GRE Vocab Capacity

refractory

(adj.) (person/medical) stubborn; unmanageable Think: re-fracture The refractory athlete insisted on playing despite his broken toe; unsurprisingly, he re-fractured it

diurnal

(adj.) =! nocturnal Think: the urinal My use of the urinal is diurnal - I pee every day

respite

(adj.) a short break/escape (st difficult/unpleasant); giải lao Think: rest it Don't overwork your respiratory system; if you take a respite and rest it, your lungs will thank you

bulwark

(adj.) a strong support or protection Think: bull work In a bullfighting arena, the barrier to protect the spectators from the bull better work; it has to be a bulwark

tenable

(adj.) able to be defended; workable Think: ten able THe scientist's theory was tenable because it was "ten-able", worthy of being rated a 10 out of 10

imminent

(adj.) about to happen Think: in a moment The evil-looking storm clouds told us a downpour was imminent - it would happen in a moment

prolific

(adj.) abundantly productive Think: pro-life-ic That state is anti-abortion, and they're prolific baby-makers because their pro-life-ic stance on the subject

wont

(adj.) accustomed Think: want It makes sense that you want to do things you are wont to doing, as opposed to trying risky new activities

nonchalant

(adj.) acting casual or disinterested, vô tư Think: non-challenge I'm nonchalant when I ask out a girl; it's really a non-challenge for me since I've got so much game

grandiose

(adj.) affecting grandness by showing off or exaggerating Think: grand ideas I have a lot of grand ideas: for example, my grandiose plan to jump the Grand Canyon with my rocket car

cordial

(adj.) affectionate (n.) liqueur Think: cordial (noun) The alcohol in the cordial (noun) made me act more cordial (adjective)

posthumous

(adj.) after death (happening/done/published) Think: post-human It's a small comfort to be posthumously awarded a medal - you're post-human ta that point, i.e., dead

remedial

(adj.) aimed to correct/improve st done wrong, sửa lỗi Think: remedy If you are terrible at math, the only remedy might be to take a remedial arithmetic class

omniscient

(adj.) all-knowing Think: owns his science I'm not surprised to hear that Jesus got an A in AP Chem; he owns his science classes because he's omniscient

equivocal

(adj.) ambiguous Think: equally vocal The equivocal politician was equally vocal about both sides of the issue equivocate (v.) nói tránh/né (avoid truth)

antediluvian

(adj.) ancient; primitive Think: anti-dildo-lovin' Only someone with antediluvian views on sex would be anti-dildo-lovin'

garrulous

(adj.) annoyingly talkative Think: Gorillaz The rapper in the band Gorillaz is garrulous, especially since he uses phrases like "chocolate attack".

apposite

(adj.) appropriate (for a situation/something) Think: a positive site Wikipedia is a positive site because it's apposite for all kinds of research

strenuous

(adj.) arduous; quyết liệt (great energy+determination) Think: strain on us The strenuous hike up Mt. Whitney was a strain on us

overweening

(adj.) arrogant Think: weenie The young actor's demands were so overweening that the movie crew started calling him a weenie behind his back

haughty

(adj.) arrogant, ngạo mạn Think: stuck-up hottie Unfortunately, that senior class hottie is usually haughty when you talk to her

monastic

(adj.) ascetic Think: monastery If you're a monk and you live in a monastery, your life is probably monastic - no partying for you

bumptious

(adj.) assertive in a loud, arrogant way; tự phụ Think: bump us You're the type of guy who would push past us in a crowd and bump us and not say you're sorry - you're bumptious

cognizant

(adj.) aware; informed, hiểu biết Think: recognize If you're cognizant of our theory, you must recognize where our solution came from

abysmal

(adj.) awful Think: Pepto-Bismol; abyss When I had food poisoning, my stomach felt so abysmal that I had to drink a bottle of Pepto-Bismol abyss (n.) hố sâu hoắm

gauche

(adj.) awkward, vụng về Think: go douche The gauche thing about Summer's Eve commercials is that they're basically telling you to go douche

unwieldy

(adj.) awkward; cumbersome Think: unable to wield The ogre dropped his giant club and I picked it up, but it was too unwieldy to wield against him in battle

fetid

(adj.) bad-smelling Think: feet Feet are often fetid

dyspeptic

(adj.) bad-tempered Think: Pepto-Bismol This Pepto-Bismol will prevent indigestion and the resulting dyspeptic mood

splenetic

(adj.) bad-tempered Think: spleen anger In medieval times, people thought anger came from one's spleen; "splenetic" was coined to describe an angry person

surly

(adj.) bad-tempered Think: swirly The school bully gave me a swirly (he stuck my head in a toilet and flushed it) - that's why I'm surly

bilious

(adj.) bad-tempered; mắc ói Think: bully us We goth kids are only bilious because the jocks like to bully us

scanty

(adj.) barely sufficient; minimal Think: scanty panty Thong underwear is basically just a really scanty panty scant (adj.) hardly any

egalitarian

(adj.) based on the belief in human equality Think: equal eagle In the U.S., our egalitarian belief that all men are created equal is symbolized by the bald eagle

incipient

(adj.) beginning Think: sippy cup When your child's toddlerhood is incipient (beginning), it helps to have a good sippy cup to minimize the number of spills

salutary

(adj.) beneficial (might seem unpleasant) Think: salute Sal's cooking has such a salutary effect on me that I salute him

wry

(adj.) bi hài Think: PB&J on rye Surprising me by serving a PB&J sandwich on rye bread is a good example of my mother's wry humor

morbid

(adj.) bi quan (obsessed with or overly focused on death) Think: more bit (bite the bullet) If you're more obsessed with biting the bullet than most, then you are probably a morbid person

mordant

(adj.) bitingly harsh, often in a funny way Think: Mordor Those evil creatures who live in Mordor are especially fond of mordant jokes

acrimonious

(adj.) bitter Think: a crime on us Committing a crime on us makes us acrimonious

humdrum

(adj.) boring, tedious Think: hums and drums That was a humdrum band - it was just one guy who would hum and another guy beating a drum

officious

(adj.) bossy Think: vicious official The official was vicious enough to measure every fish we caught with a ruler to make sure it was legal

fleeting

(adj.) brief Think: flee My stay in the village was by necessity fleeting: a dragon attacked, and I had to flee

refulgent

(adj.) brightly shining Think: refuels it The campfire gets refulgent after he refuels it

whimsical

(adj.) buồn cười (amusing/annoying) Think: whim The princess's whimsical ideas included her sudden whim to travel to Antarctica

partisan

(adj.) bè phái, biased toward one side Think: Party's son The chairman of the Democratic Party's son was understandably partisan about politics

demotic

(adj.) bình dân (typical of ordinary people) Think: democratic Obama uses demotic language in his speeches to seem more democratic

idyllic

(adj.) bình yên (peaceful, beautiful); hoàn mĩ (perfect) Think: ideal The idyllic forest grove, with its sunbeams, babbling brook, and butterflies, seemed an ideal campsite

facetious

(adj.) bông đùa, cợt nhả (not at appropriate time) Think: face "E" The facetious comedian made us smile so much that our faces looked like we were constantly saying "E"

burgeoning

(adj.) bùng nổ, grow/develop rapidly Think: burgers If you eat too many burger, your waistline will be burgeoning burgeon (v.)

listless

(adj.) bơ phờ (having no energy/enthusiasm) Think: list-less If you've never made a to-do list, you're list-less and probably listless

precarious

(adj.) bấp bênh (unstable/fall); dangerous Think: preach carefulness Preach carefulness to people who are standing on precarious rock ledges

indomitable

(adj.) bất khuất, k đầu hàng/khuất phục Think: in-dominate-able Spain's national soccer team is so good that they're indomitable or "in-dominate-able" - they're unable to be dominated

mimetic

(adj.) bắt chước Think: mimes mimic You may think mimes are annoying, but their mimetic abilities are pretty cool when they mimic what it would look like to be trapped in a glass box

imperious

(adj.) bề trên (dominant in a kingly way) Think: emperor When we went out to dinner with the emperor, he was so imperious that he ordered all of our meals

beleaguered

(adj.) bị bủa vây (criticism, difficulties; enemy) Think: B-Leaguer "I'm sick and tired of being a B-leaguer instead of an A-Leaguer," said the B-movie actor

flummoxed

(adj.) bối rối, confused Think: flume ox At the water park, I was completely flummoxed when, in the flume ride, I saw an ox swimming along

docile

(adj.) calm, even-tempered Think: doctor The docile doctor remained calm even though his patient was clinging to life by a thread

inimitable

(adj.) can't be imitated Think: in-imitate-able Michelangelo's art is inimitable and in-imitate-able; it has a magic that cannot be reproduced

implacable

(adj.) cannot be changed, ương bướng Think: im-plaque-able My dental hygenist was implacable; no matter how much I brushed and flossed, she kept telling me that my mouth was full of plaque

skittish

(adj.) cao hứng, tùy hứng, keep changing Think: Skittles After I ate a 54 oz. bag of Skittles by myself, the sugar high made me skittish

statuesque

(adj.) cao ráo (attractively tall) Think: statue Esquire I wanted to make a statue of the Esquire model because she was so statuesque

fallible

(adj.) capable of making an error Think: fail-able Jenkins! The rookie agent you picked is fallible - for him, the mission is extremely fail-able

remiss

(adj.) careless Think: re-miss If you are remiss in your study technique, you'll miss the point the first time you read then re-miss it the 2nd time

slipshod

(adj.) careless; sloppy Think: slip shoddy I slip when I walk on your shoddy living room floor because its construction is really slipshod

invidious

(adj.) causing envy; unfair, unpleasant Think: envious I knew marrying a supermodel would make my friends envious - it's unfortunately an invidious thing to do

soporific

(adj.) causing sleep Think: sleepover-ific That boring movie is perfect for our slumber party - it's sleepover-ific because it's soporific

circumspect

(adj.) cautious Think: circle inspect When you rent a car, walk in a circle to inspect it for dents; if you're not circumspect now, they may charge you later

blase

(adj.) chai sạn, chai lì (apathetic because experienced many times) Think: blah say I'm a rock star, so I'm blase and "blah blah blah" is all I say even when blazingly hot girls try to talk to me

puerile

(adj.) childish Think: puberty The high school freshman's puerile sense of humor was typical of a boy who was going through puberty

eclectic

(adj.) chiết trung (varied) Think: selection collection If your musical tastes are eclectic, I can probably name any style selection and you'll say it's in your collection

usurious

(adj.) cho vay nặng lãi Think: u serious? I know that I have bad credit, but the usurious rate on my credit card made me say "U serious?" usury (n.)

conscientious

(adj.) chu đáo (careful, correct) Think: consciences Conscientious people usually are driven to do good deeds by their consciences

esoteric

(adj.) chuyên môn, known by only a few people Think: isolated terrific Einstein's esoteric knowledge isolated him from most of his peers since his acumen was so terrific

decorous

(adj.) chuẩn mực (polite, appropriate) Think: the chorus Kids in the chorus are usually not rebels - they're often decorous decorum (n.)

artless

(adj.) chân thật (simple, natural, honest); artless Think: art-less flirting Flirting is an art I use less than most people; it's definitely pretty artless when I just go up to a girl and tell her I like her

incandescent

(adj.) chói sáng (very bright); đầy xúc cảm (full of strong emotion) Think: candle sent The candle sent incandescent light throughout the tomb, revealing a sleeping vampire

grating

(adj.) chói tai, khó nghe (sound) Think: grater Reading Facebook election posts is grating; I'd almost rather rub a cheese grater on myself

rapt

(adj.) chăm chú (completely interested) Think: wrapped The audience was held rapt by the master violinist's performance; they were completely wrapped up in it

dilatory

(adj.) chậm trễ (not quickly enough, delay) Think: delay later The dilatory gator liked to delay things until later

astute

(adj.) clever (get advantage), khôn ranh Think: SAT student I had an SAT student named Stu who was so astute that he got a 2400 on the SAT

shrewd

(adj.) clever, astute Think: sued The shrewd attorney sued as many people as she could; she knew her superior knowledge of the law would make her win

hackneyed

(adj.) cliched Think: hacked knees The veteran soccer player had hacked knees; his knees were hackneyed from overuse

kindred

(adj.) closely related/similar Think: kind I'm so kind to you because we're kindred spirits

workmanlike

(adj.) coi/xem/chấp nhận được, good but not great Think: workman's design A workman will produce a workmanlike house design, but hire an architect if you want originality

perennial

(adj.) constant; persistent; recurring Think: per annual Per the annual tradition, it's time to start the perennial search for the next American Idol

tendentious

(adj.) controversially biased Think: tendency Don't let him judge the beauty contest: he's tendentious and has a tendency to vote for the contestants that flirt with him the most

orthodox

(adj.) conventional; traditional Think: orthodontist Look for an orthodox orthodontist; you don't want someone getting creative with your teeth

bucolic

(adj.) countryside; rural Think: blue collar I'm just a bucolic broccoli farmer - a blue collar worker - I don't understand what those men in suits are talking about!

craven

(adj.) cowardly Think: Wes Craven My craven roommate refused to go to the Wes Craven movie - it was way too scary for her

draconian

(adj.) cruelly strict, hà khắc Think: Draco Malfoy If Draco Malfoy had taught the Gryffindor students, I'm sure he would have been a draconian instructor

wily

(adj.) cunning Think: Wile E. Coyote Wile E. Coyote was not quite wily enough to catch the Roadrunner despite his clever traps wiles (n.) mánh

waspish

(adj.) cáu kỉnh Think: wasp-ish The trouble with keeping them as pets is that wasps are almost always waspish - they'll sting you if you look at them the wrong way

sentient

(adj.) có giác cảm, hữu tình (having sense perception) Think: sensed it I knew the alien life form was sentient after I pricked it with a pin and it moved: it sensed it

propitious

(adj.) có triển vọng Think: prop it up In "A Charlie Brown Christmas", Linus thought the little tree was propitious, so he decided to prop it up

dispassionate

(adj.) công minh (not influenced by emotion) Think: not passionate Dis = not, passionate = passionate, dispassionate = not passionate (not interested)

peremptory

(adj.) cưỡng bách, expecting to be obeyed immediately Think: pre-empted The Emperor pre-empted Luke's replies so much that even Darth Vader called him peremptory

finicky

(adj.) cầu kì, khó tính (fussy, too worried abt things); đòi hỏi kĩ lưỡng Think: nit-picky The princess was nit-picky - she was so finicky that she refused to sleep on the mattress with a pea under it

querulous

(adj.) cằn nhằn; complaining Think: quarrel us We'd invite you over more, but you're so querulous that you always end up in a quarrel with us!

incorrigible

(adj.) cố hữu, incurable (unchangeable bad habits) Think: in-correctable Despite his teachers' best efforts to make him sit still, the hyperactive little boy seemed incorrigible and in-correctable

cumbersome

(adj.) cồng kềnh, rườm rà (things, situation) Think: cucumber It felt cumbersome to walk down the beach with a gigantic cucumber down the front of my Speedo

brusque

(adj.) cộc lốc (abruptly sound) Think: brushed off I tried to make friends with the club's bouncer, but he was brusque and brushed me off

terse

(adj.) cộc lốc, brief and abrupt Think: terse verse Haikus are verses / That are as terse as the lives / Of gentle fruit flies

recalcitrant

(adj.) cứng đầu (difficult to manage or change) Think: calc rant The calc worksheet made Alex rant because it was so recalcitrant

hardscrabble

(adj.) cực nhọc (involving hardwork/struggle) Think: hard and scrappy scrabble champ Despite her hardscrabble upbringing, Lucinda was a hard and scrappy scrabble champ; she excelled not because of her genius, but through hard work and a superior will to win

quotidian

(adj.) daily Think: quota The meter maid met her daily quota of parking tickets by her quotidian patrolling of the streets

audacious

(adj.) daring; bold Think: awed us Walking up to Obama and swiping his pen as he was about to sign the bill was so audacious that it awed us

profound

(adj.) deep Think: professor found My professor found the cure for cancer because his decades of study gave him a profound understanding of the disease

ingrained

(adj.) deep-rooted, ăn sâu (habit/attitude) Think: in grain Pesticides sprayed on wheat will become ingrained into the grain

perverse

(adj.) deliberately bad, wrong, cố tình Think: perverts Perverts like Peeping Toms are perverse; they should be locked up

ethereal

(adj.) delicate; heavenly; insubstantial Think: other than real My God, Joyce - your meringue cookies are ethereal - so light, so delicious - they must be something other than real

delectable

(adj.) delightful, delicious (food, drink) Think: delicious electable Ryan Gosling should run for president since most women think he's delectable and delicious enough to be electable

bereft

(adj.) deprived or robbed of something Think: he left After he left her at the altar and crushed her dreams, she left completely bereft

showy

(adj.) designed to attract attention Think: show Donald Trump's showy, gold-plated toilet was clearly designed to show off his wealth

pertinacious

(adj.) determined, ngoan cường Think: persistent and tenacious My pertinacious defender was both persistent and tenacious; I had no open shots

diabolical

(adj.) devilish; terrible Think: die abolish Your law that makes cigarettes part of school lunches is diabolical and will cause children to die...abolish it!

unruly

(adj.) difficult to discipline or manage Think: un-rule-able My two-year-old is unruly; he is un-rule-able and says "No!" to me every time I tell him to do something

sedulous

(adj.) diligent Think: schedule us Our sedulous hairstylist is always able to schedule us since she's so efficient

acerbic

(adj.) directly, cruelly critical; gay gắt Think: acidic On American Idol, Simon Cowell's criticism was acerbic to the point of being acidic

calamitous

(adj.) disastrous Think: calamari vomit It's calamitous when you eat undercooked calamari, become vomitous, and puke on your date

disgruntled

(adj.) displeased Think: grunted The fat warthog grunted to show he was disgruntled with his small dinner

disparate

(adj.) distinct; different Think: this parrot vs. that pirate This parrot is disparate (different) from that pirate on whose shoulder it is sitting. They are disparate species, after all...even if they do look a bit alike

manifold

(adj.) diverse; varied Think: many folds The surface of the brain is manifold because it has many folds

vertiginous

(adj.) dizzy or producing dizziness Think: vertigo Standing on the edge of the skyscraper made me feel really vertiginous because I have vertigo

histrionic

(adj.) diễn kịch (overly emotional for effect) Think: hysterical Her hysterical laughter was designed to get attention and was therefore histrionic

extemporaneous

(adj.) done without preparation Think: ex = without, tempo = time If you don't have time to prepare, then your speech will have to be extemporaneous

dubious

(adj.) doubtful Think: dubious doob That is a dubious doob, my friend - it looks like oregano if you ask me

desiccated

(adj.) dried out Think: desert sick The desert made me sick because the dry heat desiccated my body

sere

(adj.) dried; withered Think: sear If you sear those vegetables on the grill too long they'll become sere

mellifluous

(adj.) du dương (sound/voice) Think: melody flow Adele's mellifluous voice lets a melody flow from her lips like honey

vapid

(adj.) dull (interest/intelligence) Think: vapor All vapor and no substance, MTV is so vapid that it makes me want to take a nap

jejune

(adj.) dull; naive Think: juvenile My frat brothers' fart jokes are so jejune that you could almost call them juvenile or "jejune-venile"

pedestrian

(adj.) dull; ordinary Think: pedestrian (noun) You're pedestrian (adjective) because you're a pedestrian (noun) - cool kids drive to school

solipsistic

(adj.) duy ngã luận Think: sold lipstick The model whose image sold lipstick became solipsistic due to all the compliments she received

prolix

(adj.) dông dài (boring) Think: prolific After writing dozens of 1000+ page books, the prolific author was often criticized for his prolix writing style

sordid

(adj.) dơ bẩn (immoral/dirty) Think: sorry I did If you are a normal person with a conscience and you do something sordid, you'll be thinking, "sorry I did that" before long

lachrymose

(adj.) dễ khóc Think: lack Christmas If you lack Christmas presents, I don't blame you for being lachrymose

malleable

(adj.) dễ uốn (metal); dễ đổi (idea/people) Think: mallet-able 24-karat gold is so malleable that you can dent it with a wooden hammer - it's "mallet-able"

baleful

(adj.) dọa dẫm (threatening harm) Think: Christian Bale I'm not a big Christian Bale fan - he always has that baleful look on his face, like he wants to start a fight with you

stolid

(adj.) dửng dưng (no interest/emotion/reaction/change) Think: solid The stolid butler was solid and expressionless; he never broke down and cried

acquisitive

(adj.) eager to acquire and possess; greedy Think: a squid visited An acquisitive squid visited my house and wrapped his arms around all of my valuable Chines porcelain

ornate

(adj.) elaborately decorated Think: ornaments Ornaments covered every inch of the Christmas tree due to the decorator's ornate style

abashed

(adj.) embarrassed Think: Bashful the dwarf When Snow White kisses him, Bashful gets so abashed that he blushes

impassive

(adj.) emotionless, vô hồn Think: I'm passive I'm passive, and I remained impassive so the bully who stole my Dippin' Dots wouldn't hit me

ensorcell

(adj.) enchant, fascinate Think: sorcerer The sorcerer ensorcelled the adventurers with a powerful spell that made them forget who they were

frenetic

(adj.) energetic (unorganizedly) Think: frenzy of energy Have you ever watched a Pug play? It's frenetic - like a chubby little frenzy of energy

gargantuan

(adj.) enormous Think: gigantic The gargantuan orangutan was so gigantic that it needed a special enclosure at the zoo

ample

(adj.) enough or more than enough, dư giả Think: Apple With about $200 billion in cash reserves (in 2015), Apple has ample resources

apoplectic

(adj.) enraged Think: Apu epileptic In the Simpsons, when Nelson robbed his Kwik-E-Mart, Apu shook with apoplectic rage as if he was having an epileptic seizure

inordinate

(adj.) excessive, exceeding reasonable limits Think: not ordinary Joey Chestnut consumed an inordinate number of hot dogs; it's not ordinary that he ate 62 of them

grasping

(adj.) excessively greedy Think: Mr. Burns' grasping The Simpsons' Mr. Burns is a grasping (adjective) tycoon who is always grasping (verb) at any new source of profit

latent

(adj.) existing but unseen or inactive, âm ỉ, ngấm ngầm Think: lay tent You claim to like hiking, but your desire must be latent since you just lay in the tent when we camp

innate

(adj.) existing since birth; inborn Think: in natal The ability of a spider to spin a web is not learned but innate; it's in it even in the natal stage before being born

aboriginal

(adj.) existing since the beginning, nguyên sơ Think: original In Australia, the original natives are the Aborigines - they are aboriginal since they were its first inhabitants

incensed

(adj.) extremely angry Think: incense If you're incensed, smoke may be wafting off your head as if you were a giant stick of burning incense (noun)

egregious

(adj.) extremely bad Think: outrageous Her saying that she had to wash her hamster was such an egregious and outrageous excuse that it made me say "Jesus!"

intrepid

(adj.) extremely brave Think: entrap it! Instead of running from the attacking polar bear, our intrepid guide handed us nets, shouting, "entrap it!"

conversant

(adj.) familiar with Think: converse it if you're conversant with something, you can converse about it intelligently

modish

(adj.) fashionable Think: model-ish Modish brands like Burberry and Prada are model-ish because only models seem to actually wear them

timorous

(adj.) fearful Think: timid of us Tim felt timid around us since he was timorous

fecund

(adj.) fertile; inventive Think: feces under Spreading manure, i.e., feces, under your crops as fertilizer will make your harvest fecund

squalid

(adj.) filthy, sordid Think: squat lid If the bathroom stall is squalid, squat over the lid when you pee

staunch

(adj.) firm; committed; strong Think: stay unchanged I'm a staunch supporter of Justin Bieber, so my support for him will say unchanged even if he does something really stupid

resolute

(adj.) firmly determined Think: resolution IT's no use to make a New Year's resolution if you're not resolute enough to follow thorough with it resolution (n.)

sapid

(adj.) flavorful Think: maple sap We make maple syrup from the sap of maple trees because their sap is naturally sapid

insipid

(adj.) flavorless; dull Think: in sippy FYI: if your drinks are served in sippy cups, you're probably a baby - that's why they feed you insipid, mushy foods

impeccable

(adj.) flawless Think: im-peckable Due to the impeccable net you covered my apple tree with, the crows can't get at the fruit - it's im-peckable

transitory

(adj.) fleeting Think: transit story I found romance on the subway, but alas, our love was transitory: it was a public transit story that only lasted until her stop

ephemeral

(adj.) fleeting; short-lived Think: FM for all Since satellite radio is ten times better than normal radio, the days of FM for all are ephemeral

meshuga

(adj.) foolish Think: me shrugs As a pirate captain, me shrugs at me crew when their actions be meshuga

mephitic

(adj.) foul-smelling Think: meth breath I bet the devil Mephistopheles has mephitic breath, like that of a meth user

affable

(adj.) friendly, genial Think: laughable Since they want tourists to feed them, zoo giraffes are so affable that it's laughable

amicable

(adj.) friendly, hòa thuận Think: hammock-able When Amy reminded me that her hammock was able to hold two people, I knew that she was amicable

vitriolic

(adj.) full of hatred Think: vitriolic alcoholic Some people are just plain mean when they drink; there is nothing worse than a vitriolic alcoholic vitriol (n.) criticism/comments...

rapturous

(adj.) full of wonderful feelings; ecstatic Think: raptor saw us; rape The raptor saw us being lowered in to his cage and felt rapturous since he was hungry

replete

(adj.) full; filled with Think: replace completely Replace your energy completely after your workout so your body stays replete with energy

openhanded

(adj.) generous Think: open your hand To be openhanded, open your hand and share what you have with others instead of keeping it clenched in your fist

magnanimous

(adj.) generous (towards enemy/rival) Think: magnet for animals The "Feed the Birds" lady in Mary Poppins was a magnet for animals because she was so magnanimous to them

munificent

(adj.) generous or giving Think: money sent The money sent to us by our grandparents every year makes us consider them to be munificent

synoptic

(adj.) giving a summary Think: synopsis The synoptic nature of SparkNotes provides a synopsis of a novel's plot at the expense of the novel's beauty

decrepit

(adj.) già yếu, cũ nát (old, worn-out) Think: scrap it Your decrepit old car looks like crap; you should scrap it decrepitude (n.)

didactic

(adj.) giáo huấn/khoa (designed to teach) Think: dictionary tactic The definitions in a dictionary use the tactic of explaining words clearly in order to be didactic

sumptuary

(adj.) giới hạn chi tiêu (policy/law) Think: consumption-ary Consumption of harmful things, like cigarettes or alcohol, can be limited with a sumptuary tax

discreet

(adj.) giữ kẽ (careful, secret) Think: this secrET I'm pregnant - but please, be discreET and keep this secreET - if my parents find out, they'll kill me

morose

(adj.) gloomy Think: no rose "The Bachelor" contestant was morose because after the ceremony was over she still had no rose

genial

(adj.) good-natured, affable Think: genie If you sign up to be a genie and to grant people wishes, you're probably by nature genial

rapacious

(adj.) greedy; grasping Think: rapes us The rapacious new tax law takes so much of our earnings that it effectively rapes us

repugnant

(adj.) gross Think: ugly Pug Although some people think Pugs' upturned faces and wheezing are cute, many find the breed to be repugnant

cloying

(adj.) gross because it's too much Think: annoying Always talking baby-talk to each other, the couple was so annoying that they were cloying

credulous

(adj.) gullible, cả tin Think: cradle us When we are young children and our parents cradle us, we tend to be quite credulous - we believe anything they tell us

stilted

(adj.) gò bó; too formal (speaking/writing) Think: stilts The soldier's manner of walking was so stilted that it looked like his legs were actually wooden stilts

somnolent

(adj.) gật gù (sleepy); make tired Think: insomia If you have insomia you're probably somnolent from lack of sleep

reminiscent

(adj.) gợi nhớ; hồi tưởng Think: remind scent The smell of baking bread is reminiscent of my youth; the scent reminds me of my grandmother's kitchen

hirsute

(adj.) hairy Think: hair suit I saw an old guy in the locker room who was so hirsute that he looked like he was wearing a hair suit

pendulous

(adj.) hanging loosely; sagging Think: pendulum As the naked old lady danced, her pendulous breasts swung back and forth like the pendulums of grandfather clocks

blithe

(adj.) happy, casual; unconcerned Think: glide He just glides through life - he's so blithe

buoyant

(adj.) happy; confident Think: boo-yah! If you hear someone yell "boo-yah!" then you can bet she's feeling buoyant

abstruse

(adj.) hard to comprehend Think: abstract and confusing The abstract strudel directions will confuse the new cook because they are abstruse

industrious

(adj.) hard-working Think: maids dusting Succeeding in the cleaning industry means only hiring industrious maids who are really good at dusting

obdurate

(adj.) hardened; stubborn Think: obstacle durable That 10-ton boulder you blocked my front door with is an obstacle that's durable - I tried to push it, but it's obdurate

assiduous

(adj.) hardworking; dedicated Think: assist us Assiduous Sid worked his butt off to assist us

deleterious

(adj.) harmful Think: deletes Using that old computer could be deleterious to your grade since it randomly deletes files

pernicious

(adj.) harmful ngấm ngầm (insidious) Think: piranhas vicious Piranhas are vicious; lingering in waters they inhabit can be pernicious

innocuous

(adj.) harmless Think: innocent My dog will bark at you once you come in but it's innocent - he's innocuous

cryptic

(adj.) having an unclear or hidden meaning Think: crypt Scrawled in blood on the wall of the mummy's crypt, the cryptic hieroglyphics both confused and frightened us

wrongheaded

(adj.) having bad judgement Think: wrong foot I think that we may have gotten off on the wrong foot when I made that wrongheaded remark about your fashion choices

reverent

(adj.) having deep respect for Think: reverend During church, the reverend reminded them to be reverent to Jesus

motile

(adj.) having the ability to move Think: mobile Now that my one-year-old can walk, he's so motile that I have to be really mobile just to catch up to him

voracious

(adj.) having/wanting a huge appetite/knowledge Think: carnivore ate us The carnivore ate us because of its voracious appetite

ponderous

(adj.) heavy; tedious Think: ponder If a subject in school makes you ponder it for long periods of time, it could just be that it's ponderous and is either heavy, or dull, or both

extant

(adj.) hiện còn/có (st very old) Think: existing ant Since he was about to get stepped on, "I exist!" exclaimed the ant to the elephant

efficacious

(adj.) hiệu nghiệm (wanted/intended result, effective) Think: effectiveness If you have senioritis, a brief vacation is an efficacious way to increase your effectiveness efficacy (n.) effectiveness

cohesive

(adj.) holding together well Think: adhesive A cohesive argument holds together even when attacked - as if it's strengthened by an adhesive

abject

(adj.) hopeless; w/o pride/respect, thiếu tự trọng Think: rejects If she rejects my marriage proposal, I'll be abject, with nothing to live for

odious

(adj.) horrible Think: odorous onions Only eating onions is odious because they make one's breath so odorous

ghastly

(adj.) horrid Think: ghostly Looking in the mirror and seeing a ghostly figure behind me was ghastly

crepuscular

(adj.) hoàng hôn Think: creepy muscular In the movie Twilight, creepy, muscular vampires prowl during the crepuscular hours of the evening

jocose

(adj.) humorous Think: joke coach It was no surprise that the jocose high school student grew up to be a joke coach

ebullient

(adj.) hào hứng, excitedly enthusiastic Think: Red Bull After I chugged a giant Red Bull, I felt extremely ebullient

avaricious

(adj.) hám tiền, greedy for wealth Think: have our riches My boy band and I don't trust you as an agent - you're avaricious and just want to have our riches avarice (n.)

vicarious

(adj.) hình dung, mường tượng (felt by watching/reading/imagining the experience of another) Think: bi-curious The bi-curious woman preferred to keep her fantasy vicarious, so she just watched

epitome

(adj.) hình mẫu, the purest or best example of something Think: epic tome When it comes to classic literature, "Moby Dick" is the epitome of an epic tome

urbane

(adj.) hòa nhã, lịch thiệp Think: urban The farmboy moved to a hip urban city and became so urbane that he threw away his straw hat

gregarious

(adj.) hòa đồng, sociable Think: congregate If you're gregarious, you like to congregate with others whenever possible

arch

(adj.) hóm hỉnh, láu lỉnh (amused bc you know more than others) Think: arched eyebrow Her playful, arch comment made me arch my eyebrow

beatific

(adj.) hạnh phúc (joy + peace) Think: beautiful! terrific! If you feel beatific, you probably walk around exclaiming, "beautiful! terrific!" all day

moribund

(adj.) hấp hối, suy tàn (dying person/things) Think: morbid end If someone is moribund, they're probably headed toward a morbid end, i.e., death

heterogeneous

(adj.) hỗn tạp, đa tạp (different pp/things) Think: heterosexual Heterosexual sex is more heterogeneous than homosexual sex since it involves a wider variety of body parts

flippant

(adj.) hời hợt, lacking respect or seriousness Think: flip off If you''re flippant, you probably flip people off on a regular basis

petulant

(adj.) hờn dỗi Think: petty aunt My petty aunt is always whining about something or holding a grudge; she's petulant

expedient

(adj.) hợp tình (helpful in a practical way) Think: speedy To be speedy, I booked my flight on Expedia.com; it was more expedient than calling the airline

glacial

(adj.) icy (temperature/attitude) Think: glacier My answer had a glacial (slow) pace, and the interviewer gave me a glacial (cold) look that made me feel like I was on a glacier

sophomoric

(adj.) immature Think: sophomore-onic Sophomores act moronic since they're immature and are more sophhomoric than seniors

reprobate

(adj.) immoral Think: re-probed it The aliens who gave Cartman an anal probe on "South Park" would be even more reprobate if they re-probed it

nontrivial

(adj.) important Think: not trivial The issue of global warming has become nontrivial; the rising of sea levels is not trivial

pivotal

(adj.) important, key, then chốt, mấu chốt Think: pivot foot In basketball, knowing how to effectively use your pivot foot is pivotal to your success in the low post. Just ask Hakeem "The Dream" Olajuwon or Kevin McHale

seminal

(adj.) important; original Think: seminar If a book is seminal, you're probably gonna have to read it in your freshman year literature seminar

disputatious

(adj.) inclined to argue Think: dispute After being pulled over, the disputatious lawyer unwisely disputed the accuracy of the cop's radar gun

infinitesimal

(adj.) incredibly tiny Think: infinitely small Electrons are pretty much infinitely small - they're so infinitesimal that observing them changes them

sovereign

(adj.) independent Think: reign If you're sovereign, you reign over your world and no one else does

ineluctable

(adj.) inevitable, unavoidable Think: unelectable It is ineluctable that a sex scandal on the eve of the election would render the candidate unelectable

callow

(adj.) inexperienced; immature Think: shallow Popping her gum while reading Cosmo, the callow teenager was shallow only because she hadn't seen much of the world yet

virulent

(adj.) infectious; harmful; hostile Think: virus The swine flu virus is so virulent that it can kill a previously healthy person

scurrilous

(adj.) insulting Think: scurvy curses After the pirate developed scurvy, his curses became even more scurrilous

cerebral

(adj.) intellectual Think: cerebrum Einstein was so cerebral that they studied the cerebrum of his brain after he died

cowed

(adj.) intimidated Think: coward The bully was at heart a coward: as soon as I stood up to him he was cowed into silence

illiberal

(adj.) intolerant of freedom of opinion/action Think: ill liberal Unlike his fellow open-minded Democrats, Jack was so illiberal that people thought he must be a mentally ill liberal illiberality (n.)

punitive

(adj.) involving punishment Think: punish The punitive damages in the O.J. Simpson murder case were clearly designed to punish the defendant

irascible

(adj.) irritable Think: irritable rascal My grandfather is an irritable old rascal; he's so irascible that he yells at every waiter we ever get

peevish

(adj.) irritable Think: pet peeve In the Harry Potter books, Peeves is a peevish ghost in Hogwarts whose pet peeve is happy students - so he tattletales on them

choleric

(adj.) irritable, bad-tempered Think: cholera I'd be choleric too if someone's fecal matter made me get cholera

fractious

(adj.) irritable; making trouble Think: fracture us The fractious football player is best avoided: if his team loses, he gets mad enough to fracture us

provincial

(adj.) k chịu tiếp thu, narrow-minded Think: province If you never leave your Canadian province, your worldview will probably be somewhat provincial

defunct

(adj.) k còn hoạt động (no longer existing/operating/being used) Think: de-function When I can fly in my dreams, the law of gravity seems to be defunct, like it has been "de-functioned"

nondescript

(adj.) k nổi bật (no distinctive/interesting features) Think: no description The little desert island was so nondescript that it had no description in our guidebook

inviolate

(adj.) k thể xâm phạm (respected) Think: unviolated The virgin tract of rainforest was inviolate; it had not yet been violated by greedy loggers

licentious

(adj.) k đứng đắn (sexually immoral) Think: license-ish Flappers were thought to be licentious, since they acted as if they had a license to do whatever they wanted

sardonic

(adj.) khinh khỉnh, mocking (in a mean way) Think: sarcastic sardines When the seniors saw I ate sardines for lunch every day, they made sardonic, sarcastic comments

grandiloquent

(adj.) khoa trương, hoa mĩ (complicated words to impress) Think: grand eloquent If you're grandiloquent, you're grand and eloquent with your speech so everyone notices you

sectarian

(adj.) khác phái (differences in religious views) Think: sector Sectarian views are shallow because they only consider one sector of the whole issue

heterodox

(adj.) khác thường, unorthodox; unconventional Think: hetero = different If you are heterosexual, then you prefer the opposite (different) sex. If you are heterodox, then you prefer an unconventional (different) lifestyle and/or philosophy

dour

(adj.) khó chịu (person/thing/situation, unfriendly, unpleasant) Think: sour The teacher's dour expression made her pupils feel sour

untoward

(adj.) khó lường, unpleasantly unusual/unexpected Think: undertow The beach's dangerous undertow was untoward, dragging the girl underwater and loosening her bikini

ineffable

(adj.) khó tả (great/beautiful) Think: in-F-able There's a word beginning with "F" that you're not supposed to say, so if you can't describe something, it's ineffable - like that word is "in-F-able"

droll

(adj.) khôi hài (unexpectedly amusing) Think: roll (with laughter) Droll humor makes me roll with laughter

canny

(adj.) khôn ngoan (politics, business) Think: can knee I'm canny because I can use my knee to drive my car when I need both hands for something else

restive

(adj.) không yên/ngứa ngáy (restless bc bore/not satisfy) Think: rest on stove Good luck taking a rest on a stove - you'll feel too restive to sleep because you'll worry it will turn on

tortuous

(adj.) khúc khuỷu (situation/understand/road) Think: tortoise The streets of Boston are so tortuous that you have to drive at tortoise's speed

plausible

(adj.) khả dĩ (reasonable, true) Think: applause-able When the magician sawed the lady in half, it looked so plausible that it was applause-able

ascetic

(adj.) khổ hạnh Think: asset? ick! The ascetic Buddhist monk, when offered the chance to take money or another asset, said "ick!"

miserly

(adj.) ki bo (money) Think: miserable Scrooge Scrooge was miserable at making friends because he was too miserly to ever chip in for the dinner tab

avuncular

(adj.) kind/friendly towards others like an uncle Think: uncle The avuncular professor was like an uncle to him, dispensing well-intentioned advice

impregnable

(adj.) kiên cố (fortress/change) Think: impossible to get pregnant Impregnable metal chastity belts in the Middle Ages made it impossible for women who wore them to get pregnant

abstemious

(adj.) kiêng, not allow yourself to have too much food/alcohol/enjoyable thing Think: abstinence The health teacher knew that if he told students to be abstemious, some of them would still get pregnant, so he urged them to practice abstinence abstain (v.) bỏ phiếu trắng; kiêng abstinence (n.); abstention (n.)

eldritch

(adj.) kì quái (strange, frightening) Think: elf-witch The elf-witch Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings was eldritch because of her ability to speak inside our heads

salacious

(adj.) kích dục Think: salivate All the girls read Fifty Shades of Gray because the salacious details make them salivate

hermetic

(adj.) kín cạnh (closed, difficult to join) Think: hermit The hermit lived in a hermetic cave that was only reachable via a treacherous mountain path

parsimonious

(adj.) kẹt xỉ, stingy Think: parsley money My dad was so parsimonious he'd give us parsley money instead of lunch money

sequacious

(adj.) lacking independent/originality Think: sequel Your movie is so sequacious of mine that it feels like a sequel

derivative

(adj.) lacking originality Think: derivative relatives My father likes to claim that his recipes are unique, but the truth is that he learned everything he knows about cooking from Aunt Jean. In other words, his recipes are derivative of his relative

wanting

(adj.) lacking; not good enough Think: wanting a boyfriend Wanting (verb) a boyfriend is normal if the romance in your life is wanting (adjective)

voluminous

(adj.) large or numerous (clothing/book/furniture/...) Think: 18 volume diary I gave up on reading her diary after realizing how voluminous it was - it had 18 volumes

slothful

(adj.) lazy Think: sloth My pet sloth is too slothful to move even when he's really hungry

languid

(adj.) lazy; chậm rãi (movement) Think: lazy squid The laying squid was languid because it just lay on the bottom of the ocean all day (n.) languor

extenuating

(adj.) less serious due to a partial excuse, giảm nhẹ Think: extension; attenuate I got an extension on my paper because there were extenuating circumstances - I got trampled by an elephant

protean

(adj.) linh hoạt, versatile Think: proteins Since they can be formed from a vast number of combinations of 20 different amino acids, proteins are protean

bygone

(adj.) long time ago, xa xưa Think: bye gone The bygone days of my childhood are days I've said bye to cause they're gone

lax

(adj.) loose; not strict Think: lacks His diet plan was lax because he lacks the discipline to avoid junk food

vociferous

(adj.) loud (expressing opinions/feelings) Think: voice for us The announcer's loud voice, for us, was too vociferous

clangorous

(adj.) loud crashing/ringing sound Think: clang The disinterested 3rd graders in the school band clanged on their instruments as hard as they could, producing a clangorous racket

raucous

(adj.) loud+rough (noisy; disorderly) Think: rocks us The Beastie Boys' raucous track, "Fight for Your Right to Party", rocks us

picturesque

(adj.) lovely (old-looking) Think: pictures The Grand Canyon at sunrise is so picturesque that you can't help but take pictures

tumultuous

(adj.) loạn lạc (lots of change/confusion/violence); om sòm Think: tumbled us The mosh pit was so tumultuous that it tumbled us around like a dryer

opulent

(adj.) luxurious; wealthy Think: opal I just ordered one thousand opals from the jeweler - I want my new office to be opulent

winsome

(adj.) lôi cuốn, charming and pleasing (people/manner) Think: win some hearts She'll probably win some hearts at the dance due to her winsome manner

slovenly

(adj.) lôi thôi, nhếch nhác (appearance/habits) Think: sloppy Charlie Brown's friends make fun of Pig-Pen because of his sloppy, slovenly appearance

resplendent

(adj.) lộng lẫy, shining brillianty Think: splendid Cinderella was resplendent in a sequined, white ball gown; she looked absolutely splendid

duplicitous

(adj.) lừa lọc/đảo, deceitful Think: duplicate-ness Politicians try to make everyone like them, but their two-faced duplicate-ness is duplicitous duplicity (n.) deceit (behavior)

piebald

(adj.) many-colored; varied Think: pies The horse's coat was piebald, pebbled with blotches of so many colors that it looked like pies were thrown at it

punctilious

(adj.) marked by following the rules strictly Think: punctual The teacher's pet was both punctilious and punctual, but most wanted to punch him

fastidious

(adj.) meticulous, tỉ mỉ Think: fast to tidy up My roommate is fastidious about cleaning; she gets mad if I am not fast to tidy up the apartment

scrupulous

(adj.) meticulous; liêm chính (honest, right) Think: scrape the poop If you are scrupulous, you will scrape your dog's poop off my lawn

specious

(adj.) misleading Think: suspicious McLovin It's understandable the cashier in Superbad is suspicious when she sees Fogell's specious license that identifies him as "McLovin"

unassuming

(adj.) modest Think: un-assume The millionaire's unassuming car definitely didn't make us assume he was wealthy

mercenary

(adj.) motivated by money (n.) lính đánh thuê Think: merchant I knew the merchant's compliments were insincere since he was clearly mercenary

lugubrious

(adj.) mournful or gloomy Think: lug Brian I became lugubrious when I realized I would have to lug the unconscious Brian up the stairs

cosmopolitan

(adj.) multicultural experienced/envirionment Think: Cosmo After reading the dating advice in Cosmo, the 14-year-old thought she was quite cosmopolitan

prosaic

(adj.) mundane Think: pros say ick I was going to watch the new Adam Sandler movie, but the movie critic pros say, "ick - the film is prosaic"

enigmatic

(adj.) mysterious, arcane Think: dark matter Dark matter comprises most of the universe but remains enigmatic to scientists enigma (n.) mystery, puzzle

gaudy

(adj.) màu mè (tasteless way) Think: gawd ugly The rapper's inch-thick gold chain was so gaudy that even his fans said, "gawd that's ugly!"

tempestuous

(adj.) mãnh liệt (full of extreme emotions); stormy Think: tempers Our hot tempers make us have a tempestuous relationship

vehement

(adj.) mãnh/kịch liệt (strongly emotional, esp. anger) Think: he meant it His warning was so vehement that we knew he meant it

gossamer

(adj.) mỏng manh, delicate; flimsy Think: goose feather Wafting through the air, the goose feather was gossamer and felt soft to the touch when it landed on my palm

devout

(adj.) mộ đạo Think: devote I'd say I'm devout - I have devoted my entire life to studying the Bible

austere

(adj.) mộc mạc (plain); nghiêm khắc (strict person); khắc khổ (ascetic) Think: Austria stern Life among the Alps in Austria is stern and austere - it's hard to party when there's a wind chill of -20

steadfast

(adj.) một lòng (not change attitude/aim) Think: stayed fastened The fallen soldier's dog was so steadfast that it stayed fastened to the ground near his grave

inchoate

(adj.) mới thành hình (not clear/developed) Think: inches of chow The pile of chow on the hungry man's Thanksgiving dinner place was eight inches high - and created an inchoate blob of food

ingenuous

(adj.) naive Think: genius without the "I" is no genius at all The young actress, being an innocent ingenue, was too ingenuous to realize the director was trying to seduce her

insular

(adj.) narrow-minded Think: insulated The hermit's outlook was so insular because his cave insulated him from the rest of the world

indigenous

(adj.) native to an area Think: Indian dig in U.S. The archaeologist found arrowheads during her Indian dig in the U.S. and concluded that Native Americans were indigenous to the area

requisite

(adj.) necessary Think: requires it If you fail English, your school requires it to be re-taken; it's requisite that you have four years of English

incessant

(adj.) never-ending, constant Think: cease = to stop To cease is to stop (i.e., cease and desist), so if something is incessant, then it is never-ending. For example, when I was in college, I listened to Bob Dylan's "Basement Tapes" incessantly

newfangled

(adj.) new, often needlessly so Think: new tangled This newfangled yo-yo is so new to me that it's tangled around my entire body

obstinate

(adj.) ngang bướng (refuse to change opinions...) Think: obstacle in it The obstinate horse behaved as though there was an obstacle to movement in it

meager

(adj.) nghèo nàn (small quantity, poor quality) Think: me grr These meager portions on this pirate ship make me grr

servile

(adj.) ngoan ngoãn, submissive (disapproving) Think: servant The servant was so servile that he wouldn't make eye contact

peripheral

(adj.) ngoại vi; thứ yếu Think: Perry Farrell Perry Farrel, the eccentric founder of Lollapalooza, has never made into the musical mainstream; he seems to prefer the peripheral genres

unctuous

(adj.) ngọt xớt (insincerely friendly) Think: skunk-tous Pepe Le Pew, the smooth-talking, playboy skunk, acts unctuous to charm the ladies

sedentary

(adj.) ngồi 1 chỗ (work/activities/people) Think: sofa dent Sedentary people make sofa dents because they sit on the cushions for hours at a time

parochial

(adj.) ngồi xó nhà, narrow-minded Think: parish yokel Our church is led by a parish yokel who is so parochial that he believes women should be barefoot and pregnant

nonplussed

(adj.) ngớ người (surprised/confused, don't know what to say) Think: no plus The calculator you loaned me made me nonplussed during the test because it had no plus button

spurious

(adj.) ngụy tạo (seemingly genuine; false idea/thinking) Think: spur curious His spur of the moment explanation made me curious if his story was spurious

ubiquitous

(adj.) nhan nhản, existing everywhere Think: you big Quidditch You big Quidditch fans have made the Harry Potter sport ubiquitous on college campuses

perspicacious

(adj.) nhanh hiểu, clever Think: perspective for the aces A perspicacious poker player uses her clear perspective to know who has the aces

inestimable

(adj.) nhiều vô kể, too great to calculate Think: in-estimate-able If something is inestimable, it's in-estimate-able- you can't estimate it

ersatz

(adj.) nhái, giả, being an artificial and inferior substitute Think: Er, Saltz? When I tried using Saltz by Pfitzer (TM) instead of actual table salt, I found it to be an inferior substitute

pusillanimous

(adj.) nhát (to take risks) Think: pussycat The pussycat is an animal that is pusillanimous when scared - hence the expression "scaredy-cat"

chary

(adj.) nhát (very cautious, wary, fear problems) Think: chair-wary My brothers were always pulling my chair away as I was about to sit down, so now I'm chary, or chair-wary

wizened

(adj.) nhăn nheo (age) Think: wizard Wizards like Gandalf and Dumbledore are usually wizened since they're really old

funereal

(adj.) như đưa đám (sad) Think: funeral Your gothic style is funereal it looks as though you're headed to a funeral instead of the mall

emphatic

(adj.) nhấn mạnh Think: emphasize When I yell at people, I emphasize every word to be more emphatic about my demands

lenient

(adj.) nhẹ/nương tay (forgiving; not strict) Think: loan lent My bank is really lenient - I have terrible credit, but I asked for a loan and they lent one to me

slatternly

(adj.) nhếch nhác (of a woman) Think: slutty If you want to say she's slutty but use a bit more flattery, call her slatternly

viscous

(adj.) nhớt Think: sticks to us The viscous Bisquick pancake batter sticks to us

ashen

(adj.) nhợt nhạt, tái mét (illness, fear) Think: ash When he saw the ghost, his complexion became so ashen that his face was the color of ash

vacuous

(adj.) no intelligence/sensitivity, ngu ngơ Think: Vacuum The beauty pageant contestant's answer was so vacuous that the judges thought her brain had been vacuumed out of her head

nascent

(adj.) non trẻ (coming into existence; new) Think: new car scent I jumped into the nascent BMW while it was still on the assembly line and breathed in the best new car scent I've ever smelled

quiescent

(adj.) not active; quiet; dormant Think: quiet The hibernating bear was both quiet and quiescent

recondite

(adj.) not easily understood, obscure Think: reckoned it I couldn't understand my professor's recondite lecture, but I reckoned it had something to do with the fourth dimension

covert

(adj.) not openly shown Think: covered; overt The CIA agent was on a covert mission, so he covered his true identity

illusory

(adj.) not real Think: illusion The mirage of an oasis in the desert was an illusion; it was therefore illusory

platonic

(adj.) not related to romance or sex Think: Plato date If you only talk to your date about the philosopher Plato, you'll end up as her platonic friend

secular

(adj.) not related to the spiritual or religious Think: sex u later "If you are religious, I am not interested, but if you are secular I might want to sex you later," said the poorly written Tinder profile

unbridled

(adj.) not restrained, buông thả Think: un-bridle After I took off my horse's bridle, he became so unbridled that I had no control over him

rickety

(adj.) not robust, ọp ẹp Think: rickets Rickets, a disease that weakens the bones, makes its sufferers rickety

worldy

(adj.) not spiritual; từng trải, experienced Think: world traveler I've been all around the world and I, I, I, I can't find my baby (but I'm worldly now)

pronounced

(adj.) noticeable, definite Think: pronounced (verb) My British friend enunciates very loudly and distinctly; his pronunciation is quite pronounced

impetuous

(adj.) nóng vội (w/o carefully think abt results) Think: impatient us Impatient people like us make impetuous decisions like betting on horses with cool names without researching them first

pungent

(adj.) nồng (strong smell/taste); sâu cay (direct/strong effect) Think: punch scent The boxer's body odor was so pungent it was like getting hit by a punch of scent

risible

(adj.) nực cười; ridiculous Think: get a rise If you like to get a rise out of people by being a class clown, you're probably risible

incumbent

(adj.) obligatory; có chức vị Think: income bent If your income is bent in the direction of a half-million dollars a year or more, then it is incumbent upon you to make sure to donate some of your money to worthy causes

fuliginous

(adj.) obscure; murky; dark Think: full of gin After he was full of gin, James Joyce composed poetry so moody and fuliginous that few could appreciate it

cardinal

(adj.) of main importance, cốt yếu, chính yếu Think: cardinal bird You'd think the bright red male cardinal (noun) was the most cardinal (adjective) bird because of its vivid color

sanguine

(adj.) optimistic Think: Penguin sang win The penguin sang that he would win; he was sanguine

outmoded

(adj.) out of date Think: Apple Pie a la mode Apple pie a la mode (with vanilla ice cream on top) is a tasty but out-of-date dessert: I can see someone ordering it at a 1950s diner

cocksure

(adj.) overconfident Think: cocky and sure The baseball rookie was so cocky and sure that he'd hit a home run during his first at-bat that he was cocksure

captious

(adj.) overly critical, khó tính Think: red CAPS Our English teacher is captious: our papers come back with lots of red writing that's in all CAPS

florid

(adj.) overly decorated; reddish Think: flowered The 12-year-old girl's room was flowered with hundreds of red-hued decorations - her style was florid

melodramatic

(adj.) overly dramatic, cường điệu, thái quá, náo động Think: dramatic melody It's melodramatic to hire a violinist to follow you around and play a dramatic melody when you enter a room

flagrant

(adj.) overtly bad, trắng trợn Think: fragrant vagrant No matter what your feelings towards homeless people are, you can't deny that man is a fragrant vagrant - his B.O. is so bad it's flagrant

pallid

(adj.) pale, nhợt nhạt (person/light/color) Think: pale After playing video games in his mother's basement all winter, Al was so pale his friends described him as pallid

zealous

(adj.) passionate, nhiệt huyết Think: jealous Zoe was so zealous about her first boyfriend that she became jealous of every other girl he knew zeal (n.)

motley

(adj.) pha tạp (contain unrelated different parts) Think: Motley Crue The band Motley Crue has a motley history of parties, drugs, and other types of craziness

prodigious

(adj.) phi thường (cause surprise/admiration) Think: prodigy The child prodigy could multiply prodigious numbers in his head

picaresque

(adj.) phiêu lưu, giang hồ, about someone's adventures Think: Pixar-esque Your novel is like Wall-E because of your hero's journey; it's both picaresque and Pixar-esque

subversive

(adj.) phá bĩnh (seeking to undermine or disturb) Think: subversive verses The political poet was detained by government officials for her "subversive verses"

unsavory

(adj.) phản cảm (morally unpleasant) Think: un-savor The icky memory of the unsavory used car salesman was not one I wanted to save or savor

indignant

(adj.) phẫn uất, ức chế (unfair treatment) Think: ain't diggin' it When I was passed over for the promotion at work, I was indignant. I told my boss, "I ain't diggin' it!"

piquant

(adj.) pleasantly spicy or tangy; exciting/interesting Think: pickled ant I never thought I'd like eating pickled ant, but it's surprisingly piquant

copious

(adj.) plentiful Think: copy us If the zombie apocalypse happens and we survive, let's hope cloning can copy us and make humans more copious

profuse

(adj.) plentiful; abundant Think: professors use Professors use books with a profuse amount of information to make reading assignments take forever

impecunious

(adj.) poor Think: I'm pecking (pecuniary = related to money) I'm so impecunious that, at dinnertime, I'm pecking at the ground like a chicken to look for bugs to eat

auspicious

(adj.) promising Think: suspicious I'm awesome Dude, the chances she'll go out with me are auspicious or "awespicious" because I'm suspicious that I'm awesome

politic

(adj.) prudent; wise Think: politician After reading The Prince by Machiavelli, the politician became much more politic and cleverly defeated his opponent

pristine

(adj.) pure Think: Listerine Listerine mouthwash tastes bad but it kills bacteria and makes your mouth pristine

cursory

(adj.) qua quýt, qua loa, hời hợt Think: curse sorry I only gave my rental car a cursory inspection, which led me to curse and be sorry later when I noticed a huge dent

solicitous

(adj.) quan tâm (to sb) Think: solely listened to us I knew the man was solicitous because he solely listened to us

pedantic

(adj.) quá kĩ (too worried abt details/rules); teacherly Think: Dan ticked me off Dan ticked me off when he was being overly pedantic, explaining every facet of his computer to me as if I were a child pedant (n.) kẻ...

fulsome

(adj.) quá lời (too generous in praising/thanking/sorrying) Think: full of some In the U.S., we are full of some crops - for instance, corn here is so fulsome that we put it in nearly every food product

scathing

(adj.) quát mắng (disrespectful critical) Think: scythe Getting killed by the Grim Reaper's sharp, hooked scythe is as about as scathing a criticism as one can get

stalwart

(adj.) quân sư quạt mo (loyal; strong supporter) Think: tall war hero George Washington was a tall war hero and all-around stalwart: he was a strong, loyal supporter of the American Revolution

gallant

(adj.) quả cảm (courageous, heroic) Think: galloping knight She's still single because she's waiting for a gallant knight to come galloping in on his horse and sweep her away

heinous

(adj.) quỷ quyệt, wicked, morally bad Think: anus I called you an anus because of your heinous deeds - you cheated on me!

truculent

(adj.) ready to fight Think: truce you lent The armies should write their own peace treaty, because they're still truculent after that truce you lent them

surpassing

(adj.) really, really great Think: super pass If you're super at running, you'll pass everyone due to your surpassing speed

rash

(adj.) reckless Think: rash (noun) If you make the rash (adjective) decision to have unprotected sex with that NBA player, you might get a rash (noun)

reductive

(adj.) related to making something smaller or simpler Think: reduce Reductive Spark Notes reduce brilliant works of literature into basic summaries

haptic

(adj.) related to the sense of touch, xúc giác Think: half ticked I am only half ticked off that my haptic senses are fading with age, since my resistance to pain has also increased

affiliated

(adj.) related to, chi nhánh Think: Philly I ate When I went to Philly I ate a cheesesteak, because cheesesteaks are affiliated with Philadelphia

totalitarian

(adj.) relating to a government with total power Think: total power Our totalitarian dictator uses his total power to make us eat Total cereal daily - he's a control freak

titular

(adj.) relating to a title; nominal, trên danh nghĩa Think: title The titular character in Harry Potter is Harry Potter because his name is also the title of the book

resigned

(adj.) reluctantly accepting of a bad situation, cam chịu, nhẫn nhịn Think: resignation After being implicated in Watergate, Nixon was resigned and offered his resignation from office

penitent

(adj.) remorseful Think: repent! The beggar's sign read, "repent! Do penance for your sins! Only the penitent will see God!"

exacting

(adj.) requiring strict attention to detail Think: exact Our exacting architecture professor demanded that our model be drawn exactly to scale

eminent

(adj.) respected, famous, well-known; excellent Think: Eminem If asked to name the most eminent white rapper, I wouldn't think twice: Eminem is an easy choice

ludicrous

(adj.) ridiculous Think: Ludracris ridiculous The rapper Ludacris is known for his ridiculous, ludicrous lines like "I got hoes in different area codes."

circuitous

(adj.) roundabout; not direct Think: circuit-ish The crooked cabdriver took a circuitous route; his path was circuit-ish to increase the fare

churlish

(adj.) rude, bad-tempered Think: church lush The church lush usually showed up to mass stumbling drunk, inviting us to call him churlish

tremulous

(adj.) run rẩy Think: tremble I felt so tremulous when I saw a shark swim underneath me that I began to tremble

glaring

(adj.) rành rành (st bad) Think: glare My resume had such a glaring typo that my interviewer just sat there and glared at me until I left

lucid

(adj.) rõ ràng (clear, intelligible); tỉnh táo (during illness) Think: luz = light in Spanish I'm not fully lucid in the morning until the sun rises and the lug (light) comes through the window - I can't think clearly while it's still dark outside because I'm still in dreamland

macabre

(adj.) rùng rợn (unpleasant/strange/frightening) Think: massacre The massacre of the tourists by jungle cannibals was truly macabre

marginal

(adj.) rất ít (very limited) Think: margins I only had marginal success in deciphering the ancient manuscript because the only legible parts were the margins

plaintive

(adj.) rầu rĩ (weak/sad complaining) Think: complaint When I hear the plaintive cry of a seagull, it always sounds like a complaint about the bird's woes or travails

hallowed

(adj.) sacred Think: halo-ed The cemetery where saints are buried is so hallowed it's practically "halo-ed"

sacrosanct

(adj.) sacred, k bàn cãi (too important to change/question) Think: sacred sanctuary The temple was a sacred sanctuary and was declared sacrosanct to protect it from real estate developers

profane

(adj.) sacrilegious; vulgar; improper Think: profanity Using profanity in church is obviously profane

sullen

(adj.) sad, gloomy; resentful Think: mullet The barber gave me a mullet - that's why I'm so sullen

crestfallen

(adj.) sad/disappointed (bc fail, not expect) Think: Crest fallen When I saw that my Crest toothpaste had fallen off my brush into the sink, I was crestfallen since that was a waste of perfectly good toothpaste

wistful

(adj.) sadly wishing for st in the past, bâng khuâng Think: wishful The "Forever Alone" meme guy feels wistful because he is still alone after weeks of being wishful for a girlfriend

satiated

(adj.) satisfied (not want anymore) Think: say she ate If you say she ate, she must be satiated

clandestine

(adj.) secret Think: clan of destiny Because we're the clan of destiny, we have to keep our meeting clandestine - otherwise, the empire will kill us all

byzantine

(adj.) secret + complicated + hard to change Think: busy ant Only the busy ant will be able to make its way through the byzantine maze you've created

verisimilar

(adj.) seeming to be true Think: very similar The conman's verisimilar story almost tricked me since it was very similar to the truth

anile

(adj.) senile, lẩm cẩm Think: senile I knew my Aunt Ann was anile to the point of being senile when she asked to go swimming in the Nile

myopic

(adj.) shortsighted (literarily and figuratively) Think: my old pic Putting my old pic on Match.com was myopic; in person, people said I was older than they'd thought I'd be

perfunctory

(adj.) showing little interest, làm chiếu lệ, cho có Think: per function problem I know I won't get them right, so I only spend a perfunctory amount of time per function problem

dismissive

(adj.) showing rejection and contempt for Think: dismiss When she sings "Call Me Maybe", Carly Rae Jepsen is dismissive because she dismissed all the other boys who tried to chase her

ostentatious

(adj.) showy; pretentious; boastful Think: ostrich stunt The ostrich stunt - when you showed up at the prom riding one like a horse - was ostentatious

retiring

(adj.) shy Think: retire from parties The shy girl was so retiring that she decided that she would retire form going to parties

wan

(adj.) sick-looking, ốm yếu Think: old Obi-Wan In Star Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi looked wan even though he was a Jedi master because he was old

homespun

(adj.) simple, ordinary (not from experts) Think: home spun Her clothes are pretty homespun, but then again, they actually are home spun, her mom weaves them at home on a loom

streamlined

(adj.) simplified; modernized Think: stream line The streamlined shape of a trout lets it swim through even a rushing stream in a straight line

adroit

(adj.) skillful Think: a Droid A Droid is an adroit cell phone since it can do so much

askew

(adj.) slanted to one side; crooked Think: skew Your picture is askew because the earthquake skewed it from hanging evenly

quizzical

(adj.) slightly surprised/amused Think: quizzing When I started asking my date about the periodic table, her quizzical expression seemed to be quizzing me about why I'd brought up such an awkward topic

surreptitious

(adj.) sneaky or stealthy Think: reptiles Reptiles like snakes are good at camouflage because they're surreptitious

diaphanous

(adj.) so flimsy as to be see-through Think: Diana's fan Princess Diana's delicate rice-paper fan was diaphanous

companionable

(adj.) sociable; friendly Think: companion-able Most dogs are companionable and love people; that's why they're so able to be companions

defamatory

(adj.) something that hurts someone's reputation Think: de-fame The defamatory Enquirer story will "de-fame" that actor; he'll lose his fame

acidulous

(adj.) somewhat harsh; sour Think: acid-ish I like Sour Patch Kids because their acidulous taste is acid-ish without being too painful

emollient

(adj.) soothing, xoa dịu (person/situation/skin) Think: emo Listening to emo music has an emollient effect on my emotions because it's so sensitive

capacious

(adj.) spacious, roomy, rộng rãi Think: Batman's cape is spacious Batman is a big guy, so his cape is spacious and capacious

veracious

(adj.) speaking/representing truth (veracity) Think: verify If you can verify something, then it is veracious (truthful). (not to be confused with "voracious" veracity (n.) truth; truthfulness

furtive

(adj.) stealthy Think: furtive fart Watch out for that kid - he will fart in class but it's so furtive that he never gets blamed

noisome

(adj.) stinky (figurative/literal) Think: nose poison The boys' locker room is noisome; going in there is like taking nose poison

aghast

(adj.) struck by fear or amazement Think: a ghost I was aghast when I looked in the mirror and saw a ghost standing next to me

willful

(adj.) stubborn; cố tình (st wrong) Think: will-full The willful horse was so will-full that he refused to be trained or ridden

froward

(adj.) stubbornly disobedient Think: afro I try to straighten my hair but it's froward - after a few hours, it's a fro again

contumacious

(adj.) stubbornly disobedient; rebellious Think: contrary tummy I have a contrary tummy - it's contumacious and gives me indigestion if I try to eat spicy food

obstreperous

(adj.) stubbornly resistant to control; noisy Think: strep The bacteria that cause strep throat are so obstreperous that many people take antibiotics for the condition

fatuous

(adj.) stupid Think: ******* If you're fatuous about nutrition, you might end up with a *******

implicit

(adj.) suggested but not directly expressed Think: implied It became implicit that the evening was over when my date implied that if she didn't leave now she would be too tired to work the next day

decadent

(adj.) suy đồi (moral) Think: decayed In WALL-E, the decadent passengers of the spaceship have decayed into overweight, lazy, passive lumps

saccharine

(adj.) sweet in a fake way; cường điệu (too emotional) Think: saccharin The beauty contestant's personality was so saccharine that there must have been Sweet and Low (saccharin) in her veins

turgid

(adj.) swollen Think: turkey in After Thanksgiving dinner, my belly was so turgid that it looked like I had eaten the whole turkey

judicious

(adj.) sáng suốt, having good judgment Think: judgment The Beatles' song "Hey Jude" says to be judicious, to use good judgment, and to "let her into your heart"

sonorous

(adj.) sâu lắng (pleasant full deep sound) Think: Tyranno-sonorous rex Tyrannosarurus rex had a sonorous roar that could be heard for miles

vivacious

(adj.) sôi nổi (lively, attractive personality) Think: Viva la Vida The coldplay song "Viva la Vida" means "long live life" and makes me want to be vivacious

primordial

(adj.) sơ khai (basic/beginning of the world) Think: primary order The Big Bang is primordial because it has the primary position in the order of events

tumid

(adj.) sưng, swollen Think: tumor-ed The cancer patient's large tumor caused his abdomen to be tumid

glancing

(adj.) sượt qua (hitting at an angle) Think: glance (verb) The knight only glanced sideways at his opponent; as a result, his lance's blow was glancing and didn't inflict any damage

lovelorn

(adj.) sầu tình (you aren't loved) Think: love torn After his wife died in an accident, the man felt lovelorn, as though he'd had his love torn from him

incisive

(adj.) sắc sảo (understanding) Think: incision Luckily, the surgeon was incisive - she only had seconds to make an incision before the patient's appendix burst

treacly

(adj.) sến súa Think: trickle-y tears The scene with a homeless puppy is so treacly it seems designed to make tears trickle down one's face

toothsome

(adj.) tasty Think: tooth some The food looked so toothsome that I wanted to give my tooth some

dormant

(adj.) temporarily inactive Think: doorman If you work as a doorman, you know that most of the time you're just standing there, dormant

execrable

(adj.) terrible, awful Think: excrement Your unfunny jokes about excrement are execrable - they're shit

devoid

(adj.) thiếu vắng, completely lacking Think: the void The void of deep space is devoid of air, warmth, or life

evanescent

(adj.) thoáng qua (sight/memory) Think: vanish scent The cologne's fragrance will vanish soon; its scent is evanescent

minatory

(adj.) threatening Think: minotaur The minotaur, a creature that is half-man and half-bull, is minatory by nature

effusive

(adj.) thái quá (much/too much emotion) Think: fussy Imagine if Nicki Minaj was your grandma? She's so effusive she'd make a fuss over your every accomplishment

condign

(adj.) thích đáng (appropriate of a punishment) Think: can dig I can dig the murderer's conviction because it was condign

rancorous

(adj.) thù ghét (hateful of st unfair) Think: Star Wars rancor In Return of the Jedi, the rancor under Jabba the Hutt's palace is undoubtedly rancorous for having been imprisoned

vindictive

(adj.) thù oán, wanting revenge Think: Vin Diesel Vin Diesel often plays vindictive characters since he has been typecast as a tough guy

hortatory

(adj.) thúc giục, intended to urge action Think: horror story The horror story about the spread of Ebola had a hortatory effect on us; we began washing our hands after touching anything

plebeian

(adj.) thường dân, tầng lớp thấp (ordinary/lower class) Think: fleas be in I don't stay in plebeian motels 'cause fleas be in 'em

grisly

(adj.) thảm, horrific (connected with death/violence) Think: grizzly death If you piss off a grizzly bear, it may give you a grisly death

mercurial

(adj.) thất thường (moods) Think: Mercury Marie Curie was notorious for her mercurial moods, which revolved as fast as the planet Mercury

putrid

(adj.) thối; very unpleasant Think: puked The dead mouse smelled so putrid that I almost puked while getting rid of it

embryonic

(adj.) thời kì phôi thai (in an early stage) Think: embryo It's pretty obvious that a human embryo is embryonic when compared to an adult human

hidebound

(adj.) thủ cựu (old-minded, not accept new ideas) Think: hide-bound The hidebound extremists were bound in animal hides and unsurprisingly were against gay marriage

pragmatic

(adj.) thực dụng, practical Think: practical automatic To be practical, buy an automatic car instead of a stick shift - it's more pragmatic for city driving

diffident

(adj.) timid; shy Think: difficult dentures I'm diffident when in public because I'm self-conscious about how weird my difficult dentures look

enervating

(adj.) tiring Think: renovating Renovating their kitchen by themselves not only got on the couple's nerves, but also was extremely enervating enervate (v.) make feel weak/tired

prescient

(adj.) tiên tri; well-planned and thought out Think: knowing about present you sent Since I'm prescient, I already know what's in the present you sent me

frugal

(adj.) tiết kiệm, thrifty Think: fructose corn syrup gal; =! spendthrift I'm too frugal to use healthy sweeteners - I'm a high-fructose corn syrup gal

utilitarian

(adj.) tiện dụng thực dụng (rather than attractive) Think: utilize The military likes to buy utilitarian tools that can be utilized for many different tasks

eurytopic

(adj.) tolerant of many different environments Think: Europe tropics That plant is eurytopic because it grows both in cold, rainy Europe and in the hot, humid tropics

exorbitant

(adj.) too expensive Think: extra for orbit The fancy space hotel charged exorbitant fees due to the extra costs needed to orbit the earth

plenipotentiary

(adj.) toàn quyền (fully empowered) Think: plenty of potency If Romney wins the election, he will be plenipotentiary; being president will give him plenty of potency

trifling

(adj.) trivial Think: rifling through drawers If shadowy henchmen are rifling through your drawers for some reason, then it's probably more than a trifling matter

palatial

(adj.) tráng lệ, splendid (building/room) Think: palace The palatial resort, with luxurious amenities and gourmet food, was like a palace

rotund

(adj.) tròn trĩnh, plump Think: round tummy Your pet hippo's tummy has grown so rotund that it's literally round at this point

brazen

(adj.) trơ trẽn (shamelessly, open) Think: blazin' Blazin' up a joint during class is certainly brazen, but it'll get you expelled 100 out of 100 times

sublime

(adj.) tuyệt đỉnh (high quality, admiration); nông nổi (behavior/attitude) Think: the band "Sublime" The band Sublime has spawned several cover bands, a good sign that it made sublime music

ingenious

(adj.) tài trí (clever), tài tình (things, suitable for a purpose) Think: genie genius The genie granted me one wish, which used to wish for unlimited wishes. "You're a genius!" he said. I know, I know

recrudescent

(adj.) tái diễn (st bad) Think: recruits sent The conflict in Afghanistan must be recrudescent since more recruits are sent there daily

fortuitous

(adj.) tình cờ Think: fortunate for us It was fortuitous and fortunate for us that the polar bear we encountered had just eaten a seal and was too full to eat us

providential

(adj.) tình cờ (fortunately timely) Think: Pro-V Dental The friendly representative from Pro-V Dental insurance company helped me create a policy just one week before I accidentally chipped my tooth. It was quite providential. (providence = fate)

commensurate

(adj.) tương xứng (matching in size/importance/quality) Think: co-measure it Our estimates of the carbon content of this dinosaur bone will be commensurate if we co-measure it

feckless

(adj.) tắc trách Think: F in class If you get an F in class, your study habits were probably feckless

sententious

(adj.) tỏ ra lý sự (sound important/intelligent) Think: sentences The Reverend Jesse Jackson is sententious because many people quote his sentences

arduous

(adj.) tốn công (involving lots of effort/energy/time) Think: hard for us Clearing out that hoarder's house is arduous; it's hard for us because he kept every piece of junk mail he ever received

holistic

(adj.) tổng thể, dealing with something as a whole Think: whole list Holistic medicine treats the whole list of body issues instead of just addressing one symptom

risque

(adj.) tục tĩu Think: risky Making a risque joke the first time you meet your girlfriend's parents is risky

fitful

(adj.) từng cơn, từng đợt (irregular) Think: fit-full Our new baby only sleeps fitfully - the night seems full of his crying fits

vainglorious

(adj.) tự mãn/đắc (own achievements) Think: vain The evil queen in Snow White is vainglorious - because she's vain and thinks she's glorious

dolorous

(adj.) u sầu (great sadness) Think: Dolores's doldrums I'd be dolorous and in the doldrums too if my name were Dolores

lurid

(adj.) unattractively bright, lòe loẹt; (writing) shocking, violent Think: lure in The strip club's lurid neon silhouette of a naked woman was designed to lure in lonely gentlemen

incoherent

(adj.) unclear (ideas/express) Think: I couldn't hear it Your slurred voicemail to me at 2:30 A.M. was incoherent - I couldn't hear it

rarefied

(adj.) understood/experienced by only a few; đặc thù Think: rare find The truffle your pig dug up is a rare find, peasant - you dare not eat such a rarefied delicacy - save it for his Majesty

inimical

(adj.) unfriendly; harmful Think: enemy Of course the other beauty contestant hid your lipstick! She's your enemy; it's no surprise she'll be inimical

nugatory

(adj.) unimportant, worthless Think: negative nuggets Eating chicken nuggets is nugatory for good health; their health benefits could be said to be negative

picayune

(adj.) unimportant; small-minded Think: picky one The picayune bridezilla was quite the picky one, worrying about every single detail of her wedding

hapless

(adj.) unlucky Think: happy less The hapless are often happy less because of their rotten luck

otiose

(adj.) unnecessary Think: tortoise fetch Playing fetch with this tortoise is otiose

banal

(adj.) unoriginal Think: ban all The banal librarian thought there were enough books already and wanted to ban all the new ones

capricious

(adj.) unpredictable Think: capri pants Jenny made the capricious decision to buy five pairs of capri pants, which she later regretted when they went out of style

unconscionable

(adj.) unreasonable; not guided by conscience Think: un-conscience It would be unconscionable to leave your two-year-old alone at home - you'd have to have no conscience - an "un-conscience"

nonpareil

(adj.) unrivaled, unmatched Think: no parallel The master parachutist had nonpareil skill; he truly had no parallel in the parachuting field

altruistic

(adj.) unselfish concern for others Think: always true stick My wingman is altruistic: he's always true to me and will stick by my side when I hit on chicks - even if he's not interested in any of them

volatile

(adj.) unstable; dangerous Think: volcano isle This may look like a peaceful island, but it's volatile - it's a volcano isle that could still erupt

inexorable

(adj.) unstoppable Think: in-x-out-able The fighter's inexorable rise made it impossible to cross his name off the contender list; he was "in-x-out-able"

callous

(adj.) unsympathetic, vô tâm Think: callus The callous dictator thought nothing of executing his rivals; he must have had a callus on his soul

unkempt

(adj.) untidy; lôi thôi (appearance/hair) Think: un-kept hair If you had just kept up with your personal hygiene, your hair wouldn't be so unkempt and birds wouldn't have nested in it

adamant

(adj.) unyielding, nhất quyết Think: Adam...damn it! God was adamant that Adam not return to the Garden of Eden: "I said no, damn it!"

bootless

(adj.) useless Think: booty-less A booty-less pirate is probably a bootless pirate

august

(adj.) uy nghi, oai vệ (respectfully impressive) Think: Augustus Caesar Augustus Caesar, the first Roman emperor, was so august that they named a month after him

magisterial

(adj.) uy quyền (strong authority/power) Think: Majesty If people are greeting you by saying "Your Majesty", you're probably looking magisterial - wear that outfit again!

torpid

(adj.) uể oải, lethargic Think: tar pit Once I walked into the sticky tar pit, my pace became torpid torpor (n.) lethargy

lackadaisical

(adj.) uể oải, without energy or spirit Think: like a daze Lackadaisical people are lazy, like a daze has come over them

sinuous

(adj.) uốn lượn, uyển chuyển (elegent turning while moving; having many curves) Think: sine wave Unsurprisingly, if you graph a sine wave on your calculator it's going to look sinuous

nebulous

(adj.) vague Think: Nebula The Horsehead Nebula is so many light-years away that we only have a nebulous idea of what it's like

variegated

(adj.) varied, diverse Think: varied The autumn leaves in Vermont are known for their variegated colors; last year, they varied from red to yellow to orange

dire

(adj.) very bad/serious Think: die If you are afraid that you might die, then the situation is dire

painstaking

(adj.) very careful Think: taking pains Taking pains to not infect the patient means being painstaking when you wash your hands before surgery

scintillating

(adj.) very clever/amusing/intersting Think: squint Her sequined shirt was so scintillating that I had to squint to see it

arid

(adj.) very dry Think: Arrid Extra Dry "Get a little closer; don't be shy! Get a little closer, with Arrid Extra Dry deodorant (which keeps your armpits arid)!"

salient

(adj.) very important or noticeable Think: saline If you're dehydrated, getting saline into your bloodstream is your most salient concern

penurious

(adj.) very poor Think: penny furious The penny tip made the waiter furious; the customer must have been penurious penury (n.)

stringent

(adj.) very strict Think: strict gent Our architecture professor is a strict gent: he's so stringent that if your drawing has any eraser marks, he'll dock you a full letter grade

precocious

(adj.) very talented at a young age Think: pre-coaching Sadie was precocious at piano pre-coaching; she taught herself to play Mozart at the age of two

loquacious

(adj.) very talkative Think: quack quack The loquacious duck just wouldn't shut up: "quack quack, I'm a duck, quack quack, blah blah blah."

imperative

(adj.) vital Think: I'm parenting! I'm parenting here, and I expect respect! Of course it's imperative that you clean your room!

quixotic

(adj.) viển vông (impractical) Think: quick exotic It's quixotic to think that you should earn some quick cash by becoming an exotic dancer

menial

(adj.) việc vặt vãnh (a task suitable to a servant) Think: me kneel Tasks that make me kneel, like scrubbing the floor, are aptly called menial

inane

(adj.) vô nghĩa, lacking meaning; silly Think: insane Saying you "like stuff" to describe your interest is inane, and it might make people think you're insane

laconic

(adj.) vắn tắt, using few words Think: lacking kick His personality was lacking kick; he was so laconic that barely even said hello to us

venal

(adj.) vụ lợi (to gain money) Think: venereal disease Nuns with venereal diseases are, most likely, venal: they broke their oaths of chastity

palatable

(adj.) vừa miệng; vừa phải, dễ chịu (to sb) Think: pal at table Having my pal at the table for dinner seems to make the food more palatable since I'm in a good mood

pugnacious

(adj.) wanting to fight/argue Think: Pug nation Imagine how pugnacious a Pug nation would be - those little dogs definitely would be fighting all the time

bellicose

(adj.) warlike, aggressive Think: belly bellow "ARRGHH!" When I heard the beast's belly bellow, I knew it was bellicose

vigilant

(adj.) watchful; alert Think: vigilante If you want some street justice, hire a vigilante - they are vigilant by nature

effete

(adj.) weak, hết thời Think: feeble The former athlete became effete and feeble from years of just sitting on the couch

apocryphal

(adj.) wellknown (doubtful truthfulness) Think: apocalypse predictions The prediction that the apocalypse would happen in 2012 turned out to be aprocryphal

vaunted

(adj.) widely praised undevervedly, tung hô Think: vaulted well; vain The gymnast vaulted so well that she was vaunted by the judges

pervasive

(adj.) widespread; prevalent; omnipresent Think: perv invasive That perv is so invasive - his inappropriate touching is pervasive and goes way over the line

rampant

(adj.) widespread; uncontrolled Think: rampage If you're dumb enough to take bath salts, the destruction after your rampage will be rampant

amenable

(adj.) willing; cooperative Think: amen-able After she shouted, "amen!" I was able to tell that she was amenable to my plan

sapient

(adj.) wise Think: Homo sapiens Be proud that you're a member of Homo sapiens; you're more sapient than any other animal on the planet

impromptu

(adj.) without preparation Think: improvise If you forget your lines, I'm not going to prompt you, so just improvise and make some impromptu remarks

verbose

(adj.) wordy, dài dòng Think: verb boss They call me a verb boss since I am verbose and know a zillion different words

haggard

(adj.) worn-out looking, tiều tụy Think: hag After months of partying with little sleep, Lindsay Lohan began to look haggard and worried people would think she was an old hag

laudable

(adj.) worthy of praise, đáng khen Think: applaudable Something that's laudable is applaudable

obsequious

(adj.) xun xoe (too eager to please sb important) Think: obscene kiss ass I can't believe that obsequious guy got the promotion - he's just an obscene kiss ass

tranquil

(adj.) yên bình Think: NyQuil Taking NyQuil before bed made me so tranquil that I slept for 12 hours

halcyon

(adj.) yên vui (happy, peaceful) Think: hell's she on? In her halcyon years, people would ask "What the hell's she on?" because she was constantly happy

tenuous

(adj.) yếu ớt, lacking substance or strength Think: tentative At the debate, the tentative speaker's argument was unsurprisingly judged to be tenuous

reticent

(adj.) ít nói (reserved) Think: ready but hesitant If you have to recite a speech and you're technically ready but hesitant, you might be reticent

taciturn

(adj.) ít nói (seem unfriendly) Think: takes his turn If he's passive and taciturn at the debate and just politely takes his turn when speaking, he'll never win

storied

(adj.) đc ghi chép; well known Think: stories The most interesting man in the world's storied history makes people tell his stories

peripatetic

(adj.) đi khắp nơi, rong ruổi, moving from place to place Think: pitter-patter The mouse in my house is peripatetic since I'm constantly hearing the pitter-patter of his little feet in the walls

concomitant

(adj.) đi đôi, song hành (simultaneously related) Think: can come with it Drinking too much carries the concomitant risk of depression that can come with it

strident

(adj.) đinh tai (sound); quyết liệt (aggressive+determined) Think: Stridex Stridex commercials are as strident as the salicylic acid in the pads, in an effort to hold teens' interest

phlegmatic

(adj.) điềm đạm (calm) Think: đờm When I had the flu, I had so much phlegm clogging my respiratory system that I was completely phlegmatic phlegm (n.) điềm tĩnh; đờm

quintessential

(adj.) điển hình; perfect example Think: essential Watching a Red Sox game at Fenway Park is essential to get the quintessential Boston experience

estimable

(adj.) đáng kính (deserving respect/admiration) Think: esteem-able If someone is estimable they are "esteem-able", i.e., they're deserving of your positive regard

reprehensible

(adj.) đáng trách Think: pretend hens Heyyy.... you sold me pretend hens instead of real ones - that's reprehensible

culpable

(adj.) đáng trách (deserving blame) Think: culprit Unsurprisingly, the cop thought the culprit he had arrested was culpable

opportune

(adj.) đúng lúc, thích hợp (to be successful) Think: opportunity It's opportune that I got picked for this singing opportunity because a genie just granted my wish to sing perfectly

filial

(adj.) đạo làm con (way children behave towards parents) Think: affiliated It was the son's filial duty to care for his dying mother since he was affiliated with her by blood

meretricious

(adj.) đẹp mã, hào nhoáng (falsely attractive) Think: merit tricks us The sparkle of pyrite, or fool's gold, is meretricious because its merit tricks us into thinking it's a precious stone

complicit

(adj.) đồng lõa, liên can (involved in a crime) Think: accomplice Though I robbed the bank and my accomplice just drove me here, he was considered complicit by the law

noxious

(adj.) độc hại Think: toxic Burning plastic releases noxious fumes that are toxic to living things

turbid

(adj.) đục ngàu (unclear or muddy) Think: tar bed The lake became turbid when storms disturbed particles from the tar bed underneath its waters

tepid

(adj.) ảm đạm (lukewarm; apathetic) Think: "tap it" = tap the tepid keg "Should I tap this keg now?" asked the overzealous fraternity brother. "Um, sure, I guess you could tap it" was my tepid response: it was full of tepid beer

reclusive

(adj.) ẩn dật, trốn đời (avoiding society) Think: brown recluse Luckily for us, the deadly poisonous brown recluse spider is reclusive recluse (n.) kẻ...

guttural

(adj.) ồm (sound) Think: gutter roar You'd have the guttural gutter roar of a homeless man if you spent the night sleeping in the gutter

mawkish

(adj.) ủy mị (sentimental) Think: Ma's awkward kiss Ma is awkward because she has to kiss us every time we leave the house - she's mawkish

maudlin

(adj.) ủy mị (sentimental) Think: Maude's violin Maude played emotional violin music every time she made an entrance, so wee called her maudlin

headlong

(adj.,adv.) done without adequate thinking; rash Think: headfirst If you dived headfirst into a shallow pool, it would be a headlong decision

clairvoyant

(adj.,n.) able to see the future Think: clear voyage My trusted psychic, Miss Cleo, assured me that rowing a boat from California to Hawaii would work out just fine. "I see a clear voyage in your future," said the clairvoyant woman

verboten

(adj/) forbidden Think: verb eatin' In North Korea, verb eatin' - instead of speaking one's mind - is common since many topics are verboten

apace

(adv.) quickly Think: keep pace The Indy 500 racer's pit crew changed his tires apace so he could keep pace with the leaders

lucre

(n.) (disapproving) money; profit Think: lucrative When you put in the years of training necessary to secure a lucrative career, lucre is your reward

fillip

(n.) (thứ) kích thích (boost) Think: fill up my tank If you could please fill up my tank of gas, then that would be a fillip to my transportation abilities

hodgepodge

(n.) = hotchpotch; mớ lộn xộn (a jumble of different things) Think: garage If your garage is anything like mine, it's a hodgepodge of tools, old papers, junk, and who knows what else

largess

(n.) = largesse; generosity Think: large-ness Due to his wealthy parents' wealth and the large-ness of their generosity, the college student lived pretty large and drove a Ferrari

proclivity

(n.) a bad tendency Think: pro-clitoris If you're pro-clitoris, you probably have a proclivity to like women

neophyte

(n.) a beginner Think: Neo fight When Neo has his first fight with an agent in The Matrix, he is a neophyte and gets his ass kicked

ruffian

(n.) a brutal person, thug Think: rough The club hired a ruffian as a bouncer because he was strong enough to be rough with misbehaving drunks

stratagem

(n.) a clever scheme Think: strategy gem The general's battlefield strategy was such a gem that most historians call it a stratagem

bromide

(n.) a cliche/unoriginal idea/remark Think: bro lied My bro on the lacrosse team told me to "give 110 percent," but the next day my math teacher told me that was impossible. My bro lied in his bromide

resurgence

(n.) a comeback Think: re-surge When LL Cool J said, "Don't call it a comeback", he meant that his re-surging to the top wasn't a resurgence resurgent (adj.) becoming stronger/popular again

simulacrum

(n.) a copy (giống cái gì đó) Think: simulation Coachella audiences saw a simulacrum of Tupac: a hologram that was an incredible simulation of him

rift

(n.) a crack; division, rạn nứt Think: ripped The rift in our friendship was so deep that it felt as though our bond had been ripped

boor

(n.) a crude person with rude, clumsy manners Think: boar manners The boor had table manners like a wild boar and ate directly off the plate with his mouth

quagmire

(n.) a difficult situation; bog Think: quicksand mire Quicksand can mire you if you step in it, and the more you struggle, the worse the quagmire becomes

row

(n.) a disagreement; a quarrel Think: rrr...ow! The row between the two boys started with growling: "rrrr!" and was quickly followed by an "ow!" as one punched the other

pretext

(n.) a fake excuse Think: pee text She pretends to have to pee and leaves on the pretext of using the restroom so she can text without getting caught

canard

(n.) a false report or rumor Think: Qatar There's a widespread canard that Qatar bribed FIFA to host the World Cup

flotilla

(n.) a fleet of ships Think: floating around Godzilla Floating around Godzilla was a flotilla from the Japanese navy

zephyr

(n.) a gentle breeze Think: zebra fur The summer evening zephyr was as soft as zebra fur

obeisance

(n.) a gesture to show respect Think: obey stance When the natives bowed to the conqueror in obeisance, it was like an "obey stance"

raconteur

(n.) a good storyteller Think: recount Jack White named one of his bands The raconteurs because they were so good at recounting stories via a song

battery

(n.) a large group of similar things Think: batter - y I thought that my first mix of cupcake batter tasted a little to batter-y, so I put it through a battery of taste tests before baking my final batch

myriad

(n.) a large number Think: merry ads The myriad of merry ads during the holidays tries to persuade people to spend money on presents

scofflaw

(n.) a law-breaker (not serious) Think: scoff at the law A scofflaw will scoff at the law he just broke since he has no respect for it

demagogue

(n.) a leader who gains power by trickery, kẻ mị dân Think: demigod The cult was led by a demagogue; he manipulated followers into thinking he was a demigod

soupcon

(n.) a little bit Think: soup can After surviving the apocalypse, we only had a soupcon of food left: in fact, we only had one Campbell's soup can

foible

(n.) a minor weakness of character, yếu điểm Think: foil-able Your plan to take over the world is foil-able because you have many foibles

anodyne

(n.) a pain-reliever; (behavior) bland, ôn hòa Think: am not dying I have the flu, but my doctor-prescribed anodyne finally has mad me feel like I am not dying

novitiate

(n.) a period of being a novice Think: novice initiate The novitiate is a novice frat brother, so they'll initiate him by making him run around campus wearing a thong

bonhomie

(n.) a pleasant and friendly mood Think: abundance of homies When I have an abundance of homies, I have bonhomie

magnate

(n.) a powerful or influential person, trùm Think: chick magnet You'd be a chick magnet, too, if you were an oil magnate like me

predilection

(n.) a preference Think: predicted direction Google predicted the direction of my search when I typed "how to find" by showing "how to find love", because it knows people have a predilection to seek romance

fruition

(n.) a productive result Think: grow fruit My plans to grow my own oranges came to fruition when my orange tree produced fruit

nostrum

(n.) a questionable medicine or remedy Think: nostril rum The Simpsons' Dr. Nick's nostrum was nostril rum - rum meant to be snorted to clear the sinuses

retrenchment

(n.) a reduction; chính sách thắt lưng buộc bụng Think: return to trench For a WWI soldier, a retrenchment of the attack plans meant he could return to his trench and lay low for a while

stricture

(n.) a restriction; a criticism (often related to behavior) Think: restrict The tourniquet around my arm stopped me from bleeding to death, but the stricture restricted any circulation and they almost had to amputate my limb

schism

(n.) a separation into opposing groups; a divide, chia rẽ Think: schizophrenic The schizophrenic patient underwent a schism that gave him multiple personalities

minion

(n.) a servant; a follower Think: mini-one In Austin Powers, Mini-Me is Dr. Evil's minion; he is a mini-one of Dr. Evil

apothegm

(n.) a short, wise remark Think: pocket the gem "Pocket the gem!" is a good apothegm to remember if you're training to be a jewelry store robber

modicum

(n.) a small amount Think: modest amount My pet mouse is cheap to feed because a modicum, or modest amount, of food will fill up his little belly

bauble

(n.) a small, inexpensive piece of jewelry or toy Think: bobblehead The bauble that my favorite baseball player gave me was a bobble of himself

segue

(n.) a smooth transition Think: Segway A good way to make sure your friends go along with your conversational segue is to barge in riding a Segway

gaffe

(n.) a social mistake Think: giraffe It's definitely a gaffe to bring your pet giraffe to the party - everyone will laugh

nuance

(n.) a subtle or slight distinction; sắc thái Think: new ants Forgive me for not picking up on the nuance of today's experiment- I couldn't tell it had new ants compared to yesterday's - ants all look the same

watershed

(n.) a turning point Think: Watergate Nixon's involvement in the Watergate scandal was a watershed for his public opinion and led to his resignation

pittance

(n.) a very small amount Think: pit ants Pit ants are known for eating even the pittance of fruit that clings to discarded peach pits

transgression

(n.) a violation of a rule Think: GRE Session If you end your private GRE session by punching your tutor in the face, then you have committed a transgression

maelstrom

(n.) a whirlpool (literally, figuratively); hỗn độn Think: mail storm Spam emails flock to my inbox like a maelstrom; reading the mail storm would suck up all my time

indictment

(n.) accusation; chỉ dấu xấu Think: dictaphone meant The fact that the defendant had illegally used a dictaphone to record private conversations with her employer, which she later shared online, meant that there were grounds for an indictment by the court

concession

(n.) admitting partial or total defeat Think: confession After it became apparent that my opponent would win the election, my concession speech was basically just a confession that I lost concede (v.)

succor

(n.) aid = succour Think: supper If you're starving and stranded in a snowstorm, hopefully our succor will include some sort of supper

despot

(n.) an all-powerful ruler, bạo chúa Think: despicable History has shown us that despots - like Kim Jong II - are often despicable human beings

diatribe

(n.) an angry/criticizing speech/writing Think: die tribe I didn't understand the words of his diatribe, but I guessed the native said I'd die from his tribe killing me

affectation

(n.) an artificial way of behaving, ra vẻ Think: a fake fiction Madonna's phony English accent is an affectation; it is a fake fiction

paroxysm

(n.) an attack, spasm, or outburst (pain/emotion/expression) Think: paradox spasm If you drink ocean water, you'll have a paroxysm - it's a paradox that it's water but it causes spasms if you swallow it

staple

(n.) an essential (adj.) cơ bản, basic/important part of something Think: maple At IHOP, maple syrup is a staple since they serve about a billion pancakes a year

connoisseur

(n.) an expert, người am tường (in art/food/music) Think: can know sir When it comes to breakdancing, call me "can know sir" because I'm a connoisseur of the art

pastiche

(n.) an imitation; (art/work) tác phẩm cóp nhặt Think: paste each If you copy Wikipedia and paste each entry into your paper, it will be a pastiche

allusion

(n.) an indirect reference Think: a lewd sin "Adjusting the antenna" is one of the funnier allusions to what some might consider a lewd sin

affront

(n.) an insult or offense Think: afro in front I have a huge afro, so if I sit in front of people at a movie, they often take it as an affront

roborant

(n.) an invigorating drug; thuốc bổ/phục hồi Think: robo-ant After I gave him a roborant, my ant felt as strong as a robo-ant

effluvium

(n.) an invisible, often harmful, vapor Think: flu The effluvium coming from the flu patient's mouth infected the nurse

adversary

(n.) an opponent or rival Think: adversity Israel faces more adversity than most countries; it is nearly completely bordered with adversaries adverse (adj.) k mong muốn; có hại, negative+unpleasant

pariah

(n.) an outcast, người bị ruồng bỏ Think: Mariah's anthem Mariah Carey became a pariah after butchering the national anthem in front of 80,000 fans

platitude

(n.) an overused expression Think: blah attitude Dude, she's giving you that blah attitude cause your pickup line was a platitude

progenitor

(n.) ancestor Think: produced from genitals You were produced from the genitals of your progenitors

sham

(n.) anything that deceives/misleads (adj.) false (v.) pretend Think: shame Your story about being a doctor is a sham...shame on you!

plaudits

(n.) approval, praise Think: applaud it If you want to give plaudits to his work, applaud it

approbation

(n.) approval/agreement Think: approve probation Maybe the best approbation I ever received was when the judge finally approved me for probation

pulchritude

(n.) beauty Think: poll: Christ, dude She had so much pulchritude that the most common response about her looks in the bros' poll was just, "Christ, dude!"

efflorescence

(n.) blossoming (most developed stage) Think: florist Efflorescence is all around me - I'm a florist

morass

(n.) bog (literally; figurative: situation) Think: molasses Don't tailgate a molasses truck - if you run into it and it spills on you, you'll be in a morass

harangue

(n.) bài/lời kêu gọi/hô hào/chỉ trích (loud, angry) Think: her ears rang Her ears rang so much after the loud harangue that she joked she'd rather hang than listen to it again

polemic

(n.) bài/tính luận chiến (a harsh attack against a sb/st) Think: politician at a mic Put a politician at a mic, and you'll soon hear polemic as he attacks his opponent's policies

composure

(n.) calmness, có kiểm soát Think: composer's calm pose Even though he was performing his music for kings and queens, the composer's calm pose showed his composure

husbandry

(n.) careful management/usage; việc đồng áng (tốt) Think: husband In the 1950s, a woman's husband usually practiced husbandry of their finances

pomp

(n.) ceremony and showy display Think: pump The bodybuilder was all about pomp; before he went to the beach, he worked out to get a pump to show off his muscles

miasma

(n.) chướng khí, an unhealthy atmosphere Think: my asthma The smog in Los Angeles is a miasma that worsens my asthma

plutocracy

(n.) chế độ/nhà nước tài phiệt Think: Pluto vacation home Hearing about the senator's vacation home on Pluto made me realize we're in a plutocracy

raiment

(n.) clothing Think: rain meant In the nudist colony, a forecast of rain meant they'd actually have to don some raiment

restitution

(n.) compensation, đền bù; restoration, trả lại Think: rest of tuition My college's restitution for allowing prostitution was paying the rest of our tuition

imbroglio

(n.) complicated situation Think: igloo bro! I knew my friend was in an imbroglio after getting the text, "I just woke up and I'm in an igloo, bro!"

aplomb

(n.) confidence Think: the bomb If you have aplomb, you think you're the bomb

mores

(n.) conventions, customary rules and standards Think: morals Our society's mores include morals like helping others who are less fortunate

gumption

(n.) courage/determination; nhanh nhạy (what to do in a situation) Think: Forrest Gump Forrest Gump showed gumption by playing football, co-founding a shrimp business, and running across the country

pluck

(n.) courage; spirit Think: pluck a feather You showed pluck by attempting to pluck a feather from a live ostrich; too bad it decided to peck you in the eye plucky (adj.)

artifice

(n.) cunning (clever use of tricks to cheat), gian xảo Think: artificial In The Hunger Games, Effie Trinket tries to win people over with artifice, but it doesn't work because her sweetness is so artificial

furore

(n.) cuồng (an outburst of rage or excitement) Think: furious The governor's use of the Fuhrer's (Hitler's) image in an ad made many furious and created a political furor = furor

exodus

(n.) cuộc di dời, the departure of many people Think: exit us! During the Syrian civil war, there was a mass exodus of refugees who must have been thinking, "exit us!"

fracas

(n.) cuộc ẩu đả Think: frat ruckus The frat brothers often caused a ruckus by getting into a drunken fracas

levity

(n.) cà chớn (lack respect, treat amusingly) Think: levitate The comedian's levity put us in such a good mood that our spirits felt as if they were levitating

distension

(n.) căng, sưng Think: dis-tension A belly showing distension after a huge meal might be because the person has weak abs with no muscle tension

pitfall

(n.) cạm bẫy (hidden danger/difficulty) Think: pit fall We prepared for lots of dangers before our jungle trek, but funnily enough, our biggest pitfall was an actual pit fall

temerity

(n.) cả gan (rude extremely confidence) Think: team error If you have temerity, maybe you should join team error because I bet you make a lot of mistakes

bedlam

(n.) cảnh náo loạn (chaos) Think: bed lamb It was complete bedlam when I entered my hotel room and saw that the bed had a lamb sleeping in it

asperity

(n.) cộc (rough/severe/harshness) Think: a spear in me I have asperity because I have a spear in me - can you blame me?

conundrum

(n.) difficult problem Think: nun drum Building a nun drum is a conundrum because nuns don't like loud noises

quandary

(n.) dilemma Think: wandering I'm wandering around aimlessly because I'm in a quandary about where to go next

chagrin

(n.) disappointment/annoy, buồn bực Think: chuggin' tragic You won't believe this, but to my chagrin, Chad is chuggin' a bottle of mouthwash right now - this is a tragic date

revulsion

(n.) disgust Think: revolt and shun When the king barfed then ate the barf, I felt such revulsion that I wanted to revolt and shun him

ennui

(n.) dissatisfaction resulting from boredom Think: ennui there yet? Take a seven-year-old on a long car ride, and you'll hear the ennui in his voice when he repeatedly asks, "ennui there yet?"

hegemony

(n.) dominance Think: huge money The country with huge amounts of money enjoyed hegemony over its neighbors because it could afford an immense army

stigma

(n.) dị nghị (feelings of disapproval towards illnesses/behaviors) Think: Stick-mas instead of Christmas One of our stigmas growing up was that we celebrated "Stick-mas" instead of Christmas - we were too poor for any presents but sticks

schadenfreude

(n.) enjoyment from others' troubles Think: shady Freud If your psychologist giggles about your divorce he has schadenfreude and is a shady Freud

fervor

(n.) enthusiasm Think: fever The lovers' fervor for each other was so great that their skin felt fever-hot fervid (adj.)

prowess

(n.) exceptional bravery and/or skill, thông thạo Think: prowl lioness While on the prowl, the lioness displayed her prowess by bringing down a woolly mammoth

adulation

(n.) excessive admiration/praise Think: adult adoration The grown adult's adoration of role-playing video games could only be called adulation

jingoism

(n.) extreme nationalism, belligerent foreign policy Think: Ringo-ism The British man's jingoism went so far as to make him campaign for the Beatles' Ringo Starr to rule the free world

kismet

(n.) fate, destiny Think: kiss met I knew it was kismet that I'd marry her because we kissed as soon as we met each other

trepidation

(n.) fear Think: trap The haunted house filled me with trepidation; I feared a trap would be sprung on me at any moment

umbrage

(n.) feel offended/insulted/upset Think: umbrella rage Someone who takes umbrage at his umbrella probably felt rage when it broke during a storm

flotsam

(n.) floating debris Think: float After the Titanic sank, Rose was able to survive by climbing onto a piece of floating flotsam from the wreckage

dint

(n.) force; power Think: Hulk's dent The Incredible Hulk made a dent in the car by dint of his enormous strength

volition

(n.) free will, ý muốn, mong muốn Think: volunteer No one forced him to volunteer for the mission; he did it of his own volition

hiatus

(n.) gián đoạn, an interruption or break Think: Hyatt The Hawaiian Hyatt ad urged us to take a hiatus from work to stay at its luxurious hotel for a few days

panacea

(n.) giải pháp toàn diện (solve all probs) Think: pan of Vitamin C The hippie advised me that eating a pan of vitamin C is a panacea for illness

alacrity

(n.) great willingness/enthusiasm Think: electricity Electricity has alacrity, since it only takes a millisecond for the light to come on after I flip the switch

cupidity

(n.) greedy desire for Think: Cupid After being shot by Cupid's arrow, Sarah developed such cupidity for her valentine that she called him daily

accretion

(n.) growth via a gradual buildup, lớp bồi, bồi đắp Think: creeps up on Gaining weight creeps up on a lot of people since they don't notice the slow accretion of fat accrue (v.)

felicity

(n.) happiness; well-chosen Think: feline city If you're a cat person, then a feline city would bring you great felicity felicitous (adj.)

concord

(n.) harmony Think: concurred We all concurred that we should go into the grape jelly business, so it's no surprise that our company is enjoying a feeling of concord

enmity

(n.) hatred Think: enemy I have enmity for my enemy - what else would you expect?

animosity

(n.) hatred; hostility Think: enemy city During the war, I accidentally parachuted into the enemy city and was met with animosity

synergy

(n.) hiệp lực, combined action that produces mutually helpful results Think: 'N SYNC energy By forming a boy band and using synergy, 'N SYNC created more energy than they would had they all gone solo

microcosm

(n.) hình mẫu (a small thing representing a larger thing) Think: mico-cosmos The glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling are a microcosm of the universe - they're a "micro cosmos."

conflagration

(n.) hỏa hoạn (destroy a lot) Think: burning flag nation There is a debate about the flag in our nation - is it legal to use the Stars and Stripes for a conflagration?

ignominy

(n.) hổ thẹn, disgrace Think: ignored many Joe Paterno ignored many of the crimes that were being committed at Penn State; his legacy is now one of ignominy ignominious (adj.)

acumen

(n.) insightfulness Think: accurate men In business, accurate men usually have acumen

interloper

(n.) intruder, người ngoài Think: interrupt elope The interloper interrupted them from eloping when the priest said, "Speak now or forever hold your peace."

vocation

(n.) job Think: afford a vacation If you want to afford a vacation get a vocation

desuetude

(n.) k dùng tới, disuse Think: disuse attitude The unnecessary security guard at the knitting store had an air of lazy desuetude about him - kind of a disuse attitude

cache

(n.) kho giấu (hidden) Think: cash hiding place The drug dealer kept his cash in a cache under the bed - he didn't trust banks

idiosyncrasy

(n.) khác người, lập dị (a weird trait) Think: 'N SYNC-cracy I might seem idiotic to suggest an 'N SYNC-cracy where 'N SYNC rules our nation, but it's just my idiosyncrasy

aversion

(n.) không thích (dislike st/sb) Think: cover versions I have an aversion to cover versions of songs - I almost always prefer the original tune

mettle

(n.) khả năng vượt khó Think: made of metal In Gladiator, Russell Crowe was so full of mettle he might have been made of metal

paradigm

(n.) kiểu mẫu, mô hình, an example used as a pattern or model Think: pair of dimes Those two girls are a pair of dimes since they're both 10s - they're paradigms for how to look hot

iconoclast

(n.) kẻ bất đồng chính kiến (against established customs/beliefs) Think: clashed The iconoclast had beliefs that clashed with most people's views

curmudgeon

(n.) kẻ già khó tính Think: curse mud Only a curmudgeon would curse the mud in the garden on this sunny spring day

recidivist

(n.) kẻ liên tục tái phạm (crime) Think: Sid's division Sid has two sides to his personality: the law-abiding side and the recidivist

milquetoast

(n.) kẻ nhút nhát, a timid person Think: Milhouse/milky toast Milhouse is milquetoast - he's about as tough as a piece of soggy, milky toast, since Bart Simpson bosses him around

ragamuffin

(n.) kẻ rách rưới (person/child) Think: rags on muffin The rags on your little muffin make him look like a ragamuffin - shop at Baby Gap next time

apostle

(n.) kẻ sùng bái, tông đồ Think: a posse The famous rapper was known to roll deep with his many apostles - his posse, that is != apostate

voyeur

(n.) kẻ thích dòm trộm sex/xen vào đời tư Think: foyer Last night I caught a voyeur hanging out in the foyer (entrance) of my apartment building who was trying to spy into people's windows. Joke's on him: I was eating ice cream and wearing sweatpants

miscreant

(n.) kẻ ti tiện, a person who behaves badly or in a way that breaks the law Think: mistake of creation The harsh judge believed the miscreant was a mistake of creation

sycophant

(n.) kẻ xu nịnh Think: sick of elephant The animals were sick of the elephant because he was a sycophant who kissed up to the zookeeper

machination

(n.) kế sách (secret/complex) Think: machine nation I don't trust C-3PO and R2D2; I bet they have machinations designed to create a machine nation in which we are slaves

dearth

(n.) lack ; scarcity Think: dead earth Due to the dead earth of our farmland, there will be a dearth of food this winter

vestige

(n.) last remains, tàn dư Think: vest The explosion blew off most of my three-piece suit - the only vestige left was the vest

premonition

(n.) linh cảm xấu Think: pre-mention I knew you were going to say that! I had a premonition pre (before) you mentioned it

tonic

(n.) liều thuốc, something helpful Think: gin and tonic Drinking a gin and tonic before my speech was a tonic for my anxiety

consternation

(n.) lo âu (after unpleasant surprise) Think: concerned nation On 9/11/01, a concerned nation stood in consternation watching the aftermath of terrorism

peon

(n.) lower-class workers used by someone of a superior class Think: pee-ons The nobleman so little respected his peons that he would pee on them

serendipity

(n.) luck Think: Sara ended pity After winning the lottery, Sara ended her pity toward herself because of her amazing serendipity

dichotomy

(n.) lưỡng phân (two-part, contrast) Think: Thy cot, oh my Thy cot, oh my - it's so comfortable when I'm sleeping in it, but my back hurts so much when I get up

paucity

(n.) lượng ít ỏi (not enough) Think: poor city In the poor city, there was a paucity of resources

digression

(n.) lạc đề, a departure from the main topic Think: dig Russians "Have I ever mentioned to you that I dig White Russians?" said Lebowski, trying to change the subject when confronted about Bunny's failed rescue digress (v.)

logorrhea

(n.) lắm mồm Think: diarrhea I thought a long speech would help my grade, but my teacher said my logorrhea was like verbal diarrhea

sophistry

(n.) lối/điều ngụy biện Think: sophisticated trickery Sophocles' sophistry was so sophisticated that his trickery made his character Oedipus kill his dad and marry his mom

clemency

(n.) mercy Think: Clemens mercy The pitcher Roger Clemens was shown mercy by the jury and found not guilty - an act of clemency, since he was accused of taking steroids

herald

(n.) messenger, indicator, omen (v.) to signal the arrival of Think: Harold the Herald "Harold the Herald" would be a great name for a psychic who heralds the future...if people had more capacious vocabularies

malfeasance

(n.) misdeed, violation Think: mal = bad, fleas The fleas and ants in my house commit malfeasances daily; I think of them as mal (bad) fleas/ants

mandate

(n.) mệnh lệnh Think: mandatory The captain's mandate was obviously mandatory - so swab the deck!

welter

(n.) mớ bòng bong (of something) (v.) move in turbulence, nhào lộn Think: welts When I surf, I welter in the waves and my board hits me; I come out covered in welts

sybarite

(n.) ng hưởng thụ, one devoted to pleasure Think: sit at a bar If you go sit at a bar every night to watch sports and drink beer, you might be a sybarite

virtuoso

(n.) ng lão luyện, someone highly skilled at something Think: virtues (oh so many) Virtues? I have oh so many, because I'm a gosh-darned virtuoso

rectitude

(n.) ngay thẳng (extreme integrity) Think: correct attitude Since he was a church rector, Paul considered the correct attitude to be rectitude

fortitude

(n.) ngoan cường, bravery, courage Think: fortress The Bulgarian weightlifter's mental fortitude during training gave him a body that looked like a fortress

mendicant

(n.) người hành khất Think: mend? I can't! If you tell a mendicant to sew up the holes in his clothes, he'd probably say, "mend? I can't! They're about to fall apart."

paragon

(n.) người kiểu mẫu (a model of excellence) Think: Aragorn If you're looking for a paragon in The Lord of the Rings, choose Aragorn: he became the king

hubris

(n.) ngạo mạn, coi trời bằng vung (excessive pride, ignore laws/warnings) Think: huge breasts If a girl gets implants and suddenly has huge breasts, she may develop hubris from all the male attention

brevity

(n.) ngắn ngủi (time); ngắn gọn (conciseness) Think: abbreviate I know your speech is brief but abbreviate it even more - this professor actually awards points for brevity

legerdemain

(n.) nhanh tay (sleight of hand) Think: Ledger's domain Heath Ledger's domain was the silver screen; his acting legerdemain captivated audiences

humbuggery

(n.) nonsense; rubbish Think: bah, humbug! Ebenezer Scrooge said, "bah, humbug!" so much because he thought Christmas was humbuggery

nepotism

(n.) nâng đỡ (unfairly give family members advantages) Think: nephew favoritism They said I practiced nephew favoritism and accused me of nepotism when I promoted my 22-year-old nephew to vice president of the company

euphemism

(n.) nói giảm/tránh (word/phrase) Think: use feminism Use feminism if you're a guy and want to create a euphemism for PMS - otherwise you might get yourself killed

gambit

(n.) nước (đi/cờ) đầu (to gain advantage) Think: gamble it When you play chess, sometimes you have to gamble it and use a gambit by sacrificing a piece for a better position

luminary

(n.) one regarded for his brilliant achievements Think: illuminate It would take a luminary like Stephen Hawking to illuminate quantum physics for me

scapegoat

(n.) one that takes the blame, chốt thí (v.) đổ thừa Think: escaped goat Even though the dog ate some of the vegetables in the garden, the escaped goat became the scapegoat

automaton

(n.) one who acts in a robotic way Think: automation Working on an assembly line where automation has replaced creativity can make you feel like an automaton

misanthrope

(n.) one who hates people Think: mistake to be an anthropologist It's a huge mistake to be an anthropologist and study people all day long if you're a misanthrope

poseur

(n.) one who pretends to be something he is not Think: = poser The poseur pretended to be interested in literature to impress girls, but he was exposed as a poser who didn't even know who Shakespeare was

demeanor

(n.) one's appearance and behavior, phong thái Think: meaner personality Not only has my ambition diminished with age, but so has my demeanor: I used to have a meaner personality

antithesis

(n.) opposite; contrast Think: anti-thesis You got a "D" on your essay because your examples argued for the antithesis of your introduction's thesis antithetical (adj.)

forbearance

(n.) patience; tolerance; nhẫn nhịn Think: bear tolerance I'm usually harsh on people who borrow my money, but for bears I have more tolerance and practice forbearance since they scare me

profligacy

(n.) phung phí (reckless wastefulness) Think: profits fling If your profits fling out the window, you're probably following a course of profligacy (adj.) profligate

imprimatur

(n.) phê chuẩn (official approval) Think: imprint In Game of Thrones, a king conveys his imprimatur with an imprint of his crest on a scroll's wax seal

aspersion

(n.) phê phán (critical/umpleasant remark) Think: asp poison Her aspersions about what I did last night felt like asp poison

patois

(n.) phương ngữ Think: patio speech Patio speech during barbecues is more likely to contain patois than speech in the office

pith

(n.) phần cốt lõi, the essential or central part Think: pit If you're a peach tree, the pith of your fruit is the pit, since that's how you'll reproduce

dudgeon

(n.) phẫn nộ, a tantrum caused by being offended Think: dungeon grudge I was in high dudgeon after they threw me in the dungeon for jaywalking, and I held a grudge

politesse

(n.) politeness Think: politeness French maids are trained to show politeness at all times; their politesse is without equal

accolade

(n.) praise/award Think: Escalade I received many accolades for my service, but my favorite was the gift of a brand-new Cadillac Escalade

encomium

(n.) praising speech/writing Think: in Comic-Con In Comic-Con, the entertainment convention, nerds give encomium to the latest comic-book movies

perquisite

(n.) privilege Think: perks Hey suckashhhs - now that I'm CEO, I enjoy perquisites like a company helicopter and a gold wastebasket - perks you'll never have

exponent

(n.) proponent, supporter Think: ex-opponent Upon Romney's nomination, McCain became his exponent for the greater good of the GOP and therefore was his ex-opponent

aegis

(n.) protection Think: egg us Go ahead, try to egg us - our house has the aegis of the police, since my dad's a cop

opprobrium

(n.) public disgrace Think: Oprah opposes Sometimes, Oprah brings people she opposes on her show to cause them opprobrium - it's like "Oprah-brium"

bravado

(n.) ra vẻ (pretend to be confident, try to impress) Think: brave avocado Though its trash-talking seemed brave, the avocado and its bravado didn't scare me, since I knew it was just a piece of fruit

rebuttal

(n.) refutation, bác bỏ Think: butt After I lectured the college sophomore about the dangers of binge drinking, his rebuttal was to moon me - he showed me his butt

compunction

(n.) regret, remorse Think: punctured balloon I felt compunction after accidentally puncturing the child's birthday balloon and making him cry

onus

(n.) responsibility; obligation Think: on us Since we broke the vase, the onus is on us to pay for it

revanche

(n.) revenge Think: revenge Motivated by revenge, the French monarch ordered her general to take revanche on those who had captured the island

doctrinaire

(n.) rigid and dogmatic Think: doctorate in air I once met an academic with a doctorate (Ph.D) in air, and I asked him whether oxygen molecules always travel in pairs. "Yes, they do," he said, "... with zero exceptions."

abscission

(n.) rụng (the shedding of leaves, flowers, or fruits) Think: scissors Instead of waiting for the grapes to drop off of the vines, speed up the abscission by getting out there with a pair of scissors

solecism

(n.) sai sót, sơ xuất (language/manner) Think: sole is in If you put your foot in your mouth - like if you ask a woman her age - it's a solecism - your sole is in your mouth

gravitas

(n.) seriousness Think: gravity As the judge entered, his gravitas was like gravity, drawing everyone's eyes to him and silencing the room

milieu

(n.) setting, background Think: my loo I prefer to use my loo in my own milieu - other people's bathrooms are gross!

pang

(n.) sharp feelings of pain, nhói (physical/emotional) Think: pains I read the Hunger Games for six hours, but then had to stop because of the pains from my own hunger pangs

gadfly

(n.) someone who annoys/criticizes to make pp do st Think: egad, fly! Brad is such a gadfly about my outfits that I want to say "Egad, fly!" and hit him with a flyswatter

spendthrift

(n.) someone who spends wastefully (adj.) phung phí Think: spend before thrift Spendthrift means someone for whom spending comes before being thrifty

abomination

(n.) something awful Think: bomb a nation It is an abomination to bomb a nation

anachronism

(n.) something belonging to a different/old time period, lỗi thời, sai thời Think: inaccurate chronology The movie has something inaccurate about its chronology: a caveman wearing a watch- a huge anachronism

anathema

(n.) something hated; a curse Think: a nasty enema If a patient is constipated, then a nasty enema may follow, which can be anathema for the nurse

behemoth

(n.) something huge/powerful Think: beast mammoth One really large beast was the woolly mammoth, a behemoth that lived during the Ice Age

omission

(n.) something not done or missed Think: miss My Oscar speech was marred by my omission of my agent; I can't believe I missed thanking him

analogue

(n.) something similar Think: analog vs. digital My audiophile cousin swears that analog is way better than digital, but to me they sound pretty similar analogous (adj.) tương đồng, comparable

bugbear

(n.) something to fear Think: bug a bear If you bug a bear, you'll soon have a very serious bugbear

non sequitur

(n.) something unrelated Think: not sequence Bringing up koala bears after my girlfriend asked me about our relationship was a non sequitur; it was not in the right sequence

anomaly

(n.) something unusual Think: abnormally knobby knee I have an abnormally knobby knee; my doctor tells me it's an anomaly

juggernaut

(n.) something very powerful Think: juggler-knot That juggler tied that huge knot by juggling six balls of yarn - it'll be a juggernaut to untie

palimpsest

(n.) something with multiple layers, changes, or meanings Think: pa's lamp set Pa's lamp set was more than just a bunch of lamps: it was also a piece of modern art with multiple shades of meaning

dispatch

(n.) speed; efficiency Think: dispatcher If you want a job as a dispatcher - using the radio to direct police - you'd better have dispatch

concupiscence

(n.) strong desire, especially sexually; lust Think: Cupid's essence If you have concupiscence, you have Cupid's essence running through your veins

celerity

(n.) swiftness Think: accelerate After Cee Lo switched to an all-celery diet, he lost 30 pounds and his ability to accelerate increased, as did his celerity

pathos

(n.) sự lay động, a quality that evokes feelings of sadness or pity Think: sympathy ohhhs Your painting of a starving puppy has so much pathos that it always gets sympathy "ohhhs" from viewers

fiasco

(n.) sự thảm bại (debacle, embarassing failure) Think: flask Smuggling that flask into the football game was a fiasco; we got kicked out in the first quarter

obloquy

(n.) tai tiếng (strong publick criticism); thất sủng Think: lob queries The prosecutor kept lobbing queries at the witness in an attempt to discredit him through obloquy

abeyance

(n.) temporary inactivity; suspension, đình chỉ Think: "obey" ends When our lieutenant's command to obey ends, our work plans are held in abeyance because we're lazy

doggedness

(n.) tenacity, bền bỉ, ngoan cường Think: dog-ness The fighter's doggedness, even after he was knocked down, was like that of a fearless Bulldog

retrospection

(n.) the act of thinking about the past, nhớ lại Think: retro-inspection Retrospection about the 1980s is a retro-inspection that can lead to wearing neon clothes and leg warmers

antipode

(n.) the exact opposite Think: anti-pole The North Pole is the antipode to the South Pole - you might say they're "anti-poles"

zenith

(n.) the highest point, peak Think: beneath Once you reach the zenith, everything else is beneath it

apartheid

(n.) the policy of separating groups based on race, a pác thai Think: apart to hide In South Africa, apartheid kept blacks apart to hide them from racist whites

ramification

(n.) the result of an action or decision Think: Dodge Ram One ramification of trading in my Prius for a Dodge Ram is that I am spending a lot more money on gas

propensity

(n.) thiên hướng (a natural tendency) Think: pro-penis If you're a guy who is pro-penis, you'll have a propensity to wear a protective cup when playing baseball

doggerel

(n.) thơ cóc Think: dog verse Most Valentine's Day card poems are such doggerel that it seems as though dogs wrote the verse

debacle

(n.) thất bại thảm hại (fiasco, a embarrassingly complete failure) Think: the bottle I'm an alcoholic, so when I hit the bottle, the night usually becomes a debacle

denizen

(n.) thổ địa, thổ cư (person/animal/plant, often at a place) Think: den citizen One of the denizens of the caves in my woods is a black bear - he's a bear den citizen

heyday

(n.) thời hoàng kim (one's best time period) Think: hey day During my heyday, when I was the starting quarterback and had a 4.0, all the girls said hey to me every day

glut

(n.) thừa thãi, too much of something Think: glutton Since my dog is a glutton for dog treats, I have a glut of sausages in my house

lassitude

(n.) tiredness; laziness Think: lazy attitude Your lassitude is caused by your lazy attitude and your belief that Lassie will come save you if you need help

temperance

(n.) tiết chế, moderation Think: temper ants At the picnic, I didn't lose my temper over the ants, because I possess the quality of temperance

precursor

(n.) tiền thân (something that came before another thing) Think: pre-cursor When you're typing, the word you just typed is literally precursor; it's before the cursor and is thus a precursor to it

subsidy

(n.) tiền trợ giá/cấp Think: sub city In order to prevent itself from becoming a sub-city in the wake of its bankruptcy, the city of Detroit had to rely on subsidies from the federal government

boon

(n.) tiện ích (st makes life easier) Think: booing One boon of booing is that it unites an audience in mutual unappreciation

camaraderie

(n.) togetherness, tình bằng hữu Think: comrades The Russian camera factory workers shared a sense of camaraderie, calling each other comrades

purist

(n.) traditionalist, literalist Think: pure wrist I'm a purist, so I don't think you need a fancy set of titanium golf clubs to be a good golfer: a good golf swing is pure wrist and hips

perfidy

(n.) treachery, sự phản bội Think: perforated fidelity When I realized my friend spread rumors about me, I felt like he had perforated fidelity because of his perfidy perfidious (adj.) treacherous

chicanery

(n.) trickery, mánh khóe Think: chick-gain-ery Your frat brother's feigned interest in that cute girl's paintings was clearly chicanery; his motive was "chick-gain-ery"

skulduggery

(n.) tricky or sneaky behavior Think: skull he dug The skull he dug up from the local cemetery proved he was a witch doctor who practiced skulduggery

tirade

(n.) tràng đả kích/tố cáo, a long angry speech to criticize/accuse Think: tired of rage If someone gives you a tirade, you'll probably be tired of the rage after a few minutes

farce

(n.) trò hề/hài (a comical, unrealistic, mocking display or show, literally/figuratively) Think: farts I know your play is a farce because of how many times the characters fart

semblance

(n.) trông như là có nhưng thực chất ko (situation seemed to exist but not the case) Think: resemblance The lie fooled me because it had the semblance of honesty, a slight resemblance to the truth

debauchery

(n.) trụy lạc (immoral sex, alcohol, drugs) Think: the bachelor party During the bachelor party, the wolf pack in The Hangover participated in some serious debauchery

cynosure

(n.) tâm điểm Think: sign to be sure Polaris (the North Star) was a cynosure for ancient sailors, a sign they could be sure of

misnomer

(n.) tên/từ sai; a wrong or inappropriate name Think: mis-name "The Battle of Bunker Hill" is a misnomer: it mis-names the battle, which was actually fought on the nearby Breed's Hill

sojourn

(n.) tạm trú Think: journey If you journey somewhere, it's probably for a sojourn unless you bought a one-way ticket

cacophony

(n.) tạp âm Think: cough symphony The sounds from the tuberculosis ward were a cacophony - an unpleasant cough symphony

immutable

(n.) unchangeable Think: im-mutate-able They poured radioactive chemicals on me to try to make me into a mutant, but it was impossible: I'm immutable, so I'm im-mutate-able

aberration

(n.) unusual action/behavior/fact Think: a bare Asian Seeing a bare Asian would be an aberration - most people in Asia wear clothes aberrant (adj.)

ascendancy

(n.) uy thế (dominance; superiority) Think: ascend If you ascend the corporate ladder rand become chairman of the board, you'll enjoy ascendancy

effrontery

(n.) vô liêm sỉ Think: fronting homies What's with these homies dissin' my girl? Why do they gotta front? (Because they have effrontery, Weezer.)

repertoire

(n.) vốn (things can do); vốn tiết mục (to perform) = repertory Think: repeat When I followed the Grateful Dead around for a summer, I realized their repertoire was finite; their set list repeated most of the time

scuffle

(n.) xô xát (brief, not violent) Think: scuff The scuffle was no big deal, but I did scuff my new pair of shoes

insolence

(n.) xấc xược (rude, lack respect) Think: in silence To punish me for my insolence, my kindergarten teacher forced me to sit in the corner in silence

sangfroid

(n.) điềm tĩnh (difficult/dangerous) Think: sang frog "You don't scare me!" sang the frog when he saw the fox - he had sangfroid in spades

harbinger

(n.) điềm xấu Think: bringer The superstitious woman thought the black cat crossing her path was a harbinger of bad luck and a bringer of misfortune

nadir

(n.) đáy (worst moment) Think: nads A dude's nads are literally the nadir of his reproductive system

turpitude

(n.) đê tiện (vile or immoral behavior) Think: turd attitude His turd attitude made him engage in turpitude

propriety

(n.) đúng mực (morally acceptable); khuôn phép, phép tắc (rules) Think: proper For the sake of propriety, us proper manners and eat your salad with the salad fork, not the dinner fork

penchant

(n.) đặc biệt thích, a liking for something Think: pendant enchant If a girl wears a low hanging pendant to enchant the boys, they'll soon have a penchant for her

apotheosis

(n.) đỉnh cao (development/career/life) Think: a potent thesis My professor said he gave me the only A in the class because my paper was the apotheosis of a persuasive essay: it had a potent thesis

cohort

(n.) đồng bọn; đồng lứa (common feature) Think: co-heart My cohort and I are so close that it feels more like we're co-hearts

influx

(n.) đổ xô, tràn vào (the arrival of many things or people) Think: in flood The influx of college students to Boston every September is like a flood

impetus

(n.) động lực, driving force, stimulus Think: pet us As dogs, our impetus to obey commands is that people will pet us as a reward

expatriate

(n.) ở xứ người (living in foreign country) Think: ex-patriot We said our expatriate friend was an anti-American ex-patriot since he moved to France

dilettante

(n.,adj.) (kẻ) tài tử (superficial knowledge of an area) Think: diluted The dilettante's knowledge of the subject was, understandably, diluted

fanatic

(n.,adj.) enthusiast, extremist Think: fan lunatic The fanatic Green Bay Packers fan - a lunatic - painted his face green and wore a cheesehead hat every day of the year

vernacular

(n.,adj.) tiếng địa phương Think: verb knack Once you develop a knack for the way we use verbs, you'll have become familiar with our vernacular

buttress

(n.,v.) a support Think: butt rest The stone column is both a buttress and a butt rest for tired people to lean against

swathe

(n.,v.) dải, vạt / to cover or wrap Think: swat the (mosquitos) When camping near standing water, I would rather swathe myself in mosquito repellent than swat the pesky pests away all day

prattle

(n.,v.) lảm nhảm (meaningless talk) Think: baby rattle Her prattle about reality TV was as exciting as listening to a baby shake its rattle

apropos

(prep.) related to, concerning to Think: appropriate It's apropos and appropriate that we're talking about posing because I was just discovered and contracted to be a model!

entitle

(v) give right Think: N possible titles If your name begins with "Count," "Duke," "Prince" or any other of N possible titles, then you're probably entitled

secrete

(v.) (bài) tiết; hide Think: secret sea creature The octopus is a sea creature that stays secret when it secrets an inky cloud

germinate

(v.) (làm) đâm chồi, nảy nở (start to grow) Think: germ in Nate After entering his nose, the germ in Nate was able to germinate into a cold because he was so run down

condone

(v.) allows something that is bad, cổ xúy Think: con done The con done it because the lazy warden condones misbehavin'

accede

(v.) approval (request, proposal), chấp thuận; achieve high position, lên Think: agreed Since we all accede to the plan to seed the garden, it looks like we're agreed

ossify

(v.) became hard or inflexible Think: fossil-fied The Velociraptor's bones could bend slightly, but after death, they ossified and turned into fossils

impede

(v.) block, hinder, hamper Think: stampede As I walked across the fruited plain, a buffalo stampede impeded my progress

propagate

(v.) breed, publicize Think: proper gait The first step to propagating your DNA is to cultivate the proper gait: in other words, you have to learn how to look good while walking

desecrate

(v.) báng bổ (st sacred/holy) Think: de-sacred If you peed on an altar, you would desecrate it, or "de-sacred" it - it would no longer be sacred

insinuate

(v.) bóng gió (imply st unpleasant); tiếp cận (to gain respect/affection to use situation for own purpose) Think: in sin you ate Pop culture insinuates that all women should be skinny, as if to say "in sin you at that piece of cake"

descry

(v.) bắt gặp, phát hiện, espy (suddenly see) Think: describe Ok, now that I descry the iceberg that we're sailing towards, I can describe it to you

fawn

(v.) bợ đỡ Think: fawn (baby deer) The little fawn's only hope to get the bear to spare its life was by using fawning behavior

impugn

(v.) challenge (if it's right/honest) Think: imply ugly Your insults impugn me; they imply ugly things

dissemble

(v.) che giấu, to hide or conceal (intention/emotion) Think: disassemble gun The terrorist tried to dissemble his plan by disassembling his gun before trying to smuggle it through airport security

meddle

(v.) chen/can thiệp vào (interfere) Think: middle It's annoying when you meddle with us - you always jump into the middle of any quarrel we have

bifurcate

(v.) chia/rẽ hai Think: by forking By forking, the road bifurcated into the popular road and the road less traveled by

pander

(v.) chiều theo (unreasonable/unacceptable) Think: panda logo The American company that used a panda as its logo was accused of pandering to the Chinese market

opine

(v.) cho rằng (to express an opinion) Think: opinion If you opine about the election on Facebook, everyone gets to hear your opinion whether they like it or not

deride

(v.) chế nhạo (to make fun of, mock) Think: Dee's ride We all deride Dee's ride - it's a brown 1987 Buick with ghetto rims

concoct

(v.) chế ra, thêu dệt (to invent, make up) Think: con cocked I've concocted a safer plan - we'll con the bank teller by showing her a cocked (but unloaded) pistol

revile

(v.) chửi rủa, to abuse verbally Think: evil, vile My disillusionment with the army began when I tripped, causing the drill sergeant to revile me with the most evil, vile insults I've ever heard

flout

(v.) coi thường, treated without respect Think: flung out The rebel flouted the rules so badly that he flung them out the window

garble

(v.) confuse, to make hard to understand Think: gargle A bad connection can garble a voicemail to the point that the message just sounds like someone mid-gargle

confer

(v.) consult; give award/degree/honor Think: fur coat My great-grandmother's fur coat was conferred to me in her will

adulterate

(v.) contaminate Think: adultery In the Bible, God said, "Thou shalt not commit adultery." because an affair will adulterate a marriage

occlude

(v.) cover/block st Think: Octomom cluttered Octomom cluttered the hospital's nursery with her eight babies and occluded it so no other infants were admitted

vituperate

(v.) criticized harshly Think: viper He was vituperated so badly that he felt like he had been bitten by a viper

upbraid

(v.) criticized severely Think: upside braid The hippie upbraided me so much that I was afraid she was going to slap me upside the head with her giant braid

kowtow

(v.) cúi đầu, qùy lụy Think: cow toes If you want to kowtow to a farmer, bow and offer to give a pedicure to his cow's toes

stanch

(v.) cầm (to stop the flowing of) = staunch Think: 'stache I thought my 'stache was sexy, but in fact it stanched the flow of all females to my bedroom

bowdlerize

(v.) cắt (to cut out all the offensive parts of a book) Think: boulder-ize Originally, they would bowdlerize Huckleberry Finn so much that they might as well have let boulders roll over the book and tear out half the pages

expurgate

(v.) cắt bỏ (offensive part) Think: purge By the time they were done expurgating the "offensive" parts from Huckleberry Finn, there was almost nothing left; they purged almost everything

estranged

(v.) cắt đứt, tách rời (no longer friendly/contact/live/involved sb/st) Think: stranger Gotye's estranged girlfriend cut him out and treated him like a stranger and it felt so rough

grouse

(v.) cằn nhằn (annoyingly complain) Think: Grouch Oscar the Grouch likes to grouse about everyone else on Sesame Street

gambol

(v.) danced around happily; frolicked Think: game ball After she scored three goals and led the team to victory, the coach awarded her the game ball and she gamboled all over the place

adorn

(v.) decorate, tô điểm Think: add ornaments If you adore Christmas, then you probably enjoy adorning your home by adding ornaments to your tree

espy

(v.) descry, thoạt thấy (see suddenly) Think: I spy I spy something blue - do you espy it, too?

degenerate

(v.) deteriorate (adj.,n.) (kẻ) tha hóa (n) degeneracy, sự tha hóa Think: Jenner ate my dust 1976 Olympic decathlon champion Caitlyn Jenner ate my dust when I challenged her to a footrace; I guess that her speed has degenerated with age

dither

(v.) do dự Think: ditz do either You're such a ditz - you'd do either and it's making you dither

peregrinate

(v.) du ngoạn, to journey or travel from place to place Think: peregrin falcon The fastest member of the animal kingdom is the peregrin falcon; it exceeds 200 m.p.h. while diving and can peregrinate speedily

squelch

(v.) dập tắt (growing/increasing/developing) Think: squash and squish Squelch the ant uprising! Squash them! Squish them!

expunge

(v.) erase (info from a book/list/mind) Think: ex with sponge The best way to make a spill an "ex-spill" is to use a sponge to expunge the mess

quail

(v.) fell/show fear Think: quail (the bird) I feel bad for quail (noun) - those poor birds quail (verb) as soon as they see people because they're often hunted for sport

inundate

(v.) flooded (figuratively/literally) Think: nuns date After the church allowed nuns to date, they inundated Match.com

scuttle

(v.) foil, phá hoại Think: it's cut Scuttle the launch of that Space shuttle! It's cut from the space program as of 2011

coerce

(v.) force, bắt ép Think: cooperate by force I didn't want to leave the bar, but the bouncer coerced me to cooperate by using force

exculpate

(v.) free from blame Think: ex-culprit If you commit a crime but have a clever lawyer, you'll be exculpated and be an "ex-culprit"

rejuvenate

(v.) gave new life to, làm trẻ/khỏe lại Think: re-juvenile His plans for the new year rejuvenated the middle-aged man so much that he felt like a juvenile again

malinger

(v.) giả ốm (avoid working) Think: linger Those who malinger often linger in bed, pretending to have the flu

emancipate

(v.) giải phóng (to free from legal/political/social restrictions) Think: Emancipation Proclamation President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. It declared "that all persons held as slaves" within the rebellious states "are, and henceforward shall be free."

palliate

(v.) giảm đau, làm dịu (to reduce the severity) Think: pill I ate The prescription pill I ate should palliate my depression

encroach

(v.) gradually invading one's rights or property, xâm hại, xâm lấn Think: roaches My apartment's roaches are encroaching upon my space: they now occupy the kitchen

ingratiate

(v.) gây cảm tình (to make someone like you) Think: gratitude grated The new guy's excessive gratitude grated and seemed like an attempt to ingratiate himself to us

reap

(v.) gặt hái (obtain good st/result) Think: Grim Reaper If there's a knock on the door and you see the Grim Reaper through the peephole, don't answer: he has come tor reap your life

undulate

(v.) gợn sóng, uốn lượn Think: undo lace You'll definitely turn your lover on if you undo your lace lingerie while slowly undulating your body

harry

(v.) harass Think: hurried Being harried by your teacher and hurried to finish your test - just because you're the last one in the room - is terrible

exult

(v.) hoan hỉ (great happiness bc of st) Think: ultimate ex I exulted in the fact that my ex still plays ultimate Frisbee with me, since ultimate has always been my one true love

harrow

(v.) hành (to torment or greatly distress) Think: hair arrow Not two days after I'd grown the perfect afro, my friend decided to harrow me by shooting me in the hair with an arrow

parley

(v.) hòa giải Think: parsley If you're going to parley with someone you like, eat some parsley - it's good for your breath

hector

(v.) hăm dọa, bully Think: heckle I tried to hector the comedian by heckling him, but he made fun of me, so I stopped

denigrate

(v.) hạ thấp, belittle Think: deny I'm great If you deny I'm great, you denigrate me

understate

(v.) hạ thấp, downplay; made to seem less than it actually is Think: understatement "I have no complaints" is an understated way to respond if you're wealthy and asked how much money you make; it's an understatement

quash

(v.) hủy bỏ (law); dập tắt (to completely stop from continuing) Think: squash The best way to quash an invasion of ants in your kitchen is simple: squash them

aggrandize

(v.) increase (power/wealth/status) Think: a grand-sized I aggrandized my social status by throwing a lavish party - it gave me a grand-sized reputation

exasperate

(v.) infuriate (annoy/irritate sb very much) Think: exasperated I'm exasperated - not only did you get us lost in the woods, but you also exacerbated the situation by dropping our phone in that swamp

embroil

(v.) involved in a difficult situation Think: on broil I was embroiled in a dangerous situation when I got locked in an oven set on "broil"

vindicate

(v.) justify, minh chứng; to free from blame, minh oan Think: Vin indicated Judge Vincent indicated that the DNA evidence had fully vindicated the falsely accused defendant

ostracize

(v.) khai trừ, tẩy chay, cạch mặt (sb from a group) Think: ostrich-sized That poor kid is ostrich-sized - he'll be ostracized as soon as he starts high school

refract

(v.) khúc xạ Think: reflected fractured The prism refracted the white light and reflected it, fractured, into a rainbow of colors

entreat

(v.) khẩn khoản, beg, implore Think: in retreat In retreat, the fleeing general entreated us to spare his soldiers' lives

aver

(v.) khẳng định (assert) Think: verify After I verify that the blood sample from the crime scene matches your DNA, I'll aver that you are the killer

foment

(v.) kích (incite) Think: form it! In Star Wars, Princess Leia fomented the Rebel group by telling the Rebels to "form it!"

fraternize

(v.) kết/làm thân (disapproving) Think: frat We frat brothers fraternize with all the freshman chicks so they'll come to our parties

permeate

(v.) lan ra, tràn ra (liquid/gas/idea/feeling...) Think: perm he ate The perm he ate will permeate his stomach lining and prove it's stupid to eat human hair

disseminate

(v.) lan tỏa (spread out info/knowledge) Think: diss'em, Nate His dad advised to "diss'em, Nate", so Nate disseminated flyers all over the school that criticized his opponents in the election

grovel

(v.) luồn cúi (behavior) Think: gravel Grovel to Her majesty by putting your face in the gravel, slave!

rankle

(v.) làm dày vò, day dứt (angry/upset for long time) Think: wrinkled Tim Gunn told the "Project Runway" contestant to "make it work", so the wrinkled dress she made rankled him

vitiate

(v.) làm hỏng/hao (spoil/reduce the effect) Think: wish you ate If you eat Taco Bell, it will vitiate your stomach and make you wish you ate something else

perturb

(v.) làm lo lắng (worried/anxious) Think: disturbed by turds The turds your dog leaves on my beautiful lawn not only disturb me - they perturb me

dilute

(v.) làm loãng; weaken Think: dilution is the solution If your drink is too strong, then dilution is the solution: just add ice!

disconcert

(v.) làm lúng túng (make anxious/confused/embarassed) Think: diss the concert To liven up recitals, I disconcert the musicians by dissing the concert

belie

(v.) làm nhầm tưởng (give false impression); chứng minh sai Think: lied The used car salesman's smooth manner was belied by his sweaty handshake and made me think, "He lied!"

undermine

(v.) làm xói mòn/hao mòn (to weaken gradually/at base) Think: under mine Under the ground lay a land mine designed to undermine the army's advance

circumvent

(v.) lách (law, difficulty, road) Think: circumference vents She circumvents the guards by crawling around the enemy base's circumference through the vents

skulk

(v.) lén lút, to hide or be stealthy Think: skunks lurk Skunks lurk and skulk until it's dark enough for them to eat from your garbage cans

flounder

(v.) lúng túng (person: to act clumsily or ineffectively; situation: lots of probs) Think: flop under Bad dancers flounder (verb) through clubs like flounders (noun) that flop under the seat of the boat once they're caught

denude

(v.) lột trần, stripped bare st Think: nude Loggers denuded the forested rise, felling trees and trampling undergrowth until it was just an nude hill of earth

ameliorate

(v.) made better Think Emilio rated Emilio rated my pasta as a 10 out of 10, which ameliorated my fear that I had ruined it.

efface

(v.) made less visible; remove Think: erased On old nickels, Thomas Jefferson's face is often effaced to the point of almost being erased

obfuscate

(v.) made unclear/incomprehensible Think: obstacles confused The professor barely spoke English: the obstacles his speech created confused us and obfuscated his message

overshadow

(v.) make less important/successful; làm u ám (event) Think: shadow over Hanging out with LeBron is rough; not only do his skills overshadow mine on the court, but he's so tall that even his shadow towers over me

assuage

(v.) make st unpleasant less severe, làm khuây/dịu Think: massage Getting a long massage will assuage those sore muscles

amalgamate

(v.) merge (things/organizations) Think: gum After breaking the vase, Malcolm used gum to amalgamate the pieces back together

gild

(v.) mạ vàng (literally/figuratively, make bright, gold plated) Think: gold I'm a terrible painter, so instead I usually gild my vases with gold so they look okay

kindle

(v.) nhen nhóm (fire/interest/emotion) Think: kindling You can't just light a log on fire - to kindle the campfire, you need some kindling: twigs, paper, dried grass, etc.

inculcate

(v.) nhồi nhét/sọ, to teach by constant repetition and warning Think: in cult In the cult of Scientology, they inculcated Tom Cruise until he was brainwashed

fudge

(v.) né tránh (accurate/clear answer) Think: "oh, fudge!" If the salesperson fudges the facts about the used car you buy, you'll be saying "oh, fudge!" later when it breaks down

shirk

(v.) né tránh (to do st hard) Think: shark If the beach lifeguard shirks his duties, then you might want to keep a look out for sharks

declaim

(v.) nói hùng hồn (spoke loudly and self-importantly) Think: "I declare!" "Well, I declare!" the Southern belle declaimed

malign

(v.) nói xấu Think: malignant The evil witch not only maligned her enemies but also cast spells designed to give them malignant tumors

vilify

(v.) nói xấu, malign Think: villain-fy The dumpee decided to vilify her ex-boyfriend so the other girls would think he was a villain

finagle

(v.) obtain/behave (through trickery/indirect methods) Think: finagle a bagel Even though I had lost my wallet, I finagled a bagel from the bagel lady by claiming I had invented cream cheese

outstrip

(v.) outrun, surpass Think: out-strip To be fair, that stripper gets more tips than you because her pole-dancing skills outstrip yours

etiolated

(v.) pale; weakened Think: toilet-ed Keeping my goldfish in the bleach-containing toilet tank violated his trust and etiolated him so much that he turned white

badger

(v.) pester Think: bad jerk Good jerks can get laughs, but a bad jerk will just badger you with his attempts at humor

canonize

(v.) phong thánh (figurative, literal) Mother Teresa will be formally canonized on Sunday by Pope Francis in Rome.

subvert

(v.) phá bĩnh (political/religious...) Think: sub hurt Captain: the torpedo from that sub hurt our ship and subverted our morale

demarcate

(v.) phân ranh giới (to define, set apart) Think: mark it If you want to demarcate your side of the dorm room, mark it with a long piece of masking tape

deplore

(v.) phản đối (strongly disapprove, criticize) Think: deep lore I deplore (hate) when my uncle likes to tell that campfire ghost story like it's part of some deep lore that goes back generations: the truth is that he's just repeating the plot of his favorite horror movie

demur

(v.) phản đối, khước từ (object/refuse to do st) Think: murmur Though no one has spoken up yet, the murmur from the class suggests they demur to my idea that they do more homework

posit

(v.) postulate, giả thiết Think: positive Positive about her findings, the scientist finally agreed to posit the existence of extraterrestrial life in a journal article

antedate

(v.) predate, to come before, có trước (built, happen, formed) Think: auntie ante- (before) date Chances are that your auntie has a birth date that antedates yours

bloviate

(v.) pretending while talking/writing, chém gió Think: blow hot air In Harry Potter, Gilderoy Lockhart bloviated; he would blow a lot of hot air without much meaning

slake

(v.) quench/satisfy Think: lake If you're a zebra, you probably can't operate a water fountain: slake your thirst at the lake

defenestrate

(v.) quăng khỏi cửa sổ (someone) Think: defense demonstrate If you defenestrate a burglar through a plate-glass window, your home defense is demonstrated

repudiate

(v.) reject; deny Think: refuse poo I ate If I ate shit, my stomach would refuse the poo I ate and repudiate it by vomiting uncontrollably

excise

(v.) remove completely Think: ex-size During liposuction, doctors excise fat - your current size will be an ex-size and you'll be skinny

abrogate

(v.) repeal (law/agreement) Think: a broken gate After my 120 lb. Mastiff decided to abrogate the barrier to the kitchen and eat from the garbage, we were left with a broken gate

circumscribe

(v.) restrict Think: circumference scribe The evil scribe drew a magical circumference around our campsite, which circumscribed our movement to that circle

ferret

(v.) search/seek among lots of things, lục lọi Think: ferret (the animal) If you keep a ferret as a pet, it will ferret out all your lost earrings since they can crawl under anything

connive

(v.) secretly plotting to do bad things Think: mean girls' knives Mean girls act nice, but don't be conned: they're conniving to stick knives in your back

pan

(v.) sharply criticize Think: frying pan My first movie got panned so badly by critics that they might as well have hit me with a frying pan

despoil

(v.) strip of value (steal/damage) Think: spoiled Desperate for oil, the U.S. drilled in Alaska and despoiled the land, an act which spoiled it for future generations

admonish

(v.) strongly advise; not approve, nhắc nhở Think: add Monistat "Add Monistat to your body if you're suffering from a vaginal yeast infection," the ad admonished

excoriate

(v.) strongly condemned Think: scoured Simon Cowell's criticism on American Idol excoriated the contestant - she felt as if she'd been scoured by a rough dish pad

inveigh

(v.) strongly criticize Think: weigh in When a person with a German accent weighs in on a topic which upsets him, he is inveighing

decry

(v.) strongly, open criticize Think: cried After my boss decried my work in front of everyone, I went home and cried

sashay

(v.) strutted or walked in a showy or flashy way Think: Miss America sash Miss America sashayed across the stage, showing off her first-place sash

recapitulate

(v.) summarize Think: = recap His recap of the news nicely recapitulated the day's events

reprove

(v.) tell that not approve, k đồng ý Think: reps at the gym Some bodybuilder types can't help but reprove everyone else's technique while they doing reps at the gym

supplant

(v.) thay mới, replace Think: up plant After you pull up a plant out of the soil, you should supplant it with another one to help preserve the environment

grandstand

(v.) thu hút, to seek to attract applause or favorable attention Think: handstand If you're doing a handstand, it's probably to grandstand for an audience

marshal

(v.) thu xếp, sắp đặt (to gather and organize) Think: fire marshal The fire marshal's job is to marshal the volunteer firemen if there's a fire alarm

succumb

(v.) thất thủ (to give in to attack/illness/...) Think: suck under Do not succumb to the deadly pull of the quicksand or it will suck you under

extirpate

(v.) tiêu diệt, trừ khử, to get rid/destroy (st unwanted, bad) Think: exterminate If you have pests in your house that you want to extirpate, call someone who will exterminate them

usurp

(v.) tiếm quyền (to illegally take position/power) Think: u slurp I know you're an anteater, but if you usurp my ant farm and u slurp up my ants, I'll be really angry

lionize

(v.) tiếp đãi nồng hậu (treat sb as being famous/important) Think: lion-ized The cute little meerkat was so lionized by the zoo's visitors that he felt like a lion

irk

(v.) to annoy Think: jerk Of course he irks you - he's a jerk!

vex

(v.) to annoy/worry Think: hex In Harry Potter, casting a hex, or spell designed to cause pain, on someone will definitely vex him

assail

(v.) to attack violently (physically/word) Think: ass sail Come at me, bro: if I assail you, I'll make your ass sail out the window

eschew

(v.) to avoid Think: ah-choo! Eschew people who say "ah-choo!" unless you want to catch their colds

offset

(v.) to balance Think: offs it Seeing a beautiful woman light up a cigarette offsets my interest in her; it effectively offs it since smoking is gross

abound

(v.) to be numerous Think: abundant Kangaroos abound in Australia; they're abundant, bouncing around wherever you look

devolve

(v.) to become less advanced over time Think: the Volvo When I bought the Volvo in 1988, it was state-of-the-art, but since then it has slowly devolved into a hunk of junk

cadge

(v.) to beg or get via begging, xin xỏ Think: locked in a cage If you're locked in a cage you'll cadge for food and water

beseech

(v.) to beg, cầu khẩn Think: screech Forget fancy language - the best way to beseech someone is to screech at him

beatify

(v.) to bless; to make happy Think: beautiful home = happiness The makeover will beautify your home and beatify your family

annul

(v.) to cancel, bãi bỏ Think: null set In mathematics, the null set means "a set that contains nothing." If you annul (cancel) your marriage, then so will your ring finger

raze

(v.) to completely destroy Think: rays blaze The powerful laser's rays are making a blaze that will raze the old building to make room for the new one

castigate

(v.) to criticize severely Think: castrate The worst way for a Mafia boss to castigate someone is to castrate him

caterwaul

(v.) to cry or to complain loudly, gào, thét Think: cat in wall If there's a cat in your wall it will probably caterwaul since it wants to get out

embellish

(v.) to decorate Think: bells Hanging little bells all over your home is one (weird) way to embellish it

festoon

(v.) to decorate Think: festival The harvest moon festival is coming! Time to festoon the barn for the big dance!

gainsay

(v.) to deny Think: against say Those who gainsay us are against what we say

apportion

(v.) to divide and distribute Think: a portion If you want a portion of lunch, go ask the lunch lady - she apportions it to everyone

reverberate

(v.) to echo (figu/liter) Think: re-vibrate I yodeled in the empty concert hall, and the echoes reverberated and re-vibrated as they bounced off the walls

discomfit

(v.) to embarrass or confuse Think: discomfort Realizing one's suit had been replaced with a too-tight Speedo would discomfort and discomfit anyone

immure

(v.) to enclose or imprison Think: in manure We never should have tried to drive through this cow pasture: our car is immured in manure

rhapsodize

(v.) to enthusiastically write/talk abt Think: rapture The rapper Sisqo felt so much rapture when looking at women wearing thongs that he rhapsodized about them in "The Thong Song"

scrutinize

(v.) to examine carefully Think: desire to screw in eyes I'm an 18-year-old cheerleader - when a dirty old man scrutinizes me, I see the desire to screw in his eyes

feign

(v.) to fake, giả bộ (feeling) Think: faint Here's the plan: we feign illness by pretending to faint as soon as the final exam begins so we won't have to take it

recant

(v.) to formally deny a former position Think: really I can't I know I said I would move to Canada if we elected Obama, but really I can't, so I recant that statement

absolve

(v.) to free from guilt/responsibility, miễn giải Think: dissolve Catholics believe that confessing to a pries will dissolve their guilt and absolve them from sin

conglomerate

(v.) to gather into a whole (n.) tập đoàn Think: can gobble it My cookie got smashed into a thousand pieces - I'll have to conglomerate them so I can gobble it

relinquish

(v.) to give unwillingly, từ bỏ Think: release anguish When I went to prison, I had to relinquish my baby boy to social services which gave me release anguish

waffle

(v.) to go back and forth; can't decide Think: should I get waffles? When I go out to brunch, I waffle (verb) between getting waffles (noun) and getting eggs

surmise

(v.) to guess Think: summarize Since a police report will only summarize what happened, one usually has to surmise the actual events of a crime

abhor

(v.) to hate something morally, ghê tởm Think: horrid People abhor their own horrid shit

philander

(v.) to have casual or unfaithful sex Think: Zoolander When you're ridiculously good-looking like Zoolander, it's easy to philander

intimate

(v.) to hint at (what you think/mean) Think: intimate apparel I like my girlfriend's intimate (adjective) apparel because it intimates (verb) at the shape of her body without looking slutty

abase

(v.) to humiliate or degrade Think: give up a base When you're making out with someone, if you give up a base too quickly, then you just abase yourself

wax

(v.) to increase; to grow Think: ear wax Thanks to your body's glands, your sticky, orange-brown ear wax will wax daily even if you use Q-tips

nettle

(v.) to irritate Think: needle Poking someone with a needle is a quick way to nettle him

mitigate

(v.) to lessen or make less severe Think: mitt gate The thief wore oven mitts to climb the spiked gate of the mansion to mitigate the pain in his hands

curtail

(v.) to lessen, limit, shorten Think: cut off your tail If you really want to win this lizard beauty pageant, you've to to be shorter. Curtail your length - cut off your tail

stultify

(v.) to make ineffective Think: stupid dolt If you stultify yourself by punching yourself in the skull, you'll become a stupid dolt

becalm

(v.) to make motionless; to soothe Think: be calm! When my 3- year-old is running around causing havoc, I usually whisper "be calm!" to becalm him

abate

(v.) to make/become less strong Think: rebate It may be annoying to have to mail it in, but the rebate on the new cell phone will abate its cost

meld

(v.) to merge; to blend Think: melt If your ice cream cup is half vanilla, half chocolate and it melts, the flavors will meld

bemoan

(v.) to mourn over; to express grief for Think: moan I be moanin' about the new laws restricting what we can smoke - my friends bemoan the legislation, too

lumber

(v.) to move with clumsiness Think: lumber (noun) Frankestein would lumber (verb) around as if his limbs were made of lumber (noun)

importune

(v.) to nag; to persistently insist; to pester, nài nỉ Think: "I'm poor" tune The homeless man at the end of my block always importunes us for money with his little "I'm poor" tune

discriminate

(v.) to notice subtle variations Think: one meaning is criminal; one is neutral Discriminate (verb), so you'll know when "discriminate" is about prejudice and when it's about noticing discriminating (adj) discerning, tinh tường

cajole

(v.) to persuade by flattery or coaxing, dụ dỗ Think: cage hole At the vet, I have to cajole my cat out of the cage hole so he can get examined

extol

(v.) to praise highly, ca ngợi Think: ex-toll I extol this highway because it used to charge a toll, but now it's an ex-toll road

prognosticate

(v.) to predict Think: professional knows; prognostic Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who prognosticates whether winter will last for six more weeks, is obviously a professional that knows the future

substantiate

(v.) to prove, chứng minh Think: substance You won't be able to substantiate your claim that I ate your lunch without evidence that has more substance

pillory

(v.) to publicly and harshly criticize Think: Hillary Republicans love to pillory Hillary Clinton

scotch

(v.) to put a sudden end to, chấm dứt Think: scratch Well, the boss just scotched our plan to bring our cats to work, so scratch that idea

belittle

(v.) to put down; to disparage Think: be little When you say "Good boy!" and pat me on the head, you belittle me and make me feel as if I be little

abnegate

(v.) to reject something; to deny oneself something Think: abs negated If you abnegate food, the fat covering your abs will get negated

manacle

(v.) to restrain Think: man shackle These military rules manacle us just as surely as if they'd put man shackles on our wrists

cordon

(v.) to restrict entrance Think: cord on Cordon off that area by tying a cord on and around all the trees so people know it's off limits

bungle

(v.) to screw up, làm vụng về Think: bunghole I bungled the job so many times that they started calling me a "bunghole"

woo

(v.) to seek or pursue romantically, tán tỉnh Think: woo-hoo! If you spend all night watching sports and exclaiming "woo-hoo!" then your chances of wooing your date drop dramatically

polarize

(v.) to separate into two conflicting or opposite positions Think: Earth's poles Democrats and Republicans are so polarized that I'm surprised they don't stay at the North and South Poles to keep as far apart as they can

winnow

(v.) to separate the useful from the not-useful Think: minnows Winnow the minnows from your catch of fish; they're too small to eat

redress

(v.) to set right, chữa (n.) compensation, đền bù Think: re-dress Lady Gaga Lady Gaga's fashion choices are so wrong that the only way to redress her style is to literally re-dress her

whet

(v.) to sharpen; to make more intense (interest) Think: wet mouth If you're starving and I show you a picture of a cheeseburger, it will whet your appetite and your mouth will water and get wet

stupefy

(v.) to shock/surprise; làm muội đi (can't think clearly) Think: stupid Hermione cast the stupefy spell on Crabbe, who became so stupefied that he looked stupid

alleviate

(v.) to soothe or lessen the severity of, ease Think: Aleve Allison's headache was so bad that she took four Aleve pills to alleviate the pain

appease

(v.) to soothe, pacify (give what they want, person/war) Think: please with peas I appease and please my baby daughter by hiding her peas inside of her mashed potatoes

refute

(v.) to speak against or disprove, rebut Think: refuse My dog refutes my argument that he needs a bath by adamantly refusing to get in the tub

adhere

(v.) to stick to something Think: adhesive The adhesive on the Band-Aid made it adhere to my finger

espouse

(v.) to support (belief, policy) Think: spouse Chances are that you will espouse your spouse - you married her, so you probably have her back

capitulate

(v.) to surrender, yield, give in Think: capsized? it's too late Once your boat has capsized, it's too late to think about winning the race: capitulate and just try not to drown

commiserate

(v.) to sympathize with Think: misery loves company Come commiserate with us- misery loves company

depredate

(v.) to take by force; to ravage; to ruin Think: predator The predators in the forest will depredate your village's livestock if you don't build a really good fence and get guard dogs

coddle

(v.) to treat with excessive care, nâng niu Think: cuddle The mother dog would coddle and cuddle her puppy so much that I thought it would never learn to fend for itself

dupe

(v.) to trick/cheat sb Think: dope A dope is easy to dupe

beguile

(v.) to trick; attract Think: be gullible Be gullible, and you'll be easy to beguile

underscore

(v.) to underline Think: to score = to write To score a composition is to write a composition; to underscore something on a piece of paper, you write under it (underline)

coalesce

(v.) to unite into a whole Think: coal essence Coal, in essence, is just carbon - if you squeeze it hard enough it will coalesce into a diamond coalescence (n.)

arrogate

(v.) to unrightfully take or claim, chiếm đoạt Think: a rogue ate My liege - a rogue ate my rations - may I have more since he arrogated what was rightfully mine?

oscillate

(v.) to vary; to go back and forth Think: Ozzy On MTV's The Osbornes, Ozzy oscillates between sanity and insanity

debilitate

(v.) to weaken Think: decrease ability Cancer will often debilitate its victims and can decrease their ability to be active

sap

(v.) to weaken Think: tree sap Cutting your initials into a tree can sap (verb) its vitality because it will make the sap (noun) leak out

macerate

(v.) to weaken; make soft (w. liquid) Think: mace Spraying a mugger in the face with mace (tear gas) will hopefully macerate him

promulgate

(v.) truyền bá, publicize (spread st among people) Think: promote mullet The hillbilly hairstylist would often promote mullets by promulgating about them to new clients

remunerate

(v.) trả công (pay for) Think: re-moneyed It cost me $300 to remove the rat from my apartment, but my landlord remunerated/"re-moneyed" me

amortize

(v.) trả góp, trả dần Think: a mortgage Unless you have a ton of money, when you buy a house, you probably amortize the loan with a mortgage

ruminate

(v.) trầm tư (think deeply) Think: Ramen marinate To ruminate means to think about something for at least as long as it takes your Top Ramen to marinate

tout

(v.) tung hê (praise to persuade); chào hàng Think: shouted Guinness Stout is highly touted; I know this because the guy drinking it next to me shouted its praises in my ear

decimate

(v.) tàn phá (severely damage, kill large numbers) Think: decimal remains At the start of our campaign, all of our soldiers were healthy, but attacks and disease have decimated the ranks so that only a decimal remains alive

impinge

(v.) tác động, ảnh hưởng (bad) Think: I'm pinched I'm pinched on the butt every time I go to that biker bar - it impinges on my dignity

proliferate

(v.) tăng nhanh, nhân lên (to grow or multiply quickly) Think: pro-life-rate The pro-life-rate of births is higher than the pro-choice rate; pro-life people proliferate because they don't get abortions

shelve

(v.) tạm gác (short time/permanent) Think: shelf I shelved my plan to sabotage my rival and put my notes for it back on the shelf once I learned I got the promotion

confiscate

(v.) tịch thu (punishment) Think: can frisk If I can frisk you and feel that you're carrying a weapon, then I'll confiscate it

evince

(v.) tỏ (reveal a feeling/quality) Think: evidence Vince evinced the villain by providing evidence

prevaricate

(v.) vòng vo, đánh trống lảng Think: prevent verify To cover for you, your friend will prevaricate and prevent the cop from verifying what really happened

exacerbate

(v.) worsen (disease/problem) Think: exaggerate By exaggerating your lies, you only exacerbate them in the long run

disparage

(v.) xem thường, belittle Think: despair and rage He felt despair and rage because the rapper liked to diss and disparage him

corroborate

(v.) xác thực (confirm, support with evidence) Think: co-robber When robbing a bank, use a co-robber who will corroborate your story

pilfer

(v.) ăn cắp vặt Think: pill for Here's an idea: we break into the pharmacy and pilfer pills for resale to drug addicts

bludgeon

(v.) đánh nhiều phát; ép buộc Think: Bludgers In Quidditch, the Bludgers are 10-inch, black, iron balls that fly around and sometimes bludgeon players

conflate

(v.) đánh đồng Think: con inflated The con artist inflated the value of the racehorse by grooming it, making me conflate sleek appearance with speed

riposte

(v.) đáp trả (quick/clever reply) (n.) lời đáp trả; trả đũa Think: rip post After being mocked, the blogger would rip into his critic's post with a brutal riposte

exact

(v.) đòi hỏi (demand) Think: Exacto knife I'm going to exact my share of the cookie with an Exacto knife

forestall

(v.) đón đầu (prevent by doing beforehand) Think: for stall The booby traps I surrounded my fort with will forestall invaders - they're for stalling

juxtapose

(v.) đặt cạnh (to contrast/show new relationship) Think: Huxtable Cliff Huxtable - Bill Cosby's warm, good-natured character on The Cosby Show - was juxtaposed with his real-life persona after he was accused of rape on multiple occasions

foreground

(v.) đề cao, to highlight Think: foreground (noun) That boy is magic! Foreground (verb) his talent by making sure he's in the foreground (noun) of the stage!

lampoon

(v.,n.) (writing) to mock/satirize Think: laugh harpoon The Onion lampooned Kanye so skillfully that its article was like a laugh harpoon

glower

(v.,n.) looked at with anger Think: glow RRR The scary, frowning jack-o'-lantern glowered at us - its glow seemed to say "RRRRR!"

simper

(v.,n.) silly/annoying smile Think: smile chimp Have you ever seen a smile on a chimp? They simper in a way that cracks me up

censure

(v.,n.) to criticize severely/openly, chỉ trích Think: censor If you really wanted to censure your rival's editorial you could just censor it completely

relish

(v.,n.) to enjoy; to savor Think: delish I relish (verb) eating hot dogs with relish (noun) because they taste delish

champion

(v.,n.) to fight for, (kẻ) đấu tranh Think: champion (noun) If you champion (verb) that turtle in the turtle race and cheer for her really loudly, it's more likely she'll become the champion (noun)

cull

(v.,n.) to get rid of what's unneeded (animals) Think: kill We're in a famine, so we need to cull the herd and kill the sick cattle

revamp

(v.,n.) to revise, improve, sửa sang, tân trang Think: return as a vampire If you're sucked dry by a vampire, don't worry - you'll die, but then be revamped as a strong, new member of the undead

forage

(v.,n.) v.: to search for food, n.: food, a search Think: for aged cheese Being French, I have been foraging our supermarkets and farmer's markets far and wide for aged cheese that reminds me of home