2000 SAT Words with tumblrs and pictures

surfeit

(n.) an overabundant supply or indulgence (After partaking of the surfeit of tacos and tamales at the All-You-Can-Eat Taco Tamale Lunch Special, Beth felt rather sick.)

platitude

(n.) an uninspired remark, cliché (After reading over her paper, Helene concluded that what she thought were profound insights were actually just platitudes.)

indignation

(n.) anger sparked by something unjust or unfair (I resigned from the sorority because of my indignation at its hazing of new members.)

temerity

(n.) audacity, recklessness (Tom and Huck entered the scary cave armed with nothing but their own temerity.)

candor

(n.) honesty, frankness (We were surprised by the candor of the mayor's speech because he is usually rather evasive.)

renown

(n.) honor, acclaim (The young writer earned international renown by winning the Pulitzer Prize.)

antagonism

(n.) hostility (Superman and Bizarro Superman shared a mutual antagonism, and often fought.)

interlocutor

(n.) someone who participates in a dialogue or conversation (When the officials could not come to an agreement over the correct cover of the flags, the prime minister acted as an interlocutor.)

restitution

(n.) restoration to the rightful owner (Many people feel that descendants of slaves should receive restitution for the sufferings of their ancestors.)

collusion

(n.) secret agreement, conspiracy (The three law students worked in collusion to steal the final exam.) Verb collude

sobriety

(n.) sedate, calm (Jason believed that maintaining his sobriety in times of crisis was the key to success in life.)

complacency

(n.) self-satisfied ignorance of danger "Complacency is not a good thing." (Colin tried to shock his friends out of their complacency by painting a frightening picture of what might happen to them.)

empathy

(n.) sensitivity to another's feelings as if they were one's own (I feel such empathy for my sister when she's in pain that I cry too.)

accretion

(n.) slow growth in size or amount (Stalactites are formed by the accretion of minerals from the roofs of caves.)

litigant

(n.) someone engaged in a lawsuit (When the litigants began screaming at each other, Judge Koch ordered them to be silent.)

gourmand

(n.) someone fond of eating and drinking (My parents, who used to eat little more than crackers and salad, have become real gourmands in their old age.)

neophyte

(n.) someone who is young or inexperienced (As a neophyte in the literary world, Malik had trouble finding a publisher for his first novel.)

behemoth

(n.) something of tremendous power or size (The new aircraft carrier is among several behemoths that the Air Force has added to its fleet.)

antecedent

(n.) something that came before (The great tradition of Western culture had its antecedent in the culture of Ancient Greece.)

aberration

(n.) something that differs from the norm "Stitch's loving behavior was an aberration considering he was designed to destroy" (In 1918, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series, but the success turned out to be an aberration, and the Red Sox have not won a World Series since.)

mutable

(adj.) able to change Don was mutable to the idea of hooking up.-- (Because fashion is so mutable, what is trendy today will look outdated in five years.)

soluble

(adj.) able to dissolve (The plot of the spy film revolved around an untraceable and water-soluble poison.)

clairvoyant

(adj.) able to perceive things that normal people cannot (Zelda's uncanny ability to detect my lies was nothing short of clairvoyant.)

resilient

(adj.) able to recover from misfortune; able to withstand adversity (The resilient ballplayer quickly recovered from his wrist injury.)

curt

(adj.) abruptly and rudely short (Her curt reply to my question made me realize that she was upset at me.)

rife

(adj.) abundant (Surprisingly, the famous novelist's writing was rife with spelling errors.)

concomitant

(adj.) accompanying in a subordinate fashion (His dislike of hard work carried with it a concomitant lack of funds.)

intractable

(adj.) difficult to manipulate, unmanageable (There was no end in sight to the intractable conflict between the warring countries.)

haughty

(adj.) disdainfully proud (The superstar's haughty dismissal of her costars will backfire on her someday.)

saccharine

(adj.) sickeningly sweet Saccharine love-talk can drive the jaded off a cliff." (Tom's saccharine manner, although intended to make him popular, actually repelled his classmates.)

egregious

(adj.) extremely bad (The student who threw sloppy joes across the cafeteria was punished for his egregious behavior.)

meticulous

(adj.) extremely careful with details (The ornate needlework in the bride's gown was a product of meticulous handiwork.)

jubilant

(adj.) extremely joyful, happy (The crowd was jubilant when the firefighter carried the woman from the flaming building.)

ebullient

(adj.) extremely lively, enthusiastic She became ebullient after dreaming of her Terran experience ." (She became ebullient upon receiving an acceptance letter from her first-choice college.)

adept

(adj.) extremely skilled "She is adept at handling the ball" (Tarzan was adept at jumping from tree to tree like a monkey.)

spurious

(adj.) false but designed to seem plausible (Using a spurious argument, John convinced the others that he had won the board game on a technicality.)

whimsical

(adj.) fanciful, full of whims Cheshire is a whimsical cat.-- (The whimsical little girl liked to pretend that she was an elvin princess.)

auspicious

(adj.) favorable, indicative of good things (The tennis player considered the sunny forecast an auspicious sign that she would win her match.)

benign

(adj.) favorable, not threatening, mild (We were all relieved to hear that the medical tests determined her tumor to be benign.)

tremulous

(adj.) fearful (I always feel a trifle tremulous when walking through a graveyard.)

disheartened

(adj.) feeling a loss of spirit or morale (The team was disheartened after losing in the finals of the tournament.)

cloying

(adj.) sickeningly sweet (Though Ronald was physically attractive, Maud found his constant compliments and solicitous remarks cloying.)

salient

(adj.) significant, conspicuous (One of the salient differences between Alison and Nancy is that Alison is a foot taller.)

inane

(adj.) silly and meaningless (Some films are so inane that the psychology of the characters makes absolutely no sense.)

fatuous

(adj.) silly, foolish (He considers himself a serious poet, but in truth, he only writes fatuous limericks.)

despondent

(adj.) feeling depressed, discouraged, hopeless (Having failed the first math test, the despondent child saw no use in studying for the next and failed that one too.)

zealous

(adj.) fervent, filled with eagerness in pursuit of something (If he were any more zealous about getting his promotion, he'd practically live at the office.)

apocryphal

(adj.) fictitious, false, wrong (Because I am standing before you, it seems obvious that the stories circulating about my demise were apocryphal.) (of a story or statement) of doubtful authenticity, although widely circulated as being true.

resolute

(adj.) firm, determined (With a resolute glint in her eye, Catherine announced that she was set on going to college in New York City even though she was a little frightened of tall buildings.)

evanescent

(adj.) fleeting, momentary (My joy at getting promoted was evanescent because I discovered that I would have to work much longer hours in a less friendly office.)

florid

(adj.) flowery, ornate (The writer's florid prose belongs on a sentimental Hallmark card.)

illicit

(adj.) forbidden, not permitted 1. not legally permitted or authorized; unlicensed; unlawful. 2. disapproved of or not permitted for moral or ethical reasons. (The fourth-grader learned many illicit words from a pamphlet that was being passed around school.)

compelling

(adj.) forceful, demanding attention "His mannerism were very compelling" (Eliot's speech was so compelling that Lenore accepted his proposal on the spot.)

sovereign

(adj.) having absolute authority in a certain realm (The sovereign queen, with steely resolve, ordered that the traitorous nobleman be killed.)

multifarious

(adj.) having great diversity or variety (This Swiss Army knife has multifarious functions and capabilities. Among other things, it can act as a knife, a saw, a toothpick, and a slingshot.)

tenuous

(adj.) having little substance or strength (Your argument is very tenuous, since it relies so much on speculation and hearsay.)

ambivalent

(adj.) having opposing feelings: "Should I fight or die?" (My feelings about Calvin are ambivalent because on one hand he is a loyal friend, but on the other, he is a cruel and vicious thief.)

judicious

(adj.) having or exercising sound judgment (When the judicious king decided to compromise rather than send his army to its certain death, he was applauded.)

corrosive

(adj.) having the tendency to erode or eat away (The effect of the chemical was highly corrosive.)

ethereal

(adj.) heavenly, exceptionally delicate or refined (In her flowing silk gown and lace veil, the bride looked ethereal.)

nefarious

(adj.) heinously villainous (Although Dr. Meanman's nefarious plot to melt the polar icecaps was terrifying, it was so impractical that nobody really worried about it.)

accommodating

(adj.) helpful, obliging, polite (Though the apartment was not big enough for three people, Arnold, Mark, and Zebulon were all friends and were accommodating to each other.)

latent

(adj.) hidden, but capable of being exposed (Sigmund's dream represented his latent paranoid obsession with other people's shoes.)

ornate

(adj.) highly elaborate, excessively decorated She is ornately dressed up for her oration. (The ornate styling of the new model of luxury car could not compensate for the poor quality of its motor.)

sacrosanct

(adj.) holy, something that should not be criticized (In the United States, the Constitution is often thought of as a sacrosanct document.)

inextricable

(adj.) hopelessly tangled or entangled (Unless I look at the solution manual, I have no way of solving this inextricable problem.)

inimical

(adj.) hostile, enemylike (I don't see how I could ever work for a company that was so cold and inimical to me during my interviews.)

ignominious

(adj.) humiliating, disgracing (It was really ignominious to be kicked out of the dorm for having an illegal gas stove in my room.)

sophomoric

(adj.) immature, uninformed (The mature senior rolled her eyes at the sophomoric gross-out humor of the underclassman.)

impervious

(adj.) impenetrable, incapable of being affected (Because of their thick layer of fur, many seals are almost impervious to the cold.)

covert

(adj.) secretly engaged in (Nerwin waged a covert campaign against his enemies, while outwardly appearing to remain friendly.)

inviolable

(adj.) secure from assault (Nobody was ever able to break into Batman's inviolable Batcave.)

staid

(adj.) sedate, serious, self-restrained (The staid butler never changed his expression no matter what happened.)

insular

(adj.) separated and narrow-minded; tight-knit, closed off (Because of the sensitive nature of their jobs, those who work for the CIA must remain insular and generally only spend time with each other.)

scathing

(adj.) sharp, critical, hurtful (Two hours after breaking up with Russell, Suzanne thought of the perfect scathing retort to his accusations.)

disparate

(adj.) sharply differing, containing sharply contrasting elements (Having widely varying interests, the students had disparate responses toward the novel.)

fickle

(adj.) shifting in character, inconstant (In Greek dramas, the fickle gods help Achilles one day, and then harm him the next.)

resplendent

(adj.) shiny, glowing (The partygoers were resplendent in diamonds and fancy dress.)

heinous

(adj.) shockingly wicked, repugnant: "A heinous video from Vietnam" (The killings were made all the more heinous by the fact that the murderer first tortured his victims for three days.)

brusque

(adj.) short, abrupt, dismissive (The captain's brusque manner offended the passengers.)

ephemeral

(adj.) short-lived, fleeting (She promised she'd love me forever, but her "forever" was only ephemeral: she left me after one week.)

diligent

(adj.) showing care in doing one's work (The diligent researcher made sure to check her measurements multiple times.)

perfunctory

(adj.) showing little interest or enthusiasm "He showed perfunctory interest in her caresses as she tried to meliorate their differences." (The radio broadcaster announced the news of the massacre in a surprisingly perfunctory manner.)

iridescent

(adj.) showing rainbow colors (The bride's large diamond ring was iridescent in the afternoon sun.)

deferential

(adj.) showing respect for another's authority (His deferential attitude toward her made her more confident in her ability to run the company.)

canny

(adj.) shrewd, careful (The canny runner hung at the back of the pack through much of the race to watch the other runners, and then sprinted past them at the end.)

perspicacity

(adj.) shrewdness, perceptiveness (The detective was too humble to acknowledge that his perspicacity was the reason for his professional success.)

bashful

(adj.) shy, excessively timid (Frankie's mother told her not to be bashful when boys ask her out.)

diffident

(adj.) shy, quiet, modest (While eating dinner with the adults, the diffident youth did not speak for fear of seeming presumptuous.)

analogous

(adj.) similar to, so that an analogy can be drawn (Though they are unrelated genetically, the bone structure of whales and fish is quite analogous.)

sedentary

(adj.) sitting, settled (The sedentary cat did little but loll in the sun.)

deft

(adj.) skillful, capable (Having worked in a bakery for many years, Marcus was a deft bread maker.)

adroit

(adj.) skillful, dexterous (The adroit thief could pick someone's pocket without attracting notice.)

dormant

(adj.) sleeping, temporarily inactive (Though she pretended everything was fine, her anger lay dormant throughout the dinner party and exploded in screams of rage after everyone had left.)

somnolent

(adj.) sleepy, drowsy (The somnolent student kept falling asleep and waking up with a jerk.)

languid

(adj.) sluggish from fatigue or weakness (In the summer months, the great heat makes people languid and lazy.)

cunning

(adj.) sly, clever at being deceitful "When I practice being cunning...something gives me away."(The general devised a cunning plan to surprise the enemy.)

paucity

(adj.) small in quantity "The paucity amount of food encouraged Oliver to say"Please Sir, may I have some more?" (Gilbert lamented the paucity of twentieth century literature courses available at the college.) After dropping out of school, Troy has a paucity of opportunities in our 21st century world. 1. smallness of quantity; scarcity; scantiness: a country with a paucity of resources. 2. smallness or insufficiency of number; fewness. [paw-si-tee]

diminutive

(adj.) small or miniature (The bullies, tall and strong, picked on the diminutive child.)

anomaly

(n.) something that does not fit into the normal order ("That rip in the space- time continuum is certainly a spatial anomaly," said Spock to Captain Kirk.)

obscure

(adj.) unclear, partially hidden (Because he was standing in the shadows, his features were obscure.)

implicit

(adj.) understood but not outwardly obvious, implied (I know Professor Smith didn't actually say not to write from personal experience, but I think such a message was implicit in her instruction to use scholarly sources.)

esoteric

(adj.) understood by only a select few Jamie has esoteric understanding of wall climbing and her mother only wanted her to dust the cobwebs when she was up there." (Even the most advanced students cannot understand the physicist's esoteric theories.) understood by or meant for only the select few who have special knowledge or interest; recondite: poetry full of esoteric allusions. 2. belonging to the select few. 3.private; secret; confidential. 4.(of a philosophical doctrine or the like) intended to be revealed only to the initiates of a group: the esoteric doctrines of Pythagoras.

wanton

(adj.) undisciplined, lewd, lustful (Scarlet's wanton demeanor in the pool often made the frat guys next door very excited.)

acumen

(n.)keen insight (Because of his mathematical acumen, Larry was able to figure out in minutes problems that took other students hours.)

inchoate

(adj.) unformed or formless, in a beginning stage (The country's government is still inchoate and, because it has no great tradition, quite unstable.)

phlegmatic

(adj.) uninterested, unresponsive (Monique feared her dog was ill after the animal's phlegmatic response to his favorite chew toy.)

hapless

(adj.) unlucky (My poor, hapless family never seems to pick a sunny week to go on vacation.)

hackneyed

(adj.) unoriginal, trite (A girl can only hear "I love you" so many times before it begins to sound hackneyed and meaningless.)

noisome

(adj.) unpleasant, offensive, especially to the sense of smell (Nobody would enter the stalls until the horse's noisome leavings were taken away.)

ineffable

(adj.) unspeakable, incapable of being expressed through words (It is said that the experience of playing with a dolphin is ineffable and can only be understood through direct encounter.)

obdurate

(adj.) unyielding to persuasion or moral influences (The obdurate old man refused to take pity on the kittens.)

disgruntled

(adj.) upset, not content (The child believed that his parents had unjustly grounded him, and remained disgruntled for a week.)

exigent

(adj.) urgent, critical (The patient has an exigent need for medication, or else he will lose his sight.)

nebulous

(adj.) vaguely defined, cloudy (The transition between governments meant that who was actually in charge was a nebulous matter.)

heterogeneous

(adj.) varied, diverse in character (I hate having only one flavor so I always buy the swirled, or should I say heterogeneous, type of ice cream.)

vindictive

(adj.) vengeful (The vindictive madman seeks to exact vengeance for any insult that he perceives is directed at him, no matter how small.)

austere

(adj.) very bare, bleak (The austere furniture inside the abandoned house made the place feel haunted.)

astute

(adj.) very clever, crafty (Much of Roger's success in politics results from his ability to provide astute answers to reporters' questions.)

indigent

(adj.) very poor, impoverished (I would rather donate money to help the indigent population than to the park sculpture fund.)

capacious

(adj.) very spacious (The workers delighted in their new capacious office space.)

emaciated

(adj.) very thin, enfeebled looking If a healthy teen can become emaciated if her diets is too extreme. (My sister eats a lot of pastries and chocolate but still looks emaciated.)

scurrilous

(adj.) vulgar, coarse "The people hated the mayor that they were making remarks regarding his administration" [skur-uh-luhs, skuhr-] adjective: skərələs 1. grossly or obscenely abusive: a scurrilous attack on the mayor. 2. characterized by or using low buffoonery; coarsely jocular or derisive: a scurrilous jest. Origin: 1560-70; < Latin scurrīlis jeering, equivalent to scurr ( a ) buffoon + -īlis -ile 1. making or spreading scandalous claims about someone with the intention of damaging their reputation. "a scurrilous attack on his integrity" synonyms: defamatory, slanderous, libelous, scandalous, insulting, offensive, gross; (When Bruno heard the scurrilous accusation being made about him, he could not believe it because he always tried to be nice to everyone.)

nomadic

(adj.) wandering from place to place (In the first six months after college, Jose led a nomadic life, living in New York, California, and Idaho.)

cordial

(adj.) warm, affectionate (His cordial greeting melted my anger at once.)

bard

(n.) a poet, often a singer as well (Shakespeare is often considered the greatest bard in the history of the English language.)

artifact

(n.) a remaining piece from an extinct culture or place (The scientists spent all day searching the cave for artifacts from the ancient Mayan civilization.)

panacea

(n.) a remedy for all ills or difficulties "Laughter is a panacea for many ills." (Doctors wish there was a single panacea for every disease, but sadly there is not.)

cadence

(n.) a rhythm, progression of sound (The pianist used the foot pedal to emphasize the cadence of the sonata.)

anthology

(n.) a selected collection of writings, songs, etc. (The new anthology of Bob Dylan songs contains all his greatest hits and a few songs that you might never have heard before.)

anecdote

(n.) a short, humorous account (After dinner, Marlon told an anecdote about the time he got his nose stuck in a toaster.)

nuance

(n.) a slight variation in meaning, tone, expression (The nuances of the poem were not obvious to the casual reader, but the professor was able to point them out.)

modicum

(n.) a small amount of something (Refusing to display even a modicum of sensitivity, Henrietta announced her boss's affair in front of the entire office.)

salve

(n.) a soothing balm (After Tony applied a salve to his brilliant red sunburn, he soon felt a little better.)

oration

(n.) a speech delivered in a formal or ceremonious manner (The prime minister was visibly shaken when the unruly parliament interrupted his oration about failed domestic policies.)

eulogy

(n.) a speech given in honor of a dead person (At the funeral, the widow gave a moving elegy describing her love for her husband.)

disrepute

(n.) a state of being held in low regard (The officer fell into disrepute after it was learned that he had disobeyed the orders he had given to his own soldiers.)

crescendo

(n.) a steady increase in intensity or volume (The crescendo of the brass instruments gave the piece a patriotic feel.)

antipathy

(n.) a strong dislike, repugnance (I know you love me, but because you are a liar and a thief, I feel nothing but antipathy for you.)

innuendo

(n.) an insinuation (During the debate, the politician made several innuendos about the sexual activities of his opponent.)

affront

(n.) an insult (Bernardo was very touchy, and took any slight as an affront to his honor.)

amenity

(n.) an item that increases comfort (Bill Gates's house is stocked with so many amenities, he never has to do anything for himself.)

presage

(n.) an omen (When my tía's old war injury ached, he interpreted it as a presage of bad weather approaching.) 1. a presentiment or foreboding. 2. something that portends or foreshadows a future event; an omen, prognostic, or warning indication. 3. prophetic significance; augury. 4. foresight; prescience.

portent

(n.) an omen (When a black cat crossed my sister's path while she was walking to school, she took it as a portent that she would do badly on her spelling test.)

injunction

(n.) an order of official warning (After his house was toilet-papered for the fifth time, the mayor issued an injunction against anyone younger than 21 buying toilet paper.)

edict

(n.) an order, decree (The ruler issued an edict requiring all of his subjects to bow down before him.)

pariah

(n.) an outcast "In the final Matrix, we learn that the unpluged Agent Smith became a pariah because his narcissistic programming no longer supported the careful balance of the Matrix" (Following the discovery of his plagiarism, Professor Hurley was made a pariah in all academic circles.)

elicit

(v.) to bring forth, draw out, evoke (Although I asked several times where the exit was, I elicited no response from the stone-faced policeman.)

amalgamate

(v.) to bring together, unite Garnishing Bobby's support, César was able to amalgamate the consumers and farm workers to establish better working conditions for farm workers. (Because of his great charisma, the presidential candidate was able to amalgamate all democrats and republicans under his banner.)

subjugate

(v.) to bring under control, subdue (The invading force captured and subjugated the natives of that place.)

convene

(v.) to call together (Jason convened his entire extended family for a discussion.)

appease

(v.) to calm, satisfy The mother's gentle cooing appeased her baby." (When the child cries, the mother gives him candy to appease him.)

admonish

(v.) to caution, criticize, reprove (Joe's mother admonished him not to ruin his appetite by eating cookies before dinner.)

fetter

(v.) to chain, restrain (The dog was fettered to the parking meter.)

transmute

(v.) to change or alter in form (Ancient alchemists believed that it was possible to transmute lead into gold.)

catalyze

(v.) to charge, inspire (The president's speech catalyzed the nation and resuscitated the economy.)

enthrall

(v.) to charm, hold spellbound "The Olympic finals enthralled the Katie" (The sailor's stories of fighting off sharks and finding ancient treasures enthralled his young son.)

elucidate

(v.) to clarify, explain "Jody, can you elucidate your feeling for me?" (I didn't understand why my friend was so angry with me, so I asked Janine to elucidate her feelings.)

blandish

(v.) to coax by using flattery (Rachel's assistant tried to blandish her into accepting the deal.)

consummate

(v.) to complete a deal; to complete a marriage ceremony through sexual intercourse (Erica and Donald consummated their agreement in the executive boardroom.)

deride

(v.) to laugh at mockingly, scorn (The bullies derided the foreign student's accent.)

cavort

(v.) to leap about, behave boisterously (The adults ate their dinners on the patio, while the children cavorted around the pool.)

curtail

(v.) to lessen, reduce (Since losing his job, he had to curtail his spending.)

aspire

(v.) to long for, aim toward (The young poet aspires to publish a book of verse someday.)

debase

(v.) to lower the quality or esteem of something (The large raise that he gave himself debased his motives for running the charity.)

demean

(v.) to lower the status or stature of something (She refused to demean her secretary by making him order her lunch.)

expiate

(v.) to make amends for, atone (To expiate my selfishness, I gave all my profits to charity.)

compensate

(v.) to make an appropriate payment for something (Reginald bought Sharona a new dress to compensate her for the one he'd spilled his ice cream on.)

mitigate

(v.) to make less violent, alleviate (When I had an awful sore throat, only warm tea would mitigate the pain.)

exacerbate

(v.) to make more violent, intense (The gruesome and scary movie I saw last night exacerbated my fears of the dark.)

coerce

(v.) to make somebody do something by force or threat (The court decided that Vanilla Ice did not have to honor the contract because he had been coerced into signing it.)

defile

(v.) to make unclean, impure (She defiled the calm of the religious building by playing her banjo.)

satiate

(v.) to satisfy excessively (Satiated after eating far too much turkey and stuffing, Liza lay on the couch watching football and suffering from stomach pains.)

disperse

(v.) to scatter, cause to scatter (When the rain began to pour, the crowd at the baseball game quickly dispersed.)

berate

(v.) to scold vehemently (The angry boss berated his employees for failing to meet their deadline.)

reproach

(v.) to scold, disapprove (Brian reproached the customer for failing to rewind the video he had rented.)

rail

(v.) to scold, protest (The professor railed against the injustice of the college's tenure policy.)

reprove

(v.) to scold, rebuke (Lara reproved her son for sticking each and every one of his fingers into the strawberry pie.)

avenge

(v.) to seek revenge ( The victims will take justice into their own hands and strive to avenge themselves against the men who robbed them.)

usurp

(v.) to seize by force, take possession of without right (The rogue army general tried to usurp control of the government, but he failed because most of the army backed the legally elected president.)

dispatch

(v.) to send off to accomplish a duty (The carpenter dispatched his assistant to fetch wood.)

calibrate

(v.) to set, standardize (The mechanic calibrated the car's transmission to make the motor run most efficiently.)

truncate

(v.) to shorten by cutting off (After winning the derby, the jockey truncated the long speech he had planned and thanked only his mom and his horse.)

evince

(v.) to show, reveal (Christopher's hand-wringing and nail-biting evince how nervous he is about the upcoming English test.)

eschew

(v.) to shun, avoid (George hates the color green so much that he eschews all green food.)

adumbrate

(v.) to sketch out in a vague way (The coach adumbrated a game plan, but none of the players knew precisely what to do.)

abscond

(v.) to sneak away and hide (In the confusion, the super-spy absconded into the night with the secret plans.)

mollify

(v.) to soften in temper (The police officer mollified the angry woman by giving her a warning instead of a ticket.)

allay

(v.) to soothe, ease (The chairman of the Federal Reserve gave a speech to try to allay investors' fears about an economic downturn.)

disseminate

(v.) to spread widely (The politician disseminated his ideas across the town before the election.)

embezzle

(v.) to steal money by falsifying records (The accountant was fired for embezzling $10,000 of the company's funds.)

nurture

(v.)to assist the development of (Although Serena had never watered the plant, which was about to die, Javier was able to nurture it back to life.)

pithy

(adj.) concisely meaningful (My father's long-winded explanation was a stark contrast to his usually pithy statements.)

pejorative

(adj.) derogatory, uncomplimentary "Mad a pejorative statement on the evening news that her mom would never forgive her for." (The evening's headline news covered an international scandal caused by a pejorative statement the famous senator had made in reference to a foreign leader.)

proscribe

(v.) to condemn, outlaw (The town council voted to proscribe the sale of alcohol on weekends.)

raze

(v.) to demolish, level (The old tenement house was razed to make room for the large chain store.)

procure

(v.) to obtain, acquire "Uncle Sam will procure more people for the draft" (The FBI was unable to procure sufficient evidence to charge the gangster with racketeering.)

preclude

(v.) to prevent (My grandfather's large and vicious guard dogs precluded anyone from entering the yard.)

rebuke

(v.) to scold, criticize "Jane rebuked his advances with a slap on the hand." (When the cops showed up at Sarah's party, they rebuked her for disturbing the peace.)

parody

(n.) a satirical imitation Saturday Night Live did a parody on Hitler last last. "Austin Powers is a parody of the British and American Intelligence based on the premise of 007." (A hush fell over the classroom when the teacher returned to find Deborah acting out a parody of his teaching style.)

proclivity

(n.) a strong inclination toward something "She had a proclivity of choosing the wrong men." natural or habitual inclination or tendency; propensity; predisposition: a proclivity to meticulousness. (In a sick twist of fate, Harold's childhood proclivity for torturing small animals grew into a desire to become a surgeon.)

potentate

(n.) one who has great power and authority, as a sovereign, monarch, or ruler. The last potentate to be assassinated was J.F. Kennedy (All the villagers stood along the town's main road to observe as the potentate's procession headed towards the capital.)

pulchritude

(n.) physical beauty (Several of Shakespeare's sonnets explore the pulchritude of a lovely young man.)

petulance

(n.) rudeness, irritability (The Nanny resigned after she could no longer tolerate the child's petulance.)

precipice

(n.) the face of a cliff, a steep or overhanging place "He did a back-flip off a precipice." (The mountain climber hung from a precipice before finding a handhold and pulling himself up.)

puerile

(adj.) juvenile, immature, childishly silly and trivial. "you're making puerile excuses" Many times around his peers, Dr. House would be puerile behaving contrary to professional norms." (The judge demanded order after the lawyer's puerile attempt to object by stomping his feet on the courtroom floor.)

profane

(adj.) lewd, indecent (Jacob's profane act of dumping frogs in the holy water in the chapel at his boarding school resulted in his dismissal.)

raucous

(adj.) loud, boisterous (Sarah's neighbors called the cops when her house party got too raucous.)

penurious

(adj.) miserly, stingy (Stella complained that her husband's penurious ways made it impossible to live the lifestyle she felt she deserved.)

penultimate

(adj.) next to last (Having smoked the penultimate cigarette remaining in the pack, Cybil discarded the last cigarette and resolved to quit smoking.)

preponderance

(adj. )Also, pre·pon·der·an·cy. "Of all the preponderant of stars, ours shines most brightly to us." superiority in importance or quantity the fact or quality of being preponderant; superiority in weight, power, numbers, etc. (Britain's preponderance of naval might secured the nation's role as a military power.) The preponderance of votes is against the proposal. preponderant [adjective] superior in weight, force, influence, numbers, etc.; prevailing: a preponderant misconception.

prurient

(adj.) "Jessica has prurient thoughts." eliciting or possessing an extraordinary interest in sex (David's mother was shocked by the discovery of prurient reading material hidden beneath her son's mattress.) 2. having, inclined to have, or characterized by lascivious or lustful thoughts, desires, etc. 2. causing lasciviousness or lust. 3. having a restless desire or longing.

precocious

(adj.) advanced, developing ahead of time "It is typical for other children to become jealous of precocious children because they make the others feel insignificant in incapable." (Derek was so academically precocious that by the time he was 10 years old, he was already in the ninth grade.)

plausible

(adj.) believable, reasonable "Like that is plausible." (He studied all the data and then came up with a plausible theory that took all factors into account.)

quaint

(adj.) charmingly old-fashioned (Hilda was delighted by the quaint bonnets she saw in Amish country.)

placid

(adj.) calm, peaceful (The placid lake surface was as smooth as glass.)

philanthropic

(adj.) charitable, giving Though he Tony Stark is self-centered, his philanthropic behavior helps many." (Many people felt that the billionaire's decision to donate her fortune to house the homeless was the ultimate philanthropic act.)

rancor

(n.) deep, bitter resentment (When Eileen challenged me to a fight, I could see the rancor in her eyes.)

plaudits

(n.) enthusiastic approval, applause (The controversial new film received plaudits from even the harshest critics.)

permeate

(v.) to spread throughout, saturate (Mrs. Huxtable was annoyed that the wet dog's odor had permeated the furniture's upholstery.)

propagate

(v.)to multiply, spread out (Rumors of Paul McCartney's demise propagated like wildfire throughout the world.)

quotidian

(adj.) daily (Ambika's quotidian routines include drinking two cups of coffee in the morning.)

poignant

(adj.) deeply affecting, moving (My teacher actually cried after reading to us the poignant final chapter of the novel.)

perfidious

(adj.) disloyal, unfaithful (After the official was caught selling government secrets to enemy agents, he was executed for his perfidious ways.)

presumptuous

(adj.) disrespectfully bold (The princess grew angry after the presumptuous noble tried to kiss her, even though he was far below her in social status.) (of a person or their behavior) failing to observe the limits of what is permitted or appropriate. "I hope I won't be considered presumptuous if I offer some advice"

profligate

(adj.) dissolute, extravagant (The profligate gambler loved to drink, spend money, steal, cheat, and hang out with prostitutes.)

punctilious

(adj.) eager to follow rules or conventions (Punctilious Bobby, hall monitor extraordinaire, insisted that his peers follow the rules.)

pellucid

(adj.) easily intelligible, clear (Wishing his book to be pellucid to the common man, Albert Camus avoided using complicated grammar when composing The Stranger.)

pernicious

(adj.) extremely destructive or harmful "Everyone made room for the pernicious tyrannical, Ursula."(The new government feared that the Communist sympathizers would have a pernicious influence on the nation's stability.)

propitious

(adj.) favorable (The dark storm clouds visible on the horizon suggested that the weather would not be propitious for sailing.)

pliable

(adj.) flexible (Aircraft wings are designed to be somewhat pliable so they do not break in heavy turbulence.)

pert

(adj.) flippant, bold "Hi, Johnny! What you doing under there?" (My parents forgave Sandra's pert humor at the dinner table because it had been so long since they had last seen her.)

paramount

(adj.) greatest in importance, rank, character (It is paramount that we never drop the bomb again: it will be the end for humanity as we know it.)

pungent

(adj.) having a pointed, sharp quality—often used to describe smells "OMG! Her hair has a such a pungent smell! I think I am going to...."(The pungent odor in the classroom made Joseph lose his concentration during the test.)

rancid

(adj.) having a terrible taste or smell "Let me tell you something Jane, you smell rancid." (Rob was double-dog-dared to eat the rancid egg salad sandwich.)

pervasive

(adj.) having the tendency to spread throughout "Have you ever notice how pervasive a wink could be?" (Stepping off the plane in Havana, I recognized the pervasive odor of sugar cane fields on fire.)

quixotic

(adj.) idealistic, impractical (Edward entertained a quixotic desire to fall in love at first sight in a laundromat.)

punitive

(adj.) involving punishment Tinker Bells defiance called for punitive measures." (If caught smoking in the boys' room, the punitive result is immediate expulsion from school.)

paradox

(n.) "Because he met his father when he went back in time, Marty created a time paradox" an apparently contradictory statement that is perhaps true (The diplomat refused to acknowledge the paradox that negotiating a peace treaty would demand more resources than waging war.)

paradigm

(n.) 'She is a paradigm for younger gymnast.' an example that is a perfect pattern or model (Because the new SUV was so popular, it became the paradigm upon which all others were modeled.)

paragon

(n.) 'She is the paragon of what a yoga instructor should be: flexible, good balance, and strong" a model of excellence or perfection (The mythical Helen of Troy was considered a paragon of female beauty.)

perusal

(n.) a careful examination, review ""The perusal of her throat freaked her out." (The actor agreed to accept the role after a two-month perusal of the movie script.)

pathology

(n.) a deviation from the normal (Dr. Hastings had difficulty identifying the precise nature of Brian's pathology.)

quagmire

(n.) a difficult situation (We'd all like to avoid the kind of military quagmire characterized by the Vietnam War.)

quandary

(n.) a perplexed, unresolvable state (Carlos found himself in a quandary: should he choose mint chocolate chip or cookie dough?)

predilection

(n.) a preference or inclination for something "she has a ""Come These people had a predilection for country music and step dancing, but something went wrong and it became predilection gathering for kickers." (Francois has a predilection for eating scrambled eggs with ketchup, though I prefer to eat eggs without any condiments.)

pittance

(n.) a very small amount, especially relating to money (Josh complained that he was paid a pittance for the great amount of work he did at the firm.)

prowess

(n.) extraordinary ability Carla father never worried about his daughter's prowess to take care of herself in touchy moments." (The musician had never taken a guitar lesson in his life, making his prowess with the instrument even more incredible.)

parsimony

(n.) frugality, stinginess ' Scourge practice of parsimony without empathy aided in creating a miserable life' (Many relatives believed that my aunt's wealth resulted from her parsimony.)

privation

(n.) lacking basic necessities (After decades of rule by an oppressive government that saw nothing wrong with stealing from its citizens, the recent drought only increased the people's privation.)

rapport

(n.) mutual understanding and harmony "Jane was surprised that her rapport with Tarzan was growing into extravagant affair." (When Margaret met her paramour, they felt an instant rapport.)

pinnacle

(n.) the highest point The pinnacle of the game was the score in the last 10 seocnds of play.-- (Book reviewers declared that the author's new novel was extraordinary and probably the pinnacle of Western literature.)

propriety

(n.) the quality or state of being proper, decent "What's wrong with combing your hair while eating, Ariel said?"(Erma's old-fashioned parents believed that her mini-skirt lacked the propriety expected of a "nice" girl.)

probity

(n.) virtue, integrity (Because he was never viewed as a man of great probity, no one was surprised by Mr. Samson's immoral behavior.)

partisan

(n.)a follower, adherent (The king did not believe that his rival could round up enough partisans to overthrow the monarchy.)

pretense

(n.)an appearance or action intended to deceive " The floor is a pretense, don't stand...." (Though he actually wanted to use his parents' car to go on a date, Nick borrowed his parents' car under the pretense of attending a group study session.)

pillage

(v.) "The Third Reich plunders European Master pieces during WWII" to seize or plunder, especially in war (Invading enemy soldiers pillaged the homes scattered along the country's border.)

perplex

(v.) to confuse --John was perplexed by daughter interest in dressing him in women's clothing.-- (Brad was perplexed by his girlfriend's suddenly distant manner.)

quell

(v.) to control or diffuse a potentially explosive situation She needs to quell her need to play with incendiary devices." (The skilled leader deftly quelled the rebellion.)

prescribe

(v.) to lay down a rule "These pink rules have been prescribed by the most popular girls Everrrr so we can be all that!" (The duke prescribed that from this point further all of the peasants living on his lands would have to pay higher taxes.)

abandonment

Noun] Abandon Verb "Jane abandonment of Victorian societal restraint amazed more than just Tarzan." 1. to leave completely and finally; forsake utterly; desert: to abandon one's farm; to abandon a child; to abandon a sinking ship. 2. to give up; discontinue; withdraw from: to abandon a research project; to abandon hopes for a stage career. 3. to give up the control of: to abandon a city to an enemy army. 4. to yield (oneself) without restraint or moderation; give (oneself) over to natural impulses, usually without self-control: to abandon oneself to grief.

bereft

(adj.) devoid of, without (His family was bereft of food and shelter following the tornado.)

audible

(adj.) able to be heard Though their shouts were audible, no one would hear them screams or come to their rescue" (The missing person's shouts were unfortunately not audible.)

tranquil

(adj.) calm (There is a time of night when nothing moves and everything is tranquil.)

adorn

"Hm, how you I adorn myself today?" (We adorned the tree with ornaments.) verb (used with object) 1. to decorate or add beauty to, as by ornaments: garlands of flowers adorning their hair. 2. to make more pleasing, attractive, impressive, etc.; enhance: Piety adorned Abigail's character.

provocative

"I'm I trying to be provocative, nah! This is how I always stroll on the walk when I can't sleep." 1. causing annoyance, anger, or another strong reaction, esp. deliberately. "a provocative article" synonyms: annoying, irritating, exasperating, infuriating, maddening, vexing, galling; antonyms: soothing, calming 2. arousing sexual desire or interest, esp. deliberately. synonyms: sexy, sexually arousing, sexually exciting, alluring, seductive, suggestive, inviting, tantalizing, titillating; antonyms: modest, decorous

gesticulate

"Since Ross and Monica could not flip each other off, they came up with their gesticulation. verb (used without object), 1. to make or use gestures, especially in an animated or excited manner with or instead of speech. verb (used with object), ges·tic·u·lat·ed, ges·tic·u·lat·ing. 2. to express by gesturing.

divisive

(adj.) The divisive consequences of The Hunger Games was intended to cause confusion and infidelity" causing dissent, discord (Her divisive tactics turned her two friends against each other.)

fraught

(adj.) (usually used with "with") filled or accompanied with "Her mind was fraught with confusion." (Her glances in his direction were fraught with meaning, though precisely what meaning remained unclear.)

palette

(adj.) a range of colors or qualities --Claude Monet painted with a palette of color and emotion.--(The palette of colors utilized in the painting was equaled only by the range of intense emotions the piece evoked.)

derelict

(adj.) abandoned, run-down (Even though it was dangerous, the children enjoyed going to the deserted lot and playing in the derelict house.)

tenable

(adj.) able to be defended or maintained (The department heads tore down the arguments in other people's theses, but Johari's work proved to be quite tenable.)

dynamic

(adj.) actively changing "I have a dynamic nose." "I seem to have a dynamic personality...and a tad bipolar" (The parents found it hard to keep up with the dynamic music scene with which their children had become very familiar.)

expedient

(adj.) advisable, advantageous, serving one's self-interest (In his bid for reelection, the governor made an expedient move by tabling all controversial legislation.)

libertarian

(adj.) advocating principles of liberty and free will (The dissatisfied subjects overthrew the monarch and replaced him with a libertarian ruler who respected their democratic principles.)

dogmatic

(adj.) aggressively and arrogantly certain about unproved principles (His dogmatic claim that men were better than women at fixing appliances angered everyone.)

palatable

(adj.) agreeable to the taste or sensibilities (Despite the unpleasant smell, the exotic cheese was quite palatable.)

equivocal

(adj.) ambiguous, uncertain, undecided allowing the possibility of several different meanings, as a word or phrase, especially with intent to deceive or misguide; susceptible of double interpretation; deliberately ambiguous: an equivocal answer. 2. of doubtful nature or character; questionable; dubious; suspicious: aliens of equivocal loyalty. 3. of uncertain significance; not determined: an equivocal attitude. (His intentions were so equivocal that I didn't know whether he was being chivalrous or sleazy.)

antediluvian

(adj.) ancient; of or belonging to the time before the biblical Flood. "gigantic bones of antediluvian animals" synonyms: out of date, outdated, outmoded, old-fashioned, antiquated, "According to Cobra, The antediluvian master still believed in the archaic code of the samurai" (The antediluvian man still believed that Eisenhower was president of the United States and that hot dogs cost a nickel.)

adverse

(adj.) antagonistic, unfavorable, dangerous Though the lioness has the high ground, three-to-one are adverse condition" (Because of adverse conditions, the hikers decided to give up trying to climb the mountain.)

insidious

(adj.) appealing but imperceptibly harmful, seductive (Lisa's insidious chocolate cake tastes so good but makes you feel so sick later on!)

ostensible

(adj.) appearing as such, seemingly (Jack's ostensible reason for driving was that airfare was too expensive, but in reality, he was afraid of flying.)

fervent

(adj.) ardent, passionate She fervently drank her milk" (The fervent protestors chained themselves to the building and shouted all night long.) adjective [fur-vuhnt] Show IPA 1. having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling, enthusiasm, etc.; ardent: a fervent admirer; a fervent plea. 2. hot; burning; glowing.

chronological

(adj.) arranged in order of time 'The library featured the newly updated chronicle of fashion.' (Lionel carefully arranged the snapshots of his former girlfriends in chronological order, and then set fire to them.)

aesthetic

(adj.) artistic, related to the appreciation of beauty Greek art is revered for capturing the aesthetic beauty of the human form." (We hired Susan as our interior decorator because she has such a fine aesthetic sense.)

flabbergasted

(adj.) astounded (Whenever I read an Agatha Christie mystery novel, I am always flabbergasted when I learn the identity of the murderer.)

cognizant

(adj.) aware, mindful (Jake avoided speaking to women in bars because he was cognizant of the fact that drinking impairs his judgment.)

arbitrary

(adj.) based on factors that appear random (The boy's decision to choose one college over another seems arbitrary.)

complicit

(adj.) being an accomplice in a wrongful act (By keeping her daughter's affair a secret, Maddie became complicit in it.)

anachronistic

(adj.) being out of correct chronological order (The Germans viewed General George Patton love for war anachronistic, he should have born in the times of great Caesars.) a·nach·ro·nism [uh-nak-ruh-niz-uhm] Noun 1. something or someone that is not in its correct historical or chronological time, especially a thing or person that belongs to an earlier time: The sword is an anachronism in modern warfare.

anonymous

(adj.) being unknown, unrecognized (Mary received a love poem from an anonymous admirer.)

solipsistic

(adj.) believing that oneself is all that exists (Colette's solipsistic attitude completely ignored the plight of the homeless people on the street.)

agnostic

(adj.) believing that the existence of God cannot be proven or disproven (Joey's parents are very religious, but he is agnostic.)

acerbic

(adj.) biting, bitter in tone or taste (Jill became extremely acerbic and began to cruelly make fun of all her friends.)

caustic

(adj.) bitter, biting, acidic (The politicians exchanged caustic insults for over an hour during the debate.)

intrepid

(adj.) brave in the face of danger (After scaling a live volcano prior to its eruption, the explorer was praised for his intrepid attitude.)

concise

(adj.) brief and direct in expression (Gordon did not like to waste time, and his instructions to Brenda were nothing if not concise.)

cursory

(adj.) brief to the point of being superficial (Late for the meeting, she cast a cursory glance at the agenda.)

luminous

(adj.) brightly shining (The light of the luminous moon graced the shoulders of the beautiful maiden.)

effervescent

(adj.) bubbly, lively (My friend is so effervescent that she makes everyone smile.)

onerous

(adj.) burdensome --The onerous responsibility of the Presidency will quickly age a man.-- (My parents lamented that the pleasures of living in a beautiful country estate no longer outweighed the onerous mortgage payments.)

serene

(adj.) calm, untroubled "Diving, holding her breath, and relaxing underwater while feeling the movement of the waves always makes Lucy feel serene." (Louise stood in front of the Mona Lisa, puzzling over the famous woman's serene smile.)

malleable

(adj.) capable of being shaped or transformed (Maximillian's political opinions were so malleable that anyone he talked to was able to change his mind instantly.)

impudent

(adj.) casually rude, insolent, impertinent (The impudent young man looked the princess up and down and told her she was hot even though she hadn't asked him.)

colloquial

(adj.) characteristic of informal conversation (Adam's essay on sexual response in primates was marked down because it contained too many colloquial expressions.)

convivial

(adj.) characterized by feasting, drinking, merriment (The restaurant's convivial atmosphere put me immediately at ease.)

mercurial

(adj.) characterized by rapid change or temperamentality (Though he was widely respected for his mathematical proofs, the mercurial genius was impossible to live with.)

opulent

(adj.) characterized by rich abundance verging on ostentation -----The photo is opulent and youthfully auspicious.-- (The opulent furnishings of the dictator's private compound contrasted harshly with the meager accommodations of her subjects.)

mawkish

(adj.) characterized by sick sentimentality The mawkish Grays affection was sometimes sweet." e(Although some nineteenth-century critics viewed Dickens's writing as mawkish, contemporary readers have found great emotional depth in his works.)

winsome

(adj.) charming, pleasing -- a winsome hula dance-- (After such a long, frustrating day, I was grateful for Chris's winsome attitude and childish naivete.)

antiseptic

(adj.) clean, sterile (The antiseptic hospital was very bare, but its cleanliness helped to keep patients healthy.)

lucid

(adj.) clear, easily understandable (Because Guenevere's essay was so lucid, I only had to read it once to understand her reasoning.)

incisive

(adj.) clear, sharp, direct (The discussion wasn't going anywhere until her incisive comment allowed everyone to see what the true issues were.)

limpid

(adj.) clear, transparent (Mr. Johnson's limpid writing style greatly pleased readers who disliked complicated novels.)

ingenious

(adj.) clever, resourceful (Her ingenious use of walnuts instead of the peanuts called for by the recipe was lauded by the other garden club members who found her cake delicious.)

ribald

(adj.) coarsely, crudely humorous referring to sexual matters in an amusingly rude or irreverent way. "a ribald comment" (While some giggled at the ribald joke involving a parson's daughter, most sighed and rolled their eyes.)

imperious

(adj.) commanding, domineering (The imperious nature of your manner led me to dislike you at once.)

elaborate

(adj.) complex, detailed, intricate (Dan always beats me at chess because he develops such an elaborate game plan that I can never predict his next move.)

mundane

(adj.) concerned with the world rather than with heaven, commonplace (He is more concerned with the mundane issues of day-to-day life than with spiritual topics.)

solicitous

(adj.) concerned, attentive (Jim, laid up in bed with a nasty virus, enjoyed the solicitous attentions of his mother, who brought him soup and extra blankets.)

eclectic

(adj.) consisting of a diverse variety of elements "Alice chose from an eclectic collection of cookies" (That bar attracts an eclectic crowd: lawyers, artists, circus clowns, and investment bankers.)

myriad

(adj.) consisting of a very great number (It was difficult to decide what to do Friday night because the city presented us with myriad possibilities for fun.)

orthodox

(adj.) conventional, conforming to established protocol Many UCSD math professors support the orthodox method of teaching math via a chalkboard.-- (The company's profits dwindled because the management pursued orthodox business policies that were incompatible with new industrial trends.)

commensurate

(adj.) corresponding in size or amount (Ahab selected a very long roll and proceeded to prepare a tuna salad sandwich commensurate with his enormous appetite.)

wily

(adj.) crafty, sly --A wily jump rope trick-- (Though they were not the strongest of the Thundercats, wily Kit and Kat were definitely the most clever and full of tricks.)

recalcitrant

(adj.) defiant, unapologetic (Even when scolded, the recalcitrant young girl simply stomped her foot and refused to finish her lima beans.)

meager

(adj.) deficient in size or quality (My meager portion of food did nothing to satisfy my appetite.)

lenient

(adj.) demonstrating tolerance or gentleness (Because Professor Oglethorpe allowed his students to choose their final grades, the other teachers believed that he was excessively lenient.)

desolate

(adj.) deserted, dreary, lifeless (She found the desolate landscape quite a contrast to the hustle and bustle of the overcrowded city.)

culpable

(adj.) deserving blame (He was culpable of the crime, and was sentenced to perform community service for 75 years.)

venerable

(adj.) deserving of respect because of age or achievement --Capatain America became not only became healthily venerable because of the treatments, but his actions venerated his character.-- . (The venerable Supreme Court justice had made several key rulings in landmark cases throughout the years.)

reprehensible

(adj.) deserving rebuke (Jean's cruel and reprehensible attempt to dump her boyfriend on his birthday led to tears and recriminations.)

licentious

(adj.) displaying a lack of moral or legal restraints (Marilee has always been fascinated by the licentious private lives of politicians.) 1. sexually unrestrained; lascivious; libertine; lewd. 2. unrestrained by law or general morality; lawless; immoral. 3. going beyond customary or proper bounds or limits; disregarding rules.

aggrieved

(adj.) distressed, wronged, injured Though aggrieved and missing her prosthesis, she she found a way to use the weapon fight back" (The foreman mercilessly overworked his aggrieved employees.)

oblique

(adj.) diverging from a straight line or course, not straightforward (Martin's oblique language confused those who listened to him.)

manifold

(adj.) diverse, varied They have manifold interest" (The popularity of Dante's Inferno is partly due to the fact that the work allows for manifold interpretations.)

variegated

(adj.) diversified, distinctly marked --Each teapot had a variegated color..-- (Each wire in the engineering exam was variegated by color so that the students could figure out which one was which.)

dubious

(adj.) doubtful, of uncertain quality (Suspicious that he was only trying to get a raise, she found his praise dubious.)

gregarious

(adj.) drawn to the company of others, sociable (Well, if you're not gregarious, I don't know why you would want to go to a singles party!)

desiccated

(adj.) dried up, dehydrated (The skin of the desiccated mummy looked like old paper.)

wizened

(adj.) dry, shrunken, wrinkled (Agatha's grandmother, Stephanie, had the most wizened countenance, full of leathery wrinkles.)

insipid

(adj.) dull, boring "Can't believe I wasted my time reading this insipid letter." (The play was so insipid, I fell asleep halfway through.)

tedious

(adj.) dull, boring (As time passed and the history professor continued to drone on and on, the lecture became increasingly tedious.)

banal

(adj.) dull, commonplace (The client rejected our proposal because they found our presentation banal and unimpressive.)

irascible

(adj.) easily angered (At the smallest provocation, my irascible cat will begin scratching and clawing.)

tractable

(adj.) easily controlled (The horse was so tractable, Myra didn't even need abridle.)

docile

(adj.) easily taught or trained (She successfully taught the docile puppy several tricks.)

submissive

(adj.) easily yielding to authority "Be a good little submissive girl , and call me." (In some cultures, wives are supposed to be submissive and support their husbands in all matters.)

efficacious

(adj.) effective (My doctor promised me that the cold medicine was efficacious, but I'm still sniffling.)

euphoric

(adj.) elated, uplifted (I was euphoric when I found out that my sister had given birth to twins.)

tantamount

(adj.) equivalent in value or significance (When it comes to sports, fearing your opponent is tantamount to losing.)

reprobate

(adj.) evil, unprincipled (The reprobate criminal sat sneering in the cell.)

superfluous

(adj.) exceeding what is necessary (Tracy had already won the campaign so her constant flattery of others was superfluous.)

exorbitant

(adj.) excessive (Her exorbitant praise made me blush and squirm in my seat.)

audacious

(adj.) excessively bold (The security guard was shocked by the fan's audacious attempt to offer him a bribe.)

brazen

(adj.) excessively bold, brash (Critics condemned the novelist's brazen attempt to plagiarize Hemingway's story.)

obsequious

(adj.) excessively compliant or submissive (Mark acted like Janet's servant, obeying her every request in an obsequious manner.)

bombastic

(adj.) excessively confident, pompous (The singer's bombastic performance disgusted the crowd.)

arid

(adj.) excessively dry (Little other than palm trees and cacti grow successfully in arid environments.)

ostentatious

(adj.) excessively showy, glitzy (On the palace tour, the guide focused on the ostentatious decorations and spoke little of the royal family's history.)

idolatrous

(adj.) excessively worshipping one object or person (Xena's idolatrous fawning over the band—following them on tour, starting their fan club, filming their documentary—is really beginning to get on my nerves.)

contemporaneous

(adj.) existing during the same time (Though her novels do not feature the themes of Romanticism, Jane Austen's work was contemporaneous with that of Wordsworth and Byron.)

extant

(adj.) existing, not destroyed or lost (My mother's extant love letters to my father are in the attic trunk.)

vicarious

(adj.) experiencing through another Looks like the Lion King won't be able to live vicariously through his cub.-- (All of my lame friends learned to be social through vicarious involvement in my amazing experiences.)

tacit

(adj.) expressed without words (I interpreted my parents' refusal to talk as a tacit acceptance of my request.)

laudatory

(adj.) expressing admiration or praise (Such laudatory comments are unusual from someone who is usually so reserved in his opinions.)

stolid

(adj.) expressing little sensibility, unemotional (Charles's stolid reaction to his wife's funeral differed from the passion he showed at the time of her death.)

eloquent

(adj.) expressive, articulate, moving (The priest gave such an eloquent sermon that most churchgoers were crying.)

ominous

(adj.) foreboding or foreshadowing evil --With the rain, Cheryl has a ominous feeling something would go wrong soon.-- (The fortuneteller's ominous words flashed through my mind as the hooded figure approached me in the alley.)

frenetic

(adj.) frenzied, hectic, frantic "Jimmy frenetic after missing the ball." (In the hours between night and morning, the frenetic pace of city life slows to a lull.)

amiable

(adj.) friendly (An amiable fellow, Harry got along with just about everyone.) having or displaying a friendly and pleasant manner. "an amiable, unassuming fellow"

amicable

(adj.) friendly relations between people) having a spirit of friendliness; without serious disagreement or rancor. "there will be an amicable settlement of the dispute" (Claudia and Jimmy got divorced, but amicably and without hard feelings.)

genial

(adj.) friendly, affable "Simba was shocked by genial behavior." (Although he's been known to behave like a real jerk, I would say that my brother is an overall genial guy.)

conciliatory

(adj.) friendly, agreeable (I took Amanda's invitation to dinner as a very conciliatory gesture.)

affable

(adj.) friendly, amiable (People like to be around George because he is so affable and good-natured.)

fecund

(adj.) fruitful, fertile (The fecund tree bore enough apples to last us through the entire season.)

wistful

(adj.) full of yearning; musingly sad (Since her pet rabbit died, Edda missed it terribly and sat around wistful all day long.)

replete

(adj.) full, abundant (The unedited version was replete with naughty words.)

garish

(adj.) gaudy, in bad taste (Mrs. Watson has poor taste and covers every object in her house with a garish gold lamé.)

lurid

(adj.) ghastly, sensational (Gideon's story, in which he described a character torturing his sister's dolls, was judged too lurid to be printed in the school's literary magazine.)

sanctimonious

(adj.) giving a hypocritical appearance of piety (The sanctimonious Bertrand delivered stern lectures on the Ten Commandments to anyone who would listen, but thought nothing of stealing cars to make some cash on the side.)

torrid

(adj.) giving off intense heat, passionate (I didn't want to witness the neighbor's torrid affair through the window.)

morose

(adj.) gloomy or sullen (Karen morose nature made her very unpleasant to talk to.)

divine

(adj.) godly, exceedingly wonderful (Terribly fond of desserts, she found the rich chocolate cake to be divine.)

lithe

(adj.) graceful, flexible, supple (Although the dancers were all outstanding, Jae Sun's control of her lithe body was particularly impressive.)

harrowing

(adj.) greatly distressing, vexing It is a harrowing when you can't get a good foot hold in a perplexing situation" "Being at the heal-end of a roundhouse kick was a harrowing experience for the champion." (The car crash was a harrowing experience, but I have a feeling that the increase in my insurance premiums will be even more upsetting.)

verdant

(adj.) green in tint or color --The dancers pink skirts contrasted with the verdant waves-- (The verdant leaves on the trees made the world look emerald.)

negligent

(adj.) habitually careless, neglectful (Jessie's grandfather called me a negligent fool after I left the door to his apartment unlocked even though there had been a recent string of robberies.)

fortuitous

(adj.) happening by chance, often lucky or fortunate (After looking for Manuel and not finding him at home, Harriet had a fortuitous encounter with him at the post office.)

abstruse

(adj.) hard to comprehend "The general found it hard to believe that nuclear war was emanate." (Everyone else in the class understood geometry easily, but John found the subject abstruse.)

assiduous

(adj.) hard-working, diligent (The construction workers erected the skyscraper during two years of assiduous labor.)

deleterious

(adj.) harmful (She experienced the deleterious effects of running a marathon without stretching her muscles enough beforehand.)

defamatory

(adj.) harmful toward another's reputation How could you tell my mom I was seen kissing Peter!" (The defamatory gossip spreading about the actor made the public less willing to see the actor's new movie.)

noxious

(adj.) harmful, unwholesome (Environmentalists showed that the noxious weeds were destroying the insects' natural habitats.)

innocuous

(adj.) harmless, inoffensive (In spite of their innocuous appearance, these mushrooms are actually quite poisonous.)

callous

(adj.) harsh, cold, unfeeling (The murderer's callous lack of remorse shocked the jury.)

strident

(adj.) harsh, loud (A strident man, Captain Von Trapp yelled at his daughter and made her cry.)

vitriolic

(adj.) having a caustic quality (When angry, the woman would spew vitriolic insults.)

fetid

(adj.) having a foul odor (I can tell from the fetid smell in your refrigerator that your milk has spoiled.)

nonchalant

(adj.) having a lack of concern, indifference She tried to respond nonchalantly on the phone, but the tremor in her voice gave her away." (Although deep down she was very angry, Marsha acted in a nonchalant manner when she found out that her best friend had used her clothing without asking.)

contentious

(adj.) having a tendency to quarrel or dispute (George's contentious personality made him unpopular with his classmates.)

adamant

(adj.) impervious, immovable, unyielding Regardless of the danger, Ironman is always adamant about trying to do what is right" (Though public pressure was intense, the President remained adamant about his proposal.)

destitute

(adj.) impoverished, utterly lacking (The hurricane destroyed many homes and left many families destitute.)

lethargic

(adj.) in a state of sluggishness or apathy "John lethargic behavior made him clumsy." (When Jean Claude explained to his boss that he was lethargic and didn't feel like working that day, the boss fired him.)

consonant

(adj.) in harmony (The singers' consonant voices were beautiful.)

nascent

(adj.) in the process of being born or coming into existence (Unfortunately, my brilliant paper was only in its nascent form on the morning that it was due.)

innate

(adj.) inborn, native, inherent Tarzan has an innate ability to swing" (His incredible athletic talent is innate, he never trains, lifts weights, or practices.)

implacable

(adj.) incapable of being appeased or mitigated (Watch out: once you shun Grandma's cooking, she is totally implacable.)

inexorable

(adj.) incapable of being persuaded or placated [in-ek-ser-uh-buhl] "My intention are inexorable; I will fight tooth and nail for my man." adjective 1. unyielding; unalterable: inexorable truth; inexorable justice. 2. not to be persuaded, moved, or affected by prayers or entreaties: an inexorable creditor.(Although I begged for hours, Mom was inexorable and refused to let me stay out all night after the prom.)

insatiable

(adj.) incapable of being satisfied (My insatiable appetite for melons can be a real problem in the winter.)

irrevocable

(adj.) incapable of being taken back (The Bill of Rights is an irrevocable part of American law.)

incorrigible

(adj.) incapable of correction, delinquent (You can buy Grandma nicotine gum all you want, but I think that after sixty-five years of smoking she's incorrigible.)

inarticulate

(adj.) incapable of expressing oneself clearly through speech (Though he spoke for over an hour, the lecturer was completely inarticulate and the students had no idea what he was talking about.)

tangential

(adj.) incidental, peripheral, divergent (I tried to discuss my salary, but the boss kept veering off into tangential topics.)

comprehensive

(adj.) including everything (She sent me a comprehensive list of the ingredients needed to cook rabbit soufflé.)

fallacious

(adj.) incorrect, misleading (Emily offered me cigarettes on the fallacious assumption that I smoked.)

cumulative

(adj.) increasing, building upon itself (The cumulative effect of hours spent in the sun was a deep tan.)

incontrovertible

(adj.) indisputable (Only stubborn Tina would attempt to disprove the incontrovertible laws of physics.)

grievous

(adj.) injurious, hurtful; serious or grave in nature (Electrocuting the inmate without being sure of his guilt would be a truly grievous mistake.)

appalling

(adj.) inspiring shock, horror, disgust Paula's appalling tooth-brushing demonstration to her mom only made her grandma laugh even harder" (The judge found the murderer's crimes and lack of remorse appalling.)

odious

(adj.) instilling hatred or intense displeasure _Jack was offered the odious task of cleaning the kitchen.-- (Mark was assigned the odious task of cleaning the cat's litter box.)

remedial

(adj.) intended to repair gaps in students' basic knowledge (After his teacher discovered he couldn't read, Alex was forced to enroll in remedial English.)

ecstatic

(adj.) intensely and overpoweringly happy She became ecstatic playing with bubbles" (The couple was ecstatic when they learned that they had won the lottery.)

deliberate

(adj.) intentional, reflecting careful consideration (Though Mary was quite upset, her actions to resolve the dispute were deliberate.)

daunting

(adj.) intimidating, causing one to lose courage (He kept delaying the daunting act of asking for a promotion.)

convoluted

(adj.) intricate, complicated (Grace's story was so convoluted that I couldn't follow it.)

sensuous

(adj.) involving sensory gratification perceived by or affecting the senses: the sensuous qualities of music. 2. readily affected through the senses: a sensuous temperament. 3. of or pertaining to sensible objects or to the senses. Can be confused: sensual, (Paul found drinking Coke, with all the little bubbles bursting on his tongue, a very sensuous experience.)

extraneous

(adj.) irrelevant, extra, not necessary (Personal political ambitions should always remain extraneous to legislative policy, but, unfortunately, they rarely are.)

vacuous

(adj.) lack of content or ideas, stupid (Beyonce realized that the lyrics she had just penned were completely vacuous and tried to add more substance.)

nondescript

(adj.) lacking a distinctive character (I was surprised when I saw the movie star in person because she looked nondescript.)

pallid

(adj.) lacking color --The pallidness and unfinished quality of the statue add to its alluring depth of feminine potential.-- (Dr. Van Helsing feared that Lucy's pallid complexion was due to an unexplained loss of blood.)

apathetic

(adj.) lacking concern, emotion (Uninterested in politics, Bruno was apathetic about whether he lived under a capitalist or communist regime.)

oblivious

(adj.) lacking consciousness or awareness of something (Oblivious to the burning smell emanating from the kitchen, my father did not notice that the rolls in the oven were burned until much too late.)

vapid

(adj.) lacking liveliness, dull "Oh, Mark--you're such a vapid boy. I don't know why I spend anytime with you.-- (The professor's comments about the poem were surprisingly vapid and dull.)

obtuse

(adj.) lacking quickness of sensibility or intellect --It was her obtuse behavior that cause her to break a nail.-- (Political opponents warned that the prime minister's obtuse approach to foreign policy would embroil the nation in mindless war.)

indolent

(adj.) lazy (Why should my indolent children, who can't even pick themselves up off the couch to pour their own juice, be rewarded with a trip to the mall?)

erudite

(adj.) learned (My Latin teacher is such an erudite scholar that he has translated some of the most difficult and abstruse ancient poetry.)

torpid

(adj.) lethargic, dormant, lacking motion (The torpid whale floated, wallowing in the water for hours.)

diaphanous

(adj.) light, airy, transparent "Using a 3-d diaphanous image, Tony Stark is able to reconfigure his ideas." "She wore a diaphanous dress." (Sunlight poured in through the diaphanous curtains, brightening the room.)

flaccid

(adj.) limp, not firm or strong (If a plant is not watered enough, its leaves become droopy and flaccid.)

sinuous

(adj.) lithe, serpentine (With the sinuous movements of her arms, the dancer mimicked the motion of a snake.)

animated

(adj.) lively (When he begins to talk about drama, which is his true passion, he becomes very animated.)

vivacious

(adj.) lively, sprightly --She has a vivacious spirit-- (The vivacious clown makes all of the children laugh and giggle with his friendly antics.)

execrable

(adj.) loathsome, detestable (Her pudding is so execrable that it makes me sick.)

sublime

(adj.) lofty, grand, exalted (The homeless man sadly pondered his former wealth and once sublime existence.)

coherent

(adj.) logically consistent, intelligible (Renee could not figure out what Monroe had seen because he was too distraught to deliver a coherent statement.)

forlorn

(adj.) lonely, abandoned, hopeless (Even though I had the flu, my family decided to go skiing for the weekend and leave me home alone, feeling feverish and forlorn.)

boisterous

(adj.) loud and full of energy (The candidate won the vote after giving several boisterous speeches on television.)

vociferous

(adj.) loud, boisterous (I'm tired of his vociferous whining so I'm breaking up with him.)

succinct

(adj.) marked by compact precision (The governor's succinct speech energized the crowd while the mayor's rambled on and on.)

benevolent

(adj.) marked by goodness or doing good (Police officers should be commended for their benevolent service to the community.)

circumscribed

(adj.) marked off, bounded (The children were permitted to play tag only within a carefully circumscribed area of the lawn.)

fastidious

(adj.) meticulous, demanding, having high and often unattainable standards (Mark is so fastidious that he is never able to finish a project because it always seems imperfect to him.)

enigmatic

(adj.) mystifying, cryptic That man wearing the coat and Band-aid has an enigmatic look" (The man in the dark suit and dark glasses is so enigmatic that no one even knows his name.)

integral

(adj.) necessary for completeness (Without the integral ingredient of flour, you wouldn't be able to make bread.)

remiss

(adj.) negligent, failing to take care (The burglar gained entrance because the security guard, remiss in his duties, forgot to lock the door.)

defunct

(adj.) no longer used or existing (They planned to turn the defunct schoolhouse into a community center.)

obsolete

(adj.) no longer used, out of date (With the inventions of tape decks and CDs, which both have better sound and are easier to use, eight-track players are now entirely obsolete.)

magnanimous

(adj.) noble, generous (Although I had already broken most of her dishes, Jacqueline was magnanimous enough to continue letting me use them.)

obstreperous

(adj.) noisy, unruly (Billy's obstreperous behavior prompted the librarian to ask him to leave the reading room.)

discordant

(adj.) not agreeing, not in harmony with The birds were discordant on who should eat first, so bluebird Leonidas decided to send the other over the edge with a good kick" (The girls' sobs were a discordant sound amid the general laughter that filled the restaurant.)

speculative

(adj.) not based in fact (Sadly, Tessa was convicted on merely speculative evidence.)

indomitable

(adj.) not capable of being conquered (To be honest, Jim, my indomitable nature means I could never take orders from anyone, and especially not from a jerk like you.)

immutable

(adj.) not changeable (The laws of physics are immutable and constant.)

ingenuous

(adj.) not devious; innocent and candid (He must have writers, but his speeches seem so ingenuous it's hard to believe he's not speaking from his own heart.)

viscous

(adj.) not free flowing, syrupy "Don poured the the viscous syrup over his pancakes." (The viscous syrup took three minutes to pour out of the bottle.)

stingy

(adj.) not generous, not inclined to spend or give (Scrooge's stingy habits did not fit with the generous, giving spirit of Christmas.)

taciturn

(adj.) not inclined to talk (Though Jane never seems to stop talking, her brother is quite taciturn.)

trite

(adj.) not original, overused (Keith thought of himself as being very learned, but everyone else thought he was trite because his observations about the world were always the same as David Letterman's.)

devious

(adj.) not straightforward, deceitful (Not wanting to be punished, the devious girl blamed the broken vase on the cat.)

inept

(adj.) not suitable or capable, unqualified (She proved how inept she was when she forgot three orders and spilled a beer in a customer's lap.)

atypical

(adj.) not typical, unusual (Screaming and crying is atypical adult behavior.)

obstinate

(adj.) not yielding easily, stubborn --To bad Jack ran into a obstinate panda in the market-- (The obstinate child refused to leave the store until his mother bought him a candy bar.)

arcane

(adj.) obscure, secret, known only by a few (The professor is an expert in arcane Mayan language)

accessible

(adj.) obtainable, reachable "According to the kitten Analie, if she streches alittle more, the cord is accessible." (After studying with SparkNotes and getting a great score on the SAT, Marlena happily realized that her goal of getting into an Ivy-League college was accessible.)

prepossessing

(adj.) occupying the mind to the exclusion of other thoughts or feelings that impresses or possess favorably; engaging or attractive: a confident and prepossessing young man. (His prepossessing appearance made it impossible for me to think of anything else.) Verb] 1. to possess or dominate mentally beforehand, as a prejudice does. 2. to prejudice or bias, especially favorably. 3. to impress favorably beforehand or at the outset. "Here, let me take off my shirt so I can prepossess your thoughts.

swarthy

(adj.) of dark color or complexion (When he got drunk, Robinson's white skin became rather swarthy.)

reputable

(adj.) of good reputation (After the most reputable critic in the industry gave the novel a glowing review, sales took off.)

frivolous

(adj.) of little importance, trifling (Someday, all that anxiety about whether your zit will disappear before the prom will seem totally frivolous.)

archaic

(adj.) of or relating to an earlier period in time, outdated (In a few select regions of Western Mongolian, an archaic Chinese dialect is still spoken.)

arboreal

(adj.) of or relating to trees (Leaves, roots, and bark are a few arboreal traits.)

uncanny

(adj.) of supernatural character or origin (Luka had an uncanny ability to know exactly what other people were thinking. She also had an uncanny ability to shoot fireballs from her hands.)

flagrant

(adj.) offensive, egregious (The judge's decision to set the man free simply because that man was his brother was a flagrant abuse of power.)

officious

(adj.) offering one's services when they are neither wanted nor needed "Do you need any help drinking that?" (Brenda resented Allan's officious behavior when he selected colors that might best improve her artwork.)

antiquated

(adj.) old, out of date (That antiquated car has none of the features, like power windows and steering, that make modern cars so great.)

grandiose

(adj.) on a magnificent or exaggerated scale "Who cares about your grandiose Ideas." (Margaret planned a grandiose party, replete with elephants, trapeze artists, and clowns.)

sanguine

(adj.) optimistic, cheery (Polly reacted to any bad news with a sanguine smile and the chirpy cry, "When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!")

primeval

(adj.) original, ancient --A primeval forest.-- (The first primates to walk on two legs, called Australopithecus, were the primeval descendants of modern man.)

seminal

(adj.) original, important, creating a field 1. pertaining to, containing, or consisting of semen. 2. Botany . of or pertaining to seed. 3. having possibilities of future development. 4. highly original and influencing the development of future events: a seminal artist; seminal ideas. (Stephen Greenblatt's essays on Shakespeare proved to be seminal, because they initiated the critical school of New Historicism.)

indigenous

(adj.) originating in a region (Some fear that these plants, which are not indigenous to the region, may choke out the vegetation that is native to the area.)

elated

(adj.) overjoyed, thrilled "She was elated when she finally cut her bangs." (When she found out she had won the lottery, the writer was elated.)

scrupulous

(adj.) painstaking, careful (With scrupulous care, Sam cut a snowflake out of white paper.)

transient

(adj.) passing through briefly; passing into and out of existence (Because virtually everyone in Palm Beach is a tourist, the population of the town is quite transient.)

idiosyncratic

(adj.) peculiar to one person; highly individualized (I know you had trouble with the last test, but because your mistakes were highly idiosyncratic, I'm going to deny your request that the class be given a new test.)

contrite

(adj.) penitent, eager to be forgiven (Blake's contrite behavior made it impossible to stay angry at him.)

repentant

(adj.) penitent, sorry (The repentant Dennis apologized profusely for breaking his mother's vase.)

prosaic

(adj.) plain, lacking liveliness (Heather's prosaic recital of the poem bored the audience.)

congenial

(adj.) pleasantly agreeable (His congenial manner made him popular wherever he went.)

profuse

(adj.) plentiful, abundant --What killed King Kong was a profuse amount of bullets to his body-- (The fans were profuse in their cheers for the star basketball player.)

impecunious

(adj.) poor ("I fear he's too impecunious to take me out tonight," the bratty girl whined.)

pragmatic

(adj.) practical (The politician argued that while increased security measures might not fit with the lofty ideals of the nation, they were a pragmatic necessity to ensure everyone's safety.)

copious

(adj.) profuse, abundant (Copious amounts of Snapple were imbibed in the cafeteria.)

pugnacious

(adj.) quarrelsome, combative (Aaron's pugnacious nature led him to start several barroom brawls each month.)

agile

(adj.) quick, nimble The Crane was agile enough to catch the fish.)

demure

(adj.) quiet, modest, reserved (Though everyone else at the party was dancing and going crazy, she remained demure.)

effulgent

(adj.) radiant, splendorous (The golden palace was effulgent.)

discursive

(adj.) rambling, lacking order (The professor's discursive lectures seemed to be about every subject except the one initially described.)

impetuous

(adj.) rash; hastily done "Alice has an impetuous eating and drinking problem." (Hilda's hasty slaying of the king was an impetuous, thoughtless action.)

patent

(adj.) readily seen or understood, clear 'Trying to understand his patent mind, made Dexter feel like a pariah," (The reason for Jim's abdominal pain was made patent after the doctor performed a sonogram.)

compliant

(adj.) ready to adapt oneself to another's wishes "Jan became compliant to Tarzan wishes after becoming wet." (Sue had very strong opinions about what to do on a first date, and Ted was absolutely compliant.)

truculent

(adj.) ready to fight, cruel (This club doesn't really attract the dangerous types, so why was that bouncer being so truculent?)

disaffected

(adj.) rebellious, resentful of authority (Dismayed by Bobby's poor behavior, the parents sent their disaffected son to a military academy to be disciplined.)

intransigent

(adj.) refusing to compromise, often on an extreme opinion (The intransigent child said he would have 12 scoops of ice cream, or he would bang his head against the wall until his mother fainted from fear.)

cerebral

(adj.) related to the intellect (The books we read in this class are too cerebral— they don't engage my emotions at all.)

utilitarian

(adj.) relating to or aiming at usefulness "She finds the bat a utilitarian device: as a dance partner, baseball, and deterring unwanted advances." (The beautiful, fragile vase couldn't hold flowers or serve any other utilitarian purpose.)

epistolary

(adj.) relating to or contained in letters (Some people call me "Auntie's boy," because my aunt and I have such a close epistolary relationship that we write each other every day.)

nocturnal

(adj.) relating to or occurring during the night (Jackie was a nocturnal person; she would study until dawn and sleep until the evening.)

terrestrial

(adj.) relating to the land (Elephants are terrestrial animals.)

aquatic

(adj.) relating to water "Flipper is an aquatic mammal." (The marine biologist studies starfish and other aquatic creatures.)

penitent

(adj.) remorseful, regretful (The jury's verdict may have been more lenient if the criminal had appeared penitent for his gruesome crimes.

strenuous

(adj.) requiring tremendous energy or stamina (Running a marathon is quite a strenuous task. So is watching an entire Star Trek marathon.)

aloof

(adj.) reserved, distant (The scientist could sometimes seem aloof, as if he didn't care about his friends or family, but really he was just thinking about quantum mechanics.)

impregnable

(adj.) resistant to capture or penetration (Though the invaders used battering rams, catapults, and rain dances, the fortress proved impregnable and resisted all attacks.)

restive

(adj.) resistant, stubborn, impatient (The restive audience pelted the band with mud and yelled nasty comments.)

hallowed

(adj.) revered, consecrated (In the hallowed corridors of the cathedral, the disturbed professor felt himself to be at peace.)

affluent

(adj.) rich, wealthy (Mrs. Grebelski was affluent, owning a huge house, three cars, and an island near Maine.)

hardy

(adj.) robust, capable of surviving through adverse conditions (I too would have expected the plants to be dead by mid-November, but apparently they're very hardy.)

commodious

(adj.) roomy (Holden invited the three women to join him in the back seat of the taxicab, assuring them that the car was quite commodious.)

putrid

(adj.) rotten, foul Since I did't shower, maybe Tommy won't notice my putrid smell if I just spray on a little cologne to hide to hide my rancid body odor." (Those rotten eggs smell putrid.)

circuitous

(adj.) roundabout "There circuitous prance took the to the the of the stage" (The bus's circuitous route took us through numerous outlying suburbs.)

insolent

(adj.) rude, arrogant, overbearing (That celebrity is so insolent, making fun of his fans right to their faces.)

impertinent

(adj.) rude, insolent (Most of your comments are so impertinent that I don't wish to dignify them with an answer.)

clandestine

(adj.) secret (Announcing to her boyfriend that she was going to the gym, Sophie actually went to meet Joseph for a clandestine liaison.)

furtive

(adj.) secretive, sly (Jane's placement of her drugs in her sock drawer was not as furtive as she thought, as the sock drawer is the first place most parents look.)

unctuous

(adj.) smooth or greasy in texture, appearance, manner "He is becoming more unctuous each day" (The unctuous receptionist seemed untrustworthy, as if she was only being helpful because she thought we might give her a big tip.)

decorous

(adj.) socially proper, appropriate (The appreciative guest displayed decorous behavior toward his host.)

reclusive

(adj.) solitary, shunning society "Tarzan had lived a reclusive life." (Reclusive authors such as J.D. Salinger do not relish media attention and sometimes even enjoy holing up in remote cabins in the woods.)

aerial

(adj.) somehow related to the air (We watched as the fighter planes conducted aerial maneuvers.)

pacific

(adj.) soothing --The pacific calm of the water creates an eerie feeling-- (The chemistry professor's pacific demeanor helped the class remain calm after the experiment exploded.)

emollient

(adj.) soothing (This emollient cream makes my skin very smooth.)having the power of softening or relaxing, as a medicinal substance; soothing, especially to the skin: emollient lotions for the face. Synonyms: relieving, palliative, healing, assuasive. noun: an emollient medicine, lotion, salve, etc.

cosmopolitan

(adj.) sophisticated, worldly (Lloyd's education and upbringing were cosmopolitan, so he felt right at home among the powerful and learned.)

scintillating

(adj.) sparkling (The ice skater's scintillating rhinestone costume nearly blinded the judges.)

surreptitious

(adj.) stealthy (The surreptitious CIA agents were able to get in and out of the house without anyone noticing.)

impassive

(adj.) stoic, not susceptible to suffering (Stop being so impassive; it's healthy to cry every now and then.)

inveterate

(adj.) stubbornly established by habit (I'm the first to admit that I'm an inveterate coffee drinker—I drink four cups a day.)

pertinacious

(adj.) stubbornly persistent (Harry's parents were frustrated with his pertinacious insistence that a monster lived in his closet. Then they opened the closet door and were eaten.)

capricious

(adj.) subject to whim, fickle (The young girl's capricious tendencies made it difficult for her to focus on achieving her goals.)

servile

(adj.) subservient --Her stepmother made Cinderella servile always waiting on her daughters.-- (The servile porter crept around the hotel lobby, bowing and quaking before the guests.)

potable

(adj.) suitable for drinking "Though it doesn't taste like OJ, Sunny-D is potable and cheap." (During sea voyages it is essential that ships carry a supply of potable water because salty ocean water makes anyone who drinks it sick.)

arable

(adj.) suitable for growing crops (The farmer purchased a plot of arable land on which he will grow corn and sprouts.)

hypothetical

(adj.) supposed or assumed true, but unproven (Even though it has been celebrated by seven major newspapers, that the drug will be a success when tested in humans is still hypothetical.)

turgid

(adj.) swollen, excessively embellished in style or language (The haughty writer did not realize how we all really felt about his turgid prose.)

figurative

(adj.) symbolic (Using figurative language, Jane likened the storm to an angry bull.)

derivative

(adj.) taken directly from a source, unoriginal (She was bored by his music because she felt that it was derivative and that she had heard it before.)

garrulous

(adj.) talkative, wordy (Some talk show hosts are so garrulous that their guests can't get a word in edgewise.)

dilatory

(adj.) tending to delay, causing delay (The general's dilatory strategy enabled the enemy to regroup.)

laconic

(adj.) terse in speech or writing (The author's laconic style has won him many followers who dislike wordiness.)

archetypal

(adj.) the most representative or typical example of something (Some believe George Washington, with his flowing white hair and commanding stature, was the archetypal politician.)

frugal

(adj.) thrifty, economical (Richard is so frugal that his diet consists almost exclusively of catfish and chicken liver—the two most inexpensive foods in the store.)

timorous

(adj.) timid, fearful (When dealing with the unknown, timorous Tallulah almost always broke into tears.)

prescient

(adj.) to have foreknowledge of events (Questioning the fortune cookie's prediction, Ray went in search of the old hermit who was rumored to be prescient.)

nominal

(adj.) trifling, insignificant Because of the safety glass, the child has nominal concern about being close to a full grown African lion." (Because he was moving the following week and needed to get rid of his furniture more than he needed money, Jordan sold everything for a nominal fee.)

fractious

(adj.) troublesome or irritable (Although the child insisted he wasn't tired, his fractious behavior—especially his decision to crush his cheese and crackers all over the floor—convinced everyone present that it was time to put him to bed.)

stoic

(adj.) unaffected by passion or feeling (Penelope's faithfulness to Odysseus required that she be stoic and put off her many suitors.)

gratuitous

(adj.) uncalled for, unwarranted (Every morning the guy at the donut shop gives me a gratuitous helping of ketchup packets.)

ambiguous

(adj.) uncertain, variably interpretative "Dali's Painting is ambiguous." Some people think Caesar married Cleopatra for her power, others believe he was charmed by her beauty. His actual reasons are ambiguous.)

vigilant

(adj.) watchful, alert Alice was cautious of the huge vigilant cat-- (The guards remained vigilant throughout the night, but the enemy never launched the expected attack.)

maudlin

(adj.) weakly sentimental Girls are finding the shinning knight a maudlin theory.-- (Although many people enjoy romantic comedies, I usually find them maudlin and shallow.)

querulous

(adj.) whiny, complaining (If deprived of his pacifier, young Brendan becomes querulous.)

notorious

(adj.) widely and unfavorably known "The character Barney notorious for hooking up with women." (Jacob was notorious for always arriving late at parties.)

feral

(adj.) wild, savage Being locked up unjustly and wrongly accused released in Tiffany a feral attitude, she would not go quietly" (That beast looks so feral that I would fear being alone with it.)

amenable

(adj.) willing, compliant (Our father was amenable when we asked him to drive us to the farm so we could go apple picking.)

tortuous

(adj.) winding (The scary thing about driving in mountains are the narrow, tortuous roads.)

amorphous

(adj.) without definite shape or type (The effort was doomed from the start, because the reasons behind it were so amorphous and hard to pin down.)

interminable

(adj.) without possibility of end (The fact that biology lectures came just before lunch made them seem interminable.)

verbose

(adj.) wordy, impaired by wordiness --The President found a creative way to limit the verbosity of the reporters questions.-- (It took the verbose teacher two hours to explain the topic, while it should have taken only fifteen minutes.)

meritorious

(adj.) worthy of esteem or reward (Manfred was given the congressional medal of honor for his meritorious actions.)

abject

(adj.) wretched, pitiful (After losing all his parents' retirement money, accidently killing his girlfriend, falling into a crime ring , and breaking his ankle, John became an abject coward afraid to even move.)

ascetic

(adj.)"an ascetic life of prayer, fasting, and manual labor" practicing restraint as a means of self-discipline, usually religious (The priest lives an ascetic life devoid of television, savory foods, and other pleasures.)

amorous

(adj.)1a. showing love, particularly sexual (Whenever Albert saw Mariah wear her slinky red bikini, he began to feel quite amorous.) 1 b.showing, feeling, or relating to sexual desire. "she rejected his amorous advances" synonyms: romantic, lustful, sexual, erotic, amatory, ardent, passionate, impassioned;

protean

(adj.)able to change shape; displaying great variety (Among Nigel's protean talents was his ability to touch the tip of his nose with his tongue.)

circumspect

(adj.)cautious (Though I promised Rachel's father I would bring her home promptly by midnight, it would have been more circumspect not to have specified a time.)

trenchant

(adj.)effective, articulate, clear-cut (The directions that accompanied my new cell phone were trenchant and easy to follow.)

impeccable

(adj.)exemplary, flawless (If your grades were as impeccable as your sister's, then you too would receive a car for a graduation present.)

ubiquitous

(adj.)existing everywhere, widespread (It seems that everyone in the United States has a television. The technology is ubiquitous here.)

corpulence

(adj.)extreme fatness (Henry's corpulence did not make him any less attractive to his charming, svelte wife.)

rash

(adj.)hasty, incautious "Tarzan was a little rash with his with his curiosity" (It's best to think things over calmly and thoroughly, rather than make rash decisions.)

mendacious

(adj.)having a lying, false character "You mendacious wench, I trusted you with Jack!" (The mendacious content of the tabloid magazines is at least entertaining.)

cogent

(adj.)intellectually convincing (Irene's arguments in favor of abstinence were so cogent that I could not resist them.)

dour

(adj.)stern, joyless (The children feared their dour neighbor because the old man would take their toys if he believed they were being too loud.)

incessant

(adj.)unending (We wanted to go outside and play, but the incessant rain kept us indoors for two days.)

malevolent

(adj.)wanting harm to befall others (The malevolent old man sat in the park all day, tripping unsuspecting passersby with his cane.)

vehemently

(adv.) marked by intense force or emotion --When they threaten to kill his wife, Tom vehemently broke down.-- (The candidate vehemently opposed cutting back on Social Security funding.)

battery

(n.) 2. (n.)assault, beating (Her husband was accused of assault and battery after he attacked a man on the sidewalk.) 1. a device that supplies power (Most cars run on a combination of power from a battery and gasoline.)

novice

(n.) a beginner, someone without training or experience "As a novice regarding the perils of surviving in the jungle, Jane was a a loss and scared." (Because we were all novices at yoga, our instructor decided to begin with the basics.)

hiatus

(n.) a break or gap in duration or continuity (The hiatus in service should last two or three months—until the cable lines are repaired .)

respite

(n.) a break, rest (Justin left the pub to gain a brief respite from the smoke and noise.)

bane

(n.) a burden (Advanced physics is the bane of many students' academic lives.)

conduit

(n.) a pipe or channel through which something passes (The water flowed through the conduit into the container.)

maxim

(n.) a common saying expressing a principle of conduct "How about, "All work makes Paul a dull boy." (Miss Manners's etiquette maxims are both entertaining and instructional.)

artisan

(n.) a craftsman (The artisan is using wood and iron to make beautiful barrels.)

malediction

(n.) a curse (When I was arrested for speeding, I screamed maledictions against the policeman and the entire police department.)

aspersion

(n.) a curse, expression of ill-will (The rival politicians repeatedly cast aspersions on each others' integrity.)

anathema

(n.) a cursed, detested person [uh-nath-uh-muh] noun, plural a·nath·e·mas. 1. a person or thing detested or loathed: That subject is anathema to him. 2. a person or thing accursed or consigned to damnation or destruction. 3. a formal ecclesiastical curse involving excommunication. 4. any imprecation of divine punishment. 5.a curse; execration. (I never want to see that murderer. He is an anathema to me.)

laceration

(n.) a cut, tear (Because he fell off his bike into a rosebush, the paperboy's skin was covered with lacerations.)

requisition

(n.) a demand for goods, usually made by an authority (During the war, the government made a requisition of supplies.)

maelstrom

(n.) a destructive whirlpool which rapidly sucks in objects (Little did the explorers know that as they turned the next bend of the calm river a vicious maelstrom would catch their boat.)

debacle

(n.) a disastrous failure, disruption (The elaborately designed fireworks show turned into a debacle when the fireworks started firing in random directions.)

altercation

(n.) a dispute, fight (Jason and Lionel blamed one another for the car accident, leading to an altercation.)

alias

(n.) a false name or identity (He snuck past the guards by using an alias and fake ID.)

congregation

(n.) a gathering of people, especially for religious services (The priest told the congregation that he would be retiring.)

confluence

(n.) a gathering together (A confluence of different factors made tonight the perfect night.)

zephyr

(n.) a gentle breeze (If not for the zephyrs that were blowing and cooling us, our room would've been unbearably hot.)

boon

(n.) a gift or blessing (The good weather has been a boon for many businesses located near the beach.)

colossus

(n.) a gigantic statue or thing (For 56 years, the ancient city of Rhodes featured a colossus standing astride its harbor.)

salutation

(n.) a greeting "Laura waved her hand in an obligatory salutation" sa(Andrew regularly began letters with the bizarre salutation "Ahoy ahoy.")

travesty

(n.) a grossly inferior imitation (According to the school newspaper's merciless theater critic, Pacific Coast High's rendition of the musical Oklahoma was a travesty of the original.)

dearth

(n.) a lack, scarcity (An eager reader, she was dismayed by the dearth of classic books at the library.)

tome

(n.) a large book (In college, I used to carry around an anatomy book that was the heaviest tome in my bag.)

demagogue

(n.) a leader who appeals to a people's prejudices (The demagogue strengthened his hold over his people by blaming immigrants for the lack of jobs.)

tirade

(n.) a long speech marked by harsh or biting language (Every time Jessica was late, her boyfriend went into a long tirade about punctuality.)

ballad

(n.) a love song (Greta's played for her boyfriend a ballad on the guitar during their walk through the dark woods.)

vestige

(n.) a mark or trace of something lost or vanished --The only vestige of man after after bio-terrorism will be our artifacts, and even those are susceptible to decay. (Do you know if the Mexican tortilla is a vestige of some form of Aztec corn-based flat bread?)

forum

(n.) a medium for lecture or discussion (Some radio talk-shows provide a good forum for political debate.)

caucus

(n.) a meeting usually held by people working toward the same goal (The ironworkers held a caucus to determine how much of a pay increase they would request.)

bourgeois

(n.) a middle-class person, capitalist (Many businessmen receive criticism for their bourgeois approach to life.)

medley

(n.) a mixture of differing things (Susannah's wardrobe contained an astonishing medley of colors, from olive green to fluorescent pink.)

dirge

(n.) a mournful song, especially for a funeral (The bagpipers played a dirge as the casket was carried to the cemetery.)

commendation

(n.) a notice of approval or recognition (Jared received a commendation from Linda, his supervisor, for his stellar performance.)

aversion

(n.) a particular dislike for something (Because he's from Hawaii, Ben has anaversion to autumn, winter, and cold climates in general.)

aisle

(n.) a passageway between rows of seats (Once we got inside the stadium we walked down the aisle to our seats.)

epitome

(n.) a perfect example, embodiment (My mother, the epitome of good taste, always dresses more elegantly than I do.)

confidant

(n.) a person entrusted with secrets (Shortly after we met, she became my chief confidant.)

cobbler

(n.) a person who makes or repairs shoes (I had my neighborhood cobbler replace my worn-out leather soles with new ones.)

veneer

(n.) a superficial or deceptively attractive appearance, façade --His glamorous veneer hid his true intent.-- (Thanks to her Chanel makeup, Shannen was able to maintain a veneer of perfection that hid the flaws underneath.)

confection

(n.) a sweet, fancy food (We went to the mall food court and purchased a delicious confection.)

hierarchy

(n.) a system with ranked groups, usually according to social, economic, or professional class (Women found it very difficult to break into the upper ranks of the department's hierarchy.)

reprieve

(n.) a temporary delay of punishment (Because the governor woke up in a particularly good mood, he granted hundreds of reprieves to prisoners.)

bias

(n.) a tendency, inclination, prejudice (The judge's hidden bias against smokers led him to make an unfair decision.)

penchant

(n.) a tendency, partiality, preference Jimmy has a penchant for dancing on the deck of ships .-- (Jill's dinner parties quickly became monotonous on account of her penchant for Mexican dishes.)

ruse

(n.) a trick (Oliver concocted an elaborate ruse for sneaking out of the house to meet his girlfriend while simultaneously giving his mother the impression that he was asleep in bed.)

excursion

(n.) a trip or outing (After taking an excursion to the Bronx Zoo, I dreamed about pandas and monkeys.)

dialect

(n.) a variation of a language (In the country's remote, mountainous regions, the inhabitants spoke a dialect that the country's other inhabitants had difficulty understanding.)

semaphore

(n.) a visual signal (Anne and Diana communicated with a semaphore involving candles and window shades.)

morass

(n.) a wet swampy bog; figuratively, something that traps and confuses (When Theresa lost her job, she could not get out of her financial morass.)

chaos

(n.) absolute disorder (Mr. Thornton's sudden departure for the lavatory plunged his classroom into chaos.)

sagacity

(n.) acuteness of mental discernment and soundness of judgment, shrewdness, soundness of perspective "If you just listen to me, all you need is a cup of tea." (With remarkable sagacity, the wise old man predicted and thwarted his children's plan to ship him off to a nursing home.)

plethora

(n.) an abundance, excess "She took a plethora of dogs to the face." (The wedding banquet included a plethora of oysters piled almost three feet high.)

plenitude

(n.) an abundance: a plenitude of monarch butterflies fly south"(My grandmother was overwhelmed by the plenitude of tomatoes her garden yielded this season.)

consolation

(n.) an act of comforting (Darren found Alexandra's presence to be a consolation for his suffering.)

polemic

(n.) an aggressive argument against a specific opinion (My brother launched into a polemic against my arguments that capitalism was an unjust economic system.)

accord

(n.) an agreement (After much negotiating, England and Iceland finally came to a mutually beneficial accord about fishing rights off the cost of Greenland.)

consensus

(n.) an agreement of opinion (The jury was able to reach a consensus only after days of deliberation.)

invective

(n.) an angry verbal attack (My mother's irrational invective against the way I dress only made me decide to dye my hair green.)

calumny

(n.) an attempt to spoil someone else's reputation by spreading lies (The local official's calumny ended up ruining his opponent's prospect of winning the election.)

mandate

(n.) an authoritative command --Katness manifested her desire to save her sister from the futility of the Hunger Games.-- (In the Old Testament, God mandates that no one should steal.)

pathos

(n.) an emotion of sympathy (Martha filled with pathos upon discovering the scrawny, shivering kitten at her door.)

increment

(n.) an enlargement; the process of increasing(The workmen made the wall longer, increment by increment.)

constituent

(n.) an essential part (The most important constituent of her perfume is something called ambergris.)

calamity

(n.) an event with disastrous consequences (The earthquake in San Francisco was a calamity worse than any other natural disaster in history.)

paradigm

(n.) an example that is a perfect pattern or model (Because the new SUV was so popular, it became the paradigm upon which all others were modeled.)

compliment

(n.) an expression of esteem or approval (I blushed crimson when Emma gave me a compliment on my new haircut.)

condolence

(n.) an expression of sympathy in sorrow (Brian lamely offered his condolences on the loss of his sister's roommate's cat.)

utopia

(n.) an imaginary and remote place of perfection (Everyone in the world wants to live in a utopia, but no one can agree how to go about building one.)

blemish

(n.) an imperfection, flaw "though her hand did not have any blemishes, her pear-shaped diamond did" (The dealer agreed to lower the price because of the many blemishes on the surface of the wooden furniture.)

propensity

(n.) an inclination, preference (Dermit has a propensity for dangerous activities such as bungee jumping.)

maverick

(n.) an independent, nonconformist person (Andreas is a real maverick and always does things his own way.)

infusion

(n.) an injection of one substance into another; the permeation of one substance by another (The infusion of Eastern religion into Western philosophy created interesting new schools of thought.)

acrimony

(n.) bitterness, discord They filled with acrimony when sweet Amanda caught the bouquet" (Though they vowed that no girl would ever come between them, Biff and Trevor could not keep acrimony from overwhelming their friendship after they both fell in love with the lovely Teresa.)

ennui

(n.) boredom, weariness (I feel such ennui that I don't look forward to anything, not even my birthday party.)

camaraderie

(n.) brotherhood, jovial unity (Camaraderie among employees usually leads to success in business.)

contusion

(n.) bruise, injury (The contusions on his face suggested he'd been in a fight.)

prudence

(n.) cautious, circumspect The baby elephant learns that it is a good idea to exhibit prudence around water." "After almost drowning, she (After losing a fortune in a stock market crash, my father vowed to practice greater prudence in future investments.)

equanimity

(n.) composure "She showed composure after embezzling from her boss" (Even though he had just been fired, Mr. Simms showed great equanimity by neatly packing up his desk and wishing everyone in the office well.)

duplicity

(n.) crafty dishonesty (His duplicity involved convincing his employees to let him lower their salaries and increase their stock options, and then to steal the money he saved and run the company into the ground.)

guile

(n.) deceitful, cunning, sly behavior (Because of his great guile, the politician was able to survive scandal after scandal.)

legerdemain

(n.) deception, slight-of-hand (Smuggling the French plants through customs by claiming that they were fake was a remarkable bit of legerdemain.)

abnegation

(n.) denial of comfort to oneself (The holy man slept on the floor, took only cold showers, and generally followed other practices of abnegation.)

turpitude

(n.) depravity, moral corruption (Sir Marcus's chivalry often contrasted with the turpitude he exhibited with the ladies at the tavern.)

discrepancy

(n.) difference, failure of things to correspond (He was troubled by the discrepancy between what he remembered paying for the appliance and what his receipt showed he paid for it.)

irreverence

(n.) disrespect "Heather tries an irreverent dance as a ploy to break the guards stoic posture, but it didn't work" adjective not reverent; manifesting or characterized by irreverence; deficient in veneration or respect: an irreverent reply. (The irreverence displayed by the band that marched through the chapel disturbed many churchgoers.)

compunction

(n.) distress caused by feeling guilty (He felt compunction for the shabby way he'd treated her.)

hegemony

(n.) domination over others (Britain's hegemony over its colonies was threatened once nationalist sentiment began to spread around the world.)

cupidity

(n.) eager or excessive desire, especially to possess something; greed; avarice. (His cupidity made him enter the abandoned gold mine despite the obvious dangers.)

alacrity

(n.) eagerness, speed (For some reason, Chuck loved to help his mother whenever he could, so when his mother asked him to set the table he did so with alacrity.)

vicissitude

(n.) event that occurs by chance To cut down on the negative vicissitudes of life, be careful of who you date,-- (The vicissitudes of daily life prevent me from predicting what might happen from one day to the next.)

avarice

(n.) excessive greed (The banker's avarice led him to amass a tremendous personal fortune.)

ostracism

(n.) exclusion from a group ---Because of lack of empathy, many students are ostracized because of their sexual identity.-- (Beth risked ostracism if her roommates discovered her flatulence [farting].)

adulation

(n.) extreme praise (Though the book was pretty good, Marcy did not believe it deserved the adulation it received.)

anguish

(n.) extreme sadness, torment "(He felt anguish at the death of his father" (Angelos suffered terrible anguish when he learned that Buffy had died while combating a strange mystical force of evil.)

ardor

(n.) extreme vigor, energy, enthusiasm His ardor to catch up caused him to slip and fall" (The soldiers conveyed their ardor with impassioned battle cries.)

agriculture

(n.) farming (It was a huge step in the progress of civilization when tribes left hunting and gathering and began to develop more sustainable methods of obtaining food, such as agriculture.)

trepidation

(n.) fear, apprehension [trep-i-dey-shuhn] noun 1.tremulous fear, alarm, or agitation; perturbation. 2. trembling or quivering movement; tremor.(Feeling great trepidation, Anya refused to jump into the pool because she thought she saw a shark in it.)

absolution

(n.) freedom from blame, guilt, sin (Once all the facts were known, the jury gave Angela absolution by giving a verdict of not guilty.) "Pontius washed his hands as a sign of absolution"

munificence

(n.) generosity in giving (The royal family's munificence made everyone else in their country rich.)

conflagration

(n.) great fire (The conflagration consumed the entire building.)

duress

(n.) hardship, threat "George McFly only reacted when he saw his girlfriend under duress" (It was only under intense duress that he, who was normally against killing, fired his gun.)

concord

(n.) harmonious agreement (Julie and Harold began the evening with a disagreement, but ended it in a state of perfect concord.)

accolade

(n.) high praise, special distinction (Everyone offered accolades to Einsten and requested pictures after he won the Noble Prize.)

enmity

(n.) ill will, hatred, hostility [en-mi-tee] noun, plural en·mi·ties. a feeling or condition of hostility; hatred; ill will; animosity; antagonism. (Mark and Andy have clearly not forgiven each other, because the enmity between them is obvious to anyone in their presence.)

effrontery

(n.) impudence, nerve, insolence (When I told my aunt that she was boring, my mother scolded me for my effrontery.)

circumlocution

(n.) indirect and wordy language (The professor's habit of speaking in circumlocutions made it difficult to follow his lectures.)

anxiety

(n.) intense uneasiness (When he heard about the car crash, he felt anxiety because he knew that his girlfriend had been driving on the road where the accident occurred.)

dissonance

(n.) lack of harmony or consistency (Though the president of the company often spoke of the company as reliant solely upon its workers, her decision to increase her own salary rather than reward her employees revealed a striking dissonance between her alleged beliefs and her actions.)

grandiloquence

(n.) lofty, pompous language (The student thought her grandiloquence would make her sound smart, but neither the class nor the teacher bought it.)

anesthesia

(n.) loss of sensation (When the nerves in his spine were damaged, Mr. Hollins suffered anesthesia in his legs.)

fidelity

(n.) loyalty, devotion (Guard dogs are known for the great fidelity they show toward their masters.)

serendipity

(n.) luck, finding good things without looking for them --Dorothy's serendipitous luck of caused her house to land on the witch,which gave her a way home: the ruby slippers.-- (In an amazing bit of serendipity, penniless Paula found a $20 bill in the subway station.)

clergy

(n.) members of Christian holy orders (Though the villagers viewed the church rectory as quaint and charming, the clergy who lived there regarded it as a mildewy and dusty place that aggravated their allergies.)

clemency

(n.) mercy (After he forgot their anniversary, Martin could only beg Maria for clemency.)

temperance

(n.) moderation in action or thought (Maintaining temperance will ensure that you are able to think rationally and objectively.)

infamy

(n.) notoriety, extreme ill repute (The infamy of his crime will not lessen as the decades pass.)

larceny

(n.) obtaining another's property by theft or trickery (When my car was not where I had left it, I realized that I was a victim of larceny.)

surrogate

(n.) one acting in place of another (The surrogate carried the child to term for its biological parents.)

iconoclast

(n.) one who attacks common beliefs or institutions (Jane goes to one protest after another, but she seems to be an iconoclast rather than an activist with a progressive agenda.)

conformist

(n.) one who behaves the same as others (Julian was such a conformist that he had to wait and see if his friends would do something before he would commit.)

hedonist

(n.) one who believes pleasure should be the primary pursuit of humans (Because he's such a hedonist, I knew Murray would appreciate the 11 cases of wine I bought him for his birthday.)

arbiter

(n.) one who can resolve a dispute, make a decision (The divorce court judge will serve as the arbiter between the estranged husband and wife.)

virtuoso

(n.) one who excels in an art; a highly skilled musical performer --the dancers perform a virtuoso performance.-- (Even though Lydia has studied piano for many years, she's only average at it. She's no virtuoso,that's for sure.)

sycophant

(n.) one who flatters for self-gain (Some see the people in the cabinet as the president's closest advisors, but others see them as sycophants.)

toady

(n.) one who flatters in the hope of gaining favors (The other kids referred to the teacher's pet as the Tenth Grade Toady.)

despot

(n.) one who has total power and rules brutally (The despot issued a death sentence for anyone who disobeyed his laws.)

inquisitor

(n.) one who inquires, especially in a hostile manner (The inquisitor was instructed to knock on every door in town in order to find the fugitive.)

insurgent

(n.) one who rebels (The insurgent snuck into and defaced a different classroom each night until the administration agreed to meet his demands.)

anarchist

(n.) one who wants to eliminate all government (An anarchist, Carmine wanted to dissolve every government everywhere.)

gluttony

(n.) overindulgence in food or drink (Ada's fried chicken tastes so divine, I don't know how anyone can call gluttony a sin.)

forbearance

(n.) patience, restraint, toleration (The doctor showed great forbearance in calming down the angry patient who shouted insults at him.)

approbation

(n.) praise (The crowd welcomed the heroes with approbation.)

kudos

(n.) praise for an achievement (After the performance, the reviewers gave the opera singer kudos for a job well done.)

hypocrisy

(n.) pretending to believe what one does not practice (Once the politician began passing legislation that contradicted his campaign promises, his hypocrisy became apparent.)

conundrum

(n.) puzzle, problem (Interpreting Jane's behavior was a constant conundrum.)

credulity

(n.) readiness to believe (His credulity made him an easy target for con men.)

umbrage

(n.) resentment, offense He took umbrage at being portrayed as having unsportsmanship like conduct." (He called me a lily-livered coward, and I took umbrage at the insult.)

linchpin

(n.) something that holds separate parts together (The linchpin in the prosecution's case was the hair from the defendant's head, which was found at the scene of the crime.)

analgesic

(n.) something that reduces pain (Put this analgesic on the wound so that the poor man at least feels a little better.)

criteria

(n.) standards by which something is judged (Among Mrs. Fields's criteria for good cookies are that they be moist and chewy.)

fortitude

(n.) strength, guts (Achilles' fortitude in battle is legendary.)

antithesis

(n.) the absolute opposite (Your values, which hold war and violence in the highest esteem, are the antithesis of my pacifist beliefs.)

consumption

(n.) the act of consuming (Consumption of intoxicating beverages is not permitted on these premises.)

coronation

(n.) the act of crowning (The new king's coronation occurred the day after his father's death.)

juxtaposition

(n.) the act of placing two things next to each other for implicit comparison (The interior designer admired my juxtaposition of the yellow couch and green table.)

combustion

(n.) the act or process of burning (The unexpected combustion of the prosecution's evidence forced the judge to dismiss the case against Ramirez.)

choreography

(n.) the arrangement of dances (The plot of the musical was banal, but the choreography was stunning.)

encore

(n.) the audience's demand for a repeat performance; also the artist's performance in response to that demand (At the end of the concert, all the fans yelled, "Encore! Encore!" but Brittney did not come out again.)

metamorphosis

(n.) the change of form, shape, substance (Winnifred went to the gym every day for a year and underwent a metamorphosis from a waiflike girl to an athletic woman.)

culmination

(n.) the climax toward which something progresses "The culmination of her practicing magic led to her demise." (The culmination of the couple's argument was the decision to divorce.)

largess

(n.) the generous giving of lavish gifts (My boss demonstrated great largess by giving me a new car.)

zenith

(n.) the highest point, culminating point (I was too nice to tell Nelly that she had reached the absolute zenith of her career with that one hit of hers.)

etymology

(n.) the history of words, their origin and development (From the study of etymology, I know that the word "quixotic" derives from Don Quixote and the word "gaudy" refers to the Spanish architect Gaudí.)

nadir

(n.) the lowest point of something (My day was boring, but the nadir came when I accidentally stuck my knife in my head during my cooking show.)

demarcation

(n.) the marking of boundaries or categories (Different cultures have different demarcations of good and evil.)

mores

(n.) the moral attitudes and fixed customs of a group of people. (Mores change over time; many things that were tolerated in 1975 are no longer seen as being socially acceptable.)

arbitration

(n.) the process or act of resolving a dispute (The employee sought official arbitration when he could not resolve a disagreement with his supervisor.)

congruity

(n.) the quality of being in agreement (Bill and Veronica achieved a perfect congruity of opinion.)

discretion

(n.) the quality of being reserved in speech or action; good judgment (Not wanting her patient to get overly anxious, the doctor used discretion in deciding how much to tell the patient about his condition.)

knell

(n.) the solemn sound of a bell, often indicating a death (Echoing throughout our village, the funeral knell made the stormy day even more grim.)

vocation

(n.) the work in which someone is employed, profession --Her vocation is a taxi cab driver-- (After growing tired of the superficial world of high-fashion, Edwina decided to devote herself to a new vocation: social work.)

renunciation

(n.) to reject (Fiona's renunciation of red meat resulted in weight loss, but confused those people who thought she'd been a vegetarian for years.)

cacophony

(n.) tremendous noise, disharmonious sound (The elementary school orchestra created a cacophony at the recital.)

veracity

(n.) truthfulness, accuracy (With several agencies regulating the reports, it was difficult for Latifah to argue against its veracity.)

rectitude

(n.) uprightness, extreme morality (The priest's rectitude gave him the moral authority to counsel his parishioners.)

wrath

(n.) vengeful anger, punishment (Did you really want to incur her wrath when she is known for inflicting the worst punishments legally possible?)

depravity

(n.) wickedness (Rumors of the ogre's depravity made the children afraid to enter the forest.)

iniquity

(n.) wickedness or sin ("Your iniquity," said the priest to the practical jokester, "will be forgiven.")

affinity

(n.)a spontaneous feeling of closeness The mother lion instantly has an affinity with her cubs" (Jerry didn't know why, but he felt an incredible affinity for Kramer the first time they met.)

inclination

(n.)a tendency, propensity (Sarah has an inclination to see every foreign film she hears about, even when she's sure that she won't like it.)

intimation

(n.)an indirect suggestion (Mr. Brinford's intimation that he would soon pass away occurred when he began to discuss how to distribute his belongings among his children.)

sedulous

(of a person or action) showing dedication and diligence. "he watched himself with the most sedulous care" synonyms: diligent, careful, meticulous, thorough, assiduous, attentive, industrious, conscientious, ultra-careful, punctilious, scrupulous,

sultry

(of the air or weather) hot and humid. synonyms: humid, close, airless, stifling, oppressive, muggy, sticky, sweltering, tropical, heavy; More antonyms: refreshing 2. (of a person, esp. a woman) attractive in a way that suggests a passionate nature. synonyms: passionate, attractive, sensual, sexy, voluptuous, erotic, seductive More

abort

(v.) "Nice kitty, nice kitty! Please abort your playful attack kitty" to give up on a half-finished project or effort (After they ran out of food, the men, attempting to jump rope around the world, had to abort and go home.)

debauch

(v.) [dih-bawch] , verb (used with object) 1. to corrupt by sensuality, intemperance, etc.; seduce. 2. to corrupt or pervert; sully: His honesty was debauched by the prospect of easy money. 3. Archaic. to lead away, as from allegiance or duty. verb (used without object) 4. to indulge in debauchery. noun: debauchery 5.a period of wanton or sensual self-indulgence. 6. an uninhibited spree or party; orgy: a wild debauch.to corrupt by means of sensual pleasures (An endless amount of good wine and cheese debauched the traveler.)

bilk

(v.) cheat, defraud (The lawyer discovered that this firm had bilked several clients out of thousands of dollars.)

abrogate

(v.) to abolish, usually by authority repeal or do away with (a law, right, or formal agreement). "a proposal to abrogate temporarily the right to drill off the coast of the US" (The Bill of Rights assures that the government cannot abrogate our right to a free press.)

immerse

(v.) to absorb, deeply involve, engross (After breaking up with her boyfriend, Nancy decided to immerse herself in her work in order to avoid crying.)

concede

(v.) to accept as valid (Andrew had to concede that what his mother said about Diana made sense.)

attain

(v.) to achieve, arrive at "While listen to music, the gang attained a euphoric high." (The athletes strived to attain their best times in competition.)

augment

(v.) to add to, expand (The eager student seeks to augment his knowledge of vFrench vocabulary by reading French literature.)

accede

(v.) to agree After the boycott, the farm growers acceded to the humanists demands of the Farm Workers Union." (When the class asked the teacher whether they could play baseball instead of learn grammar they expected him to refuse, but instead he acceded to their request.)

acquiesce

(v.) to agree without protesting "She acquiesced to the kiss." (Though Mr. Correlli wanted to stay outside and work in his garage, when his wife told him that he had better come in to dinner, he acquiesced to her demands.)

abet

(v.) to aid, help, encourage (The female spy succeeded only because her childhood friend covered for her as her girlfriend)

carp

(v.) to annoy, pester (The husband divorced his wife after listening to her carping voice for decades.)

compress

(v.) to apply pressure, squeeze together (Lynn compressed her lips into a frown.)

impute

(v.) to ascribe, blame (The CEO imputed the many typos in the letter to his lazy secretary.)

allege

(v.) to assert, usually without proof (The policeman had alleged that Marshall committed the crime, but after the investigation turned up no evidence, Marshall was set free.)

appraise

(v.) to assess the worth or value of "He appraise the painting worth at $50,000." (A realtor will come over tonight to appraise our house.)

ascribe

(v.) to assign, credit, attribute to (Some ascribe the invention of fireworks and dynamite to the Chinese.)

stupefy

(v.) to astonish, make insensible (Veronica's audacity and ungratefulness stupefied her best friend, Heather.)

assail

(v.) to attack The lionesses assailed the lonely lion on the hill" (At dawn, the war planes assailed the boats in the harbor.)

vindicate

(v.) to avenge; to free from allegation; to set free (The attorney had no chance of vindicating the defendant with all of the strong evidence presented by the state.)

dither

(v.) to be indecisive (Not wanting to offend either friend, she dithered about which of the two birthday parties he should attend.)

stagnate

(v.) to become or remain inactive, not develop, not flow (With no room for advancement, the waiter's career stagnated.)

beseech

(v.) to beg, plead, implore "I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President by your ballots, and so I ask you to confirm me as your President with your prayers. And I hope that such prayers will also be the first of many... If you have not chosen me by secret ballot, neither have I gained office by any secret promises" (President Ford). (The servant beseeched the king for food to feed his starving family.)

deprecate

(v.) to belittle, depreciate (Always over-modest, he deprecated his contribution to the local charity.)

denigrate

(v.) to belittle, diminish the opinion of (The company decided that its advertisements would no longer denigrate the company's competitors.)

vituperate

(v.) to berate Society vituperates cultures they do not understand.-- (Jack ran away as soon as his father found out, knowing he would be vituperated for his unseemly behavior.)

engender

(v.) to bring about, create, generate (During the Olympics, the victories of U.S. athletes engender a patriotic spirit among Americans.)

induce

(v.) to bring about, stimulate (Who knew that our decision to boycott school lunch would induce a huge riot?)

complement

(v.) to complete, make perfect The tight shirt complements his physique well." (Ann's scarf complements her blouse beautifully, making her seem fully dressed even though she isn't wearing a coat.)

dissemble

(v.) to conceal, fake (Not wanting to appear heartlessly greedy, she dissembled and hid her intention to sell her ailing father's stamp collection.)

validate

(v.) to confirm, support, corroborate (Yoko's chemistry lab partner was asleep during the experiment and could not validate the accuracy of her methods.)

vex

(v.) to confuse or annoy -- Alice vexed the Caterpillar.-- (My little brother vexes me by poking me in the ribs for hours on end.)

ruminate

(v.) to contemplate, reflect She ruminated about the negative affect she had on men." (Terry liked to ruminate while sitting on the banks of the river, staring pensively into the water.)

contravene

(v.) to contradict, oppose, violate (Edwidge contravened his landlady's rule against overnight guests.)

emend

(v.) to correct or revise a written text (If my sentence is incorrect, the editor will emend what I have written.)

decry

(v.) to criticize openly (The kind video rental clerk decried the policy of charging customers late fees.)

upbraid

(v.) to criticize or scold severely "Don'r worry about Grandma's compulsion, she upbraids herself all the time." (The last thing Lindsay wanted was for Lisa to upbraid her again about missing the rent payment.)

disparage

(v.) to criticize or speak ill of (The saleswoman disparaged the competitor's products to persuade her customers to buy what she was selling.)

denounce

(v.) to criticize publicly (The senator denounced her opponent as a greedy politician.)

chastise

(v.) to criticize severely Scourge chastised his employees for wanting to leave early on Christmas Eve." (After being chastised by her peers for mimicking Britney Spears, Miranda dyed her hair black and affected a Gothic style.)

wane

(v.) to decrease in size, dwindle --The storm waves began to wane.-- (Don't be so afraid of his wrath because his influence with the president is already beginning to wane.)

consecrate

(v.) to dedicate something to a holy purpose (Arvin consecrated his spare bedroom as a shrine to Christina.)

disavow

(v.) to deny knowledge of or responsibility for (Not wanting others to criticize her, she disavowed any involvement in the company's hiring scandal.)

delineate

(v.) to describe, outline, shed light on (She neatly delineated her reasons for canceling the project's funding.)

covet

(v.) to desire enviously (I coveted Moses's house, wife, and car.)

excavate

(v.) to dig out of the ground and remove (The pharaoh's treasures were excavated by archeologists in Egypt.)

deter

(v.) to discourage, prevent from doing "Hopefully knowing that you will die horribly of emphysema will deter you from smoking, Mrs Mildred." (Bob's description of scary snakes couldn't deter Marcia from traveling in the rainforests.)

extricate

(v.) to disentangle (Instead of trying to mediate between my brother and sister, I extricated myself from the family tension entirely and left the house for the day.)

flout

(v.) to disregard or disobey openly "Kim Basinger's comic strip vamp character, Holli, flouts all the rules seeking to seduce her cartoonist creator in order to cross over into the real world." (I flouted the school's dress code by wearing a tie-dyed tank top and a pair of cut-off jeans.) openly disregard (a rule, law or convention). "these same companies still flout basic ethical practices" synonyms: defy, refuse to obey, disobey, break, violate,

refract

(v.) to distort, change "The bullets refracted their position as they smashed through the atmosphere." (The light was refracted as it passed through the prism.) Physics. the change of direction of a ray of light, sound, heat, or the like, in passing obliquely from one medium into another in which its wave velocity is different. to alter or distort as if by refraction <to refract that familiar world through the mind and heart of a romantic ... woman — Anton Myrer>

allocate

(v.) to distribute, set aside (The Mayor allocated 30 percent of the funds for improving the town's schools.)

innovate

(v.) to do something in an unprecedented way (Because of the stiff competition, the company knew it needed to pour a lot of energy into innovating new and better products.)

dispel

(v.) to drive away, scatter (She entered the office as usual on Monday, dispelling the rumor that she had been fired.)

assuage

(v.) to ease, pacify (The mother held the baby to assuage its fears.)

rhapsodize

(v.) to engage in excessive enthusiasm (The critic rhapsodized about the movie, calling it an instant classic.)

relish

(v.) to enjoy (Pete always relished his bedtime snack.)

revel

(v.) to enjoy intensely (Theodore reveled in his new status as Big Man on Campus.)

revere

(v.) to esteem, show deference, venerate (The doctor saved countless lives with his combination of expertise and kindness and became universally revered.)

elude

(v.) to evade, escape She would not be able to elude her assailant once grasped by her pigtails." (Despite an intense search, the robber continues to elude the police.)

assess

(v.) to evaluate (A crew arrived to assess the damage after the crash.)

debunk

(v.) to expose the falseness of something (He debunked her claim to be the world's greatest chess player by defeating her in 18 consecutive matches.)

emote

(v.) to express emotion Sally emoted her anguish anguish in scrams upon hearing of the death of her boyfriend." (The director told the actor he had to emote, or else the audience would have no idea what his character was going through.)

deplore

(v.) to feel or express sorrow, disapproval (We all deplored the miserable working conditions in the factory.)

cherish

(v.) to feel or show affection toward something the spell of her cherished love for Bob is gone" (She continued to cherish her red plaid trousers, even though they had gone out of style and no longer fit her.)

enamor

(v.) to fill with love, fascinate, usually used in passive form followed by "of" or "with" (I grew enamored of that boy when he quoted my favorite love poem.)

inundate

(v.) to flood with abundance (Because I am the star of a new sitcom, my fans are sure to inundate me with fan mail and praise.)

vacillate

(v.) to fluctuate, hesitate (I prefer a definite answer, but my boss kept vacillating between the distinct options available to us.) [vas-uh-leyt] verb (used without object), vac·il·lat·ed, vac·il·lat·ing. 1. to waver in mind or opinion; be indecisive or irresolute: His tendency to vacillate makes him a poor leader. 2. to sway unsteadily; waver; totter; stagger. 3. to oscillate or fluctuate.

exonerate

(v.) to free from guilt or blame, exculpate (The true thief's confession exonerated the man who had been held in custody for the crime.)

exculpate

(v.) to free from guilt or blame, exonerate (My discovery of the ring behind the dresser exculpated me from the charge of having stolen it.)

abstain

(v.) to freely choose not to commit an action (Everyone demanded that Angus put on the kilt, but he did not want to do it and abstained.)

confound

(v.) to frustrate, confuse (MacGuyver confounded the policemen pursuing him by covering his tracks.)

coalesce

(v.) to fuse into a whole (Gordon's ensemble of thrift-shop garments coalesced into a surprisingly handsome outfit.)

circumvent

(v.) to get around (The school's dress code forbidding navel-baring jeans was circumvented by the determined students, who were careful to cover up with long coats when administrators were nearby.)

reciprocate

(v.) to give in return (When Eve gave Samantha a necklace for hurting her feeling, she said she would reciprocate with a kiss.)

consign

(v.) to give something over to another's care (Unwillingly, he consigned his mother to a nursing home.)

abdicate

(v.) to give up a position, usually one of leadership "Nixon abdicates his presidency" (When he realized that the revolutionaries would surely win, the king abdicated his throne.)

forsake

(v.) to give up, renounce (My New Year's resolution is to forsake smoking and drinking.)

exalt

(v.) to glorify, praise (Michael Jordan is the figure in basketball we exalt the most.)

enfranchise

(v.) to grant the vote to (The Nineteenth Amendment enfranchised women.)

forage

(v.) to graze, rummage for food (When we got lost on our hiking trip, we foraged for berries and nuts in order to survive.)

delegate

(v.) to hand over responsibility for something (The dean delegated the task of finding a new professor to a special hiring committee.)

abhor

(v.) to hate, detest (Because she always wound up making a full of herself, she wanted to kill Cesar.)

abase

(v.) to humiliate, degrade (After being overthrown and abased, the deposed leader offered to bow down to his conqueror.)

emulate

(v.) to imitate (I idolize Britney Spears so much that I emulate everything she does: I wear her outfits, sing along to her songs, and date a boy named Justin.)

ameliorate

(v.) to improve (The tense situation was ameliorated when Samantha proved him with oxygen.)

entail

(v.) to include as a necessary step, or inevitable part, or consequence. "The next step entails we create a new Crown Prince for Britain Future" (Building a new fence entails tearing down the old one.)involve (something) as a necessary "a situation that entails considerable risks"

aggrandize

(v.) to increase or make greater (Joseph always dropped the names of the famous people his father knew as a way to aggrandize his personal stature.)

surmise

(v.) to infer with little evidence (After speaking to only one of the students, the teacher was able to surmise what had caused the fight.)

interject

(v.) to insert between other things Before she could interject her rebuttal, he kissed her." (During our conversation, the cab driver occasionally interjected his opinion.)

construe

(v.) to interpret (He construed her throwing his clothes out the window as a signal that she wanted him to leave.)

inoculate

(v.) to introduce a microorganism, serum, or vaccine into an organism in order to increase immunity to illness; to vaccinate (I've feared needles ever since I was inoculated against 37 diseases at age one; but I have also never been sick.)

implicate

(v.) to involve in an incriminating way, incriminate (Even though Tom wasn't present at the time of the shooting, he was implicated by the evidence suggesting that he had supplied the shooters with guns.)

exasperate

(v.) to irritate, irk (George's endless complaints exasperated his roomate.)

yoke

(v.) to join, link (We yoked together the logs by tying a string around them.)

abduct

(v.) to kidnap, take by force Pepe abducts the pussycat" (The evildoers abducted and enslaved the fairy princess from her happy home.)

fabricate

(v.) to make up, invent "She could not fabricate an acceptable apology" (When I arrived an hour late to class, I fabricated some excuse about my car breaking down on the way to school.)

annul

(v.) to make void or invalid (After seeing its unforeseen and catastrophic effects, Congress sought to annul the law.)

undulate

(v.) to move in waves "Her tummy muscles undulates to the rhythm of the music." (As the storm began to brew, the placid ocean began to undulate to an increasing degree.)

counteract

(v.) to neutralize, make ineffective (The antidote counteracted the effect of the poison.)

cultivate

(v.) to nurture, improve, refine (At the library, she cultivated her interest in spy novels.)

expunge

(v.) to obliterate, eradicate (Fearful of an IRS investigation, Paul tried to expunge all incriminating evidence from his tax files.)

condone

(v.) to pardon, deliberately overlook (He refused to condone his brother's crime.)

carouse

(v.) to party, celebrate (We caroused all night after getting married.)

modulate

(v.) to pass from one state to another, especially in music (The composer wrote a piece that modulated between minor and major keys.)

bequeath

(v.) to pass on, give (Jon's father bequeathed his entire estate to his mother.) leave (a personal estate or one's body) to a person or other beneficiary by a will.

ascertain

(v.) to perceive, learn (With a bit of research, the student ascertained that some plants can live for weeks without water.)

dissuade

(v.) to persuade someone not to do something "The eerie noise, her terrified look, and her shushing him could not dissuade him from talking loudly even though their lives depended on silence." (Worried that he would catch a cold, she tried to dissuade him from going out on winter nights.)

connive

(v.) to plot, scheme The connived to bury the man in an unmarked grave. (She connived to get me to give up my vacation plans.)

burnish

(v.) to polish, shine (His mother asked him to burnish the silverware before setting the table.)

extol

(v.) to praise, revere (Violet extolled the virtues of a vegetarian diet to her meat-loving brother.)

inhibit

(v.) to prevent, restrain, stop (When I told you I needed the car last night, I certainly never meant to inhibit you from going out.)

forestall

(v.) to prevent, thwart, delay (I forestalled the cold I was getting by taking plenty of vitamin C pills and wearing a scarf.)

promulgate

(v.) to proclaim, make known (The film professor promulgated that both in terms of sex appeal and political intrigue, Sean Connery's James Bond was superior to Roger Moore's.)

refute

(v.) to prove wrong (Maria refuted the president's argument as she yelled and gesticulated at the TV.)

palliate

(v.) to reduce the severity of --To reduce the severity of her emaciation, the doctor would have to feed her intravenously.-- (The doctor trusted that the new medication would palliate her patient's discomfort.)

abate

(v.) to reduce, lessen (The rain poured down for a while his pain abated.)

venerate

(v.) to regard with respect or to honor (The tribute to John Lennon sought to venerate his music, his words, and his legend.)

repudiate

(v.) to reject, refuse to accept (Kwame made a strong case for an extension of his curfew, but his mother repudiated it with a few biting words.)

abjure

(v.) to reject, renounce (To prove his honesty, the President Kennedy abjures the evil policies of racism.)

exult

(v.) to rejoice (When she found out she won the literature prize, Mary exulted by dancing and singing through the school's halls.)

alleviate

(v.) to relieve, make more bearable (This drug will alleviate the symptoms of the terrible disease, but only for a while.)

expurgate

(v.) to remove offensive or incorrect parts, usually of a book (The history editors expurgated from the text all disparaging and inflammatory comments about the Republican Party.)

obfuscate

(v.) to render incomprehensible (The detective did want to answer the newspaperman's questions, so he obfuscated the truth.)

atone

(v.) to repent, make amends "She felt helpless believing she could never atone for the wrongs she committed" (The man atoned for forgetting his wife's birthday by buying her five dozen roses.)

repose

(v.) to rest, lie down (The cat, after eating an entire can of tuna fish, reposed in the sun and took a long nap.)

refurbish

(v.) to restore, clean up (The dingy old chair, after being refurbished, commanded the handsome price of $200.)

divulge

(v.) to reveal something secret (Pressured by the press, the government finally divulged the previously unknown information.)

disclose

(v.) to reveal, make public (The CEO disclosed to the press that the company would have to fire several employees.)

wallow

(v.) to roll oneself indolently; to become or remain helpless "Sent to sit in the corner, the kitty wallowed in his misery, muttering 'but I didn't do it!"' (My roommate can't get over her breakup with her boyfriend and now just wallows in self-pity.)

deface

(v.) to ruin or injure something's appearance (The brothers used eggs and shaving cream to deface their neighbor's mailbox.)

balk

(v.) to stop, block abruptly "The the tiny rock balked the skater." hesitate or be unwilling to accept an idea or undertaking. "any gardener will at first balk at enclosing the garden" The pitcher balk and had to walk the runner" (Edna's boss balked at her request for another raise.)

accentuate

(v.) to stress, highlight (Psychologists agree that those people who are happiest accentuate the positive in life.)

insinuate

(v.) to suggest indirectly or subtly (I wish Luke and Spencer would stop insinuating that my perfect report card is the result of anything other than my superior intelligence and good work habits.)

recapitulate

(v.) to sum up, repeat (Before the final exam, the teacher recapitulated the semester's material.)

corroborate

(v.) to support with evidence (Luke's seemingly outrageous claim was corroborated by witnesses.)

capitulate

(v.) to surrender (The army finally capitulated after fighting a long costly battle.)

oscillate

(v.) to sway from one side to the other As Elvis hips oscillated from side to side, it drove America crazy disrupting social mores of decency." (My uncle oscillated between buying a station wagon to transport his family and buying a sports car to satisfy his boyhood fantasies.) verb (used without object), os·cil·lat·ed, os·cil·lat·ing. 1. to swing or move to and fro, as a pendulum does. 2. to vary or vacillate between differing beliefs, opinions, conditions, etc.: He oscillates regularly between elation and despair. 3. Physics. to have, produce, or generate oscillations. 4. Mathematics . (of a function, sequence, etc.) to tend to no limit, including infinity: The sequence 0, 1, 0, 1, ... oscillates. verb (used with object), os·cil·lat·ed, os·cil·lat·ing. 5. to cause to move to and fro; vibrate.

distend

(v.) to swell out (Years of drinking beer caused his stomach to distend.)

revoke

(v.) to take back (After missing the curfew set by the court for eight nights in a row, Marcel's freedom of movement was revoked.)

rescind

(v.) to take back, repeal (The company rescinded its offer of employment after discovering that Jane's resume was full of lies.)

espouse

(v.) to take up as a cause, support (I love animals so much that I espouse animal rights.)

arrogate

(v.) to take without justification (The king arrogated the right to order executions to himself exclusively.)

appropriate

(v.) to take, make use of (The government appropriated the farmer's land without justification.)

congeal

(v.) to thicken into a solid (The sauce had congealed into a thick paste.)

coagulate

(v.) to thicken, clot (The top layer of the pudding had coagulated into a thick skin.)

discomfit

(v.) to thwart, baffle (The normally cheery and playful children's sudden misery discomfited the teacher.)

beguile

(v.) to trick, deceive (The thief beguiled his partners into surrendering all of their money to him.) verb gerund or present participle: beguiling 1. charm or enchant (someone), sometimes in a deceptive way. "every prominent American artist has been beguiled by Maine" synonyms: charm, attract, enchant, entrance, win over, woo, captivate, bewitch, spellbind, dazzle, hypnotize, mesmerize, seduce More antonyms: repel trick (someone) into doing something. "they were beguiled into signing a peace treaty" 2. dated help (time) pass pleasantly. "to beguile some of the time they went to the movie theater" synonyms: entertain, amuse, delight, please, occupy, absorb, engage, distract, divert, fascinate, enthrall, engross

fathom

(v.) to understand, comprehend (I cannot fathom why you like that crabby and mean-spirited neighbor of ours.)

cajole

(v.) to urge, coax (Fred's buddies cajoled him into attending the bachelor party.) verb verb: cajole; 3rd person present: cajoles; past tense: cajoled; past participle: cajoled; gerund or present participle: cajoling 1. persuade someone to do something by sustained coaxing or flattery. "he hoped to cajole her into selling the house"

instigate

(v.) to urge, goad (The demagogue instigated the crowd into a fury by telling them that they had been cheated by the federal government.)

exhort

(v.) to urge, prod, spur (Henry exhorted his colleagues to join him in protesting against the university's hiring policies.)

goad

(v.) to urge, spur, incite to action (Jim may think he's not going to fight Billy, but Billy will goad Jim on with insults until he throws a punch.)

desecrate

(v.) to violate the sacredness of a thing or place (They feared that the construction of a golf course would desecrate the preserved wilderness.)

transgress

(v.) to violate, go over a limit (The criminal's actions transgressed morality and human decency.)

chide

(v.) to voice disapproval "I don't want to talk to you anymore, Robin." (Lucy chided Russell for his vulgar habits and sloppy appearance.)

enervate

(v.) to weaken, exhaust cause (someone) to feel drained of energy or vitality; weaken. "Just hearing his voice could enervate her desire to refuse him" (Writing these sentences enervates me so much that I will have to take a nap after I finish.)

encumber

(v.) to weigh down, burden (At the airport, my friend was encumbered by her luggage, so I offered to carry two of her bags.)

efface

(v.) to wipe out, obliterate, rub away (The husband was so angry at his wife for leaving him that he effaced all evidence of her presence; he threw out pictures of her and gave away all her belongings.)

atrophy

(v.) to wither away, decay (If muscles do not receive enough blood, they will soon atrophy and die.)

retract

(v.) withdraw (As the media worked itself into a frenzy, the publicist hurriedly retracted his client's sexist statement.)

inure

(v.)to cause someone or something to become accustomed to a situation (Twenty years in the salt mines inured the man to the discomforts of dirt and grime.) [in-yoor, ih-noor] verb (used with object), in·ured, in·ur·ing. 1. to accustom to hardship, difficulty, pain, etc.; toughen or harden; habituate (usually followed by to ): inured to cold. verb (used without object), in·ured, in·ur·ing. 2. to come into use; take or have effect. 3. to become beneficial or advantageous. Also, enure.

accost

(v.)to confront verbally (Though Antoinette was normally quite calm, when the waiter spilled soup on her for the fourth time in 15 minutes she stood up and accosted the man.)

concoct

(v.)to fabricate, make up Are mermaids true, or are they concocted? (She concocted the most ridiculous story to explain her absence.)

constrain

(v.)to forcibly restrict (His belief in nonviolence constrained him from taking revenge on his attackers.)

captivate

(v.)to get the attention of, hold (The fireworks captivated the young boy, who had never seen such things before.)

vilify

(v.)to lower in importance, defame (After the Watergate scandal, almost any story written about President Nixon sought to vilify him and criticize his behavior.)

discern

(v.)to perceive, detect (Though he hid his emotions, she discerned from his body language that he was angry.)

defer

(v.)to postpone something; to yield to another's wisdom (Ron deferred to Diane, the expert on musical instruments, when he was asked about buying a piano.)

foster

(v.)to stimulate, promote, encourage (To fostergood health in the city, the mayor started a "Get out and exercise!" campaign.)

foil

(v.)to thwart, frustrate, defeat (Inspector Wilkens foiled the thieves by locking them in the bank along with their stolen money.)

acclaim

(verb) to welcome or salute with shouts or sounds of joy and approval; applaud: to acclaim the conquering heroes. (n.) high praise 2. {noun} to announce or proclaim with enthusiastic approval: to acclaim the new king. "She had nothing but acclaim for the new King." (Greg's excellent poem won the acclaim of his friends.)

annex

1. (v.) to incorporate territory or space (After defeating them in battle, the Russians annexed Poland.) 2. (n.) a room attached to a larger room or space (He likes to do his studying in a little annex attached to the main reading room in the library.)

catalog

1. (v.) to list, enter into a list (The judge cataloged the victim's injuries before calculating how much money he would award.) 2. (n.) a list or collection (We received a catalog from J. Crew that displayed all of their new items.)

solvent

1. (n.) a substance that can dissolve other substances (Water is sometimes called the universal solvent because almost all other substances can dissolve into it.) 2. (adj.) able to pay debts (Upon receiving an unexpected check from her aunt, Annabelle found herself suddenly solvent.)

aggregate

1. (n.) a whole or total (The three branches of the U.S. Government form an aggregate much more powerful than its individual parts.) 2. (v.) to gather into a mass (The dictator tried to aggregate as many people into his army as he possibly could.)

chronicle

1. (n.) a written history (The library featured the newly updated chronicle of stolen art during World War II.) 2. (v.) to write a history (Albert's diary chronicled the day-to-day growth of his obsession with Cynthia.)

convention

1. (n.) an assembly of people (The hotel was full because of the cattle- ranchers' convention.) 2. (n.) a rule, custom (The cattle-ranchers have a convention that you take off your boots before entering their houses.)

implement

1. (n.) an instrument, utensil, tool (Do you have a knife or some other sort of implement that I could use to pry the lid off of this jar?) 2. (v.) to put into effect, to institute (After the first town curfew failed to stop the graffiti problem, the mayor implemented a new policy to use security cameras to catch perpetrators in the act.)

censure

1. (n.) harsh criticism (The frustrated teenager could not put up with anymore of her critical mother's censure.) 2. (v.) to rebuke formally (The principal censured the head of the English Department for forcing students to learn esoteric vocabulary.)

clamor

1. (n.) loud noise (Each morning the birds outside my window make such a clamor that they wake me up.) 2. (v.)to loudly insist (Neville's fans clamored for him to appear on stage, but he had passed out on the floor of his dressing room.)

incumbent

1. (n.) one who holds an office (The incumbent senator is already serving his fifth term.) 2. (adj.) obligatory (It is incumbent upon this organization to offer aid to all who seek it.)

reservoir

1. (n.) reserves, large supply (Igor the Indomitable had quite a reservoir of strengh and could lift ten tons, even after running 700 miles, jumping over three mountains, and swimming across an ocean.) 2. (n.) a body of water used for storing water (After graduation, the more rebellious members of the senior class jumped into the town reservoir used for drinking water.)

liability

1. (n.) something for which one is legally responsible, usually involving a disadvantage or risk (The bungee-jumping tower was a great liability for the owners of the carnival.) 2. (n.) a handicap, burden (Because she often lost her concentration and didn't play defense, Marcy was a liability to the team.)

façade

1. (n.) the wall of a building (Meet me in front of the museum's main façade.) 2. (n.) a deceptive appearance or attitude (Despite my smiling façade, I am feeling melancholy.)

adhere

1. (n.) to stick to something "She adhered to the false adage, if you kiss a frog, they'll turn into a prince." (We adhered the poster to the wall with tape.) 2. (n.) to follow devoutly (He adhered to the dictates of his religion without question.)

renovate

1. (v.) restore, return to original state (The renovated antique candelabra looked as good as new.) 2. (v.) to enlarge and make prettier, especially a house (After getting renovated, the house was twice as big and much more attractive.)

advocate

1. (v.) to argue in favor of something "Christina advocates for Dr. Gray" (Arnold advocated turning left at the stop sign, even though everyone else thought we should turn right.) 2. (n.) a person who argues in favor of something (In addition to wanting to turn left at every stop sign, Arnold was also a great advocate of increasing national defense spending.)

relegate

1. (v.) to assign to the proper place (At the astrology conference, Simon was relegated to the Scorpio room.) 2. (v.) to assign to an inferior place (After spilling a drink on a customer's shirt, the waiter found himself relegated to the least lucrative shift.)

attribute

1. (v.) to credit, assign (He attributes all of his success to his mother's undying encouragement.) 2. (n.)a facet or trait (Among the beetle's most peculiar attributes is its thorny protruding eyes.)

abridge

1. (v.) to cut down, shorten (The publisher thought the dictionary was too long and abridged it.) 2. (adj.) shortened (Moby-Dick is such a long book that even the ---------d version is longer than most normal books.)

embellish

1. (v.) to decorate, adorn (My mom embellished the living room by adding lace curtains.) 2. (v.)to add details to, enhance (When Harry told me that he had "done stuff" on his vacation, I asked him to embellish upon his account.)

dissent

1. (v.) to disagree (The principal argued that the child should repeat the fourth grade, but the unhappy parents dissented.) 2. (n.) the act of disagreeing (Unconvinced that the defendant was guilty, the last juror voiced his dissent with the rest of the jury.)

dissipate

1. (v.) to disappear, cause to disappear (The sun finally came out and dissipated the haze.) 2. (v.) to waste (She dissipated her fortune on a series of bad investments.)

repulse

1. (v.) to disgust (Antisocial Annie tried to repulse people by neglecting to brush her teeth.) 2. (v.) to push back (With a deft movement of her wrist and a punch to the stomach, Lacy repulsed Jack's attempt to kiss her.)

cleave

1. (v.) to divide into parts (Following the scandalous disgrace of their leader, the entire political party cleaved into warring factions.) 2. (v.) to stick together firmly (After resolving their marital problems, Junior and Rosa cleaved to one another all the more tightly.)

resolve

1. (v.) to find a solution "Pam and David tried to resolve their issues by drawing what they saw in their recent future if they remained a couple" (Sarah and Emma resolved their differences and shook hands.) 2. (v.) to firmly decide (Lady Macbeth resolved to whip her husband into shape.)

impinge

1. (v.) to impact, affect, make an impression (The hail impinged the roof, leaving large dents.) 2. (v.) to encroach, infringe (I apologize for impinging upon you like this, but I really need to use your bathroom. Now.)

empirical

1. (adj.) based on observation or experience (The scientist gathered empirical data on the growth rate of dandelions by studying the dandelions behind his house.) 2. (adj.) capable of being proved or disproved by experiment (That all cats hate getting wet is an empirical statement: I can test it by bathing my cat, Trinket.)

eminent

1. (adj.) distinguished, prominent, famous (Mr. Phillips is such an eminent scholar that every professor on campus has come to hear him lecture.) 2. (adj.) conspicuous (There is an eminent stain on that shirt.)

manifest

1. (adj.) easily understandable, obvious (When I wrote the wrong sum on the chalkboard, my mistake was so manifest that the entire class burst into laughter.) 2. (v.) to show plainly (His illness first manifested itself with particularly violent hiccups.)

facile

1. (adj.) easy, requiring little effort (This game is so facile that even a four-year- old can master it.) 2. (adj.) superficial, achieved with minimal thought or care, insincere (The business was in such shambles that any solution seemed facile at best; nothing could really helpit in the long-run.)

incarnate

1. (adj.) existing in the flesh, embodied (In the church pageant, I play the role of greed incarnate.) 2. (v.) to give human form to (The alien evaded detection by incarnating himself in a human form.)

redoubtable

1. (adj.) formidable (The fortress looked redoubtable set against a stormy sky.) 2. (adj.) commanding respect (The audience greeted the redoubtable speaker with a standing ovation.)

lavish

1. (adj.) given without limits (Because they had worked very hard, the performers appreciated the critic's lavish praise.) 2. (v.) to give without limits (Because the performers had worked hard, they deserved the praise that the critic lavished on them.)

didactic

1. (adj.) intended to instruct "Let me give you some advise; if you want to be free, run out in the open where nobody can catch or hinder you." (She wrote up a didactic document showing new employees how to handle the company's customers.) 2. (adj.) overly moralistic (His didactic style of teaching made it seem like he wanted to persuade his students not to understand history fully, but to understand it from only one point of view.)

imperative

1. (adj.) necessary, pressing (It is imperative that you have these folders organized by midday.) 2. (n.) a rule, command, or order (Her imperative to have the folders organized by midday was perceived as ridiculous by the others.)

moderate

1. (adj.) not extreme (Luckily, the restaurant we chose had moderate prices; none of us have any money.) 2. (n.) one who expresses moderate opinions (Because he found both the liberal and conservative proposals too excessive, Mr. Park sided with the moderates.)

collateral

1. (adj.) secondary (Divorcing my wife had the collateral effect of making me poor, as she was the only one of us with a job or money.) 2. (n.) security for a debt (Jacob left his watch as collateral for the $500 loan.)

acute

1. (adj.) sharp, severe (Arnold could not walk because the pain in his foot was so acute.) 2. (adj.) having keen insight (Because she was so acute, Libby instantly figured out how the magician pulled off his "magic.")

felicitous

1. (adj.) well suited, apt (While his comments were idiotic and rambling, mine were felicitous and helpful.) 2. (adj.) delightful, pleasing (I spent a felicitous afternoon visiting old friends.)

coup

1. (n.) a brilliant, unexpected act (Alexander pulled off an amazing coup when he got a date with Cynthia by purposely getting hit by her car.) 2. (n.) the overthrow of a government and assumption of authority (In their coup attempt, the army officers stormed the Parliament and took all the legislators hostage.)

canvas

1. (n.) a piece of cloth on which an artist paints (Picasso liked to work on canvas rather than on bare cement.) 2. (v.) to cover, inspect (We canvassed the neighborhood looking for clues.)

asylum

1. (n.) a place of refuge, protection, a sanctuary (For Thoreau, the forest served as an asylum from the pressures of urban life.) 2. (n.) an institution in which the insane are kept (Once diagnosed by a certified psychiatrist, the man was put in an asylum.)

blight

1. (n.) a plague, disease " The bright red blight could easily be seen on the pear leaves" (The potato blight destroyed the harvest and bankrupted many families.) 2. (n.) something that destroys hope (His bad morale is a blight upon this entire operation.)

harangue

1. (n.) a ranting speech (Everyone had heard the teacher's harangue about gum chewing in class before.) 2. (v.) to give such a speech (But this time the teacher harangued the class about the importance of brushing your teeth after chewing gum.)

abide

1. (v.) to put up with (Though he did not agree with the the office dance policy, Chuck decided to abide by it and let Barney dance to his heart's content.) 2. (v.) to remain (Despite the beating they've taken from the weather throughout the millennia, the mountains abide.)

reconcile

1. (v.) to return to harmony (The feuding neighbors finally reconciled when one brought the other a delicious tuna noodle casserole.) 2. (v.) to make consistent with existing ideas (Alou had to reconcile his skepticism about the existence of aliens with the fact that he was looking at a flying saucer.)

diffuse

1. (v.) to scatter, thin out, break up (He diffused the tension in the room by making in a joke.) 2. (adj.) not concentrated, scattered, disorganized (In her writings, she tried unsuccessfully to make others understand her diffuse thoughts.)

disdain

1. (v.) to scorn, hold in low esteem (Insecure about their jobs, the older employees disdained the recently hired ones, who were young and capable.) 2. (n.) scorn, low esteem (After learning of his immoral actions, Justine held Lawrence in disdain.)

apprehend

1. (v.) to seize, arrest (The criminal was apprehended at the scene.) 2. (v.) to perceive, understand, grasp (The student has trouble apprehending concepts in math and science.)

buffet

1. (v.) to strike with force (The strong winds buffeted the ships, threatening to capsize them.) 2. (n.) an arrangement of food set out on a table (Rather than sitting around a table, the guests took food from our buffet and ate standing up.)

buttress

1. (v.) to support, hold up (The column buttresses the roof above the statue.) 2. (n.) something that offers support (The buttress supports the roof above the statues.)

regurgitate

1. (v.) to vomit "I told you not to eat that. Now regurgitate it, and feed the john!" (Feeling sick, Christa regurgitated her dinner.) 2. (v.) to throw back exactly (Margaret rushed through the test, regurgitating all of the facts she'd memorized an hour earlier.)

compound

1. (v.)to combine parts The bird was compounded of different household devices." (The difficulty of finding a fire escape amid the smoke was compounded with the dangers posed by the panicking crowds.) 2. (n.) a combination of different parts (My attraction to Donna was a compound of curiosity about the unknown, physical desire, and intellectual admiration.) 3. (n.) a walled area containing a group of buildings (When the fighting started, Joseph rushed into the family compound because it was safe and well defended.)

laud

1. [verb] to give praise; extol, to glorify --The audience lauded NSYNC performance.-- 2. [noun] a song of praise

lewd

1Adj. During the 50s, Elvis was considered too lewd to be shown on TV." inclined to, characterized by, or inciting to lust or lechery; lascivious. 2. obscene or indecent, as language or songs; salacious. 3. Obsolete . a.] low, ignorant, or vulgar. b.]base, vile, or wicked, especially of a person. c.bad, worthless, or poor, especially of a thing.

anatomical

Adj of or relating to bodily structure or anatomy "Brie was upset that Ken was not anatomically correct." noun, plural a·nat·o·mies. 1. the science dealing with the structure of animals and plants. 2. the structure of an animal or plant, or of any of its parts. 3. dissection of all or part of an animal or plant in order to study

voracious

Adj. "Hell has a voracious appetite wanting or devouring craving or consuming great quantities of food: a voracious appetite. 2. exceedingly eager or avid: voracious readers; a voracious collector.

recondite

Adj] dealing with very profound, difficult, or abstruse subject matter: a recondite treatise. 2. beyond ordinary knowledge or understanding; esoteric: recondite principles. 3. little known; obscure: a recondite fact.

lascivious

Adj] "He had no witty remark for her lascivious hug." inclined to lustfulness; wanton; lewd: a lascivious, girl-chasing old man. 2. arousing sexual desire: lascivious photographs. 3. indicating sexual interest or expressive of lust or lewdness: a lascivious gesture. Feeling or revealing an overt and often offensive sexual desire

symmetrical

adjective: "His beauty is based on symmetry" 1. made up of exactly similar parts facing each other or around an axis; showing symmetry.

abyss

In Order to deliver King Leonidas message to Xerxes, the ambassador was kindly offered a one way trip on the "abyss-express-way" route to Hell. [uh-bis] noun 1. a deep, immeasurable space, gulf, or cavity; vast chasm. 2. anything profound, unfathomable, or infinite: the abyss of time. 3.a. the primal chaos before Creation. b. the infernal regions; hell. c. a subterranean ocean.

siren

Noun 1. Classical Mythology . one of several sea nymphs, part woman and part bird, who lure mariners to destruction by their seductive singing. "Marilyn Monroe was a siren to many Great men: Kennedy, Miller, DiMaggio." 2. a seductively beautiful or charming woman, especially one who beguiles men: a siren of the silver screen. 3. an acoustical instrument for producing musical tones, consisting essentially of a disk pierced with holes arranged equidistantly in a circle, rotated over a jet or stream of compressed air, steam, or the like, so that the stream is alternately interrupted and allowed to pass. 4. an implement of this kind used as a whistle, fog signal, or warning device.

fetish

Noun 1. an object regarded with awe as being the embodiment or habitation of a potent spirit or as having magical potency. 2.any object, idea, etc., eliciting unquestioning reverence, respect, or devotion: to make a fetish of high grades. ""America has a shoe fetish" 3.Psychology . any object or nongenital part of the body that causes a habitual erotic response or fixation.

incendiary

Something that ignites "The soccer player combusted because of the incinary turf burns." (If we catch the incendiary who screamed "bomb" in the middle of the soccer match, we're going to put him in jail.) 2. (adj.) inflammatory, causing combustion (Gas and lighter fluid are incendiary materials that should be kept out of hot storage areas.) incendiary 1. used or adapted for setting property on fire: incendiary bombs. 2. 1. (n.) a person who agitates, or pertaining to the criminal setting on fire of property. 3. tending to arouse strife, sedition, etc.; inflammatory: incendiary speeches. 4. tending to inflame the senses: an incendiary extravaganza of music and dance. noun, plural in·cen·di·ar·ies. 5. a person who deliberately sets fire to buildings or other property, as an arsonist. 6. Military . a shell, bomb, or grenade containing napalm, thermite, or some other substance that burns with an intense heat. 7. a person who stirs up strife, sedition, etc.; an agitator.

rant

To rave,to speak in a loud and attacking manner. He ___ constantly about how everyone is out to get him., To talk very loudly, even wildly; rave

grapple

[grap-uhl]verb (used without object), grap·pled, grap·pling. 1. to hold or make fast to something, as with a grapple. 2. to use a grapple. 3. to seize another, or each other, in a firm grip, as in wrestling; clinch. 4. to engage in a struggle or close encounter (usually followed by with ): He was grappling with a boy twice his size. 5. to try to overcome or deal (usually followed by with ): to grapple with a problem.

hoards

[hawrd, hohrd] noun "Hitler army hoarded European masterpieces." 1. a supply or accumulation that is hidden or carefully guarded for preservation, future use, etc.: a vast hoard of silver. verb (used with object) 2. to accumulate for preservation, future use, etc., in a hidden or carefully guarded place: to hoard food during a shortage. verb (used without object) 3. to accumulate money, food, or the like, in a hidden or carefully guarded place for preservation, future use, etc.

unfathomable

[uhn-fath-uh-muh-buhl] adjective "It is unfathomable to believe contort, twist, and bend boggling the mind." 1. not able to be fathomed, or completely understood; incomprehensible: heroism in the face of unfathomable conflict. 2. not able to be measured with a sounding line, or fathomed: unfathomable depths of the ocean.

inculcate

[Because the German people were desperate, Hitler was able to inculcate the masses with his ideals.] verb (used with object), in·cul·cat·ed, in·cul·cat·ing. 1.to implant by repeated statement or admonition; teach persistently and earnestly (usually followed by upon or in ): to inculcate virtue in the young. 2.to cause or influence (someone) to accept an idea or feeling (usually followed by with ): Socrates inculcated his pupils with the love of truth. [in-kuhl-keyt, in-kuhl-keyt]

abhorrence

[ab-hawr-uhns, -hor-] noun 1.a feeling of extreme repugnance or aversion; utter loathing; abomination. 2. something or someone extremely repugnant or loathsome. self-ab·hor·rence, noun Synonyms 1. execration, detestation.

iconography

[ahy-kuh-nog-ruh-fee] noun, plural i·co·nog·ra·phies. 1. symbolic representation, especially the conventional meanings attached to an image or images. 2. subject matter in the visual arts, especially with reference to the conventions regarding the treatment of a subject in artistic representation. 3. the study or analysis of subject matter and its meaning in the visual arts; iconology. 4.a representation or a group of representations of a person, place, or thing, as a portrait or a collection of portraits.

animus

[an-uh-muhs] noun 1. strong dislike or enmity; hostile attitude; animosity. 2. purpose; intention; animating spirit. 3.(in the psychology of C. G. Jung) the masculine principle, especially as present in women (contrasted with anima ).

asinine

[as-uh-nahyn] adjective 1. foolish, unintelligent, or silly; stupid: It is surprising that supposedly intelligent people can make such asinine statements. 2. of or like an ass: asinine obstinacy; asinine features, foolish.

barbarous

[bahr-ber-uhs] adjective 1. uncivilized; wild; savage; crude. 2. savagely cruel or harsh: The prisoners of war were given barbarous treatment. 3. full of harsh sounds; noisy; discordant: an evening of wild and barbarous music. 4. not conforming to classical standards or accepted usage, as language. 5. foreign; alien.

declamation

[dek-luh-mey-shuhn] noun 1. the act or art of declaiming. 2. exercise in oratory or elocution, as in the recitation of a classic speech. 3. speech or writing for oratorical effect. A speech recited or intended for recitation from memory in public., exercise in speech-giving; attack or protest

execrate

[ek-si-kreyt] verb (used with object), ex·e·crat·ed, ex·e·crat·ing. 1. to detest utterly; abhor; abominate. 2. to curse; imprecate evil upon; damn; denounce: He execrated all who opposed him. verb (used without object), ex·e·crat·ed, ex·e·crat·ing. 3. to utter curses.

epicene

[ep-i-seen] adjective 1. belonging to, or partaking of the characteristics of, both sexes: Fashions in clothing are becoming increasingly epicene. 2. flaccid; feeble; weak: an epicene style of writing. 3. effeminate; unmasculine. 4. (of Greek and Latin nouns) of the same gender class regardless of the sex of the being referred to, as Latin vulpēs "fox or vixen" is always grammatically feminine. 5. Grammar . (of a noun or pronoun) capable of referring to either sex, as attendant, chairperson, Kim, one, or they; having common gender.

anus

[ey-nuhs] noun, plural a·nus·es. Anatomy . the opening at the lower end of the alimentary canal, through which the solid refuse of digestion is excreted.

fierce

[feers]adjective, fierc·er, fierc·est. 1. menacingly wild, savage, or hostile: fierce animals; a fierce look. 2. violent in force, intensity, etc.: fierce winds. 3. furiously eager or intense: fierce competition. 4.Informal. extremely bad or severe: a fierce cold.

frantic

[fran-tik] adjective "the poor dogs frantically types his master's essay on the computer before class" 1.desperate or wild with excitement, passion, fear, pain, etc.; frenzied. 2. Archaic. insane; mad.

fulminate

[fuhl-muh-ney-shuhn] noun [fuhl-muh-neyt] verb (used without object), ful·mi·nat·ed, ful·mi·nat·ing. 1. to explode with a loud noise; detonate. 2. to issue denunciations or the like, (usually followed by against ): The minister fulminated against legalized vice. verb (used with object), ful·mi·nat·ed, ful·mi·nat·ing. 3. to cause to explode. 4. to issue or pronounce with vehement denunciation, condemnation, or the like. noun 5. one of a group of unstable, explosive compounds derived from fulminic acid, especially the mercury salt of fulminic acid, which is a powerful detonating agent.1. a violent denunciation or censure: a sermon that was one long fulmination. 2. violent explosion.

garter

[gahr-ter] noun 1. Also called, British, sock suspender, suspender. an article of clothing for holding up a stocking or sock, usually an elastic band around the leg or an elastic strap hanging from a girdle or other undergarment. 2. a similar band worn to hold up a shirt sleeve. 3. a leather strap for passing through a loop at the back of a boot and buckling around the leg to keep the boot from slipping. 4. British . a.the badge of the Order of the Garter. b.membership in the Order. c.( initial capital letter ) the Order itself. d.( usually initial capital letter ) a member of the Order. verb (used with object) 5. to fasten with a garter.

hysteria

[hi-ster-ee-uh, -steer-] noun "Oh no, time to go hysterical" 1. an uncontrollable outburst of emotion or fear, often characterized by irrationality, laughter, weeping, etc. 2. Psychoanalysis . a psychoneurotic disorder characterized by violent emotional outbreaks, disturbances of sensory and motor functions, and various abnormal effects due to autosuggestion.

hallucination

[huh-loo-suh-ney-shuhn] noun "At the memorial, Johnny hallucinates regarding his comrades that have fallen." 1. a sensory experience of something that does not exist outside the mind, caused by various physical and mental disorders, or by reaction to certain toxic substances, and usually manifested as visual or auditory images. 2. the sensation caused by a hallucinatory condition or the object or scene visualized. 3.a false notion, belief, or impression; illusion; delusion.

hermaphrodite

[hur-maf-ruh-dahyt] noun 1. an individual in which reproductive organs of both sexes are present. Compare pseudohermaphrodite. 2. Biology . an organism, as an earthworm or plant, having normally both the male and female organs of generation. 3. a person or thing in which two opposite qualities are combined. adjective 4. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a hermaphrodite. 5.combining two opposite qualities.

eradicate

[ih-rad-i-keyt] verb (used with object), e·rad·i·cat·ed, e·rad·i·cat·ing. --Time to eradicate our spider problem.-- 1. to remove or destroy utterly; extirpate: to eradicate smallpox throughout the world. 2.to erase by rubbing or by means of a chemical solvent: to eradicate a spot. 3. to pull up by the roots: to eradicate weeds.

indefatigable

[in-di-fat-i-guh-buhl] adjective incapable of defeat, failure, decay "All because in indefatigable workout." (Even after traveling 62 miles, the indefatigable runner kept on moving.) incapable of being tired out; not yielding to fatigue; untiring.

inherent

[in-heer-uhnt, -her-] adjective "He stands before a new millennium with inherit potential" 1. existing in someone or something as a permanent and inseparable element, quality, or attribute: an inherent distrust of strangers. 2. Grammar . standing before a noun. 3. inhering; infixed.

incontinent

[in-kon-tn-uhnt] adjective --At least her incontinence only had to do with drinking water.-- 1. unable to restrain natural discharges or evacuations of urine or feces. 2. unable to contain or retain (usually followed by of ): incontinent of temper. 3. lacking in moderation or self-control, especially of sexual desire. 4. unceasing or unrestrained: an incontinent flow of talk.

commingle

[kuh-ming-guhl] verb (used with object), verb (used without object), com·min·gled, com·min·gling. to mix or mingle together; combine.

constrain

[kuhn-streynd] adjective 1.forced, compelled, or obliged: a constrained confession. 2.stiff or unnatural; uneasy or embarrassed: a constrained manner.

quietus

[kwahy-ee-tuhs] noun, plural qui·e·tus·es. 1. a finishing stroke; anything that effectually ends or settles: Having given a quietus to the argument, she left. 2. discharge or release from life. 3.a period of retirement or inactivity.

quiescent

[kwee-es-uhnt, kwahy-] adjective being at rest; quiet; still; inactive or motionless: a quiescent mind. qui·es·cent·ly, adverb qui·es·cence, qui·es·cen·cy, noun Can be confused: quiescent, quiet. Synonyms dormant, latent.

labyrinthine

[lab-uh-rin-thin, -theen] adjective "The labyrinthine desire of power is convoluted and circumvented by ambition" 1. of, pertaining to, or resembling a labyrinth. 2. complicated; tortuous: the labyrinthine byways of modern literature. Also, lab·y·rin·thi·an [lab-uh-rin-thee-uhn] lab·y·rin·thic. Adverb: lab·y·rin·thi·cal·ly "in the apocryphal moments of despair , John wanders labyrinthically if his life choices were an enigma of his fears" Noun [lab-uh-rinth] "Regrets can be a labyrinth from which there is no escape until the Minotaur of the psyche is engaged and tamed...." 1. an intricate combination of paths or passages in which it is difficult to find one's way or to reach the exit. Synonyms: maze, network, web. 2. a maze of paths bordered by high hedges, as in a park or garden, for the amusement of those who search for a way out. 3. a complicated or tortuous arrangement, as of streets or buildings. Synonyms: warren, maze, jungle, snarl, tangle, knot. 4. any confusingly intricate state of things or events; a bewildering complex: His papers were lost in an hellish bureaucratic labyrinth. After the death of her daughter, she wandered in a labyrinth of sorrow for what seemed like a decade. Synonyms: wilderness, jungle, forest; morass. 5. ( initial capital letter ) Classical Mythology . a vast maze built in Crete by Daedalus, at the command of King Minos, to house the Minotaur.

leer

[leer] verb (used without object) 1]. to look with a sideways or oblique glance, especially suggestive of lascivious interest or sly and malicious intention: I can't concentrate with you leering at me. 2] lascivious or sly look. (2nd meaning) adjective British Dialect . 1. having no burden or load. 2. faint for lack of food; hungry. as in leery/ leary

melancholy

[mel-uhn-kol-ee] noun, plural mel·an·chol·ies. "Though she is wealthy, she is not free from oppression and leans out in a state of melancholy over the balcony hoping to be freed" 1. a gloomy state of mind, especially when habitual or prolonged; depression. 2. sober thoughtfulness; pensiveness. 3. Archaic. a.the condition of having too much black bile, considered in ancient and medieval medicine to cause gloominess and depression. b. black bile. adjective 4. affected with, characterized by, or showing melancholy; mournful; depressed: a melancholy mood. 5. causing melancholy or sadness; saddening: a melancholy occasion. 6. soberly thoughtful; pensive.

mesmerize

[mez-muh-rahyz, mes-] verb (used with object), mes·mer·ized, mes·mer·iz·ing. "The gymnast mesmerized the crowd with their strength and agility" 1. to enchant, to hypnotize. 2. to spellbind; fascinate. 3.to compel by fascination.

nuisance

[noo-suhns, nyoo-] noun --If you are a nuisance, we vote you off the rock!-- 1. an obnoxious or annoying person, thing, condition, practice, etc.: a monthly meeting that was more nuisance than pleasure. 2. Law. something offensive or annoying to individuals or to the community, especially in violation of their legal rights.

ogle

[oh-guhl] verb (used with object), o·gled, o·gling. "Girl, let me call you back." 1. to look at amorously, flirtatiously, or impertinently. 2. to eye; look or stare at. verb (used without object), o·gled, o·gling. 3.to look amorously, flirtatiously, or impertinently. 4. to look or stare. noun 5. an amorous, flirtatious, or impertinent glance or stare.

perfervid

[per-fur-vid] adjective very fervent; extremely ardent; impassioned: perfervid patriotism.

prosody

[pros-uh-dee] noun 1. the science or study of poetic meters and versification. 2. a particular or distinctive system of metrics and versification: Milton's prosody. 3. Linguistics . the stress and intonation patterns of an utterance. Origin: tone or accent, modulation of voice, song sung to music

repercussion

[ree-per-kuhsh-uhn, rep-er-] noun "Romeo and Juliet did not perceive the repercussion of their tryst." 1. an effect or result, often indirect or remote, of some event or action: The repercussions of the quarrel were widespread. 2. the state of being driven back by a resisting body. 3. a rebounding or recoil of something after impact. 4. reverberation; echo. 5. Music. (in a fugue) the point after the development of an episode at which the subject and answer appear again.

relentless

[ri-lent-lis] adjective that does not relent; unyieldingly severe, strict, or harsh; unrelenting: a relentless enemy. Origin: 1585-95; relent + -less Related forms re·lent·less·ly, adverb re·lent·less·ness, noun Synonyms rigid, unbending, obdurate, adamant, unyielding, inflexible.

repugnance

[ri-puhg-nuhns] noun "She demonstrated her repugnance for his remark by stomping on his foot." 1. the state of being repugnant. 2. strong distaste, aversion, or objection; antipathy. 3.contradictoriness or inconsistency. Also, re·pug·nan·cy. Synonyms 2. hatred, hostility. See dislike. 3. contrariety, incompatibility, irreconcilability. Antonyms 2. attraction, liking. 3. compatibility.

satire

[sat-ahyuhr] noun Conan does creates a satire of the Matrix." 1. the use of irony, sarcasm, ridicule, or the like, in exposing, denouncing, or deriding vice, folly, etc. 2. a literary composition, in verse or prose, in which human folly and vice are held up to scorn, derision, or ridicule. 3. a literary genre comprising such compositions. burlesque, caricature, parody, travesty. Satire, lampoon refer to literary forms in which vices or follies are ridiculed. Satire the general term, often emphasizes the weakness more than the weak person, and usually implies moral judgment and corrective purpose: Swift's satire of human pettiness and bestiality "Yahoos--Humans". Lampoon refers to a form of satire, often political or personal, characterized by the malice or virulence of its attack: lampoons of the leading political figures.

scrutinize

[skroot-n-ahyz] verb (used with object), scru·ti·nized, scru·ti·niz·ing. While baiting him, she scrutinized him." 1. to examine in detail with careful or critical attention. verb (used without object), scru·ti·nized, scru·ti·niz·ing. 2. to conduct a scrutiny.[skroot-n-ee] noun, plural scru·ti·nies. noun 1.a searching examination or investigation; minute inquiry. 2.surveillance; close and continuous watching or guarding. 3.a close and searching look.

stanch or staunch

[stawnch, stanch, stahnch] verb (used with object) She needed to stauch the bleeding--. 1. to stop the flow of (a liquid, especially blood). 2. to stop the flow of blood or other liquid from (a wound, leak, etc.). 3. Archaic. to check, allay, or extinguish. verb (used without object) 4. to stop flowing, as blood; be stanched. noun 5. Also called flash-lock, navigation weir. a lock that, after being partially emptied, is opened suddenly to send a boat over a shallow place with a rush of water. Also, staunch.

surreal

[suh-ree-uhl, -reel] adjective "In this light, the whale-tail becomes surreal as if the swimmer is a mermaid." 1. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of surrealism, an artistic and literary style; surrealistic. 2. having the disorienting, hallucinatory quality of a dream; unreal; fantastic: surreal complexities of the bureaucracy.

subtle

[suht-l] Showadjective, sub·tler, sub·tlest. "Her charismatic quality does not entice her, it is the subtle Mona Lisa smile that fascinates and captures: wrapped in the subtle attraction of her strange personality. 1. thin, tenuous, or rarefied, as a fluid or an odor. 2. fine or delicate in meaning or intent; difficult to perceive or understand: subtle irony. 3. delicate or faint and mysterious: a subtle smile. 4. requiring mental acuteness, penetration, or discernment: a subtle philosophy. 5. characterized by mental acuteness or penetration: a subtle understanding.

tempt

[tempt] verb (used with object) 1. to entice or allure to do something often regarded as unwise, wrong, or immoral. 2. to attract, appeal strongly to, or invite: The offer tempts me. 3. to render strongly disposed to do something: The book tempted me to read more on the subject. 4. to put (someone) to the test in a venturesome way; provoke: to tempt one's fate. 5. Obsolete . to try or test.

toadyism

[toh-dee] Show IPA noun, plural toad·ies. 1. an obsequious flatterer; sycophant. verb (used with object), toad·ied, toad·y·ing. 2. to be the toady to. verb (used without object), toad·ied, toad·y·ing. 3. to be a toady.

obliterate

[uh-blit-uh-reyt] verb (used with object), ob·lit·er·at·ed, ob·lit·er·at·ing. If America, China, and Russia ever get into a nuclear war, we will obliterate each other. 1. to remove or destroy all traces of; do away with; destroy completely. 2. to blot out or render undecipherable (writing, marks, etc.); efface.

annihilate

[uh-nahy-uh-ley-shuhn] noun 1. the act or an instance of annihilating. 2. the state of being annihilated; extinction; destruction. 3. Physics. a.Also called pair annihilation. the process in which a particle and antiparticle unite, annihilate each other, and produce one or more photons. Compare positronium. b.the conversion of rest mass into energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation.

arouse

[uh-rouz] verb (used with object), a·roused, a·rous·ing. 1. to stir to action or strong response; excite: to arouse a crowd; to arouse suspicion. 2. to stimulate sexually. 3. to awaken; wake up: The footsteps aroused the dog. verb (used without object), a·roused, a·rous·ing. 4. to awake or become aroused: At dawn the farmers began to arouse. Synonyms 1. animate; inspirit, inspire; incite, provoke, instigate; stimulate, kindle, fire. Antonyms 1. calm.

enucleate

[v. ih-noo-klee-eyt, ih-nyoo-; adj. ih-noo-klee-it, -eyt, ih-nyoo-] verb (used with object), e·nu·cle·at·ed, e·nu·cle·at·ing. noun enucleation 1. Biology . to deprive of the nucleus. 2. to remove (a kernel, tumor, eyeball, etc.) from its enveloping cover. 3. Archaic. to bring out; disclose; explain. adjective 4. having no nucleus.

infatuated

[v. in-fach-oo-eyt; adj., n. in-fach-oo-it, -eyt] verb (used with object), in·fat·u·at·ed, in·fat·u·at·ing. --Donna was infatuated with Dave.-- 1. to inspire or possess with a foolish or unreasoning passion, as of love. 2. to affect with folly; make foolish or fatuous. adjective 3. infatuated. noun 4. a person who is infatuated.

lacerate

[v. las-uh-reyt; adj. las-uh-reyt, -er-it] Show IPA verb (used with object), lac·er·at·ed, lac·er·at·ing. "Whatever you do, don't just lacerate all the wires....cut the...." 1. to tear roughly; mangle: The barbed wire lacerated his hands. 2. to distress or torture mentally or emotionally; wound deeply; pain greatly: His bitter criticism lacerated my heart.

vellicate

[vel-i-keyt] verb (used with object), vel·li·cat·ed, vel·li·cat·ing. 1.to pluck; twitch. 2. to nip, pinch, or the like. 3. to cause to twitch. verb (used without object), vel·li·cat·ed, vel·li·cat·ing. 4. to move with spasmodic convulsions; twitch.

vigor

[vig-er] noun 1. active strength or force. 2. healthy physical or mental energy or power; vitality. 3. energetic activity; energy; intensity: The economic recovery has given the country a new vigor. 4. force of healthy growth in any living matter or organism, as a plant. 5. active or effective force, especially legal validity.

Laconic

[with a grave intonation, Clint Eastwood uttered few words, though potent.] 1. Using few words; expressing much in few words; concise: a laconic reply. (of a person, speech, or style of writing) using very few words. "his laconic reply suggested a lack of interest in the topic" synonyms: brief, concise, terse, succinct, short, pithy: "his laconic comment" 2. taciturn, uncommunicative, reticent, quiet, reserved, silent, unforthcoming, brief "their laconic press agent" antonyms: verbose, loquacious

tryst

a secret rendezvous (especially between lovers)

wont

accustomed, habit, inclined or apt to do; a pattern of behavior acquired through frequent repetition,

chaste

adj.} [cheyst] adjective, chast·er, chast·est. 1. refraining from sexual intercourse that is regarded as contrary to morality or religion; virtuous. 2. virgin. 3.not engaging in sexual relations; celibate. 4. free from obscenity; decent: chaste conversation. 5. undefiled or stainless: chaste, white snow.

extravagant

adjective --Royals are always extravagantly dressed for pompous ceremonies-- 1. spending much more than is necessary or wise; wasteful: an extravagant shopper. 2. excessively high: extravagant expenses; extravagant prices. 3. exceeding the bounds of reason, as actions, demands, opinions, or passions. 4. going beyond what is deserved or justifiable: extravagant praise. 5. Obsolete . wandering beyond bounds. noun: extravagance, extravagancy/ ies

demonstrative

adjective 1. characterized by or given to open exhibition or expression of one's emotions, attitudes, etc., especially of love or affection: She wished her fiancé were more demonstrative. 2. serving to demonstrate; explanatory or illustrative. 3. serving to prove the truth of anything; indubitably conclusive. 4. Grammar . indicating or singling out the thing referred to. This is a demonstrative pronoun. noun 5. Grammar . a demonstrative word, as this or there.

promiscuious

adjective 1. characterized by or involving indiscriminate mingling or association, especially having sexual relations with a number of partners on a casual basis. 2. consisting of parts, elements, or individuals of different kinds brought together without order. 3. indiscriminate; without discrimination. 4. casual; irregular; haphazard. Noun promiscuity

erogenic

adjective 1. especially sensitive to sexual stimulation, as certain areas of the body: erogenous zones. 2. arousing or tending to arouse sexual desire; sexually stimulating. Also, er·o·gen·ic [er-uh-jen-ik]

undefiled

adjective 1. free from stain or blemish [syn: immaculate] 2. (of language) not having its purity or excellence debased; "uncorrupted English"; "learn to speak pure English undefiled"- [syn: uncorrupted]

libidinous

adjective 1. full of sexual lust; lustful; lewd; lascivious. 2. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of the libido.

voluptuous

adjective 1. full of, characterized by, or ministering to indulgence in luxury, pleasure, and sensuous enjoyment: a voluptuous life. 2. derived from gratification of the senses: voluptuous pleasure. 3. directed toward or concerned with sensuous enjoyment or sensual pleasure: voluptuous desires. 4. sensuously pleasing or delightful: voluptuous beauty.

salacious

adjective 1. lustful or lecherous. 2. (of writings, pictures, etc.) obscene; grossly indecent.

unadulterated

adjective 1. not diluted or made impure by adulterating; pure: unadulterated maple syrup. 2. utter; absolute: unadulterated nonsense.

indiscriminate

adjective 1. not discriminating; lacking in care, judgment, selectivity, etc.: indiscriminate in one's friendships. 2. not discriminate; haphazard; thoughtless: indiscriminate slaughter. 3. not kept apart or divided; thrown together; jumbled: an indiscriminate combination of colors and styles.

perdurable

adjective 1. very durable; permanent; imperishable. 2. Theology . eternal; everlasting.

perennial

adjective "For how long do I have to keep on doings these perennial push-ups?" 1. lasting for an indefinitely long time; enduring: her perennial beauty. 2. (of plants) having a life cycle lasting more than two years. 3. lasting or continuing throughout the entire year, as a stream. 4. perpetual; everlasting; continuing; recurrent. noun 5. a perennial plant: Daffodils and tulips are perennials. 6. something that is continuing or recurrent.

Quintessential

adjective -- The quintessential question about life was answered in this book.-- 1. of the pure and essential essence of something: the quintessential Jewish delicatessen. "The [kwin-tuh-sen-shuhl] element that made him the Hulk was gamma rays" 2. of or pertaining to the most perfect embodiment of something: the quintessential performance of the Brandenburg Concertos.

erotic

adjective Also, e·rot·i·cal. "The erotic poems that Ovid wrote suggest how to circumvent Roman social mores." 1. arousing or satisfying sexual desire: an erotic dance. 2. of, pertaining to, or treating of sexual love; amatory: an erotic novel. 3. subject to or marked by strong sexual desire. noun 4. an erotic poem. 5. an erotic person.

aphrodisiac

adjective [af-ruh-duh-zahy-uh-kuhl, -sahy-] 1. arousing sexual desire. noun 2. an aphrodisiac food, drug, potion, or other agent that arouses sexual desire.

deciduous

adjective [dih-sij-oo-uhs] __ You know that a tree is deciduous when it loses its leaves in the fall.-- 1.shedding the leaves annually, as certain trees and shrubs. 2.falling off or shed at a particular season, stage of growth, etc., as leaves, horns, or teeth. 3.not permanent; transitory.

dithyrambic

adjective [dith-uh-ram-bik] 1. of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a dithyramb. 2. wildly irregular in form. 3. wildly enthusiastic. 1. prosody of or relating to a dithyramb 2. passionately eloquent

bawdy

adjective, bawd·i·er, bawd·i·est. 1. indecent; lewd; obscene: another of his bawdy stories. noun 2. coarse or indecent talk or writing; bawdry; bawdiness: a collection of Elizabethan bawdy.

perpetual

adjective: "Why do you needle me with perpetual questions?" 1. continuing or enduring forever; everlasting. 2. lasting an indefinitely long time: perpetual snow. 3. continuing or continued without intermission or interruption; ceaseless: a perpetual stream of visitors all day. 4. blooming almost continuously throughout the season or the year.

fulsome

adjective: [fool-suhm, fuhl-] --Not knowing when to be quiet is a fulsome habit.-- 1. offensive to good taste, especially as being excessive; overdone or gross: fulsome praise that embarrassed her deeply; fulsome décor. 2. disgusting; sickening; repulsive: a table heaped with fulsome mounds of greasy foods. 3. excessively or insincerely lavish: fulsome admiration. 4. encompassing all aspects; comprehensive: a fulsome survey of the political situation in Central America. 5. abundant or copious.

fervid

adjective: [fur-vid] 1. heated or vehement in spirit, enthusiasm, etc.: a fervid orator. 2. burning; glowing; intensely hot.

carnal

adjective: [kahr-nl] pertaining to or characterized by the flesh or the body, its passions and appetites; sensual: carnal pleasures. 2. not spiritual; merely human; temporal; worldly: a man of secular, rather carnal, leanings.

concupiscent

adjective: [kon-kyoo-pi-suhnt, kong-] 1. lustful or sensual. 2. eagerly desirous.

iconic

adjective: iconic "The Beatles's album cover: a famous iconic crosswalk" 1. of, relating to, or of the nature of an icon. "language is not in general an iconic sign system" (of a classical Greek statue) depicting a victorious athlete in a conventional style. 2. Art. (of statues, portraits, etc.) executed according to a convention or tradition.

seductive

adjective: seductive "More and more now, the media is using the allure and seduction of the male physique to sell products or ratings; whatever seductive form they can use to seduce the consumer is use: men--the new sex objects, and the pendulum swings. 1. tempting and attractive; enticing. "a seductive voice" synonyms: sexy, alluring, tempting, irresistible, exciting, provocative, sultry, slinky; verb: seduce

emanate

em·a·nate verb (used without object), em·a·nat·ed, em·a·nat·ing. 1. to flow out, issue, or proceed, as from a source or origin; come forth; originate. Synonyms: arise, spring, flow. verb (used with object), em·a·nat·ed, em·a·nat·ing. 2. to send forth; emit. [em-uh-neyt]

ostentation

excessive showiness noun -- The Royal Wedding was an ostentatious affair.-- 1. pretentious and vulgar display, esp. of wealth and luxury, intended to impress or attract notice. "the office was spacious, but without any trace of ostentation"excessive showiness stənˈtāSHən/

satyr

noun 1. Classical Mythology . one of a class of woodland deities, attendant on Bacchus, represented as part human, part horse, and sometimes part goat and noted for riotousness and lasciviousness. 2. a lascivious man; lecher.

rukus

noun 1. a noisy commotion; fracas; rumpus: The losers are sure to raise a ruckus. 2. a heated controversy: Newspapers fostered the ruckus by printing the opponents' letters.

riot

noun 1. a noisy, violent public disorder caused by a group or crowd of persons, as by a crowd protesting against another group, a government policy, etc., in the streets. 2. Law. a disturbance of the public peace by three or more persons acting together in a disrupting and tumultuous manner in carrying out their private purposes. 3. violent or wild disorder or confusion. 4. a brilliant display: a riot of color. 5.something or someone hilariously funny: You were a riot at the party.

virgin

noun 1. a person who has never had sexual intercourse. 2. an unmarried girl or woman. 3. Ecclesiastical . an unmarried, religious woman, especially a saint. 4. the Virgin, Mary, the mother of Christ. 5. Informal. any person who is uninitiated, uninformed, or the like: He's still a virgin as far as hard work is concerned. adjective 6. a female animal that has never copulated. 7. an unfertilized insect. 9. being a virgin: a virgin martyr. 10. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a virgin: virgin modesty. 11. pure; unsullied; undefiled: virgin snow. 12. first: the senator's virgin speech. 13.without admixture, alloy, or modification: virgin gold.

tittup

noun 1. an exaggerated prancing, bouncing movement or manner of moving. verb (used without object), tit·tuped, tit·tup·ing or ( especially British ) tit·tupped, tit·tup·ping. 2. to move, especially to walk, in an exaggerated prancing or bouncing way, as a spirited horse. [tit-uhp] Origin: 1695-1705; dial. tit a jerk, twitch ( Middle English titte ) + (gall)op

nymph

noun 1. one of a numerous class of lesser deities of mythology, conceived of as beautiful maidens inhabiting the sea, rivers, woods, trees, mountains, meadows, etc., and frequently mentioned as attending a superior deity. 2. a beautiful or graceful young woman. 3.a maiden. 4. the young of an insect that undergoes incomplete metamorphosis.

plummet

noun 1. Also called plumb bob. a piece of lead or some other weight attached to a line, used for determining perpendicularity, for sounding, etc.; the bob of a plumb line. 2. something that weighs down or depresses. verb (used without object) 3. to plunge.

pendulum

noun "What society considers right and wrong can swing back and forth like the pendulum swaying of my hips." 1. a body so suspended from a fixed point as to move to and fro by the action of gravity and acquired momentum. 2. Horology . a swinging lever, weighted at the lower end, for regulating the speed of a clock mechanism. 3. something that tends to move from one position, condition, etc., to the opposite extreme and then back again: In a democratic society, the pendulum of political thought swings left and right.

psyche

noun "With emotional abuse came the crushing of her pysche like a China-doll discarded on the floor to be trampled by the next insignificant passerby. 1. Classical Mythology . a personification of the soul, which in the form of a beautiful girl was loved by Eros. 2. ( lowercase ) the human soul, spirit, or mind. 3. ( lowercase ) Psychology, Psychoanalysis . the mental or psychological structure of a person, especially as a motive force.

icon

noun Coke, Beatles, cigs. are great American and British icons. 1. a picture, image, or other representation. 2. Eastern Church . a representation of some sacred personage, as Christ or a saint or angel, painted usually on a wood surface and venerated itself as sacred. 3. a sign or representation that stands for its object by virtue of a resemblance or analogy to it. 4. Computers. a picture or symbol that appears on a monitor and is used to represent a command, as a file drawer to represent filing.

payola, or plugola

noun Informal. pay·o·la [pey-oh-luh] a secret or private payment in return for the promotion of a product, service, etc., through the abuse of one's position, influence, or facilities. noun Slang. 1. payment or favor given to people in media or motion pictures for favorable mention or display of a particular product or brand name. 2. promotional mention or praise of someone or something on radio or television.

hyperbole

noun Rhetoric . "With the keen use of his aim and gun, he could shoot the moon out of the sky." 1. obvious and intentional exaggeration. 2. an extravagant statement or figure of speech not intended to be taken literally, as "to wait an eternity."exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. synonyms: exaggeration, overstatement, magnification, embroidery, embellishment, excess, overkill,

execration

noun [ek-si-krey-shuhn] 1. the act of execrating. 2.a curse or imprecation: The execrations of the prophet terrified the sinful multitude. 3. the object execrated; a thing held in abomination.

rut

noun [ruht] "The ruttish boy ruts in a rut of his own rutting ruttishness" 1. a furrow or track in the ground, especially one made by the passage of a vehicle or vehicles. 2. any furrow, groove, etc. 3. a fixed or established mode of procedure or course of life, usually dull or unpromising: to fall into a rut. verb (used with object), rut·ted, rut·ting. 4.to make a rut or ruts in; furrow. Also noun 1. the periodically recurring sexual excitement of the deer, goat, sheep, etc. verb (used without object), rut·ted, rut·ting. 2. to be in the condition of rut.

arshole

noun {1350-1400 Middle English} Vulgar. a'hole 1. anus. 2.Slang. a.a stupid, mean, or contemptible person. b. the worst part of a place or thing. adjective 3. Slang. stupid, mean, or contemptible, ass.

Lexicon

noun, 1. a wordbook or dictionary, especially of Greek, Latin, or hebrew. 2. the vocabulary of a particular language, field, social class, person, etc. 3. inventory or record: unparalleled in the lexicon of human relations. [lek-si-kon, -kuhn] [lek-si-kuh] "Students need to be a walking lexicon to be ready for their he SAT"

elegy

noun, plural el·e·gies. 1. a mournful, melancholy, or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead. 2. a poem written in elegiac meter. 3. a sad or mournful musical composition.

shimmy

noun, plural shim·mies. The dog shimmied the water off his coat." 1. an American ragtime dance marked by shaking of the hips and shoulders. 2. excessive wobbling in the front wheels of a motor vehicle. 3. a chemise. verb (used without object), shim·mied, shim·my·ing. 4. to dance the shimmy. 5. to shake, wobble, or vibrate.

lechery

noun: [lech-uh-ree] "John Potter committed lechery with Abigail." 1. unrestrained or excessive indulgence of sexual desire. adjective: lecherous 2.a lecherous act. erotically suggestive; inciting to lust: lecherous photographs.

libertine

noun: [lib-er-teen, -tin] 1. a person who is morally or sexually unrestrained, especially a dissolute man; a profligate; rake. 2. a freethinker in religious matters. 3. a person freed from slavery in ancient Rome. adjective 4. free of moral, especially sexual, restraint; dissolute; licentious. 5.freethinking in religious matters. 6. Archaic. unrestrained; uncontrolled.

allure

noun: allure; plural noun: allures 1. the quality of being powerfully and mysteriously attractive or fascinating. "people for whom gold holds no allure" synonyms: attraction, lure, draw, pull, appeal, allurement, enticement, temptation, charm, seduction, fascination More antonyms: repulsion verb verb: allure; 3rd person present: allures; past tense: allured; past participle: allured; gerund or present participle: alluring 1. powerfully attract or charm; tempt. synonyms: attract, lure, entice, tempt, appeal to, captivate, draw, win over, charm, seduce, inveigle, beguile, fascinate, whet the appetite of, make someone's mouth water More enticing, tempting, attractive, appealing, inviting, captivating, fetching, seductive; enchanting, charming, fascinating; informal come-hither antonyms: repel

wench

noun] 1. a country lass or working girl: The milkmaid was a healthy wench. 2. Usually Facetious. a girl or young woman. 3. Archaic. a strumpet. verb (used without object) 4. to associate, especially habitually, with promiscuous women. such as a lewd woman; prostitute; a young woman, a female servant

sensual

pertaining to, inclined to, or preoccupied with the gratification of the senses or appetites; carnal; fleshly. 2. lacking in moral restraints; lewd or unchaste. 3. arousing or exciting the senses or appetites. 4. worldly; materialistic; irreligious. 5. of or pertaining to the senses or physical sensation; sensory.

transsexual

trans·sex·u·al [trans-sek-shoo-uhl] noun "Do you see yourself as a transsexual or as an actor portraying the part in order to call attention to the dilemma of understanding sexuality?" 1. a person having a strong desire to assume the physical characteristics and gender role of the opposite sex. 2. a person who has undergone hormone treatment and surgery to attain the physical characteristics of the opposite sex. adjective 3. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of transsexuals. Origin: 1955-60; trans- + sexual, orig. in transsexualism (coined in 1953) Related forms trans·sex·u·al·ism, trans·sex·u·al·i·ty, noun

solidarity

ˌsäləˈde(ə)ritē noun 1. unity or agreement of feeling or action, esp. among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.

titillate

verb 1. stimulate or excite (someone), esp. in a sexual way. "these journalists are paid to titillate the public" synonyms: arouse, excite, tantalize, stimulate, stir, thrill, interest, attract, fascinate; More

mutilate

verb 1.inflict a violent and disfiguring injury on. "the leg was badly mutilated" synonyms: mangle, maim, disfigure, butcher, dismember

garnish

verb (used with object) 1. to provide or supply with something ornamental; adorn; decorate. 2. to provide (a food) with something that adds flavor, decorative color, etc.: to garnish boiled potatoes with chopped parsley. 3. Law. a. to attach (as money due or property belonging to a debtor) by garnishment; garnishee. b. to summon in, so as to take part in litigation already pending between others. noun 4. something placed around or on a food or in a beverage to add flavor, decorative color, etc. 5.adornment or decoration.

adulterate

verb (used with object), a·dul·ter·at·ed, a·dul·ter·at·ing. 1. to debase or make impure by adding inferior materials or elements; use cheaper, inferior, or less desirable goods in the production of (any professedly genuine article): to adulterate food. adjective 2. adulterated. 3. adulterous

entice

verb (used with object), en·ticed, en·tic·ing. to lead on by exciting hope or desire; allure; inveigle: "They were enticed westward by dreams of gold." attract or tempt by offering pleasure or advantage. "a show that should entice a new audience into the theater" synonyms: tempt, lure, allure, attract, appeal to; invite, persuade, convince, beguile, coax, woo, court; seduce, lead on; informal sweet-talk "he tried to entice us by promising a screen test at his studio" tempting, alluring, attractive, appealing, inviting, seductive, beguiling

teeter

verb (used without object) 1. to move unsteadily. 2. to ride a seesaw; teetertotter. verb (used with object) 3. to tip (something) up and down; move unsteadily. noun 4. a seesaw motion; wobble. 5. a seesaw; teetertotter.

chuckle

verb (used without object), chuck·led, chuck·ling. 1. to laugh softly or amusedly, usually with satisfaction: They chuckled at the child's efforts to walk. 2. to laugh to oneself: to chuckle while reading.

placate

verb --By making me laugh, the book placated my fear of death-- 1. make (someone) less angry or hostile. "they attempted to placate the students with promises" {plākāt}

prevaricate

verb ] (used without object), pre·var·i·cat·ed, pre·var·i·cat·ing. to speak falsely or misleadingly; deliberately misstate or create an incorrect impression; lie. speak or act in an evasive way. "Harry seemed to prevaricate when when he asked pointed questions regarding hidden knowledge. pre·var·i·cate [pri-var-i-keyt]

enubilate

verb. Enubilate.] To clear from mist, clouds, or obscurity. Adjective: E*nu"bi*lous\, a. Free from fog, mist, or clouds; clear.

coax

verb: coax; 3rd person present: coaxes; past tense: coaxed; past participle: coaxed; gerund or present participle: coaxing 1. persuade (someone) gradually or by flattery to do something. "the trainees were coaxed into doing hard, boring work" synonyms: persuade, wheedle, cajole, get around; More use flattery or gradual persuasion to obtain something from. "we coaxed money out of my father" manipulate (something) carefully into a particular shape or position. "her lovely hair had been coaxed into ringlets"

winnow

verb] 1. remove chaff from grain: to separate grain from its husks chaff by tossing it in the air or blowing air through it 2. examine something to remove bad parts: to examine something in order to remove the bad, unusable, or undesirable parts. "the autumn wind winnowing its way through the grass" [ wínnō ]