Advance GRE list

brandish

Definition: Shake, wave, or flourish, as a weapon Usage: The Renaissance Fair ended badly, with one drunken fellow brandishing a sword and refusing to leave the ladies' dressing tent. More Info: Brandish comes from the Germanic "brand," or sword.

bombastic

Definition: (Of speech or writing) far too showy or dramatic than is appropriate; pretentious Usage: Professor Knutsen's friends joked that he became quite bombastic after a few drinks, once asking a woman in a bar, "Is your daddy an aesthete? Because you are the epitome of ineffable pulchritude." She replied, "I'm not impressed by your bombast." Related Words: Declamatory (pompous, merely oratorical), Magniloquent and Grandiloquent (speaking in a lofty, grandiose style) More Info: The origin of bombastic is related to the idea of being inflated, a metaphor that also comes into play with the related words turgid and tumid, synonyms that can mean literally inflated like a balloon, or using language much too fancy for the sentiment or occasion.

aberrant

Definition: Abnormal, deviant Usage: The teen's aberrant behavior made his family suspect that he was using drugs. / Losing rather than gaining weight over the holidays is certainly an aberration. Related Words: Anomaly (deviation from the norm, inconsistency), Outlier (a person on the fringe; a data point that lies outside the main pattern of data) More Info: The prefix "ab" means "away"—in this case, away from what's normal.

accede

Definition: Agree, give consent; assume power (usually as "accede to") Usage: While the Englishman was a strong believer in democracy, he had to accede that watching Prince Charles someday accede to the throne would indeed be exciting. Related Words: Assent also means agree or give in. More Info: When Prince Charles accedes to the throne, he will be succeeding (taking power after) Queen Elizabeth.

albeit

Definition: Although, even though Usage: The village leader was illiterate albeit highly intelligent. / The trip was exciting, albeit brief. Related Words: Notwithstanding (in spite of, although, all the same—"Notwithstanding the video of his crime, he was acquitted on a technicality") More Info: Albeit is a shortening of "although it be."

ascribe

Definition: Assign or credit to a certain cause or source Usage: He ascribed his good grades to diligent studying. / The young boy ascribed to his imaginary friend all the powers he wished he had himself—being able to fly, having dozens of friends, and never having to eat his broccoli. Related Words: Impute (attribute or ascribe) More Info: Ascribe contains the root "scribe," meaning "write."

assail

Definition: Attack violently, assault Usage: One strategy for winning in boxing is to simply assail your opponent with so many blows that he becomes disoriented. / The debate team assailed the opposition with more evidence than they could respond to. Related Words: Batter (beat persistently or hard) More Info: Assail simply means attack, so it can be used metaphorically the same way you would use attack, such as in "assailing one's homework with great energy."

besiege

Definition: Attack, overwhelm, crowd in on or surround Usage: The regiment was besieged by attackers on all sides and finally surrendered. / I cannot go out this weekend—I am besieged by homework! Related Words: Harry (harass or annoy), Hound (harass or pursue relentlessly, as if with hunting dogs), Beleaguer (surround, as with difficulties or attackers) More Info: Besiege is equivalent to the expression "lay siege to" (although that expression is used more in the military sense and less in the metaphorical sense).

antedate

Definition: Be older than, precede in time; assign to an earlier date Usage: Dinosaurs antedate the first human beings by about 65 million years. / Jamal didn't get around to writing the "Best Vocabulary Words of 2010" blog post until January 3rd, but he antedated the post for December 31st so at least the infrequent readers wouldn't notice. More Info: Postdate (antonym—"I will write this check now, but I'm postdating it for two weeks from now because I don't have the money in my account yet.")

coagulate

Definition: Cause a liquid to become solid or semisolid Usage: Hemophilia is a medical condition in which the blood doesn't coagulate, meaning that a hemophiliac can easily bleed to death from a small wound. / When making jam, use pectin to get the fruit to coagulate. Related Words: Curdle also means "go from liquid to solid" but tends to be used to describe milk spoiling, or metaphorically, as in "Her scream made my blood curdle." Clot has the same definition as well, and often describes blood (a blood clot in an artery can cause a heart attack). Some desserts involve clotted cream.

alienate

Definition: Cause to become unfriendly, hostile, or distant Usage: The talk-show host was trying to help, but only alienated her viewers when she suggested that they cope with a tough economy by checking themselves into a spa. Related Words: Disaffect (cause to lose affection or loyalty), Estrange (make hostile or indifferent—"He hasn't spoken to his estranged son in a decade.") More Info: In law, alienate means to transfer property to another owner. An inalienable right is one that you cannot give away or sell (for instance, it is not possible for a person to sell himself into slavery).

circumspect

Definition: Cautious, prudent; careful to consider the circumstances and consequences Usage: Luann immediately forked over an initiation fee to become a vitamin distributor, but her more circumspect brother had a list of at least twenty questions he wanted answered before he would consider joining. Related Words: Staid (restrained, prim, settled) More Info: The root "circum" means "around" and "spect" means "see"—thus, circumspect people "look around" before acting, much as in the idiom "look before you leap."

bilk

Definition: Cheat or defraud Usage: The con artist bilked many elderly people out of their savings, promising to cure illnesses from diabetes to cancer with only 36 monthly payments of $99.99—for which the victims received nothing but useless placebo pills. Related Words: Hoodwink, Swindle, Con, and Fleece are all verbs for cheating others. Fleece is perhaps more severe, having the connotation of taking everything from the victim, the way one sheers all of the fleece from a sheep. More Info: Bilk can also be a noun for the person who cheats others ("I hope that bilk goes to jail!") More obscurely, bilk can mean to escape from, frustrate, or thwart. The word comes from the card game cribbage, where it means to play a card that keeps an opponent from scoring.

alacrity

Definition: Cheerful or speedy willingness Usage: Any boss wants an employee to respond with alacrity to his or her requests, handling them promptly and with enthusiasm. Related Words: Brisk (speedy, energetic, vigorous), Sprightly (lively, full of spirit) More Info: Alacrity has an adjective form, alacritous, but phrases like "full of alacrity" or "with alacrity" are much more common.

coffer

Definition: Chest for storing valuables; financial resources, a treasury Usage: The dishonest employee called it "dipping into the company coffers," but the arresting officer called it "embezzlement." / Rather than rent a safety-deposit box, I keep my priceless antique coins in a coffer here at home. Related Words: A strongbox is also a chest for storing valuables. More Info: Coffer comes from the same root as "coffin," another type of box. When used metaphorically, coffers is generally used in the plural.

cardinal

Definition: Chief, most important Usage: The cardinal rule of Fight Club is that you don't talk about Fight Club. Related Words: Principal (first, highest in rank) More Info: Cardinal can also mean an official in the Catholic church, a bright red bird, or a deep red color. Cardinal comes from a Latin word for "hinge"—as in, a thing which other things "hinge" or depend on.

arrogate

Definition: Claim or take presumptuously or without the right to do so Usage: In order to build the oil pipeline, the government arrogated the land of many small farmers who are still fighting for compensation. / The bride's mother arrogated the right to decide on the venue, the food, and even the wedding dress! Related Words: The verb Appropriate has two meanings: set aside or authorize for a particular purpose; take for one's own use. The second meaning is a synonym for arrogate. Memory Trick: To arrogate is to arrogantly take what doesn't belong to you.`

clamber

Definition: Climb awkwardly or with difficulty, scramble Usage: The hiker had spent the last hour plodding lethargically up the side of the mountain, but when she caught sight of the summit, she excitedly began to clamber up even the steepest inclines. More Info: Clamber comes from the same root as climb. Don't confuse it with clamor, which means "noisy shouting or protest."

aesthetic

Definition: Concerning the appreciation of beauty or good taste, pertaining to the science of what is beautiful (adj); a sense of beauty and taste of a particular time and place (noun) Usage: The twins were so different—one possessed a truly baroque aesthetic, preferring golden, gilded decor. The other lived in a world of pure logic, untouched by any aesthetic sense whatsoever; art did not move him, his house was bare, and he married his wife solely because she was a master of calculus. More Info: The meaning of aesthetic can range from the academic study of beauty (aesthetics) to performing manicures, the work of an aesthetician. Don't confuse aesthetic with ascetic (pertaining to a simple, austere life with no luxuries, such as that of a monk; a person who leads such a life).

compendium

Definition: Concise but complete summary; a list or collection Usage: I could hardly bring my whole collection of poetry books on vacation, so instead, I brought a lightweight poetry compendium containing a few selections each from thirty or so poets thought to represent various styles and eras. / This movie review is unusually compendious—although a scant 500 words, it tells every single thing that happens in the entire film. Related Words: Digest (a periodical containing shortened versions of works published elsewhere), Recapitulation (summary or the act of summing up), Précis (summary or abstract)

confound

Definition: Confuse, frustrate; mix up or make worse Usage: He was positively confounded by a map that seemed to show "East Bethlehem" as being to the west of "West Bethlehem." / He was already a little flummoxed in regards to differential equations, but reading an incorrectly-edited Wikipedia page on the topic only confounded the problem. Related Words: Baffled, Flummoxed, and Nonplussed are all words for "confused."

collude

Definition: Conspire; cooperate for illegal or fraudulent purposes Usage: After two competing software companies doubled their prices on the same day, leaving consumers no lower-priced alternative, the federal government investigated the companies for collusion. Related Words: Cabal (a conspiratorial group)

abscission

Definition: Cutting off; sudden termination; the separation of leaves, petals, or other parts from a plant or animal Usage: The abscission of leaves from the trees is normal in fall. / An inflamed appendix calls for an immediate surgical abscission. Related Words: Ablation (removal of growths, etc., by surgery or other mechanical means) More Info: "Ab" means "away." The "scissio" root in abscission means "cut" and is the same as in scissors, excise (cut out or censor), and incision (cut into).

aspersions

Definition: Damaging remarks, defamation, slander Usage: He could no longer work with his duplicitous business partner, who acted friendly to his face but then spewed aspersions about him behind his back. / If you asperse me one more time, I will sue you for libel! Related Words: Slander, Traduce, and Defame all mean "to speak maliciously and falsely of" More Info: Aspersions is often used in the phrase "to cast aspersions," which has the sense of throwing or tossing insults or malicious lies about someone. One additional (rare) meaning of aspersion is "to sprinkle, such as for baptism." So, it's not a long leap to imagine spattering or sprinkling someone with insults.

abase

Definition: Degrade or humble; to lower in rank, status, or esteem Usage: After messing up at work, the man faced a thorough abasement from his boss; when he realized he had forgotten his own wedding anniversary, he further abased himself in front of his wife. Related Words: Defame (attack the reputation of), Belittle (put down, disparage) Memory Trick: Abasement means degradation or lowering of status—that is, abasement makes you feel like you should go hide in a basement.

abscond

Definition: Depart suddenly and secretively Usage: A robber absconds with stolen goods. People who eat in a restaurant and run out without paying—or criminals who jump bail—could also be said to be absconding. Related Words: Decamp (to depart from camp, or to abscond) More Info: "Ab" means "away" and the rest of abscond comes from a Latin word meaning "to put."

abhor

Definition: Detest, regard with disgust Usage: "Go out with you?" she replied. "I abhor you! I would rather stab myself with a rusty bread knife than be your girlfriend!" Related Words: Loathe, Abominate (synonyms), Antipathy (instinctive repugnance or aversion) More Info: The prefix "ab" means "away"—if you abhor (or abominate) something, you want to get as far away from it as possible.`

antithetical

Definition: Directly opposed, opposite; involving antithesis (the rhetorical act of placing two phrases opposite one another for contrast, as in Love me or hate me) Usage: Partying all night, every night, is antithetical to one's academic performance. Related Words: Deleterious (harmful, unhealthful), Counterproductive (defeating the purpose; preventing the intended goal), Inimical (unfavorable, harmful) More Info: Antithesis can be properly understood as "anti" and "thesis"—that is, being against the "thesis" (main point) of something else. The philosopher Hegel posed a method of achieving truth by which a thesis and its antithesis are resolved at a higher level of understanding, called synthesis (in normal speech, synthesis means combination into a unified entity).

blight

Definition: Disease that kills plants rapidly, or any cause of decay or destruction (noun); ruin or cause to wither (verb) Usage: Many potato farmers have fallen into poverty as a result of blight killing their crops. / Gang violence is a blight on our school system, causing innocent students to fear even attending classes. / Violence has blighted our town. Related Words: Scourge (punishment, disease, or disaster; a whip or lash), Bane (something that spoils or ruins, as in "Allergies are the bane of my life.") More Info: Blight is often used to describe unidentified plant diseases that mysteriously cause all the plants to wither—as such, it makes a good metaphor, as in "urban blight," when everything decays and goes wrong at once.

cloying

Definition: Disgustingly or distastefully sweet Usage: I do like visiting our grandmother, but I can't stand those cloying movies she watches—last time it was some heart-tugging story where an orphan saves a suffering pony. / I do like cake, but I find that honey-covered angel food cake positively cloying. Related Words: Treacly and Saccharine are synonyms. Maudlin means "overly tearful and sentimental," and might also possibly describe the orphan/pony movie described above.

beneficent

Definition: Doing good Usage: The billionaire had been a mean and stingy fellow, but after his death, his beneficent widow gave all his money to charity, even accompanying the donations with handwritten notes thanking the charities for all the good work they did. Related Words: Benevolent (expressing goodwill, helping others or charity), Eleemosynary (charitable) More Info: The Latin root "bene" means "good," and "fic" means "making or producing." The antonym of beneficent is maleficent ("mal" means "bad").`

aerie

Definition: Dwelling or fortress built on a high place; the nest of a bird of prey, such as an eagle or hawk, built on a mountain or cliff Usage: The billionaire smoked a cigar out his window and watched the riots in the streets below, safe in the aerie of his penthouse apartment. Related Words: Stronghold (a well fortified place, especially the central place of a controversial group, as in "Police raided the smugglers' stronghold.") More Info: Aerie may also be spelled aery, eyrie, or eyry. It shares an origin with "airy," coming from a Latin word pertaining to an open field.

complaisant

Definition: Eager to please; cheerfully complying Usage: Coming from a more uptight corporate background, Chris found the soup kitchen volunteers remarkably complaisant—when he asked the greeters to sweep the floor and the cooks to wash dishes, everyone happily moved to their new positions. More Info: Don't confuse complaisant with complacent, which means "smug, self-satisfied."

affectation

Definition: Fake behavior (such as in speech or dress) adopted to give a certain impression Usage: I'm annoyed whenever Americans move to England and suddenly start speaking with an affected British accent; such affectations, when practiced by celebrities, are only likely to alienate their fans. Related Words: Artifice (trickery, especially as part of a strategy) More Info: In slang, some people call affected behavior "being a poser" (or poseur).

coda

Definition: Final part of a musical composition; an ending, esp. one that sums up what has come before Usage: "You play this middle section twice, then move to the coda," the music teacher explained to the child. "The coda always comes last." / Dropping my purse in a mud puddle right outside my own front door was a fine coda to a horrible evening. Related Words: Recapitulation (summary or the act of summing up), Précis (summary or abstract) More Info: Coda comes from the Latin "cauda," meaning "tail." (A caudate animal has a tail and an acaudate animal lacks one.)

abdicate

Definition: Formally give up the throne (or some other power or responsibility) Usage: King Edward VIII of England famously abdicated the throne in order to marry an American divorcée. / Parents can be charged with neglect for abdicating their responsibilities towards their children. Related Words: Don't confuse abdicate with dethrone and depose, which refer to forcing a leader from power. Abdication is voluntary. More Info: Abdicate comes from the root "ab" (away) and "dic/dict" (proclaim), the latter of which also appears in dictator, dictionary, dictate, dictum, and indict.

aseptic

Definition: Free from germs Usage: It is very important to perform surgery in an aseptic environment, lest a patient contract sepsis (a systemic infection) and die. More Info: A septic tank is a place under a house where sewage is stored. Since putting "a-" before a word means "without," it makes sense that, if septic means "infected or putrefying," then aseptic would be the opposite.

bonhomie

Definition: Friendliness, open and simple good heartedness Usage: By the end of the summer, the campers were overflowing with bonhomie, vowing to remain Facebook friends forever. Related Words: Amity (friendship, peaceful agreement) More Info: Bonhomie is from French—bon homme means "good man." In English, bonhomie is pronounced "bon-uh-MEE" or "BON-uh-mee" (somewhat ironically, there is no "homey" in bonhomie).

aggregate

Definition: Gather together, amount to (verb); constituting a whole made up of constituent parts (adj) Usage: While some of the company's divisions did better than others, in aggregate, we made a profit. / Concrete is created when crushed rock or glass is aggregated with cement; in aggregate, concrete is stronger than cement alone. Related Words: Agglomerate (collect into a mass), Consolidate (unite, combine, firm up—you can consolidate loans or consolidate power) More Info: Aggregate can be used in the same sense as a gross amount. Gross or aggregate sales are the total amount from all sources.

adumbrate

Definition: Give a rough outline of; foreshadow; reveal only partially; obscure Usage: When I took on the lead role in the movie, I agreed not to give away the plot, but I suppose I could give a brief adumbration of the premise. More Info: Adumbrate contains the root "umbra," Latin for "shadow." It may seem that "give an outline of" and "obscure" are opposites, but think of it this way—to adumbrate is to give a shadowy, vague picture of something, which could mean giving more information (if starting with nothing) or obscuring information (if starting with a clear picture) in order to reach that point.

abjure

Definition: Give up, renounce; repudiate, recant, or shun (especially formally or under oath) Usage: To become a citizen of the United States, you must abjure loyalty to the nation of your birth. / Since enrolling in that nutrition class, she has abjured sugar and saturated fats. Related Words: Forswear (reject or renounce under oath; swear falsely in court), Eschew (shun, avoid, abstain from) More Info: Abjure can be used in the same way as renounce. You renounce worldly pleasures, a religion or family member, membership in a group, etc. It can also be used in the same way as repudiate, which is more often used with ideas, as in "Galileo repudiated the belief that the Sun revolves around the Earth."

accretion

Definition: Gradual increase; an added part or addition Usage: Accretion of money in his portfolio. / Some charitable funds keep the principal in their accounts untouched and use only the accretion for philanthropic purposes. Related Words: Augment (grow larger), Agglomerate (form into a mass or cluster, join together) More Info: Bank accounts accrue interest. Good deeds, ideally, accrue rewards.

amortize

Definition: Gradually pay off a debt, or gradually write off an asset Usage: A mortgage is a common form of amortized debt—spreading the payments out over as long as 30 years is not uncommon. / On his company balance sheet, Joe amortized the value of his patent, estimating that the patent's value as an asset would decline steadily over the course of the year as competitors patented competing products. More Info: Amortize contains the root "mort," meaning death. Amortization is when a financial obligation dies a long, slow death.

bevy

Definition: Group of birds or other animals that stay close together; any large group Usage: The bar owner cringed when a bevy of women in plastic tiaras came in—"Another drunken bachelorette party," he sighed. Related Words: Covey (a group of birds, or any group), Brood (group of offspring born or hatched at the same time, esp. birds) More Info: Bevy is most commonly associated with birds, and often used to describe groups of people who stick together like a flock of birds—it usually implies a not-very-serious opinion about the group in question.

apposite

Definition: Highly appropriate, suitable, or relevant Usage: He searched his brain for an apposite word to describe wealthy Americans' addiction to consumer goods, until he discovered the neologism "affluenza." Related Words: Apt (appropriate, likely, disposed or prone, as in "Those who are apt to steal will receive an apt punishment"), Condign (appropriate, esp. as a punishment fits a crime) More Info: You can pronounce apposite as ap-uh-zit or uh-poz-it.

abstain

Definition: Hold back, refrain (especially from something bad or unhealthy); decline to vote Usage: The church board voted on whether to hold an abstinence rally to encourage young people not to become sexually active; while most members voted in favor, one voted against and two abstained, with one abstainer commenting that, as far as she knew, the church's teens were pretty abstemious already. Related Words: Temperance (moderation, holding back), Teetotaler (a person who abstains from alcohol), Forbear (hold back or abstain from) More Info: Abstain is usually followed by "from" (vegetarians forbear meat or abstain from meat).

baying

Definition: Howling in a deep way, like a dog or wolf Usage: The lonely dog bayed all night. / The mob bayed for the so-called traitors to be put to death. More Info: Bay comes from an Old French word meant to actually sound like the baying of an animal. In a related expression, when a person is "at bay" or "brought to bay," that means that the person is in a captured position, powerless and unable to flee.

attuned

Definition: In harmony; in sympathetic relationship Usage: Research shows that new mothers are keenly attuned to their babies' cries; even those who were formerly heavy sleepers often find that they now wake up immediately when their babies need attention. / In the sixth week of Melanie's foreign study program, she finally attuned herself to life on a French farm. More Info: Attuned is almost always followed by "to."

apprise

Definition: Inform, give notice to Usage: I can't believe you failed to apprise me that my child was biting the other children in his preschool class! If I had known, I could've addressed this issue before all the other parents threatened to sue! More Info: If you know Spanish or French, this word might remind you of the verb aprender or apprendre for good reason—both mean "to learn." Don't confuse apprise with appraise, which means "to evaluate or assess the value of," as in "to have jewelry appraised before selling it at auction."

avarice

Definition: Insatiable greed; a miserly desire to hoard wealth Usage: It is hard to fathom the sheer avarice of a company that would fraudulently overcharge a struggling school system for new computers. Related Words: Cupidity (avarice or other excessive desire), Covetousness (greed), Rapacity or Rapaciousness (greedy or grasping; living on prey)

blithe

Definition: Joyous, merry; excessively carefree (so as to ignore more important concerns) Usage: Delighted about making the cheerleading team, she blithely skipped across the street without looking, and just narrowly avoided being hit by a bus. Related Words: Jovial (joyous, merry) More Info: Blithe can be positive or negative—it's nice to be merry, but not so merry that we thoughtlessly trample over other people, disobey the rules, etc.

arbiter

Definition: Judge, umpire, person empowered to decide matters at hand Usage: Professional mediators arbitrate disputes. / The principal said, "As the final arbiter of what is and is not appropriate in the classroom, I demand that you take down that poster of the rapper Ice-T and his scantily-clad wife Coco." Related Words: Adjudicator (judge or arbitrator, esp. a judge of a competition) More Info: An arbitrator is officially appointed to settle a dispute; an arbiter is more someone whose opinion is valued, as in the expression "arbiter of good taste."

acumen

Definition: Keen, quick, accurate insight or judgment Usage: His political acumen allowed him to bargain behind the scenes and get bills passed despite being in the minority party. Related Words: Perspicacity (acuteness of perception) More Info: Acumen comes from a Latin word for "needle"—hence the idea of being mentally "sharp."

banal

Definition: Lacking freshness and originality; cliché Usage: The drama professor despaired at reading another banal play from his uninspired students. "Oh look," he said sarcastically, "yet another young person has decided to write a play about a young person breaking free of society's constraints. Can you see me yawning?" Related Words: Hackneyed, Inane, Insipid and Trite all mean "lacking freshness and originality, shallow" More Info: Banal comes from the Old French "ban," a word for compulsory feudal service—that is, something common to everyone. It's not hard to see how the meaning of "common" could change to "old, stale, and boring" over time.`

alleviate

Definition: Lessen, make easier to endure Usage: The stimulus package has alleviated the pangs of the Great Recession, but times are still tough. Related Words: Assuage (alleviate, satisfy, or pacify—"assuage someone's fears"), Ameliorate (make better), Extenuate (to make seem less serious—"His crime was extenuated by his mental illness"), Palliate (to alleviate or extenuate) More Info: The over-the-counter painkiller "Alleve" was undoubtedly named with the word alleviate in mind.

aggrandize

Definition: Make greater; exaggerate Usage: I can't stand when my coworker aggrandizes her role in our group projects. / Stop it with your constant self-aggrandizing—we don't care how many automobiles you own! Related Words: Augment (to make larger) More Info: An opposite of self-aggrandizing could be self-deprecating or self-effacing.

adulterate

Definition: Make impure by adding inappropriate or inferior ingredients Usage: Some bars adulterate top-shelf liquor by pouring cheaper brands into the more expensive brands' bottles. Related Words: Taint (contaminate, corrupt), Debase (reduce in quality or dignity) More Info: Adulterate is indeed related to adultery (cheating on one's spouse)—both come from a Latin word meaning "to defile."

annul

Definition: Make void or null, cancel, abolish (usually of laws or other established rules) Usage: Can we appreciate the art of a murderer? For many, the value of these paintings is annulled by the artist's crimes. Related Words: Nullify, Void (synonyms); Abort (stop part way through, remain in an undeveloped state) More Info: Most people associate "annul" with marriage—to get an annulment rather than a divorce, most states require that the marriage have been based on fraud, or that at least one person was not mentally competent to form a contract.

calumny

Definition: Malicious lie intended to hurt someone's reputation; the act of telling such lies Usage: I've had enough of your calumnious accusations! Admit that you made up all those wicked things about me, or I will see you in court when I sue you for slander! Related Words: Slander is a synonym. Libel is the written version of slander. Traduce, Vilify, and Defame are verbs meaning "to slander, to damage a person's reputation with lies." More Info: Pronounce calumny as "CAL-um-nee."

anodyne

Definition: Medicine that relieves pain (noun); soothing, relieving pain (adj) Usage: While aspirin is a nice analgesic, the construction worker argued that, for sore and tired muscles, nothing beat the anodyne effects of a six-pack of beer. Related Words: Analgesic (pain reliever) More Info: In antiquated slang, a hangman's noose was once (ironically) called an "anodyne necklace."

admonish

Definition: Mildly scold; caution, advise, or remind to do something Usage: She was an exacting boss who upbraided an employee for jamming the copier, yet she merely admonished her five-year-old for the same offense. Related Words: Reprove, upbraid, reprimand, and rebuke are all harsher forms of criticism than admonish. More Info: You can also admonish someone to do something, as in "The GRE instructor admonished her students to study vocabulary every day."

adverse

Definition: Opposing, harmful Usage: Pioneer women persevered despite adverse circumstances, even when fording a river—baby in one arm, leading a horse with the other—against an adverse current. Related Words: Antagonistic (hostile, acting in opposition) More Info: Adverse appears in "adverse criticism," although that expression is a bit redundant. Adverse is also related to adversary (an opponent, foe).

analgesia

Definition: Pain relief; inability to feel pain Usage: While natural-birth advocates decline analgesia in childbirth, many women are very eager to take advantage of modern anesthesia. / A disease of the spinal cord can cause analgesia, which can be dangerous because the patient doesn't know when he has injured himself. Related Words: Anodyne (pain relieving medicine or anything that relieves pain)

assiduous

Definition: Persevering, diligent, constant Usage: Through assiduous effort over a substantial period of time, anyone can develop a prodigious vocabulary. Related Words: Sedulous, Tenacious More Info: Assiduous contains a variant of the root "sed," meaning "to sit" (as in sedated or sediment). Think of assiduous as "sitting" in your chair until you finish your work.

apostate

Definition: Person who deserts a party, cause, religion, etc. Usage: Many people considered "freedom fighters" by some are considered apostates by others; some women's rights leaders in very conservative nations receive death threats from religious leaders who consider them apostate. Related Words: Recreant (coward or deserter), Perfidy (faithlessness, treachery), Heretic (believer who disagrees with religious authorities; any nonconformist thinker), Quisling (person who betrays his country by aiding an invader), Infidel (unbeliever, person who does not accept a particular faith) More Info: Don't confuse apostate with apostle—the words are near-antonyms.

bent

Definition: Personal inclination or tendency Usage: He had a pedantic bent—he was just naturally inclined to correct people's grammar and otherwise act like an imperious schoolmaster. / Even a vow of silence couldn't dampen the nun's garrulous bent—even her prayers were verbose! Related Words: Predilection (preference or inclination), Propensity (natural tendency or inclination) More Info: In the expression "to the top of one's bent," the word bent has the meaning of "the limits of one's endurance," as in "Although he didn't win, he ran the marathon to the top of his bent."

bucolic

Definition: Pertaining to shepherds; suggesting a peaceful and pleasant view of rural life Usage: The play was set in a bucolic wonderland—while getting some shepherd's robes for the lead actor was no problem, the stagehands had a hard time bringing in a flock of sheep. Related Words: Pastoral, Idyllic, Georgic, and Arcadian are all words relating to a positive view of rural life and songs or poems on that theme More Info: Bucolic comes from a Greek word for "ox."

apostle

Definition: Pioneer of a reform movement (originally, an early follower of Jesus) Usage: In the 1980's, when low-fat diets were all the rage, Dr. Rubens became an apostle of the Mediterranean diet, high in healthy fats, and traveled the world proselytizing to groups of physicians and nutritionists. Related Words: Champion (person who fights for a cause), Expounder (person who presents an idea in detail), Paladin (leading champion of a cause; trusted military leader) More Info: When capitalized, "Apostles" usually refers to the original 12 disciples of Jesus. In lowercase, an "apostle" could be any major Christian missionary, or a spreader of a non-religious doctrine. Don't confuse apostle with apostate—the words are near-antonyms.

burnish

Definition: Polish, make smooth and lustrous Usage: Mr. Hoffenstotter replaced all of the rustic wood doorknobs with newer models made of burnished steel. "So shiny," said his delighted wife. Related Words: Gilded means covered with a thin layer of gold (and thus looking like solid gold, but actually only superficially so) and is used as a metaphor for things that look better than they really are. More Info: Burnish can also be used as a noun, meaning "luster or shine," as in "the beautiful burnish of her hair" or "the burnish of an Ivy League university."

approbation

Definition: Praise or approval, especially formal approval Usage: In her speech for class president, she won the approbation of her peers by promising not only to save the prom, but to raise enough money to make it free for everyone. Related Words: Imprimatur (approval, a mark of approval, or especially a formal body's approval to publish a work) Memory Trick: Approbation begins with the same five letters as its near-synonym approval.

abridge

Definition: Reduce or lessen; shorten by omitting parts throughout while retaining the main idea Usage: Our romantic vacation was abridged when the babysitter called to say that the kids were sick and we should come home. / Audio books are almost always abridged, since few people want to listen to a 200-hour book. Related Words: Truncate (shorten by cutting off a part) Memory Trick: When you abridge a book, you cut out sections from all over (hopefully without being too obvious)—that is, you create a bridge from the last part you kept in to the next part you kept in, so people don't notice the missing bits. An abridged book still tells the whole story; a truncated book is missing the ending!

abate

Definition: Reduce, diminish Usage: Her stress over spending so much money on a house abated when the real estate broker told her about the property's 15 year tax abatement. Related Words: Tax abatement is used in the same way as tax "relief"—that is, a partial discount. Subside is another word for lessening (a storm could abate or subside). More Info: Abate comes from an Old French word for "beat, cast down" that also gives us batter (beat severely) and abattoir (slaughterhouse).

asperity

Definition: Rigor, severity; harshness or sharpness of tone; roughness of surface Usage: Used to a more lax school environment, the freshman at military school was shocked by the asperity of punishments meted out for even the most minor offenses, as well as the asperity with which his drill sergeant bossed him around. / The asperity of her cheap, scratchy sweater made her wish she could afford cashmere. More Info: Asperity describes a wide variety of unpleasant things: hardship, people speaking to us in an unnecessarily harsh way, or physical roughness.

abrasive

Definition: Rough, suitable for grinding or polishing (such as sandpaper); causing irritation or annoyance Usage: Could the inside of this mascot costume be any more abrasive? It's rubbing my skin raw! I have some seriously abrasive remarks for whoever designed this thing. Related Words: Caustic (capable or burning or corroding; extremely critical or sarcastic), Excoriate (to rub the skin off of; to criticize very harshly) More Info: Like caustic and excoriate, abrasive can be used literally or metaphorically. You scrub a dirty pan with something abrasive, such as steel wool. Harsh criticism is abrasive, like being scrubbed with steel wool.

canard

Definition: Rumor, a false or baseless story Usage: The idea that we only use 10% of our brains is a tired, old canard; actually, even the dumbest people use all of their brains. More Info: Canard is simply the French word for "duck." The use of "duck" to mean, essentially, "urban legend" may come from an old French expression "to half-sell a duck." Sounds pretty sketchy! Just like a canard.

axiom

Definition: Self-evident truth requiring no proof; universally or generally accepted principle Usage: Given the last decade of research into the brain—as well as our own experience trying to function while deprived of sleep or food—we must take as axiomatic that the brain is influenced by the body. Related Words: Maxim (short statement of general truth, proverb), Postulate (self-evident proposition, such as in math) More Info: When we say something is axiomatic, we mean that it must be true, in the way that 2+2 must equal 4, or all squares must have four sides.

appropriate

Definition: Set aside or authorize (such as money) for a particular purpose; take for one's own use Usage: The School Board appropriated money for new textbooks. / In putting together the perfect outfit for "Career Day" at her high school, Mackenzie appropriated her mother's stethoscope and her little brother's stuffed pig, making it clear to everyone that she wanted to be a veterinarian. Related Words: Arrogate (claim or take presumptuously or without right) More Info: The last syllable of the more common adjective "appropriate" is pronounced "it"; the last syllable of the verb appropriate is pronounced "ate."

abreast

Definition: Side-by-side. The more common "abreast of" means keeping up with, staying aware of, or remaining equal in progress with. Usage: As the professor walked abreast down the street with her mentor, she was amazed that the old man, long since retired, still kept abreast of all the latest developments in neurobiology. Related Words: Conversant with (familiar by use or study), well versed in (experienced, skilled) More Info: You are conversant with a topic about which you know enough to have an intelligent conversation. Well versed is stronger, implying some expertise. Keeping abreast of a topic implies that you are continually updating your knowledge.

acidulous

Definition: Slightly acid or sour; sharp or caustic Usage: Grapefruit juice is acidulous. / I'm skipping Thanksgiving this year just to avoid my mother's acidulous comments about what she thinks I ought to be doing with my life. Related Words: Acerbic (sour, harsh or severe) More Info: In Latin, "acidus" meant sour, so "acidulus," a diminutive version, meant "slightly sour."

anachronism

Definition: Something that is not in its correct historical time; a mistake in chronology, such as by assigning a person or event to the wrong time period Usage: The Queen of England is a bit of an anachronism, with her old-fashioned pillbox hats. / Did you catch the anachronisms in the latest action blockbuster set in ancient Greece? One of the characters was wearing a wristwatch with his toga! More Info: The prefix "ana" means "against", and "chron" means "time." This is one word you can work out entirely with a knowledge of roots: anachronistic means "against time."

bane

Definition: Something that ruins or spoils Usage: Mosquitoes are the bane of my existence! They just love me, and by "love" I mean ruin my summer! / The closure of the hospital could not have been more baneful to the already strained community. Related Words: The opposite of bane is boon, a benefit or blessing. The words are often used together to ask a question, as in "The new regulations: bane or boon?" More Info: Bane can also mean poison, usually as part of more specific names, like wolfsbane or fleabane. Don't confuse baneful (destructive, ruinous) with baleful, which means threatening.

acerbic

Definition: Sour; harsh or severe Usage: Lemons are acerbic. Harsh comments are also acerbic, like putting lemon juice on a wound. Related Words: Caustic (capable of burning or corroding; extremely critical or sarcastic), Acrid (sharp or biting, pungent), Astringent (biting, severe; a skin cleaning fluid that clears pores) More Info: An acerbic taste is sour and an acrid taste is unpleasantly bitter, but when used metaphorically, both words mean harsh, critical.

advocate

Definition: Speak or argue in favor of (verb); a person who pleads for a cause or on behalf of another person (noun) Usage: I cannot possibly vote for a candidate who advocates oil drilling in federally protected nature preserves. / Children often have advocates appointed to represent them in court. Related Words: Proponents, Exponents, or Champions are all people who advocate for a cause. More Info: Advocate contains the root "voc," meaning "to call." This root also appears in vocal, invoke, etc.

adhere

Definition: Stick (to), such as with glue, or to a plan or belief Usage: I have a message board that adheres to my refrigerator with magnets; on it, I've written some affirmations to help me adhere to my diet plan. Related Words: Abide by (follow, conform to), Cohere (become united, hold together as part of the same mass) More Info: Use adhere for attaching two different kinds of things together, and cohere for things of the same kind (good cookie dough coheres instead of crumbles).

circumscribe

Definition: Strictly limit a role, range of activity, or area; in math, to be constructed around so as to touch as many points as possible Usage: Suki's parent circumscribed her after-school activities; she was permitted only to study and to join organizations directly related to academic subjects. / A square circumscribed in a circle has all four of its vertices on the circle's circumference. / Our land is circumscribed by hedges and fences. More Info: "Circum" is the Latin root for "around," and "scribe" for "write." The "scribe/script" root also occurs in proscribe (prohibit) and conscript (draft into military service).

brook

Definition: Suffer or tolerate Usage: "You will do your homework every night before you go anywhere, you will do your chores, and you will be home by 9 p.m. I will brook no disobeying of these rules, young man!" Related Words: Condone (overlook or tacitly approve), Countenance (as a noun: face or facial expression; as a verb: approve or tolerate) More Info: Of course, a brook is also a small, freshwater stream. The two "brooks" come from different origins entirely; brook as a verb comes from a Latin root meaning "enjoy."

connote

Definition: Suggest or imply in addition to the precise, literal meaning Usage: The word "titanic" simply means large or majestic, but because of the word's association with the sunken ship, "titanic" has a negative connotation to many people. Related Words: Evoke (call forth, esp. of feelings or imagination) More Info: A denotation is the literal meaning of a word; a connotation is the feeling that accompanies that word.

acme

Definition: Summit, peak, highest point Usage: The acme of my vacation was when I finally climbed to the acme of the mountain and enjoyed the gorgeous vista. Related Words: Summit, Pinnacle (synonyms), Apex (vertex, tip, point), Apogee (high point, point at which the moon is furthest from the Earth) More Info: Acme, Summit, Pinnacle, and Apex are all popular names for businesses: Apex Locksmith, Pinnacle Home Security, etc. (Acme is especially popular, since it occurs early in the phone book).

balloon

Definition: Swell or puff out; increase rapidly Usage: During the dot-com bubble, the university's investments ballooned to three times their former value. Related Words: Distend (swell, expand), Turgid or Tumid (swollen, inflated; or, metaphorically "inflated," such as in overblown, pompous speech) More Info: In finance, a balloon payment is a single payment at the end of a loan or mortgage term that is much larger than the other payments.

augury

Definition: Telling the future, such as through supernatural means Usage: Value investors such as Warren Buffet (who attempt to buy shares in undervalued companies by analyzing the businesses themselves) consider others' attempts to "time the market" as mere augury, equivalent to trying to predict rain by reading tea leaves. Related Words: Prognosticate and Presage also mean to tell the future More Info: An augur or auspex in ancient Rome interpreted omens (sometimes by reading bird entrails) to help guide the making of public decisions.

abeyance

Definition: Temporary suspension, inactivity Usage: The baseball player's contract negotiations are in abeyance while doctors try to determine whether his injuries will heal in time for the season. Related Words: Hiatus (break or gap in an activity), Dormant (inactive, resting), Deferment or Deferral (postponement) More Info: Abeyance generally occurs in the expression "in abeyance." Real estate is in abeyance when no one owns it or the owner is unknown.

activism

Definition: The practice of pursuing political or other goals through vigorous action, often including protests and demonstrations Usage: Lindsay's parents had a hard time accepting that, after incurring $100,000 in student loans, their daughter had decided to enter the low-paying field of environmental activism. Related Words: Advocacy (pleading for, recommending), Champion (one who defends or supports, as a cause) More Info: Activism is often considered noble, but judicial activism—going beyond interpreting existing laws to actually using court decisions to create new public policies—is often controversial.

contraries

Definition: Things that are opposing; either of two opposite things Usage: The Machiavellian among us would say that ethics and expedience are contraries—at some point, one must win out over the other. Related Words: Counterpoint (a contrasting element) More Info: The expression to the contrary means "to the opposite effect of the thing we were just talking about, as in "Although you say the plan will please everyone, to the contrary, our biggest client has already informed us that they will find a new supplier if we proceed."

bifurcate

Definition: To fork into two branches or divide into two halves Usage: The medical student carefully bifurcated the cadaver brain, separating it precisely into right and left hemispheres. / The bifurcate tree stood tall, its two massive branches reaching for the sky. Related Words: Cleave (split or cut, as in a "meat cleaver") More Info: In math, a midpoint bifurcates a line segment. Bifurcate comes from the Latin "furca," which also gives us "fork."

chicanery

Definition: Trickery, deception by knowingly false arguments Usage: The defense lawyer's strategy for getting her client acquitted by knowingly misinterpreting words in an obscure precedent was nothing but chicanery. / Nice try, passing off last week's homework as this week's by changing the date at the top. I've had enough of your chicanery, young man! Related Words: Quibbling (the use of ambiguous, petty, or irrelevant arguments, especially to evade the real issue), Sophistry (deliberately tricky argumentation) More Info: Chicanery is from French, hence the pronunciation: shi-KAY-nuh-ry.

catholic

Definition: Universal, broad-minded Usage: Some precursors to the Constitution (such as documents governing the colonies) enumerated the rights of male property holders only. The U.S. Constitution took a more catholic approach, declaring that "All men are created equal." Today, policy writers would probably take catholicism a step further and write "All people." Related Words: Liberal (aside from the use of Liberal in American politics, Liberal means "favorable to reform; favorable to maximum possible individual freedom; free from prejudice, tolerant, open-minded") More Info: The Catholic Church, of course, goes by that name because it intends (as do many religions) to be universal.

august

Definition: Venerable, majestic; inspiring admiration Usage: "I welcome you to this august institution, where Presidents and Nobel Prize winners have received the fruits of erudition," said the university president (rather bombastically) to the new crop of first-year students. Related Words: Eminent (prominent, distinguished, of high rank), Venerable (worthy of deep respect, hallowed, dignified), Olympian (majestic, superior, lofty) More Info: Emperor Octavian, or Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (an heir to Julius Caesar) was given the name Caesar Augustus upon taking the throne in 27 B.C.

ardent

Definition: Very passionate, devoted, or enthusiastic Usage: He was an ardent heavy metal lover and became offended anytime someone referred to Poison as a "hair band." / They were so in love that not even meeting each other's awful relatives could dampen their ardor. Related Words: Fervent, Fervid, and Perfervid all mean "passionate, fiery, deeply enthusiastic" and come from a common root relating to heat. More Info: Don't confuse ardor with arduous, which means very difficult. Ardor comes from a Latin word meaning "to burn", which we can think of here in the sense of "burning with passion."`

affable

Definition: Warm and friendly, pleasant, approachable Usage: The professional wrestler played at belligerence in the ring, but in real life, he was quite an affable fellow—sociable, easy-going, and always ready to lend a hand. Related Words: Amiable, Cordial, and Genial are synonyms. More Info: The opposite of affable could be standoffish, discourteous, or distant.

attenuate

Definition: Weaken or thin out Usage: When you pull a piece of bubblegum so it becomes long and thin, you are attenuating it. / Sadly, the day care center was so understaffed that the carers' efforts were attenuated, and many of the children barely received any attention at all. More Info: When you attenuate something, it becomes tenuous, which means thin or weak (a tenuous argument).