The words
Every word in this set, with what it means. Tap a word to hear it.
- aberration
- a departure from what is normal
- “The spike was an aberration, not a new trend.”
- austere
- severe or strict in manner; plain and without luxury
- “The prose is austere and free of ornament.”
- candid
- honest and direct
- “Her candid assessment surprised the committee.”
- circumspect
- careful to consider possible risks
- “Be circumspect before generalizing from one case.”
- disseminate
- to spread information widely
- “The journal aims to disseminate the findings quickly.”
- erudite
- having or showing great knowledge
- “The review is erudite without being obscure.”
- idiosyncratic
- peculiar to an individual; distinctive
- “His idiosyncratic style is hard to imitate.”
- lucid
- clear and easy to understand
- “Prefer a lucid explanation over a dense one.”
- opaque
- hard to understand; not transparent
- “The methods section remains opaque to outsiders.”
- pragmatic
- dealing with things in a practical way
- “Take a pragmatic approach to the revision.”
- prolific
- producing many works or results
- “She is a prolific writer in the field.”
- prudent
- acting with care and thought for the future
- “A prudent reader checks the sample size.”
- reticent
- not revealing thoughts readily; reserved
- “The author is reticent about funding sources.”
- salient
- most noticeable or important
- “Focus on the salient differences between the studies.”
- scrutinize
- to examine closely and carefully
- “Scrutinize the footnotes for missing citations.”
- succinct
- briefly and clearly expressed
- “Keep the abstract succinct.”
- ubiquitous
- present everywhere
- “Smartphones are ubiquitous on campus.”
- veracity
- truthfulness or accuracy
- “Question the veracity of secondhand reports.”
- volatile
- liable to change rapidly and unpredictably
- “The market remains volatile this quarter.”
- zealous
- showing strong energy or enthusiasm for a cause
- “Zealous advocacy can still respect evidence.”
- ambiguous
- open to more than one interpretation
- “The key term remains ambiguous in the abstract.”
- concise
- brief and clear
- “A concise summary helps busy readers.”
- empirical
- based on observation or experiment rather than theory alone
- “Prefer empirical support over anecdote.”
- nuance
- a subtle difference in meaning
- “The nuance matters for the policy debate.”
- paradigm
- a typical example or a model of how something works
- “The study challenges the older paradigm.”
- rigorous
- extremely thorough and careful
- “Use a rigorous method before generalizing.”
- substantive
- having real importance or value
- “Raise a substantive objection, not a quibble.”
- tentative
- not certain or fixed
- “Offer only a tentative interpretation.”
- underlying
- forming the basis of something
- “Name the underlying assumption.”
- unprecedented
- never done or known before
- “The scale of the change is unprecedented.”