporific effect on my students, since they are forever dropping off mid-lecture.
• Warm milk is a good soporific if you are having trouble sleeping.
Straitlaced (adj): extremely strict in regard to moral standards and conduct; prudish or puritanical
• When I first started teaching in ESLI, I expected my students to be very straitlaced, but they’re not so different from American students.
Transient (adj): lasting only a short time, fleeting (n): one who stays only a short time• Homeless people are often referred to
as transients, because they don’t stay long in any one place.
• Our time on earth is transient, so we should make the best of it while we are here!
Unwieldy (adj): not easily carried, handled, or managed because of size or complexity.• The box isn’t heavy, but its size
makes it very unwieldy.
Vapid (adj): dull, uninteresting, tiresome; lacking in sharpness, flavor, liveliness, or force.• Every teacher dreads the vapid stares
of a class that does not understand or is not paying attention.