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AP Literature & Composition: Diction Flashcards

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7426079194insipidlacking qualities that interest, stimulate, or challenge; dull0
7426079195precisemarked by exactness and accuracy of expression1
7426079196euphoniouspleasing to the ear2
7426079197cacophonusharsh, grating3
7426079198abstracttheoretical; lacking form; difficult to understand4
7426079199concretegrounded; relating to an actual specific thing5
7426079200objectiveimpersonal, unemotional language6
7426079201subjectivepersonal, emotional language7
7426079202pedanticnarrowly, stodgily, and often ostentatiously learned; "teacherly"8
7426079203simpleeasily understood; not complex9
7426079204colloquialinformal, conversational; may be regional or idiomatic10
7426079205formal"proper" language; observing every rule of grammar and usage11
7426079206slangvernacular speech, sometimes humorous12
7426079207esotericdesigned for or understood by the initiated alone; requiring or exhibiting knowledge that is restricted to a small group13
7426079208denotativeliteral meanings14
7426079209connotativeimplied meanings15
7426079210tritelacking originality or freshness16
7426079211euphemisticsubstituiton of a milder, vaguer word/ expression for one to be considered offensive17
7426079212pretentiousattempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, than actually possessed18
7426079213abstrusedifficult to comprehend19
7426079214obscurenot easily distinguished; not clearly expressed; mysterious20
7426079215picturesquevisually attractive in an idyllic, often quaint manner21
7426079216emotionalnotably aroused or agitated in feeling or sensibility; appealing to or arousing emotion22
7426079217sensousappealing to the senses rather than the intellect; attractive or gratifying in a sexual manner23
7426079218learnedhaving and conveying knowledge acquired by study24
7426079219bombasticconveying a sense of exaggerated importance through artificial or empty means25
7426079220grotesquecomically or repulsively ugly or distorted26
7426079221moralisticnarrowly or conventionally moral; preachy27
7426079222idiomatican expression whose meaning cannot be inferred from the meaning of the word that makes it up--i.e. an idiom28
7426079223homespunplain; unspoiled; unsophisticated; simple29
7426079224provincialunsophisticated, narrow-minded--a byproduct of living outside the boundary of country's capital city.30

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