BARRON'S 3500 WORD LIST 1-25

addendum

N. /附加，补充/an addition or supplement. As an adden¬dum to the minutes, let me point out that Susan moved to appoint Kathy and Arthur to the finance committee.

acme

N. /顶点/top; pinnacle. His success in this role marked the acme of his career as an actor.

abolish

V. /废除/cancel; put an end to. The president of the col¬lege refused to abolish the physical education requirement. abolition, N.

accentuate

V. /强调，重音/emphasize; stress. If you accentuate the pos¬itive and eliminate the negative, you may wind up with an overoptimistic view of the world.

abhor

V. /憎恨/detest; hate. She abhorred all forms of bigotry. abhorrence, N.

accommodate

V. /招待，食宿，适应/oblige or help someone; adjust or bring into harmony; adapt. Mitch always did everything possible to accommodate his elderly relatives, from driving them to medical appointments to helping them with paperwork. (secondary meaning)

acidulous

ADJ. /酸的；尖锐，刻薄/slightly sour; sharp, caustic. James was unpopular because of his sarcastic and acidulous remarks.

abstruse

ADJ. /难以理解的，复杂的/obscure; profound; difficult to understand. She carries around abstruse works of philosophy, not because she understands them but because she wants her friends to think she does.

abortive

ADJ. /不成功的，失败/unsuccessful; fruitless. Attacked by armed troops, the Chinese students had to abandon their abortive attempt to democratize Beijing peacefully. abort,V.

abundant

ADJ. /丰富，富足/plentiful; possessing riches or resources. At his immigration interview, Ivan listed his abundant rea¬sons for coming to America: the hope of religious freedom, the prospect of employment, the promise of a more abun¬dant life.

actuarial

ADJ. /保险精算的，精算/calculating; pertaining to insurance statis¬tics. According to recent actuarial tables, life expectancy is greater today than it was a century ago.

affected

ADJ. /假的，做作的/artificial; pretended; assumed in order to impress. His affected mannerisms-his "Harvard" accent, his air of boredom, his use of obscure foreign words¬bugged us: he acted as if he thought he was too good for his old high school friends. affectation, N.

adventitious

ADJ. /偶然/accidental; casual. He found this adven¬titious meeting with his friend extremely fortunate.

accessible

ADJ. /可得到的/easy to approach; obtainable. We asked our guide whether the ruins were accessible on foot.

abominable

ADJ. /可恶的，非常糟糕/detestable; extremely unpleasant; very bad. Mary liked John until she learned he was dating Susan; then she called him an abominable young man, with abominable taste in women.

adamant

ADJ. /坚硬，不动摇/hard; inflexible. Bronson played the part of a revenge-driven man, adamant in his determination to pun¬ish the criminals who destroyed his family. adamancy, N.

academic

ADJ. /学术的/related to a school; not practical or directly useful. The dean's talk about reforming the college admis¬sions system was only an academic discussion: we knew little, if anything, would change.

absolute

ADJ. /完全的，肯定的/complete; totally unlimited; certain. Although the King of Siam was an absolute monarch, he did not want to behead his unfaithful wife without absolute evidence of her infidelity.

aesthetic

ADJ. /审美的/artistic; dealing with or capable of apprecia¬tion of the beautiful. The beauty of Tiffany's stained glass appealed to Esther's aesthetic sense. aesthete, N.

acrid

ADJ. /尖锐；尖酸/sharp; bitterly pungent. The acrid odor of burnt gunpowder filled the room after the pistol had been fired.

affable

ADJ. /平易近人的/easily approachable; warmly friendly. Accus¬tomed to cold, aloof supervisors, Nicholas was amazed at how affable his new employer was.

abrogate

ADJ. /废除/abolish. He intended to abrogate the decree issued by his predecessor.

abstract

ADJ. /抽象的/theoretical; not concrete; nonrepresenta¬tional. To him, hunger was an abstract concept; he had never missed a meal.

acrimonious

ADJ. /挖苦的，尖酸的（语言，行为）/bitter in words or manner. The candidate attacked his opponent in highly acrimonious terms. acri¬mony,

abrasive

ADJ. /摩擦的，粗糙的，研磨剂/rubbing away; tending to grind down. Just as abrasive cleaning powders can wear away a shiny finish, abrasive remarks can wear away a listener's patience. abrade,V.

adept

ADJ. /擅长于/expert at. She was adept at the fine art of irritat¬ing people. also N.

abysmal

ADJ. /无底的/bottomless. His arrogance is exceeded only by his abysmal ignorance.

adroit

ADJ. /熟练，有技巧/skillful. His adroit handling of the delicate situa¬tion pleased his employers.

abject

ADJ. /穷困潦倒，卑微/wretched; lacking pride. On the streets of New York the homeless live in abject poverty, huddling in door¬ways to find shelter from the wind.

abusive

ADJ. /粗俗的侮辱，对身体有害的/coarsely insulting; physically harmful. An abusive parent damages a child both mentally and physi¬cally.

acute

ADJ. /精明，敏锐，聪明/quickly perceptive; keen; brief and severe. The acute young doctor realized immediately that the gradual deterioration of her patient's once acute hearing was due to a chronic illness, not an acute one.

abstemious

ADJ. /节制（饮食），调节/sparing in eating and drinking; temper¬ate. Concerned whether her vegetarian son's abstemious diet provided him with sufficient protein, the worried mother pressed food on him.

adverse

ADJ. /讨厌，敌意/unfavorable; hostile. The recession had a highly adverse effect on Father's investment portfolio: he lost so much money that he could no longer afford the but¬ler and the upstairs maid. adversity, N.

adjacent

ADJ. /邻近的，毗邻的/adjoining; neighboring; close by. Philip's best friend Jason lived only four houses down the block, close but not immediately adjacent.

acetic

ADJ. /酸的/vinegary. The salad had an exceedingly acetic flavor.

aboriginal

ADJ., N. /原来的，土著的/being the first of its kind in a region; primitive; native. Her studies of the primitive art forms of the aboriginal Indians were widely reported in the scientific journals. aborigines, N.

accessory

N. /附件/additional object; useful but not essential thing. She bought an attractive handbag as an accessory for her dress. alsoADJ.

abet

V. /帮助，鼓励/aid, usually in doing something wrong; encourage. She was unwilling to abet him in the swindle he had planned.

abate

V. /减弱，减少/subside; decrease, lessen. Rather than leaving immediately, they waited for the storm to abate. abate¬ment, N.

aerie

N. /猛禽的窝/nest of a large bird of prey (eagle, hawk). The mother eagle swooped down on the unwitting rabbit and bore it off to her aerie high in the Rocky Mountains.

addiction

N. /瘾，依赖/compulsive, habitual need. His addiction to drugs caused his friends much grief.

abduction

N. /绑架/kidnapping. The movie Ransom describes the attempts to rescue a multimillionaire's son after the child's abduction by kidnappers. abduct,V.

abstinence

N. /节制（饮食）/restraint from eating or drinking. The doctor recommended total abstinence from salted foods. abstain,V.

admonition

N. /警告/warning. After the student protesters repeatedly rejected Chairman Deng's admonitions, the gov¬ernment issued an ultimatum: either the students would end the demonstration at once or the soldiers would fire on the crowd.

adversity

N. /贫困，不幸/poverty; misfortune. We must learn to meet adversity gracefully.

accord

N. /一致/agreement. She was in complete accord with the verdict.

acclivity

N. /上山的陡坡/sharp upslope of a hill. The car would not go up the acclivity in high gear.

aberrant

N. /不正常的/abnormal or deviant. Given the aberrant nature of the data, we doubted the validity of the entire experiment. also N.

accomplice

N. /共犯，同伙/partner in crime. Because he had provided the criminal with the lethal weapon, he was arrested as an accomplice in the murder.

accolade

N. /出名的大奖/award of merit. In Hollywood, an "Oscar" is the highest accolade.

advent

N. /到来，出现/arrival. Most Americans were unaware of the advent of the Nuclear Age until the news of Hiroshima reached them.

accretion

N. /增长/growth; increase. The accretion of wealth marked the family's rise in power.

acoustics

N. /声学的/science of sound; quality that makes a room easy or hard to hear in. Carnegie Hall is liked by music lovers because of its fine acoustics.

adulation

N. /奉承，恭维/flattery; admiration. The rock star thrived on the adulation of his groupies and yes men. adulate,V.

affidavit

N. /宣誓书/written statement made under oath. The court refused to accept his statement unless he presented it in the form of an affidavit.

adversary

N. /对手/opponent. The young wrestler struggled to defeat his adversary.

acerbity

N. /尖酸的（语气，脾气）/bitterness of speech and temper. The meeting of the United Nations General Assembly was marked with such acerbity that informed sources held out little hope of reaching any useful settlement of the problem. acerbic,ADJ.

acuity

N. /尖锐/sharpness. In time his youthful acuity of vision failed him, and he needed glasses.

acumen

N. /思想敏锐/mental keenness. His business acumen helped him to succeed where others had failed.

acrophobia

N. /恐高症/fear of heights. A born salesman, he could convince someone with a bad case of acrophobia to sign up for a life membership in a sky-diving club.

abeyance

N. /悬而未决/suspended action. The deal was held in abeyance until her arrival.

abnegation

N. /批判，自我牺牲/repudiation; self-sacrifice. No act of abne¬gation was more pronounced than his refusal of any rewards for his discovery.

adherent

N. /支持者，追随者/supporter; follower. In the wake of the scan¬dal, the senator's one-time adherents quickly deserted him.

advocacy

N. /支持，辩护/support; active pleading on something's behalf. No threats could dissuade Bishop Desmond Tutu from his advocacy of the human rights of black South Africans.

adjunct

N. /无用的附加物/something added on or attached (generally nonessential or inferior). Although I don't absolutely need a second computer, I plan to buy a laptop to serve as an adjunct to my desktop model.

acquittal

N. /无罪开释/deliverance from a charge. His acquittal by the jury surprised those who had thought him guilty. acquit,V.

adage

N. /格言，谚语/wise saying; proverb. There is much truth in the old adage about fools and their money.

ablution

N. /洗/washing. His daily ablutions were accompa¬nied by loud noises that he humorously labeled "Opera in the Bath."

abyss

N. /深渊，深坑，无底洞/enormous chasm; vast bottomless pit. Darth Vader seized the evil emperor and hurled him down into the abyss,

abbreviate

V. /减短，缩写/shorten. Because we were running out of time, the lecturer had to abbreviate her speech.

abridge

V. /删节，节选/condense or shorten. Because the publishers felt the public wanted a shorter version of War and Peace, they proceeded to abridge the novel.

accelerate

V. /加速/move faster. In our science class, we learn how falling bodies accelerate.

address

V. /发表（演讲），处理，讨论/direct a speech to; deal with or discuss. Due to address the convention in July, Brown planned to address the issue of low-income housing in his speech.

abjure

V. /发誓放弃/renounce upon oath. He abjured his allegiance to the king. abjuration, N.

accede

V. /同意/agree. If I accede to this demand for blackmail, I am afraid that I will be the victim of future demands.

absorb

V. /吸收，合并/assimilate or incorporate; suck or drink up; wholly engage. During the nineteenth century, America absorbed hordes of immigrants, turning them into productive citizens. Can Huggies diapers absorb more liquid than Pampers can? This question does not absorb me; instead, it bores me. absorption, N.

addle

V. /使变疯，腐坏/muddle; drive crazy; become rotten. This idiotic plan is confusing enough to addle anyone. addled,ADJ.

abash

V. /使难堪/embarrass. He was not at all abashed by her open admiration.

abstain

V. /控制，限制（自己）/refrain; hold oneself back voluntarily from an action or practice. After considering the effect of alcohol on his athletic performance, he decided to abstain from drink¬ing while he trained for the race. abstinence, N.

actuate

V. /推动，促使/motivate. I fail to understand what actuated you to reply to this letter so nastily.

adulterate

V. /掺杂/make impure by adding inferior or tainted substances. It is a crime to adulterate foods without inform¬ing the buyer; when consumers learned that Beech-Nut had adulterated their apple juice by mixing it with water, they protested vigorously.

accost

V. /搭讪，邂逅/approach and speak first to a person. When the two young men accosted me, I was frightened because I thought they were going to attack me.

adapt

V. /改变/alter; modify. Some species of animals have become extinct because they could not adapt to a chang¬ing environment.

abdicate

V. /放弃/renounce; give up. When Edward VIII abdi¬cated the British throne to marry the woman he loved, he surprised the entire world.

abut

V. /毗邻/border upon; adjoin. Where our estates abut, we must build a fence.

abrade

V. /磨损，侵蚀/wear away by friction; scrape; erode. The sharp rocks abraded the skin on her legs, so she put iodine on her abrasions.

acquire

V. /获取/obtain; get. Frederick Douglass was deter¬mined to acquire an education despite his master's efforts to prevent his doing so.

accoutre

V. /装备/equip. The fisherman was accoutred with the best that the sporting goods store could supply. accoutre¬ments, N.

adorn

V. /装饰/decorate. Wall paintings and carved statues adorned the temple. adornment, N.

admonish

V. /警告，训斥/warn; reprove. He admonished his listeners to change their wicked ways. admonition, N.

acknowledge

V. /认可，承认/recognize; admit. Although I acknowl¬edge that the Beatles' tunes sound pretty dated today, I still prefer them to the "gangsta rap" songs my brothers play.

absolve

V. /谅解/pardon (an offense). The father confessor absolved him of his sins. absolution, N.

acclaim

V. /赞扬，表扬/applaud; announce with great approval. The NBC sportscasters acclaimed every American victory in the Olympics and decried every American defeat. also N.

advocate

V. /辩护/urge; plead for. The abolitionists advocated freedom for the slaves. also N.

acclimate

V. /适应/adjust to climate. One of the difficulties of our present air age is the need of travelers to acclimate them¬selves to their new and often strange environments.

accrue

V. /附带的/come about by addition. You must pay the inter¬est that has accrued on your debt as well as the principal sum. accrual, N.

abase

V. /降低，羞辱/lower; humiliate. Defeated, Queen Zenobia was forced to abase herself before the conquering Romans, who made her march in chains before the emperor in the procession celebrating his triumph. abasement, N.

abscond

V. /隐匿，逃避，躲债/depart secretly and hide. The teller who absconded with the bonds went uncaptured until someone recognized him from his photograph on "America's Most Wanted."

adhere

V. /黏着/stick fast. I will adhere to this opinion until proof that I am wrong is presented. adhesion, N.

acquiesce

V. /默许/assent; agree without protesting. Although she appeared to acquiesce to her employer's suggestions, I could tell she had reservations about the changes he wanted made. acquiescence, N.; acquiescent,ADJ.