Vocabulary Unit 5

ISkills Pre-University

Amnesty (n) a general pardon for an offense against a government; in general, any act of forgiveness or absolution• The government gave amnesty to the illegal

immigrants after they proved they were in danger from their home governments.

• The activist group Amnesty International seeks to endpolitical injustice around the world.

Autonomy (n): self-government; political control

• States have autonomy to set their own laws so long as they do not violate existing federal laws.

• All teenagers seek autonomy from their parents.Autonomous (adj): having the freedom or power to do what you want, especially a country or nation.

Axiomatic (adj): self-evident, expressing a universally accepted principle; something that does not need to be proved, because everyone can see it is true; something that goes without saying.• That the car had been totaled in the accident

was axiomatic.• One should not accept anything a politician

says as the axiomatic truth.

Axiom (n): a self-evident truth that needs no proof

Blazon(v): to adorn or embellish; to display conspicuously; to publish or proclaim widely• They will blazon the results of the

election all over the internet, TV, and radio.

• She blazoned her dress with pretty embroidery.

Caveat (n): A warning or caution to prevent misunderstanding or to discourage behavior

• Driving responsibly carries the caveat of knowing you must never drive when you have been drinking.

• You can do as you like at Six Flags with one caveat: make sure you follow all the park rules!

Equitable (adj): fair, just, embodying principles of justice• The two nations came to an equitable

trade agreement.

Extricate (v): to get free from entanglements or difficulties; to remove with effort.

• You will never extricate yourself from debt if you don’t stop spending money!

• It took the fisherman over an hour to extricate the turtle from his nets.Extrication (n)

Filch (v): to steal, especially in a sneaky way and in petty amounts; to steal something small• My son likes to filch cookies when he

thinks I’m not looking.

Flout (v): to mock, treat with contempt; to deliberately disobey a rule or law.• Flouting the rules of society can land

you in jail.

Fractious (adj): tending to be troublesome; unruly, quarrelsome, contrary; unpredictable; querulous

• Even the best of class will have at least one fractious student who tries the teacher’s patience.

Precept (n): a rule of conduct or action; a rule that helps you decide how to behave in a situation

• Many philosophies follow the precept that it is important to treat others the way you want to be treated yourself.

Salutary (adj): beneficial, helpful; healthful or wholesome• Studying will have a salutary effect

on your grades

Scathing (adj): bitterly severe, withering; causing great harm• The teacher was scathing of his

paper, which was full of errors.

Scourge (v): to whip, punish severely (n): a cause of affliction or suffering; a source of severe punishment

• She was the scourge of the class, forever getting them into trouble.

• Don’t scourge yourself over missing that assignment.

Sepulchral (adj): funereal, typical of the tomb; extremely gloomy or dismal.• There was a sepulchral aura about

the classroom after we all did so badly on the test.

Soporific (adj) tending to cause sleep; relating to sleepiness or lethargy (n): something that induces sleep

• My class frequently seems to have a soporific effect on my students, since they are forever dropping off mid-lecture.

• Warm milk is a good soporific if you are having trouble sleeping.

Straitlaced (adj): extremely strict in regard to moral standards and conduct; prudish or puritanical

• When I first started teaching in ESLI, I expected my students to be very straitlaced, but they’re not so different from American students.

Transient (adj): lasting only a short time, fleeting (n): one who stays only a short time• Homeless people are often referred to

as transients, because they don’t stay long in any one place.

• Our time on earth is transient, so we should make the best of it while we are here!

Unwieldy (adj): not easily carried, handled, or managed because of size or complexity.• The box isn’t heavy, but its size

makes it very unwieldy.

Vapid (adj): dull, uninteresting, tiresome; lacking in sharpness, flavor, liveliness, or force.• Every teacher dreads the vapid stares

of a class that does not understand or is not paying attention.