Barron's SAT (part 2)

mettle

N. /勇气；精神/courage; spirit. When challenged by the other horses in the race, the thoroughbred proved its mettle by its determination to hold the lead.

panacea

N. /包治百病的药，灵丹妙药/cure-all; remedy for all diseases. The rich youth cynically declared that the panacea for all speeding tickets was a big enough bribe.

monotony

N. /千篇一律的/sameness leading to boredom. What could be more deadly dull than the monotony of punching numbers into a computer hour after hour?

panache

N. /华丽/flair; flamboyance. Many performers imitate Noel Coward, but few have his panache and sense of style.

protocol

N. /协议/diplomatic etiquette. We must run this state dinner according to protocol if we are to avoid offending any of our guests.

vendor

N. /卖主/seller. The fruit vendor sold her wares from a stall on the sidewalk.

pundit

N. /博学者；梵文学家/authority on a subject; learned person; expert. Some authors who write about SAT I as if they are pundits actually know very little about the test.

satellite

N. /卫星/small body revolving around a larger one. During the first few years of the Space Age, hundreds of satellites were launched by Russia and the United States.

spatula

N. /压舌板；抹刀；批灰刀/broad-bladed instrument used for spreading or mixing. The manufacturers of this frying pan recommend the use of a rubber spatula to avoid scratching the specially treated surface.

misanthrope

N. /厌恶人类的人；憎人者/one who hates mankind. In Gulliver's Travels, Swift portrays an image of humanity as vile, degraded beasts; for this reason, various critics consider him a misanthrope.

tenet

N. /原则；信条/doctrine; dogma. The agnostic did not accept the tenets of their faith.

prototype

N. /原型/original work used as a model by others. The crude typewriter on display in this museum is the prototype of the elaborate machines in use today.

quirk

N. /反复无常；怪僻/startling twist; caprice. By a quirk of fate, he found himself working for the man whom he had discharged years before.

repercussion

N. /反弹；弹回/rebound; reverberation; reaction. I am afraid that this unfortunate incident will have serious repercussions.

recrimination

N. /反责；反击/countercharges. Loud and angry recriminations were her answer to his accusations.

rejoinder

N. /反驳；回应/retort; comeback; reply. When someone has been rude to me, I find it particularly satisfying to come up with a quick rejoinder.

retort

N. /反驳；曲颈甑/quick sharp reply. Even when it was advisable for her to keep her mouth shut, she was always ready with a quick retort. also V.

projectile

N. /发射；导弹/missile. Man has always hurled projectiles at his enemy whether in the form of stones or of highly explosive shells.

tantrum

N. /发脾气；暴怒/fit of petulance; caprice. The child learned that he could have almost anything if he had a tantrum.

trepidation

N. /惧怕/fear; nervous apprehension. As she entered the office of the dean of admissions, Sharon felt some trepidation about how she would do in her interview.

unobtrusive

ADJ. /不显眼的；朴素的/inconspicuous; not blatant. Reluctant to attract notice, the governess took a chair in a far corner of the room and tried to be as unobtrusive as possible.

superfluous

ADJ. /不必要的；多余的/unnecessary; excessive; overabundant. Betsy lacked the heart to tell June that the wedding present she brought was superfluous; she and Bob had already received five toasters. Please try not to include so many superfluous details in your report; just give me the facts. superfluity, N.

objective

ADJ. /不为情所动的；公平的/not influenced by emotions; fair. Even though he was her son, she tried to be objective about his behavior.

unseemly

ADJ. /不体面的/unbecoming; indecent; in poor taste. When he put whoopie cushions on all the seats in the funeral parlor, his conduct was most unseemly.

peerless

ADJ. /不可比较的，不相衡的，无可匹敌的/having no equal; incomparable. The reigning operatic tenor of his generation, to his admirers Luciano Pavarotti was peerless: no one could compare with him.

unfathomable

ADJ. /不可理解的；不能渗透的/incomprehensible; impenetrable. Unable to get to the bottom of the mystery, Watson declared it was unfathomable.

unconscionable

ADJ. /不合理的；不道德的；过度的/unscrupulous; excessive. She found the loan shark's demands unconscionable and impossible to meet.

unprepossessing

ADJ. /不吸引人的/unattractive. During adolescence many attractive young people somehow acquire the false notion that their appearance is unprepossessing.

partial

ADJ. /不完善的；偏爱的/incomplete; having a liking for something. In this issue we have published only a partial list of contributors because we lack space to acknowledge everyone. I am extremely partial to chocolate eclairs.

puny

ADJ. /不显著的；不明显的；细微的/insignificant; tiny; weak. Our puny efforts to stop the flood were futile.

unrequited

ADJ. /不报答的，不回应的/not reciprocated. Suffering the pangs of unrequited love, Olivia rebukes Cesario for his hardheartedness.

noncommittal

ADJ. /不明朗的，不表态的；中庸的，未决的/neutral; unpledged; undecided. We were annoyed by his noncommittal reply for we had been led to expect definite assurances of his approval.

withdrawn

ADJ. /内向的；孤僻的/introverted; remote. Rebuffed by his colleagues, the initially outgoing young researcher became increasingly withdrawn.

visceral

ADJ. /内脏的/felt in one's inner organs. She disliked the visceral sensations she had whenever she rode the roller coaster.

venturesome

ADJ. /冒险的/bold. A group of venturesome women were the first to scale Mt. Annapurna.

repellent

ADJ. /排斥的/driving away; unattractive. Mosquitoes find the odor so repellent that they leave any spot where this liquid has been sprayed. also N.

propulsive

ADJ. /推进的；有推进力的/driving forward. The jet plane has a greater propulsive power than the engine-driven plane.

ramshackle

ADJ. /摇摆的；摇摇欲坠的/rickety; falling apart. The boys propped up the ramshackle clubhouse with a couple of boards.

patent

ADJ. /显而易见的；公开查阅的/open for the public to read; obvious. It was patent to everyone that the witness spoke the truth. also N.

notable

ADJ. /显著的；值得注意的/conspicuous; important; distinguished. Normally notable for his calm in the kitchen, today the head cook was shaking, for the notable chef Julia Child was coming to dinner.

prominent

ADJ. /显著的；突出的；卓越的/conspicuous; notable; sticking out. Have you ever noticed that Prince Charles's prominent ears make him look like the big-eared character in Mad comics?

salient

ADJ. /显著的；突出的；卓越的/prominent. One of the salient features of that newspaper is its excellent editorial page.

Unctuous

ADJ. /油的；油质的；松软肥沃的/oily; bland; insincerely suave. Uriah Heep disguised his nefarious actions by unctuous protestations of his "humility."

rancid

ADJ. /油脂一样腐臭的/having the odor of stale fat. A rancid odor filled the ship's galley and nauseated the crew.

remedial

ADJ. /治疗的，补救的/curative; corrective. Because he was a slow reader, he decided to take a course in remedial reading.

preternatural

ADJ. /超自然的/beyond what is normal in nature. Malcolm's mother's total ability to tell when he was lying struck him as almost preternatural.

solemnity

N. /严肃的；一本正经的/seriousness; gravity. The minister was concerned that nothing should disturb the solemnity of the marriage service. solemn, ADJ.

severity

N. /严肃；严格；激烈/harshness; intensity; sternness; austerity. The severity of Jane's migraine attack was so great that she took to her bed for a week.

ordeal

N. /严酷的考验；折磨/severe trial or affliction. June was so painfully shy that it was an ordeal for her to speak up when the teacher called on her in class.

motif

N. /主旨，本意；动机/theme. This simple motif runs throughout the entire score.

voyeur

N. /偷窥者/Peeping Tom. Nancy called her brother a voyeur when she caught him aiming his binoculars at an upstairs window of the house of the newlyweds next door.

smirk

N. /傻笑/conceited smile. Wipe that smirk off your face! also V.

stalemate

N. /僵局/deadlock. Negotiations between the union and the employers have reached a stalemate; neither side is willing to budge from previously stated positions.

pediatrician

N. /儿科专家/expert in children's diseases. The family doctor advised the parents to consult a pediatrician about their child's ailment.

sibling

N. /兄弟姐妹/brother or sister. We may not enjoy being siblings, but we cannot forget that we still belong to the same family.

plenitude

N. /充分，富足/abundance; completeness. Looking in the pantry, we admired the plenitude of fruits and pickles we had preserved during the summer.

nostalgia

N. /想家；乡愁/homesickness; longing for the past. My grandfather seldom spoke of life in the old country; he had little patience with nostalgia. nostalgic, ADJ.

mishap

N. /意外，灾难/accident. With a little care you could have avoided this mishap.

volition

N. /意志/act of making a conscious choice. She selected this dress of her own volition.

oaf

N. /愚蠢的人/stupid, awkward person. "Watch what you're doing, you clumsy oaf!" Bill shouted at the waiter who had drenched him with iced coffee.

pique

N. /愤怒；不满/irritation; resentment. She showed her pique at her loss by refusing to appear with the other contestants at the end of the competition. also V.

philanthropist

N. /慈善家/lover of mankind; doer of good. In his role as philanthropist and public benefactor, John D. Rockefeller, Sr., donated millions to charity; as an individual, however, he was a tight-fisted old man.

remorse

N. /懊悔，自责/guilt; self-reproach. The murderer felt no remorse for his crime.

sluggard

N. /懒人/lazy person. "You are a sluggard, a drone, a parasite," the angry father shouted at his lazy son.

suffragist

N. /扩大参政权；扩大妇女参政权/advocate of voting rights (for women). In recognition of her efforts to win the vote for women, Congress authorized coining a silver dollar honoring the suffragistSusan B. Anthony

purveyor

N. /承办商/furnisher of foodstuffs; caterer. As purveyor of rare wines and viands, he traveled through France and Italy every year in search of new products to sell.

ruse

N. /技巧；策略，计谋/trick; stratagem. You will not be able to fool your friends with such an obvious ruse.

restraint

N. /抑制；控制/moderation or self-control; controlling force; restriction. Control yourself. young lady! Show some restraint!

missile

N. /投掷物/object to be thrown or projected. After carefully folding his book report into a paper airplane, Beavis threw the missile across the classroom at Butthead. Rocket scientists are building guided missiles; Beavis and Butthead can barely make unguided ones.

remonstrance

N. /抗议/protest; objection. The authorities were deaf to the pastor's remonstrances about the lack of police protection in the area. remonstrate, V.

passport

N. /护照/legal document identifying the bearer as a citizen of a country and allowing him or her to travel abroad. In arranging your first trip abroad, be sure to allow yourself enough time to apply for and receive your passport you won't be allowed to travel without one.

talisman

N. /护身符；避邪物/charm to bring good luck and avert misfortune. Joe believed the carved pendant he found in Vietnam served him as a talisman and brought him safely through the war.

retaliation

N. /报仇/repayment in kind (usually for bad treatment). Because everyone knew the Princeton Band had stolen Brown's mascot, the whole Princeton student body expected some sort of retaliation from Brown. retaliate, V.

reprisal

N. /报复/retaliation. I am confident that we are ready for any reprisals the enemy may undertake.

sedition

N. /抵抗当局；反抗；暴动/resistance to authority; insubordination. His words, though not treasonous in themselves, were calculated to arouse thoughts of sedition.

warranty

N. /担保；保证/guarantee; assurance by seller. The purchaser of this automobile is protected by the manufacturer's warranty that the company will replace any defective part for five years or 50,000 miles.

rubble

N. /碎片/broken fragments. Ten years after World War II, some of the rubble left by enemy bombings could still be seen.

vise

N. /老虎钳/tool for holding work in place. Before filing its edges, the locksmith took the blank key and fixed it firmly between the jaws of a vise.

stigma

N. /耻辱；耻辱的标记；柱头；气门/token of disgrace; brand. I do not attach any stigma to the fact that you were accused of this crime; the fact that you were acquitted clears you completely.

throng

N. /聚集/crowd. Throngs of shoppers jammed the aisles. also V.

peccadillo

N. /轻罪，轻微冒犯/slight offense. When Peter Piper picked a peck of Polly Potter's pickles, did Pete commit a major crime or just a peccadillo?

travail

N. /辛苦劳作/painful labor. How long do you think a man can endure such travail and degradation without rebelling?

verge

N. /边界/border; edge. Madame Curie knew she was on the verge of discovering the secrets of radioactive elements. also V.

outskirts

N. /边界；郊区；外围/fringes; outer borders. We lived, not in central London, but in one of those peripheral suburbs that spring up on the outskirts of a great city.

proliferation

N. /迅速增长，倍增；扩散/rapid growth; spread; multiplication. Times of economic hardship inevitably encourage the proliferation of countless get-rich-quick schemes. proliferate, V.

plethora

N. /过剩；过多/excess; overabundance. She offered a plethora of excuses for her shortcomings.

parsimony

N. /过度俭省；吝啬/stinginess; excessive frugality. Furious because her father wouldn't let her buy out the clothing store, Annie accused him of parsimony.

transition

N. /过渡；转换；跃迁/going from one state of action to another. During the period of transition from oil heat to gas heat, the furnace will have to be shut off.

profusion

N. /过量；过剩/overabundance; lavish expenditure; excess. Freddy was so overwhelmed by the profusion of choices on the menu that he knocked over his wine glass and soaked his host. He made profuse apologies to his host, the waiter, the bus boy, the people at the next table, and the attendant handing out paper towels.

transport

N. /运输；狂喜/strong emotion. Margo was a creature of extremes, at one moment in transports of joy over a vivid sunset, at another moment in transports of grief over a dying bird. also V. (secondary meaning)

torpor

N. /迟钝；麻木；不活泼/lethargy; sluggishness; dormancy. Throughout the winter, nothing aroused the bear from his torpor: he would not emerge from hibernation until spring. torpid, ADJ.

propriety

N. /适当/fitness; correct conduct. Miss Manners counsels her readers so that they may behave with due propriety in any social situation and not embarrass themselves.

sojourn

N. /逗留/temporary stay. After his sojourn in Florida, he began to long for the colder climate of his native New England home.

velocity

N. /速度/speed. The train went by at considerable velocity.

verisimilitude

N. /逼真/appearance of truth; likelihood. Critics praised her for the verisimilitude of her performance as Lady Macbeth. She was completely believable.

weather

V. /侵蚀；风化/endure the effects of weather or other forces. He weathered the changes in his personal life with difficulty, as he had no one in whom to confide.

perpetuate

V. /保护免于灭绝/make something last; preserve from extinction. Some critics attack The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because they believe Twain's book perpetuates a false image of Blacks in this country.

retain

V. /保持；使用/keep; employ. Fighting to retain his seat in Congress, Senator Foghorn retained a new manager to head his reelection campaign.

retrograde

V. /倒退的/go backwards; degenerate. instead of advancing, our civilization seems to have retrograded in ethics and culture. also ADJ.

skulk

V. /偷懒；偷偷的移动/move furtively and secretly. He skulked through the less fashionable sections of the city in order to avoid meeting any of his former friends.

reimburse

V. /偿还/repay. Let me know what you have spent and I will reimburse you.

vouchsafe

V. /允许；赐予/grant; choose to give in reply; permit. Occasionally the rock star would drift out onto the balcony and vouchsafe the crowd below a glimpse of her celebrated features. The professor vouchsafed not a word to the students' questions about what would be covered on the test.

surmount

V. /克服/overcome. Could Helen Keller, blind and deaf since childhood, surmount her physical disabilities and lead a productive life?

nurture

V. /养育；教育/nourish; educate; foster. The Head Start program attempts to nurture pre-kindergarten children so that they will do well when they enter public school. also N.

resolve

V. /决定；安排/decide; settle; solve. Holmes resolved to travel to Bohemia to resolve the dispute between Irene Adler and the king.

smelt

V. /冶炼；精炼/melt or blend ores, changing their chemical composition. The furnaceman smelts tin with copper to create a special alloy used in making bells.

purge

V. /净化；清除；拉肚子/remove or get rid of something unwanted; free from blame or guilt; cleanse or purify. When the Communist government purged the party to get rid of members suspected of capitalist sympathies, they sent the disloyal members to labor camps in Siberia.

wither

V. /凋谢；枯萎/shrivel; decay. Cut flowers are beautiful for a day, but all too soon they wither.

wane

V. /减少；变弱/decrease in size or strength; draw gradually to an end. When lit, does a wax candle wane?

sap

V. /减少；破坏/diminish; undermine. The element kryptonite has an unhealthy effect on Superman: it saps his strength.

quench

V. /弄湿；扑灭；熄灭；淬火/douse or extinguish; assuage or satisfy. No matter how much water the hiker drank, she could not quench her thirst.

sully

V. /弄脏；玷污/tarnish; soil. He felt that it was beneath his dignity to sully his hands in such menial labor.

trigger

V. /引起；触发；扳机/set off. John is touchy today; say one word wrong and you'll trigger an explosion.

meander

V. /弯曲；蜿蜒/wind or turn in its course. Needing to stay close to a source of water, he followed every twist and turn of the stream as it meandered through the countryside.

underscore

V. /强调/emphasize. Addressing the jogging class, Kim underscored the importance to runners of good nutrition.

raze

V. /彻底摧毁/destroy completely. Spelling is important: to raise a building is to put it up; to raze a building is to tear it down.

obliterate

V. /彻底摧毁/destroy completely. The tidal wave obliterated several island villages,

subjugate

V. /征服/conquer; bring under control. It is not our aim to subjugate our foe; we are interested only in establishing peaceful relations.

scuffle

V. /徘徊（思考问题）；混战/struggle confusedly; move off in a confused hurry. The twins briefly scuffled, wrestling to see which of them would get the toy. When their big brother yelled, "Let go of my Gameboy!" they scuffled off down the hall. scurrilous ADJ. obscene; indecent. Your scurrilous remarks are especially offensive because they are untrue.

shimmer

V. /微光/glimmer intermittently. The moonlight shimmered on the water as the moon broke through the clouds for a moment. also N.

recuperate

V. /恢复/recover. The doctors were worried because the patient did not recuperate as rapidly as they had expected.

rehabilitate

V. /恢复；复原/restore to proper condition. We must rehabilitate those whom we send to prison.

solicit

V. /恳求/request earnestly; seek. Knowing she needed to have a solid majority for the budget to pass, the mayor telephoned all the members of the city council to solicit their votes.

supplicate

V. /恳求；祈祷/petition humbly; pray to grant a favor. We supplicate Your Majesty to grant him amnesty.

quiver

V. /振动的；颤抖的；敏捷的/tremble; shake. The bird dog's nose twitched and his whiskers quivered as he strained eagerly against the leash. also N.

oscillate

V. /振荡/vibrate pendulumlike; waver. It is interesting to note how public opinion oscillates between the extremes of optimism and pessimism.

molt

V. /换毛；褪毛/shed or cast off hair or feathers. When Molly's canary molted, he shed feathers all over the house.

warrant

V. /授权；证明；批准/justify; authorize. Before the judge issues the injunction, you must convince her this action is warranted.

preempt

V. /排挤，代替；阻止；抢占；先发制人/head off; forestall by acting first; appropriate for oneself; supplant. Hoping to preempt any attempts by the opposition to make educational reform a hot political issue, the candidate set out her own plan to revitalize the public schools. preemptive, ADJ.

pillage

V. /掠夺/plunder. The enemy pillaged the quiet village and left it in ruins.

probe

V. /探测/explore with tools. The surgeon probed the wound for foreign matter before suturing it. also N.

modulate

V. /控制；调制到标准；调制（信号）/tone down in intensity; regulate; change from one key to another. Always singing at the top of her lungs, the budding Brunhilde never learned to modulate her voice.

procrastinate

V. /推迟；延期/postpone; delay or put off. Looking at four years of receipts and checks he still had to sort through, Bob was truly sorry he had procrastinated for so long and not finished filing his taxes long ago.

verbalize

V. /描述/put into words. I know you don't like to talk about these things, but please try to verbalize your feelings.

tender

V. /提供；扩充/offer; extend. Although no formal charges had been made against him, in the wake of the recent scandal the mayor felt he should tender his resignation.

propound

V. /提出/put forth for analysis. In your discussion, you have propounded several questions; let us consider each one separately.

promote

V. /提升；促进/help to flourish; advance in rank; publicize. Founder of the Children's Defense Fund, Marian Wright Edelman ceaselessly promotes the welfare of young people everywhere. 0

prompt

V. /提示；鼓动；迅速及时的/cause; provoke; provide a cue for an actor. Whatever prompted you to ask for such a big piece of cake when you're on a diet?

sheathe

V. /插入鞘/place into a case. As soon as he recognized the approaching men, he sheathed his dagger and hailed them as friends.

obtrude

V. /插手，强入，冲出/push (oneself or one's ideas) forward or intrude; butt in; stick out or extrude. Because Fanny was reluctant to obtrude her opinions about child-raising upon her daughter-in-law, she kept a close watch on her tongue. obtrusive, ADJ.

vie

V. /竞争/contend; compete. Politicians vie with one another, competing for donations and votes.

tarry

V. /等候；逗留；混日子/delay; dawdle. We can't tarry if we want to get to the airport on time.

supplant

V. /篡位；取代/replace; usurp. Bolingbroke, later to be known as King Henry IV, fought to supplant his cousin, Richard III, as King of England.

usurp

V. /篡取/seize another's power or rank. The revolution ended when the victorious rebel general succeeded in his attempt to usurp the throne.

stint

V. /紧缩，节省/be thrifty; set limits. "Spare no expense," the bride's father said, refusing to stint on the wedding arrangements.

thrive

V. /繁荣；昌盛/prosper; flourish. Despite the impact of the recession on the restaurant trade, Philip's cafe thrived.

rectify

V. /纠正/set right; correct. You had better send a check to rectify your account before American Express cancels your credit card.

peruse

V. /细读/read with care. After the conflagration that burned down her house, Joan closely perused her home insurance policy to discover exactly what benefits her coverage provided her. perusal, N.

splice

V. /绑定的；联合的/fasten together; unite. Before you splice two strips of tape together, be sure to line them up evenly. also N.

yoke

V. /结合；连接/join together, unite. I don't wish to be yoked to him in marriage, as if we were cattle pulling a plow. also N.

slake

V. /结束；平息；消除；伺候舒服/quench; sate. When we reached the oasis, we were able to slake our thirst.

writhe

V. /翻腾/twist in coils; contort in pain. In Dances with Snakes, the snake dancer wriggled sinuously as her boa constrictor writhed around her torso.

slough

V. /脱落；蜕皮/cast off. Each spring, the snake sloughs off its skin.

scavenge

V. /腐食；打扫/hunt through discarded materials for usable items; search, especially for food. If you need car parts that the dealers no longer stock, try scavenging for odd bits and pieces at the auto wreckers' yards. scavenger, N.

swerve

V. /转向；突然转向/deviate; turn aside sharply. The car swerved wildly as the driver struggled to regain control of the wheel.

scurry

V. /轻快的；活泼的移动/move briskly. The White Rabbit had to scurry to get to his appointment on time.

onerous

ADJ. /范忠德/burdensome. He asked for an assistant because his work load was too onerous.

quandary

N. /两难的困境/dilemma. When both Harvard and Stanford accepted Laura, she was in a quandary as to which school she should attend.

rigor

N. /严格，苛刻；精确/severity. Many settlers could not stand the rigors of the New England winters.

versatile

ADJ. /万能的；通用的；多面手的/having many talents; capable of working in many fields. She was a versatile athlete, earning varsity letters in basketball, hockey, and track.

scurvy

ADJ. /下流的；卑鄙的，无理的；坏血病/despicable; contemptible. Peter Pan sneered at Captain Hook and his scurvy crew.

ribald

ADJ. /下流的；放荡的；亵渎的/wanton; profane. He sang a ribald song that offended many of the more prudish listeners.

privation

N. /困难，困苦；短缺，缺少/hardship; want. In his youth, he knew hunger and privation.

remnant

N. /残留物/remainder. I suggest that you wait until the store places the remnants of these goods on sale.

repugnant

ADJ. /不一致的；令人讨厌的/loathsome; hateful. She found the snake repugnant and looked on it with loathing and fear.

pivotal

ADJ. /关键的/crucial; key; vital. The new "smart weapons" technology played a pivotal role in the quick resolution of the war with Iraq.

parched

ADJ. /干旱的；干渴的/extremely dry; very thirsty. The parched desert landscape seemed hostile to life.

viscous

ADJ. /粘的/sticky; gluey. Melted tar is a viscous substance. Viscosity, N.

sophomoric

ADJ. /一知半解的；不成熟的/immature; half-baked, like a sophomore. Even if you're only a freshman, it's no compliment to be told your humor is sophomoric. The humor in Dumb and Dumber is sophomoric at best.

partisan

ADJ. /一边倒的/one-sided; prejudiced; committed to a party. On certain issues of principle, she refused to take a partisan stand, but let her conscience be her guide. Rather than join-ing forces to solve our nation's problems, the Democrats and Republicans spend their time on partisan struggles. also N.

recurrent

ADJ. /一遍又一遍发生的；循环发生的/occurring again and again. Richard's recurrent asthma attacks disturbed us and we consulted a physician.

vex

N. /激怒；惹恼/annoy; distress. Please try not to vex your mother; she is doing the best she can.

paltry

ADJ. /不显著的；微小的/insignificant; petty; trifling. One hundred dollars for a genuine imitation Rolex watch! Lady, this is a paltry sum to pay for such a high-class piece of jewelry.

unruly

ADJ. /不服从的；倔强的/disobedient; lawless. The only way to curb this unruly mob is to use tear gas.

perverse

ADJ. /不正当的，邪恶的，做作的 ；硬脖子的/stubbornly wrongheaded; wicked and perverted. When Jack was in a perverse mood, he would do the opposite of whatever Jill asked him. When Hannibal Lecter was in a perverse mood, he ate the flesh of his victims. Jack acted out of perversity. Hannibal's act proved his perversion.

unwitting

ADJ. /不知情的/unintentional; not knowing. She was the unwitting tool of the swindlers.

precarious

ADJ. /不确定的；冒风险/uncertain; risky. Saying the stock would be a precarious investment, the broker advised her client against purchasing it.

trifling

ADJ. /不重要的/trivial; unimportant. Why bother going to see a doctor for such a trifling, everyday cold?

trivial

ADJ. /不重要的/unimportant; trifling. Too many magazines ignore newsworthy subjects and feature trivial affairs. trivia, N.

seamy

ADJ. /丑恶的；露出嘴脸的/sordid; unwholesome. In The Godfather, Michael Corleone is unwilling to expose his wife and children to the seamy side of his life as the son of a Mafia don. sear V. char or burn; brand. Accidentally brushing against the hot grill, she seared her hand badly.

peremptory

ADJ. /专制的；强硬的，专横的/demanding and leaving no choice. From Jack's peremptory knock on the door, Jill could tell he would not give up until she let him in.

worldly

ADJ. /世俗的/engrossed in matters of this earth; not spiritual. You must leave your worldly goods behind you when you go to meet your Maker.

mundane

ADJ. /世俗的；日常的/worldly as opposed to spiritual; everyday. Uninterested in philosophical or spiritual discussions, Tom talked only of mundane matters such as the daily weather forecast or the latest basketball results.

secular

ADJ. /世俗的；现世的；永久的/worldly; not pertaining to church matters; temporal. The church leaders decided not to interfere in secular matters.

sophisticated

ADJ. /世故的；复杂的/worldly-wise and urbane; complex. When Sophie makes wisecracks, she thinks she sounds sophisticated, but instead she sounds sophomoric. The new IBM laptop with the butterfly keyboard and the built-in quadspeed FAX modem is a pretty sophisticated machine.

opportune

ADJ. /世纪恰巧的；刚好的/timely; well-chosen. Sally. looked at her father struggling to balance his checkbook; clearly this would not be an opportune moment to ask him for a raise in her allowance.

stringent

ADJ. /严厉的；迫切的/binding; rigid. I think these regulations are too stringent.

rigorous

ADJ. /严峻的；严格的；严厉的/severe; harsh; demanding; exact. Disliked by his superiors, the officer candidate in An Officer and a Gentleman endured an extremely rigorous training program.

neutral

ADJ. /中型的；自然的；中庸的，公允的/impartial; not supporting one side over another. Reluctant to get mixed up in someone else's quarrel, Bobby tried to remain neutral, but eventually he had to take sides.

provisional

ADJ. /临时的/tentative. Kim's acceptance as an American Express card holder was provisional: before issuing her a card, American Express wanted to check her employment record and credit history.

subjective

ADJ. /主观的；个人的/occurring or taking place within the subject; unreal. Your analysis is highly subjective; you have permitted your emotions and your opinions to color your thinking.

thematic

ADJ. /主题的；主题相关的/relating to a unifying motif or idea. Those who think of Moby Dick as a simple adventure story about whaling miss its underlying thematic import.

sedentary

ADJ. /久坐的；坐惯的/requiring sitting. Disliking the effect of her sedentary occupation on her figure, Stacy decided to work out at the gym every other day.

stodgy

ADJ. /乏味的；保守的/stuffy; boringly conservative. For a young person, Winston seems remarkably stodgy: you'd expect someone his age to show a little more life.

stolid

ADJ. /乏味的；单调的；冷漠的/dull; impassive. The earthquake shattered Stuart's usual stolid demeanor; trembling, he crouched on the no longer stable ground.

rustic

ADJ. /乡村的；笨拙的，不舒服的/pertaining to country people; uncouth. The backwoodsman looked out of place in his rustic attire.

pedantic

ADJ. /书生气的/showing off learning; bookish. Leavening his decisions with humorous, down-to-earth anecdotes, Judge Walker was not at all the pedantic legal scholar. pedant, pedantry, N.

opalescent

ADJ. /乳白的/iridescent; lustrous. The oil slick on the water had an opalescent, rainbow-like sheen.

prosaic

ADJ. /事实的；平淡的；缺乏想象力的/dull and unimaginative; matter-of-fact; factual. Though the ad writers came up with an original way to publicize the product, the head office rejected it for a more prosaic, ordinary slogan.

reciprocal

ADJ. /互相的；互动的；互惠的/mutual; exchangeable; interacting. The two nations signed a reciprocal trade agreement.

sacrilegious

ADJ. /亵渎的，天谴的/desecrating; profane. His stealing of the altar cloth was a very sacrilegious act.

menial

ADJ. /仆人的；卑贱的/suitable for servants; lowly; mean. Her wicked stepmother forced Cinderella to do menial tasks around the house while her ugly stepsisters lolled around painting their toenails.

vicarious

ADJ. /代理的；代理人的/acting as a substitute; done by a deputy. Many people get a vicarious thrill at the movies by imagining they are the characters on the screen.

tedious

ADJ. /令人厌倦的/boring; tiring. The repetitious nature of work on the assembly line made Martin's job very tedious. tedium, N.

voluptuous

ADJ. /令人满足的/gratifying the senses. The nobility during the Renaissance led voluptuous lives.

shoddy

ADJ. /以次充好的；赝品/sham; not genuine; inferior. You will never get the public to buy such shoddy material.

picaresque

ADJ. /以歹徒为题材的文学作品的/pertaining to rogues in literature. Tom Jones has been hailed as one of the best picaresque novels in the English language.

mellifluous

ADJ. /优美的；流畅的；蜜一样的/sweetly or smoothly flowing; melodious. Italian is a mellifluous language, especially suited to being sung.

orthodox

ADJ. /传统的；保守的/traditional; conservative in belief. Faced with a problem, he preferred to take an orthodox approach rather than shock anyone. orthodoxy, N.

purported

ADJ. /传说的；谣传的/alleged; claimed; reputed or rumored. The purported Satanists sacrificing live roosters in the park turned out to be a party of Shriners holding a chicken barbecue.

spurious

ADJ. /伪造的，欺骗的/false; counterfeit; forged; illogical. The antique dealer hero of Jonathan Gash's mystery novels gives the reader tips on how to tell spurious antiques from the real thing. Natasha's claim to be the lost heir of the Romanoffs was spurious: the only thing Russian about her was the vodka she drank!

plausible

ADJ. /似是而非的/having a show of truth but open to doubt; specious. Your mother made you stay home from school because she needed you to program the VCR? I'm sorry, you'll have to come up with a more plausible excuse than that.

specious

ADJ. /似是而非的/seemingly reasonable but incorrect; misleading (often intentionally). To claim that, because houses and birds both have wings, both can fly, is extremely specious reasoning.

subliminal

ADJ. /低于极限的；下意识的/below the threshold. We may not be aware of the subliminal influences that affect our thinking.

subordinate

ADJ. /低级的；下级的；次要的/occupying a lower rank; inferior; submissive. Bishop Proudie's wife expected all the subordinate clergy to behave with great deference to the wife of their superior.

tawdry

ADJ. /俗丽的；便宜且华而不实/cheap and gaudy. He won a few tawdry trinkets in Coney Island.

retentive

ADJ. /保持的；记性好的/holding; having a good memory. The pupil did not need to spend much time studying, for he had a retentive mind and remembered all he read.

rhetorical

ADJ. /修辞色彩的；花言巧语的/pertaining to effective communication; insincere in language. To win his audience; the speaker used every rhetorical trick in the book.

prone

ADJ. /倾向于/inclined to; prostrate. She was prone to sudden fits of anger during which she would lie prone on the floor, screaming and kicking her heels.

sanctimonious

ADJ. /假正经的；假装神圣的/displaying ostentatious or hypocritical devoutness. You do not have to be so sanctimonious to prove that you are devout.

tendentious

ADJ. /偏见的；有目标的；预计好的/having an aim; biased; designed to further a cause. The editorials in this periodical are tendentious rather than truth-seeking.

robust

ADJ. /健壮的/vigorous; strong. After pumping iron and taking karate for six months, the little old lady was so robust that she could break a plank with her fist.

portly

ADJ. /健壮的；肥胖的；魁梧的/stately; stout. The overweight gentleman was referred to as portly by the polite salesclerk.

soporific

ADJ. /催眠的/sleep-causing; marked by sleepiness. Professor Pringle's lectures were so soporific that even he fell asleep in class. also N.

somnolent

ADJ. /催眠的；半睡半醒的/half asleep. The heavy meal and the overheated room made us all somnolent and indifferent to the speaker.

overbearing

ADJ. /傲慢专横的/bossy and arrogant; decisively important. Certain of her own importance, and of the unimportance of everyone else, Lady Bracknell was intolerably overbearing in her manner. "In choosing a husband," she said, "good birth is of overbearing importance; compared to that, neither wealth nor talent signifies."

simian

ADJ. /像猴的/monkeylike. Lemurs are nocturnal mammals and have many simian characteristics, although they are less intelligent than monkeys.

monastic

ADJ. /僧侣的；遁入空门的，不问世事/related to monks or monasteries; removed from worldly concerns. Withdrawing from the world, Thomas Merton joined a contemplative religious order and adopted the monastic life.

spry

ADJ. /充满生气的；活泼的；敏捷的/vigorously active; nimble. She was eighty years old, yet still spry and alert.

replete

ADJ. /充满的；充足的/filled to the brim or to the point of being stuffed; abundantly supplied. The movie star's memoir was replete with juicy details about the love life of half of Hollywood.

panoramic

ADJ. /全景的/related to an unobstructed and comprehensive view. On a clear day, from the top of the World Trade Center you can get a panoramic view of New York City and parts of New Jersey and Long Island. panorama, N.

resonant

ADJ. /共鸣的/echoing; resounding; deep and full in sound. The deep, resonant voice of the actor James Earl Jones makes him particularly effective when he appears on stage.

redundant

ADJ. /冗余的；多余的/superfluous; repetitious; excessivejy wordy. The bottle of wine I brought to Bob's was certainly redundant how was I to know Bob owned a winery? In your essay, you repeat several points unnecessarily; try to be less redundant in the future. redundancy, N.

verbose

ADJ. /冗长的/wordy. Someone mute can't talk; someone verbose can hardly stop talking.

metallurgical

ADJ. /冶金的/pertaining to the art of removing metals from ores. During the course of his metallurgical research, the scientist developed a steel alloy of tremendous strength.

tepid

ADJ. /冷淡的；微热的/lukewarm. During the summer, I like to take a tepid bath, not a hot one.

phlegmatic

ADJ. /冷静的；平静的；不易被激起的/calm; not easily disturbed. The nurse was a cheerful but phlegmatic person, unexcited in the face of sudden emergencies.

preeminent

ADJ. /出色的；出类拔萃的/outstanding; superior. The king traveled to Boston because he wanted the preeminent surgeon in the field to perform the operation.

spartan

ADJ. /刚毅的；朴素的；纪律严格的；斯巴达的/avoiding luxury and comfort; sternly disciplined. Looking over the bare, unheated room, with its hard cot, he wondered what he was doing in such spartan quarters. Only his spartan sense of duty kept him at his post.

rigid

ADJ. /刚硬的；不屈的/stiff and unyielding; strict; hard and unbending. By living with a man to whom she was not married, George Eliot broke Victorian society's most rigid rule of respectable behavior.

nascent

ADJ. /初生的/incipient; coming into being. If we could identify these revolutionary movements in their nascent state, we would be able to eliminate serious trouble in later years.

pungent

ADJ. /刺激的；辛辣的；尖锐的/stinging; sharp in taste or smell; caustic. The pungent odor of ripe Limburger cheese appealed to Simone but made Stanley gag.

strident

ADJ. /刺耳的；尖锐的；坚持不懈的/loud and harsh; insistent. Whenever Sue became angry, she tried not to raise her voice; she had no desire to appear strident.

raspy

ADJ. /刺耳的；焦躁的/grating; harsh. The sergeant's raspy voice grated on the recruits' ears.

virulent

ADJ. /剧毒的/extremely poisonous; hostile; bitter. Laid up with a virulent case of measles, Vera blamed her doctors because her recovery took so long. In fact, she became quite virulent on the subject of the quality of modern medical care.

sedulous

ADJ. /勤奋的；勤勤恳恳的/diligent; hardworking. After weeks of patient and sedulous labor, we completed our detailed analysis of every published SAT examination.

slapdash

ADJ. /匆促的/haphazard; careless; sloppy. From the number of typos and misspellings I've found in it, it's clear that Mario proofread the report in a remarkably slapdash fashion.

precipitate

ADJ. /匆忙的；突然的；未成熟的；草率的/rash; premature; hasty; sudden. Though I was angry enough to resign on the spot, I had enough sense to keep myself from quitting a job in such a precipitate fashion.

nefarious

ADJ. /十恶不赦的/very wicked. The villain's crimes, though various, were one and all nefarious.

translucent

ADJ. /半透明的/partly transparent. We could not recognize the people in the next room because of the translucent curtains that separated us.

ornate

ADJ. /华丽的；过分装饰的/excessively or elaborately decorated. With its elaborately carved, convoluted lines, furniture of the Baroque period was highly ornate.

transcendent

ADJ. /卓越的；非比寻常的/surpassing; exceeding ordinary limits; superior. For the amateur chef, dining at the four-star restaurant was a transcendent experience: the meal surpassed his wildest dreams.

monolithic

ADJ. /单片的，单块的；一体不动摇的/solidly uniform; unyielding. Knowing the importance of appearing resolute, the patriots sought to present a monolithic front.

monochromatic

ADJ. /单色的/having only one color. Most people who are color blind actually can distinguish several colors; some, however, have a truly monochromatic view of a world all in shades of gray.

monosyllabic

ADJ. /单音节的/having only one syllable. No matter what he was asked, the taciturn New Englander answered with a monosyllabic "Yep" or "Nope." monosyllable, N.

ostentatious

ADJ. /卖弄的；企图惹人注意的；哗众取宠的/showy; pretentious; trying to attract attention. Donald Trump's latest casino in Atlantic City is the most ostentatious gambling palace in the East: it easily outglitters its competitors. ostentation, N.

offhand

ADJ. /即时的；随意的/casual; done without prior thought. Expecting to be treated with due propriety by her hosts, Great-Aunt Maud was offended by their offhand manner.

unpalatable

ADJ. /厌恶的；不好吃的；味道糟糕的/distasteful; disagreeable. "I refuse to swallow your conclusion," said she, finding his logic unpalatable.

primordial

ADJ. /原始的；与时间同在的/existing at the beginning (of time); rudimentary. The Neanderthal Man is one of our primordial ancestors.

rudimentary

ADJ. /原始的；最初的；原来的/not developed; elementary; crude. Although my grandmother's English vocabulary was limited to a few rudimentary phrases, she always could make herself understood.

muggy

ADJ. /又热又潮的（天气）/warm and damp. August in New York City is often muggy.

pernicious

ADJ. /及具毁灭性的/very destructive. Crack cocaine has had a pernicious effect on urban society: it has destroyed families, turned children into drug dealers, and increased the spread of violent crimes.

reactionary

ADJ. /反作用的/recoiling from progress; politically ultraconservative. Opposing the use of English in worship services, reactionary forces in the church fought to reinstate the mass in Latin.

retroactive

ADJ. /反动的；（法律）追溯的（由制定之日前的某一天生效）/of a law that dates back to a period before its enactment. Because the law was retroactive to the first of the year, we found she was eligible for the pension.

mutinous

ADJ. /反抗的；暴动的/unruly; rebellious. The captain had to use force to quiet his mutinous crew. mutiny, N.

recalcitrant

ADJ. /反抗的；顽抗的/obstinately stubborn; determined to resist authority; unruly. Which animal do you think is more recalcitrant, a pig or a mule?

protean

ADJ. /变化多端的/versatile; able to take on many shapes. A remarkably protean actor, Alec Guinness could take on any role.

voluble

ADJ. /口齿伶俐的；爱说话的/fluent; glib; talkative. The excessively voluble speaker suffers from logorrhea: he runs off at the mouth a lot!

quizzical

ADJ. /古怪的；嘲弄的；令人好奇的/teasing; bantering; mocking; curious. When the skinny teenager tripped over his own feet stepping into the bullpen, Coach raised one quizzical eyebrow, shook his head, and said, "Okay, kid. You're here, let's see what you've got."

prehensile

ADJ. /可以得到的；可以抓住的/capable of grasping or holding. Monkeys use not only their arms and legs but also their prehensile tails in traveling through the trees.

navigable

ADJ. /可以通航的/wide and deep enough to allow ships to pass through; able to be steered. So much sand had built up at the bottom of the canal that the waterway was barely navigable.

tensile

ADJ. /可伸展的；可拉长的/capable of being stretched. Mountain climbers must know the tensile strength of their ropes. tentative ADJ. hesitant; not fully worked out or developed; experimental; not definite or positive. Unsure of his welcome at the Christmas party, Scrooge took a tentative step into his nephew's drawing room.

reparable

ADJ. /可修复的/capable of being repaired. Fortunately, the damages we suffered in the accident were reparable and our car looks brand new.

venial

ADJ. /可宽恕的/forgivable; trivial. When Jean Valjean stole a loaf of bread to feed his starving sister, he committed a venial offense.

negligible

ADJ. /可忽略不计的/so small, trifling, or unimportant that it may be easily disregarded. Because the damage to his car had been negligible, Michael decided he wouldn't bother to report the matter to his insurance company.

redoubtable

ADJ. /可怕的/formidable; causing fear. During the Cold War period, neighboring countries tried not to offend the Russians because they could be redoubtable foes.

pathetic

ADJ. /可怜的，触动人心的/causing sadness, compassion, pity; touching. Everyone in the auditorium was weeping by the time he finished his pathetic tale about the orphaned boy.

odious

ADJ. /可恨的；可耻的/hateful; vile. Cinderella's ugly stepsisters had the odious habit of popping their zits in public.

remediable

ADJ. /可挽回的/reparable. Let us be grateful that the damage is remediable.

palatable

ADJ. /可接受的；美味的/agreeable; pleasing to the taste. Neither Jack's underbaked opinions nor his overcooked casseroles were palatable to Jill.

permeable

ADJ. /可渗透的，可学习的/penetrable; porous; allowing liquids or gas to pass through. If your jogging clothes weren't made out of permeable fabric, you'd drown in your own perspira-tion (figuratively speaking).

soluble

ADJ. /可溶解的；可解决的/able to be dissolved; able to be explained. Sugar is soluble in water; put a sugar cube in water and it will quickly dissolve.

practicable

ADJ. /可行的/feasible. The board of directors decided that the plan was practicable and agreed to undertake the project.

tangible

ADJ. /可触摸的；真实的/able to be touched; real; palpable. Although Tom did not own a house, he had several tangible assets-a car, a television, a PC-that he could sell if he needed cash.

optional

ADJ. /可选的/not obligatory; left to one's choice. Most colleges require applicants to submit SAT I scores; at some colleges, however, submitting SAT I scores is optional.

potable

ADJ. /可饮用的/suitable for drinking. The recent drought in the Middle Atlantic states has emphasized the need for extensive research in ways of making sea water potable. also N.

pristine

ADJ. /史前的；质朴的/characteristic of earlier times; primitive; unspoiled. This area has been preserved in all its pristine wildness.

propitious

ADJ. /吉利的；有利的/favorable; fortunate; advantageous. Chloe consulted her horoscope to see whether Tuesday would be a propitious day to dump her boyfriend.

tautological

ADJ. /同义反复的/needlessly repetitious. In the sentence "It was visible to the eye, " the phrase "to the eye" is tautological.

tantamount

ADJ. /同等的/equivalent in effect or value. Though Rudy claimed his wife was off visiting friends, his shriek of horror when she walked into the room was tantamount to a confession that he believed she was dead.

reputed

ADJ. /名誉好的；有名气的；名誉的/supposed. Though he is the reputed father of the child, no one can be sure. repute, N.

subsequent

ADJ. /后来的；接下来的/following; later. In subsequent lessons, we shall take up more difficult problems.

thrifty

ADJ. /节省的；抠包的/careful about money; economical. A thrifty shopper compares prices before making major purchases.

sovereign

ADJ. /君主的；至高无上的/efficacious; supreme or paramount; selfgoverning. Professor Pennywhistle claimed his panacea was a sovereign cure for all chronic complaints. In medi-cine the sovereign task of the doctor is to do no harm. Rebelling against the mother country, the onetime colony now proclaimed itself a sovereign state. also N.

miserly

ADJ. /吝啬的；贪婪的；坏的/stingy; mean. Transformed by his vision on Christmas Eve, mean old Scrooge ceased being miserly and became a generous, kind old man.

valedictory

ADJ. /告别的/pertaining to farewell. I found the valedictory address too long; leave-taking should be brief.

plaintive

ADJ. /哀伤的/mournful. The dove has a plaintive and melancholy call.

mercenary

ADJ. /唯利是图/interested in money or gain. Andy's every act was prompted by mercenary motives: his first question was always "What's in it for me?"

receptive

ADJ. /善于接受的/quick or willing to receive ideas, suggestions, etc. Adventure-loving Huck Finn proved a receptive audience for Tom's tales of buried treasure and piracy.

mercurial

ADJ. /善变的；无常的/capricious; changing; fickle. Quick as quicksilver to change, he was mercurial in nature and therefore unreliable.

vociferous

ADJ. /喊叫的；吵闹的/clamorous; noisy. The crowd grew vociferous in its anger and threatened to take the law into its own hands.

obstreperous

ADJ. /喧闹的，喧嚣的；任性的/boisterous; noisy. What do you do when an obstreperous horde of drunken policemen goes carousing through your hotel, crashing into potted plants and singing vulgar songs?

olfactory

ADJ. /嗅觉的/concerning the sense of smell. A wine taster must have a discriminating palate and a keen olfactory sense, for a good wine appeals both to the taste buds and to the nose.

satirical

ADJ. /嘲弄的/mocking. The humor of cartoonist Gary Trudeau often is satirical; through the comments of the Doonesbury characters, Trudeau ridicules political corruption and folly.

retrospective

ADJ. /回顾的/looking back on the past. The Museum of Graphic Arts is holding a retrospective showing of the paintings of Michael Whelan over the past two decades.

pliable

ADJ. /圆滑的；柔韧的；易弯曲的/flexible; yielding; adaptable. In remodeling the bathroom, we have replaced all the old, rigid lead pipes with new, pliable copper tubing.

terrestrial

ADJ. /地的；地球的/earthly (as opposed to celestial); pertaining to the land. In many science fiction films, alien invaders from outer space plan to destroy all terrestrial life.

seismic

ADJ. /地震的/pertaining to earthquakes. The Richter scale is a measurement of seismic disturbances.

obstinate

ADJ. /坚定的，倔强的/stubborn; hard to control or treat. We tried to persuade him to give up smoking, but he was obstinate and refused to change. Blackberry stickers are the most obstinate weeds I know: once established in a yard, they're extremely hard to root out. obstinacy, N.

steadfast

ADJ. /坚定的；不渝的；忠诚的/loyal; unswerving. Penelope was steadfast in her affections, faithfully waiting for Ulysses to return from his wanderings.

stalwart

ADJ. /坚定的；强壮的/strong, brawny; steadfast. His consistent support of the party has proved that he is a stalwart and loyal member. also N.

substantial

ADJ. /坚实的；充实的/ample; solid; in essentials. The generous scholarship represented a substantial sum of money.

outspoken

ADJ. /坦率直言的/candid; blunt. The candidate was too outspoken to be a successful politician; he had not yet learned to weigh his words carefully.

moribund

ADJ. /垂死的/dying. Hearst took a moribund, failing weekly newspaper and transformed it into one of the liveliest, most profitable daily papers around.

plumb

ADJ. /垂直；铅锤；用铅锤量/checking perpendicularity; vertical. Before hanging wallpaper it is advisable to drop a plumb line from the ceiling as a guide. also N. andV.

traumatic

ADJ. /外伤的/pertaining to an injury caused by violence. In his nightmares, he kept on recalling the traumatic experience of being wounded in battle.

peripheral

ADJ. /外围的/marginal; outer. We lived, not in central London, but in one of those peripheral suburbs that spring up on the outskirts of a great city.

tangential

ADJ. /外围的；切线的/peripheral; only slightly connected; digressing. Despite Clark's attempts to distract her with tangential remarks, Lois kept on coming back to her main question: why couldn't he come out to dinner with Superman and her?

prolific

ADJ. /多产的；丰富的/abundantly fruitful. My editors must assume I'm a prolific writer: they expect me to revise six books this year!

motley

ADJ. /多彩的，杂色的；混合的/multi-colored; mixed. The jester wore a motley tunic, red and green and blue and gold all patched together haphazardly. Captain Ahab had gathered a motley crew to sail the vessel: old sea dogs and runaway boys, pillars of the church and drunkards, even a tattooed islander who terrified the rest of the crew.

multiform

ADJ. /多态的/having many forms. Snowflakes are multiform but always hexagonal.

multifarious

ADJ. /多样的；各式各样的/varied; greatly diversified. A career woman and mother, she was constantly busy with the multifarious activities of her daily life.

succulent

ADJ. /多汁的/juicy; full of richness. To some people, Florida citrus fruits are more succulent than those from California. also N.

sleight

N. /灵巧的/dexterity. The magician amazed the audience with his sleight of hand.

officious

ADJ. /多管闲事的/meddlesome; excessively pushy in offering one's services. Judy wanted to look over the new computer models on her own, but the officious salesman kept on butting in with "helpful" advice until she was ready to walk out of the store.

multilingual

ADJ. /多语种的/having many languages. Because they are bordered by so many countries, the Swiss people are multilingual.

polyglot

ADJ. /多语言/speaking several languages. New York City is a polyglot community because of the thousands of immigrants who settle there.

multifaceted

ADJ. /多面的/having many aspects. A multifaceted composer, Roger Davidson has recorded original pieces that range from ragtime tangos to choral masses.

nocturnal

ADJ. /夜的/done at night. Mr. Jones obtained a watchdog to prevent the nocturnal raids on his chicken coops.

stilted

ADJ. /夸大的；充气的；虚胖的；踩高跷的/bombastic; inflated. His stilted rhetoric did not impress the college audience; they were immune to bombastic utterances.

outlandish

ADJ. /奇异的；偏僻的；前卫的/bizarre; peculiar; unconventional. The eccentric professor who engages in markedly outlandish behavior is a stock figure in novels with an academic setting.

singular

ADJ. /奇的；独一无二的/unique; extraordinary; odd. Though the young man tried to understand Father William's singular behavior, he still found it odd that the old man incessantly stood on his head. singularity, N.

sumptuous

ADJ. /奢侈的；华丽的/lavish; rich. I cannot recall when I have had such a sumptuous Thanksgiving feast.

subservient

ADJ. /奴隶似的；奴性的/behaving like a slave; servile; obsequious. He was proud and dignified; he refused to be subservient to anyone.

servile

ADJ. /奴隶的；奴性的/slavish; cringing. Constantly fawning on his employer, humble Uriah Heap was a servile creature.

militant

ADJ. /好战的/combative; bellicose. Although at this time he was advocating a policy of neutrality, one could usually find him adopting a more militant attitude. also N.

salacious

ADJ. /好色的；淫荡的/lascivious; lustful. Chaucer's monk is not pious but salacious. a teller of lewd tales and ribald jests.

prurient

ADJ. /好色的；渴望的/having or causing lustful thoughts and desires. Aroused by his prurient impulses, the dirty old man leered at the sweet young thing and offered to give her a sample of his "prowess."

nuptial

ADJ. /婚姻的/related to marriage. Reluctant to be married in a traditional setting, they decided to hold their nuptial ceremony at the carousel in Golden Gate Park.

sportive

ADJ. /嬉戏的；玩闹的/playful. Such a sportive attitude is surprising in a person as serious as you usually are.

sedate

ADJ. /安静的；稳重的；低沉的/composed; grave. The parents were worried because they felt their son was too quiet and sedate.

sectarian

ADJ. /宗派主义的；地区主义的；宗派主义者；狭窄的/relating to a religious faction or subgroup; narrow-minded; limited. Far from being broad-minded, the religious leader was intolerant of new ideas, paying attention only to purely sectarian interests. sect. N.

pragmatic

ADJ. /实际的；注重实效的/practical (as opposed to idealistic); concerned with the practical worth or impact of something. This coming trip to France should provide me with a pragmatic test of the value of my conversational French class.

timorous

ADJ. /害怕的/fearful; demonstrating fear. His timorous manner betrayed the fear he felt at the moment.

munificent

ADJ. /宽宏大量的；慷慨大方的/very generous. Shamelessly fawning over a particularly generous donor, the dean kept on referring to her as "our munificent benefactor." munificence, N.

salubrious

ADJ. /对健康有益的，利于养生的/healthful. Many people with hay fever move to more salubrious sections of the country during the months of August and September.

ulterior

ADJ. /将来的；隐蔽的/situated beyond; unstated. You must have an ulterior motive for your behavior, since there is no obvious reason for it.

reverent

ADJ. /尊敬的；可敬的/respectful; worshipful. Though I bow my head in church and recite the prayers, sometimes I don't feel properly reverent. revere, V.

meticulous

ADJ. /小心翼翼的/excessively careful; painstaking; scrupulous. Martha Stewart was a meticulous housekeeper, fussing about each and every detail that went into making up her perfect home.

scrupulous

ADJ. /小心翼翼的；谨慎的/conscientious; extremely thorough. Though Alfred is scrupulous in fulfilling his duties at work, he is less conscientious about his obligations to his family and friends.

pious

ADJ. /尽职的；虔诚的/devout; religious. The challenge for church people today is how to be pious in the best sense, that is, to be devout without becoming hypocritical or sanctimonious. piety, N.

subdued

ADJ. /屈服的；柔和的；减弱的/less intense; quieter. Bob liked the subdued lighting at the restaurant because he thought it was romantic. I just thought it was dimly lit.

submissive

ADJ. /屈服的；胆怯的/yielding; timid. When he refused to permit Elizabeth to marry her poet, Mr. Barrett expected her to be properly submissive; instead, she eloped!

titanic

ADJ. /巨大的/gigantic. Titanic waves beat against the majestic S.S. Titanic, driving it against the concealed iceberg.

prodigious

ADJ. /巨大的/marvelous; enormous. Watching the champion weight lifter heave the weighty barbell to shoulder height and then boost it overhead, we marveled at his prodigious strength.

vapid

ADJ. /平淡单调的；索然无味的；缺乏想象力的/dull and unimaginative; insipid and flavorless. "Bor-ing!" said Jessica, as she suffered through yet another vapid lecture about Dead White Male Poets.

placid

ADJ. /平静的/peaceful; calm. After his vacation in this placid section, he felt soothed and rested.

visionary

ADJ. /幻想的/produced by imagination; fanciful; mystical. She was given to visionary schemes that never materialized. also N.

puerile

ADJ. /幼稚的，孩子气的/childish. His puerile pranks sometimes offended his more mature friends.

pandemic

ADJ. /广泛传播的，流行的/widespread; affecting the majority of people. They feared the AIDS epidemic would soon reach pandemic proportions.

venerable

ADJ. /庄严的；值得尊重的/deserving high respect. We do not mean to be disrespectful when we refuse to follow the advice of our venerable leader.

sublime

ADJ. /庄严的；崇高的；壮观的/exalted or noble and uplifting; utter. Lucy was in awe of Desi's sublime musicianship, while he was in awe of her sublime naiveté.

reprehensible

ADJ. /应该谴责的/deserving blame. Shocked by the viciousness of the bombing, politicians of every party uniformly condemned the terrorists' reprehensible deed.

voluminous

ADJ. /庞大的/bulky; large. A caftan is a voluminous garment; most people wearing one look as if they're draped in a small tent.

piquant

ADJ. /开胃的；辛辣的；刺激的；淘气顽皮的/pleasantly tart-tasting; stimulating. The piquant sauce added to our enjoyment of the meal. piquancy, N.

resilient

ADJ. /弹性的/elastic; having the power of springing back. Highly resilient, steel makes excellent bedsprings. resilience, N.

obsessive

ADJ. /强迫性的，入迷的；出神的/related to thinking about something constantly; preoccupying. Ballet, which had been a hobby, began to dominate his life: his love of dancing became obsessive. obsession, N.

metaphysical

ADJ. /形而上学的/pertaining to speculative philosophy. The modern poets have gone back to the fanciful poems of the metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century for many of their images. metaphysics, N.

petty

ADJ. /微小的，不重要的/trivial; unimportant; very small. She had no major complaints to make about his work, only a few petty quibbles that were almost too minor to state.

obligatory

ADJ. /必须的/binding; required. It is obligatory that books borrowed from the library be returned within two weeks.

melancholy

ADJ. /忧郁/gloomy; morose; blue. To Eugene, stuck in his small town, a train whistle was a melancholy sound, for it made him think of all the places he would never get to see.

problematic

ADJ. /忧郁的；忧心忡忡的；心存疑虑的；有疑问的/doubtful; unsettled; questionable; perplexing. Given the way building costs have exceeded estimates for the job, whether the arena will ever be completed is problematic.

putrid

ADJ. /恶臭的；腐烂的/foul; rotten; decayed. The gangrenous condition of the wound was indicated by the putrid smell when the bandages were removed. putrescence, N.

penitent

ADJ. /悔过的/repentant. When he realized the enormity of his crime, he became remorseful and penitent, also N.

punitive

ADJ. /惩罚的/punishing. He asked for punitive measures against the offender.

sensual

ADJ. /感官的；肉欲的；感官论的/devoted to the pleasures of the senses; carnal; voluptuous. I cannot understand what caused him to abandon his sensual way of life and become so ascetic.

unstinting

ADJ. /慷慨的；无保留的/giving generously; not holding back. The dean praised the donor of the new science building for her unstinting generosity.

slothful

ADJ. /懒的/lazy. Lying idly on the sofa while others worked, Reggie denied he was slothful: "I just supervise better lying down."

pusillanimous

ADJ. /懦弱的；优柔寡断的/cowardly; fainthearted. You should be ashamed of your pusillanimous conduct during this dispute.

thespian

ADJ. /戏剧的/pertaining to drama. Her success in the school play convinced her she was destined for a thespian career. also N.

percussion

ADJ. /打击/striking one object against another sharply. The drum is a percussion instrument. also N.

obdurate

ADJ. /执拗的；顽固的/stubborn. He was obdurate in his refusal to listen to our complaints.

vindictive

ADJ. /报复性的/out for revenge; malicious. I think it's unworthy of Martha to be so vindictive; she shouldn't stoop to such petty acts of revenge.

solicitous

ADJ. /担心的；关切的；期望的/worried; concerned. The employer was very solicitous about the health of her employees as replacements were difficult to get.

pertinacious

ADJ. /拒不屈服；反抗/stubborn; persistent. He is bound to succeed because his pertinacious nature will not permit him to quit.

refractory

ADJ. /按不住的；不服气的；倔强的/stubborn; unmanageable. The refractory horse was eliminated from the race when he refused to obey the jockey.

volatile

ADJ. /挥发的；飞行的；可变的；爆炸的/changeable; explosive; evaporating rapidly. The political climate today is extremely volatile: No one can predict what the electorate will do next. Maria Callas's temper was extremely volatile: The only thing you could predict was that she was sure to blow up. Acetone is an extremely volatile liquid: It evaporates instantly.

mendacious

ADJ. /撒谎成性的；撒谎的，假的/lying; habitually dishonest. Distrusting Huck from the start, Miss Watson assumed he was mendacious and refused to believe a word he said.

unassailable

ADJ. /攻不破的/not subject to question; not open to attack. Penelope's virtue was unassailable; while she waited for her husband to come back from the war, no other man had a chance.

offensive

ADJ. /攻击的；冒犯的/attacking; insulting; distasteful. Getting into street brawls is no minor matter for professional boxers, who are required by law to restrict their offensive impulses to the ring.

unbridled

ADJ. /放肆的；肆虐的/violent. She had a sudden fit of unbridled rage.

uninhibited

ADJ. /放荡不羁的；不受限制的/unrepressed. The congregation was shocked by her uninhibited laughter during the sermon.

profligate

ADJ. /放荡的；放肆的；不检点的/dissipated; wasteful; wildly immoral. Although surrounded by wild and profligate companions, she nevertheless managed to retain some sense of decency.

pontifical

ADJ. /教皇的；主教的/pertaining to a bishop or pope; pompous or pretentious. From his earliest days at the seminary, John seemed destined for a high pontifical office. However, he sounded so pompous when he pontificated that he never was chosen pontiff after all.

prim

ADJ. /整洁的；精准的，精确的/very precise and formal; exceedingly proper. Many people commented on the contrast between the prim attire of the young lady and the inappropriate clothing worn by her escort.

urbane

ADJ. /文雅的；高雅的；彬彬有礼的/suave; refined; elegant. The courtier was urbane and sophisticated. urbanity, N.

staccato

ADJ. /断奏；断唱/played in an abrupt manner; marked by abrupt sharp sound. His staccato speech reminded one of the sound of a machine gun.

spasmodic

ADJ. /断断续续的；间歇的/fitful; periodic. The spasmodic coughing in the auditorium annoyed the performers.

methodical

ADJ. /方法论的；系统化的/systematic. An accountant must be methodical and maintain order among his financial records.

whimsical

ADJ. /无常的；古怪的/capricious; fanciful. In Mrs. Doubtfire, the hero is a playful, whimsical man who takes a notion to dress up as a woman so that he can look after his children, who are in the custody of his ex-wife. whimsy, N.

ruthless

ADJ. /无情的/pitiless; cruel. Captain Hook was a dangerous, ruthless villain who would stop at nothing to destroy Peter Pan.

unintimidating

ADJ. /无惧的/unfrightening. Though Phil had expected to feel overawed when he met Steve Young, he found the famous quarterback friendly and unintimidating.

unimpeachable

ADJ. /无懈可击的/blameless and exemplary. Her conduct in office was unimpeachable and her record is spotless.

omnivorous

ADJ. /无所不吃的；杂食的/eating both plant and animal food; devouring everything. Some animals, including man, are omnivorous and eat both meat and vegetables; others are either carnivorous or herbivorous.

ubiquitous

ADJ. /无所不在的/being everywhere; omnipresent. That Christmas "The Little Drummer Boy" seemed ubiquitous; David heard the tune everywhere.

omnipresent

ADJ. /无所不在的/universally present; ubiquitous. On Christmas Eve, Santa Claus is omnipresent.

omniscient

ADJ. /无所不知的/all-knowing. I do not pretend to be omniscient, but I am positive about this fact.

omnipotent

ADJ. /无所不能的；全能的/all-powerful. The monarch regarded himself as omnipotent and responsible to no one for his acts.

witless

ADJ. /无知的；轻率的/foolish; idiotic. If Beavis is a half-wit, then Butthead is totally witless.

unaccountable

ADJ. /无责任的；无法解释的/inexplicable; unreasonable or mysterious. I have taken an unaccountable dislike to my doctor: "I do not love thee, Doctor Fell. The reason why, I cannot tell."

precocious

ADJ. /早熟的/advanced in development. Listening to the grown-up way the child discussed serious topics, we couldn't help remarking how precocious she was. precocity, N.

overt

ADJ. /明显的；公然的/open to view. According to the United States Constitution, a person must commit an overt act before he may be tried for treason.

unequivocal

ADJ. /明白清楚的/plain; obvious; unmistakable. My answer to your proposal is an unequivocal and absolute "No."

palpable

ADJ. /易于领会的；明显的/tangible; easily perceptible; unmistakable. The patient's enlarged spleen was palpable: even the first year medical student could feel it.

susceptible

ADJ. /易受影响的；易感动的；易患病的/impressionable; easily influenced; having little resistance, as to a disease; receptive to. Said the patent medicine man to his very susceptible customer: "Buy this new miracle drug, and you will no longer be susceptible to the common cold."

vulnerable

ADJ. /易受攻击的/susceptible to wounds. His opponents could not harm Achilles, who was vulnerable only in his heel.

testy

ADJ. /易怒的/irritable; short-tempered. My advice is to avoid discussing this problem with him today as he is rather testy and may shout at you.

stellar

ADJ. /星体的；恒星的/pertaining to the stars. He was the stellar attraction of the entire performance.

ostensible

ADJ. /显然的；虚假的/apparent; professed; pretended. Although the ostensible purpose of this expedition is to discover new lands, we are really interested in finding new markets for our products.

nondescript

ADJ. /普通的/undistinctive; ordinary. The private detective was a short, nondescript fellow with no outstanding features, the sort of person one would never notice in a crowd.

mediocre

ADJ. /普通的，一般的/ordinary; commonplace. We were disappointed because he gave a rather mediocre performance in this role.

rife

ADJ. /普遍的/abundant; current. In the face of the many rumors of scandal, which are rife at the moment, it is best to remain silent.

prevalent

ADJ. /普遍的；流行的/widespread; generally accepted. A radical committed to social change, Reed had no patience with the conservative views prevalent in the America of his day.

transient

ADJ. /暂时的/momentary; temporary; staying for a short time. Lexy's joy at finding the perfect Christmas gift for Phil was transient, she still had to find presents for the cousins and Uncle Bob. Located near the airport, this hotel caters to a largely transient trade. transience, N.

temporal

ADJ. /暂时的/not lasting forever; limited by time; secular. At onetime in our history, temporal rulers assumed that they had been given their thrones by divine right.

surreptitious

ADJ. /暗中的；秘密的/secret; furtive; sneaky; hidden. Hoping to discover where his mom had hidden the Christmas presents, Timmy took a surreptitious peek into the master bedroom closet.

murky

ADJ. /暗的，模糊的，暧昧的/dark and gloomy; thick with fog; vague. The murky depths of the swamp were so dark that one couldn't tell the vines and branches from the snakes.

opaque

ADJ. /暗的；不透明的/dark; not transparent. The opaque window shade kept the sunlight out of the room. opacity, N.

swarthy

ADJ. /暗的；有雾的/dark; dusky. Despite the stereotypes, not all Italians are swarthy, many are fair and blond.

nebulous

ADJ. /暧昧的，混浊不清的/vague; hazy; cloudy. After twenty years, she had only a nebulous memory of her grandmother's face.

touchy

ADJ. /暴躁的；难以处理的；易上火的/sensitive; irascible. Do not mention his bald spot; he's very touchy about it.

tortuous

ADJ. /曲折的，蜿蜒的/winding; full of curves. Because this road is so tortuous, it is unwise to go faster than twenty miles an hour on it.

optimum

ADJ. /最优的/most favorable. If you wait for the optimum moment to act, you may never begin your project. also N.

solvent

ADJ. /有偿付能力的/able to pay all debts. By dint of very frugal living, he was finally able to become solvent and avoid bankruptcy proceedings.

relevant

ADJ. /有关的；相对的/pertinent; referring to the case in hand. How relevant Virginia Woolf's essays are to women writers today! It's as if Woolf in the 1930s foresaw our current literary struggles. relevancy, N.

remunerative

ADJ. /有利益的；有报酬的/compensating; rewarding. I find my new work so remunerative that I may not return to my previous employment. remuneration, N.

titular

ADJ. /有名无实的/nominal holding of title without obligations. Although he was the titular head of the company, the real decisions were made by his general manager.

nominal

ADJ. /有名无实的，名存实亡的；名义上的/in name only; trifling. He offered to drive her to the airport for only a nominal fee.

personable

ADJ. /有吸引力的/attractive. The man I am seeking to fill this position must be personable since he will be representing us before the public.

savory

ADJ. /有味道的；吸引人的/tasty; pleasing, attractive, or agreeable. Julia Child's recipes enable amateur chefs to create savory delicacies for their guests.

redolent

ADJ. /有味道的；有香味儿的/fragrant; odorous; suggestive of an odor. Even though it is February, the air is redolent of spring.

ominous

ADJ. /有威胁的；恶兆的/threatening. Those clouds are ominous; they suggest a severe storm is on the way.

noxious

ADJ. /有害的/harmful. We must trace the source of these noxious gases before they asphyxiate us.

noisome

ADJ. /有害的，有毒的；恶臭的/foul-smelling; unwholesome. The noisome atmosphere downwind of the oil refinery not only stank, it damaged the lungs of everyone living in the area.

potent

ADJ. /有效的/powerful; persuasive; greatly influential. Looking at the expiration date on the cough syrup bottle, we wondered whether the medication would still be potent. potency, N.

virtual

ADJ. /有效的；实质的；虚的/in essence; for practical purposes. She is a virtual financial wizard when it comes to money matters.

mottled

ADJ. /有斑点的；弄脏的/blotched in coloring; spotted. When old Falstaff blushed, his face was mottled with embarrassment, all pink and purple and red.

tempestuous

ADJ. /有暴风雨的；暴乱的/stormy; impassioned; violent. Racket throwing tennis star John McEnroe was famed for his displays of tempestuous temperament.

toxic

ADJ. /有毒的/poisonous. We must seek an antidote for whatever toxic substance he has eaten. toxicity, N.

odorous

ADJ. /有气味的/having an odor. This variety of hybrid tea rose is more odorous than the one you have in your garden.

Sagacious

ADJ. /有洞察力的/perceptive; shrewd; having insight. My father was a sagacious judge of character: he could spot a phony a mile away. sagacity, N.

piebald

ADJ. /花斑的；斑驳的/mottled; spotted. You should be able to identify Polka Dot in this race; it is the only piebald horse running.

perceptive

ADJ. /有洞察力的，警觉的；智慧的/insightful; aware; wise. Although Maud was a generally perceptive critic, she had her blind spots: she could never see flaws in the work of her friends.

torrid

ADJ. /有激情的；热带的/passionate; hot or scorching. Harlequin Romances publish torrid tales of love affairs, some set in torrid climates.

salutary

ADJ. /有用的；有益的/tending to improve; beneficial; wholesome. The punishment had a salutary effect on the boy, as he became a model student.

practical

ADJ. /有用的；经验的；实践证明的/based on experience; useful. He was a practical man, opposed to theory.

striated

ADJ. /有细条纹的/marked with parallel bands; grooved. The glacier left many striated rocks. striate, V.

studied

ADJ. /有计划的；故意的；有想法的/not spontaneous; deliberate; thoughtful. Given Jill's previous slights, Jack felt that the omission of his name from the guest list was a studied insult.

qualified

ADJ. /有资格的；有限制的；被限制的/limited; restricted. Unable to give the candidate full support, the mayor gave him only a qualified endorsement. (secondary meaning)

provident

ADJ. /有远见的/displaying foresight; thrifty; preparing for emergencies. In his usual provident manner, he had insured himself against this type of loss.

unmitigated

ADJ. /未缓和的；绝对的/unrelieved or immoderate; absolute. After four days of unmitigated heat, I was ready to collapse from heat prostration. The congresswoman's husband was an unmitigated jerk: not only did he abandon her, he took her campaign funds, too!

wary

ADJ. /机警的；小心的/very cautious. The spies grew wary as they approached the sentry.

variegated

ADJ. /杂色的/many-colored. Without her glasses, Gretchen saw the fields of tulips as a variegated blur.

pied

ADJ. /杂色的；斑驳的/variegated; multicolored. The Pied Piper of Hamelin got his name from the multicolored clothing he wore.

paramount

ADJ. /极其重要的/foremost in importance; supreme. Proper nutrition and hygiene are of paramount importance in adolescent development and growth.

minute

ADJ. /极小的/extremely small. The twins resembled one another closely; only minute differences set them apart.

minuscule

ADJ. /极小的/extremely small. Why should I involve myself with a project with so minuscule a chance for success?

rapacious

ADJ. /极度贪婪的；捕食的；掠夺的/excessively greedy; predatory. The rapacious brigands stripped the villagers of all their possessions. rapacity, N.

supple

ADJ. /柔顺的；顺从的；柔韧的/flexible; pliant. Years of yoga exercises made Grace's body supple.

underlying

ADJ. /根本的；在下面的；潜在的/fundamental; lying below. The underlying cause of the student riot was not the strict curfew rule but the moldy cafeteria food. Miss Marple seems a sweet little old lady at first, but there's an iron will underlying that soft and fluffy facade.

synoptic

ADJ. /概要的/providing a general overview; summary. The professor turned to the latest issue of Dissertation Abstracts for a synoptic account of what was new in the field. synop-SiS, N.

obscure

ADJ. /模糊的，不明了的，暗淡的/dark; vague; unclear. Even after I read the poem a fourth time, its meaning was still obscure. obscurity, N.

subsidiary

ADJ. /次要的；辅助的/subordinate; secondary. This information may be used as subsidiary evidence but is not sufficient by itself to prove your argument. also N.

overwrought

ADJ. /歇斯底里的/extremely agitated; hysterical. When Kate heard the news of the sudden tragedy, she became too overwrought to work and had to leave the office early.

valid

ADJ. /正当的；有效的/logically convincing; sound; legally acceptable. You're going to have to come up with a better argument if you want to convince me that your reasoning is valid.

unerringly

ADJ. /正确无误的/infallibly. My teacher unerringly pounced on the one typographical error in my essay.

wry

ADJ. /歪曲的；扭曲的/twisted; with a humorous twist. We enjoy Dorothy Parker's verse for its wrywit.

perpetual

ADJ. /永久的/everlasting. Ponce de Leon hoped to find the legendary fountain of perpetual youth.

pensive

ADJ. /沉思默想的；忧心忡忡的/dreamily thoughtful; thoughtful with a hint of sadness; contemplative. The pensive lover gazed at the portrait of his beloved and deeply sighed.

ponderous

ADJ. /沉重的；笨重的；呆板的；冗长的/weighty; unwieldy. His humor lacked the light touch; his jokes were always ponderous.

staid

ADJ. /沉静的；安静的/sober; sedate. Her conduct during the funeral ceremony was staid and solemn.

taciturn

ADJ. /沉默寡言的/habitually silent; talking little. The stereotypical cowboy is a taciturn soul, answering lengthy questions with a "Yep" or "Nope."

raucous

ADJ. /沙哑的/harsh and shrill; disorderly and boisterous. The raucous crowd of New Year's Eve revelers got progressively noisier as midnight drew near.

unscathed

ADJ. /没有受伤的/unharmed. They prayed he would come back from the war unscathed.

pedestrian

ADJ. /没有想象力的，普通的/ordinary; unimaginative. Unintentionally boring, he wrote page after page of pedestrian prose.

wan

ADJ. /苍白的/having a pale or sickly color; pallid. Suckling asked, "Why so pale and wan, fond lover?"

therapeutic

ADJ. /治疗的；治疗学的/curative. Now better known for its racetrack, Saratoga Springs first gained attention for the therapeutic qualities of its famous "healing waters." therapy, N.

undulating

ADJ. /波浪的/moving with a wavelike motion. The Hilo Hula Festival was an undulating sea of grass skirts.

perspicacious

ADJ. /洞察一切的，渗透的；机敏的/having insight; penetrating; astute. The brilliant lawyer was known for his perspicacious deductions. perspicacity, N.

rousing

ADJ. /活跃的；煽动的/lively; stirring. "And now, let's have a rousing welcome for TV's own Roseanne Barr, who'll lead us in a rousing rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner."'

turbid

ADJ. /浑浊的；搅动了沉淀物的/muddy; having the sediment disturbed. The water was turbid after the children had waded through it.

prodigal

ADJ. /浪费的/wasteful; reckless with money. Don't be so prodigal spending my money; when you've earned some money yourself, you can waste it as much as you want! also N.

pervasive

ADJ. /深入人心的；普遍的/pervading; spread throughout every part. Despite airing them for several hours, Martha could not rid her clothes of the pervasive odor of mothballs that clung to them. pervade, V.

profound

ADJ. /深刻的/deep; not superficial; complete. Freud's remarkable insights into human behavior caused his fellow scientists to honor him as a profound thinker. profundity, N.

wistful

ADJ. /渴望的/vaguely longing; sadly thoughtful. With a last wistful glance at the happy couples dancing in the hall, Sue headed back to her room to study for her exam.

nomadic

ADJ. /游牧的/wandering. Several nomadic tribes of Indians would hunt in this area each year.

sodden

ADJ. /湿透的/soaked; dull, as if from drink. He set his sodden overcoat near the radiator to dry.

waggish

ADJ. /滑稽的；爱开玩笑的/mischievous; humorous; tricky. He was a prankster who, unfortunately, often overlooked the damage he could cause with his waggish tricks. wag, N.

zany

ADJ. /滑稽的；疯狂的/crazy; comic. I can watch the Marx brothers' zany antics for hours.

potential

ADJ. /潜在的/expressing possibility; latent. This juvenile delinquent is a potential murderer. also N.

vehement

ADJ. /激烈的；热烈的/forceful; intensely emotional; with marked vigor. Alfred became so vehement in describing what was wrong with the Internal Revenue Service that he began jumping up and down and frothing at the mouth. vehemence, N.

thermal

ADJ. /热的；热学的/pertaining to heat. The natives discovered that the hot springs made excellent thermal baths and began to develop their community as a health resort. also N.

restive

ADJ. /焦躁不安的；难以压抑的/restlessly impatient; obstinately resisting control. Waiting impatiently in line to see Santa Claus, even the best-behaved children grow restive and start to fidget.

provocative

ADJ. /煽动的；刺激的；激怒的/arousing anger or interest; annoying. In a typically provocative act, the bully kicked sand into the weaker man's face.

pert

ADJ. /爱管闲事的，无理的/impertinent; forward. I think your pert and impudent remarks call for an apology.

meddlesome

ADJ. /爱管闲事的；好事的；好插手的/interfering. He felt his marriage was suffering because of his meddlesome mother-in-law.

rabid

ADJ. /狂暴的；激烈的/like a fanatic; furious. He was a rabid follower of the Dodgers and watched them play whenever he could go to the ball park.

wily

ADJ. /狡猾的/cunning; artful. She is as wily as a fox in avoiding trouble.

unique

ADJ. /独一无二的/without an equal; single in kind. You have the unique distinction of being the only student whom I have had to fail in this course.

parochial

ADJ. /狭小的，地方的/narrow in outlook; provincial; related to parishes. Although Jane Austen sets her novels in small rural communities, her concerns are universal, not parochial,

rampant

ADJ. /猖獗的；滋生的；猛烈的/growing in profusion; unrestrained. The rampant weeds in the garden choked the flowers until they died.

remiss

ADJ. /玩忽职守的，粗心大意的/negligent. The guard was accused of being remiss in his duty when the prisoner escaped.

theoretical

ADJ. /理论的/not practical or applied; hypothetical. Bob was better at applied engineering and computer programming than he was at theoretical physics and math. While I can still think of some theoretical objections to your plan, you've convinced me of its basic soundness.

treacly

ADJ. /甜蜜的/sticky sweet; cloyingly sentimental. Irritatingly cheerful, always looking on the bright side, Pollyanna speaks nothing but treacly sentimentalities. treacle, N.

vivacious

ADJ. /生动的/animated; lively. She had always been vivacious and sparkling.

physiological

ADJ. /生理学的/pertaining to the science of the function of living organisms. To understand this disease fully, we must examine not only its physiological aspects but also its psychological elements.

pastoral

ADJ. /田园的；乡下的/rural. In these stories of pastoral life, we find an understanding of the daily tasks of country folk.

virile

ADJ. /男子的；男子气概的/manly. I do not accept the premise that a man proves he's virile by being belligerent.

pallid

ADJ. /苍白的，惨淡的/pale; wan. Because his job required that he work at night and sleep during the day, he had an exceptionally pallid complexion.

morbid

ADJ. /病态的，恐怖的；喜怒无常的；不成熟的/given to unwholesome thought; moody; characteristic of disease. People who come to disaster sites just to peer at the grisly wreckage are indulging their morbid curiosity.

pathological

ADJ. /病理学/related to the study of disease; diseased or markedly abnormal. Jerome's pathological fear of germs led him to wash his hands a hundred times a day. pathol-ogy, N.

meager

ADJ. /瘦的；贫乏的，不足的/scanty; inadequate. Still hungry after his meager serving of porridge, Oliver Twist asked for a second helping.

regal

ADJ. /皇家的/royal. Prince Albert had a regal manner.

provincial

ADJ. /省级的；视野不宽的；简单的/pertaining to a province; limited in outlook; unsophisticated. As provincial governor, Sir Henry administered the Queen's law in his remote corner of Canada. Caught up in local problems, out of touch with London news, he became sadly provincial.

substantive

ADJ. /真实的；有实质的；大量的/essential; pertaining to the substance. Although the delegates were aware of the importance of the problem, they could not agree on the substantive issues.

quiescent

ADJ. /睡眠的；休息的；暂停活动的/at rest; dormant; temporarily inactive. After the great eruption, fear of Mount Etna was great; people did not return to cultivate its rich hillside lands until the volcano had been quiescent for a full two years. quiescence, N.

transitory

ADJ. /短时间的/impermanent; fleeting. Fame is transitory: today's rising star is all too soon tomorrow's washed-up has-been. transitoriness, N.

squat

ADJ. /矮壮的；又短又厚的；蹲着的/stocky; short and thick. Tolkien's hobbits are somewhat squat, sturdy little creatures, fond of good ale, good music, and good mushrooms.

seedy

ADJ. /破烂不堪的；褴褛的；不合适的/run-down; decrepit; disreputable. I would rather stay in dormitory lodgings in a decent youth hostel than have a room of my own in a seedy downtown hotel.

schematic

ADJ. /示例的；示意性的/relating to an outline or diagram; using a system of symbols. In working out the solution to this logic puzzle, you may find it helpful to construct a simple schematic diagram outlining the order of events.

oracular

ADJ. /神一样的；谜一样的；超自然的，无法理解的/prophetic; uttered as if with divine authority; mysterious or ambiguous. Like many others who sought divine guidance from the oracle at Delphi, Oedipus could not understand the enigmatic oracularwarning he received.

queasy

ADJ. /神经质的，洁癖的；易呕吐的/easily nauseated; squeamish. Remember that great chase movie, the one with the carsick passenger? That's right: Queasy Rider!

quaint

ADJ. /离奇古怪的；做的精巧的；过时的/odd; old-fashioned; picturesque. Her quaint clothes and old-fashioned language marked her as an eccentric.

uncanny

ADJ. /离奇的/strange; mysterious. You have the uncanny knack of reading my innermost thoughts.

mobile

ADJ. /移动的/movable; not fixed. The mobile blood bank operated by the Red Cross visited our neighborhood today. mobility, N.

migrant

ADJ. /移居的；候鸟的/changing its habitat; wandering. These migrant birds return every spring. also N.

sparse

ADJ. /稀少的；稀疏的/not thick; thinly scattered; scanty. No matter how carefully Albert combed his hair to make it look as full as possible, it still looked sparse.

rarefied

ADJ. /稀释（气体）/made less dense (of a gas]. The mountain climbers had difficulty breathing in the rarefied atmosphere. rarefy, V.

unprecedented

ADJ. /空前的/novel; unparalleled. For a first novel, Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind was an unprecedented success.

quixotic

ADJ. /空想的；狂想的/idealistic but impractical. Constantly coming up with quixotic, unworkable schemes to save the world, Simon has his heart in the right place, but his head some-where in the clouds.

vacuous

ADJ. /空虚的；空的/empty; inane. The vacuous remarks of the politician annoyed the audience, who had hoped to hear more than empty platitudes.

spatial

ADJ. /空间的/relating to space. NASA is engaged in an ongoing program of spatial exploration. When Jay says he's studying spatial relations, that doesn't mean he has relatives in outer space.

natty

ADJ. /穿着整齐干净的/neatly or smartly dressed. Priding himself on being a natty dresser, the gangster Bugsy Siegel collected a wardrobe of imported suits and ties.

uncouth

ADJ. /笨拙的；粗俗的/outlandish; clumsy; boorish. Most biographers portray Lincoln as an uncouth and ungainly young man.

porous

ADJ. /筛子似的/full of pores; like a sieve. Dancers like to wear porous clothing because it allows the ready passage of water and air.

succinct

ADJ. /简洁的；紧身的/brief; terse; compact. Don't bore your audi ence with excess verbiage: be succinct.

sententious

ADJ. /简洁的；警句式的，格言式的/terse; concise; aphoristic. After reading so many redundant speeches, I find his sententious style particularly pleasing.

terse

ADJ. /简洁；扼要的/concise; abrupt; pithy. There is a fine line between speech that is terse and to the point and speech that is too abrupt.

surly

ADJ. /粗暴的；阴沉的；板着脸的；无礼的/rude; cross. Because of his surly attitude, many people avoided his company.

viscid

ADJ. /粘合的/adhesive; gluey. The trunk of the maple tree was viscid with sap.

politic

ADJ. /精明的；明智的；诡计多端的；谨慎的/expedient; prudent; well advised. Even though he was disappointed by the size of the bonus he was offered, he did not think it politic to refuse it.

shrewd

ADJ. /精明；敏锐/clever; astute. A shrewd investor, he took clever advantage of the fluctuations of the stock market.

pithy

ADJ. /精炼的；抓住灵魂的/concise; meaningful; substantial; meaty. While other girls might have gone on and on about how uncool Elton was, Liz summed it up in one pithy remark: "He's bogus!"

precise

ADJ. /精确的/exact. If you don't give me precise directions and a map, I'll never find your place.

tonic

ADJ. /精神充沛的/invigorating; refreshing. The tart homemade ginger ale had a tonic effect on Kit: she perked right up. also N.

saccharine

ADJ. /糖精的；代糖的；极甜的/cloyingly sweet. She tried to ingratiate herself, speaking sweetly and smiling a saccharine smile.

ungainly

ADJ. /糟糕的；笨拙的/awkward; clumsy; unwieldy. "If you want to know whether Nick's an ungainly dancer, check out my bruised feet," said Nora. Anyone who has ever tried to carry a bass fiddle knows it's an ungainly instrument.

unwieldy

ADJ. /糟糕的；笨拙的/awkward; cumbersome; unmanageable. The large carton was so unwieldy that the movers had trouble getting it up the stairs.

taut

ADJ. /紧张的；整洁的/tight; ready. The captain maintained that he ran a taut ship.

ruddy

ADJ. /红的；红润的，白里透红的；健康的/reddish; healthy-looking. Santa Claus's ruddy cheeks nicely complement Rudolph the Reindeer's bright red nose.

tenuous

ADJ. /纤细的/thin; rare; slim. The allegiance of our allies is held by rather tenuous ties.

wispy

ADJ. /纤细的；脆弱的/thin; slight; barely discernible. Worried about preserving his few wispy tufts of hair, Walter carefully massaged his scalp and applied hair restorer every night.

sheer

ADJ. /纯粹的,，绝对的；透明的；峻峭的；避开，躲避；偏航，避开/very thin or transparent; very steep; absolute. Wearing nothing but an almost sheer robe, Delilah draped herself against the sheer temple wall. Beholding her, Samson was overcome by her sheer beauty. Then she sheared his hair.

ultimate

ADJ. /终极的/final; not susceptible to further analysis. Scientists are searching for ultimate truths.

sinewy

ADJ. /结实；硬朗的/tough; strong and firm. The steak was too sinewy to chew.

scanty

ADJ. /缺乏的；稀疏的/meager; insufficient. Thinking his helping of food was scanty, Oliver Twist asked for more.

verdant

ADJ. /翠绿的；生疏的；无经验的/green; lush in vegetation. Monet's paintings of the verdant meadows were symphonies in green.

seasoned

ADJ. /老练的/experienced. Though pleased with her new batch of rookies, the basketball coach wished she had a few more seasoned players on the team.

perfunctory

ADJ. /肤浅的，不投入的；漠不关心的/superficial; not thorough; lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm. The auditor's perfunctory inspection of the books overlooked many errors. Giving the tabletop only a perfunctory swipe with her dust cloth, Betty promised herself she'd clean it more thoroughly tomorrow.

superficial

ADJ. /肤浅的；浅薄的/trivial; shallow. Since your report gave only a superficial analysis of the problem, I cannot give you more than a passing grade.

obese

ADJ. /肥胖的/fat. It is advisable that obese people try to lose weight.

sordid

ADJ. /肮脏；卑鄙/filthy; base; vile. The social worker was angered by the sordid housing provided for the homeless.

turgid

ADJ. /肿胀的/swollen; distended. The turgid river threatened to overflow the levees and flood the countryside.

perfidious

ADJ. /背信弃义的；不忠的/treacherous; disloyal. When Caesar realized that Brutus had betrayed him, he reproached his perfidious friend. perfidy, N.

viable

ADJ. /能养活的；可行的/practical or workable; capable of maintaining life. That idea won't work. Let me see whether I can come up with a viable alternative.

petulant

ADJ. /脾气坏的/touchy; peevish. If you'd had hardly any sleep for three nights and people kept phoning and waking you up, you'd sound pretty petulant, too.

vitriolic

ADJ. /腐蚀的；硫酸的；讽刺的/corrosive; sarcastic. Such vitriolic criticism is uncalled for.

pretentious

ADJ. /自命不凡；华而不实；自大/ostentatious; pompous; making unjustified claims; overly ambitious. None of the other prize winners are wearing their medals; isn't it a bit pretentious of you to wear yours?

supercilious

ADJ. /自大的；傲慢的/arrogant; condescending; patronizing. The supercilious headwaiter sneered at customers whom he thought did not fit in at a restaurant catering to an ultrafashionable crowd.

presumptuous

ADJ. /自大；轻狂；专横/overconfident; impertinently bold; taking liberties. Matilda thought it was somewhat presumptuous of the young man to have addressed her without first having been introduced. Perhaps manners were freer here in the New World.

nautical

ADJ. /航海的/pertaining to ships or navigation. The Maritime Museum contains many models of clipper ships, logbooks, anchors and many other items of a nautical nature.

temperate

ADJ. /节制的；自我控制的/restrained; self-controlled; moderate in respect to temperature. Try to be temperate in your eating this holiday season; if you control your appetite, you won't gain too much weight.

preposterous

ADJ. /荒唐的/absurd; ridiculous. When he tried to downplay his youthful experiments with marijuana by saying he hadn't inhaled, we all thought, "What a preposterous excuse!"

wanton

ADJ. /荒唐的；挥霍的；放荡的；不受限制的/unrestrained; willfully malicious; unchaste. Pointing to the stack of bills, Sheldon criticized Sarah for her wanton expenditures. In response, Sarah accused Sheldon of making an unfounded, wanton attack.

unwarranted

ADJ. /莫名其妙的；没来由的；冤枉的/unjustified; groundless; undeserved. Your assumption that I would accept your proposal is unwarranted, sir; I do not want to marry you at all. We could not understand Martin's unwarranted rudeness to his mother's guests.

reputable

ADJ. /著名的；令人尊敬的/respectable. If you want to buy antiques, look for a reputable dealer; far too many dealers today pass off fakes as genuine antiques.

unkempt

ADJ. /蓬乱的；粗野的；不洁的/disheveled; uncared for in appearance. Jeremy hated his neighbor's unkempt lawn: he thought its neglected appearance had a detrimental effect on neigh borhood property values.

sadistic

ADJ. /虐待狂的；残忍成性的/inclined to cruelty. If we are to improve condi- tions in this prison, we must first get rid of the sadistic warden.

sinuous

ADJ. /蜿蜒的；弯曲复杂的；不老实的/winding; bending in and out; not morally honest. The snake moved in a sinuous manner.

molten

ADJ. /融化了的/melted. The city of Pompeii was destroyed by volcanic ash rather than by molten lava flowing from Mount Vesuvius.

sluggish

ADJ. /行动迟缓的/Slow; lazy; lethargic. After two nights without sleep, she felt sluggish and incapable of exertion.

passive

ADJ. /被动的/not active; acted upon. Mahatma Gandhi urged his followers to pursue a program of passive resistance as he felt that it was more effective than violence and acts of terrorism.

sartorial

ADJ. /裁缝的；缝纫机的；缝匠肌的/pertaining to tailors. He was as famous for the sartorial splendor of his attire as he was for his acting.

mincing

ADJ. /装腔作势的/affectedly dainty. Yum-Yum walked across the stage with mincing steps.

threadbare

ADJ. /褴褛的；破烂不堪的/worn through till the threads show; shabby and poor. The poor adjunct professor hid the threadbare spots on his jacket by sewing leather patches on his sleeves.

narrative

ADJ. /解说的/related to telling a story. A born teller of tales, Tillie Olsen used her impressive narrative skills to advantage in her story "I Stand Here Ironing." narrate, V.

tactile

ADJ. /触觉的/pertaining to the organs or sense of touch. His callused hands had lost their tactile sensitivity.

obituary

ADJ. /讣告/death notice. I first learned of her death when I read the obituary column in the newspaper. also N.

resigned

ADJ. /认命，顺从；听天由命/accepting one's fate; unresisting; patiently submissive. Resigned to his downtrodden existence, Bob Cratchit was too meek to protest Scrooge's bullying. resignation, N.

obnoxious

ADJ. /讨厌的；冒犯的/offensive. I find your behavior obnoxious; please mend your ways.

mnemonic

ADJ. /记忆的/pertaining to memory. He used mnemonic tricks to master new words.

sardonic

ADJ. /讽刺的/disdainful; sarcastic; cynical. The sardonic humor of nightclub comedians who satirize or ridicule patrons in the audience strikes some people as amusing and others as rude.

pertinent

ADJ. /说到点子上的；中肯的；有关的/To the point; relevant. Virginia Woolf's words on women's rights are as pertinent today as they were when she wrote them nearly a century ago.

obsequious

ADJ. /谄媚的；拍马屁的；奴性的/slavishly attentive; servile; sycophantic. Helen liked to be served by people who behaved as if they respected themselves; nothing irritated her more than an excessively obsequious waiter or a fawning salesclerk.

sphinx-like

ADJ. /谜的/enigmatic; mysterious. The Mona Lisa's sphinx-like expression has intrigued and mystified art lovers for centuries.

meek

ADJ. /谦卑的，驯服的；温和的；顺从的/quiet and obedient; spiritless. Can Lois Lane see through Superman's disguise and spot the superhero hiding behind the guise of meek, timorous Clark Kent? Mr. Barrett never expected his meek daughter would dare to defy him by eloping with her suitor.

unassuming

ADJ. /谦逊的/modest. He is so unassuming that some people fail to realize how great a man he really is.

punctilious

ADJ. /谨小慎微的；一丝不苟的/laying stress on niceties of conduct or form; minutely attentive to fine points (perhaps too much so). Percy is punctilious about observing the rules of etiquette whenever Miss Manners invites him to stay. punctiliousness.N.

prudent

ADJ. /谨慎的/cautious; careful. A miser hoards money not because he is prudent but because he is greedy. prudence, N.

vituperative

ADJ. /责骂的/abusive; scolding. He became more vituperative as he realized that we were not going to grant him his wish.

voracious

ADJ. /贪婪的；狼吞虎咽的/ravenous. The wolf is a voracious animal, its hunger never satisfied.

venal

ADJ. /贪污的/capable of being bribed. The venal policeman cheerfully accepted the bribe offered him by the speeding motorist whom he had stopped.

patrician

ADJ. /贵族的/noble; aristocratic. We greatly admired her well-bred, patrician elegance. also N.

psyche

N. /灵魂/soul; mind. It is difficult to delve into the psyche of a human being.

posthumous

ADJ. /身后的；遗腹的（书出版于作者死后，孩子生于父亲死后）/after death (as of child born after father's death or book published after author's death). The critics ignored his works during his lifetime; it was only after the posthumous publication of his last novel that they recognized his great talent.

pejorative

ADJ. /轻蔑；蔑视的/negative in connotation; having a belittling effect. Instead of criticizing Clinton's policies, the Republicans made pejorative remarks about his character.

resplendent

ADJ. /辉煌的；光辉的/dazzling; glorious; brilliant. While all the adults were commenting how glorious the emperor looked in his resplendent new clothes, one little boy was heard to say, "But he's naked!"

painstaking

ADJ. /辛勤的/showing hard work; taking-Dreat care. The new high-frequency word list is the result of painstaking efforts on the part of our research staff.

polemical

ADJ. /辩论的，好辩的/aggressive in verbal attack; disputatious. Lexy was a master of polemical rhetoric; she should have worn a T-shirt with the slogan "Born to Debate."

migratory

ADJ. /迁徙的；流浪的/wandering. The return of the migratory birds to the northern sections of this country is a harbinger of spring. migrate, V.

Simplistic

ADJ. /过分单纯化的/oversimplified. Though Jack's solution dealt adequately with one aspect of the problem, it was simplistic in failing to consider various complications that might arise.

mawkish

ADJ. /过分多愁善感；感情脆弱到令人作呕的/mushy and gushy; icky-sticky sentimental; maudlin. Whenever Gigi and her boyfriend would sigh and get all lovey-dovey, her little brother would shout, "Yuck!" protesting their mawkish behavior.

outmoded

ADJ. /过时的/longer stylish; old-fashioned. Unconcerned about keeping in style, Lenore was perfectly happy to wear outmoded clothes as long as they were clean and unfrayed.

obsolete

ADJ. /过时的；无用的/no longer useful; outmoded; antiquated. The invention of the pocket calculator made the slide rule used by generations of engineers obsolete.

riveting

ADJ. /迷人的/absorbing; engrossing. The reviewer described Byatt's novel Possession as a riveting tale, one so absorbing that he had finished it in a single night.

winsome

ADJ. /迷人的/agreeable; gracious; engaging. By her winsome manner, she made herself liked by everyone who met her.

rapt

ADJ. /迷住的；全神贯注的/absorbed; enchanted. Caught up in the wonder of the storyteller's tale, the rapt listeners sat motionless, hanging on his every word.

retiring

ADJ. /退休的；谦虚的，害羞的/modest; shy. Given Susan's retiring personality, no one expected her to take up public speaking; surprisingly enough, she became a star of the school debate team,

seemly

ADJ. /适宜的，合适的/proper; appropriate. Lady Bracknell did not think it was seemly for Ernest to lack a proper family: no baby abandoned on a doorstep could grow up to be a fit match for her daughter.

transparent

ADJ. /透明的；容易检测的，明晰的/easily detected; permitting light to pass through freely. John's pride in his son is transparent; no one who sees the two of them together can miss it.

pellucid

ADJ. /透明；清澈；明白的/transparent; limpid; easy to understand. After reading these stodgy philosophers, I find Bertrand Russell's pellucid style very enjoyable.

universal

ADJ. /通用的/characterizing or affecting all; present everywhere. At first, no one shared Christopher's opinions; his theory that the world was round was met with universal disdain.

oblivious

ADJ. /遗忘的；出神的/inattentive or unmindful; wholly absorbed. Deep in her book, Nancy was oblivious to the noisy squabbles of her brother and his friends.

slipshod

ADJ. /邋遢的；慢吞吞的；漫不经心的/untidy or slovenly; shabby. As a master craftsman, the carpenter prided himself on not doing slipshod work.

slovenly

ADJ. /邋遢的；漫不经心的/untidy; careless in work habits. Unshaven, sitting around in his bathrobe all afternoon, Gus didn't seem to care about the slovenly appearance he presented. The dark ring around the bathtub and the spider webs hanging from the beams proved what a slovenly housekeeper she was.

sinister

ADJ. /邪恶的/evil. We must defeat the sinister forces that seek our downfall.

morose

ADJ. /郁闷的；乖僻的/ill-humored; sullen; melancholy. Forced to take early retirement, Bill acted morose for months; then, all of a sudden, he shook off his sullen mood and was his usual cheerful self.

sonorous

ADJ. /醒目的/resonant. His sonorous voice resounded through the hall.

vital

ADJ. /重要的；生命的；生机的/vibrant and lively; critical; living, breathing. The vital, highly energetic first aid instructor stressed that it was vital in examining accident victims to note their vital signs.

monetary

ADJ. /金融的/pertaining to money. Jane held the family purse strings: she made all monetary decisions affecting the household.

obtuse

ADJ. /钝的，迟钝的；愚蠢的/blunt; stupid. What can you do with somebody who's so obtuse that he can't even tell that you're insulting him?

pecuniary

ADJ. /钱的，货币的/pertaining to money. Seldom earning enough to cover their expenses, folk dance teachers work because they love dancing, not because they expect any pecuniary reward.

trenchant

ADJ. /锋利的/cutting; keen. I am afraid of his trenchant wit for it is so often sarcastic.

serrated

ADJ. /锯齿状的/having a sawtoothed edge. The beech tree is one of many plants that have serrated leaves.

oblique

ADJ. /间接的；倾斜的；无诚意的/indirect; slanting (deviating from the perpendicular or from a straight line). Casting a quick, oblique glance at the reviewing stand, the sergeant ordered the company to march "Oblique Right."

sultry

ADJ. /闷热的，酷热的；放荡的；粗暴的/sweltering. He could not adjust himself to the sultryclimate of the tropics.

untenable

ADJ. /防不住的；防不胜防的；站不住的/indefensible; not able to be maintained. Wayne is so contrary that, the more untenable a position is, the harder he'll try to defend it.

somber

ADJ. /阴森的；昏暗的；抑郁的/gloomy; depressing; dark; drab. From the doctor's grim expression, I could tell he had somber news. Dull brown and charcoal gray are pretty somber colors; can't you wear something bright?

saturnine

ADJ. /阴郁的/gloomy. Do not be misled by his saturnine countenance; he is not as gloomy as he looks.

trite

ADJ. /陈腐的/hackneyed; commonplace. The trite and predictable situations in many television programs turn off many viewers, who, in turn, turn off their sets.

musty

ADJ. /陈腐的，变质的；时间长损失品质的/stale; spoiled by age. The attic was dark and musty.

precipitous

ADJ. /陡峭的；急躁的/steep; overhasty. This hill is difficult to climb because it is so precipitous; one slip, and our descent will be precipitous as well.

promiscuous

ADJ. /随意混合的；打乱的；随便的/mixed indiscriminately; haphazard; irregular, particularly sexually. In the opera La Boheme, we get a picture of the promiscuous life led by the young artists of Paris.

random

ADJ. /随机的/without definite purpose, plan, or aim; haphazard. Although the sponsor of the raffle claimed all winners were chosen at random, people had their suspicions when the grand prize went to the sponsor's brother-in-law.

unsightly

ADJ. /难看的/ugly. Although James was an experienced emergency room nurse, he occasionally became queasy when faced with a particularly unsightly injury.

monumental

ADJ. /雄伟的；厚重的；结实的；纪念的/massive. Writing a dictionary is a monumental task.

sporadic

ADJ. /零星的/occurring irregularly. Although you can still hear sporadic outbursts of laughter and singing outside, the big Halloween parade has passed; the party's over till next year.

tremulous

ADJ. /震荡的/trembling; wavering. She was tremulous more from excitement than from fear.

static

ADJ. /静态的/unchanging; lacking development. Why watch chess on TV? I like watching a game with action, not something static where nothing seems to be going on.

stagnant

ADJ. /静止的；单调的/motionless; stale; dull. Mosquitoes commonly breed in ponds of stagnant water. Mike's career was stagnant; it wasn't going anywhere, and neither was he! stagnate, V.

muted

ADJ. /静默的；静音的/silent; muffled; toned down. Thanks to the thick, sound-absorbing walls of the cathedral, only muted traffic noise reached the worshippers within.

sacrosanct

ADJ. /非常神圣的/most sacred; inviolable. The brash insurance salesman invaded the sacrosanct privacy of the office of the president of the company.

momentous

ADJ. /非常重要的/very important. When Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium, they had no idea of the momentous impact their discovery would have upon society.

recumbent

ADJ. /靠着的；斜躺的；不动的；休息的/reclining; lying down completely or in part. The command "AT EASE" does not permit you to take a recumbent position.

pliant

ADJ. /顺从的/flexible; easily influenced. Pinocchio's disposition was pliant, he was like putty in his tempters' hands.

willful

ADJ. /顽固的；故意的/intentional; headstrong. Donald had planned to kill his wife for months; clearly, her death was a case of deliberate, willful murder, not a crime of passion committed by a hasty, willful youth unable to foresee the consequences of his deeds.

tenacious

ADJ. /顽强的/holding fast. I had to struggle to break his tenacious hold on my arm.

prophetic

ADJ. /预言的/foretelling the future. I have no magical prophetic powers; when I predict what will happen, I base my predictions on common sense. prophesy, V.

subversive

ADJ. /颠覆性的；破坏性的/tending to overthrow; destructive. At first glance, the notion that styrofoam cups may actually be more ecologically sound than paper cups strikes most environmentalists as subversive.

ravenous

ADJ. /饥饿的/extremely hungry. The ravenous dog upset several garbage pails in its search for food.

tractable

ADJ. /驯良的；温顺的；易处理的/docile; easily managed. Although Susan seemed a tractable young woman, she had a stubborn streak of independence that occasionally led her to defy the powers-that-be when she felt they were in the wrong.

sanguine

ADJ. /高兴的；有希望的；乐天的/cheerful; hopeful. Let us not be too sanguine about the outcome; something could go wrong.

querulous

ADJ. /鸣不平的；易发牢骚的/fretful; whining. Even the most agreeable toddlers can begin to act querulous if they miss their nap.

musky

ADJ. /麝香味儿的/having the odor of musk. She left a trace of musky perfume behind her.

tacit

ADJ. /默许的；会意的/understood; not put into words. We have a tacit agreement based on only a handshake.

myopic

ADJ. /鼠目寸光；缺乏远见/nearsighted; lacking foresight. Stumbling into doors despite the coke bottle lenses on his glasses, the nearsighted Mr. Magoo is markedly myopic. In playing all summer long and ignoring to store up food for winter, the grasshopper in Aesop's fable was myopic as well.

Stoic

ADJ. impassive; unmoved by joy or grief. I wasn't particularly stoic when I had my flu shot; I squealed like a stuck pig. also N.

piecemeal

ADV. /一次一个的，逐个的；渐渐的；碎的/one piece at a time; gradually. Tolstoy's War and Peace is too huge to finish in one sitting; I'll have to read it piecemeal.

verbatim

ADV. /逐字的/word for word. He repeated the message verbatim. also ADJ.

novelty

N. /新奇/something new; newness. The computer is no longer a novelty at work; every desk in our office has one. novel, ADJ.

paragon

N. /模范/model of perfection. Her fellow students disliked Lavinia because Miss Minchin always pointed her out as a paragon of virtue.

windfall

N. /横财/unexpected lucky event. This huge tax refund is quite a windfall.

whiff

N. /一吹；一喷/puff or gust (of air, scent, etc.); hint. The slightest whiff of Old Spice cologne brought memories of George to her mind.

swarm

N. /一大群；挤满，占满，蜂拥/dense moving crowd; large group of honeybees. At the height of the city hall scandals, a constant swarm of reporters followed the mayor everywhere. also V.

uniformity

N. /一致性；同样/sameness; monotony. At Persons magazine, we strive for uniformity of style; as a result, all our writers wind up sounding exactly alike.

penury

N. /一贫如洗；穷困潦倒/severe poverty; stinginess. When his pension fund failed, George feared he would end his days in penury. He became such a penny pincher that he turned into a closefisted, penurious miser.

reticence

N. /不动声色的；深藏不露的；沉默寡言的/reserve; uncommunicativeness; inclination to silence. Fearing his competitors might get advance word about his plans from talkative staff members, Hughes preferred reticence from his employees to loquacity. reticent, ADJ.

nonentity

N. /不存在/person of no importance; nonexistence. Because the two older princes dismissed their youngest brother as a nonentity, they did not realize that he was quietly plotting to seize the throne.

savant

N. /专家，学者/scholar. Our faculty includes many world famous savants.

utopia

N. /乌托邦/ideal place, state, or society. Fed up with this imperfect universe, Don would have liked to run off to Shangri-la or some other imaginary utopia. utopian, ADJ. vacillate V. waver; fluctuate. Uncertain which suitor she ought to marry, the princess vacillated, saying now one, now the other. The big boss likes his people to be decisive: when he asks you for your opinion, whatever you do, don't vacillate. vacillation, N.

optimist

N. /乐观者/person who looks on the good side. The pessimist says the glass is half-empty; the optimist says it is half-full.

mendicant

N. /乞丐/beggar. "O noble sir, give alms to the poor," cried Aladdin, playing the mendicant.

squabble

N. /争吵/minor quarrel; bickering. Children invariably get involved in petty squabbles; wise parents know when to interfere and when to let the children work things out on their own.

spat

N. /争论；口角；扇巴掌/squabble; minor dispute. What had started out as a mere spat escalated into a full-blown argument.

yield

N. /产出；（投资的）回报/amount produced; crop; income on investment. An experienced farmer can estimate the annual yield of his acres with surprising accuracy. also V.

propinquity

N. /亲近；血缘/nearness; kinship. Their relationship could not be explained as being based on mere propinquity; they were more than relatives, they were true friends.

practitioner

N. /从业者/someone engaged in a profession (law, medicine). In need of a hip replacement, Carl sought a practitioner with considerable experience performing this particular surgery.

repository

N. /仓库；知识库；智囊团/storehouse. Libraries are repositories of the world's best thoughts.

proxy

N. /代理/authorized agent. Please act as my proxy and vote for this slate of candidates in my absence.

surrogate

N. /代理；代替/substitute. For a fatherless child, a male teacher may become a father surrogate.

tenure

N. /任期；（土地的）使用年限/holding of an office; time during which such an office is held. He has permanent tenure in this position and cannot be fired.

vantage

N. /优势/position giving an advantage. They fired upon the enemy from behind trees, walls and any other point of vantage they could find.

subpoena

N. /传票/writ summoning a witness to appear. The prosecutor's office was ready to serve a subpoena on the reluctant witness. also V.

perjury

N. /伪誓；伪证/false testimony while under oath. Rather than lie under oath and perhaps be indicted for perjury, the witness chose to take the Fifth Amendment, refusing to answer any questions on the grounds that he might incriminate himself.

sophistry

N. /似真实假的/seemingly plausible but fallacious reasoning. Instead of advancing valid arguments, he tried to overwhelm his audience with a flood of sophistries.

opus

N. /作品/work. Although many critics hailed his Fifth Symphony as his major work, he did not regard it as his major opus.

stint

N. /供应；分配；限量分配/supply; allotted amount; assigned portion of work. He performed his daily stint cheerfully and willingly. also V.

reconnaissance

N. /侦查/survey of enemy by soldiers; reconnoitering. If you encounter any enemy soldiers during your reconnaissance, capture them for questioning.

witticism

N. /俏皮话/witty saying; wisecrack. I don't mean any criticism, but that last witticism totally hurt my feelings.

philistine

N. /俗气的人，无教养的人；心胸狭窄的人/narrow-minded person, uncultured and exclusively interested in material gain. We need more men of culture and enlightenment; we have too many philistines among us.

missive

N. /信件/letter. The ambassador received a missive from the secretary of state.

reparation

N. /修订；弥补；补偿/amends; compensation. At the peace conference, the defeated country promised to pay reparations to the victors.

pretext

N. /借口；托辞/excuse. He looked for a good pretext to get out of paying a visit to his aunt.

subterfuge

N. /借口；托辞/pretense; evasion. As soon as we realized that you had won our support by a subterfuge, we withdrew our endorsement of your candidacy.

partiality

N. /倾向；偏见/inclination; bias. As a judge, not only must I be unbiased, but I must also avoid any evidence of partiality when I award the prize.

proclivity

N. /倾向；自然倾向/inclination; natural tendency. Watching the two-year-old voluntarily put away his toys, I was amazed by his proclivityfor neatness.

penchant

N. /倾向；趣味/strong inclination; liking. Dave has a penchant for taking risks: one semester he went steady with three girls, two of whom were stars on the school karate team.

pseudonym

N. /假名；笔名/pen name. Samuel Clemens' pseudonym was Mark Twain.

premise

N. /假定，假设；前提/assumption; postulate. Based on the premise that there's no fool like an old fool, P. T. Barnum hired a ninety-year-old clown for his circus.

supposition

N. /假定；假想/hypothesis; the act of supposing. I based my decision to confide in him on the supposition that he would be discreet. suppose, V.

predilection

N. /偏爱；偏好/partiality; preference. Although I have written all sorts of poetry over the years, I have a definite predilection for occasional verse.

nepotism

N. /偏袒的人（亲戚）/favoritism (to a relative). John left his position with the company because he felt that advancement was based on nepotism rather than ability.

precedent

N. /先例/something preceding in time that may be used as an authority or guide for future action. If I buy you a car for your sixteenth birthday, your brothers will want me to buy them cars when they turn sixteen, too; I can't afford to set such an expensive precedent. The law professor asked Jill to state which famous case served as a precedent for the court's decision in Brown ll.

vanguard

N. /先驱；先锋/forerunners; advance forces. We are the vanguard of a tremendous army that is following us.

spectrum

N. /光谱/colored band produced when beam of light passes through a prism. The visible portion of the spectrum includes red at one end and violet at the other.

unanimity

N. /全体同意；全体一致/complete agreement. We were surprised by the unanimity with which members of both parties accepted our proposals. unanimous, ADJ.

symbiosis

N. /共生现象/interdependent relationship (between groups, species), often mutually beneficial. Both the crocodile bird and the crocodile derive benefit from their symbiosis: pecking away at food particles embedded in the crocodile's teeth, the bird receives nourishment; the crocodile, meanwhile, receives proper dental hygiene. symbiotic, ADJ.

paradigm

N. /典范；模式/model; example; pattern. Pavlov's experiment in which he trains a dog to salivate on hearing a bell is a paradigm of the conditioned-response experiment in behavioral psychology. Barron's How to Prepare for College Entrance Examinations was a paradigm for all the SAT-prep books that followed.

tome

N. /册；卷/large volume. He spent much time in the libraries poring over ancient tomes.

prolixity

N. /冗长的；啰嗦的/tedious wordiness; verbosity. A writer who suffers from prolixity tells his readers everything they never wanted to know about his subject (or were too bored to ask). prolix, ADJ.

reverie

N. /冥想；发呆；白日梦/daydream; musing. He was awakened from his reverie by the teacher's question.

resolve

N. /决心；解决/determination; firmness of purpose. How dare you question my resolve to take up sky-diving! Of course I haven't changed my mind!

nonchalance

N. /冷淡/indifference; lack of concern; composure. Cool, calm, and collected under fire, James Bond shows remarkable nonchalance in the face of danger.

stupor

N. /冷漠；漠不关心/state of apathy; daze; lack of awareness. In his stupor, the addict was unaware of the events taking place around him.

nicety

N. /准确，精密/precision; minute distinction. I cannot distinguish between such niceties of reasoning.

remission

N. /减轻，缓解；宽恕/temporary moderation of disease symptoms; cancellation of a debt; forgiveness or pardon. Though the senator had been treated for cancer, his symptoms were in remission, and he was considered fit enough to handle the strains of a presidential race.

phoenix

N. /凤凰（象征不死和重生、涅磐）/symbol of immortality or rebirth. Like the legendary phoenix rising from its ashes, the city of San Francisco rose again after its destruction during the 1906 earthquake.

vent

N. /出口，出路/a small opening; outlet. The wine did not flow because the air vent in the barrel was clogged.

molecule

N. /分子/the smallest particle (one or more atoms) of a substance, having all the properties of that substance. In chemistry, we study how atoms and molecules react to form new substances.

ramification

N. /分支；分叉/branching out; subdivision. We must examine all the ramifications of this problem.

watershed

N. /分水岭/crucial dividing point. The invention of the personal computer proved a historic watershed, for it opened the way to today's Information Age.

schism

N. /分离/division; split. Let us not widen the schism by further bickering.

roster

N. /列表/list. They print the roster of players in the season's program.

potion

N. /剂量/dose (of liquid). Tristan and Isolde drink a love potion in the first act of the opera.

predecessor

N. /前任；前辈/former occupant of a post. I hope I can live up to the fine example set by my late predecessor in this office.

premonition

N. /前兆/forewarning. We ignored these premonitions of disaster because they appeared to be based on childish fears.

postulate

N. /前提；基于的假定/essential premise; underlying assumption. The basic postulate of democracy, set forth in the Declaration of Independence, is that all men are created equal.

scabbard

N. /剑鞘/case for a sword blade; sheath. The drill master told the recruit to wipe the blood from his sword before slipping it back into the scabbard.

revulsion

N. /剧变（情感的）；抽回；收手/sudden violent change of feeling; reaction. Many people in this country who admired dictatorships underwent a revulsion when they realized what Hitler and Mussolini were trying to do.

throes

N. /剧痛/violent anguish. The throes of despair can be as devastating as the spasms accompanying physical pain.

plagiarism

N. /剽窃/theft of another's ideas or writings passed off as original. The editor recognized the plagiarism and rebuked the culprit who had presented the manuscript as original.

menagerie

N. /动物园/collection of wild animals. Whenever the children run wild around the house, Mom shouts, "Calm down! I'm not running a menagerie!"

momentum

N. /动量；动力/quantity of motion of a moving body; impetus. The car lost momentum as it tried to ascend the steep hill.

mutability

N. /变化能力/ability to change in form; fickleness. Going from rags to riches, and then back to rags again, the bankrupt financier was a victim of the mutability of fortune.

metamorphosis

N. /变形/change of form; major transformation. The metamorphosis of caterpillar to butterfly is typical of many such changes in animal life. metamorphose, V.

renegade

N. /变节者/deserter; traitor. Because he had abandoned his post and joined forces with the Indians, his fellow officers considered the hero of Dances with Wolves a renegade. also ADJ.

turncoat

N. /叛徒；叛逆者/traitor. The British considered Benedict Arnold a loyalist; the Americans considered him a turncoat.

ventriloquist

N. /口技表演者/someone who can make his or her voice seem to come from another person or thing. This ventriloquist does an act in which she has a conversation with a wooden dummy.

paleontology

N. /古生物学/study of prehistoric life. The paleontology instructor had a superb collection of fossils.

pauper

N. /叫花子；非常可怜的人/very poor person. Though Widow Brown was living on a reduced income, she was by no means a pauper.

typhoon

N. /台风/tropical hurricane or cyclone. If you liked Twister, you'll love Typhoon!

merger

N. /合并；吞并/combination (of two business corporations). When the firm's president married the director of financial planning, the office joke was that it wasn't a marriage, it was a merger.

synthesis

N. /合成/combining parts into a whole. Now that we have succeeded in isolating this drug, our next problem is to plan its synthesis in the laboratory. synthesize, V.

tautology

N. /同义反复/unnecessary repetition. "Joyful happiness" is an illustration of tautology.

title

N. /名字；等级；拥有权/right or claim to possession; mark of rank; name (of a book, film, etc.). Though the penniless Duke of Ragwort no longer held title to the family estate, he still retained his title as head of one of England's oldest families.

renown

N. /名望/fame. For many years an unheralded researcher, Barbara McClintock gained international renown when she won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. renowned, ADJ.

progeny

N. /后裔/children; offspring. He was proud of his progeny in general, but regarded George as the most promising of all his children.

monarchy

N. /君主制；君主整体/government under a single ruler. Though England today is a monarchy, there is some question whether it will be one in twenty years, given the present discontent at the prospect of Prince Charles as king.

tightwad

N. /吝啬鬼/excessively frugal person; miser. Jill called Jack a tightwad because he never picked up the check.

tumult

N. /吵闹；混乱/commotion; riot; noise. She could not make herself heard over the tumult of the mob.

vampire

N. /吸血鬼/ghostly being that sucks the blood of the living. Children were afraid to go to sleep because of the many legends of vampires roaming at night.

perimeter

N. /周长/outer boundary. To find the perimeter of any quadrilateral, we add the lengths of the four sides.

respiration

N. /呼吸；呼吸作用；呼气/breathing; exhalation. The doctor found that the patient's years of smoking had adversely affected both his lung capacity and his rate of respiration.

nomenclature

N. /命名法；术语学/terminology; system of names. Sharon found Latin word parts useful in translating medical nomenclature: when her son had to have a bilateral myringotomy, she figured out that he just needed a hole in each of his eardrums to end the earaches he had.

rave

N. /咆哮/overwhelmingly favorable review. Though critic John Simon seldom has a good word to say about most contemporary plays, his review of All in the Timing was a total rave.

pacifist

N. /和平主义者/one opposed to force; antimilitarist. Shooting his way through the jungle, Rambo was clearly not a pacifist.

pact

N. /和约；条约/agreement; treaty. Tweedledum and Tweedledee made a pact not to quarrel anymore.

zephyr

N. /和风；徐风/gentle breeze; west wind. When these zephyrs blow, it is good to be in an open boat under a full sail.

responsiveness

N. /响应的/state of reacting readily to appeals, orders, etc. The audience cheered and applauded, delighting the performers by its responsiveness.

sentinel

N. /哨兵/sentry; lookout. Though camped in enemy territory, Bledsoe ignored the elementary precaution of posting sentinels around the encampment.

raconteur

N. /善谈的人；满肚子故事的人/storyteller. My father was a gifted raconteur with an unlimited supply of anecdotes.

plaudit

N. /喝彩/enthusiastically worded approval; round of applause. The theatrical company reprinted the plaudits of the critics in its advertisements. plauditory, ADJ.

pandemonium

N. /喧嚣；混乱/wild tumult. When the ships collided in the harbor, pandemonium broke out among the passengers.

quip

N. /嘲弄；讽刺/taunt. You are unpopular because you are too free with your quips and sarcastic comments. also V.

quadruped

N. /四足动物/four-footed animal. Most mammals are quadrupeds.

predicament

N. /困境；危险的境地；两难/tricky or dangerous situation; dilemma. Tied to the railroad tracks by the villain, Pauline strained against her bonds. How would she escape from this terrible predicament?

rotundity

N. /圆形，球状；洪亮的演讲/roundness; sonorousness of speech. Washington Irving emphasized the rotundity of the governor by describing his height and circumference.

ordination

N. /圣职授任；委任/ceremony making someone a minister. At the young priest's ordination, the members of the congregation presented him with a set of vestments. ordain, V.

tract

N. /地域；小册子/region of land (often imprecisely described); pamphlet. The king granted William Penn a tract of land in the New World. Penn then printed a tract in which he encour-aged settlers to join his colony.

stratum

N. /地层；社会阶层/layer of earth's surface; layer of society. Unless we alleviate conditions in the lowest stratum of our society, we may expect grumbling and revolt.

resolution

N. /坚定；决心；决定/determination; resolve. Nothing could shake his resolution that his children would get the best education that money could buy. resolute, ADJ.

tenacity

N. /坚韧/firmness; persistence. Jean Valjean could not believe the tenacity of Inspector Javert. Here all Valjean had done was to steal a loaf of bread, and the inspector had pursued him doggedly for twenty years!

rectitude

N. /垂直；正直；公正/uprightness; moral virtue; correctness of judgment. The Eagle Scout was a model of rectitude.

rationale

N. /基础科学；基本原理/fundamental reason or justification; grounds for an action. Her need to have someplace to hang her earring collection was Dora's rationale for piercing fifteen holes in each ear.

plasticity

N. /塑性/ability to be molded. When clay dries out, it loses its plasticity and becomes less malleable.

mural

N. /壁画/wall painting. The walls of the Chicano Community Center are covered with murals painted in the style of Diego Rivera, the great Mexican artist.

prestige

N. /声望；威信/impression produced by achievements or reputation. Many students want to go to Harvard College not for the education offered but for the prestige of Harvard's name.

nemesis

N. /复仇的人；寻衅者/someone seeking revenge. Abandoned at sea in a small boat, the vengeful Captain Bligh vowed to be the nemesis of Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers.

retribution

N. /复仇；补偿；惩罚/vengeance; compensation; punishment for offenses. The evangelist maintained that an angry deity would exact retribution from the sinners.

replica

N. /复制/copy. Are you going to hang this replica of the Declaration of Independence in the classroom or in the auditorium?

multiplicity

N. /多样性/state of being numerous. He was appalled by the multiplicity of details he had to complete before setting out on his mission.

polygamist

N. /多配偶/one who has more than one spouse at a time. He was arrested as a polygamist when his two wives filed complaints about him.

tycoon

N. /大亨/wealthy leader. John D. Rockefeller was a prominent tycoon.

scad

N. /大批的，许多/a great quantity. Refusing Dave's offer to lend him a shirt, Phil replied, "No, thanks, I've got scads of clothes."

strut

N. /大摇大摆；高视阔步/pompous walk; swagger. Looking at his self important strut as he swaggered about the parade ground, I could tell Colonel Blimp thought highly of himself. also V.

précis

N. /大纲；摘要/concise summing up of main points. Before making her presentation at the conference, Ellen wrote up a neat précis of the major elements she would cover.

metropolis

N. /大都会/large city. Every evening the terminal is filled with thousands of commuters going from this metropolis to their homes in the suburbs.

naiveté

N. /天真烂漫的，简单的/quality of being unsophisticated; simplicity; artlessness; gullibility. Touched by the naivetd of sweet, convent-trained Cosette, Marius pledges himself to protect her innocence. naive, ADJ.

pomposity

N. /夸大，华丽；浮夸；自大/self-important behavior; acting like a stuffed shirt. Although the commencement speaker had some good things to say, we had to laugh at his pomposity and general air of parading his own dignity. POMPOUS, ADJ.

prodigy

N. /奇才；天才/marvel; highly gifted child. Menuhin was a prodigy, performing wonders on his violin when he was barely eight years old.

opulence

N. /奢华；巨富；富裕，富足/extreme wealth; luxuriousness; abundance. The glitter and opulence of the ballroom took Cinderella's breath away. opulent, ADJ.

servitude

N. /奴隶身份；苦工/slavery; compulsory labor. Born a slave, Frederick Douglass resented his life of servitude and plotted to escape to the North.

turpitude

N. /奸恶；卑鄙/depravity. A visitor may be denied admittance to this country if she has been guilty of moral turpitude.

pugnacity

N. /好斗的/combativeness; disposition to fight. "Put up your dukes!" he cried, making a fist to show his pugnacity. pugnacious, ADJ.

paranoia

N. /妄想狂；偏执狂/psychosis marked by delusions of grandeur or persecution. Suffering from paranoia, Don claimed everyone was out to get him; ironically, his claim was accurate: even paranoids have enemies.

obstetrician

N. /妇产科医师/physician specializing in delivery of babies. In modern times, the delivery of children has passed from the midwife to the more scientifically trained obstetrician,

posterity

N. /子孙；后裔/descendants; future generations. We hope to leave a better world to posterity.

subsistence

N. /存在；生存/existence; means of support; livelihood. In these days of inflated prices, my salary provides a mere subsistence.

pedant

N. /学究式人物/scholar who overemphasizes book learning or technicalities. Her insistence that the book be memorized marked the teacher as a pedant rather than a scholar.

skinflint

N. /守财奴；吝啬鬼/stingy person; miser. Scrooge was an ungenerous old skinflint until he reformed his ways and became a notable philanthropist.

solace

N. /安慰/comfort in trouble. I hope you will find solace in the thought that all of us share your loss.

placebo

N. /安慰剂/harmless substance prescribed as a dummy pill. In a controlled experiment, fifty volunteers were given aspirin tablets; the control group received only placebos.

requiem

N. /安灵弥撒；安灵歌，挽歌/mass for the dead; dirge. They played Mozart's Requiem at the funeral.

orientation

N. /定位（在社会上）/act of finding oneself in society. Freshman orientation provides the incoming students with an opportunity to learn about their new environment and their place in it.

parasite

N. /寄生；寄生体/animal or plant living on another; toady; sycophant. The tapeworm is an example of the kind of parasite that may infest the human body.

plutocracy

N. /富豪统治/society ruled by the wealthy. From the way the government caters to the rich, you might think our society is a plutocracy rather than a democracy.

parable

N. /寓言/short, simple story teaching a moral. Let us apply to our own conduct the lesson that this parable teaches.

oligarchy

N. /寡头政治/government by a privileged few. One small clique ran the student council: what had been intended as a democratic governing body had turned into an oligarchy.

symmetry

N. /对称；匀称/arrangement of parts so that balance is obtained; congruity. Something lopsided by definition lacks symmetry.

preamble

N. /导言；介绍词/introductory statement. In the Preamble to the Constitution, the purpose of the document is set forth.

quiver

N. /射箭的/case for arrows. Robin Hood reached back and plucked one last arrow from his quiver. (secondary meaning)

mite

N. /小东西；小硬币/very small object or creature; small coin. Gnats are annoying mites that sting.

mote

N. /小半点/small speck. The tiniest mote in the eye is very painful.

vignette

N. /小插图/picture; short literary sketch. The New Yorker published her latest vignette.

rivulet

N. /小溪/small stream. As the rains continued, the small trickle of water running down the hillside grew into a rivulet that threatened to wash away a portion of the slope.

trinket

N. /小玩意儿；密谋/knickknack; bauble. Whenever she traveled abroad, Ethel would pick up costume jewelry and other trinkets as souvenirs.

skiff

N. /小船/small, light sailboat or rowboat. Tom dreamed of owning an ocean-going yacht but had to settle for a skiff he could sail in the bay.

skirmish

N. /小规模战争；小打小闹/minor fight. Custer's troops expected they might run into a skirmish or two on maneuvers; they did not expect to face a major battle. also V.

modicum

N. /少量/limited quantity. Although his story is based on a modicum of truth, most of the events he describes are fictitious.

paucity

N. /少量；缺乏/scarcity. They closed the restaurant because the paucity of customers made it uneconomical to operate.

wake

N. /尾迹；痕迹/trail of ship or other object through water; path of something that has gone before. The wake of the swan gliding through the water glistened in the moonlight. Reporters and photographers converged on South Carolina in the wake of the hurricane that devastated much of the eastern seaboard.

promontory

N. /岬；海角/headland. They erected a lighthouse on the promontory to warn approaching ships of their nearness to the shore.

summit

N. /巅峰；顶点/utmost height or pinnacle; highest point (of a mountain, etc.) The summit of the amateur mountain climber's aspirations was someday to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

necromancy

N. /巫术，妖术，招魂术/black magic; dealings with the dead. The evil sorceror performed feats of necromancy, calling on the spirits of the dead to tell the future.

wizardry

N. /巫术，魔术/sorcery; magic. Merlin the Magician amazed the knights with his wizardry.

parallelism

N. /平行状态；相似的/state of being parallel; similarity. Although the twins were separated at birth and grew up in different adoptive families, a striking parallelism exists between their lives.

serenity

N. /平静/calmness; placidity. The sound of air raid sirens pierced the serenity of the quiet village of Pearl Harbor. serpentine ADJ. winding; twisting. The car swerved at every curve in the serpentine road.

tranquillity

N. /平静；冷静/calmness; peace. After the commotion and excitement of the city, I appreciate the tranquillity of these fields and forests.

quietude

N. /平静；宁静/tranquility. He was impressed by the air of quietude and peace that pervaded the valley.

reprise

N. /年金；重奏；重复的行动/musical repetition; repeat performance; recurrent action. We enjoyed the soprano's solo in Act I so much that we were delighted by its reprise in the finale.

whelp

N. /幼兽/young wolf, dog, tiger, etc. This collie whelp won't do for breeding, but he'd make a fine pet.

paean

N. /欢乐歌；赞美歌/song of praise or joy. Paeans celebrating the victory filled the air.

prologue

N. /序（诗歌，歌剧的）/introduction (to a poem or play). In the prologue to Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare introduces the audience to the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets.

prelude

N. /序；先驱；先导/introduction; forerunner. I am afraid that this border raid is the prelude to more serious attacks.

wastrel

N. /废物；饭桶；放荡的人/profligate. His neighbors denounced him as a wastrelwho had dissipated his inheritance.

moratorium

N. /延期偿还/legal delay of payment. If we declare a moratorium and delay collection of debts for six months, I am sure the farmers will be able to meet their bills.

onset

N. /开始，发作，肇端；攻击/beginning; attack. Caught unprepared by the sudden onset of the storm, we rushed around the house closing windows and bringing the garden furniture into shelter. Caught unprepared by the enemy onset, the troops scrambled to take shelter.

trajectory

N. /弹道；轨迹；抛物线/path taken by a projectile. The police tried to locate the spot from which the assassin had fired the fatal shot by tracing the trajectory of the bullet.

poignancy

N. /强烈的；感人的；尖锐的/quality of being deeply moving; keenness of emotion. Watching the tearful reunion of the long-separated mother and child, the social worker was touched by the poignancy of the scene. poignant, ADJ.

restitution

N. /归还；补偿/reparation; indemnification. He offered to make restitution for the window broken by his son.

potentate

N. /当权者/monarch; sovereign. The potentate spent more time at Monte Carlo than he did at home on his throne.

yore

N. /往昔/time past. He dreamed of the elegant homes of yore, but gave no thought to their inelegant plumbing.

portent

N. /征兆/sign; omen; forewarning. He regarded the black cloud as a portent of evil.

pittance

N. /微薄的薪水/a small allowance or wage. He could not live on the pittance he received as a pension and had to look for an additional source of revenue.

microcosm

N. /微观世界/small world; the world in miniature. The small village community that Jane Austen depicts serves as a microcosm of English society in her time, for in this small world we see all the social classes meeting and mingling.

requisite

N. /必须品；必要的/necessary requirement. Many colleges state that a student must offer three years of a language as a requisite for admission.

reminiscence

N. /怀旧；回想/recollection. Her reminiscences of her experiences are so fascinating that she ought to write a book.

skeptic

N. /怀疑论者/doubter; person who suspends judgment until the evidence supporting a point of view has been examined. I am a skeptic about the new health plan; I want some proof that it can work. skepticism, N.

slight

N. /怠慢；斥责；侮辱/insult to one's dignity; snub. Hypersensitive and ready to take offense at any discourtesy, Bertha was always on the lookout for real or imaginary slights. also V.

torrent

N. /急流；洪水/rushing stream; flood. Day after day of heavy rain saturated the hillside until the water ran downhill in torrents. torrential, ADJ.

resentment

N. /怨恨；愤恨/indignation; bitterness; displeasure. Not wanting to appear a sore loser, Bill tried to hide his resentment of Barry's success.

phobia

N. /恐怖/morbid fear. Her fear of flying was more than mere nervousness; it was a real phobia.

resumption

N. /恢复；重新开始/taking up again; recommencement. During summer break, Don had not realized how much he missed university life: at the resumption of classes, however, he felt marked excitement and pleasure. resume, V.

wrath

N. /恼火；愤怒/anger; fury. She turned to him, full of wrath, and said, "What makes you think I'll accept lower pay for this job than you get?"

paradox

N. /悖论；佯谬/something apparently contradictory in nature; statement that looks false but is actually correct. Richard presents a bit of a paradox, for he is a card-carrying member of both the National Rifle Association and the relatively pacifist American Civil Liberties Union.

precipice

N. /悬崖；危险的位置/cliff; dangerous position. Suddenly Indiana Jones found himself dangling from the edge of a precipice.

woe

N. /悲哀的/deep, inconsolable grief; affliction; suffering. Pale and wan with grief, Wanda was bowed down beneath the burden of her woes.

pessimism

N. /悲观主义者/belief that life is basically bad or evil; gloominess. Considering how well you have done in the course so far, you have no real reason for such pessimism about your final grade.

plight

N. /情况，状况；困境/condition, state (especially a bad state or condition); predicament. Many people feel that the federal government should do more to alleviate the plight of the homeless. Loggers, unmoved by the plight of the spotted owl, plan to continue logging whether or not they ruin the owl's habitat.

rapport

N. /情感的亲近；和谐/emotional closeness; harmony. In team teaching, it is important that all teachers in the group have good rapport with one another.

scenario

N. /情节；剧本大纲；（电影、歌剧）剧本/plot outline; screenplay; opera libretto. Scaramouche startled the other actors in the commedia troupe when he suddenly departed from their customary scenario and began to improvise.

xenophobia

N. /惧外的/fear or hatred of foreigners. When the refugee arrived in America, he was unprepared for the xenophobia he found there.

mirth

N. /欢笑/merriment; laughter. Sober Malvolio found Sir Toby's mirth improper.

qualms

N. /担心，害怕；担惊受怕；愧对良心/misgivings; uneasy fears, especially about matters of conscience. I have no qualms about giving this assignment to Helen; I know she will handle it admirably.

misgivings

N. /担忧，疑虑/doubts. Hamlet described his misgivings to Horatio but decided to fence with Laertes despite his foreboding of evil.

topography

N. /拓扑学/physical features of a region. Before the generals gave the order to attack, they ordered a complete study of the topography of the region.

parody

N. /拙劣的模仿/humorous imitation; spoof; takeoff; travesty. The show Forbidden Broadway presents parodies spoofing the year's new productions playing on Broadway.

pugilist

N. /拳击家/boxer. The famous pugilist Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammed Ali.

podium

N. /指挥台；检阅台/pedestal; raised platform. The audience applauded as the conductor made his way to the podium.

sarcasm

N. /挖苦；讽刺/scornful remarks; stinging rebuke. Though Ralph pretended to ignore the mocking comments of his supposed friends, their sarcasm wounded him deeply.

spendthrift

N. /挥霍的人/someone who wastes money. Easy access to credit encourages people to turn into spendthrifts who shop till they drop.

tremor

N. /振动的/trembling; slight quiver. She had a nervous tremor in her right hand.

sheaf

N. /捆；扎（秸秆）/bundle of stalks of grain; any bundle of things tied together. The lawyer picked up a sheaf of papers as he rose to question the witness.

predator

N. /捕食者/creature that seizes and devours another animal; person who robs or exploits others. Not just cats, but a wide variety of predators-owls, hawks, weasels, foxescatch mice for dinner. A carnivore is by definition predatory, for he preys on weaker creatures.

repulsion

N. /排斥；反驳/distaste; act of driving back. Hating bloodshed, she viewed war with repulsion. Even defensive battles distressed her, for the repulsion of enemy forces is never accomplished bloodlessly.

recipient

N. /接受的东西；容器/receiver. Although he had been the recipient of many favors, he was not grateful to his benefactor.

proximity

N. /接近；亲近/nearness. Blind people sometimes develop a compensatory ability to sense the proximity of objects around them.

panegyric

N. /推崇之至/formal praise. Blushing at all the praise heaped upon him by the speakers, the modest hero said, °I don't deserve such panegyrics."

ratiocination

N. /推理；推论/reasoning; act of drawing conclusions from premises. While Watson was a man of average intelligence, Holmes was a genius, whose gift for ratiocination made him a superb detective.

propellants

N. /推进剂/substances that propel or drive forward. The development of our missile program has forced our scientists to seek more powerful propellants.

regimen

N. /摄生法/prescribed diet and habits. I doubt whether the results warrant our living under such a strict regimen.

pastiche

N. /摹写；模仿/imitation of another's style in musical composition or in writing. We cannot even say that her music is a: pastiche of this composer or that; it is, rather, reminiscent of many musicians.

rent

N. /撕；裂口/rip; split. Kit did an excellent job of mending the rent in the lining of her coat.

recession

N. /撤退/withdrawal; retreat; time of low economic activity. The slow recession of the flood waters created problems for the crews working to restore power to the area. recede, V.

secession

N. /撤退；脱离/withdrawal. The secession of the Southern states provided Lincoln with his first major problem after his inauguration. secede, V.

proponent

N. /支持者；建议者/supporter; backer; opposite of opponent. In the Senate, proponents of the universal health care measure lobbied to gain additional support for the controversial legislation.

strut

N. /支柱/supporting bar. The engineer calculated that the strut supporting the rafter needed to be reinforced. (secondary meaning)

reaper

N. /收割者；收割机/one who harvests grain. Death, the Grim Reaper, cuts down mortal men and women, just as a farmer cuts down the ripened grain. reap, V.

orgy

N. /放荡，旷野；纵酒狂欢/wild, drunken revelry; unrestrained indulgence in a tendency. The Roman emperor's orgies were far wilder than the toga party in the movie Animal House. When her income tax refund check finally arrived, Sally indulged in an orgy of shopping.

regime

N. /政体/method or system of government. When the French mention the Old Regime, they refer to the government existing before the revolution.

subsidy

N. /政府的补助/direct financial aid by government, etc. Without this subsidy, American ship operators would not be able to compete in world markets.

pedagogy

N. /教育学/teaching; art of education. Though Maria Montessori gained fame for her innovations in pedagogy, it took years before her teaching techniques were common practice in American schools.

ramp

N. /斜面；斜坡/slope; inclined plane. The house was built with ramps instead of stairs in order to enable the man in the wheelchair to move easily from room to room and floor to floor.

saga

N. /斯堪的纳维亚的传说；传奇/Scandinavian myth; any legend. This is a saga of the sea and the men who risk their lives on it.

neophyte

N. /新入教者；新信徒/recent convert; beginner. This mountain slope contains slides that will challenge experts as well as neophytes.

novice

N. /新手/beginner. Even a novice at working with computers can install Barron's Computer Study Program for the SAT by following the easy steps outlined in the user's manual.

tyro

N. /新手/beginner; novice. For a mere tyro, you have produced some wonderfully expert results.

neologism

N. /新生词/new or newly coined word or phrase. As we invent new techniques and professions, we must also Invent neologisms such as "microcomputer" and "astronaut" to describe them.

peregrination

N. /旅程；旅行/journey. Auntie Mame was a world traveler whose peregrinations took her from Tiajuana to Timbuctoo.

trek

N. /旅行/travel; journey. The tribe made their trek farther north that summer in search of game. also V.

proletarian

N. /无产阶级的；蓝领的/member of the working class; blue collar person. "Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains" is addressed to proletarians, not preppies. So is Blue Collar Holler. proletariat, N.

vagrant

N. /无家可归的流浪者/a homeless wanderer. Because he was a stranger in town with no visible means of support, Martin feared he would be jailed as a vagrant. vagrancy, N.

myriad

N. /无数，非常多/very large number. Myriads of mosquitoes from the swamps invaded our village every twilight. also ADJ.

vogue

N. /时尚/popular fashion. Jeans became the vogue on many college campuses.

mode

N. /时尚；方式；模式/prevailing style; manner; way of doing something. The rock star had to have her hair done in the latest mode: frizzed, with occasional moussed spikes for variety. Henry plans to adopt a simpler mode of life: he is going to become a mushroom hunter and live off the land.

simile

N. /明喻；比较/comparison of one thing with another, using the word like or as. "My love is like a red, red rose" is a simile.

vertigo

N. /晕眩/severe dizziness. When you test potential airplane pilots for susceptibility to spells of vertigo, be sure to hand out air-sickness bags.

sage

N. /智者；圣人/person celebrated for wisdom. Hearing tales of a mysterious Master of All Knowledge who lived in the hills of Tibet, Sandy was possessed with a burning desire to consult the legendary sage. also ADJ.

respite

N. /暂缓/interval of relief; time for rest; delay in punishment. After working nonstop on this project for three straight months. I need a respite! For David, the two weeks vacationing in New Zealand were a delightful respite from the pressures of his job.

reprieve

N. /暂缓；缓刑/temporary stay. During the twenty-four-hour reprieve, the lawyers sought to make the stay of execution permanent. also V.

tyranny

N. /暴政；专制/oppression; cruel government. Frederick Douglass fought against the tyranny of slavery throughout his life.

mirage

N. /曲解；海市蜃楼；虚影 /unreal reflection; optical illusion. The lost prospector was fooled by a mirage in the desert.

scapegoat

N. /替罪羊/someone who bears the blame for others. After the Challenger disaster, NASA searched for scapegoats on whom they could cast the blame.

serendipity

N. /有发现意外之财的运气/gift for finding valuable or desirable things by accident; accidental good fortune or luck. Many scientific discoveries are a matter of serendipity. Newton was not sitting under a tree thinking about gravity when the apple dropped on his head.

memento

N. /有象征意义的物品；纪念品/token; reminder. Take this book as a memento of your visit.

reprobate

N. /有重罪的人；道德败坏的人，无耻的人/person hardened in sin, devoid of a sense of decency. I cannot understand why he has so many admirers if he is the reprobate you say he is.

trappings

N. /服饰；装饰/outward decorations; ornaments. He loved the trappings of success: the limousines, the stock options, the company jet.

torso

N. /未完成的；残缺的/trunk of statue with head and limbs missing; human trunk. This torso, found in the ruins of Pompeii, is now on exhibition in the museum in Naples.

terminology

N. /术语学/terms used in a science or art. The special terminology developed by some authorities in the field has done more to confuse the layman than to enlighten him. terminus N. last stop of railroad. After we reached the railroad terminus, we continued our journey into the wilderness on saddle horses.

opportunist

N. /机会主义者/individual who sacrifices principles for expediency by taking advantage of circumstances. Joe is such an opportunist that he tripled the price of bottled water at his store as soon as the earthquake struck. Because it can break water pipes, an earthquake is, to most people, a disaster; to Joe, it was an opportunity.

miscellany

N. /杂记/mixture of writings on various subjects. This is an interesting miscellany of nineteenth-century prose and poetry.

suavity

N. /柔和；愉快；温和/banity; polish. The elegant actor is particularly good in roles that require suavity and sophistication.

somnambulist

N. /梦游症患者/sleepwalker. The most famous somnambulist in literature is Lady Macbeth; her monologue in the sleepwalking scene is one of the highlights of Shakespeare's play.

trough

N. /槽；低谷/container for feeding farm animals; lowest point (of a wave, business cycle, etc.) The hungry pigs struggled to get at the fresh swill in the trough. The surfer rode her board, coasting along in the trough between two waves.

mimicry

N. /模仿/imitation. Her gift for mimicry was so great that her friends said that she should be in the theater.

residue

N. /残留物；余额/remainder; balance. In his will, he requested that after payment of debts, taxes, and funeral expenses, the residue be given to his wife. residual, ADJ.

mortician

N. /殡仪业者/undertaker. The mortician prepared the corpse for burial.

perdition

N. /毁灭/damnation; complete ruin. Praying for salvation, young Steven Daedalus feared he was damned to eternal perdition.

stamina

N. /毅力；意志力/strength; staying power. I doubt that she has the stamina to run the full distance of the marathon race.

vernacular

N. /母语；本国；本来的东西/living language; natural style. Cut out those old-fashioned thee's and thou's and write in the vernacular. also ADJ.

venom

N. /毒液；恶毒/poison; hatred. Bitten by a rattlesnake on his ankle, the cowboy contortionist curled up like a pretzel and sucked the venom out of the wound.

tarantula

N. /毒蜘蛛/venomous spider. We need an antitoxin to counteract the bite of the tarantula.

temperament

N. /气质；性情/characteristic frame of mind; disposition; emotional excess. Although the twins look alike, they differ markedly in temperament: Todd is calm, but Rod is excitable.

recourse

N. /求助；求援/resorting to help when in trouble. The boy's only recourse was to appeal to his father for aid.

meditation

N. /沉思冥想/reflection; thought. She reached her decision only after much meditation.

maverick

N. /没打烙印的动物；闹独立的人；非国教徒；造反者/rebel; nonconformist. To the masculine literary establishment, George Sand with her insistence on wearing trousers and smoking cigars was clearly a maverick who fought her proper womanly role.

miasma

N. /沼气；瘴气，毒气；天然气/swamp gas; heavy, vaporous atmosphere, often emanating from decaying matter; pervasive corrupting influence. The smog hung over Victorian London like a dark cloud; noisome, reeking of decay, it was a visible miasma.

quagmire

N. /沼泽；湿地/soft wet boggy land; complex or dangerous situation from which it is difficult to free oneself. Up to her knees in mud, Myra wondered how on earth she was going to extricate herself from this quagmire.

ordinance

N. /法令；政令/decree. Passing a red light is a violation of a city ordinance.

statute

N. /法令；条例/law enacted by the legislature. The statute of limitations sets the limits on how long you have to take legal action in specific cases.

quorum

N. /法定人数/number of members necessary to conduct a meeting. The senator asked for a roll call to determine whether a quorum was present.

perquisite

N. /津贴，补贴；奖金/any gain above stipulated salary. The perquisites attached to this job make it even more attractive than the salary indicates.

vigor

N. /活力/active strength. Although he was over seventy years old, Jack had the vigor of a man in his prime. vigorOUS, ADJ.

scamp

N. /流氓，无赖/rascal. Despite his mischievous behavior, Malcolm was such an engaging scamp that his mother almost lacked the heart to punish him.

ruffian

N. /流氓；恶棍；痞子/bully; scoundrel. The ruffians threw stones at the police.

waif

N. /流浪儿童；流浪者/homeless child or animal. Although he already had eight cats, he could not resist adopting yet another feline waif.

vagabond

N. /流浪者/wanderer; tramp. In summer, college students wander the roads of Europe like carefree vagabonds. also ADJ.

nirvana

N. /涅磐/in Buddhist teachings, the ideal state in which the individual loses himself in the attainment of an impersonal beatitude. Despite his desire to achieve nirvana, the young Buddhist found that even the buzzing of a fly could distract him from his meditation.

vendetta

N. /深仇；世仇/blood feud. The rival mobs engaged in a bitter vendetta.

shambles

N. /混乱的地方；肉铺/wreck; mess. After the hurricane, the Carolina coast was a shambles. After the New Year's Eve party, the apartment was a shambles.

medley

N. /混合/mixture. To avoid boring dancers by playing any one tune for too long, bands may combine three or four tunes into a medley.

yen

N. /渴望；瘾/longing; urge. She had a yen to get away and live on her own for a while.

turbulence

N. /湍流；骚乱；动荡/state of violent agitation. Warned of approaching turbulence in the atmosphere, the pilot told the passengers to fasten their seat belts.

travesty

N. /滑稽化；滑稽模仿/comical parody; treatment aimed at making something appear ridiculous. The ridiculous decision the jury has reached is a travesty of justice.

pantomime

N. /演哑剧/acting without dialogue. Because he worked in pantomime, the clown could be understood wherever he appeared. also V.

rostrum

N. /演讲台；讲道坛/platform for speech-making; pulpit. The crowd murmured angrily and indicated that they did not care to listen to the speaker who was approaching the rostrum.

orator

N. /演讲者/public speaker. The abolitionist Frederick Douglass was a brilliant orator whose speeches brought home to his audience the evils of slavery.

vortex

N. /漩涡；漩涡中心；（争斗、讨论的）中心/whirlwind; whirlpool; center of turbulence; predicament into which one is inexorably plunged. Sucked into the vortex of the tornado, Dorothy and Toto were carried from Kansas to Oz.

zeal

N. /热心；热诚/eager enthusiasm. Katya's zeal was contagious; soon all her fellow students were busily making posters, inspired by her ardent enthusiasm for the cause. zealous, ADJ.

ovation

N. /热情洋溢的喝彩/enthusiastic applause. When the popular tenor Placido Domingo came on stage in the first act of La Boheme, he was greeted by a tremendous ovation.

spate

N. /爆发；大洪水；一大群的/sudden flood or strong outburst; a large number or amount. After the spate of angry words that came pouring out of him, Mary was sure they would never be reconciled.

pragmatist

N. /爱管闲事的人；实用主义者/practical person. No pragmatist enjoys becoming involved in a game he can never win.

prerogative

N. /特权/privilege; unquestionable right. The president cannot levy taxes; that is the prerogative of the legislative branch of government.

transgression

N. /犯罪/violation of a law; sin. Forgive us our transgressions; we know not what we do.

revelry

N. /狂欢/boisterous merrymaking. New Year's Eve is a night of revelry

zealot

N. /狂热者/fanatic; person who shows excessive zeal. Though Glenn was devout, he was no zealot, he never tried to force his beliefs on his friends.

solitude

N. /独身/state of being alone; seclusion. Much depends on how much you like your own company. What to one person seems fearful isolation to another is blessed solitude.

prey

N. /猎物；受害人，牺牲品/target of a hunt; victim. In Stalking the Wild Asparagus, Euell Gibbons has as his prey not wild beasts but wild plants. also V.

quarry

N. /猎物；受害者/Victim; object of a hunt. The police closed in on their quarry.

milieu

N. /环境；（社会）背景/environment; means of expression. Surrounded by smooth preppies and arty bohemians, the country boy from Smalltown, USA, felt out of his milieu. Although he has produced excellent oil paintings and lithographs, his proper milieu is watercolor.

phenomena

N. /现象/observable facts; subjects of scientific investigation. We kept careful records of the phenomena we noted in the course of these experiments.

paraphernalia

N. /琐碎的东西；零碎的随身物品/equipment; odds and ends. His desk was cluttered with paper, pen, ink, dictionary and other paraphernalia of the writing craft.

rote

N. /生搬硬套；死记硬背/repetition. He recited the passage by rote and gave no indication he understood what he was saying.

negligence

N. /疏忽，没能尽力的/neglect; failure to take reasonable care. Tommy failed to put back the cover on the well after he fetched his pail of water; because of his negligence, Kitty fell in.

virus

N. /病毒/disease communicator. The doctors are looking for a specific medicine to control this virus.

pathos

N. /痛苦，悲怆，哀婉/tender sorrow; pity; quality in art or literature that produces these feelings. The quiet tone of pathos that ran through the novel never degenerated into the maudlin or the overly sentimental.

pachyderm

N. /皮厚的动物（如大象）/thick-skinned animal. The elephant is probably the best-known pachyderm.

tanner

N. /皮革工人；6便士/person who turns animal hides into leather. Using a solution of tanbark, the tannertreated the cowhide, transforming it into supple leather.

tutelage

N. /监护/guardianship; training. Under the tutelage of such masters of the instrument, she made rapid progress as a virtuoso.

surveillance

N. /监视；监督/watching; guarding. The FBI kept the house under constant surveillance in the hope of capturing all the criminals at one time,

objective

N. /目标/goal; aim. A degree in medicine was her ultimate objective.

parity

N. /相等；势均力敌；奇偶/equality in status or amount; close resemblance. Unfortunately, some doubt exists whether women's salaries will ever achieve paritywith men's.

truism

N. /真实性/self-evident truth. Many a truism is summed up in a proverb; for example, "Marry in haste, repent at leisure."

veracity

N. /真实；准确性/truthfulness. Asserting his veracity, young George Washington proclaimed, "Father, I cannot tell a lie!"

verity

N. /真实；真理；真实的陈述/quality of being true; lasting truth or principle. Did you question the verity of Kato Kaelin's testimony about what he heard the night Nicole Brown Simpson was slain? To the skeptic, everything was relative: there were no eternal verities in which one could believe.

optician

N. /眼镜商/maker and seller of eyeglasses. The patient took the prescription given him by his oculist} o the optician.

sleeper

N. /睡眠；卧铺；枕木；冬眠的动物/something originally of little value or importance that in time becomes very valuable. Unnoticed by the critics at its publication, the eventual Pulitzer Prize winner was a classic sleeper.

slag

N. /矿渣；炉渣；渣滓/residue from smelting metal; dross; waste matter. The blast furnace had a special opening at the bottom to allow the workers to remove the worthless slag.

quay

N. /码头/dock; landing place. Because of the captain's carelessness, the ship crashed into the quay.

saboteur

N. /破坏分子；怠工者/one who commits sabotage; destroyer of property. Members of the Resistance acted as saboteurs, blowing up train lines to prevent supplies from reaching the Nazi army.

numismatist

N. /硬币收藏家/person who collects coins. The numismatist had a splendid collection of antique coins.

shard

N. /碎片（陶瓷的）/fragment, generally of pottery. The archaeologist assigned several students the task of reassembling earthenware vessels from the shards he had brought back from the expedition.

progenitor

N. /祖先/ancestor. The Roth family, whose progenitors emigrated from Germany early in the nineteenth century, settled in Peru, Illinois.

seminary

N. /神学院；学院；发祥地/school for training future ministers; academy for young women. Sure of his priestly vocation, Terrence planned to pursue his theological training at the local Roman Catholic seminary.

theocracy

N. /神权政治/government run by religious leaders. Though some Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower favored the establishment of a theocracy in New England, many of their fellow voyagers preferred a nonreligious form of government.

titter

N. /神经质的笑/nervous laugh. Her aunt's constant titter nearly drove her mad. also V.

verve

N. /神韵；活力；热情/enthusiasm; liveliness. She approached her studies with such verve that it was impossible for her to do poorly.

verbiage

N. /空话；大话/pompous array of words. After we had waded through all the verbiage, we discovered that the writer had said very little.

paroxysm

N. /突然一阵的，突发的（痛苦，笑，愤怒）/fit or attack of pain, laughter, rage. When he heard of his son's misdeeds, he was seized by a paroxysm of rage.

snicker

N. /窃笑/half-stifled laugh. The boy could not suppress a snicker when the teacher sat on the tack. also V.

subtlety

N. /精明；稀薄；微妙/perceptiveness; ingenuity; delicacy. Never obvious, she expressed herself with such subtlety that her remarks went right over the heads of most of her audience. subtle, ADJ.

quintessence

N. /精粹；精华/purest and highest embodiment. Noel Coward displayed the quintessence of wit.

recidivism

N. /累犯；惯犯/habitual return to crime. Prison reformers in the United States are disturbed by the high rate of recidivism; the number of men serving second and third terms in prison indicates the failure of prisons to rehabilitate the inmates.

prosperity

N. /繁荣；好运/good fortune; financial success; physical well-being. Promising to stay together "for richer, for poorer," the newlyweds vowed to be true to one another in prosperity and hardship alike.

tryst

N. /约会；幽会/meeting. The lovers kept their tryst even though they realized their danger.

relic

N. /纪念物；废墟，遗留/surviving remnant; memento. Egypt's Department of Antiquities prohibits tourists from taking mummies and other ancient relics out of the country. Mike keeps his photos of his trip to Egypt in a box with other relics of his travels.

sybarite

N. /纵情逸乐之徒/lover of luxury. Rich people are not always sybarites; some of them have little taste for a life of luxury.

pyromaniac

N. /纵火狂/person with an insane desire to set things on fire. The detectives searched the area for the pyromaniac who had set these costly fires.

papyrus

N. /纸草；草纸（古代的）/ancient paper made from stem of papyrus plant. The ancient Egyptians were among the first to write on papyrus.

nuance

N. /细微差别/shade of difference in meaning or color; subtle distinction. Jody gazed at the Monet landscape for an hour, appreciating every subtle nuance of color in the painting.

minutiae

N. /细节；细微之处/petty details. She would have liked to ignore the minutiae of daily living.

perennial

N. /终年的；永久的/something that is continuing or recurrent. These plants are hardy perennials and will bloom for many years. also ADJ.

termination

N. /结束/end. Though the time for termination of the project was near, we still had a lot of work to finish before we shut up shop. terminate, V.

upshot

N. /结果/outcome. The upshot of the rematch was that the former champion proved that he still possessed all the skills of his youth.

summation

N. /结算；累计；总结/act of finding the total; summary. In his summation, the lawyer emphasized the testimony given by the two witnesses.

suture

N. /缝合；缝合处/stitches sewn to hold the cut edges of a wound or incision; material used in sewing. We will remove the sutures as soon as the wound heals. also V.

pitfall

N. /缺陷/hidden danger; concealed trap. Her parents warned young Sophie against the many pitfalls that lay in wait for her in the dangerous big city.

pulchritude

N. /美丽；标致/beauty; comeliness. I do not envy the judges who have to select this year's Miss America from this collection of female pulchritude.

virtue

N. /美德/goodness, moral excellence; good quality. Virtue carried to extremes can turn into vice: humility, for example, can degenerate into servility and spinelessness.

welter

N. /翻滚；挣扎；骚乱；搅乱/turmoil; bewildering jumble. The existing welter of overlapping federal and state programs cries out for immediate reform.

pterodactyl

N. /翼龙/extinct flying reptile. The remains of pterodactyls indicate that these flying reptiles had a wingspan of as much as twenty feet.

stereotype

N. /老套；一成不变；铅版/fixed and unvarying representation; standardized mental picture, often reflecting prejudice. Critics object to the character of Jim in The Adventures of Huckle-berry Finn because he seems to reflect the stereotype of the happy, ignorant slave.

squalor

N. /肮脏；悲惨；贫穷/filth; degradation; dirty, neglected state. Rusted, broken-down cars in its yard, trash piled up on the porch, tar paper peeling from the roof, the shack was the picture of squalor. squalid, ADJ.

timidity

N. /胆怯/lack of self-confidence or courage. If you are to succeed as a salesman, you must first lose your timidity and fear of failure.

prank

N. /胡闹；打扮/mischievous trick. Is tipping over garbage cans on Halloween merely a childish prank, or is it vandalism?

scaffold

N. /脚手架；绞刑架/temporary platform for workers; bracing framework; platform for execution. Before painting the house, the workers put up a scaffold to allow them to work on the second story.

spontaneity

N. /自发的；自然的；无预谋的/lack of premeditation; naturalness; freedom from constraint. When Anne and Amy met, Amy impulsively hugged her new colleague, but Anne drew back, unprepared for such spontaneity. The cast over-rehearsed the play so much that the eventual performance lacked any spontaneity. spontaneous, ADJ.

reserve

N. /自我控制；疏远/self-control; formal but distant manner. Although some girls were attracted by Mark's air of reserve, Judy was put off by it, for she felt his aloofness indicated a lack of openness. reserved, ADJ.

narcissist

N. /自我陶醉的人；逞能的人/conceited person; someone in love with his own image. A narcissist is her own best friend.

propensity

N. /自然倾向/natural inclination. Convinced of his own talent, Sol has an unfortunate propensity to belittle the talents of others.

soliloquy

N. /自言自语；独白/talking to oneself. The soliloquy is a device used by the dramatist to reveal a character's innermost thoughts and emotions.

notoriety

N. /臭名昭著的/disrepute; ill fame. To the starlet, any publicity was good publicity: if she couldn't have a good reputation, she'd settle for notoriety. notorious, ADJ.

maxim

N. /至理名言；格言/proverb; a truth pithily stated. Aesop's fables illustrate moral maxims.

tiller

N. /舵柄；农夫/handle used to move boat's rudder (to steer). Fearing the wind might shift suddenly and capsize the skiff, Tom kept one hand on the tiller at all times.

pigment

N. /色素/coloring matter. Van Gogh mixed various pigments with linseed oil to create his paints.

virtuoso

N. /艺术品鉴赏家/highly skilled artist. The child prodigy Yehudi Menuhin grew into a virtuoso whose violin performances thrilled millions. virtuosity, N.

tempo

N. /节奏，乐曲的速度/speed of music. I find the band's tempo too slow for such a lively dance.

repertoire

N. /节目表；保留节目/list of works of music, drama, etc., a performer is prepared to present. The opera company decided to include Madame Butterfly in its repertoire for the follow-ing season.

stanza

N. /节；段落（诗的）；盘（棋的）/division of a poem. Do you know the last stanza of "The Star-Spangled Banner"?

tundra

N. /苔原；冻土/rolling, treeless plain in Siberia and arctic North America. Despite the cold, many geologists are trying to discover valuable mineral deposits in the tundra.

rancor

N. /苦难/bitterness; hatred. Thirty years after the war, she could not let go of the past but was still consumed with rancor against the foe.

valor

N. /英勇；勇猛/bravery. He received the Medal of Honor for his valor in battle.

nutrient

N. /营养品/nourishing substance. As a budding nutritionist, Kim has learned to design diets that contain foods rich in important basic nutrients.

montage

N. /蒙太奇/photographic composition combining elements from different sources. In one early montage, Beauchamp brought together pictures of broken mannequins and newspaper clippings about the Vietnam War.

veneer

N. /薄板；外表/thin layer; cover. Casual acquaintances were deceived by his veneer of sophistication and failed to recognize his fundamental shallowness.

stipend

N. /薪金；津贴/pay for services. There is a nominal stipend for this position.

piety

N. /虔诚；孝行/religious devotion; godliness. The nuns in the convent were noted for their piety; they spent their days in worship and prayer. Pious, ADJ.

nihilist

N. /虚无主义者/one who believes traditional beliefs to be groundless and existence meaningless; absolute skeptic; revolutionary terrorist. In his final days, Hitler revealed himself a power-mad nihilist, ready to annihilate all of Western Europe, even to destroy Germany itself, in order that his will might prevail. The root of the word nihilist is nihil, Latin for nothing. nihilism, N.

viper

N. /蝰蛇/poisonous snake. The habitat of the horned viper, a particularly venomous snake, is in sandy regions like the Sahara or the Sinai peninsula.

precinct

N. /行政区/district or division of a city. Ed McBain's detective novels set in the 87th precinct provide an exciting picture of police work.

raiment

N. /衣服/clothing. "How can I go to the ball?" asked Cinderella. "I have no raiment fit to wear."

spangle

N. /衣服上亮晶晶的小金属饰件/small metallic piece sewn to clothing for ornamentation. The thousands of spangles on her dress sparkled in the glare of the stage lights.

redress

N. /补偿；赔偿/remedy; compensation. Do you mean to tell me that I can get no redress for my injuries? also v.

rendition

N. /表演，诠释；翻译/translation; artistic interpretation of a song, etc. The audience cheered enthusiastically as she completed her rendition of the aria.

protégé

N. /被保护人/person receiving protection and support from a patron. Born with an independent spirit, Cyrano de Bergerac refused to be a protégé of Cardinal Richelieu.

rift

N. /裂缝；破口/opening; break. The plane was lost in the stormy sky until the pilot saw the city through a rift in the clouds.

poseur

N. /装模作样的人；邯郸学步/person who pretends to be sophisticated, elegant, etc., to impress others. Some thought Salvador Dali was a brilliant painter; others dismissed him as a poseur.

pendant

N. /装饰品；首饰/ornament (hanging from a necklace, etc.) The grateful team presented the coach with a silver chain and pendant engraved with the school's motto.

precept

N. /规则/practical rule guiding conduct. "Love thy neighbor as thyself" is a worthwhile precept.

prude

N. /规矩的人；正经人；故作正经的人/excessively modest person. The X-rated film was definitely not for prudes, prudish, ADJ.

persona

N. /角色/public personality or facade. Offstage the comedian was a sullen, irritable grumbler, a far cry from his ever-cheerful adopted stage persona.

salvo

N. /解除武装；敬礼；保留条款/discharge of firearms; military salute. The boom of the enemy's opening salvo made the petrified private jump.

vigilance

N. /警惕/watchfulness. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

stratagem

N. /计谋；战略/deceptive scheme. We saw through his clever stratagem.

odium

N. /讨厌；憎恶/detestation; hatefulness; disrepute. Prince Charming could not express the odium he felt toward Cinderella's stepsisters because of their mistreatment of poor Cinderella.

treatise

N. /论文/article treating a subject systematically and thoroughly. He is preparing a treatise on the Elizabethan playwrights for his graduate degree.

shyster

N. /讼棍；政界的奸诈之徒/lawyer using questionable methods. On L.A. Law, Brackman is horrified to learn that his newly-discovered half brother is nothing but a cheap shyster.

satire

N. /讽刺的/form of literature in which irony, sarcasm, and ridicule are employed to attack vice and folly. Gulliver's Travels, which is regarded by many as a tale for children, is actually a bitter satire attacking man's folly.

touchstone

N. /试金石；准绳；标准；尺度/stone used to test the fineness of gold alloys; criterion. What touchstone can be used to measure the character of a person?

solecism

N. /语法错误；谬误/construction that is flagrantly incorrect grammatically. I must give this paper a failing mark because it contains many solecisms.

philology

N. /语言学/study of language. The professor of philology advocated the use of Esperanto as an international language.

misconception

N. /误解/mistaken idea. "Sir, you are suffering from a misconception. I do not wish to marry you in the least!"

rhetoric

N. /说话的学问；花言巧语/art of effective communication; insincere language. All writers, by necessity, must be skilled in rhetoric.

slander

N. /诽谤/defamation; utterance of false and malicious statements. Considering the negative comments politicians make about each other, it's a wonder that more of them aren't sued for slander. also V.

slur

N. /诽谤；侮辱/insult to one's character or reputation; slander. Polls revealed that the front-runner's standing had been badly damaged by the slurs and innuendoes circulated by his opponent's staff. also V. (secondary meaning)

philanderer

N. /调情；轻佻的人/faithless lover; flirt. Swearing he had never so much as looked at another woman, Ralph assured Alice he was no philanderer.

palette

N. /调色板/board on which painter mixes pigments. At the present time, art supply stores are selling a paper palette that may be discarded after use.

toady

N. /谄媚的人；马屁精/servile flatterer; yes man. Never tell the boss anything he doesn't wish to hear: he doesn't want an independent adviser, he just wants a toady. also V.

nadir

N. /谷底，最低点；天底/lowest point. Although few people realized it, the Dow-Jones averages had reached their nadir and would soon begin an upward surge.

onus

N. /负担；责任/burden; responsibility. The emperor was spared the onus of signing the surrender papers; instead, he relegated the assignment to his generals.

tribute

N. /贡品；殷勤；颂词；礼物/tax levied by a ruler; mark of respect. The colonists refused to pay tribute to a foreign despot.

stricture

N. /责难；非难；限制/restriction; adverse criticism. Huck regularly disobeyed Miss Watson's rules and strictures upon his behavior: he wouldn't wear shoes, no matter what she said.

pariah

N. /贱民；被社会遗弃的人/social outcast. If everyone ostracized singer Mariah Carey, would she then be Mariah the pariah?

purchase

N. /赢得；换得；努力争取得；购买/firm grasp or footing. The mountaineer struggled to get a proper purchase on the slippery rock. (secondary meaning)

podiatrist

N. /足病医生/doctor who treats ailments of the feet. He consulted a podiatrist about his fallen arches.

vicissitude

N. /转运/change of fortune. Humbled by life's vicissitudes, the last emperor of China worked as a lowly gardener in the palace over which he had once ruled.

misdemeanor

N. /轻罪/minor crime. The culprit pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor rather than face trial for a felony.

quibble

N. /遁词；狡辩；支吾；吹毛求疵/minor objection or complaint. Aside from a few hundred teensy-weensy quibbles about the set, the script, the actors, the director, the costumes, the lighting, and the props, the hypercritical critic loved the play. also V.

oblivion

N. /遗忘；赦免/obscurity; forgetfulness. After a decade of popularity, Hurston's works had fallen into oblivion; no one bothered to read them any more.

vestige

N. /遗迹；痕迹；残留物/trace; remains. We discovered vestiges of early Indian life in the cave. vestigial, ADJ.

sanctuary

N. /避难所/refuge; shelter; shrine; holy place. The tiny attic was Helen's sanctuary to which she fled when she had to get away from the rest of her family.

truculence

N. /野蛮；粗鲁/aggressiveness; ferocity. Tynan's reviews were noted for their caustic attacks and general tone of truculence. truculent, ADJ.

patina

N. /铜绿；光泽；古色/green crust on old bronze works; tone slowly taken by varnished painting. Judging by the patina on this bronze statue, we can conclude that this is the work of a medieval artist.

misnomer

N. /错误的名字；写错名字；用词不当/wrong name; incorrect designation. His tyrannical conduct proved to all that his nickname, King Eric the Just, was a misnomer.

misapprehension

N. /错误；误解/error; misunderstanding. To avoid misapprehension, I am going to ask all of you to repeat the instructions I have given.

odyssey

N. /长期的冒险旅行/long, eventful journey. The refugee's journey from Cambodia was a terrifying odyssey.

tirade

N. /长篇慷慨激昂的演说/extended scolding; denunciation; harangue. Every time the boss holds a meeting, he goes into a lengthy tirade, scolding us for everything from tardiness to padding our expenses.

patriarch

N. /长者，家长；酋长，族长/father and ruler of a family or tribe. In many primitive tribes, the leader and lawmaker was the patriarch.

mentor

N. /门特；顾问；导师/teacher. During this very trying period, she could not have had a better mentor, for the teacher was sympathetic and understanding.

phylum

N. /门；语群/major class of plants; primary branch of animal kingdom; division. In sorting out her hundreds of packets of seeds, Katya decided to file them by phylum.

query

N. /问询；质问/inquiry; question. In her column "Ask Beth," the columnist invites young readers to send her their queries about life and love.

sinecure

N. /闲职，报纸茶水的工作/well-paid position with little responsibility. My job is no sinecure; I work long hours and have much responsibility.

moodiness

N. /闷闷不乐/fits of depression or gloom. Her recurrent moodiness left her feeling as if she had fallen into a black hole.

rider

N. /附文；扶手/amendment or clause added to a legislative bill. Senator Foghorn said he would support Senator Filibuster's tax reform bill only if Filibuster agreed to add an antipollu-tion riderto the bill.

platitude

N. /陈词滥调/trite remark; commonplace statement. In giving advice to his son, old Polonius expressed himself only in platitudes; every word out of his mouth was a commonplace.

protuberance

N. /隆起；突出；瘤/protrusion; bulge. A ganglionic cyst is a fluid-filled tumor that develops near a joint membrane or tendon sheath, and that bulges beneath the skin, forming a protuberance.

retinue

N. /随行人员；扈从/following; attendants. The queen's retinue followed her down the aisle.

metaphor

N. /隐喻/implied comparison. "He soared like an eagle" is an example of a simile; "He is an eagle in flight," a metaphor.

stealth

N. /隐秘；隐藏；隐蔽行动/slyness; sneakiness; secretiveness. Fearing detection by the sentries on duty, the scout inched his way toward the enemy camp with great stealth.

recluse

N. /隐遁者；寂寞者/hermit; loner. Disappointed in love, Miss Emily became a recluse; she shut herself away in her empty mansion and refused to see another living soul. reclusive, ADJ.

quarantine

N. /隔离/isolation of person or ship to prevent spread of infection. We will have to place this house under quarantine until we determine the exact nature of the disease. also V.

seclusion

N. /隔离/isolation; solitude. One moment she loved crowds; the next, she sought seclusion. seclude, V.

mischance

N. /霉运；不幸/ill luck. By mischance, he lost his week's salary.

prowess

N. /非常勇猛/extraordinary ability; military bravery. Performing triple axels and double lutzes at the age of six, the young figure skater was world famous for her prowess on the ice.

scourge

N. /鞭笞；蹂躏/lash; whip; severe punishment. They feared the plague and regarded it as a deadly scourge. also V.

pinnacle

N. /顶尖；顶点/peak. We could see the morning sunlight illuminate the pinnacle while the rest of the mountain lay in shadow.

zenith

N. /顶点/point directly overhead in the sky; summit. When the sun was at its zenith, the glare was not as strong as at sunrise and sunset.

vertex

N. /顶点/summit. Let us drop a perpendicular line from the vertex of the triangle to the base.

presentiment

N. /预感/feeling something will happen; anticipatory fear; premonition. Saying goodbye at the airport, Jack had a sudden presentiment that this was the last time he would see Jill.

prescience

N. /预示能力/ability to foretell the future. Given the current wave of Japan-bashing, it does not take prescience for me to foresee problems in our future trade relations with Japan.

prognosis

N. /预言；疾病警告/forecasted course of a disease; prediction. If the doctor's prognosis is correct, the patient will be in a coma for at least twenty-four hours.

realm

N. /领域/kingdom; field or sphere. In the animal realm, the lion is the king of beasts.

precursor

N. /领跑者，先驱/forerunner. Though Gray and Burns share many traits with the Romantic poets who followed them, most critics consider them precursors of the Romantic Movement, not true Romantics.

mores

N. /风俗习惯/conventions; moral standards; customs. In America, Benazir Bhutto dressed as Western women did; in Pakistan, however, she followed the mores of her people, dressing in traditional veil and robes.

sustenance

N. /食物；生计/means of support, food, nourishment. In the tropics, the natives find sustenance easy to obtain, due to all the fruit trees.

repast

N. /餐；宴会/meal; feast; banquet. The caterers prepared a delicious repast for Fred and Judy's wedding day.

sycophant

N. /马屁精；阿谀奉承者/servile flatterer; bootlicker; yes man. Fed up with the toadies and flunkies who made up his entourage, the star cried, "Get out, all of you! I'm sick of sycophants!" sycophancy, N.

mosaic

N. /马赛克/picture made of colorful small inlaid tiles. The mayor compared the city to a beautiful mosaic made up of people of every race and religion on earth.

rebuttal

N. /驳斥；举反证/refutation; response with contrary evidence. The defense lawyer confidently listened to the prosecutor sum up his case, sure that she could answer his arguments in her rebuttal.

swindler

N. /骗子/cheat. She was gullible and trusting, an easy victim for the first swindler who came along.

quack

N. /骗子；吹嘘的人/charlatan; impostor. Do not be misled by the exorbitant claims of this quack; he cannot cure you.

turmoil

N. /骚动；混乱/great commotion and confusion. Lydia running off with a soldier! Mother fainting at the news! The Bennet household was in turmoil.

prelate

N. /高级教士/church dignitary. The archbishop of Moscow and other high-ranking prelates visited the Russian Orthodox seminary.

temerity

N. /鲁莽的/boldness; rashness. Do you have the temerity to argue with me?

talon

N. /鸟爪/claw of bird. The falconer wore a leather gauntlet to avoid being clawed by the hawk's talons.

ornithology

N. /鸟类学/study of birds. Audubon's studies of American birds greatly influenced the course of ornithology.

ornithologist

N. /鸟类学家/scientific student of birds. Audubon's drawings of American bird life have been of interest not only to the ornithologists but also to the general public.

plumage

N. /鸟类的羽毛/feathers of a bird. Bird watchers identify different species of bird by their characteristic songs and distinctive plumage.

opiate

N. /鸦片剂；安眠的，止痛的/medicine to induce sleep or deaden pain; something that relieves emotions or causes inaction. To say that religion is the opiate of the people is to condemn religion as a drug that keeps the people quiet and submissive to those in power.

refraction

N. /（光线的）折射，弯曲/bending of a ray of light. When you look at a stick inserted in water, it looks bent because of the refraction of the light by the water.

membrane

N. /（动植物的）膜，薄膜/thin soft sheet of animal or vegetable tissue. Each individual section of an orange is covered with a thin, transparent membrane. membranous, ADJ.

periphery

N. /（圆形的）边缘/edge, especially of a round surface. He sensed that there was something just beyond the periphery of his vision.

protrude

V. /突出/stick out. His fingers protruded from the holes in his gloves. protrusion, N.

prate

V. /空谈/speak foolishly; boast idly. Let us not prate about our good qualities; rather, let our virtues speak for themselves.

traverse

V. /穿过/go through or across. When you traverse this field, be careful of the bull.

prostrate

V. /弄倒；降伏/stretch out full on ground. He prostrated himself before the idol. also ADJ.

quaff

V. /一饮而尽/drink with relish. As we quaffed our ale, we listened to the lively songs of the students in the tavern.

subside

V. /下沉；平息；减退/settle down; descend; grow quiet. The doctor assured us that the fever would eventually subside.

precipitate

V. /下降；下坠/throw headlong; hasten. The removal of American political support appears to have precipitated the downfall of the Marcos regime.

relinquish

V. /不情愿的屈服，放弃（某物）/give up something with reluctance; yield. Denise never realized how hard it would be for her to relinquish her newborn son to the care of his adoptive parents. Once you get used to fringe benefits like expense account meals and a company car, it's very hard to relinquish them.

rebuke

V. /严厉批评；猛烈的训斥/scold harshly; criticize severely. No matter how sharply Miss Watson rebuked Huck for his misconduct, he never talked back but just stood there like a stump. also N.

temper

V. /中和；回火；调剂；锻炼/moderate; tone down or restrain; toughen (steel). Not even her supervisor's grumpiness could temper Nancy's enthusiasm for her new job.

reciprocate

V. /互给；呼唤；酬答/repay in kind. If they attack us, we shall be compelled to reciprocate and bomb their territory. reciprocity, N.

profane

V. /亵渎/violate; desecrate; treat unworthily. The members of the mysterious Far Eastern cult sought to kill the British explorer because he had profaned the sanctity of their holy goblet by using it as an ashtray. also ADJ.

stymie

V. /从中作梗；桩子；障碍物/present an obstacle; stump. The detective was stymied by the contradictory evidence in the robbery investigation. also N.

nauseate

V. /令人作呕的/cause to become sick; fill with disgust. The foul smells began to nauseate him.

permeate

V. /传播；流传/pass through; spread. The odor of frying onions permeated the air.

pander

V. /低级趣味的；拉皮条/cater to the low desires of others. The reviewer accused the makers of Lethal Weapon of pandering to the masses' taste for violence.

sham

V. /佯装；假的；赝品/pretend. He shammed sickness to get out of going to school. also N.

stultify

V. /使徒劳；使显得愚笨；拆台，办难堪/cause to appear or become stupid or inconsistent; frustrate or hinder. His long hours in the blacking factory left young Dickens numb and incurious, as if the menial labor had stultified his brain.

sate

V. /使心满意足；使过度满足；使腻/satisfy to the full; cloy. Its hunger sated. the lion dozed.

nullify

V. /使无效/to make invalid. Once the contract was nullified, it no longer had any legal force.

obscure

V. /使模糊；使暗淡/darken; make unclear. At times he seemed purposely to obscure his meaning, preferring mystery to clarity.

ravel

V. /使混乱；解开混乱，解决混乱/fall apart into tangles; unravel or untwist; entangle. A single thread pulled loose, and the entire scarf started to ravel.

stifle

V. /使窒息；扑灭/suppress; extinguish; inhibit. Halfway through the boring lecture, Laura gave up trying to stifle her yawns.

nonplus

V. /使迷惑；使为难；混淆/bring to halt by confusion; perplex. Jack's uncharacteristic rudeness nonplussed Jill, leaving her uncertain how to react.

stupefy

V. /使麻木；使大吃一惊/make numb; stun; amaze. Disapproving of drugs in general, Laura refused to take sleeping pills or any other medicine that might stupefy her. stupefaction, N.

mortify

V. /侮辱；体罚/humiliate; punish the flesh. She was so mortified by her blunder that she ran to her room in tears.

quarry

V. /挖掘出，寻找出/dig into. They quarried blocks of marble out of the hillside. also N.

palliate

V. /减轻/lessen the violence of (a disease); alleviate; moderate intensity; gloss over with excuses. Not content merely to palliate the patient's sores and cankers, the researcher sought a means of wiping out the disease. palliative, ADJ.

mitigate

V. /减轻；减缓；中和/appease; moderate. Nothing Jason did could mitigate Medea's anger; she refused to forgive him for betraying her.

unearth

V. /出土；发掘/dig up. When they unearthed the city, the archeologists found many relics of an ancient civilization.

rend

V. /分开；撕开/split; tear apart. In his grief, he tried to rend his garments. rent, N.

ramify

V. /分支；分开/divide into branches or subdivisions. When the plant begins to ramify, it is advisable to nip off most of the new branches.

sunder

V. /分裂/separate; part. Northern and southern Ireland are politically and religiously sundered.

partition

V. /分裂开来/divide into parts. Before their second daughter was born, Jason and Lizzie decided each child needed a room of her own, and so they partitioned a large bedroom into two small but separate rooms. also N.

stratify

V. /分门别类；分类；分层/divide into classes; be arranged into strata. As the economic gap between the rich and the poor increased, Roman society grew increasingly stratified.

prune

V. /切掉；修剪/cut away; trim. With the help of her editor, she was able to prune her overlong manuscript into publishable form.

sever

V. /切断/cut; separate. The released prisoner wanted to begin a new life and sever all connections with his criminal past. Dr. Guillotin invented a machine that could neatly sever an aristocratic head from its equally aristocratic body. Unfortunately, he couldn't collect any severance pay. severance, N.

whittle

V. /切；削；损害/pare; cut off bits. As a present for Aunt Polly, Tom whittled some clothespins out of a chunk of wood.

rummage

V. /到处翻寻/ransack; thoroughly search. When we rummaged through the trunks in the attic, we found many souvenirs of our childhood days. also N.

stem

V. /制止流出/check the flow. The paramedic used a tourniquet to stem the bleeding from the slashed artery.

refurbish

V. /刷新；修复；擦亮/renovate; make bright by polishing. The flood left a deposit of mud on everything; we had to refurbish our belongings.

riddle

V. /刺出无数窟窿，打排孔；充斥，弥漫；通过粗眼筛子过滤；谜语；解决，解释；提出，解谜/pierce with holes; permeate or spread throughout. With his machine gun, Tracy riddled the car with bullets till it looked like a slice of Swiss cheese. During the proofreaders' strike, the newspaper was riddled with typos.

prod

V. /刺；刺激；激励/poke; stir up; urge. If you prod him hard enough, he'll eventually clean his room.

oust

V. /剥夺；驱逐/expel; drive out. The world wondered if Aquino would be able to oust Marcos from office. ouster, N.

pan

V. /剧烈批评；猛烈抨击/criticize harshly. Hoping for a rave review of his new show, the playwright was miserable when the critics panned it unanimously.

shear

V. /剪；修剪/cut or clip (hair, fleece); strip of something. You may not care to cut a sheep's hair, but Sarah shears sheep for Little Bo Peep.

plagiarize

V. /剽窃/steal another's ideas and pass them off as one's own. The teacher could tell that the student had plagiarized parts of his essay; she could recognize whole paragraphs straight from Barron's Book Notes.

proselytize

V. /劝其改宗；改宗/convert to a religion or belief. In these interfaith meetings, there must be no attempt to proselytize; we must respect all points of view.

propitiate

V. /劝解；平静；安抚/appease. The natives offered sacrifices to propitiate the gods.

swathe

V. /包装物；绷带/wrap around; bandage. When I visited him in the hospital, I found him swathed in bandages.

repress

V. /压迫；压制；压/restrain; crush; oppress. Anne's parents tried to curb her impetuosity without repressing her boundless high spirits.

pall

V. /厌烦，腻味/grow tiresome. The study of word lists can eventually pall and put one to sleep.

ruminate

V. /反复咀嚼；消化；深思；反刍/chew over and over (mentally, or, like cows, physically); mull over; ponder. Unable to digest quickly the baffling events of the day, Reuben ruminated about them till four in the morning.

refute

V. /反驳/disprove. The defense called several respectable witnesses who were able to refute the false testimony of the prosecution's sole witness. refutation, N.

promulgate

V. /发布；公布/proclaim a doctrine or law; make known by official publication. When Moses came down from the mountain top all set to promulgate God's commandments, he freaked out on discovering his followers worshipping a golden calf.

supersede

V. /取代；推迟/cause to be set aside; replace; make obsolete. The new bulk mailing postal regulation supersedes the old one. If you continue to follow the old regulation, your bulk mailing will be returned to you.

regale

V. /取悦，娱乐，享受/entertain. John regaled us with tales of his adventures in Africa.

rescind

V. /取消/cancel. Because of the public outcry against the new taxes, the senator proposed a bill to rescind the unpopular financial measure.

relent

V. /变宽厚；变温和/give in. When her stern father would not relent and allow her to marry Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett eloped with her suitor. relentless, ADJ.

rationalize

V. /合理化/give a plausible reason for an action in place of a true, less admirable one; offer an excuse. When David told gabby Gabrielle he couldn't give her a ride to the dance because he had no room in the car, he was rationalizing; actually, he couldn't stand being cooped up in a car with anyone who talked as much as she did.

rout

V. /吓跑；赶出；击退/stampede; drive out. The reinforcements were able to rout the enemy. also N.

tout

V. /吹捧/publicize; praise excessively. I lost confidence in my broker after he touted some junk bonds to me that turned out to be a bad investment.

render

V. /呈递；开账单；给予；还以，报以；放弃，投降投降或交出；放弃；描写以文字形式表现，描绘；以图像或绘画表现；演奏，诠释；翻译；正式宣布；裁决；使成为；熔解，精炼；打底/deliver; provide; represent. He rendered aid to the needy and indigent.

rant

V. /咆哮；激昂的演说；斥责/rave; talk excitedly; scold; make a grandiloquent speech. When he heard that I'd totaled the family car, Dad began to rant at me like a complete madman.

relish

V. /品味；享受/savor; enjoy. Watching Peter enthusiastically chow down, I thought, "Now there's a man who relishes a good dinner!" also N.

wheedle

V. /哄骗；诱骗/cajole; coax; deceive by flattery. She knows she can wheedle almost anything she wants from her father.

mock

V. /嘲弄，嘲笑/ridicule; imitate, often in derision. It is unkind to mock anyone; it is stupid to mock anyone significantly bigger than you. mockery, N.

scoff

V. /嘲弄，奚落/mock; ridicule. He scoffed at dentists until he had his first toothache.

revert

V. /回复；故态复萌/relapse; backslide; turn back to. Most of the time Andy seemed sensitive and mature, but occasionally he would revert to his smart-alecky, macho, adolescent self.

rebuff

V. /回绝/snub; beat back. She rebuffed his invitation so smoothly that he did not realize he had been snubbed. also N.

plummet

V. /垂直落下/fall sharply. Stock prices plummeted as Wall Street reacted to the crisis in the economy.

waylay

V. /埋伏；伏击；抢劫/ambush; lie in wait. They agreed to waylay their victim as he passed through the dark alley going home.

stoke

V. /填饱；司炉/stir up a fire; feed plentifully. As a Scout Marisa learned how to light a fire, how to stoke it if it started to die down, and how to extinguish it completely.

wax

V. /增长/increase; grow. With proper handling, his fortunes waxed and he became rich.

transcribe

V. /复制/copy. When you transcribe your notes, please send a copy to Mr. Smith and keep the original for our files. transcription, N.

replicate

V. /复制/reproduce; duplicate. Because he had always wanted a palace, Donald decided to replicate the Tai Mahal in miniature on his estate.

rally

V. /复原，恢复；召集，集合/call up or summon (forces, vital powers, etc.); revive or recuperate. Washington quickly rallied his troops to fight off the British attack. The patient had been sinking throughout the night, but at dawn she rallied and made a complete recovery.

resurge

V. /复活/rise again; flow to and fro. It was startling to see the spirit of nationalism resurge as the Soviet Union disintegrated into a loose federation of ethnic and national groups. resurgence, N.

swagger

V. /大摇大摆；自大/behave arrogantly or pompously; strut or walk proudly. The conquering hero didn't simply stride down the street; he swaggered. also N.

nip

V. /夹，捏；剪断；阻止/stop something's growth or development; snip off; bite; make numb with cold. The twins were plotting mischief, but Mother intervened and nipped that plan in the bud. The gardener nipped off a lovely rose and gave it to me. Last week a guard dog nipped the postman in the leg; this week the extreme chill nipped his fingers till he could barely hold the mail.

spawn

V. /孵化；下蛋/lay eggs. Fish ladders had to be built in the dams to assist the salmon returning to spawn in their native streams. also N.

placate

V. /安抚/pacify; conciliate. The store manager tried to placate the angry customer, offering to replace the damaged merchandise or to give back her money right away.

pacify

V. /安抚；平静/soothe; make calm or quiet; subdue. Dentists criticize the practice of giving fussy children sweets to pacify them.

satiate

V. /完全满足/satisfy fully. Having stuffed themselves until they were satiated, the guests were so full they were ready for a nap.

prevail

V. /导致，促使；击败；盛行/induce; triumph over. He tried to prevail on her to type his essay for him.

succumb

V. /屈服；屈从；死/yield; give in; die. I succumb to temptation whenever I see chocolate.

yield

V. /屈服；放弃/give in; surrender. The wounded knight refused to yield to his foe.

venerate

V. /崇敬/revere. In Tibet today, the common people still venerate their traditional spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

mollify

V. /平息；安抚/soothe. The airline customer service representative tried to mollify the angry passenger by offering her a seat in first class.

repeal

V. /废除；撤除/revoke; annul. What would the effect on our society be if we decriminalized drug use by repealing the laws against the possession and sale of narcotics?

protract

V. /延长/prolong. Seeking to delay the union members' vote, the management team tried to protract the negotiations endlessly.

perturb

V. /感到不安/disturb greatly. The thought that electricity might be leaking out of the empty light bulb sockets perturbed my aunt so much that at night she crept about the house screw-ing fresh bulbs in the vacant spots. perturbation, N.

rue

V. /懊悔；后悔；感伤/regret; lament; mourn. Tina rued the night she met Tony and wondered how she ever fell for such a jerk. rueful, ADJ.

quail

V. /懦弱；胆怯/cower; lose heart. The Cowardly Lion was afraid that he would quail in the face of danger.

truncate

V. /截去尖端/cut the top off. The top of a cone that has been truncated in a plane parallel to its base is a circle.

shackle

V. /手铐；枷锁；脚镣/chain; fetter. The criminal's ankles were shackled to prevent his escape. also N.

quell

V. /扑灭；镇压；平息/extinguish; put down; quiet. Miss Minchin's demeanor was so stern and forbidding that she could quell any unrest among her students with one intimidating glance.

perforate

V. /打孔/pierce; put a hole through. Before you can open the aspirin bottle, you must first perforate the plastic safety seal that covers the cap.

primp

V. /打扮/groom oneself with care; adorn oneself. The groom stood by idly while his nervous bride-to-be primped one last time before the mirror.

wallow

V. /打滚；沉湎；堕落/roll in; indulge in; become helpless. The hippopotamus loves to wallow in the mud.

stigmatize

V. /打烙印；污蔑/brand; mark as wicked. I do not want to stigmatize this young offender for life by sending her to prison.

winnow

V. /扬谷；分出好坏/sift; separate good parts from bad. This test will winnow out the students who study from those who don't bother.

wrench

V. /扭曲；扭伤；曲解；折磨；拉/pull; strain; twist. She wrenched free of her attacker and landed a powerful kick to his kneecap.

seethe

V. /扰乱的；沸腾/be disturbed; boil. The nation was seething with discontent as the noblemen continued their arrogant ways.

ratify

V. /批准，认可/approve formally; confirm; verify. Party leaders doubted that they had enough votes in both houses of Congress to ratify the constitutional amendment.

sanction

V. /批准，许可/approve; ratify. Nothing will convince me to sanction the engagement of my daughter to such a worthless young man.

validate

V. /批准；确认/confirm; ratify. I will not publish my findings until I validate my results.

repudiate

V. /批判/disown; disavow. On separating from Tony, Tina announced that she would repudiate all debts incurred by her soon-to-be ex-husband.

preen

V. /把自己打扮漂亮；自我满足；鸟类用嘴梳理羽毛/make oneself tidy in appearance; feel self-satisfaction. As Kitty preened before the mirror, carefully smoothing her shining hair, she couldn't help preening over how pretty she looked.

purse

V. /折叠；褶皱；钱包；手提包（女式）/pucker; contract into wrinkles. Miss Watson pursed her lips to show her disapproval of Huck's bedraggled appearance.

ogle

V. /抛媚眼；送秋波/look at amorously; make eyes at. At the coffee house, Walter was too shy to ogle the pretty girls openly; instead, he peeked out at them from behind a rubber plant.

reconcile

V. /抛弃前嫌；不打不相识；结为好友；化解冲突/correct inconsistencies; become friendly after a quarrel. Each month when we try to reconcile our checkbook with the bank statement, we quarrel. However, despite these monthly lovers' quarrels, we always manage to reconcile.

requite

V. /报答；酬谢/repay; revenge. The wretch requited his benefactors by betraying them.

refrain

V. /抵制；抵抗；远离，节制/abstain from; resist. Whenever he heard a song with a lively chorus, Sol could never refrain from joining in on the refrain.

withstand

V. /抵抗；经受住/stand up against; successfully resist. If you can withstand all the peer pressure in high school to cut classes and goof off, you should survive college just fine.

unravel

V. /拆开；解决/disentangle; solve. With equal ease Miss Marple unraveled tangled balls of yarn and baffling murder mysteries.

palpitate

V. /拍动；跳动；搏动/throb; flutter. As he became excited, his heart began to palpitate more and more erratically.

withhold

V. /拒给；保留/refuse to give; hold back. The tenants decided to withhold a portion of the rent until the landlord kept his promise to renovate the building.

negate

V. /拒绝，否定，取消/cancel out; nullify; deny. A sudden surge of adrenalin can negate the effects of fatigue: there's nothing like a good shock to wake you up.

prolong

V. /拖延/make longer; draw out; lengthen. In their determination to discover ways to prolong human life, doctors fail to take into account that longer lives are not always happier ones.

temporize

V. /拖延时间；见风使舵/avoid commiting oneself; gain time. I cannot permit you to temporize any longer; I must have a definite answer today.

ordain

V. /指定；规定；任命；命令/decree or command; grant holy orders; predestine. The king ordained that no foreigner should be allowed to enter the city. The Bishop of Michigan ordained David a deacon in the Episcopal Church. The young lovers felt that fate had ordained their meeting.

relegate

V. /指派；下放；贬/banish to an inferior position; delegate; assign. After Ralph dropped his second tray of drinks that week, the manager swiftly relegated him to a minor post cleaning up behind the bar.

table

V. /搁置/set aside a resolution or proposal for future consideration. Because we seem unable to agree on this issue at the moment, let us table the motion for now and come back to it at a later date.

roil

V. /搅动（使水变浑）;激怒/to make liquids murky by stirring up sediment. Be careful when you pour not to roil the wine; if you stir up the sediment you'll destroy the flavor.

totter

V. /摇摆；摇摇欲坠/move unsteadily; sway, as if about to fall. On unsteady feet, the drunk tottered down the hill to the nearest bar.

prevaricate

V. /撒谎；支吾，搪塞；糊弄/lie. Some people believe that to prevaricate in a good cause is justifiable and regard such a statement as a "white lie."

retract

V. /撤回，撤退/withdraw; take back. When I saw how Fred and his fraternity brothers had trashed the frat house, I decided to retract my offer to let them use our summer cottage for the weekend. retraction, N.

revoke

V. /撤回；取消/cancel; retract. Repeat offenders who continue to drive under the influence of alcohol face having their driver's licenses permanently revoked.

repel

V. /撤退；退却/drive away; disgust. At first, the Beast's ferocious appearance repelled Beauty, but she came to love the tender heart hidden behind that beastly exterior.

sustain

V. /支撑；延续/experience; support; nourish. He sustained such a severe injury that the doctors feared he would be unable to work to sustain his growing family.

muster

V. /收集；集合/gather; assemble. Washington mustered his forces at Trenton. also N.

transmute

V. /改变/change; convert to something different. He was unable to transmute his dreams into actualities.

recant

V. /放弃；宣布放弃/disclaim or disavow; retract a previous statement; openly confess error. Those who can, keep true to their faith; those who can't, recant. Hoping to make Joan of Arc recant her sworn testimony, her English captors tried to convince her that her visions had been sent to her by the Devil.

spurn

V. /放弃；拒绝/reject; scorn. The heroine spurned the villain's advances.

renounce

V. /放弃；断绝关系/abandon; disown; repudiate. Even though she knew she would be burned at the stake as a witch, Joan of Arc refused to renounce her belief that her voices came from God. renunciation, N.

slacken

V. /放松；放慢/slow up; loosen. As they passed the finish line, the runners slackened their pace.

ostracize

V. /放逐/exclude from public favor; ban. As soon as the newspapers carried the story of his connection with the criminals, his friends began to ostracize him. ostracism, N.

succor

V. /救援；援助/aid; assist; comfort. If you believe that con man has come here to succor you in your hour of need, you're an even bigger sucker than I thought. also N.

suborn

V. /教唆/persuade to act unlawfully (especially to commit perjury). In The Godfather, the mobsters used bribery and threats to suborn the witnesses against Don Michael Corleone.

reek

V. /散发（气味）/emit (odor). The room reeked with stale tobacco smoke. also N.

strew

V. /散开；随意散开；散播/spread randomly; sprinkle; scatter. Preceding the bride to the altar, the flower girl will strew rose petals along the aisle.

wean

V. /断奶；丢弃/accustom a baby to not nurse; give up a cherished activity. He decided he would wean himself away from eating junk food and stick to fruits and vegetables.

mesmerize

V. /施催眠术/hypnotize. The incessant drone seemed to mesmerize him and place him in a trance.

scrutinize

V. /明察/examine closely and critically. Searching for flaws, the sergeant scrutinized every detail of the private's uniform.

waive

V. /暂时放弃；屈从/give up temporarily; yield. I will waive my rights in this matter in order to expedite our reaching a proper decision.

misconstrue

V. /曲解/interpret incorrectly; misjudge. She took the passage seriously rather than humorously because she misconstrued the author's ironic tone.

savor

V. /有滋有味儿的；享受这种滋味/enjoy; have a distinctive flavor, smell, or quality. Relishing his triumph, the actor especially savored the chagrin of the critics who had predicted his failure.

polarize

V. /极化；分化；两极分化/split into opposite extremes or camps. The abortion issue has polarized the country into pro-choice and anti-abortion camps. polarization, N.

recapitulate

V. /概括；总结/summarize. Let us recapitulate what has been said thus far before going ahead.

simulate

V. /模仿；冒充/feign. He simulated insanity in order to avoid punishment for his crime.

slur

V. /模糊不清的说/speak indistinctly; mumble. When Sol has too much to drink, he starts to slur his words: "Washamatter? Cansh you undershtand what I shay?"

outwit

V. /欺骗；瞒骗/outsmart; trick. By disguising himself as an old woman, Holmes was able to outwit his pursuers and escape capture.

stanch

V. /止血；血流变检测/check flow of blood. It is imperative that we stanch the gushing wound before we attend to the other injuries.

taint

V. /污染，感染；污点/contaminate; cause to lose purity; modify with a trace of something bad. One speck of dirt on your utensils may contain enough germs to taint an entire batch of preserves.

muse

V. /沉思/ponder. For a moment he mused about the beauty of the scene, but his thoughts soon changed as he recalled his own personal problems. also N.

pore

V. /沉思；考察；深思熟虑；小孔，细口/study industriously; ponder; scrutinize. Determined to become a physician, Beth spent hours poring over her anatomy text.

scuttle

V. /沉没/sink. The sailors decided to scuttle their vessel rather than surrender it to the enemy.

snivel

V. /流鼻涕；啜泣；鼻子一把泪一把/run at the nose; snuffle; whine. Don't you come sniveling to me complaining about your big brother. sobriety N. moderation (especially regarding indulgence in alcohol); seriousness. Neither falling-down drunks nor stand-up comics are noted for sobriety. sober, ADJ.

squander

V. /浪费/waste. If you squander your allowance on candy and comic books, you won't have any money left to buy the new box of crayons you want.

steep

V. /浸泡，弄湿；陡坡；悬崖/soak; saturate. Be sure to steep the fabric in the dyebath for the full time prescribed.

preclude

V. /消灭；杜绝/make impossible; eliminate. The fact that the band was already booked to play in Hollywood on New Year's Eve precluded their accepting the New Year's Eve gig in London they were offered.

pine

V. /消瘦，憔悴；渴望；松树/languish, decline; long for, yearn. Though she tried to be happy living with Clara in the city, Heidi pined for the mountains and for her gruff but loving grandfather.

obviate

V. /消除；排除；避免/make unnecessary; get rid of. I hope this contribution will obviate any need for further collections of funds.

superimpose

V. /添加/place over something else. Your attempt to superimpose another agency in this field will merely increase the bureaucratic nature of our government.

seep

V. /渗出；渗漏/ooze; trickle. During the rainstorm, water seeped through the crack in the basement wall and damaged the floor boards. seepage, N.

ramble

V. /游荡；漫无目的游荡/wander aimlessly (physically or mentally). Listening to the teacher ramble, Judy wondered whether he'd ever get to his point.

saturate

V. /湿透/soak thoroughly. Saturate your sponge with water until it can't hold any more.

slither

V. /滑动/slip or slide. During the recent ice storm, many people slithered down this hill as they walked to the station.

saunter

V. /漫步；闲逛/stroll slowly. As we sauntered through the park, we stopped frequently to admire the spring flowers.

rile

V. /激怒/vex; irritate; muddy. Red had a hair-trigger temper: he was an easy man to rile.

provoke

V. /激怒；惹；煽动；挑起/stir to anger; cause retaliation. In order to prevent a sudden outbreak of hostilities, we must not provoke our foe. provocation, N; provocative, ADJ.

rankle

V. /激怒；溃烂；化脓/irritate; fester. The memory of having been jilted rankled him for years.

pique

V. /激起，煽动；激怒/provoke or arouse; annoy. "I know something you don't know," said Lucy, trying to pique Ethel's interest.

nettle

V. /烦恼；激怒；荨麻/annoy; vex. Do not let him nettle you with his sarcastic remarks.

solder

V. /焊接/repair or make whole by using a metal alloy. The plumber fixed the leak in the pipes by soldering a couple of joints from which water had been oozing.

scale

V. /爬升；升高/climb up; ascend. In order to locate a book on the top shelf of the stacks, Lee had to scale an exceptionally rickety ladder.

perpetrate

V. /犯/commit an offense. Only an insane person could perpetrate such a horrible crime.

rhapsodize

V. /狂热地描述；写狂想文，作狂想曲/to speak or write in an exaggeratedly enthusiastic manner. She greatly enjoyed her Hawaiian vacation and rhapsodized about it for weeks.

surmise

V. /猜测/guess. I surmise that he will be late for this meeting. also N.

pummel

V. /用拳头打/beat or pound with fists. Swinging wildly, Pam pummeled her brother around the head and shoulders.

tether

V. /用绳子绑；范围/tie with a rope. Before we went to sleep, we tethered the horses to prevent their wandering off during the night.

swill

V. /痛饮/drink greedily. Singing "Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum," Long John Silver and his fellow pirates swilled their grog.

simper

V. /痴笑；傻笑/smirk; smile affectedly. Complimented on her appearance, Stella self-consciously simpered.

petrify

V. /石化/turn to stone. His sudden and unexpected appearance seemed to petrify her.

undermine

V. /破坏/weaken; sap. The recent corruption scandals have undermined many people's faith in the city government. The recent torrential rains have washed away much of the cliffside; the deluge threatens to undermine the pillars supporting several houses at the edge of the cliff.

ossify

V. /硬化；骨化；化石化/change or harden into bone. When he called his opponent a "bonehead," he implied that his adversary's brain had ossified to the point that he was incapable of clear thinking.

orient

V. /确定方向；校准/get one's bearings; adjust. Philip spent his first day in Denver orienting himself to the city.

pulverize

V. /磨碎；粉碎/crush or grind into dust. Before sprinkling the dried herbs into the stew, Michael first pulverized them into a fine powder.

proscribe

V. /禁止/ostracize; banish; outlaw. Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus proscribed all those who had conspired against Julius Caesar.

mushroom

V. /膨胀，迅速生长/expand or grow rapidly. Between 1990 and 1999, the population of Silicon Valley mushroomed; with the rapidly increasing demand for housing, home prices sky-rocketed as well.

skimp

V. /节约的使用/provide scantily; live very economically. They were forced to skimp on necessities in order to make their limited supplies last the winter.

*vaporize

V. /蒸发/turn into vapor (steam, gas, fog, etc.). "Zap!" went Super Mario's atomic ray gun as he vaporized another deadly foe.

replenish

V. /补充/fill up again. Before she could take another backpacking trip, Carla had to replenish her stock of freeze-dried foods.

salvage

V. /补救；抢救；打捞；营救/rescue from loss. All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed. also N.

reproach

V. /表示失望；责备/express disapproval or disappointment. He never could do anything wrong without imagining how the look on his mother's face would reproach him afterwards. reproachful, ADJ.

vent

V. /表达；发泄/express; utter. The angry teacher vented his wrath on his class.

retrench

V. /裁减，削减；紧缩，节约/cut down; economize. In order to be able to afford to send their children to college, they would have to retrench. retrenchment, N.

shroud

V. /裹尸；隐藏/hide from view; wrap for burial. Fog shrouded Dracula's castle, hiding the ruined tower beneath sheets of mist.

stipulate

V. /规定；明细化/make express conditions; specify. Before agreeing to reduce American military forces in Europe, the president stipulated that NATO inspection teams be allowed to inspect Soviet bases.

unfetter

V. /解放/liberate; free from chains. Chained to the wall for months on end, the hostage despaired that he would ever be unfettered.

recount

V. /解说，告诉；重新数/narrate or tell; count over again. A born storyteller, my father loved to recount anecdotes about his early years in New York.

paraphrase

V. /解释；批注；注释/restate a passage in one's own words while retaining thought of author. In 250 wordsaor less, paraphrase this article. also N.

unfrock

V. /解除神职/to strip a priest or minister of church authority. To disbar a lawyer, to unfrock a priest, to suspend a doctor's license to practice-these are extreme steps that the authorities should take only after careful consideration.

substantiate

V. /证实；验证/establish by evidence; verify; support. These endorsements from satisfied customers substantiate our claim that Barron's How to Prepare for the SAT I is the best SAT-prep book on the market.

misrepresent

V. /误传；有意制造误解/give a false or incorrect impression, often deliberately; serve unsatisfactorily as a representative. In his job application, Milton misrepresented his academic background; he was fired when his employers discovered the truth. The reformers accused Senator Gunbucks of misrepresenting his constituents and claimed he took bribes from the NRA.

traduce

V. /诽谤；中伤/expose to slander. His opponents tried to traduce the candidate's reputation by spreading rumors about his past.

vilify

V. /诽谤；辱骂/slander. Waging a highly negative campaign, the candidate attempted to vilify his opponent's reputation. vilification, N.

mediate

V. /调解；仲裁/settle a dispute through the services of an outsider. King Solomon was asked to mediate a dispute between two women, each of whom claimed to be the mother of the same child.

reprimand

V. /谴责/reprove severely; rebuke. Every time Ermengarde made a mistake in class, she was afraid that Miss Minchin would reprimand her and tell her father how badly she was doing in school. also N.

reprove

V. /责备/censure; rebuke. The principal severely reproved the students whenever they talked in the halls.

upbraid

V. /责备/severely scold; reprimand. Not only did Miss Minchin upbraid Ermengarde for her disobedience, but she hung her up by her braids from a coat rack in the classroom. uproarious ADJ. marked by commotion; extremely funny; very noisy. The uproarious comedy hit Ace Ventura: Pet Detective starred Jim Carrey, whose comic mugging provoked gales of uproarious laughter from audiences coast to coast.

rail

V. /责骂；斥责；咆哮/scold; rant. You may rail at him all you want; you will never change him.

patronize

V. /资助；支持/support; act superior toward; be a customer of. Penniless artists hope to find some wealthy art-lover who will patronize them. If some condescending wine steward patronized me because he saw I knew nothing about fine wine, I'd refuse to patronize his restaurant.

stem from

V. /起因于/arise from. Milton's problems in school stemmed from his poor study habits.

surpass

V. /超越/exceed. Her SAT I scores surpassed our expectations.

outstrip

V. /超过/surpass; outdo. Jesse Owens easily outstripped his white competitors to win the gold medal at the Olympic Games.

scruple

V. /踌躇；忧郁/fret about; hesitate, for ethical reasons. Fearing that her husband had become involved in an affair, she did not scruple to read his diary. also N.

parry

V. /躲避/ward off a blow; deflect. Unwilling to injure his opponent in such a pointless clash, Dartagnan simply tried to parry his rival's thrusts. What fun it was to watch Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy parry each other's verbal thrusts in their classic screwball comedies!

veer

V. /转向/change in direction. After what seemed an eternity, the wind veered to the east and the storm abated.

vindicate

V. /辩护；维护/clear from blame; exonerate; justify or support. The lawyer's goal was to vindicate her client and prove him innocent on all charges. The critics' extremely favorable reviews vindicate my opinion that The Madness of King George is a brilliant movie.

revile

V. /辱骂，谩骂，诽谤/attack with abusive language; vilify. Though most of his contemporaries reviled Captain Kidd as a notorious, bloody-handed pirate, some of his fellow merchant-captains believed him innocent of his alleged crimes.

propagate

V. /迅速增长，传播，扩散/multiply; spread. Since bacteria propagate more quickly in unsanitary environments, it is important to keep hospital rooms clean.

trespass

V. /过失；侵入/unlawfully enter the boundaries of some else's property. The wicked baron flogged any poacher who trespassed on his private hunting grounds. also N.

scuttle

V. /迈着碎步轻快的走/scurry; run with short, rapid steps. The bug scuttled rapidly across the floor.

rejuvenate

V. /返老还童；青春重回/make young again. The charlatan claimed that his elixir would rejuvenate the aged and weary.

muddle

V. /迷惑的；搞乱了的，混淆了的/confuse; mix up. His thoughts were muddled and chaotic. also N.

obfuscate

V. /迷惑，困惑；增加不必要的复杂性/confuse; muddle; cause confusion; make needlessly complex. Was the president's spokesman trying to clarify the Whitewater mystery, or was he trying to obfuscate the issue so the voters would never figure out what went on?

mystify

V. /迷惑，蛊惑/bewilder purposely. When doctors speak in medical jargon, they often mystify their patients, who have little knowledge of medical terminology.

scintillate

V. /迸出火花；发出闪烁/sparkle; flash. I enjoy her dinner parties because the food is excellent and the conversation scintillates.

wince

V. /退缩/shrink back; flinch. The screech of the chalk on the blackboard made her wince.

shirk

V. /逃避，推卸；避免/avoid (responsibility, work, etc.); malinger. Brian has a strong sense of duty; he would never shirk any responsibility.

tantalize

V. /逗弄；使其干着急/tease; torture with disappointment. Tom loved to tantalize his younger brother with candy; he knew the boy was forbidden to have it.

shun

V. /避免/keep away from. Cherishing his solitude, the recluse shunned the company of other human beings.

rig

V. /配备；装备/fix or manipulate. The ward boss was able to rig the election by bribing people to stuff the ballot boxes with ballots marked in his candidate's favor.

recast

V. /重建/reconstruct (a sentence, story, etc.); fashion again. Let me recast this sentence in terms your feeble brain can grasp: in words of one syllable, you are a fool.

retrieve

V. /重新得到；找回/recover; find and bring in. The dog was intelligent and quickly learned to retrieve the game killed by the hunter.

reiterate

V. /重申；重复/repeat. He reiterated the warning to make sure everyone understood it.

whet

V. /锐化；刺激/sharpen; stimulate. The odors from the kitchen are whetting my appetite; I will be ravenous by the time the meal is served.

suppress

V. /镇压；抑制；查禁/stifle; overwhelm; subdue; inhibit. Too polite to laugh in anyone's face, Roy did his best to suppress his amusement at Ed's inane remark.

waffle

V. /闲聊；胡扯/speak equivocally about an issue. When asked directly about the governor's involvement in the savings and loan scandal, the press secretary waffled, talking all around the issue.

prattle

V. /闲聊；胡说；废话；唠叨/babble. Baby John prattled on and on about the cats and his ball and the Cookie Monster.

smolder

V. /闷烧；随时准备爆发/burn without flame; be liable to break out at any moment. The rags smoldered for hours before they burst into flame.

swelter

V. /闷热；中暑/be oppressed by heat. I am going to buy an air conditioning unit for my apartment as I do not intend to swelter through another hot and humid summer.

thwart

V. /阻碍；挫败/baffle; frustrate. He felt that everyone was trying to thwart his plans and prevent his success.

mire

V. /陷入（泥塘）；麻烦缠身/entangle; stick in swampy ground. Their rear wheels became mired in mud. also N.

secrete

V. /隐匿；藏匿；分泌/hide away; produce and release a substance into an organism. The pack rat secretes odds and ends in its nest; the pancreas secretes insulin in the islets of Langerhans. sect N. separate religious body; faction. As university chaplain, she sought to address universal religious issues and not limit herself to concerns of any one sect.

sequester

V. /隐退；隔离/isolate; retire from public life; segregate; seclude. Banished from his kingdom, the wizard Prospero sequestered himself on a desert island. To prevent the jurors from hearing news broadcasts about the case, the judge decided to sequester the jury.

renovate

V. /革新；刷新；修复/restore to good condition; renew. They claim that they can renovate worn shoes so that they look like new ones.

predispose

V. /预先安排，使其偏向于/give an inclination toward; make susceptible to. Oleg's love of dressing up his big sister's Barbie doll may have predisposed him to become a fashion designer. Genetic influences apparently predispose people to certain forms of cancer.

predetermine

V. /预定；预先确定/predestine; settle or decide beforehand; influence markedly. Romeo and Juliet believed that Fate had predetermined their meeting. Bea gathered estimates from caterers, florists, and stationers so that she could predetermine the costs of holding a catered buffet. Philip's love of athletics predetermined his choice of a career in sports marketing.

presage

V. /预示/foretell. The vultures flying overhead presaged the discovery of the corpse in the desert.

portend

V. /预示/foretell; presage. The king did not know what these omens might portend and asked his soothsayers to interpret them.

premeditate

V. /预谋，预先考虑/plan in advance. She had premeditated the murder for months, reading about common poisons and buying weed killer that contained arsenic.

warble

V. /颤声轻唱；鸟鸣/sing; babble. Every morning the birds warbled outside her window. also N.

waft

V. /飘荡；信号/moved gently by wind or waves. Daydreaming, he gazed at the leaves that wafted past his window.

renege

V. /食言；反悔；否认；翻供/deny; go back on. He reneged on paying off his debt.

surfeit

V. /饮食过度；恶心/satiate; stuff; indulge to excess in anything. Every Thanksgiving we are surfeited with an overabundance of holiday treats. also N.

whinny

V. /马嘶/neigh like a horse. When he laughed through his nose, it sounded as if he whinnied.