Social Ritual, Courtesy and Transgression

C2 · 100 entries · Five themes

Social Ritual, Courtesy and Transgression

Created by , British English teacher.

Open a theme, then select a word or phrase for its meaning, example and pronunciation.

1. Formal social conduct (20 entries)
  1. stand on ceremony
  2. confer authority on
  3. at someone's discretion
  4. proscribe
  5. rub shoulders with
  6. quell
  7. work the room
  8. supplant
  9. cultish
  10. domesticity
  11. monastic
  12. enter a reservation
  13. ex officio
  14. ordain
  15. a whip's instruction
  16. fete
  17. exhibitionist
  18. cloister
  19. recluse
  20. legion
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2. Gestures of respect (20 entries)
  1. acknowledge a debt of gratitude
  2. patronise
  3. be beholden to someone
  4. self-aggrandisement
  5. munificence
  6. philanthropy
  7. proffer thanks
  8. eminence
  9. inducement
  10. pedestal
  11. commend to someone's attention
  12. usurp
  13. emolument
  14. cosset
  15. apprehend
  16. consign
  17. prurient
  18. remittance
  19. coax
  20. dole out
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3. Breaches of convention (20 entries)
  1. impropriety
  2. overfamiliarity
  3. transgression
  4. indiscretion
  5. fall from grace
  6. lose face publicly
  7. an ignominious retreat
  8. fall into disrepute
  9. save face at someone else's expense
  10. lose one's standing
  11. be held in ill repute
  12. live down a mistake
  13. an embarrassing climbdown
  14. set the record straight
  15. clear one's name
  16. put one's reputation on the line
  17. risk public opprobrium
  18. be beyond reproach
  19. bring the office into disrepute
  20. restore one's good name
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4. Social expectations (20 entries)
  1. a perceived double standard
  2. ostracism
  3. collective agency
  4. relative deprivation
  5. precarity
  6. segregation
  7. predilection
  8. structural exclusion
  9. a gatekeeping mechanism
  10. stigmatisation
  11. a social safety net
  12. egalitarian
  13. unequal representation
  14. a means-tested benefit
  15. social stratification
  16. individualism
  17. reunion
  18. disenfranchisement
  19. depraved
  20. solitude
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5. Judgements of appropriateness (20 entries)
  1. unbecoming
  2. decorous
  3. put someone in their place
  4. be beneath one's dignity
  5. adopt a lofty manner
  6. give oneself airs
  7. lord it over someone
  8. do someone the honour of
  9. bow to someone's superior judgement
  10. magnanimity
  11. cut someone down to size
  12. high-handed
  13. put on airs and graces
  14. know one's place
  15. assume an air of superiority
  16. look askance at
  17. pull rank on someone
  18. talk down to someone
  19. parochial
  20. doff one's cap to
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