BARRON'S 3500 WORD LIST 1-25

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glib

ADJ. /光滑，柔顺；口齿伶俐，圆滑/fluent; facile; slick. Keeping up a steady patter to entertain his customers, the kitchen gadget salesman was a glib speaker, never at a loss for a word.

immune

ADJ. /免疫；抵抗/resistant to; free or exempt from. Fortunately, Florence had contracted chicken pox as a child and was immune to it when her baby broke out in spots.

gratis

ADJ. /免费的/free. The company offered to give one package gratis to every purchaser of one of their products. alsoADJ.

comprehensive

ADJ. /全面的/thorough; inclusive. This book pro¬vides a comprehensive review of verbal and math skills for the SAT.

evenhanded

ADJ. /公平的/impartial; fair. Do men and women receive evenhanded treatment from their teachers, or, as recent studies suggest, do teachers pay more attention to male students than to females?

impartial

ADJ. /公平的/not biased; fair. Knowing she could not be impartial about her own child, Jo refused to judge any match in which Billy was competing.

equitable

ADJ. /公平的，公允的/fair; impartial. I am seeking an equitable solution to this dispute, one that will be fair and acceptable to both sides.

astral

ADJ. /关于星的/relating to the stars. She was amazed at the number of astral bodies the new telescope revealed.

conventional

ADJ. /典型的；普通的/ordinary; typical. His conventional upbringing left him wholly unprepared for his wife's eccen¬tric family.

hibernal

ADJ. /冬天的/wintry. Bears prepare for their long hibernal sleep by overeating.

impetuous

ADJ. /冲动的，鲁莽的/violent; hasty; rash. "Leap before you look" was the motto suggested by one particularly impetuous young man.

*bleak

ADJ. /冷淡；凄凉/cold or cheerless; unlikely to be favorable. The frigid, inhospitable Aleutian Islands are bleak military out¬posts. It's no wonder that soldiers assigned there have a bleak attitude toward their posting.

impassive

ADJ. /冷漠的/without feeling; imperturbable; stoical. Refusing to let the enemy see how deeply shaken he was by his capture, the prisoner kept his face impassive.

distant

ADJ. /冷漠的；远离的/reserved or aloof; cold in manner. His distant greeting made me feel unwelcome from the start. (sec¬ondary meaning)

fell

ADJ. /凶猛的，致命的/cruel; deadly. The newspapers told of the tragic spread of the fell disease.

convex

ADJ. /凸的/curving outward. He polished the convex lens of his telescope.

exemplary

ADJ. /出色的；典范的；（杀鸡儆猴的）例子/serving as a model; outstanding. At com¬mencement the dean praised Ellen for her exemplary behavior as class president.

divergent

ADJ. /分歧的/differing; deviating. Since graduating from medical school, the two doctors have taken divergent paths, one going on to become a nationally prominent sur¬geon, the other dedicating himself to a small family practice in his home town. divergence, N.

detached

ADJ. /分离的/emotionally removed; calm and objective; physically unconnected. A psychoanalyst must maintain a detached point of view and stay uninvolved with his or her patients' personal lives. To a child growing up in an apart¬ment or a row house, to live in a detached house was an unattainable dream.

estranged

ADJ. /分离的；孤立的/separated; alienated. The estranged wife sought a divorce. estrangement, N.

aloof

ADJ. /分离，保留/apart; reserved. Shy by nature, she remained aloof while all the rest conversed.

discrete

ADJ. /分离；没有关系的/separate; unconnected. The universe is com¬posed of discrete bodies.

graduated

ADJ. /分级；排序/arranged by degrees (of height, difficulty, etc.). Margaret loved her graduated set of Russian hollow wooden dolls; she spent hours happily putting the smaller dolls into their larger counterparts.

frigid

ADJ. /刺骨寒/intensely cold. Alaska is in the frigid zone.

arduous

ADJ. /努力；奋发/hard; strenuous. Her arduous efforts had sapped her energy.

Chivalrous

ADJ. /勇敢；诚实/courteous; faithful; brave. Chivalrous behavior involves noble words and good deeds.

assiduous

ADJ. /勤奋/diligent. He was assiduous, working at this task for weeks before he felt satisfied with his results. assiduity, N.

industrious

ADJ. /勤奋的，努力的/diligent; hard-working. Look busy when the boss walks by your desk; it never hurts to appear indus¬trious. industry, N.

inclusive

ADJ. /包揽一切的/tending to include all. The comedian turned down the invitation to join the Players' Club, saying any club that would let him in was too inclusive for him.

anonymous

ADJ. /匿名的/having no name. She tried to ascertain the identity of the writer of the anonymous letter.

baroque

ADJ. /华丽的/highly ornate. Accustomed to the severe lines of contemporary buildings, the architecture students found the flamboyance of baroque architecture amusing. They simply didn't go for baroque.

flamboyant

ADJ. /华丽的/ornate. Modern architecture has dis¬carded the flamboyant trimming on buildings and empha¬sizes simplicity of line.

florid

ADJ. /华丽的；红润的/ruddy; reddish; flowery. If you go to Florida and get a sunburn, your complexion will look florid.

centigrade

ADJ. /华氏/measure of temperature used widely in Europe. On the centigrade thermometer, the freezing point of water is zero degrees.

concerted

ADJ. /协调的/mutually agreed on; done together. All the Girl Scouts made a concerted effort to raise funds for their annual outing. When the movie star appeared, his fans let out a concerted sigh.

humdrum

ADJ. /单调的/dull; monotonous. After his years of adven¬ture, he could not settle down to a humdrum existence.

frenetic

ADJ. /发狂的/frenzied; frantic. His frenetic activities con¬vinced us that he had no organized plan of operation.

fickle

ADJ. /变化无常的；薄情的/changeable; faithless. As soon as Romeo saw Juliet, he forgot all about his old girlfriend Rosaline. Was Romeo fickle?

colloquial

ADJ. /口语的/pertaining to conversational or common speech. Some of the new, less formal reading passages on SAT I have a colloquial tone that is intended to make them more appealing to students.

eccentric

ADJ. /古怪的，奇怪的/irregular; odd; whimsical; bizarre. The comet veered dangerously close to the earth in its eccentric orbit. People came up with some eccentric ideas for deal¬ing with the emergency: someone even suggested tieing a knot in the comet's tail!

accessible

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

gruesome

ADJ. /可怕的/grisly; horrible. His face was the stuff of nightmares: all the children in the audience screamed when Freddy Kruger's gruesome countenance was flashed on the screen.

heinous

ADJ. /可恶的，令人深恶痛绝/atrocious; hatefully bad. Hitler's heinous crimes will never be forgotten.

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.

buoyant

ADJ. /可漂浮的，乐观的/able to float; cheerful and optimistic. When the boat capsized, her buoyant life jacket kept Jody afloat. Scrambling back on board, she was still in a buoyant mood, certain that despite the delay she'd win the race.

cacophonous

ADJ. /不和谐/discordant; inharmonious. Do the stu¬dents in the orchestra enjoy the cacophonous sounds they make when they're tuning up? I don't know how they can stand the racket. cacophony, N.

incompatible

ADJ. /不和谐；不兼容/inharmonious. The married couple argued incessantly and finally decided to separate because they were incompatible. incompatibility, N.

inarticulate

ADJ. /不善于表达的；口齿不清的/speechless; producing indistinct speech. He became inarticulate with rage and uttered sounds with¬out meaning.

indubitable

ADJ. /不容置疑的；无疑的/unable to be doubted; unquestionable. Auditioning for the chorus line, Molly was an indubitable hit: the director fired the leading lady and hired Molly in her place!

asymmetric

ADJ. /不对称/not identical on both sides of a dividing central line. Because one eyebrow was set markedly higher than the other, William's face had a particularly asymmetric appearance.

indomitable

ADJ. /不屈服的；不可被征服的/unconquerable; unyielding. Focusing on her game despite all her personal problems, tennis cham¬pion Steffi Graf proved she had an indomitable will to win.

grudging

ADJ. /不情愿；勉强/unwilling; reluctant; stingy. We received only grudging support from the mayor despite his earlier promises of aid.

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.

impious

ADJ. /不敬的；不礼貌的/irreverent. The congregation was offended by her impious remarks.

anomalous

ADJ. /不正常的，变态的/abnormal; irregular. He was placed in the anomalous position of seeming to approve procedures which he despised.

chimerical

ADJ. /不现实，空想/fantastically improbable; highly unrealistic; imaginative. As everyone expected, Ted's chimerical scheme to make a fortune by raising ermines in his back yard proved a dismal failure.

deranged

ADJ. /不理智/insane. He had to be institutionalized because he was mentally deranged.

impertinent

ADJ. /不相干的；鲁莽的/insolent; rude. His neighbors' impertinent curiosity about his lack of dates angered Ted. It was down¬right rude of them to ask him such personal questions.

inept

ADJ. /不相称的，不合适的，不称职的/lacking skill; unsuited; incompetent. The inept glovemaker was all thumbs.

indeterminate

ADJ. /不确定/uncertain; not clearly fixed; indefinite. That interest rates shall rise appears certain; when they will do so, however, remains indeterminate.

indissoluble

ADJ. /不能分解的；永久的/permanent. The indissoluble bonds of marriage are all too often being dissolved.

implacable

ADJ. /不能平静的/incapable of being pacified. Madame Defarge was the implacable enemy of the Evremonde family.

impermeable

ADJ. /不能渗透的/impervious; not permitting passage through its substance. This new material is impermeable to liquids.

disingenuous

ADJ. /不诚恳的/lacking genuine candor; insincere. Now that we know the mayor and his wife are engaged in a bitter divorce fight, we find their earlier remarks regretting their lack of time together remarkably disingenuous.

incongruous

ADJ. /不调和的；荒谬的/not fitting; absurd. Dave saw nothing incongruous about wearing sneakers with his tuxedo; he couldn't understand why his date took one look at him and started to laugh. incongruity, N.

amoral

ADJ. /不道德的/nonmoral. The amoral individual lacks a code of ethics; he cannot tell right from wrong. The immoral per¬son can tell right from wrong; he chooses to do something he knows is wrong.

incidental

ADJ. /不重要的；少数的/not essential; minor. The scholarship cov¬ered his major expenses at college and some of his inci¬dental expenses as well.

ignoble

ADJ. /不高贵的；不光彩的/of lowly origin; unworthy. This plan is inspired by ignoble motives and I must, therefore, oppose it.

aquatic

ADJ. /与水有关系的/pertaining to water. Paul enjoyed aquatic sports such as scuba diving and snorkeling.

humane

ADJ. /仁慈/marked by kindness or consideration. It is ironic that the Humane Society sometimes must show its compassion toward mistreated animals by killing them to put them out of their misery.

fallow

ADJ. /休耕地；潜伏的；不活跃的/plowed but not sowed; uncultivated. Farmers have learned that it is advisable to permit land to lie fallow every few years.

implicit

ADJ. /会意的，意会而不言传；暗示的/understood but not stated. Jack never told Jill he adored her; he believed his love was implicit in his actions.

hypocritical

ADJ. /伪善；欺骗/pretending to be virtuous; deceiving. Believing Eddie to be interested only in his own advance¬ment, Greg resented his hypocritical posing as a friend. hypocrisy, N.

decollete

ADJ. /低肩露颈的服装/having a low-necked dress. Current fashion decrees that evening gowns be decollete this season; bare shoulders are again the vogue.

delectable

ADJ. /使人愉快的/delightful; delicious. We thanked our host for a most delectable meal.

distraught

ADJ. /使悲伤；使焦虑/upset; distracted by anxiety. The dis¬traught parents frantically searched the ravine for their lost child.

garish

ADJ. /俗气；颜色太杂/over-bright in color; gaudy. She wore a gaudy rhinestone necklace with an excessively garish gold lame dress.

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.

cloying

ADJ. /倒胃口；过度的/distasteful (because excessive); excessively sweet or sentimental. Disliking the cloying sweetness of standard wedding cakes, Jody and Tom chose to have homemade carrot cake at the reception. cloy,V.

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.

fallacious

ADJ. /假的；误导的/false; misleading. Paradoxically, fallacious reasoning does not always yield erroneous results: even though your logic may be faulty, the answer you get may nevertheless be correct. fallacy, N.

biased

ADJ. /偏见的，偏差/slanted; prejudiced. Because the judge played golf regularly with the district attorney's father, we feared he might be biased in the prosecution's favor. bias, N.

adventitious

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

fortuitous

ADJ. /偶然的/accidental; by chance. Though he pre¬tended their encounter was fortuitous, he'd actually been hanging around her usual haunts for the past two weeks, hoping she'd turn up.

inane

ADJ. /傻；粗心/silly; senseless. There's no point to what you're saying. Why are you bothering to make such inane remarks?

avuncular

ADJ. /像伯父（叔叔）一样的/like an uncle. Avuncular pride did not pre¬vent him from noticing his nephew's shortcomings.

dynamic

ADJ. /充满活力的/energetic; vigorously active. The dynamic aerobics instructor kept her students on the run; she was a little dynamo.

facile

ADJ. /充足的；容易完成的；肤浅的/easily accomplished; ready or fluent; superfi¬cial. Words came easily to Jonathan: he was a facile speaker and prided himself on being ready to make a speech at a moment's notice.

glossy

ADJ. /光滑有光泽的/smooth and shining. I want this photograph printed on glossy paper, not matte.

imperial

ADJ. /帝王的；皇帝的/like an emperor; related to an empire. When hotel owner Leona Helmsley appeared in ads as Queen Leona standing guard over the Palace Hotel, her critics mocked her imperial fancies.

hackneyed

ADJ. /常见的；不希罕，陈腐/commonplace; trite. When the reviewer criticized the movie for its hackneyed plot, we agreed; we had seen similar stories hundreds of times before.

disparate

ADJ. /大相径庭的；没关系的/basically different; unrelated. Unfortunately, Tony and Tina have disparate notions of marriage: Tony sees it as a carefree extended love affair, while Tina sees it as a solemn commitment to build a family and a home.

audacious

ADJ. /大胆的；鲁莽的/daring; bold. Audiences cheered as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia made their audacious, death¬defying leap to freedom, escaping Darth Vader's troops. audacity, N.

hulking

ADJ. /大量的，巨大的/massive; bulky; great in size. Despite his hulking build, the heavyweight boxing champion was sur¬prisingly light on his feet. hulk, N.

celestial

ADJ. /天体的/heavenly. She spoke of the celestial joys that awaited virtuous souls in the hereafter.

cherubic

ADJ. /天真无邪/angelic; innocent-looking. With her cheerful smile and rosy cheeks, she was a particularly cherubic child.

bereft

ADJ. /失去的，缺少的/deprived of; lacking; desolate because of a loss. The foolish gambler soon found himself bereft of funds.

defeatist

ADJ. /失败主义者/attitude of one who is ready to accept defeat as a natural outcome. If you maintain your defeatist attitude, you will never succeed. also N.

bombastic

ADJ. /夸张的/pompous; using inflated language. Puffed up with conceit, the orator spoke in such a bombastic man¬ner that we longed to deflate him. bombast, N.

inflated

ADJ. /夸张的，虚华的，被放大的/exaggerated; pompous; enlarged (with air or gas). His claims about the new product were inflated, it did not work as well as he had promised.

erratic

ADJ. /奇怪的；不可预测的/odd; unpredictable. Investors become anxious when the stock market appears erratic.

fawning

ADJ. /奉承/courting favor by cringing and flattering. She was constantly surrounded by a group of fawning admirers who hoped to win some favor. fawn,V.

contentious

ADJ. /好争吵的,争论的/quarrelsome.

bellicose

ADJ. /好斗的，好战的/warlike. His bellicose disposition alienated his friends.

belligerent

ADJ. /好斗的，好斗嘴的/quarrelsome. Whenever he had too much to drink, he became belligerent and tried to pick fights with strangers. belligerence, N.

disputatious

ADJ. /好辩的/argumentative; fond of arguing. Con¬vinced he knew more than his lawyers, Alan was a disputa¬tious client, ready to argue about the best way to conduct the case. disputant, N.

august

ADJ. /威严的；令人印象深刻的/impressive; majestic. Visiting the palace at Versailles, she was impressed by the august surroundings in which she found herself.

formidable

ADJ. /威胁的，险恶的/menacing; threatening. We must not treat the battle lightly for we are facing a formidable foe.

infantile

ADJ. /婴儿的，幼稚的/childish. When will he outgrow such infantile behavior?

filial

ADJ. /子女的/pertaining to a son or daughter. Many children forget their filial obligations and disregard the wishes of their parents.

forlorn

ADJ. /孤苦的，凄凉的/sad and lonely; wretched. Deserted by her big sisters and her friends, the forlorn child sat sadly on the steps awaiting their return.

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.

Cosmic

ADJ. /宇宙的；巨大的/pertaining to the universe; vast. Cosmic rays derive their name from the fact that they bombard the earth's atmosphere from outer space. COSMOS, N.

definitive

ADJ. /完全的；最终的/final; complete. Carl Sandburg's Abraham Lincoln may be regarded as the definitive work on the life of the Great Emancipator.

*blighted

ADJ. /完蛋了的；生病了的/suffering from a disease; destroyed. The extent of the blighted areas could be seen only when viewed from the air.

indulgent

ADJ. /宽容，纵容，溺爱/humoring; yielding; lenient. Jay's mom was excessively indulgent she bought him every Nintendo car¬tridge and video game on the market. She indulged Jay so much, she spoiled him rotten.

capacious

ADJ. /宽敞的/spacious. In the capacious rotunda of the railroad terminal, thousands of travelers lingered while waiting for their train.

commodious

ADJ. /宽敞，舒适/spacious and comfortable. After sleep¬ing in small roadside cabins, they found their hotel suite commodious.

hermetic

ADJ. /密封的，气密的/sealed by fusion so as to be airtight. After you sterilize the bandages, place them in a container and seal it with a hermetic seal to protect them from contamina¬tion by airborne bacteria.

bountiful

ADJ. /富足的；慷慨的/abundant; graciously generous. Thanks to the good harvest, we had a bountiful supply of food and we could be as bountiful as we liked in distributing food to the needy.

acrid

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

incisive

ADJ. /尖锐；深刻，激烈/cutting; sharp. His incisive remarks made us see the fallacy in our plans.

cadaverous

ADJ. /尸体似的，苍白的/like a corpse; pale. By his cadaverous appearance, we could see how the disease had ravaged him.

amiable

ADJ. /可爱的，友好的，惬意的/agreeable; lovable; warmly friendly. In Little Women, Beth is the amiable daughter whose loving disposi¬tion endears her to all who know her.

conscientious

ADJ. /尽责的/scrupulous; careful.

dubious

ADJ. /可疑的/questionable; filled with doubt. Many critics of SAT I contend the test is of dubious worth. Jay claimed he could get a perfect 1600 on SAT I, but Ellen was dubi¬ous: she knew he hadn't cracked a book in three years.

colossal

ADJ. /巨大/huge. Radio City Music Hall has a colossal stage.

gargantuan

ADJ. /巨大的/huge; enormous. The gargantuan wrestler was terrified of mice.

astronomical

ADJ. /巨大，广阔/enormously large or extensive. The gov¬ernment seems willing to spend astronomical sums on weapons development.

ambulatory

ADJ. /可移动的，不固定/able to walk; not bedridden. Juan was a highly ambulatory patient; not only did he refuse to be con¬fined to bed, but he insisted on riding his skateboard up and down the halls.

arable

ADJ. /可耕种的/fit for growing crops. The first settlers wrote home glowing reports of the New World, praising its vast acres of arable land ready for the plow.

feasible

ADJ. /可行的/practical. Is it feasible to build a new stadium for the Yankees on New York's West Side? Without addi¬tional funding, the project is clearly unrealistic.

apposite

ADJ. /合适的/appropriate; fitting. He was always able to find the apposite phrase, the correct expression for every occasion.

expedient

ADJ. /合适的，有利的；策略性的/suitable; practical; politic. A pragmatic politician, he was guided by what was expedient rather than by what was ethical. expediency, N.

concentric

ADJ. /同心/having a common center. The target was made of concentric circles.

cognate

ADJ. /同源的/related linguistically: allied by blood: similar or akin in nature. The English word "mother" is cognate to the Latin word "mater," whose influence is visible in the words "maternal" and "maternity." also N.

homogeneous

ADJ. /同类的/of the same kind. Because the student body at Elite Prep was so homogeneous, Sara and James decided to send their daughter to a school that offered greater cultural diversity. homogenize,V.

celebrated

ADJ. /名人/famous; well-known. Thanks to their race to break Roger Maris's home-run record, Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire are two of America's most celebrated base¬ball players. celebrity, N.

aghast

ADJ. /吓坏了的/horrified. He was aghast at the nerve of the speaker who had insulted his host.

auditory

ADJ. /听觉的/pertaining to the sense of hearing. Audrey suf¬fered from auditory hallucinations: she thought Elvis was speaking to her from the Great Beyond.

consummate

ADJ. /圆满的,完美的/complete.

endemic

ADJ. /地方的；小范围内流行/prevailing among a specific group of people or in a specific area or country. This disease is endemic in this part of the world; more than 80 percent of the popula¬tion are at one time or another affected by it.

gusty

ADJ. /多风的/windy. The gusty weather made sailing precari¬ous.

flabbergasted

ADJ. /大吃一惊；目瞪口呆/astounded; astonished; overcome with surprise. In the film Flubber, the hero invents a remarkable substance whose amazing properties leave his coworkers flabbergasted. flabbergast,V.

inexorable

ADJ. /无情的；残酷的/relentless; unyielding; implacable. After listening to the pleas for clemency, the judge was inex¬orable and gave the convicted man the maximum punish¬ment allowed by law.

ineffectual

ADJ. /无效的，弱的/not effective; weak. Because the candi¬date failed to get across his message to the public, his campaign was ineffectual.

immaculate

ADJ. /无暇的/spotless; flawless; absolutely clean. Ken and Jessica were wonderful tenants and left the apartment in immaculate condition when they moved out.

gratuitous

ADJ. /无条件的；无理由的；免费的/given freely; unwarranted; uncalled for. Quit making gratuitous comments about my driving; no one asked you for your opinion.

categorical

ADJ. /无条件；直截了当/without exceptions; unqualified; absolute. Though the captain claimed he was never, never sick at sea, he finally had to qualify his categorical denial: he was "hardly ever" sick at sea.

incontrovertible

ADJ. /无疑的，无可争议的/indisputable; not open to question. Unless you find the evidence against my client absolutely incontrovertible, you must declare her not guilty of this charge.

altruistic

ADJ. /无私的，关心他人的/unselfishly generous; concerned for others. In providing tutorial assistance and college scholarships for hundreds of economically disadvantaged youths, Eugene Lang performed a truly altruistic deed. altruism, N.

fledgling

ADJ. /无经验的/inexperienced. While it is necessary to pro¬vide these fledgling poets with an opportunity to present their work, it is not essential that we admire everything they write. also N.

inefficacious

ADJ. /无能的，无效的/not effective; unable to produce a desired result. All Lois's coaxing and urging was ineffica¬cious: Clark still refused to join her and Superman for din¬ner. inefficacy, N.

impotent

ADJ. /无能的；弱的/weak; ineffective. Although he wished to break the nicotine habit, he found himself impotent in resist¬ing the craving for a cigarette.

impassable

ADJ. /无路可通的；没法通行/not able to be traveled or crossed. A giant redwood had fallen across the highway, blocking all four lanes: the road was impassable.

illimitable

ADJ. /无限/infinite. Man, having explored the far corners of the earth, is now reaching out into illimitable space.

boundless

ADJ. /无限的/unlimited; vast. Mike's energy was bound¬less: the greater the challenge, the more vigorously he tack¬led the job.

diurnal

ADJ. /日常的/daily. A farmer cannot neglect his diurnal tasks at any time; cows, for example, must be milked regularly.

anachronistic

ADJ. /时代错误/having an error involving time in a story. The reference to clocks in Julius Caesar is anachronistic: clocks did not exist in Caesar's time. anachronism, N.

comatose

ADJ. /昏迷；熟睡/a coma; extremely sleepy. The long¬winded orator soon had his audience in a comatose state.

choleric

ADJ. /易发怒的；脾气坏/hot-tempered. His flushed, angry face indi¬cated a choleric nature.

*combustible

ADJ. /易燃的/easily burned. After the recent outbreak of fires in private homes, the fire commissioner ordered that all combustible materials be kept in safe containers, also N.

brittle

ADJ. /易碎的；困难的/easily broken; difficult. My employer's self-con¬trol was as brittle as an egg-shell. Her brittle personality made it difficult for me to get along with her.

conspicuous

ADJ. /显著的 /easily seen; noticeable; striking.

generic

ADJ. /普通的/characteristic of an entire class or species. Sue knew so many computer programmers who spent their spare time playing fantasy games that she began to think that playing Dungeons & Dragons was a generic trait.

angular

ADJ. /有尖角的，瘦骨嶙峋的/sharp-cornered; stiff in manner. Mr. Spock's features, though angular, were curiously attractive, in a Vul¬can way.

crotchety

ADJ. /有怪想的,反复无常的 /eccentric; whimsical.

effectual

ADJ. /有效的/able to produce a desired effect; valid. Medical researchers are concerned because of the devel¬opment of drug-resistant strains of bacteria; many once useful antibiotics are no longer effectual in curing bacterial infections.

articulate

ADJ. /有效的；独特的/effective; distinct. Her articulate presentation of the advertising campaign impressed her employers. alsoV.

amenable

ADJ. /有服从义务的，随时服从的/readily managed; willing to be led. He was amenable to any suggestions that came from those he looked up to; he resented advice from his inferiors.

brindled

ADJ. /有条纹或斑点的/tawny or grayish with streaks or spots. He was disappointed in the litter because the puppies were brindled, he had hoped for animals of a uniform color.

beneficial

ADJ. /有用的/helpful; useful. Tiny Tim's cheerful good nature had a beneficial influence on Scrooge's once¬uncharitable disposition.

discriminating

ADJ. /有识别能力的；有偏见的/able to see differences; prejudiced. A superb interpreter of Picasso, she was sufficiently discrimi¬nating to judge the most complex works of modern art. (secondary meaning) discrimination, N.

cogent

ADJ. /有说服力的/convincing. It was inevitable that David chose to go to Harvard: he had several cogent reasons for doing so, including a full-tuition scholarship. Katya argued her case with such cogency that the jury had to decide in favor of her client.

enterprising

ADJ. /有魄力/full of initiative. By coming up with fresh ways to market the company's products, Mike proved him¬self to be an enterprising businessman.

hazy

ADJ. /朦胧的；模糊的/slightly obscure. In hazy weather, you cannot see the top of this mountain.

enigmatic

ADJ. /朦胧的；谜一样的/obscure; puzzling. Many have sought to fathom the enigmatic smile of the Mona Lisa.

inchoate

ADJ. /未成型的，早期的，刚开始的，发展中的/recently begun; rudimentary; elementary. Before the Creation, the world was an inchoate mass.

germinal

ADJ. /未成熟的，幼芽的/pertaining to a germ; creative. Such an idea is germinal, I am certain that it will influence thinkers and philosophers for many generations.

draconian

ADJ. /极其严重/extremely severe. When the principal can¬celed the senior prom because some seniors had been late to school that week, we thought the draconian punish¬ment was far too harsh for such a minor violation of the rules.

egotistical

ADJ. /极度自我中心；自以为是，逞能/excessively self-centered; self-important; conceited. Typical egotistical remark: "But enough of this chit-chat about you and your little problems. Let's talk about what's really important: Me!"

haggard

ADJ. /枯槁的；憔悴的/wasted away; gaunt. After his long illness, he was pale and haggard.

balmy

ADJ. /柔和的；芳香的/mild; fragrant. A balmy breeze refreshed us after the sultry blast.

ductile

ADJ. /柔软的，有韧性/malleable; flexible; pliable. Copper is an extremely ductile material: you can stretch it into the thinnest of wires, bend it, even wind it into loops.

imperturbable

ADJ. /沉着冷静；平静/calm; placid; composed. In the midst of the battle, the Duke of Wellington remained imper¬turbable and in full command of the situation despite the hysteria and panic all around him. imperturbability, N.

equable

ADJ. /平静的，均衡的，稳定的/tranquil; steady; uniform. After the hot sum¬mers and cold winters of New England, he found the cli¬mate of the West Indies equable and pleasant.

dispassionate

ADJ. /平静的；公平的/calm; impartial. Known in the company for his cool judgment, Bill could impartially examine the causes of a problem, giving a dispassionate analysis of what had gone wrong, and go on to suggest how to correct the mess.

callow

ADJ. /年幼，稚嫩；无经验/youthful; immature; inexperienced. As a fresh¬man, Jack was sure he was a man of the world; as a sopho¬more, he made fun of freshmen as callow youths. In both cases, his judgment showed just how callow he was.

auspicious

ADJ. /幸运的，吉祥的/favoring success. With favorable weather conditions, it was an auspicious moment to set sail. Thomas, however, had doubts about sailing: a paranoid, he became suspicious whenever conditions seemed auspicious.

incipient

ADJ. /开始；早期的/beginning; in an early stage. I will go to sleep early for I want to break an incipient cold.

chaffing

ADJ. /开玩笑/bantering; joking. Sometimes Chad's flip¬pant, chaffing remarks annoy us. Still, Chad's chaffing keeps us laughing. also N.

bizarre

ADJ. /怪异的/fantastic; violently contrasting. The plot of the novel was too bizarre to be believed.

eerie

ADJ. /怪异的/weird. In that eerie setting, it was easy to believe in ghosts and other supernatural beings.

craven

ADJ. /怯懦的,畏缩的 /cowardly.

ghastly

ADJ. /恐怖的/horrible. The murdered man was a ghastly sight.

dutiful

ADJ. /恭敬的；尊重的/respectful; obedient. When Mother told Billy to kiss Great-Aunt Hattie, the boy obediently gave the old woman a dutiful peck on her cheek.

baleful

ADJ. /恶意的，有害的/deadly; having a malign influence; ominous. The fortune teller made baleful predictions of terrible things to come.

iconoclastic

ADJ. /打破旧习/attacking cherished traditions. Deeply iconoclastic, Jean Genet deliberately set out to shock con¬ventional theatergoers with his radical plays.

impenitent

ADJ. /执迷不悟的/not repentant. We could see from his tough guy attitude that he was impenitent.

expansive

ADJ. /扩张的；爽快的；广阔的/outgoing and sociable; broad and exten¬sive; able to increase in size. Mr. Fezziwig was in an expan¬sive humor, cheerfully urging his guests to join in the Christmas feast. Looking down on his expansive paunch, he sighed: if his belly expanded any further, he'd need an expansive waistline for his pants.

gnarled

ADJ. /扭曲/twisted. The gnarled oak tree had been a landmark for years and was mentioned in several deeds.

censorious

ADJ. /批判的/critical. Censorious people delight in cast¬ing blame.

aseptic

ADJ. /抗菌的/preventing infection; having a cleansing effect. Hospitals succeeded in lowering the mortality rate as soon as they introduced aseptic conditions.

eclectic

ADJ. /折衷的/composed of elements drawn from dis¬parate sources. His style of interior decoration was eclec¬tic: bits and pieces of furnishings from widely divergent periods, strikingly juxtaposed to create a unique decor. eclecticism, N.

conciliatory

ADJ. /抚慰，调和/reconciling; soothing. She was still angry despite his conciliatory words. conciliate,V.

abstract

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

devious

ADJ. /拐弯抹角的；偏僻的/roundabout; erratic; not straightforward. The Joker's plan was so devious that it was only with great diffi¬culty we could follow its shifts and dodges.

dissident

ADJ. /持不同意见的；难于对付的/dissenting; rebellious. In the purge that fol¬lowed the student demonstrations at Tiananmen Square, the government hunted down the dissident students and their supporters. also N.

enduring

ADJ. /持久的；不朽的/lasting; surviving. Keats believed in the enduring power of great art, which would outlast its cre¬ators' brief lives.

*carping

ADJ. /挑剔的，吹毛求疵/finding fault. A carping critic is a nit-picker: he loves to point out flaws. If you don't like this definition, feel free to carp.

fastidious

ADJ. /挑剔的；难伺候的/difficult to please; squeamish. Bobby was such a fastidious eater that he would eat a sandwich only if his mother first cut off every scrap of crust.

felicitous

ADJ. /措辞巧妙的；精巧的/apt; suitably expressed; well chosen. He was famous for his felicitous remarks and was called upon to serve as master-of-ceremonies at many a banquet. felicity, N.

episodic

ADJ. /插曲式的/loosely connected; divided into incidents. Though he tried to follow the plot of Gravity's Rainbow, John found the novel too episodic; he enjoyed individual pas¬sages, but had trouble following the work as a whole.

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.

astringent

ADJ. /收敛的/binding; causing contraction. The astrin¬gent quality of the unsweetened lemon juice made swallow¬ing difficult. also N.

dissolute

ADJ. /放纵，挥霍/loose in morals. The dissolute life led by the ancient Romans is indeed shocking.

doctrinaire

ADJ. /教条的；顽固的/unable to compromise about points of doctrine; dogmatic; unyielding. Weng had hoped that the student-led democracy movement might bring about change in China, but the repressive response of the doctri¬naire hard-liners crushed his dreams of democracy.

discursive

ADJ. /散漫的；不得要领的/digressing; rambling. As the lecturer wan¬dered from topic to topic, we wondered what if any point there was to his discursive remarks.

dapper

ADJ. /整齐的，优雅的/neat and trim. In "The Odd Couple" TV show, Tony Randall played Felix Unger, an excessively dapper soul who could not stand to have a hair out of place.

disjointed

ADJ. /断开/disconnected. His remarks were so dis¬jointed that we could not follow his reasoning.

inalienable

ADJ. /无可取代的；不能给与的/not to be taken away; nontransferable. The Declaration of Independence mentions the inalienable rights that all of us possess.

amorphous

ADJ. /无形的，不成形的/formless; lacking shape or definition. As soon as we have decided on our itinerary, we shall send you a copy; right now, our plans are still amorphous.

futile

ADJ. /没出息；无望，没效果的/useless; hopeless; ineffectual. It is futile for me to try to get any work done around here while the telephone is ringing every thirty seconds. futility, N.

dispirited

ADJ. /没情绪的，沮丧的/lacking in spirit. The coach used all the tricks at his command to buoy up the enthusiasm of his team, which had become dispirited at the loss of the star player.

indisputable

ADJ. /没有争论余地；非常清楚的/too certain to be disputed. In the face of these indisputable statements, I withdraw my complaint.

impeccable

ADJ. /没有缺点/faultless. The uncrowned queen of the fashion industry, Diana was acclaimed for her impeccable taste.

deadpan

ADJ. /没有表情的；呆板的/wooden; impersonal. We wanted to see how long he could maintain his deadpan expression.

downcast

ADJ. /沮丧/disheartened; sad. Cheerful and optimistic by nature, Beth was never downcast despite the difficulties she faced.

forensic

ADJ. /法院的；适于法庭的/suitable to debate or courts of law. In her best forensic manner, the lawyer addressed the jury. foren¬SiCS, N.

billowing

ADJ. /波涛翻滚/swelling out in waves; surging. Standing over the air vent, Marilyn Monroe tried vainly to control her billowing skirts.

animated

ADJ. /活跃的，有生气的/lively; spirited. Jim Carrey's facial expres¬sions are highly animated: when he played Ace Ventura, he looked practically rubber-faced.

derivative

ADJ. /派生的/unoriginal; derived from another source. Although her early poetry was clearly derivative in nature,the critics thought she had promise and eventually would find her own voice.

cursive

ADJ. /流动的；连接的/flowing, running. In normal writing we run our letters together in cursive form; in printing, we separate the letters.

improvident

ADJ. /浪费的/thriftless. He was constantly being warned to mend his improvident ways and begin to "save for a rainy day." improvidence, N.

bloated

ADJ. /浮肿/swollen or puffed as with water or air. Her bloated stomach came from drinking so much water.

bilious

ADJ. /消化不良，易怒/suffering from indigestion; irritable. His bilious temperament was apparent to all who heard him rant about his difficulties.

evanescent

ADJ. /消散的；凋零的/fleeting; vanishing. Brandon's satisfaction in his new job was evanescent, for he immediately began to notice its many drawbacks. evanescence, N.

contrite

ADJ. /深感懊悔的/penitent.

garbled

ADJ. /混淆/mixed up; jumbled; distorted. A favorite party game involves passing a whispered message from one per¬son to another until, by the time it reaches the last player, the message is totally garbled.

comely

ADJ. /清秀，美丽，漂亮；有吸引力的/attractive; agreeable. I would rather have a poor and comely wife than a rich and homely one.

bland

ADJ. /温和的/soothing or mild; agreeable. Jill tried a bland ointment for her sunburn. However, when Jack absent¬mindedly patted her on the sunburned shoulder, she couldn't maintain a bland disposition.

amicable

ADJ. /温和的，友好礼貌的/politely friendly; not quarrelsome. Beth's sis¬ter Jo is the hot-tempered tomboy who has a hard time maintaining amicable relations with those around her. Jo's quarrel with her friend Laurie finally reaches an amicable settlement, but not because Jo turns amiable overnight.

compact

ADJ. /紧密的，结实的/tightly packed; firm; brief. His short, com¬pact body was better suited to wrestling than to basketball.

grandiose

ADJ. /自命不凡；堂皇；夸张的/pretentious; high-flown; ridiculously exag¬gerated; impressive. The aged matinee idol still had grandiose notions of his supposed importance in the the¬atrical world.

cavalier

ADJ. /随便；傲慢/offhand or casual; haughty. The disguised prince resented the cavalier way in which the palace guards treated him. How dared they handle a member of the royal family so unceremoniously!

indiscriminate

ADJ. /随意的；不分青红皂白的/choosing at random; confused. She disapproved of her son's indiscriminate television viewing and decided to restrict him to educational programs.

haphazard

ADJ. /随机的/random; by chance. His haphazard read¬ing left him unacquainted with the authors of the books.

furtive

ADJ. /隐秘的；偷偷摸摸，鬼祟/stealthy; sneaky. Noticing the furtive glance the customer gave the diamond bracelet on the counter, the jeweler wondered whether he had a potential shoplifter on his hands.

illicit

ADJ. /非法的/illegal. The defense attorney maintained that his client had never performed any illicit action.

incorporeal

ADJ. /非物质的，无形的；无实体的/lacking a material body; insubstantial. While Casper the friendly ghost is an incorporeal being, nevertheless he and his fellow ghosts make quite an impact on the physical world.

climactic

ADJ. /顶点的，高潮的/relating to the highest point. When he reached the climactic portions of the book, he could not stop reading. climax, N.

autonomous

ADJ. /自治/self-governing. Although the University of California at Berkeley is just one part of the state univer¬sity system, in many ways Cal Berkeley is autonomous, for it runs several programs that are not subject to outside con¬trol. autonomy, N.

compliant

ADJ. /顺从/yielding. Because Joel usually gave in and went along with whatever his friends desired, his mother worried that he might be too compliant.

asunder

ADV. /分裂，分开/into parts; apart A fierce quarrel split the partnership asunder: the two partners finally sundered their connections because their points of view were poles asunder.

gamely

ADV. /勇敢的，有精神的/bravely; with spirit. Because he had fought gamely against a much superior boxer, the crowd gave him a standing ovation when he left the arena.

aloft

ADV. /向上/upward. The sailor climbed aloft into the rigging. To get into a loft bed, you have to climb aloft.

gingerly

ADV. /小心翼翼地/very carefully. To separate egg whites, first crack the egg gingerly.

awry

ADV. /扭曲的；歪曲的/distorted; crooked. He held his head awry, giv¬ing the impression that he had caught cold in his neck dur¬ing the night. alsoADJ.

berserk

ADV. /疯狂的，狂暴的/frenzied. Angered, he went berserk and began to wreck the room.

cipher

N. /不重要的人或物/nonentity; worthless person or thing. She claimed her ex-husband was a total cipher and wondered why she had ever married him.

expertise

N. /专业知识，技能/specialized knowledge; expert skill. Although she was knowledgeable in a number of fields, she was hired for her particular expertise in computer programming.

ignominy

N. /丢脸；抹黑；耻辱/deep disgrace; shame or dishonor. To lose the Ping-Pong match to a trained chimpanzee! How could Rollo stand the ignominy of his defeat? ignominious,ADJ.

bereavement

N. /丧亲/state of being deprived of something valuable or beloved. His friends gathered to console him upon his sudden bereavement.

curator

N. /主管；经理/superintendent; manager. The members of the board of trustees of the museum expected the new curator to plan events and exhibitions that would make the museum more popular.

infamous

ADJ. /臭名昭著的，恶名远扬的/notoriously bad. Charles Manson and Jef¬frey Dahmer are both infamous killers.

benign

ADJ. /良性的，好的；和蔼可亲的/kindly; favorable; not malignant. Though her benign smile and gentle bearing made Miss Marple seem a sweet little old lady, in reality she was a tough-minded, shrewd observer of human nature. benignity, N.

hardy

ADJ. /艰苦的；勇敢的/sturdy; robust; able to stand inclement weather. We asked the gardening expert to recommend particularly hardy plants that could withstand our harsh New England winters.

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.

aromatic

ADJ. /芬芳的/fragrant. Medieval sailing vessels brought aromatic herbs from China to Europe.

cursory

ADJ. /草率；匆忙/casual; hastily done. Because a cursory examination of the ruins indicates the possibility of arson, we believe the insurance agency should undertake a more extensive investigation of the fire's cause.

desolate

ADJ. /荒无人烟的/unpopulated. After six months in the crowded, bustling metropolis, David was so sick of people that he was ready to head for the most desolate patch of wilderness he could find.

arid

ADJ. /荒芜的/dry; barren. The cactus has adapted to survive in an arid environment.

barren

ADJ. /荒芜的，贫瘠的/desolate; fruitless and unproductive; lacking. Looking out at the trackless, barren desert, Indiana Jones feared that his search for the missing expedition would prove barren.

guileless

ADJ. /诚实的/without deceit. He is naive, simple, and guileless; he cannot be guilty of fraud.

culpable

ADJ. /该责备的,不周到的 /deserving blame.

grandiloquent

ADJ. /语言夸张的；词藻浮华的/pompous; bombastic; using high¬sounding language. The politician could never speak sim¬ply; she was always grandiloquent.

flippant

ADJ. /轻率的，没礼貌的，嬉皮笑脸的/lacking proper seriousness. When Mark told Mona he loved her, she dismissed his earnest declaration with a flippant "Oh, you say that to all the girls!" flippancy, N.

ethereal

ADJ. /轻的，空气的；像天堂的/light; heavenly; unusually refined. In Shake¬speare's The Tempest, the spirit Ariel is an ethereal crea¬ture, too airy and unearthly for our mortal world.

heedless

ADJ. /轻蔑的；不理睬的/not noticing; disregarding. He drove on, heedless of the danger warnings placed at the side of the road.

auxiliary

ADJ. /辅助的/helper, additional or subsidiary. To prepare for the emergency, they built an auxiliary power station. also N.

ancillary

ADJ. /辅助的/serving as an aid or accessory; auxiliary. In an ancillary capacity, Doctor Watson was helpful; however, Holmes could not trust the good doctor to solve a perplex¬ing case on his own. also N.

circuitous

ADJ. /迂回的/roundabout. To avoid the traffic congestion on the main highways, she took a circuitous route. circuit, N.

fulsome

ADJ. /过分的/disgustingly excessive. His fulsome praise of the dictator revolted his listeners.

finicky

ADJ. /过分讲究；鸡毛蒜皮/too particular; fussy. The little girl was finicky about her food, leaving over anything that wasn't to her taste.

elated

ADJ. /过分高兴的；兴高采烈/overjoyed; in high spirits. Grinning from ear to ear, Bonnie Blair was clearly elated by her fifth Olympic gold medal. elation, N.

exorbitant

ADJ. /过度的/excessive. The people grumbled at his exor¬bitant prices but paid them because he had a monopoly.

antediluvian

ADJ. /远古，上古，及其久远/antiquated; extremely ancient. Looking at his great-aunt's antique furniture, which must have been clut¬tering up her attic since the time of Noah's flood, the young heir exclaimed, "Heavens! How positively antediluvian!"

drab

ADJ. /迟钝的；单调的/dull; lacking color; cheerless. The Dutch woman's drab winter coat contrasted with the distinctive, colorful native costume she wore beneath it.

evasive

ADJ. /逃避的/not frank; eluding. Your evasive answers con¬vinced the judge that you were withholding important evi¬dence. evade,V.

derelict

ADJ. /遗弃的；废弃的/abandoned; negligent. The derelict craft was a menace to navigation. Whoever abandoned it in the mid¬dle of the harbor was derelict in living up to his responsibili¬ties as a boat owner. also N.

dowdy

ADJ. /邋遢的；衣衫不整/slovenly; untidy. She tried to change her dowdy image by buying a new fashionable wardrobe.

disheveled

ADJ. /邋遢，肮脏/untidy. Your disheveled appearance will hurt your chances in this interview.

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.

acidulous

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

inebriated

ADJ. /醉的/habitually intoxicated; drunk. Abe was ine¬briated more often than he was sober. Because of his ine¬briety, he was discharged from his job as a bus driver.

grueling

ADJ. /重罚；使其筋疲力尽/exhausting. The marathon is a grueling race.

feral

ADJ. /野生的，未驯服的/not domestic; wild. Abandoned by their owners, dogs may revert to their feral state, roaming the woods in packs.

exotic

ADJ. /陌生的，外来的，奇异的，异国情调/not native; strange. Because of his exotic headdress, he was followed in the streets by small children who laughed at his strange appearance.

inclement

ADJ. /险恶的；严酷的/stormy; unkind. In inclement weather, I like to curl up on the sofa with a good book and listen to the storm blowing outside.

ceremonious

ADJ. /隆重的/marked by formality. Ordinary dress would be inappropriate at so ceremonious an affair.

assumption

N. /假定，设想；采取/something taken for granted; taking over or taking possession of. The young princess made the foolish assumption that the regent would not object to her assump¬tion of power. assume,V.

cessation

N. /停止/stoppage. The airline's employees threat¬ened a cessation of all work if management failed to meet their demands. cease,V.

icon

N. /偶像，象征；图标/religious image; idol. The icons on the walls of the church were painted in the 13th century.

embezzlement

N. /偷窃，侵占/stealing. The bank teller confessed his embezzlement of the funds.

catalyst

N. /催化剂/agent which brings about a chemical change while it remains unaffected and unchanged. Many chemical reactions cannot take place without the presence of a catalyst.

arrogance

N. /傲慢，骄傲/pride; haughtiness. Convinced that Emma thought she was better than anyone else in the class, Ed rebuked her for her arrogance.

haughtiness

N. /傲慢；不逊/pride; arrogance. When she realized that Darcy believed himself too good to dance with his inferiors, Elizabeth took great offense at his haughtiness.

deadlock

N. /僵局/standstill; stalemate. Because negotiations had reached a deadlock, some of the delegates had begun to mutter about breaking off the talks. alsoV.

harbinger

N. /先驱/forerunner. The crocus is an early harbinger of spring.

impetus

N. /动力；动机/incentive; stimulus; moving force. A new fed¬eral highway program would create jobs and give added impetus to our economic recovery.

augury

N. /占卜；预言/omen; prophecy. He interpreted the departure of the birds as an augury of evil. augur,V.

amnesty

N. /原谅/pardon. When his first child was born, the king granted amnesty to all in prison.

antipathy

N. /反对，厌恶/aversion; dislike. Tom's extreme antipathy for disputes keeps him from getting into arguments with his temperamental wife. Noise in any form is antipathetic to him. Among his other antipathies are honking cars, boom boxes, and heavy metal rock.

antagonism

N. /反抗，敌对/hostility; active resistance. Barry showed his antagonism toward his new stepmother by ignoring her whenever she tried talking to him. antagonistic,ADJ.

atavism

N. /反祖；隔代遗传/resemblance to remote ancestors rather than to parents; deformity returning after passage of two or more generations. The doctors ascribed the child's deformity to an atavism.

compact

N. /合约，合同/agreement; contract. The signers of the Mayflower Compact were establishing a form of government.

alloy

N. /合金/a mixture as of metals. Alloys of gold are used more frequently than the pure metal.

approbation

N. /同意，批准/approval. She looked for some sign of approbation from her parents, hoping her good grades would please them.

coterie

N. /同行，圈内人/group that meets socially; select circle. After his book had been published, he was invited to join the literary coterie that lunched daily at the hotel.

appellation

N. /名字，标题/name; title. Macbeth was startled when the witches greeted him with an incorrect appellation. Why did they call him Thane of Cawdor, he wondered, when the holder of that title still lived?

compunction

N. /后悔/remorse. The judge was especially severe in his sentencing because he felt that the criminal had shown no compunction for his heinous crime.

aftermath

N. /后果，结果/consequences; outcome; upshot. People around the world wondered what the aftermath of China's violent suppression of the student protests would be.

covenant

N. /契约, 盟约/agreement.

guile

N. /奸诈狡猾；诡计/deceit; duplicity; wiliness; cunning. lago uses considerable guile to trick Othello into believing that Desde¬mona has been unfaithful.

duplicity

N. /奸诈，狡猾；伪善；两面三刀，两面派/double-dealing; hypocrisy. When Tanya learned that Mark had been two-timing her, she was furious at his duplicity.

impediment

N. /妨碍；障碍物/hindrance; stumbling-block. She had a speech impediment that prevented her speaking clearly.

euphemism

N. /委婉的表达/mild expression in place of an unpleasant one. The expression "he passed away" is a euphemism for "he died."

grievance

N. /委屈；冤情；不平/cause of complaint. When her supervisor ignored her complaint, she took her grievance to the union.

constituent

N. /委托人,要素 /supporter.

coercion

N. /威逼，强迫/use of force to get someone to obey. The inquisitors used both physical and psychological coercion to force Joan of Arc to deny that her visions were sent by God. coerce,V.

*circumlocution

N. /婉转曲折的表达/indirect or roundabout expression. He was afraid to call a spade a spade and resorted to circum¬locutions to avoid direct reference to his subject.

apprenticeship

N. /学徒身份/time spent as a novice learning a trade from a skilled worker. As a child, Pip had thought it would be wonderful to work as Joe's apprentice; now he hated his apprenticeship and scorned the blacksmith's trade.

implication

N. /含义；暗示/something hinted at or suggested. When Miss Watson said she hadn't seen her purse since the last time Jim was in the house, the implication was that she sus¬pected Jim had taken it. imply,V.

connotation

N. /含蓄 ,内涵 /suggested or implied meaning of an expression.

clamor

N. /吵闹声；噪音/noise. The clamor of the children at play outside made it impossible for her to take a nap. alsoV.

charlatan

N. /吹牛/quack; pretender to knowledge. When they realized that the Wizard didn't know how to get them back to Kansas, Dorothy and her companions were indignant that they'd been duped by a charlatan.

incantation

N. /咒语/singing or chanting of magic spells; magical formula. Uttering incantations to make the brew more potent, the witch doctor stirred the liquid in the caldron.

gourmet

N. /品尝家；美食比赛的评委/connoisseur of food and drink. The gourmet stated that this was the best onion soup she had ever tasted.

entrepreneur

N. /商人，企业家，承包人/businessman; contractor. Opponents of our present tax program argue that it discourages entrepre¬neurs from trying new fields of business activity.

catcall

N. /嘘声/shout of disapproval; boo. Every major league pitcher has off days during which he must learn to ignore the catcalls and angry hisses from the crowd.

apparatus

N. /器械，设备/equipment. Firefighters use specialized apparatus to fight fires.

bigotry

N. /固执/stubborn intolerance. Brought up in a democra¬tic atmosphere, the student was shocked by the bigotry and narrowness expressed by several of his classmates.

anthem

N. /圣歌，赞美诗/song of praise or patriotism. Let us now all join in singing the national anthem.

chalice

N. /圣餐杯/goblet; consecrated cup. In a small room adjoin¬ing the cathedral, many ornately decorated chalices made by the most famous European goldsmiths were on display.

atlas

N. /地图集/a bound volume of maps, charts, or tables. Embar¬rassed at being unable to distinguish Slovenia from Slova¬kia, George W. finally consulted an atlas.

clime

N. /地域；气候/region; climate. His doctor advised him to move to a milder clime.

gnome

N. /地精；小矮人；土地公公/dwarf; underground spirit. In medieval mythol¬ogy, gnomes were the special guardians and inhabitants of subterranean mines.

depravity

N. /堕落，腐坏/extreme corruption; wickedness. The deprav¬ity of Caligula's behavior came to sicken even those who had willingly participated in his earlier, comparatively inno¬cent orgies.

bastion

N. /堡垒；工事/fortress; defense. The villagers fortified the town hall, hoping this improvised bastion could protect them from the guerillas' raids. .

epitaph

N. /墓志铭，挽联/inscription in memory of a dead person. In his will, he dictated the epitaph he wanted placed on his tomb¬stone.

increment

N. /增加/increase. The new contract calls for a 10 percent increment in salary for each employee for the next two years.

accretion

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

bulwark

N. /壁垒/earthwork or other strong defense; person who defends. The navy is our principal bulwark against invasion.

fresco

N. /壁画/painting on plaster (usually fresh). The cathedral is visited by many tourists who wish to admire the frescoes by Giotto.

exploit

N. /壮举/deed or action, particularly a brave deed. Raoul Wallenberg was noted for his exploits in rescuing Jews from Hitler's forces.

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.

facsimile

N. /复制品/COPY. Many museums sell facsimiles of the works of art on display.

guise

N. /外观；装束/appearance; costume. In the guise of a plumber, the detective investigated the murder case.

diversity

N. /多样性/variety; dissimilitude. The diversity of colleges in this country indicates that many levels of ability are being cared for.

cantata

N. /大合唱；康塔塔/story set to music, to be sung by a chorus. The choral society sang the new cantata composed by its leader.

altercation

N. /大声争吵，激烈争论/noisy quarrel; heated dispute. In that hot¬tempered household, no meal ever came to a peaceful con¬clusion; the inevitable altercation might even end in blows.

blare

N. /大声喊叫，令人眩晕的强光/loud, harsh roar or screech; dazzling blaze of light. I don't know which is worse: the steady blare of a boom box deafening your ears or a sudden blare of flash¬bulbs dazzling your eyes.

clangor

N. /大声喧哗；持续的铿锵声/loud, resounding noise. The blacksmith was accustomed to the clangor of hammers on steel.

bludgeon

N. /大头狼牙棒/club; heavy-headed weapon. Attacked by Dr. Moriarty, Holmes used his walking stick as a bludgeon to defend himself. "Watson," he said, "I fear I may have blud¬geoned Moriarty to death."

galleon

N. /大帆船/large sailing ship. The Spaniards pinned their hopes on the galleon, the large warship; the British, on the smaller and faster pinnace.

hodgepodge

N. /大杂烩/jumble; mixture of ill-suited elements. The reviewer roundly condemned the play as a hodgepodge of random and purposeless encounters carried out by a cast lacking any uniformity of accent or style.

cataract

N. /大瀑布；白内障/great waterfall; eye abnormality. She gazed with awe at the mighty cataract known as Niagara Falls.

gale

N. /大风；一阵感情的爆发/windstorm; gust of wind; emotional outburst (laughter, tears). The Weather Channel warned viewers about a rising gale, with winds of up to sixty miles per hour.

dormer

N. /天窗/window projecting from roof. In remodeling the attic into a bedroom, we decided that we needed to put in dormers to provide sufficient ventilation for the new room.

aphasia

N. /失声/loss of speech due to injury or illness. After the automobile accident, the victim had periods of aphasia when he could not speak at all or could only mumble inco¬herently.

amnesia

N. /失忆，健忘/loss of memory. Because she was suffering from amnesia, the police could not get the young girl to identify herself.

gaffe

N. /失态；出丑/social blunder. According to Miss Manners, to call your husband by your lover's name is worse than a mere gaffe; it is a tactical mistake.

alliteration

N. /头韵/repetition of beginning sound in poetry. "The furrow followed free" is an example of alliteration.

harangue

N. /夸大的讲话/noisy speech. In her lengthy harangue, the principal berated the offenders. alsoV.

antithesis

N. /对立面/contrast; direct opposite of or to. This tyranny was the antithesis of all that he had hoped for, and he fought it with all his strength.

catharsis

N. /导泻，通便；疏泄/purging or cleansing of any passage of the body. Aristotle maintained that tragedy created a catharsis by purging the soul of base concepts.

deference

N. /尊重的，尊重他人的/courteous regard for another's wish. In defer¬ence to the minister's request, please do not take pho¬tographs during the wedding service.

clique

N. /小圈子；同行/small exclusive group. Fitzgerald wished that he belonged to the clique of popular athletes and big men on campus who seemed to run Princeton's social life.

hovel

N. /小屋/shack; small, wretched house. He wondered how poor people could stand living in such a hovel.

bungalow

N. /小平房/small cottage. Every summer we rent a bun¬galow on Cape Cod for our vacation home. The rent is high, the roof is low-it's a basic bungalow.

grove

N. /小树林/group of trees (smaller than a forest); orchard. To the child, the small grove of oaks was as vast as Sherwood Forest, in which he played that legendary hero, Robin Hood.

cascade

N. /小瀑布/small waterfall. We were too tired to appreci¬ate the beauty of the many cascades because we had to detour around them to avoid being drenched by the water cascading down.

bauble

N. /小玩意儿/trinket; trifle. The child was delighted with the bauble she had won in the grab bag.

asteroid

N. /小行星/small planet. Asteroids have become common¬place to the readers of interstellar travel stories in science fiction magazines.

alcove

N. /小隔间，壁橱/nook; small, recessed section of a room. Though their apartment lacked a full-scale dining room, an alcove adjacent to the living room made an adequate breakfast nook for the young couple.

figurine

N. /小雕像/small ornamental statuette. In The Maltese Fal¬con, Sam Spade was hired to trace the missing figurine of a black bird.

correlation

N. /相互的关系/mutual relationship. He sought to determine the correlation that existed between ability in algebra and ability to interpret reading exercises. correlate, V., N.

converse

N. /相反的/opposite. The inevitable converse of peace is not war but annihilation.

discrepancy

N. /相差；缺乏一致/lack of consistency; difference. The police noticed some discrepancies in his description of the crime and did not believe him.

denizen

N. /居民；常客/inhabitant or resident; regular visitor. In The Untouchables, Eliot Ness fights AI Capone and the other denizens of Chicago's underworld. Ness's fight against cor¬ruption was the talk of all the denizens of the local bars.

claustrophobia

N. /幽闭恐怖症/fear of being locked in. His fellow class¬mates laughed at his claustrophobia and often threatened to lock him in his room.

cynosure

N. /广受注意的目标/the object of general attention. As soon as the movie star entered the room, she became the cynosure of all eyes.

grandeur

N. /庄严，伟大，威严/impressiveness; stateliness; majesty. No mat¬ter how often he hiked through the mountains, David never failed to be struck by the grandeur of the Sierra Nevada range.

chassis

N. /底盘/framework and working parts of an automobile. Examining the car after the accident, the owner discovered that the body had been ruined but that the chassis was unharmed.

chaff

N. /废物；糠；假货；开玩笑；打趣/worthless products of an endeavor. When you separate the wheat from the chaff, be sure you throw out the chaff.

inception

N. /开始，开端/start; beginning. She was involved with the project from its inception.

conception

N. /开始，构思/beginning; forming of an idea. At the first conception of the work, he was consulted. conceive,V.

badinage

N. /开玩笑，揶揄；取消/teasing conversation. Her friends at work greeted the news of her engagement with cheerful badi¬nage.

infidel

N. /异教徒，异端；不信宗教的/unbeliever. The Saracens made war against the infidels.

allegiance

N. /忠诚/loyalty. Not even a term in prison could shake Lech Walesa's allegiance to Solidarity, the Polish trade union he had helped to found.

doldrums

N. /忧郁，悲伤/blues; listlessness; slack period. Once the excitement of meeting her deadline was over, she found herself in the doldrums.

cerebration

N. /思考/thought. Mathematics problems sometimes require much cerebration.

dispatch

N. /急速；急件/speediness; prompt execution; message sent with all due speed. Young Napoleon defeated the enemy with all possible dispatch; he then sent a dispatch to head¬quarters informing his commander of the great victory. alsoV.

extrovert

N. /性格外向的人/person interested mostly in external objects and actions. A good salesman is usually an extrovert, who likes to mingle with people.

eccentricity

N. /怪僻，古怪；特性/oddity; idiosyncrasy. Some of his friends tried to account for his rudeness to strangers as the eccen¬tricity of genius.

behemoth

N. /怪物；怪兽/huge creature; monstrous animal. Sports¬casters nicknamed the linebacker "The Behemoth."

firebrand

N. /总惹麻烦的人，惹事生非者，捣乱人/hothead: troublemaker. The police tried to keep track of all the local firebrands when the President came to town.

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.

benefactor

N. /恩人，赞助人/gift giver; patron. Scrooge later became Tiny Tim's benefactor and gave him gifts.

boon

N. /恩惠，福利/blessing; benefit. The recent rains that filled our empty reservoirs were a boon to the whole community.

abeyance

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

fluke

N. /意外；小概率事件/unlikely occurrence; stroke of fortune. When Dou- glas defeated Tyson for the heavyweight championship, some sportscasters dismissed his victory as a fluke.

ideology

N. /意识形态/system of ideas of a group. For people who had grown up believing in the communist ideology, it was hard to adjust to capitalism.

dolt

N. /愚蠢的人，蠢货/stupid person. I thought I was talking to a mature audience; instead, I find myself addressing a pack of dolts and idiots.

expletive

N. /感叹词；咒骂/interjection; profane oath. The sergeant's remarks were filled with expletives that offended the new recruits.

faculty

N. /才能，教职员工/mental or bodily powers; teaching staff. As he grew old, Professor Twiggly feared he might lose his facul¬ties and become unfit to teach. However, he had tenure: whether or not he was in full possession of his faculties, the school couldn't kick him off the faculty.

doggerel

N. /打油诗/poor verse. Although we find occasional snatches of genuine poetry in her work, most of her writing is mere doggerel.

infraction

N. /打破（常规）/violation (of a rule or regulation); breach. When Dennis Rodman butted heads with that referee, he committed a clear infraction of NBA rules.

ellipsis

N. /省略/omission of words from a text. Sometimes an ellipsis can lead to a dangling modifier, as in the sentence "Once dressed, you should refrigerate the potato salad."

embargo

N. /禁运/ban on commerce or other activity. As a result of the embargo, trade with the colonies was at a standstill.

exodus

N. /离开，启程/departure. The exodus from the hot and stuffy city was particularly noticeable on Friday evenings.

clasp

N. /扣合；紧密合作/fastening device; firm grip. When the clasp on Judy's bracelet broke, Fred repaired it, bending the hook back into shape. He then helped her slip on the bracelet, holding it firm in the sure clasp of his hand.

expenditure

N. /支出，花费/payment or expense; output. When you are operating on an expense account, you must keep receipts for all your expenditures. If you don't save your receipts, you won't get repaid without the expenditure of a lot of energy arguing with the firm's accountants.

girth

N. /方圆；周围环境/distance around something; circumference. It took an extra-large cummerbund to fit around Andrew Carnegie's considerable girth.

automaton

N. /机器人/mechanism that imitates actions of humans. Long before science fiction readers became aware of robots, writers were presenting stories of automatons who could outperform men.

entitlement

N. /权利/right to claim something; right to benefits. While Bill was entitled to use a company car while he worked for the firm, the company's lawyers questioned his entitlement to the vehicle once he'd quit his job.

anguish

N. /极度痛苦/acute pain; extreme suffering. Visiting the site of the explosion, the governor wept to see the anguish of the victims and their families.

caption

N. /标题/title; chapter heading; text under illustration. The captions that accompany The Far Side cartoons are almost as funny as the pictures. alsoV.

caucus

N. /核心小组会议（秘密）/private meeting of members of a party to select officers or determine policy. At the opening of Congress, the members of the Democratic Party held a caucus to elect the Majority Leader of the House and the Party Whip.

adage

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

dossier

N. /档案，资料/file of documents on a subject. Ordered by J. Edgar Hoover to investigate the senator, the FBI compiled a complete dossieron him.

BARRON'S 3500 WORD LIST 1-25

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