Barrons 3500 List 26-50

invidious

ADJ. designed to create ill will or envy. We disregarded her invidious remarks because we realized how jealous she was.

intrinsic

ADJ. essential; inherent; built-in. Although my grandmother's china has little intrinsic value, I shall always cherish it for the memories it evokes.

iridescent

ADJ. exhibiting rainbowlike colors. She admired the iridescent hues of the oil that floated on the surface of the water.

inviolable

ADJ. secure from corruption, attack, or violation; unassailable. Batman considered his oath to keep the people of Gotham City inviolable: nothing on earth could make him break this promise.

invasive

ADJ. tending to spread aggressively; intrusive. Giving up our war with the invasive blackberry vines that had taken over the back yard, we covered the lawn with concrete. invade,V.

irrepressible

ADJ. unable to be restrained or held back. My friend Kitty's curiosity was irrepressible: she poked her nose into everybody's business and just laughed when I warned her that curiosity killed the cat.

irresolute

ADJ. uncertain how to act; weak. Once you have made your decision, don't waver; a leader should never appear irresolute.

invincible

ADJ. unconquerable. Superman is invincible.

insensible

ADJ. unconscious; unresponsive. Sherry and I are very different; at times when I would be covered with embarrassment, she seems insensible to shame.

inimical

ADJ. unfriendly; hostile; harmful; detrimental. I've always been friendly to Martha. Why is she so inimical to me?

inordinate

ADJ. unrestrained; excessive. She had an inordinate fondness for candy, eating two or three boxes in a single day.

insalubrious

ADJ. unwholesome; not healthful. The mosquito-ridden swamp was an insalubrious place, a breeding ground for malarial contagion.

iniquitous

ADJ. wicked; immoral; unrighteous. Whether or not King Richard III was responsible for the murder of the two young princes in the Tower, it was an iniquitous deed. iniquity, N.

insinuate

V. hint; imply; creep in. When you said I looked robust, did you mean to insinuate that I'm getting fat?

intimate

V. hint; suggest. Was Dick intimating that Jane had bad breath when he asked if she'd like a breath mint?

integrate

V. make whole; combine; make into one unit. She tried to integrate all their activities into one program.

inundate

V. overwhelm; flood; submerge. This semester I am inundated with work: You should see the piles of paperwork flooding my desk. Until the great dam was built, the waters of the Nile used to inundate the river valley like clockwork every year.

interrogate

V. question closely; cross-examine. Knowing that the Nazis would interrogate him about his background, the secret agent invented a cover story that would help him meet their questions.

inhibit

V. restrain; retard or prevent. Only two things inhibited him from taking a punch at Mike Tyson: Tyson's left hook, and Tyson's right jab. The protective undercoating on my car inhibits the formation of rust.

intrude

V. trespass; enter as an uninvited person. She hes-itated to intrude on their conversation.

invert

V. turn upside down or inside out. When he inverted his body in a handstand, he felt the blood rush to his head. inveterate ADJ. deep-rooted; habitual. An inveterate smoker, Bob cannot seem to break the habit, no matter how hard he tries.

instigate

V. urge; start; provoke. Rumors of police corruption led the mayor to instigate an investigation into the department's activities.

invalidate

V. weaken; destroy. The relatives who received little or nothing sought to invalidate the will by claiming that the deceased had not been in his right mind when he had signed the document.

sluggish

ADJ. Slow; lazy; lethargic. After two nights without sleep, she felt sluggish and incapable of exertion.

pertinent

ADJ. To the point; relevant. Virginia Woolf's words on women's rights are as pertinent today as they were when she wrote them nearly a century ago.

soluble

ADJ. able to be dissolved; able to be explained. Sugar is soluble in water; put a sugar cube in water and it will quickly dissolve.

tangible

ADJ. able to be touched; real; palpable. Although Tom did not own a house, he had several tangible assets-a car, a television, a PC-that he could sell if he needed cash.

solvent

ADJ. able to pay all debts. By dint of very frugal living, he was finally able to become solvent and avoid bankruptcy proceedings.

rapt

ADJ. absorbed; enchanted. Caught up in the wonder of the storyteller's tale, the rapt listeners sat motionless, hanging on his every word.

riveting

ADJ. absorbing; engrossing. The reviewer described Byatt's novel Possession as a riveting tale, one so absorbing that he had finished it in a single night.

preposterous

ADJ. absurd; ridiculous. When he tried to downplay his youthful experiments with marijuana by saying he hadn't inhaled, we all thought, "What a preposterous excuse!"

rife

ADJ. abundant; current. In the face of the many rumors of scandal, which are rife at the moment, it is best to remain silent.

luxuriant

ADJ. abundant; rich and splendid; fertile. Lady Godiva was completely covered by her luxuriant hair.

prolific

ADJ. abundantly fruitful. My editors must assume I'm a prolific writer: they expect me to revise six books this year!

vituperative

ADJ. abusive; scolding. He became more vituperative as he realized that we were not going to grant him his wish.

resigned

ADJ. accepting one's fate; unresisting; patiently submissive. Resigned to his downtrodden existence, Bob Cratchit was too meek to protest Scrooge's bullying. resignation, N.

vicarious

ADJ. acting as a substitute; done by a deputy. Many people get a vicarious thrill at the movies by imagining they are the characters on the screen.

viscid

ADJ. adhesive; gluey. The trunk of the maple tree was viscid with sap.

precocious

ADJ. advanced in development. Listening to the grown-up way the child discussed serious topics, we couldn't help remarking how precocious she was. precocity, N.

mannered

ADJ. affected; not natural. Attempting to copy the style of his wealthy neighbors, Gatsby adopted a mannered, artificial way of speech.

mincing

ADJ. affectedly dainty. Yum-Yum walked across the stage with mincing steps.

posthumous

ADJ. after death (as of child born after father's death or book published after author's death). The critics ignored his works during his lifetime; it was only after the posthumous publication of his last novel that they recognized his great talent.

polemical

ADJ. aggressive in verbal attack; disputatious. Lexy was a master of polemical rhetoric; she should have worn a T-shirt with the slogan "Born to Debate."

winsome

ADJ. agreeable; gracious; engaging. By her winsome manner, she made herself liked by everyone who met her.

palatable

ADJ. agreeable; pleasing to the taste. Neither Jack's underbaked opinions nor his overcooked casseroles were palatable to Jill.

omniscient

ADJ. all-knowing. I do not pretend to be omniscient, but I am positive about this fact.

omnipotent

ADJ. all-powerful. The monarch regarded himself as omnipotent and responsible to no one for his acts.

purported

ADJ. alleged; claimed; reputed or rumored. The purported Satanists sacrificing live roosters in the park turned out to be a party of Shriners holding a chicken barbecue.

licentious

ADJ. amoral; lewd and lascivious; unrestrained. Unscrupulously seducing the daughter of his host, Don Juan felt no qualms about the immorality of his licentious behavior.

substantial

ADJ. ample; solid; in essentials. The generous scholarship represented a substantial sum of money.

vivacious

ADJ. animated; lively. She had always been vivacious and sparkling.

ostensible

ADJ. apparent; professed; pretended. Although the ostensible purpose of this expedition is to discover new lands, we are really interested in finding new markets for our products.

provocative

ADJ. arousing anger or interest; annoying. In a typically provocative act, the bully kicked sand into the weaker man's face.

supercilious

ADJ. arrogant; condescending; patronizing. The supercilious headwaiter sneered at customers whom he thought did not fit in at a restaurant catering to an ultrafashionable crowd.

quiescent

ADJ. at rest; dormant; temporarily inactive. After the great eruption, fear of Mount Etna was great; people did not return to cultivate its rich hillside lands until the volcano had been quiescent for a full two years. quiescence, N.

offensive

ADJ. attacking; insulting; distasteful. Getting into street brawls is no minor matter for professional boxers, who are required by law to restrict their offensive impulses to the ring.

personable

ADJ. attractive. The man I am seeking to fill this position must be personable since he will be representing us before the public.

spartan

ADJ. avoiding luxury and comfort; sternly disciplined. Looking over the bare, unheated room, with its hard cot, he wondered what he was doing in such spartan quarters. Only his spartan sense of duty kept him at his post.

ungainly

ADJ. awkward; clumsy; unwieldy. "If you want to know whether Nick's an ungainly dancer, check out my bruised feet," said Nora. Anyone who has ever tried to carry a bass fiddle knows it's an ungainly instrument.

unwieldy

ADJ. awkward; cumbersome; unmanageable. The large carton was so unwieldy that the movers had trouble getting it up the stairs.

practical

ADJ. based on experience; useful. He was a practical man, opposed to theory.

subservient

ADJ. behaving like a slave; servile; obsequious. He was proud and dignified; he refused to be subservient to anyone.

ubiquitous

ADJ. being everywhere; omnipresent. That Christmas "The Little Drummer Boy" seemed ubiquitous; David heard the tune everywhere.

subliminal

ADJ. below the threshold. We may not be aware of the subliminal influences that affect our thinking.

preternatural

ADJ. beyond what is normal in nature. Malcolm's mother's total ability to tell when he was lying struck him as almost preternatural.

obligatory

ADJ. binding; required. It is obligatory that books borrowed from the library be returned within two weeks.

stringent

ADJ. binding; rigid. I think these regulations are too stringent.

outlandish

ADJ. bizarre; peculiar; unconventional. The eccentric professor who engages in markedly outlandish behavior is a stock figure in novels with an academic setting.

unimpeachable

ADJ. blameless and exemplary. Her conduct in office was unimpeachable and her record is spotless.

mottled

ADJ. blotched in coloring; spotted. When old Falstaff blushed, his face was mottled with embarrassment, all pink and purple and red.

obtuse

ADJ. blunt; stupid. What can you do with somebody who's so obtuse that he can't even tell that you're insulting him?

obstreperous

ADJ. boisterous; noisy. What do you do when an obstreperous horde of drunken policemen goes carousing through your hotel, crashing into potted plants and singing vulgar songs?

venturesome

ADJ. bold. A group of venturesome women were the first to scale Mt. Annapurna.

stilted

ADJ. bombastic; inflated. His stilted rhetoric did not impress the college audience; they were immune to bombastic utterances.

maritime

ADJ. bordering on the sea; nautical. The Maritime Provinces depend on the sea for their wealth.

tedious

ADJ. boring; tiring. The repetitious nature of work on the assembly line made Martin's job very tedious. tedium, N.

overbearing

ADJ. bossy and arrogant; decisively important. Certain of her own importance, and of the unimportance of everyone else, Lady Bracknell was intolerably overbearing in her manner. "In choosing a husband," she said, "good birth is of overbearing importance; compared to that, neither wealth nor talent signifies."

laconic

ADJ. brief and to the point. Many of the characters portrayed by Clint Eastwood are laconic types: strong men of few words.

succinct

ADJ. brief; terse; compact. Don't bore your audi ence with excess verbiage: be succinct.

voluminous

ADJ. bulky; large. A caftan is a voluminous garment; most people wearing one look as if they're draped in a small tent.

onerous

ADJ. burdensome. He asked for an assistant because his work load was too onerous.

phlegmatic

ADJ. calm; not easily disturbed. The nurse was a cheerful but phlegmatic person, unexcited in the face of sudden emergencies.

outspoken

ADJ. candid; blunt. The candidate was too outspoken to be a successful politician; he had not yet learned to weigh his words carefully.

venal

ADJ. capable of being bribed. The venal policeman cheerfully accepted the bribe offered him by the speeding motorist whom he had stopped.

reparable

ADJ. capable of being repaired. Fortunately, the damages we suffered in the accident were reparable and our car looks brand new.

malleable

ADJ. capable of being shaped by pounding; impressionable. Gold is a malleable metal, easily shaped into bracelets and rings. Fagin hoped Oliver was a malleable lad, easily shaped into a thief.

tensile

ADJ. capable of being stretched. Mountain climbers must know the tensile strength of their ropes. tentative ADJ. hesitant; not fully worked out or developed; experimental; not definite or positive. Unsure of his welcome at the Christmas party, Scrooge took a tentative step into his nephew's drawing room.

prehensile

ADJ. capable of grasping or holding. Monkeys use not only their arms and legs but also their prehensile tails in traveling through the trees.

mercurial

ADJ. capricious; changing; fickle. Quick as quicksilver to change, he was mercurial in nature and therefore unreliable.

whimsical

ADJ. capricious; fanciful. In Mrs. Doubtfire, the hero is a playful, whimsical man who takes a notion to dress up as a woman so that he can look after his children, who are in the custody of his ex-wife. whimsy, N.

thrifty

ADJ. careful about money; economical. A thrifty shopper compares prices before making major purchases.

lax

ADJ. careless. We dislike restaurants where the service is lax and inattentive.

offhand

ADJ. casual; done without prior thought. Expecting to be treated with due propriety by her hosts, Great-Aunt Maud was offended by their offhand manner.

pathetic

ADJ. causing sadness, compassion, pity; touching. Everyone in the auditorium was weeping by the time he finished his pathetic tale about the orphaned boy.

prudent

ADJ. cautious; careful. A miser hoards money not because he is prudent but because he is greedy. prudence, N.

volatile

ADJ. changeable; explosive; evaporating rapidly. The political climate today is extremely volatile: No one can predict what the electorate will do next. Maria Callas's temper was extremely volatile: The only thing you could predict was that she was sure to blow up. Acetone is an extremely volatile liquid: It evaporates instantly.

migrant

ADJ. changing its habitat; wandering. These migrant birds return every spring. also N.

pristine

ADJ. characteristic of earlier times; primitive; unspoiled. This area has been preserved in all its pristine wildness.

universal

ADJ. characterizing or affecting all; present everywhere. At first, no one shared Christopher's opinions; his theory that the world was round was met with universal disdain.

tawdry

ADJ. cheap and gaudy. He won a few tawdry trinkets in Coney Island.

plumb

ADJ. checking perpendicularity; vertical. Before hanging wallpaper it is advisable to drop a plumb line from the ceiling as a guide. also N. andV.

sanguine

ADJ. cheerful; hopeful. Let us not be too sanguine about the outcome; something could go wrong.

puerile

ADJ. childish. His puerile pranks sometimes offended his more mature friends.

vociferous

ADJ. clamorous; noisy. The crowd grew vociferous in its anger and threatened to take the law into its own hands.

limpid

ADJ. clear. A limpid stream ran through his property.

shrewd

ADJ. clever; astute. A shrewd investor, he took clever advantage of the fluctuations of the stock market.

saccharine

ADJ. cloyingly sweet. She tried to ingratiate herself, speaking sweetly and smiling a saccharine smile.

maladroit

ADJ. clumsy; bungling. How maladroit it was of me to mention seeing you out partying last night! From the look on his face, I take it that your boyfriend thought you were otherwise occupied.

militant

ADJ. combative; bellicose. Although at this time he was advocating a policy of neutrality, one could usually find him adopting a more militant attitude. also N.

lateral

ADJ. coming from the side. In order to get good plant growth, the gardener must pinch off all lateral shoots.

remunerative

ADJ. compensating; rewarding. I find my new work so remunerative that I may not return to my previous employment. remuneration, N.

sedate

ADJ. composed; grave. The parents were worried because they felt their son was too quiet and sedate.

olfactory

ADJ. concerning the sense of smell. A wine taster must have a discriminating palate and a keen olfactory sense, for a good wine appeals both to the taste buds and to the nose.

terse

ADJ. concise; abrupt; pithy. There is a fine line between speech that is terse and to the point and speech that is too abrupt.

pithy

ADJ. concise; meaningful; substantial; meaty. While other girls might have gone on and on about how uncool Elton was, Liz summed it up in one pithy remark: "He's bogus!"

scrupulous

ADJ. conscientious; extremely thorough. Though Alfred is scrupulous in fulfilling his duties at work, he is less conscientious about his obligations to his family and friends.

notable

ADJ. conspicuous; important; distinguished. Normally notable for his calm in the kitchen, today the head cook was shaking, for the notable chef Julia Child was coming to dinner.

prominent

ADJ. conspicuous; notable; sticking out. Have you ever noticed that Prince Charles's prominent ears make him look like the big-eared character in Mad comics?

vitriolic

ADJ. corrosive; sarcastic. Such vitriolic criticism is uncalled for.

pusillanimous

ADJ. cowardly; fainthearted. You should be ashamed of your pusillanimous conduct during this dispute.

zany

ADJ. crazy; comic. I can watch the Marx brothers' zany antics for hours.

pivotal

ADJ. crucial; key; vital. The new "smart weapons" technology played a pivotal role in the quick resolution of the war with Iraq.

wily

ADJ. cunning; artful. She is as wily as a fox in avoiding trouble.

therapeutic

ADJ. curative. Now better known for its racetrack, Saratoga Springs first gained attention for the therapeutic qualities of its famous "healing waters." therapy, N.

remedial

ADJ. curative; corrective. Because he was a slow reader, he decided to take a course in remedial reading.

trenchant

ADJ. cutting; keen. I am afraid of his trenchant wit for it is so often sarcastic.

marred

ADJ. damaged; disfigured. She had to refinish the marred surface of the table. mar,V.

murky

ADJ. dark and gloomy; thick with fog; vague. The murky depths of the swamp were so dark that one couldn't tell the vines and branches from the snakes.

swarthy

ADJ. dark; dusky. Despite the stereotypes, not all Italians are swarthy, many are fair and blond.

opaque

ADJ. dark; not transparent. The opaque window shade kept the sunlight out of the room. opacity, N.

obscure

ADJ. dark; vague; unclear. Even after I read the poem a fourth time, its meaning was still obscure. obscurity, N.

resplendent

ADJ. dazzling; glorious; brilliant. While all the adults were commenting how glorious the emperor looked in his resplendent new clothes, one little boy was heard to say, "But he's naked!"

lethal

ADJ. deadly. It is unwise to leave lethal weapons where children may find them.

obituary

ADJ. death notice. I first learned of her death when I read the obituary column in the newspaper. also N.

profound

ADJ. deep; not superficial; complete. Freud's remarkable insights into human behavior caused his fellow scientists to honor him as a profound thinker. profundity, N.

peremptory

ADJ. demanding and leaving no choice. From Jack's peremptory knock on the door, Jill could tell he would not give up until she let him in.

laborious

ADJ. demanding much work or care; tedious. In putting together his dictionary of the English language, Doctor Johnson undertook a laborious task.

sacrilegious

ADJ. desecrating; profane. His stealing of the altar cloth was a very sacrilegious act.

reprehensible

ADJ. deserving blame. Shocked by the viciousness of the bombing, politicians of every party uniformly condemned the terrorists' reprehensible deed.

venerable

ADJ. deserving high respect. We do not mean to be disrespectful when we refuse to follow the advice of our venerable leader.

scurvy

ADJ. despicable; contemptible. Peter Pan sneered at Captain Hook and his scurvy crew.

sensual

ADJ. devoted to the pleasures of the senses; car-nal; voluptuous. I cannot understand what caused him to abandon his sensual way of life and become so ascetic.

pious

ADJ. devout; religious. The challenge for church people today is how to be pious in the best sense, that is, to be devout without becoming hypocritical or sanctimonious. piety, N.

sedulous

ADJ. diligent; hardworking. After weeks of patient and sedulous labor, we completed our detailed analysis of every published SAT examination.

insightful

ADJ. discerning; perceptive. Sol thought he was very insightful about human behavior, but he was actually clueless as to why people acted the way they did.

sardonic

ADJ. disdainful; sarcastic; cynical. The sardonic humor of nightclub comedians who satirize or ridicule patrons in the audience strikes some people as amusing and others as rude.

unkempt

ADJ. disheveled; uncared for in appearance. Jeremy hated his neighbor's unkempt lawn: he thought its neglected appearance had a detrimental effect on neighborhood property values.

unruly

ADJ. disobedient; lawless. The only way to curb this unruly mob is to use tear gas.

provident

ADJ. displaying foresight; thrifty; preparing for emergencies. In his usual provident manner, he had insured himself against this type of loss.

sanctimonious

ADJ. displaying ostentatious or hypocritical devoutness. You do not have to be so sanctimonious to prove that you are devout.

profligate

ADJ. dissipated; wasteful; wildly immoral. Although surrounded by wild and profligate companions, she nevertheless managed to retain some sense of decency.

unpalatable

ADJ. distasteful; disagreeable. "I refuse to swallow your conclusion," said she, finding his logic unpalatable.

tractable

ADJ. docile; easily managed. Although Susan seemed a tractable young woman, she had a stubborn streak of independence that occasionally led her to defy the powers-that-be when she felt they were in the wrong.

nocturnal

ADJ. done at night. Mr. Jones obtained a watchdog to prevent the nocturnal raids on his chicken coops.

problematic

ADJ. doubtful; unsettled; questionable; perplexing. Given the way building costs have exceeded esti-mates for the job, whether the arena will ever be completed is problematic.

pensive

ADJ. dreamily thoughtful; thoughtful with a hint of sadness; contemplative. The pensive lover gazed at the portrait of his beloved and deeply sighed.

repellent

ADJ. driving away; unattractive. Mosquitoes find the odor so repellent that they leave any spot where this liquid has been sprayed. also N.

propulsive

ADJ. driving forward. The jet plane has a greater propulsive power than the engine-driven plane.

lethargic

ADJ. drowsy; dull. The stuffy room made her lethargic: she felt as if she was about to nod off.

vapid

ADJ. dull and unimaginative; insipid and flavorless. "Bor-ing!" said Jessica, as she suffered through yet another vapid lecture about Dead White Male Poets.

prosaic

ADJ. dull and unimaginative; matter-of-fact; factual. Though the ad writers came up with an original way to publicize the product, the head office rejected it for a more prosaic, ordinary slogan.

lackluster

ADJ. dull. We were disappointed by the lackluster performance.

stolid

ADJ. dull; impassive. The earthquake shattered Stu-art's usual stolid demeanor; trembling, he crouched on the no longer stable ground.

moribund

ADJ. dying. Hearst took a moribund, failing weekly newspaper and transformed it into one of the liveliest, most profitable daily papers around.

terrestrial

ADJ. earthly (as opposed to celestial); pertaining to the land. In many science fiction films, alien invaders from outer space plan to destroy all terrestrial life.

transparent

ADJ. easily detected; permitting light to pass through freely. John's pride in his son is transparent; no one who sees the two of them together can miss it.

queasy

ADJ. easily nauseated; squeamish. Remember that great chase movie, the one with the carsick passenger? That's right: Queasy Rider!

lucid

ADJ. easily understood; clear; intelligible. Ellen makes an excellent teacher: her explanations of technical points are lucid enough for a child to grasp.

omnivorous

ADJ. eating both plant and animal food; devouring everything. Some animals, including man, are omnivorous and eat both meat and vegetables; others are either carnivorous or herbivorous.

resonant

ADJ. echoing; resounding; deep and full in sound. The deep, resonant voice of the actor James Earl Jones makes him particularly effective when he appears on stage.

sovereign

ADJ. efficacious; supreme or paramount; selfgoverning. Professor Pennywhistle claimed his panacea was a sovereign cure for all chronic complaints. In medicine the sovereign task of the doctor is to do no harm. Rebelling against the mother country, the onetime colony now proclaimed itself a sovereign state. also N.

maudlin

ADJ. effusively sentimental. Whenever a particularly maudlin tearjerker was playing at the movies, Marvin would embarrass himself by weeping copiously.

resilient

ADJ. elastic; having the power of springing back. Highly resilient, steel makes excellent bedsprings. resilience, N.

vacuous

ADJ. empty; inane. The vacuous remarks of the politician annoyed the audience, who had hoped to hear more than empty platitudes.

worldly

ADJ. engrossed in matters of this earth; not spiritual. You must leave your worldly goods behind you when you go to meet your Maker.

sphinx-like

ADJ. enigmatic; mysterious. The Mona Lisa's sphinx-like expression has intrigued and mystified art lovers for centuries.

tantamount

ADJ. equivalent in effect or value. Though Rudy claimed his wife was off visiting friends, his shriek of horror when she walked into the room was tantamount to a confession that he believed she was dead.

substantive

ADJ. essential; pertaining to the substance. Although the delegates were aware of the importance of the problem, they could not agree on the substantive issues.

perpetual

ADJ. everlasting. Ponce de Leon hoped to find the legendary fountain of perpetual youth.

manifest

ADJ. evident; visible; obvious. Digby's embar-rassment when he met Madonna was manifest: his ears turned bright pink, he kept scuffing one shoe in the dirt, and he couldn't look her in the eye.

sinister

ADJ. evil. We must defeat the sinister forces that seek our downfall.

precise

ADJ. exact. If you don't give me precise directions and a map, I'll never find your place.

sublime

ADJ. exalted or noble and uplifting; utter. Lucy was in awe of Desi's sublime musicianship, while he was in awe of her sublime naiveté.

meticulous

ADJ. excessively careful; painstaking; scrupulous. Martha Stewart was a meticulous housekeeper, fussing about each and every detail that went into making up her perfect home.

rapacious

ADJ. excessively greedy; predatory. The rapa-cious brigands stripped the villagers of all their possessions. rapacity, N.

ornate

ADJ. excessively or elaborately decorated. With its elaborately carved, convoluted lines, furniture of the Baroque period was highly ornate.

primordial

ADJ. existing at the beginning (of time); rudimentary. The Neanderthal Man is one of our primordial ancestors.

politic

ADJ. expedient; prudent; well advised. Even though he was disappointed by the size of the bonus he was offered, he did not think it politic to refuse it.

seasoned

ADJ. experienced. Though pleased with her new batch of rookies, the basketball coach wished she had a few more seasoned players on the team.

potential

ADJ. expressing possibility; latent. This juvenile delinquent is a potential murderer. also N.

overwrought

ADJ. extremely agitated; hysterical. When Kate heard the news of the sudden tragedy, she became too overwrought to work and had to leave the office early.

parched

ADJ. extremely dry; very thirsty. The parched desert landscape seemed hostile to life.

ravenous

ADJ. extremely hungry. The ravenous dog upset several garbage pails in its search for food.

virulent

ADJ. extremely poisonous; hostile; bitter. Laid up with a virulent case of measles, Vera blamed her doctors because her recovery took so long. In fact, she became quite virulent on the subject of the quality of modern medical care.

minute

ADJ. extremely small. The twins resembled one another closely; only minute differences set them apart.

lilliputian

ADJ. extremely small. Tiny and delicate, the model was built on a lilliputian scale. also N.

minuscule

ADJ. extremely small. Why should I involve myself with a project with so minuscule a chance for success?

spurious

ADJ. false; counterfeit; forged; illogical. The antique dealer hero of Jonathan Gash's mystery novels gives the reader tips on how to tell spurious antiques from the real thing. Natasha's claim to be the lost heir of the Romanoffs was spurious: the only thing Russian about her was the vodka she drank!

obese

ADJ. fat. It is advisable that obese people try to lose weight.

jaded

ADJ. fatigued; surfeited. He looked for exotic foods to stimulate his jaded appetite.

propitious

ADJ. favorable; fortunate; advantageous. Chloe consulted her horoscope to see whether Tuesday would be a propitious day to dump her boyfriend.

timorous

ADJ. fearful; demonstrating fear. His timorous manner betrayed the fear he felt at the moment.

practicable

ADJ. feasible. The board of directors decided that the plan was practicable and agreed to undertake the project.

visceral

ADJ. felt in one's inner organs. She disliked the visceral sensations she had whenever she rode the roller coaster.

replete

ADJ. filled to the brim or to the point of being stuffed; abundantly supplied. The movie star's memoir was replete with juicy details about the love life of half of Hollywood.

sordid

ADJ. filthy; base; vile. The social worker was angered by the sordid housing provided for the homeless.

ultimate

ADJ. final; not susceptible to further analysis. Scientists are searching for ultimate truths.

inherent

ADJ. firmly established by nature or habit. Katya's inherent love of justice caused her to champion anyone she considered treated unfairly by society.

spasmodic

ADJ. fitful; periodic. The spasmodic coughing in the auditorium annoyed the performers.

limber

ADJ. flexible. Hours of ballet classes kept him limber.

pliant

ADJ. flexible; easily influenced. Pinocchio's disposition was pliant, he was like putty in his tempters' hands.

supple

ADJ. flexible; pliant. Years of yoga exercises made Grace's body supple.

lithe

ADJ. flexible; supple. Her figure was lithe and willowy.

pliable

ADJ. flexible; yielding; adaptable. In remodeling the bathroom, we have replaced all the old, rigid lead pipes with new, pliable copper tubing.

voluble

ADJ. fluent; glib; talkative. The excessively voluble speaker suffers from logorrhea: he runs off at the mouth a lot!

subsequent

ADJ. following; later. In subsequent lessons, we shall take up more difficult problems.

witless

ADJ. foolish; idiotic. If Beavis is a half-wit, then Butthead is totally witless.

vehement

ADJ. forceful; intensely emotional; with marked vigor. Alfred became so vehement in describing what was wrong with the Internal Revenue Service that he began jumping up and down and frothing at the mouth. vehemence, N.

paramount

ADJ. foremost in importance; supreme. Proper nutrition and hygiene are of paramount importance in adolescent development and growth.

prophetic

ADJ. foretelling the future. I have no magical prophetic powers; when I predict what will happen, I base my predictions on common sense. prophesy,V.

venial

ADJ. forgivable; trivial. When Jean Valjean stole a loaf of bread to feed his starving sister, he committed a venial offense.

redoubtable

ADJ. formidable; causing fear. During the Cold War period, neighboring countries tried not to offend the Russians because they could be redoubtable foes.

malodorous

ADJ. foul-smelling. The compost heap was most malodorous in summer.

noisome

ADJ. foul-smelling; unwholesome. The noisome atmosphere downwind of the oil refinery not only stank, it damaged the lungs of everyone living in the area.

putrid

ADJ. foul; rotten; decayed. The gangrenous condition of the wound was indicated by the putrid smell when the bandages were removed. putrescence, N.

redolent

ADJ. fragrant; odorous; suggestive of an odor. Even though it is February, the air is redolent of spring.

querulous

ADJ. fretful; whining. Even the most agreeable toddlers can begin to act querulous if they miss their nap.

porous

ADJ. full of pores; like a sieve. Dancers like to wear porous clothing because it allows the ready passage of water and air.

underlying

ADJ. fundamental; lying below. The underlying cause of the student riot was not the strict curfew rule but the moldy cafeteria food. Miss Marple seems a sweet little old lady at first, but there's an iron will underlying that soft and fluffy facade.

magnanimous

ADJ. generous; great-hearted. Philanthropists by definition are magnanimous; misers, by definition, are not. Cordelia was too magnanimous to resent her father's unkindness to her; instead, she generously forgave him. magnanimity, N.

titanic

ADJ. gigantic. Titanic waves beat against the majestic S.S. Titanic, driving it against the concealed iceberg.

mammoth

ADJ. gigantic; enormous. To try to memorize every word on this vocabulary list would be a mammoth undertaking; take on projects that are more manageable in size.

jocose

ADJ. given to joking. The salesman was so jocose that many of his customers suggested that he become a .,stand-up" comic.

morbid

ADJ. given to unwholesome thought; moody; characteristic of disease. People who come to disaster sites just to peer at the grisly wreckage are indulging their morbid curiosity.

unstinting

ADJ. giving generously; not holding back. The dean praised the donor of the new science building for her unstinting generosity.

saturnine

ADJ. gloomy. Do not be misled by his saturnine countenance; he is not as gloomy as he looks.

somber

ADJ. gloomy; depressing; dark; drab. From the doctor's grim expression, I could tell he had somber news. Dull brown and charcoal gray are pretty somber colors; can't you wear something bright?

melancholy

ADJ. gloomy; morose; blue. To Eugene, stuck in his small town, a train whistle was a melancholy sound, for it made him think of all the places he would never get to see.

jovial

ADJ. good-natured; merry. A frown seemed out of place on his invariably jovial face.

voluptuous

ADJ. gratifying the senses. The nobility during the Renaissance led voluptuous lives.

raspy

ADJ. grating; harsh. The sergeant's raspy voice grated on the recruits' ears.

verdant

ADJ. green; lush in vegetation. Monet's paintings of the verdant meadows were symphonies in green.

rampant

ADJ. growing in profusion; unrestrained. The rampant weeds in the garden choked the flowers until they died.

taciturn

ADJ. habitually silent; talking little. The stereotypical cowboy is a taciturn soul, answering lengthy questions with a "Yep" or "Nope."

trite

ADJ. hackneyed; commonplace. The trite and predictable situations in many television programs turn off many viewers, who, in turn, turn off their sets.

somnolent

ADJ. half asleep. The heavy meal and the overheated room made us all somnolent and indifferent to the speaker.

slapdash

ADJ. haphazard; careless; sloppy. From the number of typos and misspellings I've found in it, it's clear that Mario proofread the report in a remarkably slapdash fashion.

noxious

ADJ. harmful. We must trace the source of these noxious gases before they asphyxiate us.

raucous

ADJ. harsh and shrill; disorderly and boisterous. The raucous crowd of New Year's Eve revelers got progressively noisier as midnight drew near.

malicious

ADJ. hateful; spiteful. Jealous of Cinderella's beauty, her malicious stepsisters expressed their spite by forcing her to do menial tasks. malice, N.

odious

ADJ. hateful; vile. Cinderella's ugly stepsisters had the odious habit of popping their zits in public.

wan

ADJ. having a pale or sickly color; pallid. Suckling asked, "Why so pale and wan, fond lover?"

serrated

ADJ. having a sawtoothed edge. The beech tree is one of many plants that have serrated leaves.

plausible

ADJ. having a show of truth but open to doubt; specious. Your mother made you stay home from school because she needed you to program the VCR? I'm sorry, you'll have to come up with a more plausible excuse than that.

tendentious

ADJ. having an aim; biased; designed to further a cause. The editorials in this periodical are tendentious rather than truth-seeking.

odorous

ADJ. having an odor. This variety of hybrid tea rose is more odorous than the one you have in your garden.

perspicacious

ADJ. having insight; penetrating; astute. The brilliant lawyer was known for his perspicacious deductions. perspicacity, N.

multifaceted

ADJ. having many aspects. A multifaceted composer, Roger Davidson has recorded original pieces that range from ragtime tangos to choral masses.

multiform

ADJ. having many forms. Snowflakes are multiform but always hexagonal.

multilingual

ADJ. having many languages. Because they are bordered by so many countries, the Swiss people are multilingual.

versatile

ADJ. having many talents; capable of working in many fields. She was a versatile athlete, earning varsity letters in basketball, hockey, and track.

peerless

ADJ. having no equal; incomparable. The reigning operatic tenor of his generation, to his admirers Luciano Pavarotti was peerless: no one could compare with him.

monochromatic

ADJ. having only one color. Most people who are color blind actually can distinguish several colors; some, however, have a truly monochromatic view of a world all in shades of gray.

monosyllabic

ADJ. having only one syllable. No matter what he was asked, the taciturn New Englander answered with a monosyllabic "Yep" or "Nope." monosyllable, N.

prurient

ADJ. having or causing lustful thoughts and desires. Aroused by his prurient impulses, the dirty old man leered at the sweet young thing and offered to give her a sample of his "prowess."

musky

ADJ. having the odor of musk. She left a trace of musky perfume behind her.

rancid

ADJ. having the odor of stale fat. A rancid odor filled the ship's galley and nauseated the crew.

salubrious

ADJ. healthful. Many people with hay fever move to more salubrious sections of the country during the months of August and September.

tenacious

ADJ. holding fast. I had to struggle to break his tenacious hold on my arm.

retentive

ADJ. holding; having a good memory. The pupil did not need to spend much time studying, for he had a retentive mind and remembered all he read.

quixotic

ADJ. idealistic but impractical. Constantly coming up with quixotic, unworkable schemes to save the world, Simon has his heart in the right place, but his head somewhere in the clouds.

morose

ADJ. ill-humored; sullen; melancholy. Forced to take early retirement, Bill acted morose for months; then, all of a sudden, he shook off his sullen mood and was his usual cheerful self.

irrational

ADJ. illogical; lacking reason; insane. Many people have such an irrational fear of snakes that they panic at the sight of a harmless garter snake.

sophomoric

ADJ. immature; half-baked, like a sophomore. Even if you're only a freshman, it's no compliment to be told your humor is sophomoric. The humor in Dumb and Dumber is sophomoric at best.

intemperate

ADJ. immoderate; excessive; extreme. In a temper, Tony refused to tone down his intemperate remarks.

neutral

ADJ. impartial; not supporting one side over another. Reluctant to get mixed up in someone else's quarrel, Bobby tried to remain neutral, but eventually he had to take sides.

Stoic

ADJ. impassive; unmoved by joy or grief. I wasn't particularly stoic when I had my flu shot; I squealed like a stuck pig. also N.

inscrutable

ADJ. impenetrable; not readily understood; mysterious. Experienced poker players try to keep their expressions inscrutable, hiding their reactions to the cards behind a so-called "poker face."

transitory

ADJ. impermanent; fleeting. Fame is transitory: today's rising star is all too soon tomorrow's washed-up has-been. transitoriness, N.

pert

ADJ. impertinent; forward. I think your pert and impudent remarks call for an apology.

irretrievable

ADJ. impossible to recover or regain; irreparable. The left fielder tried to retrieve the ball, but it flew over the fence, bounced off a wall, and fell into the sewer: it was irretrievable.

susceptible

ADJ. impressionable; easily influenced; having little resistance, as to a disease; receptive to. Said the patent medicine man to his very susceptible customer: "Buy this new miracle drug, and you will no longer be susceptible to the common cold."

virtual

ADJ. in essence; for practical purposes. She is a virtual financial wizard when it comes to money matters.

nominal

ADJ. in name only; trifling. He offered to drive her to the airport for only a nominal fee.

oblivious

ADJ. inattentive or unmindful; wholly absorbed. Deep in her book, Nancy was oblivious to the noisy squabbles of her brother and his friends.

innate

ADJ. inborn. Mozart's parents soon recognized young Wolfgang's innate talent for music.

invulnerable

ADJ. incapable of injury. Achilles was invulnerable except in his heel.

nascent

ADJ. incipient; coming into being. If we could identify these revolutionary movements in their nascent state, we would be able to eliminate serious trouble in later years.

sadistic

ADJ. inclined to cruelty. If we are to improve condi- tions in this prison, we must first get rid of the sadistic warden.

prone

ADJ. inclined to; prostrate. She was prone to sudden fits of anger during which she would lie prone on the floor, screaming and kicking her heels.

partial

ADJ. incomplete; having a liking for something. In this issue we have published only a partial list of contributors because we lack space to acknowledge everyone. I am extremely partial to chocolate eclairs.

unfathomable

ADJ. incomprehensible; impenetrable. Unable to get to the bottom of the mystery, Watson declared it was unfathomable.

unobtrusive

ADJ. inconspicuous; not blatant. Reluctant to attract notice, the governess took a chair in a far corner of the room and tried to be as unobtrusive as possible.

irremediable

ADJ. incurable; uncorrectable. The error she made was irremediable; she could see no way to repair it.

untenable

ADJ. indefensible; not able to be maintained. Wayne is so contrary that, the more untenable a position is, the harder he'll try to defend it.

oblique

ADJ. indirect; slanting (deviating from the perpen-dicular or from a straight line). Casting a quick, oblique glance at the reviewing stand, the sergeant ordered the company to march "Oblique Right."

unaccountable

ADJ. inexplicable; unreasonable or mysterious. I have taken an unaccountable dislike to my doctor: "I do not love thee, Doctor Fell. The reason why, I cannot tell."

unerringly

ADJ. infallibly. My teacher unerringly pounced on the one typographical error in my essay.

malignant

ADJ. injurious; tending to cause death; aggressively malevolent. Though many tumors are benign, some are malignant, growing out of control and endangering the life of the patient.

perceptive

ADJ. insightful; aware; wise. Although Maud was a generally perceptive critic, she had her blind spots: she could never see flaws in the work of her friends.

paltry

ADJ. insignificant; petty; trifling. One hundred dollars for a genuine imitation Rolex watch! Lady, this is a paltry sum to pay for such a high-class piece of jewelry.

puny

ADJ. insignificant; tiny; weak. Our puny efforts to stop the flood were futile.

insuperable

ADJ. insurmountable; unbeatable. Though the odds against their survival seemed insuperable, the Apollo 13 astronauts reached earth safely.

willful

ADJ. intentional; headstrong. Donald had planned to kill his wife for months; clearly, her death was a case of deliberate, willful murder, not a crime of passion committed by a hasty, willful youth unable to foresee the consequences of his deeds.

mercenary

ADJ. interested in money or gain. Andy's every act was prompted by mercenary motives: his first question was always "What's in it for me?"

meddlesome

ADJ. interfering. He felt his marriage was suf-fering because of his meddlesome mother-in-law.

knotty

ADJ. intricate; difficult; tangled. What to Watson had been a knotty problem, to Sherlock Holmes was simplicity itself.

withdrawn

ADJ. introverted; remote. Rebuffed by his colleagues, the initially outgoing young researcher became increasingly withdrawn.

tonic

ADJ. invigorating; refreshing. The tart homemade ginger ale had a tonic effect on Kit: she perked right up. also N.

opalescent

ADJ. iridescent; lustrous. The oil slick on the water had an opalescent, rainbow-like sheen.

testy

ADJ. irritable; short-tempered. My advice is to avoid discussing this problem with him today as he is rather testy and may shout at you.

succulent

ADJ. juicy; full of richness. To some people, Florida citrus fruits are more succulent than those from California. also N.

insipid

ADJ. lacking in flavor; dull. Flat prose and flat ginger ale are equally insipid: both lack sparkle.

listless

ADJ. lacking in spirit or energy. We had expected him to be full of enthusiasm and were surprised by his listless attitude.

lackadaisical

ADJ. lacking purpose or zest; halfhearted; languid. Because Gatsby had his mind more on his love life than on his finances, he did a very lackadaisical job of managing his money.

salacious

ADJ. lascivious; lustful. Chaucer's monk is not pious but salacious. a teller of lewd tales and ribald jests.

ludicrous

ADJ. laughable; trifling. Let us be serious; this is not a ludicrous issue.

sumptuous

ADJ. lavish; rich. I cannot recall when I have had such a sumptuous Thanksgiving feast.

punctilious

ADJ. laying stress on niceties of conduct or form; minutely attentive to fine points (perhaps too much so). Percy is punctilious about observing the rules of etiquette whenever Miss Manners invites him to stay. punctiliousness.N.

slothful

ADJ. lazy. Lying idly on the sofa while others worked, Reggie denied he was slothful: "I just supervise better lying down."

livid

ADJ. lead-colored; black and blue; enraged. His face was so livid with rage that we were afraid that he might have an attack of apoplexy.

subdued

ADJ. less intense; quieter. Bob liked the subdued lighting at the restaurant because he thought it was romantic. I just thought it was dimly lit.

lavish

ADJ. liberal; wasteful. The actor's lavish gifts pleased her. alsoV.

jaunty

ADJ. lighthearted; animated; easy and carefree. In An American in Paris, Gene Kelly sang and danced his way through "Singing in the Rain" in a properly jaunty style.

rabid

ADJ. like a fanatic; furious. He was a rabid follower of the Dodgers and watched them play whenever he could go to the ball park.

qualified

ADJ. limited; restricted. Unable to give the candidate full support, the mayor gave him only a qualified endorsement. (secondary meaning)

rousing

ADJ. lively; stirring. "And now, let's have a rousing welcome for TV's own Roseanne Barr, who'll lead us in a rousing rendition of 'The Star-Spangled Banner."'

repugnant

ADJ. loathsome; hateful. She found the snake repugnant and looked on it with loathing and fear.

valid

ADJ. logically convincing; sound; legally acceptable. You're going to have to come up with a better argument if you want to convince me that your reasoning is valid.

outmoded

ADJ. longer stylish; old-fashioned. Unconcerned about keeping in style, Lenore was perfectly happy to wear outmoded clothes as long as they were clean and unfrayed.

retrospective

ADJ. looking back on the past. The Museum of Graphic Arts is holding a retrospective showing of the paintings of Michael Whelan over the past two decades.

strident

ADJ. loud and harsh; insistent. Whenever Sue became angry, she tried not to raise her voice; she had no desire to appear strident.

steadfast

ADJ. loyal; unswerving. Penelope was steadfast in her affections, faithfully waiting for Ulysses to return from his wanderings.

tepid

ADJ. lukewarm. During the summer, I like to take a tepid bath, not a hot one.

lewd

ADJ. lustful. They found his lewd stories objectionable.

mendacious

ADJ. lying; habitually dishonest. Distrusting Huck from the start, Miss Watson assumed he was mendacious and refused to believe a word he said.

rarefied

ADJ. made less dense (of a gas]. The mountain climbers had difficulty breathing in the rarefied atmosphere. rarefy,V.

material

ADJ. made of physical matter; unspiritual; important. Probing the mysteries of this material world has always fascinated physicist George Whitesides. Reporters nicknamed Madonna the Material Girl because, despite her name, she seemed wholly uninterested in spiritual values. Lexy's active participation made a material difference to the success of the fund-raiser.

virile

ADJ. manly. I do not accept the premise that a man proves he's virile by being belligerent.

variegated

ADJ. many-colored. Without her glasses, Gretchen saw the fields of tulips as a variegated blur.

peripheral

ADJ. marginal; outer. We lived, not in central London, but in one of those peripheral suburbs that spring up on the outskirts of a great city.

striated

ADJ. marked with parallel bands; grooved. The glacier left many striated rocks. striate,V.

prodigious

ADJ. marvelous; enormous. Watching the champion weight lifter heave the weighty barbell to shoulder height and then boost it overhead, we marveled at his prodigious strength.

monumental

ADJ. massive. Writing a dictionary is a monu-mental task.

inimitable

ADJ. matchless; not able to be imitated. We admire Auden for his inimitable use of language; he is one of a kind.

scanty

ADJ. meager; insufficient. Thinking his helping of food was scanty, Oliver Twist asked for more.

officious

ADJ. meddlesome; excessively pushy in offering one's services. Judy wanted to look over the new computer models on her own, but the officious salesman kept on butting in with "helpful" advice until she was ready to walk out of the store.

molten

ADJ. melted. The city of Pompeii was destroyed by volcanic ash rather than by molten lava flowing from Mount Vesuvius.

waggish

ADJ. mischievous; humorous; tricky. He was a prankster who, unfortunately, often overlooked the damage he could cause with his waggish tricks. wag, N.

promiscuous

ADJ. mixed indiscriminately; haphazard; irregular, particularly sexually. In the opera La Boheme, we get a picture of the promiscuous life led by the young artists of Paris.

satirical

ADJ. mocking. The humor of cartoonist Gary Trudeau often is satirical; through the comments of the Doonesbury characters, Trudeau ridicules political corruption and folly.

unassuming

ADJ. modest. He is so unassuming that some people fail to realize how great a man he really is.

retiring

ADJ. modest; shy. Given Susan's retiring personality, no one expected her to take up public speaking; surprisingly enough, she became a star of the school debate team,

transient

ADJ. momentary; temporary; staying for a short time. Lexy's joy at finding the perfect Christmas gift for Phil was transient, she still had to find presents for the cousins and Uncle Bob. Located near the airport, this hotel caters to a largely transient trade. transience, N.

simian

ADJ. monkeylike. Lemurs are nocturnal mammals and have many simian characteristics, although they are less intelligent than monkeys.

optimum

ADJ. most favorable. If you wait for the optimum moment to act, you may never begin your project. also N.

sacrosanct

ADJ. most sacred; inviolable. The brash insurance salesman invaded the sacrosanct privacy of the office of the president of the company.

maternal

ADJ. motherly. Many animals display maternal instincts only while their offspring are young and helpless.

stagnant

ADJ. motionless; stale; dull. Mosquitoes commonly breed in ponds of stagnant water. Mike's career was stagnant; it wasn't going anywhere, and neither was he! stagnate,V.

piebald

ADJ. mottled; spotted. You should be able to identify Polka Dot in this race; it is the only piebald horse running.

plaintive

ADJ. mournful. The dove has a plaintive and melancholy call.

lugubrious

ADJ. mournful. The lugubrious howling of the dogs added to our sadness.

mobile

ADJ. movable; not fixed. The mobile blood bank operated by the Red Cross visited our neighborhood today. mobility, N.

undulating

ADJ. moving with a wavelike motion. The Hilo Hula Festival was an undulating sea of grass skirts.

turbid

ADJ. muddy; having the sediment disturbed. The water was turbid after the children had waded through it.

motley

ADJ. multi-colored; mixed. The jester wore a motley tunic, red and green and blue and gold all patched together haphazardly. Captain Ahab had gathered a motley crew to sail the vessel: old sea dogs and runaway boys, pillars of the church and drunkards, even a tattooed islander who terrified the rest of the crew.

mawkish

ADJ. mushy and gushy; icky-sticky sentimental; maudlin. Whenever Gigi and her boyfriend would sigh and get all lovey-dovey, her little brother would shout, "Yuck!" protesting their mawkish behavior.

reciprocal

ADJ. mutual; exchangeable; interacting. The two nations signed a reciprocal trade agreement.

parochial

ADJ. narrow in outlook; provincial; related to parishes. Although Jane Austen sets her novels in small rural communities, her concerns are universal, not parochial,

myopic

ADJ. nearsighted; lacking foresight. Stumbling into doors despite the coke bottle lenses on his glasses, the nearsighted Mr. Magoo is markedly myopic. In playing all summer long and ignoring to store up food for winter, the grasshopper in Aesop's fable was myopic as well.

natty

ADJ. neatly or smartly dressed. Priding himself on being a natty dresser, the gangster Bugsy Siegel collected a wardrobe of imported suits and ties.

tautological

ADJ. needlessly repetitious. In the sentence "It was visible to the eye, " the phrase "to the eye" is tautological.

pejorative

ADJ. negative in connotation; having a belittling effect. Instead of criticizing Clinton's policies, the Republicans made pejorative remarks about his character.

remiss

ADJ. negligent. The guard was accused of being remiss in his duty when the prisoner escaped.

noncommittal

ADJ. neutral; unpledged; undecided. We were annoyed by his noncommittal reply for we had been led to expect definite assurances of his approval.

obsolete

ADJ. no longer useful; outmoded; antiquated. The invention of the pocket calculator made the slide rule used by generations of engineers obsolete.

patrician

ADJ. noble; aristocratic. We greatly admired her well-bred, patrician elegance. also N.

titular

ADJ. nominal holding of title without obligations. Although he was the titular head of the company, the real decisions were made by his general manager.

irreparable

ADJ. not able to be corrected or repaired. Your apology cannot atone for the irreparable damage you have done to her reputation.

intangible

ADJ. not able to be perceived by touch; vague. Though the financial benefits of his Oxford post were meager, Lewis was drawn to it by its intangible rewards: prestige, intellectual freedom, the fellowship of his peers.

passive

ADJ. not active; acted upon. Mahatma Gandhi urged his followers to pursue a program of passive resistance as he felt that it was more effective than violence and acts of terrorism.

irrelevant

ADJ. not applicable; unrelated. No matter how irrelevant the patient's mumblings may seem, they give us some indications of what he has on his mind.

rudimentary

ADJ. not developed; elementary; crude. Although my grandmother's English vocabulary was limited to a few rudimentary phrases, she always could make herself understood.

insatiable

ADJ. not easily satisfied; unquenchable; greedy. David's appetite for oysters was insatiable: he could easily eat four dozen at a single sitting.

objective

ADJ. not influenced by emotions; fair. Even though he was her son, she tried to be objective about his behavior.

temporal

ADJ. not lasting forever; limited by time; secular. At onetime in our history, temporal rulers assumed that they had been given their thrones by divine right.

optional

ADJ. not obligatory; left to one's choice. Most colleges require applicants to submit SAT I scores; at some colleges, however, submitting SAT I scores is optional.

theoretical

ADJ. not practical or applied; hypothetical. Bob was better at applied engineering and computer programming than he was at theoretical physics and math. While I can still think of some theoretical objections to your plan, you've convinced me of its basic soundness.

unrequited

ADJ. not reciprocated. Suffering the pangs of unrequited love, Olivia rebukes Cesario for his hardheartedness.

studied

ADJ. not spontaneous; deliberate; thoughtful. Given Jill's previous slights, Jack felt that the omission of his name from the guest list was a studied insult.

unassailable

ADJ. not subject to question; not open to attack. Penelope's virtue was unassailable; while she waited for her husband to come back from the war, no other man had a chance.

sparse

ADJ. not thick; thinly scattered; scanty. No matter how carefully Albert combed his hair to make it look as full as possible, it still looked sparse.

marked

ADJ. noticeable or pronounced; targeted for vengeance. He walked with a marked limp, a souvenir of an old I.R.A. attack. As British ambassador, he knew he was a marked man, for he knew the Irish Republican Army wanted him dead.

innovative

ADJ. novel; introducing a change. The establishment of our SAT I computer data base has enabled us to come up with some innovative tactics for doing well on the SAT.

unprecedented

ADJ. novel; unparalleled. For a first novel, Margaret Mitchell's novel Gone with the Wind was an unprecedented success.

mandatory

ADJ. obligatory. These instructions are mandatory, any violation will be severely punished.

recalcitrant

ADJ. obstinately stubborn; determined to resist authority; unruly. Which animal do you think is more recalcitrant, a pig or a mule?

subordinate

ADJ. occupying a lower rank; inferior; submissive. Bishop Proudie's wife expected all the subordinate clergy to behave with great deference to the wife of their superior.

recurrent

ADJ. occurring again and again. Richard's recurrent asthma attacks disturbed us and we consulted a physician.

sporadic

ADJ. occurring irregularly. Although you can still hear sporadic outbursts of laughter and singing outside, the big Halloween parade has passed; the party's over till next year.

subjective

ADJ. occurring or taking place within the subject; unreal. Your analysis is highly subjective; you have permitted your emotions and your opinions to color your thinking.

quaint

ADJ. odd; old-fashioned; picturesque. Her quaint clothes and old-fashioned language marked her as an eccentric.

retroactive

ADJ. of a law that dates back to a period before its enactment. Because the law was retroactive to the first of the year, we found she was eligible for the pension.

obnoxious

ADJ. offensive. I find your behavior obnoxious; please mend your ways.

Unctuous

ADJ. oily; bland; insincerely suave. Uriah Heep disguised his nefarious actions by unctuous protestations of his "humility."

partisan

ADJ. one-sided; prejudiced; committed to a party. On certain issues of principle, she refused to take a partisan stand, but let her conscience be her guide. Rather than joining forces to solve our nation's problems, the Democrats and Republicans spend their time on partisan struggles. also N.

patent

ADJ. open for the public to read; obvious. It was patent to everyone that the witness spoke the truth. also N.

overt

ADJ. open to view. According to the United States Constitution, a person must commit an overt act before he may be tried for treason.

inverse

ADJ. opposite. There is an inverse ratio between the strength of light and its distance.

mediocre

ADJ. ordinary; commonplace. We were disappointed because he gave a rather mediocre performance in this role.

pedestrian

ADJ. ordinary; unimaginative. Unintentionally boring, he wrote page after page of pedestrian prose.

pretentious

ADJ. ostentatious; pompous; making unjustified claims; overly ambitious. None of the other prize winners are wearing their medals; isn't it a bit pretentious of you to wear yours?

vindictive

ADJ. out for revenge; malicious. I think it's unworthy of Martha to be so vindictive; she shouldn't stoop to such petty acts of revenge.

uncouth

ADJ. outlandish; clumsy; boorish. Most biographers portray Lincoln as an uncouth and ungainly young man.

preeminent

ADJ. outstanding; superior. The king traveled to Boston because he wanted the preeminent surgeon in the field to perform the operation.

presumptuous

ADJ. overconfident; impertinently bold; taking liberties. Matilda thought it was somewhat presumptuous of the young man to have addressed her without first having been introduced. Perhaps manners were freer here in the New World.

Simplistic

ADJ. oversimplified. Though Jack's solution dealt adequately with one aspect of the problem, it was simplistic in failing to consider various complications that might arise.

insurmountable

ADJ. overwhelming; unbeatable; insuperable. Faced by almost insurmountable obstacles, the members of the underground maintained their courage and will to resist.

pallid

ADJ. pale; wan. Because his job required that he work at night and sleep during the day, he had an exceptionally pallid complexion.

translucent

ADJ. partly transparent. We could not recognize the people in the next room because of the translucent curtains that separated us.

torrid

ADJ. passionate; hot or scorching. Harlequin Romances publish torrid tales of love affairs, some set in torrid climates.

placid

ADJ. peaceful; calm. After his vacation in this placid section, he felt soothed and rested.

permeable

ADJ. penetrable; porous; allowing liquids or gas to pass through. If your jogging clothes weren't made out of permeable fabric, you'd drown in your own perspiration (figuratively speaking).

Sagacious

ADJ. perceptive; shrewd; having insight. My father was a sagacious judge of character: he could spot a phony a mile away. sagacity, N.

intermittent

ADJ. periodic; on and off. The outdoor wedding reception had to be moved indoors to avoid the intermittent showers that fell on and off all afternoon.

tangential

ADJ. peripheral; only slightly connected; digressing. Despite Clark's attempts to distract her with tangential remarks, Lois kept on coming back to her main question: why couldn't he come out to dinner with Superman and her?

pontifical

ADJ. pertaining to a bishop or pope; pompous or pretentious. From his earliest days at the seminary, John seemed destined for a high pontifical office. However, he sounded so pompous when he pontificated that he never was chosen pontiff after all.

provincial

ADJ. pertaining to a province; limited in outlook; unsophisticated. As provincial governor, Sir Henry administered the Queen's law in his remote corner of Canada. Caught up in local problems, out of touch with London news, he became sadly provincial.

traumatic

ADJ. pertaining to an injury caused by violence. In his nightmares, he kept on recalling the traumatic experience of being wounded in battle.

rustic

ADJ. pertaining to country people; uncouth. The backwoodsman looked out of place in his rustic attire.

thespian

ADJ. pertaining to drama. Her success in the school play convinced her she was destined for a thespian career. also N.

seismic

ADJ. pertaining to earthquakes. The Richter scale is a measurement of seismic disturbances.

rhetorical

ADJ. pertaining to effective communication; insincere in language. To win his audience; the speaker used every rhetorical trick in the book.

valedictory

ADJ. pertaining to farewell. I found the valedictory address too long; leave-taking should be brief.

thermal

ADJ. pertaining to heat. The natives discovered that the hot springs made excellent thermal baths and began to develop their community as a health resort. also N.

linguistic

ADJ. pertaining to language. The modern tourist will encounter very little linguistic difficulty as English has become an almost universal language.

marital

ADJ. pertaining to marriage. After the publication of his book on marital affairs, he was often consulted by married people on the verge of divorce.

mnemonic

ADJ. pertaining to memory. He used mnemonic tricks to master new words.

monetary

ADJ. pertaining to money. Jane held the family purse strings: she made all monetary decisions affecting the household.

pecuniary

ADJ. pertaining to money. Seldom earning enough to cover their expenses, folk dance teachers work because they love dancing, not because they expect any pecuniary reward.

picaresque

ADJ. pertaining to rogues in literature. Tom Jones has been hailed as one of the best picaresque novels in the English language.

nautical

ADJ. pertaining to ships or navigation. The Maritime Museum contains many models of clipper ships, logbooks, anchors and many other items of a nautical nature.

metaphysical

ADJ. pertaining to speculative philosophy. The modern poets have gone back to the fanciful poems of the metaphysical poets of the seventeenth century for many of their images. metaphysics, N.

sartorial

ADJ. pertaining to tailors. He was as famous for the sartorial splendor of his attire as he was for his acting.

metallurgical

ADJ. pertaining to the art of removing metals from ores. During the course of his metallurgical research, the scientist developed a steel alloy of tremendous strength.

lunar

ADJ. pertaining to the moon. Lunar craters can plainly seen with the aid of a small telescope.

tactile

ADJ. pertaining to the organs or sense of touch. His callused hands had lost their tactile sensitivity.

physiological

ADJ. pertaining to the science of the function of living organisms. To understand this disease fully, we must examine not only its physiological aspects but also its psychological elements.

stellar

ADJ. pertaining to the stars. He was the stellar attraction of the entire performance.

relevant

ADJ. pertinent; referring to the case in hand. How relevant Virginia Woolf's essays are to women writers today! It's as if Woolf in the 1930s foresaw our current literary struggles. relevancy, N.

pervasive

ADJ. pervading; spread throughout every part. Despite airing them for several hours, Martha could not rid her clothes of the pervasive odor of mothballs that clung to them. pervade,V.

ruthless

ADJ. pitiless; cruel. Captain Hook was a dangerous, ruthless villain who would stop at nothing to destroy Peter Pan.

unequivocal

ADJ. plain; obvious; unmistakable. My answer to your proposal is an unequivocal and absolute "No."

staccato

ADJ. played in an abrupt manner; marked by abrupt sharp sound. His staccato speech reminded one of the sound of a machine gun.

sportive

ADJ. playful. Such a sportive attitude is surprising in a person as serious as you usually are.

piquant

ADJ. pleasantly tart-tasting; stimulating. The piquant sauce added to our enjoyment of the meal. piquancy, N.

luscious

ADJ. pleasing to taste or smell. The ripe peach was luscious.

toxic

ADJ. poisonous. We must seek an antidote for whatever toxic substance he has eaten. toxicity, N.

latent

ADJ. potential but undeveloped; dormant; hidden. Polaroid pictures are popular at parties, because you can see the latent photographic image gradually appear before your eyes.

potent

ADJ. powerful; persuasive; greatly influential. Looking at the expiration date on the cough syrup bottle, we wondered whether the medication would still be potent. potency, N.

pragmatic

ADJ. practical (as opposed to idealistic); concerned with the practical worth or impact of something. This coming trip to France should provide me with a pragmatic test of the value of my conversational French class.

viable

ADJ. practical or workable; capable of maintaining life. That idea won't work. Let me see whether I can come up with a viable alternative.

jaundiced

ADJ. prejudiced (envious, hostile or resentful); yellowed. Because Sue disliked Carolyn, she looked at Carolyn's paintings with a jaundiced eye, calling them formless smears. Newborn infants afflicted with jaundice look slightly yellow: they have jaundiced skin.

visionary

ADJ. produced by imagination; fanciful; mystical. She was given to visionary schemes that never materialized. also N.

kinetic

ADJ. producing motion. Designers of the electric automobile find that their greatest obstacle lies in the development of light and efficient storage batteries, the source of the kinetic energy needed to propel the vehicle.

lachrymose

ADJ. producing tears. His voice has a lachrymose quality more appropriate to a funeral than a class reunion.

lucrative

ADJ. profitable. He turned his hobby into a lucrative profession.

salient

ADJ. prominent. One of the salient features of that newspaper is its excellent editorial page.

seemly

ADJ. proper; appropriate. Lady Bracknell did not think it was seemly for Ernest to lack a proper family: no baby abandoned on a doorstep could grow up to be a fit match for her daughter.

oracular

ADJ. prophetic; uttered as if with divine authority; mysterious or ambiguous. Like many others who sought divine guidance from the oracle at Delphi, Oedipus could not understand the enigmatic oracularwarning he received.

synoptic

ADJ. providing a general overview; summary. The professor turned to the latest issue of Dissertation Abstracts for a synoptic account of what was new in the field. synopSiS, N.

punitive

ADJ. punishing. He asked for punitive measures against the offender.

receptive

ADJ. quick or willing to receive ideas, suggestions, etc. Adventure-loving Huck Finn proved a receptive audience for Tom's tales of buried treasure and piracy.

meek

ADJ. quiet and obedient; spiritless. Can Lois Lane see through Superman's disguise and spot the superhero hiding behind the guise of meek, timorous Clark Kent? Mr. Barrett never expected his meek daughter would dare to defy him by eloping with her suitor.

maniacal

ADJ. raging mad; insane. Though Mr. Rochester had locked his mad wife in the attic, he could still hear her maniacal laughter echoing throughout the house.

precipitate

ADJ. rash; premature; hasty; sudden. Though I was angry enough to resign on the spot, I had enough sense to keep myself from quitting a job in such a precipitate fashion.

voracious

ADJ. ravenous. The wolf is a voracious animal, its hunger never satisfied.

insurgent

ADJ. rebellious. Because the insurgent forces had occupied the capital and had gained control of the railway lines, several of the war correspondents covering the uprising predicted a rebel victory.

recumbent

ADJ. reclining; lying down completely or in part. The command "AT EASE" does not permit you to take a recumbent position.

reactionary

ADJ. recoiling from progress; politically ultraconservative. Opposing the use of English in worship services, reactionary forces in the church fought to reinstate the mass in Latin.

ruddy

ADJ. reddish; healthy-looking. Santa Claus's ruddy cheeks nicely complement Rudolph the Reindeer's bright red nose.

panoramic

ADJ. related to an unobstructed and comprehensive view. On a clear day, from the top of the World Trade Center you can get a panoramic view of New York City and parts of New Jersey and Long Island. panorama, N.

nuptial

ADJ. related to marriage. Reluctant to be married in a traditional setting, they decided to hold their nuptial ceremony at the carousel in Golden Gate Park.

monastic

ADJ. related to monks or monasteries; removed from worldly concerns. Withdrawing from the world, Thomas Merton joined a contemplative religious order and adopted the monastic life.

narrative

ADJ. related to telling a story. A born teller of tales, Tillie Olsen used her impressive narrative skills to advantage in her story "I Stand Here Ironing." narrate,V.

pathological

ADJ. related to the study of disease; diseased or markedly abnormal. Jerome's pathological fear of germs led him to wash his hands a hundred times a day. pathology, N.

obsessive

ADJ. related to thinking about something constantly; preoccupying. Ballet, which had been a hobby, began to dominate his life: his love of dancing became obsessive. obsession, N.

kindred

ADJ. related; belonging to the same family. Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were two kindred spirits. also N.

sectarian

ADJ. relating to a religious faction or subgroup; narrow-minded; limited. Far from being broad-minded, the religious leader was intolerant of new ideas, paying attention only to purely sectarian interests. sect. N.

thematic

ADJ. relating to a unifying motif or idea. Those who think of Moby Dick as a simple adventure story about whaling miss its underlying thematic import.

schematic

ADJ. relating to an outline or diagram; using a system of symbols. In working out the solution to this logic puzzle, you may find it helpful to construct a simple schematic diagram outlining the order of events.

spatial

ADJ. relating to space. NASA is engaged in an ongoing program of spatial exploration. When Jay says he's studying spatial relations, that doesn't mean he has relatives in outer space.

loath

ADJ. reluctant; disinclined. Romeo and Juliet were both loath for him to go.

remediable

ADJ. reparable. Let us be grateful that the damage is remediable.

penitent

ADJ. repentant. When he realized the enormity of his crime, he became remorseful and penitent, also N.

sedentary

ADJ. requiring sitting. Disliking the effect of her sedentary occupation on her figure, Stacy decided to work out at the gym every other day.

sonorous

ADJ. resonant. His sonorous voice resounded through the hall.

reputable

ADJ. respectable. If you want to buy antiques, look for a reputable dealer; far too many dealers today pass off fakes as genuine antiques.

reverent

ADJ. respectful; worshipful. Though I bow my head in church and recite the prayers, sometimes I don't feel properly reverent. revere,V.

restive

ADJ. restlessly impatient; obstinately resisting con-trol. Waiting impatiently in line to see Santa Claus, even the best-behaved children grow restive and start to fidget.

temperate

ADJ. restrained; self-controlled; moderate in respect to temperature. Try to be temperate in your eating this holiday season; if you control your appetite, you won't gain too much weight.

ironic

ADJ. resulting in an unexpected and contrary outcome. It is ironic that his success came when he least wanted it.

ramshackle

ADJ. rickety; falling apart. The boys propped up the ramshackle clubhouse with a couple of boards.

regal

ADJ. royal. Prince Albert had a regal manner.

surly

ADJ. rude; cross. Because of his surly attitude, many people avoided his company.

seedy

ADJ. run-down; decrepit; disreputable. I would rather stay in dormitory lodgings in a decent youth hostel than have a room of my own in a seedy downtown hotel.

pastoral

ADJ. rural. In these stories of pastoral life, we find an understanding of the daily tasks of country folk.

jocular

ADJ. said or done in jest. Although Bill knew the boss hated jokes, he couldn't resist making one jocular remark.

meager

ADJ. scanty; inadequate. Still hungry after his meager serving of porridge, Oliver Twist asked for a second helping.

surreptitious

ADJ. secret; furtive; sneaky; hidden. Hoping to discover where his mom had hidden the Christmas presents, Timmy took a surreptitious peek into the master bedroom closet.

specious

ADJ. seemingly reasonable but incorrect; misleading (often intentionally). To claim that, because houses and birds both have wings, both can fly, is extremely specious reasoning.

touchy

ADJ. sensitive; irascible. Do not mention his bald spot; he's very touchy about it.

insulated

ADJ. set apart; isolated. A well-to-do bachelor, James spent his money freely, insulated from the cares of his friends, who had families to support.

rigorous

ADJ. severe; harsh; demanding; exact. Disliked by his superiors, the officer candidate in An Officer and a Gentleman endured an extremely rigorous training program.

shoddy

ADJ. sham; not genuine; inferior. You will never get the public to buy such shoddy material.

lustrous

ADJ. shining. Her large and lustrous eyes lent a touch of beauty to an otherwise plain face.

luminous

ADJ. shining; issuing light. The sun is a luminous body.

painstaking

ADJ. showing hard work; taking-Dreat care. The new high-frequency word list is the result of painstaking efforts on the part of our research staff.

pedantic

ADJ. showing off learning; bookish. Leavening his decisions with humorous, down-to-earth anecdotes, Judge Walker was not at all the pedantic legal scholar. pedant, pedantry, N.

ostentatious

ADJ. showy; pretentious; trying to attract attention. Donald Trump's latest casino in Atlantic City is the most ostentatious gambling palace in the East: it easily outglitters its competitors. ostentation, N.

muted

ADJ. silent; muffled; toned down. Thanks to the thick, sound-absorbing walls of the cathedral, only muted traffic noise reached the worshippers within.

ulterior

ADJ. situated beyond; unstated. You must have an ulterior motive for your behavior, since there is no obvious reason for it.

servile

ADJ. slavish; cringing. Constantly fawning on his employer, humble Uriah Heap was a servile creature.

obsequious

ADJ. slavishly attentive; servile; sycophantic. Helen liked to be served by people who behaved as if they respected themselves; nothing irritated her more than an excessively obsequious waiter or a fawning salesclerk.

soporific

ADJ. sleep-causing; marked by sleepiness. Professor Pringle's lectures were so soporific that even he fell asleep in class. also N.

laggard

ADJ. slow; sluggish. The sailor had been taught not to be laggard in carrying out orders. lag, N.,V.

negligible

ADJ. so small, trifling, or unimportant that it may be easily disregarded. Because the damage to his car had been negligible, Michael decided he wouldn't bother to report the matter to his insurance company.

sodden

ADJ. soaked; dull, as if from drink. He set his sodden overcoat near the radiator to dry.

staid

ADJ. sober; sedate. Her conduct during the funeral ceremony was staid and solemn.

monolithic

ADJ. solidly uniform; unyielding. Knowing the importance of appearing resolute, the patriots sought to present a monolithic front.

seamy

ADJ. sordid; unwholesome. In The Godfather, Michael Corleone is unwilling to expose his wife and children to the seamy side of his life as the son of a Mafia don. sear V. char or burn; brand. Accidentally brushing against the hot grill, she seared her hand badly.

judicious

ADJ. sound in judgment; wise. At a key moment in his life, he made a judicious investment that was the foundation of his later wealth.

polyglot

ADJ. speaking several languages. New York City is a polyglot community because of the thousands of immigrants who settle there.

musty

ADJ. stale; spoiled by age. The attic was dark and musty.

portly

ADJ. stately; stout. The overweight gentleman was referred to as portly by the polite salesclerk.

precipitous

ADJ. steep; overhasty. This hill is difficult to climb because it is so precipitous; one slip, and our descent will be precipitous as well.

treacly

ADJ. sticky sweet; cloyingly sentimental. Irritatingly cheerful, always looking on the bright side, Pollyanna speaks nothing but treacly sentimentalities. treacle, N.

viscous

ADJ. sticky; gluey. Melted tar is a viscous substance. Viscosity, N.

rigid

ADJ. stiff and unyielding; strict; hard and unbending. By living with a man to whom she was not married, George Eliot broke Victorian society's most rigid rule of respectable behavior.

pungent

ADJ. stinging; sharp in taste or smell; caustic. The pungent odor of ripe Limburger cheese appealed to Simone but made Stanley gag.

miserly

ADJ. stingy; mean. Transformed by his vision on Christmas Eve, mean old Scrooge ceased being miserly and became a generous, kind old man.

squat

ADJ. stocky; short and thick. Tolkien's hobbits are somewhat squat, sturdy little creatures, fond of good ale, good music, and good mushrooms.

tempestuous

ADJ. stormy; impassioned; violent. Racketthrowing tennis star John McEnroe was famed for his displays of tempestuous temperament.

uncanny

ADJ. strange; mysterious. You have the uncanny knack of reading my innermost thoughts.

percussion

ADJ. striking one object against another sharply. The drum is a percussion instrument. also N.

stalwart

ADJ. strong, brawny; steadfast. His consistent support of the party has proved that he is a stalwart and loyal member. also N.

obdurate

ADJ. stubborn. He was obdurate in his refusal to listen to our complaints.

obstinate

ADJ. stubborn; hard to control or treat. We tried to persuade him to give up smoking, but he was obstinate and refused to change. Blackberry stickers are the most obstinate weeds I know: once established in a yard, they're extremely hard to root out. obstinacy, N.

pertinacious

ADJ. stubborn; persistent. He is bound to succeed because his pertinacious nature will not permit him to quit.

refractory

ADJ. stubborn; unmanageable. The refractory horse was eliminated from the race when he refused to obey the jockey.

perverse

ADJ. stubbornly wrongheaded; wicked and perverted. When Jack was in a perverse mood, he would do the opposite of whatever Jill asked him. When Hannibal Lecter was in a perverse mood, he ate the flesh of his victims. Jack acted out of perversity. Hannibal's act proved his perversion.

stodgy

ADJ. stuffy; boringly conservative. For a young person, Winston seems remarkably stodgy: you'd expect someone his age to show a little more life.

urbane

ADJ. suave; refined; elegant. The courtier was urbane and sophisticated. urbanity, N.

subsidiary

ADJ. subordinate; secondary. This information may be used as subsidiary evidence but is not sufficient by itself to prove your argument. also N.

potable

ADJ. suitable for drinking. The recent drought in the Middle Atlantic states has emphasized the need for extensive research in ways of making sea water potable. also N.

menial

ADJ. suitable for servants; lowly; mean. Her wicked stepmother forced Cinderella to do menial tasks around the house while her ugly stepsisters lolled around painting their toenails.

perfunctory

ADJ. superficial; not thorough; lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm. The auditor's perfunctory inspection of the books overlooked many errors. Giving the tabletop only a perfunctory swipe with her dust cloth, Betty promised herself she'd clean it more thoroughly tomorrow.

redundant

ADJ. superfluous; repetitious; excessivejy wordy. The bottle of wine I brought to Bob's was certainly redundant how was I to know Bob owned a winery? In your essay, you repeat several points unnecessarily; try to be less redundant in the future. redundancy, N.

reputed

ADJ. supposed. Though he is the reputed father of the child, no one can be sure. repute, N.

transcendent

ADJ. surpassing; exceeding ordinary limits; superior. For the amateur chef, dining at the four-star restaurant was a transcendent experience: the meal surpassed his wildest dreams.

vulnerable

ADJ. susceptible to wounds. His opponents could not harm Achilles, who was vulnerable only in his heel.

leery

ADJ. suspicious; cautious. Don't eat the sushi at this restaurant; I'm a bit leery about how fresh the raw fish is.

mellifluous

ADJ. sweetly or smoothly flowing; melodious. Ital-ian is a mellifluous language, especially suited to being sung.

sultry

ADJ. sweltering. He could not adjust himself to the sultryclimate of the tropics.

turgid

ADJ. swollen; distended. The turgid river threatened to overflow the levees and flood the countryside.

methodical

ADJ. systematic. An accountant must be methodical and maintain order among his financial records.

palpable

ADJ. tangible; easily perceptible; unmistakable. The patient's enlarged spleen was palpable: even the first year medical student could feel it.

savory

ADJ. tasty; pleasing, attractive, or agreeable. Julia Child's recipes enable amateur chefs to create savory delicacies for their guests.

quizzical

ADJ. teasing; bantering; mocking; curious. When the skinny teenager tripped over his own feet stepping into the bullpen, Coach raised one quizzical eyebrow, shook his head, and said, "Okay, kid. You're here, let's see what you've got."

salutary

ADJ. tending to improve; beneficial; wholesome. The punishment had a salutary effect on the boy, as he became a model student.

subversive

ADJ. tending to overthrow; destructive. At first glance, the notion that styrofoam cups may actually be more ecologically sound than paper cups strikes most environmentalists as subversive.

provisional

ADJ. tentative. Kim's acceptance as an American Express card holder was provisional: before issuing her a card, American Express wanted to check her employment record and credit history.

sententious

ADJ. terse; concise; aphoristic. After reading so many redundant speeches, I find his sententious style particularly pleasing.

tenuous

ADJ. thin; rare; slim. The allegiance of our allies is held by rather tenuous ties.

wispy

ADJ. thin; slight; barely discernible. Worried about preserving his few wispy tufts of hair, Walter carefully massaged his scalp and applied hair restorer every night.

ominous

ADJ. threatening. Those clouds are ominous; they suggest a severe storm is on the way.

taut

ADJ. tight; ready. The captain maintained that he ran a taut ship.

opportune

ADJ. timely; well-chosen. Sally. looked at her father struggling to balance his checkbook; clearly this would not be an opportune moment to ask him for a raise in her allowance.

petulant

ADJ. touchy; peevish. If you'd had hardly any sleep for three nights and people kept phoning and waking you up, you'd sound pretty petulant, too.

sinewy

ADJ. tough; strong and firm. The steak was too sinewy to chew.

orthodox

ADJ. traditional; conservative in belief. Faced with a problem, he preferred to take an orthodox approach rather than shock anyone. orthodoxy, N.

pellucid

ADJ. transparent; limpid; easy to understand. After reading these stodgy philosophers, I find Bertrand Russell's pellucid style very enjoyable.

perfidious

ADJ. treacherous; disloyal. When Caesar realized that Brutus had betrayed him, he reproached his perfidious friend. perfidy, N.

insidious

ADJ. treacherous; stealthy; sly. The fifth column is insidious because it works secretly within our territory for our defeat.

tremulous

ADJ. trembling; wavering. She was tremulous more from excitement than from fear.

superficial

ADJ. trivial; shallow. Since your report gave only a superficial analysis of the problem, I cannot give you more than a passing grade.

trifling

ADJ. trivial; unimportant. Why bother going to see a doctor for such a trifling, everyday cold?

petty

ADJ. trivial; unimportant; very small. She had no major complaints to make about his work, only a few petty quibbles that were almost too minor to state.

wry

ADJ. twisted; with a humorous twist. We enjoy Dorothy Parker's verse for its wrywit.

unsightly

ADJ. ugly. Although James was an experienced emergency room nurse, he occasionally became queasy when faced with a particularly unsightly injury.

irrevocable

ADJ. unalterable; irreversible. As Sue dropped the "Dear John" letter into the mailbox, she suddenly had second thoughts and wanted to take it back, but she could not: her action was irrevocable.

unprepossessing

ADJ. unattractive. During adolescence many attractive young people somehow acquire the false notion that their appearance is unprepossessing.

unseemly

ADJ. unbecoming; indecent; in poor taste. When he put whoopie cushions on all the seats in the funeral parlor, his conduct was most unseemly.

precarious

ADJ. uncertain; risky. Saying the stock would be a precarious investment, the broker advised her client against purchasing it.

static

ADJ. unchanging; lacking development. Why watch chess on TV? I like watching a game with action, not something static where nothing seems to be going on.

tacit

ADJ. understood; not put into words. We have a tacit agreement based on only a handshake.

nondescript

ADJ. undistinctive; ordinary. The private detective was a short, nondescript fellow with no outstanding features, the sort of person one would never notice in a crowd.

unintimidating

ADJ. unfrightening. Though Phil had expected to feel overawed when he met Steve Young, he found the famous quarterback friendly and unintimidating.

unscathed

ADJ. unharmed. They prayed he would come back from the war unscathed.

trivial

ADJ. unimportant; trifling. Too many magazines ignore newsworthy subjects and feature trivial affairs. trivia, N.

unwitting

ADJ. unintentional; not knowing. She was the unwitting tool of the swindlers.

singular

ADJ. unique; extraordinary; odd. Though the young man tried to understand Father William's singular behavior, he still found it odd that the old man incessantly stood on his head. singularity, N.

omnipresent

ADJ. universally present; ubiquitous. On Christmas Eve, Santa Claus is omnipresent.

unwarranted

ADJ. unjustified; groundless; undeserved. Your assumption that I would accept your proposal is unwarranted, sir; I do not want to marry you at all. We could not understand Martin's unwarranted rudeness to his mother's guests.

superfluous

ADJ. unnecessary; excessive; overabundant. Betsy lacked the heart to tell June that the wedding present she brought was superfluous; she and Bob had already received five toasters. Please try not to include so many superfluous details in your report; just give me the facts. superfluity, N.

unmitigated

ADJ. unrelieved or immoderate; absolute. After four days of unmitigated heat, I was ready to collapse from heat prostration. The congresswoman's husband was an unmitigated jerk: not only did he abandon her, he took her campaign funds, too!

uninhibited

ADJ. unrepressed. The congregation was shocked by her uninhibited laughter during the sermon.

wanton

ADJ. unrestrained; willfully malicious; unchaste. Pointing to the stack of bills, Sheldon criticized Sarah for her wanton expenditures. In response, Sarah accused Sheldon of making an unfounded, wanton attack.

mutinous

ADJ. unruly; rebellious. The captain had to use force to quiet his mutinous crew. mutiny, N.

intractable

ADJ. unruly; stubborn; unyielding. Charlie Brown's friend Pigpen was intractable: he absolutely refused to take a bath.

unconscionable

ADJ. unscrupulous; excessive. She found the loan shark's demands unconscionable and impossible to meet.

slipshod

ADJ. untidy or slovenly; shabby. As a master craftsman, the carpenter prided himself on not doing slipshod work.

slovenly

ADJ. untidy; careless in work habits. Unshaven, sitting around in his bathrobe all afternoon, Gus didn't seem to care about the slovenly appearance he presented. The dark ring around the bathtub and the spider webs hanging from the beams proved what a slovenly housekeeper she was.

inopportune

ADJ. untimely; poorly chosen. A rock concert is an inopportune setting for a quiet conversation.

nebulous

ADJ. vague; hazy; cloudy. After twenty years, she had only a nebulous memory of her grandmother's face.

wistful

ADJ. vaguely longing; sadly thoughtful. With a last wistful glance at the happy couples dancing in the hall, Sue headed back to her room to study for her exam.

multifarious

ADJ. varied; greatly diversified. A career woman and mother, she was constantly busy with the multifarious activities of her daily life.

pied

ADJ. variegated; multicolored. The Pied Piper of Hamelin got his name from the multicolored clothing he wore.

protean

ADJ. versatile; able to take on many shapes. A remarkably protean actor, Alec Guinness could take on any role.

wary

ADJ. very cautious. The spies grew wary as they approached the sentry.

pernicious

ADJ. very destructive. Crack cocaine has had a pernicious effect on urban society: it has destroyed families, turned children into drug dealers, and increased the spread of violent crimes.

munificent

ADJ. very generous. Shamelessly fawning over a particularly generous donor, the dean kept on referring to her as "our munificent benefactor." munificence, N.

lofty

ADJ. very high. Though Barbara Jordan's fellow students used to tease her about her lofty ambitions, she rose to hold one of the highest positions in the land.

momentous

ADJ. very important. When Marie and Pierre Curie discovered radium, they had no idea of the momentous impact their discovery would have upon society.

prim

ADJ. very precise and formal; exceedingly proper. Many people commented on the contrast between the prim attire of the young lady and the inappropriate clothing worn by her escort.

sheer

ADJ. very thin or transparent; very steep; absolute. Wearing nothing but an almost sheer robe, Delilah draped herself against the sheer temple wall. Beholding her, Samson was overcome by her sheer beauty. Then she sheared his hair.

nefarious

ADJ. very wicked. The villain's crimes, though various, were one and all nefarious.

vital

ADJ. vibrant and lively; critical; living, breathing. The vital, highly energetic first aid instructor stressed that it was vital in examining accident victims to note their vital signs.

robust

ADJ. vigorous; strong. After pumping iron and taking karate for six months, the little old lady was so robust that she could break a plank with her fist.

spry

ADJ. vigorously active; nimble. She was eighty years old, yet still spry and alert.

unbridled

ADJ. violent. She had a sudden fit of unbridled rage.

nomadic

ADJ. wandering. Several nomadic tribes of Indians would hunt in this area each year.

migratory

ADJ. wandering. The return of the migratory birds to the northern sections of this country is a harbinger of spring. migrate,V.

itinerant

ADJ. wandering; traveling. He was an itinerant peddler and traveled through Pennsylvania and Virginia selling his wares. also N.

ribald

ADJ. wanton; profane. He sang a ribald song that offended many of the more prudish listeners.

martial

ADJ. warlike. The sound of martial music inspired the young cadet with dreams of military glory.

muggy

ADJ. warm and damp. August in New York City is often muggy.

prodigal

ADJ. wasteful; reckless with money. Don't be so prodigal spending my money; when you've earned some money yourself, you can waste it as much as you want! also N.

languid

ADJ. weary; sluggish; listless. Her siege of illness left her languid and pallid.

ponderous

ADJ. weighty; unwieldy. His humor lacked the light touch; his jokes were always ponderous.

navigable

ADJ. wide and deep enough to allow ships to pass through; able to be steered. So much sand had built up at the bottom of the canal that the waterway was barely navigable.

pandemic

ADJ. widespread; affecting the majority of people. They feared the AIDS epidemic would soon reach pandemic proportions.

prevalent

ADJ. widespread; generally accepted. A radical committed to social change, Reed had no patience with the conservative views prevalent in the America of his day.

lurid

ADJ. wild; sensational; graphic; gruesome. Do the lurid cover stories in the Enquirer actually attract people to buy that trashy tabloid?

sinuous

ADJ. winding; bending in and out; not morally honest. The snake moved in a sinuous manner.

tortuous

ADJ. winding; full of curves. Because this road is so tortuous, it is unwise to go faster than twenty miles an hour on it.

malevolent

ADJ. wishing evil. lago is a malevolent villain who takes pleasure in ruining Othello.

unique

ADJ. without an equal; single in kind. You have the unique distinction of being the only student whom I have had to fail in this course.

random

ADJ. without definite purpose, plan, or aim; haphazard. Although the sponsor of the raffle claimed all winners were chosen at random, people had their suspicions when the grand prize went to the sponsor's brother-in-law.

verbose

ADJ. wordy. Someone mute can't talk; someone verbose can hardly stop talking.

mundane

ADJ. worldly as opposed to spiritual; everyday. Uninterested in philosophical or spiritual discussions, Tom talked only of mundane matters such as the daily weather forecast or the latest basketball results.

sophisticated

ADJ. worldly-wise and urbane; complex. When Sophie makes wisecracks, she thinks she sounds sophisticated, but instead she sounds sophomoric. The new IBM laptop with the butterfly keyboard and the built-in quadspeed FAX modem is a pretty sophisticated machine.

secular

ADJ. worldly; not pertaining to church matters; temporal. The church leaders decided not to interfere in secular matters.

threadbare

ADJ. worn through till the threads show; shabby and poor. The poor adjunct professor hid the threadbare spots on his jacket by sewing leather patches on his sleeves.

solicitous

ADJ. worried; concerned. The employer was very solicitous about the health of her employees as replacements were difficult to get.

submissive

ADJ. yielding; timid. When he refused to permit Elizabeth to marry her poet, Mr. Barrett expected her to be properly submissive; instead, she eloped!

piecemeal

ADV. one piece at a time; gradually. Tolstoy's War and Peace is too huge to finish in one sitting; I'll have to read it piecemeal.

verbatim

ADV. word for word. He repeated the message verbatim. alsoADJ.

voyeur

N. Peeping Tom. Nancy called her brother a voyeur when she caught him aiming his binoculars at an upstairs window of the house of the newlyweds next door.

saga

N. Scandinavian myth; any legend. This is a saga of the sea and the men who risk their lives on it.

quarry

N. Victim; object of a hunt. The police closed in on their quarry.

legacy

N. a gift made by a will. Part of my legacy from my parents is an album of family photographs.

scad

N. a great quantity. Refusing Dave's offer to lend him a shirt, Phil replied, "No, thanks, I've got scads of clothes."

vagrant

N. a homeless wanderer. Because he was a stranger in town with no visible means of support, Martin feared he would be jailed as a vagrant. vagrancy, N.

pittance

N. a small allowance or wage. He could not live on the pittance he received as a pension and had to look for an additional source of revenue.

vent

N. a small opening; outlet. The wine did not flow because the air vent in the barrel was clogged.

mammal

N. a vertebrate animal whose female suckles its young. Many people regard the whale as a fish and do not realize that it is a mammal.

plasticity

N. ability to be molded. When clay dries out, it loses its plasticity and becomes less malleable.

mutability

N. ability to change in form; fickleness. Going from rags to riches, and then back to rags again, the bankrupt financier was a victim of the mutability of fortune.

prescience

N. ability to foretell the future. Given the current wave of Japan-bashing, it does not take prescience for me to foresee problems in our future trade relations with Japan.

plenitude

N. abundance; completeness. Looking in the pantry, we admired the plenitude of fruits and pickles we had preserved during the summer.

mishap

N. accident. With a little care you could have avoided this mishap.

orientation

N. act of finding oneself in society. Freshman orientation provides the incoming students with an opportunity to learn about their new environment and their place in it.

summation

N. act of finding the total; summary. In his summation, the lawyer emphasized the testimony given by the two witnesses.

volition

N. act of making a conscious choice. She selected this dress of her own volition.

pantomime

N. acting without dialogue. Because he worked in pantomime, the clown could be understood wherever he appeared. alsoV.

vigor

N. active strength. Although he was over seventy years old, Jack had the vigor of a man in his prime. vigorOUS,ADJ.

suffragist

N. advocate of voting rights (for women). In recognition of her efforts to win the vote for women, Congress authorized coining a silver dollar honoring the suffragistSusan B. Anthony

truculence

N. aggressiveness; ferocity. Tynan's reviews were noted for their caustic attacks and general tone of truculence. truculent,ADJ.

pact

N. agreement; treaty. Tweedledum and Tweedledee made a pact not to quarrel anymore.

rider

N. amendment or clause added to a legislative bill. Senator Foghorn said he would support Senator Filibuster's tax reform bill only if Filibuster agreed to add an antipollution riderto the bill.

reparation

N. amends; compensation. At the peace conference, the defeated country promised to pay reparations to the victors.

yield

N. amount produced; crop; income on investment. An experienced farmer can estimate the annual yield of his acres with surprising accuracy. alsoV.

ingenue

N. an artless girl; an actress who plays such parts. Although she was forty, she still insisted that she be cast as an ingenue and refused to play more mature roles.

progenitor

N. ancestor. The Roth family, whose progenitors emigrated from Germany early in the nineteenth century, settled in Peru, Illinois.

papyrus

N. ancient paper made from stem of papyrus plant. The ancient Egyptians were among the first to write on papyrus.

wrath

N. anger; fury. She turned to him, full of wrath, and said, "What makes you think I'll accept lower pay for this job than you get?"

parasite

N. animal or plant living on another; toady; sycophant. The tapeworm is an example of the kind of parasite that may infest the human body.

vex

N. annoy; distress. Please try not to vex your mother; she is doing the best she can.

perquisite

N. any gain above stipulated salary. The perquisites attached to this job make it even more attractive than the salary indicates.

verisimilitude

N. appearance of truth; likelihood. Critics praised her for the verisimilitude of her performance as Lady Macbeth. She was completely believable.

symmetry

N. arrangement of parts so that balance is obtained; congruity. Something lopsided by definition lacks symmetry.

rhetoric

N. art of effective communication; insincere language. All writers, by necessity, must be skilled in rhetoric.

treatise

N. article treating a subject systematically and thoroughly. He is preparing a treatise on the Elizabethan playwrights for his graduate degree.

premise

N. assumption; postulate. Based on the premise that there's no fool like an old fool, P. T. Barnum hired a ninety-year-old clown for his circus.

pundit

N. authority on a subject; learned person; expert. Some authors who write about SAT I as if they are pundits actually know very little about the test.

proxy

N. authorized agent. Please act as my proxy and vote for this slate of candidates in my absence.

suavity

N. banity; polish. The elegant actor is particularly good in roles that require suavity and sophistication.

pulchritude

N. beauty; comeliness. I do not envy the judges who have to select this year's Miss America from this collection of female pulchritude.

mendicant

N. beggar. "O noble sir, give alms to the poor," cried Aladdin, playing the mendicant.

novice

N. beginner. Even a novice at working with computers can install Barron's Computer Study Program for the SAT by following the easy steps outlined in the user's manual.

tyro

N. beginner; novice. For a mere tyro, you have produced some wonderfully expert results.

onset

N. beginning; attack. Caught unprepared by the sudden onset of the storm, we rushed around the house closing windows and bringing the garden furniture into shelter. Caught unprepared by the enemy onset, the troops scrambled to take shelter.

pessimism

N. belief that life is basically bad or evil; gloominess. Considering how well you have done in the course so far, you have no real reason for such pessimism about your final grade.

refraction

N. bending of a ray of light. When you look at a stick inserted in water, it looks bent because of the refraction of the light by the water.

lummox

N. big, clumsy, often stupid person. Because he was highly overweight and looked ungainly, John Candy often was cast as a slow-witted lummox.

rancor

N. bitterness; hatred. Thirty years after the war, she could not let go of the past but was still consumed with rancor against the foe.

necromancy

N. black magic; dealings with the dead. The evil sorceror performed feats of necromancy, calling on the spirits of the dead to tell the future.

vendetta

N. blood feud. The rival mobs engaged in a bitter vendetta.

palette

N. board on which painter mixes pigments. At the present time, art supply stores are selling a paper palette that may be discarded after use.

revelry

N. boisterous merrymaking. New Year's Eve is a night of revelry

temerity

N. boldness; rashness. Do you have the temerity to argue with me?

verge

N. border; edge. Madame Curie knew she was on the verge of discovering the secrets of radioactive elements. alsoV.

pugilist

N. boxer. The famous pugilist Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammed Ali.

ramification

N. branching out; subdivision. We must examine all the ramifications of this problem.

valor

N. bravery. He received the Medal of Honor for his valor in battle.

respiration

N. breathing; exhalation. The doctor found that the patient's years of smoking had adversely affected both his lung capacity and his rate of respiration.

spatula

N. broad-bladed instrument used for spreading or mixing. The manufacturers of this frying pan recommend the use of a rubber spatula to avoid scratching the specially treated surface.

rubble

N. broken fragments. Ten years after World War II, some of the rubble left by enemy bombings could still be seen.

sibling

N. brother or sister. We may not enjoy being siblings, but we cannot forget that we still belong to the same family.

ruffian

N. bully; scoundrel. The ruffians threw stones at the police.

sheaf

N. bundle of stalks of grain; any bundle of things tied together. The lawyer picked up a sheaf of papers as he rose to question the witness.

onus

N. burden; responsibility. The emperor was spared the onus of signing the surrender papers; instead, he relegated the assignment to his generals.

tranquillity

N. calmness; peace. After the commotion and excitement of the city, I appreciate the tranquillity of these fields and forests.

serenity

N. calmness; placidity. The sound of air raid sirens pierced the serenity of the quiet village of Pearl Harbor. serpentine ADJ. winding; twisting. The car swerved at every curve in the serpentine road.

marquee

N. canopy above an entrance, under which one can take shelter; rooflike shelter above a theater entrance. On stormy days, the hotel doorman keeps dry by standing directly beneath the marquee. The title of Arthur Kopit's play Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Momma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad was too long to fit on the marquee.

scabbard

N. case for a sword blade; sheath. The drill master told the recruit to wipe the blood from his sword before slipping it back into the scabbard.

quiver

N. case for arrows. Robin Hood reached back and plucked one last arrow from his quiver. (secondary meaning)

luminary

N. celebrity; dignitary. A leading light of the American stage, Ethel Barrymore was a theatrical luminary whose name lives on.

kernel

N. central or vital part; whole seed (as of corn). "Watson, buried within this tissue of lies there is a kernel of truth; when I find it, the mystery will be solved."

ordination

N. ceremony making someone a minister. At the young priest's ordination, the members of the congregation presented him with a set of vestments. ordain,V.

metamorphosis

N. change of form; major transformation. The metamorphosis of caterpillar to butterfly is typical of many such changes in animal life. metamorphose,V.

vicissitude

N. change of fortune. Humbled by life's vicissitudes, the last emperor of China worked as a lowly gardener in the palace over which he had once ruled.

temperament

N. characteristic frame of mind; disposition; emotional excess. Although the twins look alike, they differ markedly in temperament: Todd is calm, but Rod is excitable.

quack

N. charlatan; impostor. Do not be misled by the exorbitant claims of this quack; he cannot cure you.

talisman

N. charm to bring good luck and avert misfortune. Joe believed the carved pendant he found in Vietnam served him as a talisman and brought him safely through the war.

swindler

N. cheat. She was gullible and trusting, an easy victim for the first swindler who came along.

progeny

N. children; offspring. He was proud of his progeny in general, but regarded George as the most promising of all his children.

prelate

N. church dignitary. The archbishop of Moscow and other high-ranking prelates visited the Russian Orthodox seminary.

talon

N. claw of bird. The falconer wore a leather gauntlet to avoid being clawed by the hawk's talons.

precipice

N. cliff; dangerous position. Suddenly Indiana Jones found himself dangling from the edge of a precipice.

raiment

N. clothing. "How can I go to the ball?" asked Cinderella. "I have no raiment fit to wear."

lout

N. clumsy person. That awkward lout dropped my priceless vase!

menagerie

N. collection of wild animals. Whenever the children run wild around the house, Mom shouts, "Calm down! I'm not running a menagerie!"

spectrum

N. colored band produced when beam of light passes through a prism. The visible portion of the spectrum includes red at one end and violet at the other.

pigment

N. coloring matter. Van Gogh mixed various pigments with linseed oil to create his paints.

pugnacity

N. combativeness; disposition to fight. "Put up your dukes!" he cried, making a fist to show his pugnacity. pugnacious,ADJ.

merger

N. combination (of two business corporations). When the firm's president married the director of financial planning, the office joke was that it wasn't a marriage, it was a merger.

synthesis

N. combining parts into a whole. Now that we have succeeded in isolating this drug, our next problem is to plan its synthesis in the laboratory. synthesize,V.

solace

N. comfort in trouble. I hope you will find solace in the thought that all of us share your loss.

malapropism

N. comic misuse of a word. When Mrs. Malaprop accuses Lydia of being "as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile," she confuses "allegory" and "alligator" in a typical malapropism.

travesty

N. comical parody; treatment aimed at making something appear ridiculous. The ridiculous decision the jury has reached is a travesty of justice.

tumult

N. commotion; riot; noise. She could not make herself heard over the tumult of the mob.

simile

N. comparison of one thing with another, using the word like or as. "My love is like a red, red rose" is a simile.

lexicographer

N. compiler of a dictionary. The new dictionary is the work of many lexicographers who spent years compiling and editing the work.

unanimity

N. complete agreement. We were surprised by the unanimity with which members of both parties accepted our proposals. unanimous,ADJ.

narcissist

N. conceited person; someone in love with his own image. A narcissist is her own best friend.

smirk

N. conceited smile. Wipe that smirk off your face! alsoV.

précis

N. concise summing up of main points. Before making her presentation at the conference, Ellen wrote up a neat précis of the major elements she would cover.

plight

N. condition, state (especially a bad state or condition); predicament. Many people feel that the federal government should do more to alleviate the plight of the homeless. Loggers, unmoved by the plight of the spotted owl, plan to continue logging whether or not they ruin the owl's habitat.

solecism

N. construction that is flagrantly incorrect grammatically. I must give this paper a failing mark because it contains many solecisms.

liaison

N. contact keeping parts of an organization in communication; go-between; secret love affair. As the liaison between the American and British forces during World War II, the colonel had to ease tensions between the leaders of the two armies. Romeo's romantic liaison with Juliet ended in tragedy.

trough

N. container for feeding farm animals; lowest point (of a wave, business cycle, etc.) The hungry pigs struggled to get at the fresh swill in the trough. The surfer rode her board, coasting along in the trough between two waves.

mores

N. conventions; moral standards; customs. In America, Benazir Bhutto dressed as Western women did; in Pakistan, however, she followed the mores of her people, dressing in traditional veil and robes.

replica

N. copy. Are you going to hang this replica of the Declaration of Independence in the classroom or in the auditorium?

recrimination

N. countercharges. Loud and angry recriminations were her answer to his accusations.

mettle

N. courage; spirit. When challenged by the other horses in the race, the thoroughbred proved its mettle by its determination to hold the lead.

predator

N. creature that seizes and devours another animal; person who robs or exploits others. Not just cats, but a wide variety of predators-owls, hawks, weasels, foxescatch mice for dinner. A carnivore is by definition predatory, for he preys on weaker creatures.

juncture

N. crisis; joining point. At this critical juncture, let us think carefully before determining the course we shall follow.

throng

N. crowd. Throngs of shoppers jammed the aisles. alsoV.

watershed

N. crucial dividing point. The invention of the personal computer proved a historic watershed, for it opened the way to today's Information Age.

panacea

N. cure-all; remedy for all diseases. The rich youth cynically declared that the panacea for all speeding tickets was a big enough bribe.

malediction

N. curse. When the magic mirror revealed that Snow White was still alive, the wicked queen cried out in rage and uttered dreadful maledictions.

perdition

N. damnation; complete ruin. Praying for salvation, young Steven Daedalus feared he was damned to eternal perdition.

reverie

N. daydream; musing. He was awakened from his reverie by the teacher's question.

stalemate

N. deadlock. Negotiations between the union and the employers have reached a stalemate; neither side is willing to budge from previously stated positions.

stratagem

N. deceptive scheme. We saw through his clever stratagem.

manifesto

N. declaration; statement of policy. The Communist Manifesto by Marx and Engels proclaimed the principles of modern communism.

ordinance

N. decree. Passing a red light is a violation of a city ordinance.

woe

N. deep, inconsolable grief; affliction; suffering. Pale and wan with grief, Wanda was bowed down beneath the burden of her woes.

slander

N. defamation; utterance of false and malicious statements. Considering the negative comments politicians make about each other, it's a wonder that more of them aren't sued for slander. alsoV.

libel

N. defamatory statement; act of writing something that smears a person's character. If Batman wrote that the Joker was a dirty, 'rotten, mass-murdering criminal, could the Joker sue Batman for libel?

swarm

N. dense moving crowd; large group of honeybees. At the height of the city hall scandals, a constant swarm of reporters followed the mayor everywhere. alsoV.

turpitude

N. depravity. A visitor may be denied admittance to this country if she has been guilty of moral turpitude.

posterity

N. descendants; future generations. We hope to leave a better world to posterity.

lineage

N. descent; ancestry. He traced his lineage back to Mayflower days.

renegade

N. deserter; traitor. Because he had abandoned his post and joined forces with the Indians, his fellow officers considered the hero of Dances with Wolves a renegade. alsoADJ.

resolve

N. determination; firmness of purpose. How dare you question my resolve to take up sky-diving! Of course I haven't changed my mind!

resolution

N. determination; resolve. Nothing could shake his resolution that his children would get the best education that money could buy. resolute,ADJ.

odium

N. detestation; hatefulness; disrepute. Prince Charming could not express the odium he felt toward Cinderella's stepsisters because of their mistreatment of poor Cinderella.

sleight

N. dexterity. The magician amazed the audience with his sleight of hand.

lexicon

N. dictionary. I cannot find this word in any lexicon in the library.

quandary

N. dilemma. When both Harvard and Stanford accepted Laura, she was in a quandary as to which school she should attend.

protocol

N. diplomatic etiquette. We must run this state dinner according to protocol if we are to avoid offending any of our guests.

subsidy

N. direct financial aid by government, etc. Without this subsidy, American ship operators would not be able to compete in world markets.

salvo

N. discharge of firearms; military salute. The boom of the enemy's opening salvo made the petrified private jump.

virus

N. disease communicator. The doctors are looking for a specific medicine to control this virus.

insubordination

N. disobedience; rebelliousness. At the slightest hint of insubordination from the sailors of the Bounty, Captain Bligh had them flogged; finally, they mutinied.

notoriety

N. disrepute; ill fame. To the starlet, any publicity was good publicity: if she couldn't have a good reputation, she'd settle for notoriety. notorious,ADJ.

repulsion

N. distaste; act of driving back. Hating bloodshed, she viewed war with repulsion. Even defensive battles distressed her, for the repulsion of enemy forces is never accomplished bloodlessly.

precinct

N. district or division of a city. Ed McBain's detective novels set in the 87th precinct provide an exciting picture of police work.

stanza

N. division of a poem. Do you know the last stanza of "The Star-Spangled Banner"?

schism

N. division; split. Let us not widen the schism by further bickering.

quay

N. dock; landing place. Because of the captain's carelessness, the ship crashed into the quay.

podiatrist

N. doctor who treats ailments of the feet. He consulted a podiatrist about his fallen arches.

tenet

N. doctrine; dogma. The agnostic did not accept the tenets of their faith.

potion

N. dose (of liquid). Tristan and Isolde drink a love potion in the first act of the opera.

skeptic

N. doubter; person who suspends judgment until the evidence supporting a point of view has been examined. I am a skeptic about the new health plan; I want some proof that it can work. skepticism, N.

misgivings

N. doubts. Hamlet described his misgivings to Horatio but decided to fence with Laertes despite his foreboding of evil.

liability

N. drawback; debts. Her lack of an extensive vocabulary was a liability that she was eventually able to overcome.

zeal

N. eager enthusiasm. Katya's zeal was contagious; soon all her fellow students were busily making posters, inspired by her ardent enthusiasm for the cause. zealous,ADJ.

periphery

N. edge, especially of a round surface. He sensed that there was something just beyond the periphery of his vision.

rapport

N. emotional closeness; harmony. In team teaching, it is important that all teachers in the group have good rapport with one another.

termination

N. end. Though the time for termination of the project was near, we still had a lot of work to finish before we shut up shop. terminate,V.

verve

N. enthusiasm; liveliness. She approached her studies with such verve that it was impossible for her to do poorly.

ovation

N. enthusiastic applause. When the popular tenor Placido Domingo came on stage in the first act of La Boheme, he was greeted by a tremendous ovation.

plaudit

N. enthusiastically worded approval; round of applause. The theatrical company reprinted the plaudits of the critics in its advertisements. plauditory,ADJ.

milieu

N. environment; means of expression. Surrounded by smooth preppies and arty bohemians, the country boy from Smalltown, USA, felt out of his milieu. Although he has produced excellent oil paintings and lithographs, his proper milieu is watercolor.

parity

N. equality in status or amount; close resemblance. Unfortunately, some doubt exists whether women's salaries will ever achieve paritywith men's.

paraphernalia

N. equipment; odds and ends. His desk was cluttered with paper, pen, ink, dictionary and other paraphernalia of the writing craft.

misapprehension

N. error; misunderstanding. To avoid misapprehension, I am going to ask all of you to repeat the instructions I have given.

postulate

N. essential premise; underlying assumption. The basic postulate of democracy, set forth in the Declaration of Independence, is that all men are created equal.

machinations

N. evil schemes or plots. Fortunately, Batman saw through the wily machinations of the Riddler and saved Gotham City from destruction by the forces of evil.

malefactor

N. evildoer; criminal. Mighty Mouse will save the day, hunting down malefactors and rescuing innocent mice from peril.

plethora

N. excess; overabundance. She offered a plethora of excuses for her shortcomings.

tightwad

N. excessively frugal person; miser. Jill called Jack a tightwad because he never picked up the check.

prude

N. excessively modest person. The X-rated film was definitely not for prudes, prudish,ADJ.

pretext

N. excuse. He looked for a good pretext to get out of paying a visit to his aunt.

subsistence

N. existence; means of support; livelihood. In these days of inflated prices, my salary provides a mere subsistence.

pediatrician

N. expert in children's diseases. The family doctor advised the parents to consult a pediatrician about their child's ailment.

legend

N. explanatory list of symbols on a map. The legend at the bottom of the map made it clear which symbols stood for rest areas along the highway and which stood for public camp sites. (secondary meaning)

tirade

N. extended scolding; denunciation; harangue. Every time the boss holds a meeting, he goes into a lengthy tirade, scolding us for everything from tardiness to padding our expenses.

pterodactyl

N. extinct flying reptile. The remains of pterodactyls indicate that these flying reptiles had a wingspan of as much as twenty feet.

prowess

N. extraordinary ability; military bravery. Performing triple axels and double lutzes at the age of six, the young figure skater was world famous for her prowess on the ice.

opulence

N. extreme wealth; luxuriousness; abundance. The glitter and opulence of the ballroom took Cinderella's breath away. opulent,ADJ.

jingoist

N. extremely aggressive and militant patriot; warlike chauvinist. Always bellowing "America first!," the congressman was such a jingoist you could almost hear the sabers rattling as he marched down the halls. jingoism, N.

philanderer

N. faithless lover; flirt. Swearing he had never so much as looked at another woman, Ralph assured Alice he was no philanderer.

perjury

N. false testimony while under oath. Rather than lie under oath and perhaps be indicted for perjury, the witness chose to take the Fifth Amendment, refusing to answer any questions on the grounds that he might incriminate himself.

renown

N. fame. For many years an unheralded researcher, Barbara McClintock gained international renown when she won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. renowned,ADJ.

zealot

N. fanatic; person who shows excessive zeal. Though Glenn was devout, he was no zealot, he never tried to force his beliefs on his friends.

patriarch

N. father and ruler of a family or tribe. In many primitive tribes, the leader and lawmaker was the patriarch.

nepotism

N. favoritism (to a relative). John left his position with the company because he felt that advancement was based on nepotism rather than ability.

xenophobia

N. fear or hatred of foreigners. When the refugee arrived in America, he was unprepared for the xenophobia he found there.

trepidation

N. fear; nervous apprehension. As she entered the office of the dean of admissions, Sharon felt some trepidation about how she would do in her interview.

plumage

N. feathers of a bird. Bird watchers identify different species of bird by their characteristic songs and distinctive plumage.

presentiment

N. feeling something will happen; anticipatory fear; premonition. Saying goodbye at the airport, Jack had a sudden presentiment that this was the last time he would see Jill.

squalor

N. filth; degradation; dirty, neglected state. Rusted, broken-down cars in its yard, trash piled up on the porch, tar paper peeling from the roof, the shack was the picture of squalor. squalid,ADJ.

purchase

N. firm grasp or footing. The mountaineer strug-gled to get a proper purchase on the slippery rock. (secondary meaning)

tenacity

N. firmness; persistence. Jean Valjean could not believe the tenacity of Inspector Javert. Here all Valjean had done was to steal a loaf of bread, and the inspector had pursued him doggedly for twenty years!

tantrum

N. fit of petulance; caprice. The child learned that he could have almost anything if he had a tantrum.

paroxysm

N. fit or attack of pain, laughter, rage. When he heard of his son's misdeeds, he was seized by a paroxysm of rage.

propriety

N. fitness; correct conduct. Miss Manners counsels her readers so that they may behave with due propriety in any social situation and not embarrass themselves.

moodiness

N. fits of depression or gloom. Her recurrent moodiness left her feeling as if she had fallen into a black hole.

stereotype

N. fixed and unvarying representation; standardized mental picture, often reflecting prejudice. Critics object to the character of Jim in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because he seems to reflect the stereotype of the happy, ignorant slave.

panache

N. flair; flamboyance. Many performers imitate Noel Coward, but few have his panache and sense of style.

retinue

N. following; attendants. The queen's retinue followed her down the aisle.

prognosis

N. forecasted course of a disease; prediction. If the doctor's prognosis is correct, the patient will be in a coma for at least twenty-four hours.

precursor

N. forerunner. Though Gray and Burns share many traits with the Romantic poets who followed them, most critics consider them precursors of the Romantic Movement, not true Romantics.

vanguard

N. forerunners; advance forces. We are the vanguard of a tremendous army that is following us.

premonition

N. forewarning. We ignored these premonitions of disaster because they appeared to be based on childish fears.

satire

N. form of literature in which irony, sarcasm, and ridicule are employed to attack vice and folly. Gulliver's Travels, which is regarded by many as a tale for children, is actually a bitter satire attacking man's folly.

panegyric

N. formal praise. Blushing at all the praise heaped upon him by the speakers, the modest hero said, °I don't deserve such panegyrics."

predecessor

N. former occupant of a post. I hope I can live up to the fine example set by my late predecessor in this office.

quadruped

N. four-footed animal. Most mammals are quadrupeds.

shard

N. fragment, generally of pottery. The archaeologist assigned several students the task of reassembling earthenware vessels from the shards he had brought back from the expedition.

latitude

N. freedom from narrow limitations. I think you have permitted your son too much latitude in this matter.

outskirts

N. fringes; outer borders. We lived, not in central London, but in one of those peripheral suburbs that spring up on the outskirts of a great city.

rationale

N. fundamental reason or justification; grounds for an action. Her need to have someplace to hang her earring collection was Dora's rationale for piercing fifteen holes in each ear.

purveyor

N. furnisher of foodstuffs; caterer. As purveyor of rare wines and viands, he traveled through France and Italy every year in search of new products to sell.

jollity

N. gaiety; cheerfulness. The festive Christmas dinner was a merry one, and old and young alike joined in the general jollity.

largess

N. generous gift. Lady Bountiful distributed largess to the poor.

zephyr

N. gentle breeze; west wind. When these zephyrs blow, it is good to be in an open boat under a full sail.

vampire

N. ghostly being that sucks the blood of the living. Children were afraid to go to sleep because of the many legends of vampires roaming at night.

serendipity

N. gift for finding valuable or desirable things by accident; accidental good fortune or luck. Many scientific discoveries are a matter of serendipity. Newton was not sitting under a tree thinking about gravity when the apple dropped on his head.

objective

N. goal; aim. A degree in medicine was her ultimate objective.

transition

N. going from one state of action to another. During the period of transition from oil heat to gas heat, the furnace will have to be shut off.

prosperity

N. good fortune; financial success; physical well-being. Promising to stay together "for richer, for poorer," the newlyweds vowed to be true to one another in prosperity and hardship alike.

justification

N. good or just reason; defense; excuse. The jury found him guilty of the more serious charge because they could see no possible justification for his actions,

virtue

N. goodness, moral excellence; good quality. Virtue carried to extremes can turn into vice: humility, for example, can degenerate into servility and spinelessness.

oligarchy

N. government by a privileged few. One small clique ran the student council: what had been intended as a democratic governing body had turned into an oligarchy.

theocracy

N. government run by religious leaders. Though some Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower favored the establishment of a theocracy in New England, many of their fellow voyagers preferred a nonreligious form of government.

monarchy

N. government under a single ruler. Though England today is a monarchy, there is some question whether it will be one in twenty years, given the present discontent at the prospect of Prince Charles as king.

turmoil

N. great commotion and confusion. Lydia running off with a soldier! Mother fainting at the news! The Bennet household was in turmoil.

magnitude

N. greatness; extent. It is difficult to comprehend the magnitude of his crime.

patina

N. green crust on old bronze works; tone slowly taken by varnished painting. Judging by the patina on this bronze statue, we can conclude that this is the work of a medieval artist.

killjoy

N. grouch; spoilsport. At breakfast we had all been enjoying our bacon and eggs until that killjoy John started talking about how bad animal fats were for our health.

junta

N. group of men joined in political intrigue; cabal. As soon as he learned of its existence, the dictator ordered the execution of all of the members of the junta.

warranty

N. guarantee; assurance by seller. The purchaser of this automobile is protected by the manufacturer's warranty that the company will replace any defective part for five years or 50,000 miles.

tutelage

N. guardianship; training. Under the tutelage of such masters of the instrument, she made rapid progress as a virtuoso.

remorse

N. guilt; self-reproach. The murderer felt no remorse for his crime.

recidivism

N. habitual return to crime. Prison reformers in the United States are disturbed by the high rate of recidivism; the number of men serving second and third terms in prison indicates the failure of prisons to rehabilitate the inmates.

snicker

N. half-stifled laugh. The boy could not suppress a snicker when the teacher sat on the tack. alsoV.

tiller

N. handle used to move boat's rudder (to steer). Fearing the wind might shift suddenly and capsize the skiff, Tom kept one hand on the tiller at all times.

privation

N. hardship; want. In his youth, he knew hunger and privation.

placebo

N. harmless substance prescribed as a dummy pill. In a controlled experiment, fifty volunteers were given aspirin tablets; the control group received only placebos.

severity

N. harshness; intensity; sternness; austerity. The severity of Jane's migraine attack was so great that she took to her bed for a week.

promontory

N. headland. They erected a lighthouse on the promontory to warn approaching ships of their nearness to the shore.

recluse

N. hermit; loner. Disappointed in love, Miss Emily became a recluse; she shut herself away in her empty mansion and refused to see another living soul. reclusive,ADJ.

pitfall

N. hidden danger; concealed trap. Her parents warned young Sophie against the many pitfalls that lay in wait for her in the dangerous big city.

irony

N. hidden sarcasm or satire; use of words that seem to mean the opposite of what they actually mean. Gradually his listeners began to realize that the excessive praise he was lavishing on his opponent was actually irony, he was in fact ridiculing the poor fool.

intellect

N. higher mental powers. He thought college would develop his intellect.

virtuoso

N. highly skilled artist. The child prodigy Yehudi Menuhin grew into a virtuoso whose violin performances thrilled millions. virtuosity, N.

tenure

N. holding of an office; time during which such an office is held. He has permanent tenure in this position and cannot be fired.

waif

N. homeless child or animal. Although he already had eight cats, he could not resist adopting yet another feline waif.

nostalgia

N. homesickness; longing for the past. My grandfather seldom spoke of life in the old country; he had little patience with nostalgia. nostalgic,ADJ.

kudos

N. honor; glory; praise. The singer complacently received kudos from his entourage on his performance.

parody

N. humorous imitation; spoof; takeoff; travesty. The show Forbidden Broadway presents parodies spoofing the year's new productions playing on Broadway.

limerick

N. humorous short verse. The limerick form is the best; its meter is pure anapest. A limerick's fun for most everyone, and the word may occur on your test.

supposition

N. hypothesis; the act of supposing. I based my decision to confide in him on the supposition that he would be discreet. suppose,V.

utopia

N. ideal place, state, or society. Fed up with this imperfect universe, Don would have liked to run off to Shangri-la or some other imaginary utopia. utopian, ADJ. vacillate V. waver; fluctuate. Uncertain which suitor she ought to marry, the princess vacillated, saying now one, now the other. The big boss likes his people to be decisive: when he asks you for your opinion, whatever you do, don't vacillate. vacillation, N.

mischance

N. ill luck. By mischance, he lost his week's salary.

malady

N. illness. A mysterious malady swept the country, filling doctors' offices with feverish, purple-spotted patients.

pastiche

N. imitation of another's style in musical composition or in writing. We cannot even say that her music is a: pastiche of this composer or that; it is, rather, reminiscent of many musicians.

mimicry

N. imitation. Her gift for mimicry was so great that her friends said that she should be in the theater.

metaphor

N. implied comparison. "He soared like an eagle" is an example of a simile; "He is an eagle in flight," a metaphor.

prestige

N. impression produced by achievements or reputation. Many students want to go to Harvard College not for the education offered but for the prestige of Harvard's name.

insolence

N. impudent disrespect; haughtiness. How dare you treat me so rudely! The manager will hear of your insolence. insolent,ADJ.

nirvana

N. in Buddhist teachings, the ideal state in which the individual loses himself in the attainment of an impersonal beatitude. Despite his desire to achieve nirvana, the young Buddhist found that even the buzzing of a fly could distract him from his meditation.

partiality

N. inclination; bias. As a judge, not only must I be unbiased, but I must also avoid any evidence of partiality when I award the prize.

proclivity

N. inclination; natural tendency. Watching the two-year-old voluntarily put away his toys, I was amazed by his proclivityfor neatness.

nonchalance

N. indifference; lack of concern; composure. Cool, calm, and collected under fire, James Bond shows remarkable nonchalance in the face of danger.

resentment

N. indignation; bitterness; displeasure. Not wanting to appear a sore loser, Bill tried to hide his resentment of Barry's success.

opportunist

N. individual who sacrifices principles for expediency by taking advantage of circumstances. Joe is such an opportunist that he tripled the price of bottled water at his store as soon as the earthquake struck. Because it can break water pipes, an earthquake is, to most people, a disaster; to Joe, it was an opportunity.

query

N. inquiry; question. In her column "Ask Beth," the columnist invites young readers to send her their queries about life and love.

slur

N. insult to one's character or reputation; slander. Polls revealed that the front-runner's standing had been badly damaged by the slurs and innuendoes circulated by his opponent's staff. also V. (secondary meaning)

slight

N. insult to one's dignity; snub. Hypersensitive and ready to take offense at any discourtesy, Bertha was always on the lookout for real or imaginary slights. alsoV.

symbiosis

N. interdependent relationship (between groups, species), often mutually beneficial. Both the crocodile bird and the crocodile derive benefit from their symbiosis: pecking away at food particles embedded in the crocodile's teeth, the bird receives nourishment; the crocodile, meanwhile, receives proper dental hygiene. symbiotic,ADJ.

respite

N. interval of relief; time for rest; delay in punishment. After working nonstop on this project for three straight months. I need a respite! For David, the two weeks vacationing in New Zealand were a delightful respite from the pressures of his job.

prologue

N. introduction (to a poem or play). In the prologue to Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare introduces the audience to the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets.

prelude

N. introduction; forerunner. I am afraid that this border raid is the prelude to more serious attacks.

preamble

N. introductory statement. In the Preamble to the Constitution, the purpose of the document is set forth.

interloper

N. intruder; unwanted meddler. The merchant thought of his competitors as interlopers who were stealing away his trade.

pique

N. irritation; resentment. She showed her pique at her loss by refusing to appear with the other contestants at the end of the competition. alsoV.

quarantine

N. isolation of person or ship to prevent spread of infection. We will have to place this house under quarantine until we determine the exact nature of the disease. alsoV.

seclusion

N. isolation; solitude. One moment she loved crowds; the next, she sought seclusion. seclude,V.

peregrination

N. journey. Auntie Mame was a world traveler whose peregrinations took her from Tiajuana to Timbuctoo.

realm

N. kingdom; field or sphere. In the animal realm, the lion is the king of beasts.

trinket

N. knickknack; bauble. Whenever she traveled abroad, Ethel would pick up costume jewelry and other trinkets as souvenirs.

spontaneity

N. lack of premeditation; naturalness; freedom from constraint. When Anne and Amy met, Amy impulsively hugged her new colleague, but Anne drew back, unprepared for such spontaneity. The cast over-rehearsed the play so much that the eventual performance lacked any spontaneity. spontaneous,ADJ.

timidity

N. lack of self-confidence or courage. If you are to succeed as a salesman, you must first lose your timidity and fear of failure.

levity

N. lack of seriousness; lightness. Stop giggling and wriggling around in the pew: such levity is improper in church.

jargon

N. language used by a special group; technical terminology; gibberish. The computer salesmen at the store used a jargon of their own that we simply couldn't follow; we had no idea what they were jabbering about.

lassitude

N. languor; weariness. After a massage and a long soak in the hot tub, I gave in to my growing lassitude and lay down for a nap.

metropolis

N. large city. Every evening the terminal is filled with thousands of commuters going from this metropolis to their homes in the suburbs.

tome

N. large volume. He spent much time in the libraries poring over ancient tomes.

scourge

N. lash; whip; severe punishment. They feared the plague and regarded it as a deadly scourge. alsoV.

languor

N. lassitude; depression. His friends tried to overcome the languor into which he had fallen by taking him to parties and to the theater.

statute

N. law enacted by the legislature. The statute of limitations sets the limits on how long you have to take legal action in specific cases.

litigation

N. lawsuit. Try to settle this amicably; I do not want to become involved in litigation. litigant, N.

shyster

N. lawyer using questionable methods. On L.A. Law, Brackman is horrified to learn that his newly-discovered half brother is nothing but a cheap shyster.

stratum

N. layer of earth's surface; layer of society. Unless we alleviate conditions in the lowest stratum of our society, we may expect grumbling and revolt.

sluggard

N. lazy person. "You are a sluggard, a drone, a parasite," the angry father shouted at his lazy son.

moratorium

N. legal delay of payment. If we declare a moratorium and delay collection of debts for six months, I am sure the farmers will be able to meet their bills.

passport

N. legal document identifying the bearer as a citizen of a country and allowing him or her to travel abroad. In arranging your first trip abroad, be sure to allow yourself enough time to apply for and receive your passport you won't be allowed to travel without one.

torpor

N. lethargy; sluggishness; dormancy. Throughout the winter, nothing aroused the bear from his torpor: he would not emerge from hibernation until spring. torpid,ADJ.

missive

N. letter. The ambassador received a missive from the secretary of state.

modicum

N. limited quantity. Although his story is based on a modicum of truth, most of the events he describes are fictitious.

repertoire

N. list of works of music, drama, etc., a performer is prepared to present. The opera company decided to include Madame Butterfly in its repertoire for the following season.

roster

N. list. They print the roster of players in the season's program.

knoll

N. little round hill. Robert Louis Stevenson's grave is on a knoll in Samoa; to reach the grave site, you must climb uphill and walk a short distance along a marked path.

vernacular

N. living language; natural style. Cut out those old-fashioned thee's and thou's and write in the vernacular. alsoADJ.

longevity

N. long life. When he reached ninety, the old man was proud of his longevity.

odyssey

N. long, eventful journey. The refugee's journey from Cambodia was a terrifying odyssey.

yen

N. longing; urge. She had a yen to get away and live on her own for a while.

sybarite

N. lover of luxury. Rich people are not always sybarites; some of them have little taste for a life of luxury.

philanthropist

N. lover of mankind; doer of good. In his role as philanthropist and public benefactor, John D. Rockefeller, Sr., donated millions to charity; as an individual, however, he was a tight-fisted old man.

nadir

N. lowest point. Although few people realized it, the Dow-Jones averages had reached their nadir and would soon begin an upward surge.

lechery

N. lustfulness; impurity in thought and deed. In his youth he led a life of lechery and debauchery; he did not mend his ways until middle age. lecherous,ADJ.

phylum

N. major class of plants; primary branch of animal kingdom; division. In sorting out her hundreds of packets of seeds, Katya decided to file them by phylum.

optician

N. maker and seller of eyeglasses. The patient took the prescription given him by his oculist} o the optician.

prodigy

N. marvel; highly gifted child. Menuhin was a prodigy, performing wonders on his violin when he was barely eight years old.

requiem

N. mass for the dead; dirge. They played Mozart's Requiem at the funeral.

labyrinth

N. maze. Hiding from Indian Joe, Tom and Becky soon lost themselves in the labyrinth of secret underground caves. labyrinthine,ADJ.

repast

N. meal; feast; banquet. The caterers prepared a delicious repast for Fred and Judy's wedding day.

sustenance

N. means of support, food, nourishment. In the tropics, the natives find sustenance easy to obtain, due to all the fruit trees.

interim

N. meantime. The company will not consider our proposal until next week; in the interim, let us proceed as we have in the past.

opiate

N. medicine to induce sleep or deaden pain; something that relieves emotions or causes inaction. To say that religion is the opiate of the people is to condemn religion as a drug that keeps the people quiet and submissive to those in power.

tryst

N. meeting. The lovers kept their tryst even though they realized their danger.

proletarian

N. member of the working class; blue collar person. "Workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your chains" is addressed to proletarians, not preppies. So is Blue Collar Holler. proletariat, N.

mirth

N. merriment; laughter. Sober Malvolio found Sir Toby's mirth improper.

regime

N. method or system of government. When the French mention the Old Regime, they refer to the government existing before the revolution.

leniency

N. mildness; permissiveness. Considering the gravity of the offense, we were surprised by the leniency of the sentence.

misdemeanor

N. minor crime. The culprit pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor rather than face trial for a felony.

skirmish

N. minor fight. Custer's troops expected they might run into a skirmish or two on maneuvers; they did not expect to face a major battle. alsoV.

quibble

N. minor objection or complaint. Aside from a few hundred teensy-weensy quibbles about the set, the script, the actors, the director, the costumes, the lighting, and the props, the hypercritical critic loved the play. alsoV.

squabble

N. minor quarrel; bickering. Children invariably get involved in petty squabbles; wise parents know when to interfere and when to let the children work things out on their own.

prank

N. mischievous trick. Is tipping over garbage cans on Halloween merely a childish prank, or is it vandalism?

qualms

N. misgivings; uneasy fears, especially about matters of conscience. I have no qualms about giving this assignment to Helen; I know she will handle it admirably.

projectile

N. missile. Man has always hurled projectiles at his enemy whether in the form of stones or of highly explosive shells.

misconception

N. mistaken idea. "Sir, you are suffering from a misconception. I do not wish to marry you in the least!"

miscellany

N. mixture of writings on various subjects. This is an interesting miscellany of nineteenth-century prose and poetry.

medley

N. mixture. To avoid boring dancers by playing any one tune for too long, bands may combine three or four tunes into a medley.

paragon

N. model of perfection. Her fellow students disliked Lavinia because Miss Minchin always pointed her out as a paragon of virtue.

paradigm

N. model; example; pattern. Pavlov's experiment in which he trains a dog to salivate on hearing a bell is a paradigm of the conditioned-response experiment in behavioral psychology. Barron's How to Prepare for College Entrance Examinations was a paradigm for all the SAT-prep books that followed.

restraint

N. moderation or self-control; controlling force; restriction. Control yourself. young lady! Show some restraint!

lull

N. moment of calm. Not wanting to get wet, they waited under the awning for a lull in the rain.

potentate

N. monarch; sovereign. The potentate spent more time at Monte Carlo than he did at home on his throne.

phobia

N. morbid fear. Her fear of flying was more than mere nervousness; it was a real phobia.

reprise

N. musical repetition; repeat performance; recurrent action. We enjoyed the soprano's solo in Act I so much that we were delighted by its reprise in the finale.

philistine

N. narrow-minded person, uncultured and exclusively interested in material gain. We need more men of culture and enlightenment; we have too many philistines among us.

propensity

N. natural inclination. Convinced of his own talent, Sol has an unfortunate propensity to belittle the talents of others.

proximity

N. nearness. Blind people sometimes develop a compensatory ability to sense the proximity of objects around them.

propinquity

N. nearness; kinship. Their relationship could not be explained as being based on mere propinquity; they were more than relatives, they were true friends.

requisite

N. necessary requirement. Many colleges state that a student must offer three years of a language as a requisite for admission.

negligence

N. neglect; failure to take reasonable care. Tommy failed to put back the cover on the well after he fetched his pail of water; because of his negligence, Kitty fell in.

titter

N. nervous laugh. Her aunt's constant titter nearly drove her mad. alsoV.

neologism

N. new or newly coined word or phrase. As we invent new techniques and professions, we must also Invent neologisms such as "microcomputer" and "astronaut" to describe them.

nutrient

N. nourishing substance. As a budding nutritionist, Kim has learned to design diets that contain foods rich in important basic nutrients.

quorum

N. number of members necessary to conduct a meeting. The senator asked for a roll call to determine whether a quorum was present.

missile

N. object to be thrown or projected. After carefully folding his book report into a paper airplane, Beavis threw the missile across the classroom at Butthead. Rocket scientists are building guided missiles; Beavis and Butthead can barely make unguided ones.

oblivion

N. obscurity; forgetfulness. After a decade of popularity, Hurston's works had fallen into oblivion; no one bothered to read them any more.

phenomena

N. observable facts; subjects of scientific investigation. We kept careful records of the phenomena we noted in the course of these experiments.

liniment

N. ointment; lotion; salve. The trainer carefully applied the liniment to the quarterback's bruise, gently rubbing it into the skin.

marsupial

N. one of a family of mammals that nurse their offspring in a pouch. The most common marsupial in North America is the opossum.

pacifist

N. one opposed to force; antimilitarist. Shooting his way through the jungle, Rambo was clearly not a pacifist.

nihilist

N. one who believes traditional beliefs to be groundless and existence meaningless; absolute skeptic; revolutionary terrorist. In his final days, Hitler revealed himself a power-mad nihilist, ready to annihilate all of Western Europe, even to destroy Germany itself, in order that his will might prevail. The root of the word nihilist is nihil, Latin for nothing. nihilism, N.

saboteur

N. one who commits sabotage; destroyer of property. Members of the Resistance acted as saboteurs, blowing up train lines to prevent supplies from reaching the Nazi army.

malingerer

N. one who feigns illness to escape duty. The captain ordered the sergeant to punish all malingerers and force them to work. malinger,V.

reaper

N. one who harvests grain. Death, the Grim Reaper, cuts down mortal men and women, just as a farmer cuts down the ripened grain. reap,V.

polygamist

N. one who has more than one spouse at a time. He was arrested as a polygamist when his two wives filed complaints about him.

misanthrope

N. one who hates mankind. In Gulliver's Travels, Swift portrays an image of humanity as vile, degraded beasts; for this reason, various critics consider him a misanthrope.

liberator

N. one who sets free. Simon Bolivar, who led the South American colonies in their rebellion against Spanish rule, is known as the great liberator. liberate,V.

martyr

N. one who voluntarily suffers death for his or her religion or cause; great sufferer. By burning her at the stake, the English made Joan of Arc a martyr for her faith. Mother played the martyr by staying home cleaning the house while the rest of the family went off to the beach.

rift

N. opening; break. The plane was lost in the stormy sky until the pilot saw the city through a rift in the clouds.

tyranny

N. oppression; cruel government. Frederick Douglass fought against the tyranny of slavery throughout his life.

mandate

N. order; charge. In his inaugural address, the president stated that he had a mandate from the people to seek an end to social evils such as poverty. alsoV.

prototype

N. original work used as a model by others. The crude typewriter on display in this museum is the prototype of the elaborate machines in use today.

pendant

N. ornament (hanging from a necklace, etc.) Thegrateful team presented the coach with a silver chain and pendant engraved with the school's motto.

upshot

N. outcome. The upshot of the rematch was that the former champion proved that he still possessed all the skills of his youth.

perimeter

N. outer boundary. To find the perimeter of any quadrilateral, we add the lengths of the four sides.

trappings

N. outward decorations; ornaments. He loved the trappings of success: the limousines, the stock options, the company jet.

profusion

N. overabundance; lavish expenditure; excess. Freddy was so overwhelmed by the profusion of choices on the menu that he knocked over his wine glass and soaked his host. He made profuse apologies to his host, the waiter, the bus boy, the people at the next table, and the attendant handing out paper towels.

rave

N. overwhelmingly favorable review. Though critic John Simon seldom has a good word to say about most contemporary plays, his review of All in the Timing was a total rave.

travail

N. painful labor. How long do you think a man can endure such travail and degradation without rebelling?

larder

N. pantry; place where food is kept. The first thing Bill did on returning home from school was to check what snacks his mother had in the larder.

predilection

N. partiality; preference. Although I have written all sorts of poetry over the years, I have a definite predilection for occasional verse.

madrigal

N. pastoral song. His program of folk songs included several madrigals which he sang to the accompaniment of a lute.

trajectory

N. path taken by a projectile. The police tried to locate the spot from which the assassin had fired the fatal shot by tracing the trajectory of the bullet.

stipend

N. pay for services. There is a nominal stipend for this position.

pinnacle

N. peak. We could see the morning sunlight illuminate the pinnacle while the rest of the mountain lay in shadow.

podium

N. pedestal; raised platform. The audience applauded as the conductor made his way to the podium.

pseudonym

N. pen name. Samuel Clemens' pseudonym was Mark Twain.

subtlety

N. perceptiveness; ingenuity; delicacy. Never obvious, she expressed herself with such subtlety that her remarks went right over the heads of most of her audience. subtle,ADJ.

sage

N. person celebrated for wisdom. Hearing tales of a mysterious Master of All Knowledge who lived in the hills of Tibet, Sandy was possessed with a burning desire to consult the legendary sage. alsoADJ.

malcontent

N. person dissatisfied with existing state of affairs. One of the few malcontents in Congress, he constantly voiced his objections to the presidential program. alsoADJ.

reprobate

N. person hardened in sin, devoid of a sense of decency. I cannot understand why he has so many admirers if he is the reprobate you say he is.

nonentity

N. person of no importance; nonexistence. Because the two older princes dismissed their youngest brother as a nonentity, they did not realize that he was quietly plotting to seize the throne.

magnate

N. person of prominence or influence. Growing up in Pittsburgh, Annie Dillard was surrounded by the mansions of the great steel and coal magnates who set their mark on that city.

protégé

N. person receiving protection and support from a patron. Born with an independent spirit, Cyrano de Bergerac refused to be a protégé of Cardinal Richelieu.

numismatist

N. person who collects coins. The numismatist had a splendid collection of antique coins.

masochist

N. person who enjoys his own pain. The masochist begs, "Hit me." The sadist smiles and says, "I won't."

kleptomaniac

N. person who has a compulsive desire to steal. They discovered that the wealthy customer was a kleptomaniac when they caught her stealing some cheap trinkets.

optimist

N. person who looks on the good side. The pessimist says the glass is half-empty; the optimist says it is half-full.

poseur

N. person who pretends to be sophisticated, elegant, etc., to impress others. Some thought Salvador Dali was a brilliant painter; others dismissed him as a poseur.

tanner

N. person who turns animal hides into leather. Using a solution of tanbark, the tannertreated the cowhide, transforming it into supple leather.

pyromaniac

N. person with an insane desire to set things on fire. The detectives searched the area for the pyromaniac who had set these costly fires.

minutiae

N. petty details. She would have liked to ignore the minutiae of daily living.

montage

N. photographic composition combining elements from different sources. In one early montage, Beauchamp brought together pictures of broken mannequins and newspaper clippings about the Vietnam War.

topography

N. physical features of a region. Before the generals gave the order to attack, they ordered a complete study of the topography of the region.

obstetrician

N. physician specializing in delivery of babies. In modern times, the delivery of children has passed from the midwife to the more scientifically trained obstetrician,

mosaic

N. picture made of colorful small inlaid tiles. The mayor compared the city to a beautiful mosaic made up of people of every race and religion on earth.

vignette

N. picture; short literary sketch. The New Yorker published her latest vignette.

itinerary

N. plan of a trip. Disliking sudden changes in plans when she traveled abroad, Ethel refused to make any alterations in her itinerary.

rostrum

N. platform for speech-making; pulpit. The crowd murmured angrily and indicated that they did not care to listen to the speaker who was approaching the rostrum.

scenario

N. plot outline; screenplay; opera libretto. Scaramouche startled the other actors in the commedia troupe when he suddenly departed from their customary scenario and began to improvise.

zenith

N. point directly overhead in the sky; summit. When the sun was at its zenith, the glare was not as strong as at sunrise and sunset.

venom

N. poison; hatred. Bitten by a rattlesnake on his ankle, the cowboy contortionist curled up like a pretzel and sucked the venom out of the wound.

viper

N. poisonous snake. The habitat of the horned viper, a particularly venomous snake, is in sandy regions like the Sahara or the Sinai peninsula.

verbiage

N. pompous array of words. After we had waded through all the verbiage, we discovered that the writer had said very little.

strut

N. pompous walk; swagger. Looking at his selfimportant strut as he swaggered about the parade ground, I could tell Colonel Blimp thought highly of himself. alsoV.

vogue

N. popular fashion. Jeans became the vogue on many college campuses.

vantage

N. position giving an advantage. They fired upon the enemy from behind trees, walls and any other point of vantage they could find.

pragmatist

N. practical person. No pragmatist enjoys becoming involved in a game he can never win.

precept

N. practical rule guiding conduct. "Love thy neighbor as thyself" is a worthwhile precept.

invocation

N. prayer for help; calling upon as a reference or support. The service of Morning Prayer opens with an invocation during which we ask God to hear our prayers.

nicety

N. precision; minute distinction. I cannot distinguish between such niceties of reasoning.

materialism

N. preoccupation with physical comforts and things. By its nature, materialism is opposed to idealism, for where the materialist emphasizes the needs of the body, the idealist emphasizes the needs of the soul.

regimen

N. prescribed diet and habits. I doubt whether the results warrant our living under such a strict regimen.

subterfuge

N. pretense; evasion. As soon as we realized that you had won our support by a subterfuge, we withdrew our endorsement of your candidacy.

mode

N. prevailing style; manner; way of doing something. The rock star had to have her hair done in the latest mode: frizzed, with occasional moussed spikes for variety. Henry plans to adopt a simpler mode of life: he is going to become a mushroom hunter and live off the land.

prerogative

N. privilege; unquestionable right. The president cannot levy taxes; that is the prerogative of the legislative branch of government.

wastrel

N. profligate. His neighbors denounced him as a wastrelwho had dissipated his inheritance.

remonstrance

N. protest; objection. The authorities were deaf to the pastor's remonstrances about the lack of police protection in the area. remonstrate,V.

protuberance

N. protrusion; bulge. A ganglionic cyst is a fluid-filled tumor that develops near a joint membrane or tendon sheath, and that bulges beneath the skin, forming a protuberance.

maxim

N. proverb; a truth pithily stated. Aesop's fables illustrate moral maxims.

paranoia

N. psychosis marked by delusions of grandeur or persecution. Suffering from paranoia, Don claimed everyone was out to get him; ironically, his claim was accurate: even paranoids have enemies.

persona

N. public personality or facade. Offstage the comedian was a sullen, irritable grumbler, a far cry from his ever-cheerful adopted stage persona.

orator

N. public speaker. The abolitionist Frederick Douglass was a brilliant orator whose speeches brought home to his audience the evils of slavery.

whiff

N. puff or gust (of air, scent, etc.); hint. The slightest whiff of Old Spice cologne brought memories of George to her mind.

quintessence

N. purest and highest embodiment. Noel Coward displayed the quintessence of wit.

poignancy

N. quality of being deeply moving; keenness of emotion. Watching the tearful reunion of the long-separated mother and child, the social worker was touched by the poignancy of the scene. poignant,ADJ.

verity

N. quality of being true; lasting truth or principle. Did you question the verity of Kato Kaelin's testimony about what he heard the night Nicole Brown Simpson was slain? To the skeptic, everything was relative: there were no eternal verities in which one could believe.

naiveté

N. quality of being unsophisticated; simplicity; art-lessness; gullibility. Touched by the naivetd of sweet, convent-trained Cosette, Marius pledges himself to protect her innocence. naive,ADJ.

momentum

N. quantity of motion of a moving body; impetus. The car lost momentum as it tried to ascend the steep hill.

retort

N. quick sharp reply. Even when it was advisable for her to keep her mouth shut, she was always ready with a quick retort. alsoV.

proliferation

N. rapid growth; spread; multiplication. Times of economic hardship inevitably encourage the proliferation of countless get-rich-quick schemes. proliferate,V.

scamp

N. rascal. Despite his mischievous behavior, Malcolm was such an engaging scamp that his mother almost lacked the heart to punish him.

ratiocination

N. reasoning; act of drawing conclusions from premises. While Watson was a man of average intelligence, Holmes was a genius, whose gift for ratiocination made him a superb detective.

maverick

N. rebel; nonconformist. To the masculine literary establishment, George Sand with her insistence on wearing trousers and smoking cigars was clearly a maverick who fought her proper womanly role.

repercussion

N. rebound; reverberation; reaction. I am afraid that this unfortunate incident will have serious repercussions.

recipient

N. receiver. Although he had been the recipient of many favors, he was not grateful to his benefactor.

neophyte

N. recent convert; beginner. This mountain slope contains slides that will challenge experts as well as neophytes.

reminiscence

N. recollection. Her reminiscences of her experiences are so fascinating that she ought to write a book.

log

N. record of a voyage or flight; record of day to day activities. "Flogged two seamen today for insubordination" wrote Captain Bligh in the Bounty's log. To see how much work I've accomplished recently, just take a look at the number of new files listed on my computer log.

meditation

N. reflection; thought. She reached her decision only after much meditation.

sanctuary

N. refuge; shelter; shrine; holy place. The tiny attic was Helen's sanctuary to which she fled when she had to get away from the rest of her family.

rebuttal

N. refutation; response with contrary evidence. The defense lawyer confidently listened to the prosecutor sum up his case, sure that she could answer his arguments in her rebuttal.

tract

N. region of land (often imprecisely described); pamphlet. The king granted William Penn a tract of land in the New World. Penn then printed a tract in which he encouraged settlers to join his colony.

jubilation

N. rejoicing. There was great jubilation when the armistice was announced. jubilant,ADJ.

piety

N. religious devotion; godliness. The nuns in the convent were noted for their piety; they spent their days in worship and prayer. Pious,ADJ.

remnant

N. remainder. I suggest that you wait until the store places the remnants of these goods on sale.

residue

N. remainder; balance. In his will, he requested that after payment of debts, taxes, and funeral expenses, the residue be given to his wife. residual,ADJ.

redress

N. remedy; compensation. Do you mean to tell me that I can get no redress for my injuries? also v.

restitution

N. reparation; indemnification. He offered to make restitution for the window broken by his son.

retaliation

N. repayment in kind (usually for bad treatment). Because everyone knew the Princeton Band had stolen Brown's mascot, the whole Princeton student body expected some sort of retaliation from Brown. retaliate,V.

rote

N. repetition. He recited the passage by rote and gave no indication he understood what he was saying.

reticence

N. reserve; uncommunicativeness; inclination to silence. Fearing his competitors might get advance word about his plans from talkative staff members, Hughes preferred reticence from his employees to loquacity. reticent,ADJ.

slag

N. residue from smelting metal; dross; waste matter. The blast furnace had a special opening at the bottom to allow the workers to remove the worthless slag.

sedition

N. resistance to authority; insubordination. His words, though not treasonous in themselves, were calculated to arouse thoughts of sedition.

recourse

N. resorting to help when in trouble. The boy's only recourse was to appeal to his father for aid.

stricture

N. restriction; adverse criticism. Huck regularly disobeyed Miss Watson's rules and strictures upon his behavior: he wouldn't wear shoes, no matter what she said.

reprisal

N. retaliation. I am confident that we are ready for any reprisals the enemy may undertake.

rejoinder

N. retort; comeback; reply. When someone has been rude to me, I find it particularly satisfying to come up with a quick rejoinder.

title

N. right or claim to possession; mark of rank; name (of a book, film, etc.). Though the penniless Duke of Ragwort no longer held title to the family estate, he still retained his title as head of one of England's oldest families.

rent

N. rip; split. Kit did an excellent job of mending the rent in the lining of her coat.

tundra

N. rolling, treeless plain in Siberia and arctic North America. Despite the cold, many geologists are trying to discover valuable mineral deposits in the tundra.

rotundity

N. roundness; sonorousness of speech. Washington Irving emphasized the rotundity of the governor by describing his height and circumference.

torrent

N. rushing stream; flood. Day after day of heavy rain saturated the hillside until the water ran downhill in torrents. torrential,ADJ.

monotony

N. sameness leading to boredom. What could be more deadly dull than the monotony of punching numbers into a computer hour after hour?

uniformity

N. sameness; monotony. At Persons magazine, we strive for uniformity of style; as a result, all our writers wind up sounding exactly alike.

paucity

N. scarcity. They closed the restaurant because the paucity of customers made it uneconomical to operate.

pedant

N. scholar who overemphasizes book learning or technicalities. Her insistence that the book be memorized marked the teacher as a pedant rather than a scholar.

savant

N. scholar. Our faculty includes many worldfamous savants.

seminary

N. school for training future ministers; academy for young women. Sure of his priestly vocation, Terrence planned to pursue his theological training at the local Roman Catholic seminary.

jurisprudence

N. science of law. He was more a student of jurisprudence than a practitioner of the law.

ornithologist

N. scientific student of birds. Audubon's drawings of American bird life have been of interest not only to the ornithologists but also to the general public.

sarcasm

N. scornful remarks; stinging rebuke. Though Ralph pretended to ignore the mocking comments of his supposed friends, their sarcasm wounded him deeply.

sophistry

N. seemingly plausible but fallacious reasoning. Instead of advancing valid arguments, he tried to overwhelm his audience with a flood of sophistries.

reserve

N. self-control; formal but distant manner. Although some girls were attracted by Mark's air of reserve, Judy was put off by it, for she felt his aloofness indicated a lack of openness. reserved,ADJ.

truism

N. self-evident truth. Many a truism is summed up in a proverb; for example, "Marry in haste, repent at leisure."

pomposity

N. self-important behavior; acting like a stuffed shirt. Although the commencement speaker had some good things to say, we had to laugh at his pomposity and general air of parading his own dignity. POMPOUS,ADJ.

vendor

N. seller. The fruit vendor sold her wares from a stall on the sidewalk.

sentinel

N. sentry; lookout. Though camped in enemy territory, Bledsoe ignored the elementary precaution of posting sentinels around the encampment.

solemnity

N. seriousness; gravity. The minister was concerned that nothing should disturb the solemnity of the marriage service. solemn,ADJ.

sycophant

N. servile flatterer; bootlicker; yes man. Fed up with the toadies and flunkies who made up his entourage, the star cried, "Get out, all of you! I'm sick of sycophants!" sycophancy, N.

toady

N. servile flatterer; yes man. Never tell the boss anything he doesn't wish to hear: he doesn't want an independent adviser, he just wants a toady. alsoV.

vertigo

N. severe dizziness. When you test potential airplane pilots for susceptibility to spells of vertigo, be sure to hand out air-sickness bags.

penury

N. severe poverty; stinginess. When his pension fund failed, George feared he would end his days in penury. He became such a penny pincher that he turned into a closefisted, penurious miser.

ordeal

N. severe trial or affliction. June was so painfully shy that it was an ordeal for her to speak up when the teacher called on her in class.

rigor

N. severity. Many settlers could not stand the rigors of the New England winters.

nuance

N. shade of difference in meaning or color; subtle distinction. Jody gazed at the Monet landscape for an hour, appreciating every subtle nuance of color in the painting.

luster

N. shine; gloss. The soft luster of the silk in the dim light was pleasing.

parable

N. short, simple story teaching a moral. Let us apply to our own conduct the lesson that this parable teaches.

portent

N. sign; omen; forewarning. He regarded the black cloud as a portent of evil.

servitude

N. slavery; compulsory labor. Born a slave, Frederick Douglass resented his life of servitude and plotted to escape to the North.

somnambulist

N. sleepwalker. The most famous somnambulist in literature is Lady Macbeth; her monologue in the sleepwalking scene is one of the highlights of Shakespeare's play.

legerdemain

N. sleight of hand. The magician demonstrated his renowned legerdemain.

peccadillo

N. slight offense. When Peter Piper picked a peck of Polly Potter's pickles, did Pete commit a major crime or just a peccadillo?

ramp

N. slope; inclined plane. The house was built with ramps instead of stairs in order to enable the man in the wheelchair to move easily from room to room and floor to floor.

stealth

N. slyness; sneakiness; secretiveness. Fearing detection by the sentries on duty, the scout inched his way toward the enemy camp with great stealth.

satellite

N. small body revolving around a larger one. During the first few years of the Space Age, hundreds of satellites were launched by Russia and the United States.

spangle

N. small metallic piece sewn to clothing for orna-mentation. The thousands of spangles on her dress sparkled in the glare of the stage lights.

mote

N. small speck. The tiniest mote in the eye is very painful.

rivulet

N. small stream. As the rains continued, the small trickle of water running down the hillside grew into a rivulet that threatened to wash away a portion of the slope.

microcosm

N. small world; the world in miniature. The small village community that Jane Austen depicts serves as a microcosm of English society in her time, for in this small world we see all the social classes meeting and mingling.

skiff

N. small, light sailboat or rowboat. Tom dreamed of owning an ocean-going yacht but had to settle for a skiff he could sail in the bay.

pariah

N. social outcast. If everyone ostracized singer Mariah Carey, would she then be Mariah the pariah?

plutocracy

N. society ruled by the wealthy. From the way the government caters to the rich, you might think our society is a plutocracy rather than a democracy.

quagmire

N. soft wet boggy land; complex or dangerous situation from which it is difficult to free oneself. Up to her knees in mud, Myra wondered how on earth she was going to extricate herself from this quagmire.

practitioner

N. someone engaged in a profession (law, medicine). In need of a hip replacement, Carl sought a practitioner with considerable experience performing this particular surgery.

nemesis

N. someone seeking revenge. Abandoned at sea in a small boat, the vengeful Captain Bligh vowed to be the nemesis of Fletcher Christian and his fellow mutineers.

scapegoat

N. someone who bears the blame for others. After the Challenger disaster, NASA searched for scapegoats on whom they could cast the blame.

ventriloquist

N. someone who can make his or her voice seem to come from another person or thing. This ventriloquist does an act in which she has a conversation with a wooden dummy.

spendthrift

N. someone who wastes money. Easy access to credit encourages people to turn into spendthrifts who shop till they drop.

paradox

N. something apparently contradictory in nature; statement that looks false but is actually correct. Richard presents a bit of a paradox, for he is a card-carrying member of both the National Rifle Association and the relatively pacifist American Civil Liberties Union.

novelty

N. something new; newness. The computer is no longer a novelty at work; every desk in our office has one. novel,ADJ.

sleeper

N. something originally of little value or importance that in time becomes very valuable. Unnoticed by the critics at its publication, the eventual Pulitzer Prize winner was a classic sleeper.

precedent

N. something preceding in time that may be used as an authority or guide for future action. If I buy you a car for your sixteenth birthday, your brothers will want me to buy them cars when they turn sixteen, too; I can't afford to set such an expensive precedent. The law professor asked Jill to state which famous case served as a precedent for the court's decision in Brown ll.

linchpin

N. something that holds or links various parts together. The linchpin in the district attorney's case was a photograph showing the defendant shaking hands with the hired killer.

perennial

N. something that is continuing or recurrent. These plants are hardy perennials and will bloom for many years. alsoADJ.

paean

N. song of praise or joy. Paeans celebrating the victory filled the air.

wizardry

N. sorcery; magic. Merlin the Magician amazed the knights with his wizardry.

psyche

N. soul; mind. It is difficult to delve into the psyche of a human being.

tempo

N. speed of music. I find the band's tempo too slow for such a lively dance.

velocity

N. speed. The train went by at considerable velocity.

spat

N. squabble; minor dispute. What had started out as a mere spat escalated into a full-blown argument.

quirk

N. startling twist; caprice. By a quirk of fate, he found himself working for the man whom he had discharged years before.

stupor

N. state of apathy; daze; lack of awareness. In his stupor, the addict was unaware of the events taking place around him.

solitude

N. state of being alone; seclusion. Much depends on how much you like your own company. What to one person seems fearful isolation to another is blessed solitude.

multiplicity

N. state of being numerous. He was appalled by the multiplicity of details he had to complete before setting out on his mission.

parallelism

N. state of being parallel; similarity. Although the twins were separated at birth and grew up in different adoptive families, a striking parallelism exists between their lives.

responsiveness

N. state of reacting readily to appeals, orders, etc. The audience cheered and applauded, delighting the performers by its responsiveness.

turbulence

N. state of violent agitation. Warned of approaching turbulence in the atmosphere, the pilot told the passengers to fasten their seat belts.

parsimony

N. stinginess; excessive frugality. Furious because her father wouldn't let her buy out the clothing store, Annie accused him of parsimony.

skinflint

N. stingy person; miser. Scrooge was an ungenerous old skinflint until he reformed his ways and became a notable philanthropist.

suture

N. stitches sewn to hold the cut edges of a wound or incision; material used in sewing. We will remove the sutures as soon as the wound heals. alsoV.

touchstone

N. stone used to test the fineness of gold alloys; criterion. What touchstone can be used to measure the character of a person?

repository

N. storehouse. Libraries are repositories of the world's best thoughts.

raconteur

N. storyteller. My father was a gifted raconteur with an unlimited supply of anecdotes.

stamina

N. strength; staying power. I doubt that she has the stamina to run the full distance of the marathon race.

martinet

N. strict disciplinarian. No talking at meals! No mingling with the servants! Miss Minchin was a martinet who insisted that the schoolgirls in her charge observe each regulation to the letter.

transport

N. strong emotion. Margo was a creature of extremes, at one moment in transports of joy over a vivid sunset, at another moment in transports of grief over a dying bird. also V. (secondary meaning)

penchant

N. strong inclination; liking. Dave has a penchant for taking risks: one semester he went steady with three girls, two of whom were stars on the school karate team.

ornithology

N. study of birds. Audubon's studies of American birds greatly influenced the course of ornithology.

philology

N. study of language. The professor of philology advocated the use of Esperanto as an international language.

paleontology

N. study of prehistoric life. The paleontology instructor had a superb collection of fossils.

oaf

N. stupid, awkward person. "Watch what you're doing, you clumsy oaf!" Bill shouted at the waiter who had drenched him with iced coffee.

propellants

N. substances that propel or drive forward. The development of our missile program has forced our scientists to seek more powerful propellants.

surrogate

N. substitute. For a fatherless child, a male teacher may become a father surrogate.

spate

N. sudden flood or strong outburst; a large number or amount. After the spate of angry words that came pouring out of him, Mary was sure they would never be reconciled.

revulsion

N. sudden violent change of feeling; reaction. Many people in this country who admired dictatorships underwent a revulsion when they realized what Hitler and Mussolini were trying to do.

vertex

N. summit. Let us drop a perpendicular line from the vertex of the triangle to the base.

litany

N. supplicatory prayer. On this solemn day, the congregation responded to the prayers of the priest during the litany with fervor and intensity.

stint

N. supply; allotted amount; assigned portion of work. He performed his daily stint cheerfully and willingly. alsoV.

proponent

N. supporter; backer; opposite of opponent. In the Senate, proponents of the universal health care measure lobbied to gain additional support for the controversial legislation.

strut

N. supporting bar. The engineer calculated that the strut supporting the rafter needed to be reinforced. (secondary meaning)

reconnaissance

N. survey of enemy by soldiers; reconnoitering. If you encounter any enemy soldiers during your reconnaissance, capture them for questioning.

relic

N. surviving remnant; memento. Egypt's Department of Antiquities prohibits tourists from taking mummies and other ancient relics out of the country. Mike keeps his photos of his trip to Egypt in a box with other relics of his travels.

miasma

N. swamp gas; heavy, vaporous atmosphere, often emanating from decaying matter; pervasive corrupting influence. The smog hung over Victorian London like a dark cloud; noisome, reeking of decay, it was a visible miasma.

phoenix

N. symbol of immortality or rebirth. Like the leg-endary phoenix rising from its ashes, the city of San Francisco rose again after its destruction during the 1906 earthquake.

resumption

N. taking up again; recommencement. During summer break, Don had not realized how much he missed university life: at the resumption of classes, however, he felt marked excitement and pleasure. resume,V.

soliloquy

N. talking to oneself. The soliloquy is a device used by the dramatist to reveal a character's innermost thoughts and emotions.

prey

N. target of a hunt; victim. In Stalking the Wild Asparagus, Euell Gibbons has as his prey not wild beasts but wild plants. alsoV.

quip

N. taunt. You are unpopular because you are too free with your quips and sarcastic comments. alsoV.

tribute

N. tax levied by a ruler; mark of respect. The colonists refused to pay tribute to a foreign despot.

mentor

N. teacher. During this very trying period, she could not have had a better mentor, for the teacher was sympathetic and understanding.

pedagogy

N. teaching; art of education. Though Maria Montessori gained fame for her innovations in pedagogy, it took years before her teaching techniques were common practice in American schools.

prolixity

N. tedious wordiness; verbosity. A writer who suffers from prolixity tells his readers everything they never wanted to know about his subject (or were too bored to ask). prolix,ADJ.

remission

N. temporary moderation of disease symptoms; cancellation of a debt; forgiveness or pardon. Though the senator had been treated for cancer, his symptoms were in remission, and he was considered fit enough to handle the strains of a presidential race.

scaffold

N. temporary platform for workers; bracing framework; platform for execution. Before painting the house, the workers put up a scaffold to allow them to work on the second story.

sojourn

N. temporary stay. After his sojourn in Florida, he began to long for the colder climate of his native New England home.

reprieve

N. temporary stay. During the twenty-four-hour reprieve, the lawyers sought to make the stay of execution permanent. alsoV.

pathos

N. tender sorrow; pity; quality in art or literature that produces these feelings. The quiet tone of pathos that ran through the novel never degenerated into the maudlin or the overly sentimental.

nomenclature

N. terminology; system of names. Sharon found Latin word parts useful in translating medical nomenclature: when her son had to have a bilateral myringotomy, she figured out that he just needed a hole in each of his eardrums to end the earaches he had.

terminology

N. terms used in a science or art. The special terminology developed by some authorities in the field has done more to confuse the layman than to enlighten him. terminus N. last stop of railroad. After we reached the railroad terminus, we continued our journey into the wilderness on saddle horses.

libretto

N. text of an opera. The composer of an opera's music is remembered more frequently than the author of its libretto.

molecule

N. the smallest particle (one or more atoms) of a substance, having all the properties of that substance. In chemistry, we study how atoms and molecules react to form new substances.

plagiarism

N. theft of another's ideas or writings passed off as original. The editor recognized the plagiarism and rebuked the culprit who had presented the manuscript as original.

larceny

N. theft. Because of the prisoner's record, the district attorney refused to reduce the charge from grand larceny to petty larceny.

motif

N. theme. This simple motif runs throughout the entire score.

pachyderm

N. thick-skinned animal. The elephant is probably the best-known pachyderm.

veneer

N. thin layer; cover. Casual acquaintances were deceived by his veneer of sophistication and failed to recognize his fundamental shallowness.

membrane

N. thin soft sheet of animal or vegetable tissue. Each individual section of an orange is covered with a thin, transparent membrane. membranous,ADJ.

yore

N. time past. He dreamed of the elegant homes of yore, but gave no thought to their inelegant plumbing.

stigma

N. token of disgrace; brand. I do not attach any stigma to the fact that you were accused of this crime; the fact that you were acquitted clears you completely.

memento

N. token; reminder. Take this book as a memento of your visit.

vise

N. tool for holding work in place. Before filing its edges, the locksmith took the blank key and fixed it firmly between the jaws of a vise.

laceration

N. torn, ragged wound. The stock car driver needed stitches to close up the lacerations he received in the car crash.

vestige

N. trace; remains. We discovered vestiges of early Indian life in the cave. vestigial,ADJ.

wake

N. trail of ship or other object through water; path of something that has gone before. The wake of the swan gliding through the water glistened in the moonlight. Reporters and photographers converged on South Carolina in the wake of the hurricane that devastated much of the eastern seaboard.

turncoat

N. traitor. The British considered Benedict Arnold a loyalist; the Americans considered him a turncoat.

quietude

N. tranquility. He was impressed by the air of quietude and peace that pervaded the valley.

rendition

N. translation; artistic interpretation of a song, etc. The audience cheered enthusiastically as she completed her rendition of the aria.

trek

N. travel; journey. The tribe made their trek farther north that summer in search of game. alsoV.

tremor

N. trembling; slight quiver. She had a nervous tremor in her right hand.

ruse

N. trick; stratagem. You will not be able to fool your friends with such an obvious ruse.

predicament

N. tricky or dangerous situation; dilemma. Tied to the railroad tracks by the villain, Pauline strained against her bonds. How would she escape from this terrible predicament?

jaunt

N. trip; short journey. He took a quick jaunt to Atlantic City.

platitude

N. trite remark; commonplace statement. In giving advice to his son, old Polonius expressed himself only in platitudes; every word out of his mouth was a commonplace.

typhoon

N. tropical hurricane or cyclone. If you liked Twister, you'll love Typhoon!

torso

N. trunk of statue with head and limbs missing; human trunk. This torso, found in the ruins of Pompeii, is now on exhibition in the museum in Naples.

veracity

N. truthfulness. Asserting his veracity, young George Washington proclaimed, "Father, I cannot tell a lie!"

kaleidoscope

N. tube in which patterns made by the reflection in mirrors of colored pieces of glass, etc., produce interesting symmetrical effects. People found a new source of entertainment while peering through the kaleidoscope; they found the ever-changing patterns fascinating.

welter

N. turmoil; bewildering jumble. The existing welter of overlapping federal and state programs cries out for immediate reform.

mortician

N. undertaker. The mortician prepared the corpse for burial.

malaise

N. uneasiness; vague feeling of ill health. Feeling slightly queasy before going onstage, Carol realized that this touch of malaise was merely stage fright.

windfall

N. unexpected lucky event. This huge tax refund is quite a windfall.

tautology

N. unnecessary repetition. "Joyful happiness" is an illustration of tautology.

mirage

N. unreal reflection; optical illusion. The lost prospector was fooled by a mirage in the desert.

knave

N. untrustworthy person; rogue; scoundrel. Any politician nicknamed Tricky Dick clearly has the reputation of a knave. knavery, N.

rectitude

N. uprightness; moral virtue; correctness of judgment. The Eagle Scout was a model of rectitude.

summit

N. utmost height or pinnacle; highest point (of a mountain, etc.) The summit of the amateur mountain climber's aspirations was someday to reach the summit of Mount Everest.

retribution

N. vengeance; compensation; punishment for offenses. The evangelist maintained that an angry deity would exact retribution from the sinners.

tarantula

N. venomous spider. We need an antitoxin to counteract the bite of the tarantula.

myriad

N. very large number. Myriads of mosquitoes from the swamps invaded our village every twilight. alsoADJ.

pauper

N. very poor person. Though Widow Brown was living on a reduced income, she was by no means a pauper.

mite

N. very small object or creature; small coin. Gnats are annoying mites that sting.

iota

N. very small quantity. She hadn't an iota of common sense.

transgression

N. violation of a law; sin. Forgive us our transgressions; we know not what we do.

throes

N. violent anguish. The throes of despair can be as devastating as the spasms accompanying physical pain.

mural

N. wall painting. The walls of the Chicano Community Center are covered with murals painted in the style of Diego Rivera, the great Mexican artist.

vagabond

N. wanderer; tramp. In summer, college students wander the roads of Europe like carefree vagabonds. alsoADJ.

vigilance

N. watchfulness. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

surveillance

N. watching; guarding. The FBI kept the house under constant surveillance in the hope of capturing all the criminals at one time,

tycoon

N. wealthy leader. John D. Rockefeller was a prominent tycoon.

sinecure

N. well-paid position with little responsibility. My job is no sinecure; I work long hours and have much responsibility.

maelstrom

N. whirlpool. The canoe was tossed about in the maelstrom.

vortex

N. whirlwind; whirlpool; center of turbulence; predicament into which one is inexorably plunged. Sucked into the vortex of the tornado, Dorothy and Toto were carried from Kansas to Oz.

pandemonium

N. wild tumult. When the ships collided in the harbor, pandemonium broke out among the passengers.

orgy

N. wild, drunken revelry; unrestrained indulgence in a tendency. The Roman emperor's orgies were far wilder than the toga party in the movie Animal House. When her income tax refund check finally arrived, Sally indulged in an orgy of shopping.

secession

N. withdrawal. The secession of the Southern states provided Lincoln with his first major problem after his inauguration. secede,V.

recession

N. withdrawal; retreat; time of low economic activity. The slow recession of the flood waters created problems for the crews working to restore power to the area. recede,V.

witticism

N. witty saying; wisecrack. I don't mean any criticism, but that last witticism totally hurt my feelings.

matriarch

N. woman who rules a family or larger social group. The matriarch ruled her gypsy tribe with a firm hand.

opus

N. work. Although many critics hailed his Fifth Symphony as his major work, he did not regard it as his major opus.

shambles

N. wreck; mess. After the hurricane, the Carolina coast was a shambles. After the New Year's Eve party, the apartment was a shambles.

subpoena

N. writ summoning a witness to appear. The prosecutor's office was ready to serve a subpoena on the reluctant witness. alsoV.

misnomer

N. wrong name; incorrect designation. His tyrannical conduct proved to all that his nickname, King Eric the Just, was a misnomer.

malfeasance

N. wrongdoing. The authorities did not discover the campaign manager's malfeasance until after he had spent most of the money he had embezzled.

whelp

N. young wolf, dog, tiger, etc. This collie whelp won't do for breeding, but he'd make a fine pet.

rally

V. call up or summon (forces, vital powers, etc.); revive or recuperate. Washington quickly rallied his troops to fight off the British attack. The patient had been sinking throughout the night, but at dawn she rallied and made a complete recovery.

negate

V. cancel out; nullify; deny. A sudden surge of adrenalin can negate the effects of fatigue: there's nothing like a good shock to wake you up.

rescind

V. cancel. Because of the public outcry against the new taxes, the senator proposed a bill to rescind the unpopular financial measure.

revoke

V. cancel; retract. Repeat offenders who continue to drive under the influence of alcohol face having their driver's licenses permanently revoked.

slough

V. cast off. Each spring, the snake sloughs off its skin.

pander

V. cater to the low desires of others. The reviewer accused the makers of Lethal Weapon of pandering to the masses' taste for violence.

stultify

V. cause to appear or become stupid or inconsistent; frustrate or hinder. His long hours in the blacking factory left young Dickens numb and incurious, as if the menial labor had stultified his brain.

supersede

V. cause to be set aside; replace; make obsolete. The new bulk mailing postal regulation supersedes the old one. If you continue to follow the old regulation, your bulk mailing will be returned to you.

nauseate

V. cause to become sick; fill with disgust. The foul smells began to nauseate him.

leaven

V. cause to rise or grow lighter; enliven. As bread dough is leavened, it puffs up, expanding in volume.

prompt

V. cause; provoke; provide a cue for an actor. Whatever prompted you to ask for such a big piece of cake when you're on a diet?

reprove

V. censure; rebuke. The principal severely reproved the students whenever they talked in the halls.

shackle

V. chain; fetter. The criminal's ankles were shackled to prevent his escape. also N.

veer

V. change in direction. After what seemed an eternity, the wind veered to the east and the storm abated.

ossify

V. change or harden into bone. When he called his opponent a "bonehead," he implied that his adversary's brain had ossified to the point that he was incapable of clear thinking.

transmute

V. change; convert to something different. He was unable to transmute his dreams into actualities.

jabber

V. chatter rapidly or unintelligibly. Why does the fel-low insist on jabbering away in French when I can't understand a word he says?

stanch

V. check flow of blood. It is imperative that we stanch the gushing wound before we attend to the other injuries.

stem

V. check the flow. The paramedic used a tourniquet to stem the bleeding from the slashed artery.

ruminate

V. chew over and over (mentally, or, like cows, physically); mull over; ponder. Unable to digest quickly the baffling events of the day, Reuben ruminated about them till four in the morning.

vindicate

V. clear from blame; exonerate; justify or support. The lawyer's goal was to vindicate her client and prove him innocent on all charges. The critics' extremely favorable reviews vindicate my opinion that The Madness of King George is a brilliant movie.

scale

V. climb up; ascend. In order to locate a book on the top shelf of the stacks, Lee had to scale an exceptionally rickety ladder.

perpetrate

V. commit an offense. Only an insane person could perpetrate such a horrible crime.

validate

V. confirm; ratify. I will not publish my findings until I validate my results.

muddle

V. confuse; mix up. His thoughts were muddled and chaotic. also N.

obfuscate

V. confuse; muddle; cause confusion; make needlessly complex. Was the president's spokesman trying to clarify the Whitewater mystery, or was he trying to obfuscate the issue so the voters would never figure out what went on?

subjugate

V. conquer; bring under control. It is not our aim to subjugate our foe; we are interested only in establishing peaceful relations.

taint

V. contaminate; cause to lose purity; modify with a trace of something bad. One speck of dirt on your utensils may contain enough germs to taint an entire batch of preserves.

vie

V. contend; compete. Politicians vie with one another, competing for donations and votes.

knit

V. contract into wrinkles; grow together. Whenever David worries, his brow knits in a frown. When he broke his leg, he sat around the house all day waiting for the bones to knit.

proselytize

V. convert to a religion or belief. In these interfaith meetings, there must be no attempt to proselytize; we must respect all points of view.

transcribe

V. copy. When you transcribe your notes, please send a copy to Mr. Smith and keep the original for our files. transcription, N.

reconcile

V. correct inconsistencies; become friendly after a quarrel. Each month when we try to reconcile our checkbook with the bank statement, we quarrel. However, despite these monthly lovers' quarrels, we always manage to reconcile.

quail

V. cower; lose heart. The Cowardly Lion was afraid that he would quail in the face of danger.

pan

V. criticize harshly. Hoping for a rave review of his new show, the playwright was miserable when the critics panned it unanimously.

pulverize

V. crush or grind into dust. Before sprinkling the dried herbs into the stew, Michael first pulverized them into a fine powder.

prune

V. cut away; trim. With the help of her editor, she was able to prune her overlong manuscript into publishable form.

retrench

V. cut down; economize. In order to be able to afford to send their children to college, they would have to retrench. retrenchment, N.

shear

V. cut or clip (hair, fleece); strip of something. You may not care to cut a sheep's hair, but Sarah shears sheep for Little Bo Peep.

truncate

V. cut the top off. The top of a cone that has been truncated in a plane parallel to its base is a circle.

sever

V. cut; separate. The released prisoner wanted to begin a new life and sever all connections with his criminal past. Dr. Guillotin invented a machine that could neatly sever an aristocratic head from its equally aristocratic body. Unfortunately, he couldn't collect any severance pay. severance, N.

obscure

V. darken; make unclear. At times he seemed purposely to obscure his meaning, preferring mystery to clarity.

resolve

V. decide; settle; solve. Holmes resolved to travel to Bohemia to resolve the dispute between Irene Adler and the king.

wane

V. decrease in size or strength; draw gradually to an end. When lit, does a wax candle wane?

ordain

V. decree or command; grant holy orders; predestine. The king ordained that no foreigner should be allowed to enter the city. The Bishop of Michigan ordained David a deacon in the Episcopal Church. The young lovers felt that fate had ordained their meeting.

tarry

V. delay; dawdle. We can't tarry if we want to get to the airport on time.

render

V. deliver; provide; represent. He rendered aid to the needy and indigent.

renege

V. deny; go back on. He reneged on paying off his debt.

raze

V. destroy completely. Spelling is important: to raise a building is to put it up; to raze a building is to tear it down.

obliterate

V. destroy completely. The tidal wave obliterated several island villages,

loathe

V. detest. Booing and hissing, the audience showed how much they loathed the wicked villain.

swerve

V. deviate; turn aside sharply. The car swerved wildly as the driver struggled to regain control of the wheel.

quarry

V. dig into. They quarried blocks of marble out of the hillside. also N.

unearth

V. dig up. When they unearthed the city, the archeologists found many relics of an ancient civilization.

sap

V. diminish; undermine. The element kryptonite has an unhealthy effect on Superman: it saps his strength.

recant

V. disclaim or disavow; retract a previous statement; openly confess error. Those who can, keep true to their faith; those who can't, recant. Hoping to make Joan of Arc recant her sworn testimony, her English captors tried to convince her that her visions had been sent to her by the Devil.

unravel

V. disentangle; solve. With equal ease Miss Marple unraveled tangled balls of yarn and baffling murder mysteries.

repudiate

V. disown; disavow. On separating from Tony, Tina announced that she would repudiate all debts incurred by her soon-to-be ex-husband.

refute

V. disprove. The defense called several respectable witnesses who were able to refute the false testimony of the prosecution's sole witness. refutation, N.

perturb

V. disturb greatly. The thought that electricity might be leaking out of the empty light bulb sockets perturbed my aunt so much that at night she crept about the house screwing fresh bulbs in the vacant spots. perturbation, N.

ramify

V. divide into branches or subdivisions. When the plant begins to ramify, it is advisable to nip off most of the new branches.

stratify

V. divide into classes; be arranged into strata. As the economic gap between the rich and the poor increased, Roman society grew increasingly stratified.

partition

V. divide into parts. Before their second daughter was born, Jason and Lizzie decided each child needed a room of her own, and so they partitioned a large bedroom into two small but separate rooms. also N.

quench

V. douse or extinguish; assuage or satisfy. No matter how much water the hiker drank, she could not quench her thirst.

swill

V. drink greedily. Singing "Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum," Long John Silver and his fellow pirates swilled their grog.

quaff

V. drink with relish. As we quaffed our ale, we listened to the lively songs of the students in the tavern.

repel

V. drive away; disgust. At first, the Beast's ferocious appearance repelled Beauty, but she came to love the tender heart hidden behind that beastly exterior.

reek

V. emit (odor). The room reeked with stale tobacco smoke. also N.

underscore

V. emphasize. Addressing the jogging class, Kim underscored the importance to runners of good nutrition.

jeopardize

V. endanger; imperil; put at risk. You can't give me a D in chemistry: you'll jeopardize my chances of getting into M.I.T. jeopardy, N.

weather

V. endure the effects of weather or other forces. He weathered the changes in his personal life with difficulty, as he had no one in whom to confide.

invigorate

V. energize; stimulate. A quick dip in the pool invigorated Meg, and with renewed energy she got back to work.

savor

V. enjoy; have a distinctive flavor, smell, or quality. Relishing his triumph, the actor especially savored the chagrin of the critics who had predicted his failure.

matriculate

V. enroll (in college or graduate school). Incoming students formally matriculate at our college in a special ceremony during which they sign the official register of students.

mire

V. entangle; stick in swampy ground. Their rear wheels became mired in mud. also N.

regale

V. entertain. John regaled us with tales of his adventures in Africa.

substantiate

V. establish by evidence; verify; support. These endorsements from satisfied customers substantiate our claim that Barron's How to Prepare for the SAT I is the best SAT-prep book on the market.

scrutinize

V. examine closely and critically. Searching for flaws, the sergeant scrutinized every detail of the private's uniform.

surpass

V. exceed. Her SAT I scores surpassed our expectations.

ostracize

V. exclude from public favor; ban. As soon as the newspapers carried the story of his connection with the criminals, his friends began to ostracize him. ostracism, N.

mushroom

V. expand or grow rapidly. Between 1990 and 1999, the population of Silicon Valley mushroomed; with the rapidly increasing demand for housing, home prices skyrocketed as well.

oust

V. expel; drive out. The world wondered if Aquino would be able to oust Marcos from office. ouster, N.

sustain

V. experience; support; nourish. He sustained such a severe injury that the doctors feared he would be unable to work to sustain his growing family.

probe

V. explore with tools. The surgeon probed the wound for foreign matter before suturing it. also N.

traduce

V. expose to slander. His opponents tried to traduce the candidate's reputation by spreading rumors about his past.

reproach

V. express disapproval or disappointment. He never could do anything wrong without imagining how the look on his mother's face would reproach him afterwards. reproachful,ADJ.

vent

V. express; utter. The angry teacher vented his wrath on his class.

quell

V. extinguish; put down; quiet. Miss Minchin's demeanor was so stern and forbidding that she could quell any unrest among her students with one intimidating glance.

ravel

V. fall apart into tangles; unravel or untwist; entangle. A single thread pulled loose, and the entire scarf started to ravel.

plummet

V. fall sharply. Stock prices plummeted as Wall Street reacted to the crisis in the economy.

splice

V. fasten together; unite. Before you splice two strips of tape together, be sure to line them up evenly. also N.

simulate

V. feign. He simulated insanity in order to avoid punishment for his crime.

replenish

V. fill up again. Before she could take another backpacking trip, Carla had to replenish her stock of freeze-dried foods.

rig

V. fix or manipulate. The ward boss was able to rig the election by bribing people to stuff the ballot boxes with ballots marked in his candidate's favor.

levitate

V. float in the air (especially by magical means). As the magician passed his hands over the recumbent body of his assistant, she appeared to rise and levitate about three feet above the table.

presage

V. foretell. The vultures flying overhead presaged the discovery of the corpse in the desert.

portend

V. foretell; presage. The king did not know what these omens might portend and asked his soothsayers to interpret them.

scruple

V. fret about; hesitate, for ethical reasons. Fearing that her husband had become involved in an affair, she did not scruple to read his diary. also N.

intimidate

V. frighten. I'll learn karate and then those big bullies won't be able to intimidate me any more.

lope

V. gallop slowly. As the horses loped along, we had an opportunity to admire the ever-changing scenery. loquacious ADJ. talkative. Though our daughter barely says a word to us these days, put a phone in her hand and see how loquacious she can be: our phone bills are out of sight! loquacity, N.

muster

V. gather; assemble. Washington mustered his forces at Trenton. also N.

orient

V. get one's bearings; adjust. Philip spent his first day in Denver orienting himself to the city.

misrepresent

V. give a false or incorrect impression, often deliberately; serve unsatisfactorily as a representative. In his job application, Milton misrepresented his academic background; he was fired when his employers discovered the truth. The reformers accused Senator Gunbucks of misrepresenting his constituents and claimed he took bribes from the NRA.

rationalize

V. give a plausible reason for an action in place of a true, less admirable one; offer an excuse. When David told gabby Gabrielle he couldn't give her a ride to the dance because he had no room in the car, he was rationalizing; actually, he couldn't stand being cooped up in a car with anyone who talked as much as she did.

predispose

V. give an inclination toward; make susceptible to. Oleg's love of dressing up his big sister's Barbie doll may have predisposed him to become a fashion designer. Genetic influences apparently predispose people to certain forms of cancer.

relent

V. give in. When her stern father would not relent and allow her to marry Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett eloped with her suitor. relentless,ADJ.

yield

V. give in; surrender. The wounded knight refused to yield to his foe.

relinquish

V. give up something with reluctance; yield. Denise never realized how hard it would be for her to relinquish her newborn son to the care of his adoptive parents. Once you get used to fringe benefits like expense account meals and a company car, it's very hard to relinquish them.

waive

V. give up temporarily; yield. I will waive my rights in this matter in order to expedite our reaching a proper decision.

shimmer

V. glimmer intermittently. The moonlight shimmered on the water as the moon broke through the clouds for a moment. also N.

retrograde

V. go backwards; degenerate. instead of advancing, our civilization seems to have retrograded in ethics and culture. alsoADJ.

traverse

V. go through or across. When you traverse this field, be careful of the bull.

vouchsafe

V. grant; choose to give in reply; permit. Occasionally the rock star would drift out onto the balcony and vouchsafe the crowd below a glimpse of her celebrated features. The professor vouchsafed not a word to the students' questions about what would be covered on the test.

lament

V. grieve; express sorrow. Even advocates of the war lamented the loss of so many lives in combat. lamentation, N.

primp

V. groom oneself with care; adorn oneself. The groom stood by idly while his nervous bride-to-be primped one last time before the mirror.

pall

V. grow tiresome. The study of word lists can eventually pall and put one to sleep.

surmise

V. guess. I surmise that he will be late for this meeting. also N.

maul

V. handle roughly. The rock star was mauled by his over-excited fans.

loiter

V. hang around; linger. The policeman told him not to loiter in the alley.

preempt

V. head off; forestall by acting first; appropriate for oneself; supplant. Hoping to preempt any attempts by the opposition to make educational reform a hot political issue, the candidate set out her own plan to revitalize the public schools. preemptive,ADJ.

promote

V. help to flourish; advance in rank; publicize. Founder of the Children's Defense Fund, Marian Wright Edelman ceaselessly promotes the welfare of young people everywhere. 0

secrete

V. hide away; produce and release a substance into an organism. The pack rat secretes odds and ends in its nest; the pancreas secretes insulin in the islets of Langerhans. sect N. separate religious body; faction. As university chaplain, she sought to address universal religious issues and not limit herself to concerns of any one sect.

shroud

V. hide from view; wrap for burial. Fog shrouded Dracula's castle, hiding the ruined tower beneath sheets of mist.

mortify

V. humiliate; punish the flesh. She was so mortified by her blunder that she ran to her room in tears.

scavenge

V. hunt through discarded materials for usable items; search, especially for food. If you need car parts that the dealers no longer stock, try scavenging for odd bits and pieces at the auto wreckers' yards. scavenger, N.

mesmerize

V. hypnotize. The incessant drone seemed to mesmerize him and place him in a trance.

levy

V. impose (a fine); collect (a payment). Crying "No taxation without representation," the colonists demonstrated against England's power to levy taxes.

wax

V. increase; grow. With proper handling, his fortunes waxed and he became rich.

prevail

V. induce; triumph over. He tried to prevail on her to type his essay for him.

misconstrue

V. interpret incorrectly; misjudge. She took the passage seriously rather than humorously because she misconstrued the author's ironic tone.

rankle

V. irritate; fester. The memory of having been jilted rankled him for years.

sequester

V. isolate; retire from public life; segregate; seclude. Banished from his kingdom, the wizard Prospero sequestered himself on a desert island. To prevent the jurors from hearing news broadcasts about the case, the judge decided to sequester the jury.

yoke

V. join together, unite. I don't wish to be yoked to him in marriage, as if we were cattle pulling a plow. also N.

warrant

V. justify; authorize. Before the judge issues the injunction, you must convince her this action is warranted.

shun

V. keep away from. Cherishing his solitude, the recluse shunned the company of other human beings.

retain

V. keep; employ. Fighting to retain his seat in Congress, Senator Foghorn retained a new manager to head his reelection campaign.

pine

V. languish, decline; long for, yearn. Though she tried to be happy living with Clara in the city, Heidi pined for the mountains and for her gruff but loving grandfather.

spawn

V. lay eggs. Fish ladders had to be built in the dams to assist the salmon returning to spawn in their native streams. also N.

palliate

V. lessen the violence of (a disease); alleviate; moderate intensity; gloss over with excuses. Not content merely to palliate the patient's sores and cankers, the researcher sought a means of wiping out the disease. pal-liative,ADJ.

unfetter

V. liberate; free from chains. Chained to the wall for months on end, the hostage despaired that he would ever be unfettered.

prevaricate

V. lie. Some people believe that to prevaricate in a good cause is justifiable and regard such a statement as a "white lie."

linger

V. loiter or dawdle; continue or persist. Hoping to see Juliet pass by, Romeo lingered outside the Capulet house for hours. Though Mother made stuffed cabbage on Monday, the smell lingered around the house for days.

ogle

V. look at amorously; make eyes at. At the coffee house, Walter was too shy to ogle the pretty girls openly; instead, he peeked out at them from behind a rubber plant.

languish

V. lose animation; lose strength. Left at Miss Minchin's school for girls while her father went off to war, Sarah Crewe refused to languish; instead, she hid her grief and actively befriended her less fortunate classmates.

loll

V. lounge about. They lolled around in their chairs watching television.

stipulate

V. make express conditions; specify. Before agreeing to reduce American military forces in Europe, the president stipulated that NATO inspection teams be allowed to inspect Soviet bases.

preclude

V. make impossible; eliminate. The fact that the band was already booked to play in Hollywood on New Year's Eve precluded their accepting the New Year's Eve gig in London they were offered.

prolong

V. make longer; draw out; lengthen. In their determination to discover ways to prolong human life, doctors fail to take into account that longer lives are not always happier ones.

stupefy

V. make numb; stun; amaze. Disapproving of drugs in general, Laura refused to take sleeping pills or any other medicine that might stupefy her. stupefaction, N.

preen

V. make oneself tidy in appearance; feel self-satisfaction. As Kitty preened before the mirror, carefully smoothing her shining hair, she couldn't help preening over how pretty she looked.

perpetuate

V. make something last; preserve from extinction. Some critics attack The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because they believe Twain's book perpetuates a false image of Blacks in this country.

obviate

V. make unnecessary; get rid of. I hope this contribution will obviate any need for further collections of funds.

rejuvenate

V. make young again. The charlatan claimed that his elixir would rejuvenate the aged and weary.

smelt

V. melt or blend ores, changing their chemical composition. The furnaceman smelts tin with copper to create a special alloy used in making bells.

scoff

V. mock; ridicule. He scoffed at dentists until he had his first toothache.

temper

V. moderate; tone down or restrain; toughen (steel). Not even her supervisor's grumpiness could temper Nancy's enthusiasm for her new job.

low

V. moo. From the hilltop, they could see the herd like ants in the distance; they could barely hear the cattle low.

scurry

V. move briskly. The White Rabbit had to scurry to get to his appointment on time.

skulk

V. move furtively and secretly. He skulked through the less fashionable sections of the city in order to avoid meeting any of his former friends.

lumber

V. move heavily or clumsily. Still somewhat torpid after its long hibernation, the bear lumbered through the woods.

totter

V. move unsteadily; sway, as if about to fall. On unsteady feet, the drunk tottered down the hill to the nearest bar.

waft

V. moved gently by wind or waves. Daydreaming, he gazed at the leaves that wafted past his window.

propagate

V. multiply; spread. Since bacteria propagate more quickly in unsanitary environments, it is important to keep hospital rooms clean.

maim

V. mutilate; injure. The hospital could not take care of all who had been wounded or maimed in the railroad accident.

recount

V. narrate or tell; count over again. A born storyteller, my father loved to recount anecdotes about his early years in New York.

whinny

V. neigh like a horse. When he laughed through his nose, it sounded as if he whinnied.

nurture

V. nourish; educate; foster. The Head Start program attempts to nurture pre-kindergarten children so that they will do well when they enter public school. also N.

tender

V. offer; extend. Although no formal charges had been made against him, in the wake of the recent scandal the mayor felt he should tender his resignation.

seep

V. ooze; trickle. During the rainstorm, water seeped through the crack in the basement wall and damaged the floor boards. seepage, N.

proscribe

V. ostracize; banish; outlaw. Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus proscribed all those who had conspired against Julius Caesar.

outwit

V. outsmart; trick. By disguising himself as an old woman, Holmes was able to outwit his pursuers and escape capture.

surmount

V. overcome. Could Helen Keller, blind and deaf since childhood, surmount her physical disabilities and lead a productive life?

placate

V. pacify; conciliate. The store manager tried to placate the angry customer, offering to replace the damaged merchandise or to give back her money right away.

whittle

V. pare; cut off bits. As a present for Aunt Polly, Tom whittled some clothespins out of a chunk of wood.

permeate

V. pass through; spread. The odor of frying onions permeated the air.

suborn

V. persuade to act unlawfully (especially to commit perjury). In The Godfather, the mobsters used bribery and threats to suborn the witnesses against Don Michael Corleone.

supplicate

V. petition humbly; pray to grant a favor. We supplicate Your Majesty to grant him amnesty.

riddle

V. pierce with holes; permeate or spread throughout. With his machine gun, Tracy riddled the car with bullets till it looked like a slice of Swiss cheese. During the proofreaders' strike, the newspaper was riddled with typos.

perforate

V. pierce; put a hole through. Before you can open the aspirin bottle, you must first perforate the plastic safety seal that covers the cap.

sheathe

V. place into a case. As soon as he recognized the approaching men, he sheathed his dagger and hailed them as friends.

superimpose

V. place over something else. Your attempt to superimpose another agency in this field will merely increase the bureaucratic nature of our government.

premeditate

V. plan in advance. She had premeditated the murder for months, reading about common poisons and buying weed killer that contained arsenic.

pillage

V. plunder. The enemy pillaged the quiet village and left it in ruins.

prod

V. poke; stir up; urge. If you prod him hard enough, he'll eventually clean his room.

muse

V. ponder. For a moment he mused about the beauty of the scene, but his thoughts soon changed as he recalled his own personal problems. also N.

procrastinate

V. postpone; delay or put off. Looking at four years of receipts and checks he still had to sort through, Bob was truly sorry he had procrastinated for so long and not finished filing his taxes long ago.

laud

V. praise. The NFL lauded Boomer Esiason's efforts to raise money to combat cystic fibrosis. laudable, laudatory,ADJ.

predetermine

V. predestine; settle or decide beforehand; influence markedly. Romeo and Juliet believed that Fate had predetermined their meeting. Bea gathered estimates from caterers, florists, and stationers so that she could predetermine the costs of holding a catered buffet. Philip's love of athletics predetermined his choice of a career in sports marketing.

stymie

V. present an obstacle; stump. The detective was stymied by the contradictory evidence in the robbery investigation. also N.

sham

V. pretend. He shammed sickness to get out of going to school. also N.

promulgate

V. proclaim a doctrine or law; make known by official publication. When Moses came down from the mountain top all set to promulgate God's commandments, he freaked out on discovering his followers worshipping a golden calf.

protract

V. prolong. Seeking to delay the union members' vote, the management team tried to protract the negotiations endlessly.

thrive

V. prosper; flourish. Despite the impact of the recession on the restaurant trade, Philip's cafe thrived.

skimp

V. provide scantily; live very economically. They were forced to skimp on necessities in order to make their limited supplies last the winter.

pique

V. provoke or arouse; annoy. "I know something you don't know," said Lucy, trying to pique Ethel's interest.

tout

V. publicize; praise excessively. I lost confidence in my broker after he touted some junk bonds to me that turned out to be a bad investment.

purse

V. pucker; contract into wrinkles. Miss Watson pursed her lips to show her disapproval of Huck's bedraggled appearance.

wrench

V. pull; strain; twist. She wrenched free of her attacker and landed a powerful kick to his kneecap.

obtrude

V. push (oneself or one's ideas) forward or intrude; butt in; stick out or extrude. Because Fanny was reluctant to obtrude her opinions about child-raising upon her daughter-in-law, she kept a close watch on her tongue. obtrusive,ADJ.

propound

V. put forth for analysis. In your discussion, you have propounded several questions; let us consider each one separately.

marshal

V. put in order. At a debate tournament, extemporaneous speakers have only a minute or two to marshal their thoughts before they address their audience.

verbalize

V. put into words. I know you don't like to talk about these things, but please try to verbalize your feelings.

slake

V. quench; sate. When we reached the oasis, we were able to slake our thirst.

lunge

V. quick forward dive or reach; thrust. The wide receiver lunged forward to grab the football. With his sword, Dartagnan lunged at his adversary.

rummage

V. ransack; thoroughly search. When we rummaged through the trunks in the attic, we found many souvenirs of our childhood days. also N.

rant

V. rave; talk excitedly; scold; make a grandiloquent speech. When he heard that I'd totaled the family car, Dad began to rant at me like a complete madman.

peruse

V. read with care. After the conflagration that burned down her house, Joan closely perused her home insurance policy to discover exactly what benefits her coverage provided her. perusal, N.

recast

V. reconstruct (a sentence, story, etc.); fashion again. Let me recast this sentence in terms your feeble brain can grasp: in words of one syllable, you are a fool.

recuperate

V. recover. The doctors were worried because the patient did not recuperate as rapidly as they had expected.

retrieve

V. recover; find and bring in. The dog was intelligent and quickly learned to retrieve the game killed by the hunter.

withhold

V. refuse to give; hold back. The tenants decided to withhold a portion of the rent until the landlord kept his promise to renovate the building.

rue

V. regret; lament; mourn. Tina rued the night she met Tony and wondered how she ever fell for such a jerk. rueful,ADJ.

spurn

V. reject; scorn. The heroine spurned the villain's advances.

revert

V. relapse; backslide; turn back to. Most of the time Andy seemed sensitive and mature, but occasionally he would revert to his smart-alecky, macho, adolescent self.

purge

V. remove or get rid of something unwanted; free from blame or guilt; cleanse or purify. When the Communist government purged the party to get rid of members suspected of capitalist sympathies, they sent the disloyal members to labor camps in Siberia.

refurbish

V. renovate; make bright by polishing. The flood left a deposit of mud on everything; we had to refurbish our belongings.

solder

V. repair or make whole by using a metal alloy. The plumber fixed the leak in the pipes by soldering a couple of joints from which water had been oozing.

reciprocate

V. repay in kind. If they attack us, we shall be compelled to reciprocate and bomb their territory. reciprocity, N.

reimburse

V. repay. Let me know what you have spent and I will reimburse you.

requite

V. repay; revenge. The wretch requited his benefactors by betraying them.

reiterate

V. repeat. He reiterated the warning to make sure everyone understood it.

supplant

V. replace; usurp. Bolingbroke, later to be known as King Henry IV, fought to supplant his cousin, Richard III, as King of England.

replicate

V. reproduce; duplicate. Because he had always wanted a palace, Donald decided to replicate the Tai Mahal in miniature on his estate.

reprimand

V. reprove severely; rebuke. Every time Ermengarde made a mistake in class, she was afraid that Miss Minchin would reprimand her and tell her father how badly she was doing in school. also N.

solicit

V. request earnestly; seek. Knowing she needed to have a solid majority for the budget to pass, the mayor telephoned all the members of the city council to solicit their votes.

salvage

V. rescue from loss. All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed. also N.

paraphrase

V. restate a passage in one's own words while retaining thought of author. In 250 wordsaor less, paraphrase this article. also N.

renovate

V. restore to good condition; renew. They claim that they can renovate worn shoes so that they look like new ones.

rehabilitate

V. restore to proper condition. We must rehabilitate those whom we send to prison.

repress

V. restrain; crush; oppress. Anne's parents tried to curb her impetuosity without repressing her boundless high spirits.

venerate

V. revere. In Tibet today, the common people still venerate their traditional spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.

repeal

V. revoke; annul. What would the effect on our society be if we decriminalized drug use by repealing the laws against the possession and sale of narcotics?

lampoon

V. ridicule. This article lampoons the pretensions of some movie moguls. also N.

mock

V. ridicule; imitate, often in derision. It is unkind to mock anyone; it is stupid to mock anyone significantly bigger than you. mockery, N.

resurge

V. rise again; flow to and fro. It was startling to see the spirit of nationalism resurge as the Soviet Union disintegrated into a loose federation of ethnic and national groups. resurgence, N.

wallow

V. roll in; indulge in; become helpless. The hippopotamus loves to wallow in the mud.

snivel

V. run at the nose; snuffle; whine. Don't you come sniveling to me complaining about your big brother. sobriety N. moderation (especially regarding indulgence in alcohol); seriousness. Neither falling-down drunks nor stand-up comics are noted for sobriety. sober,ADJ.

surfeit

V. satiate; stuff; indulge to excess in anything. Every Thanksgiving we are surfeited with an overabundance of holiday treats. also N.

satiate

V. satisfy fully. Having stuffed themselves until they were satiated, the guests were so full they were ready for a nap.

sate

V. satisfy to the full; cloy. Its hunger sated. the lion dozed.

relish

V. savor; enjoy. Watching Peter enthusiastically chow down, I thought, "Now there's a man who relishes a good dinner!" also N.

rebuke

V. scold harshly; criticize severely. No matter how sharply Miss Watson rebuked Huck for his misconduct, he never talked back but just stood there like a stump. also N.

rail

V. scold; rant. You may rail at him all you want; you will never change him.

scuttle

V. scurry; run with short, rapid steps. The bug scuttled rapidly across the floor.

usurp

V. seize another's power or rank. The revolution ended when the victorious rebel general succeeded in his attempt to usurp the throne.

sunder

V. separate; part. Northern and southern Ireland are politically and religiously sundered.

table

V. set aside a resolution or proposal for future consideration. Because we seem unable to agree on this issue at the moment, let us table the motion for now and come back to it at a later date.

trigger

V. set off. John is touchy today; say one word wrong and you'll trigger an explosion.

rectify

V. set right; correct. You had better send a check to rectify your account before American Express cancels your credit card.

mediate

V. settle a dispute through the services of an outsider. King Solomon was asked to mediate a dispute between two women, each of whom claimed to be the mother of the same child.

liquidate

V. settle accounts; clearup. He was able to liquidate all his debts in a short period of time.

subside

V. settle down; descend; grow quiet. The doctor assured us that the fever would eventually subside.

upbraid

V. severely scold; reprimand. Not only did Miss Minchin upbraid Ermengarde for her disobedience, but she hung her up by her braids from a coat rack in the classroom. uproarious ADJ. marked by commotion; extremely funny; very noisy. The uproarious comedy hit Ace Ventura: Pet Detective starred Jim Carrey, whose comic mugging provoked gales of uproarious laughter from audiences coast to coast.

whet

V. sharpen; stimulate. The odors from the kitchen are whetting my appetite; I will be ravenous by the time the meal is served.

molt

V. shed or cast off hair or feathers. When Molly's canary molted, he shed feathers all over the house.

jostle

V. shove; bump. In the subway he was jostled by the crowds.

wince

V. shrink back; flinch. The screech of the chalk on the blackboard made her wince.

wither

V. shrivel; decay. Cut flowers are beautiful for a day, but all too soon they wither.

winnow

V. sift; separate good parts from bad. This test will winnow out the students who study from those who don't bother.

warble

V. sing; babble. Every morning the birds warbled outside her window. also N.

scuttle

V. sink. The sailors decided to scuttle their vessel rather than surrender it to the enemy.

vilify

V. slander. Waging a highly negative campaign, the candidate attempted to vilify his opponent's reputation. vilification, N.

slither

V. slip or slide. During the recent ice storm, many people slithered down this hill as they walked to the station.

slacken

V. slow up; loosen. As they passed the finish line, the runners slackened their pace.

simper

V. smirk; smile affectedly. Complimented on her appearance, Stella self-consciously simpered.

rebuff

V. snub; beat back. She rebuffed his invitation so smoothly that he did not realize he had been snubbed. also N.

saturate

V. soak thoroughly. Saturate your sponge with water until it can't hold any more.

steep

V. soak; saturate. Be sure to steep the fabric in the dyebath for the full time prescribed.

mollify

V. soothe. The airline customer service representative tried to mollify the angry passenger by offering her a seat in first class.

lull

V. soothe; cause one to relax one's guard; subside. The mother's gentle song lulled the child to sleep. Malcolm tried to come up with a plausible story to lull his mother's suspicions, but she didn't believe a word he said.

pacify

V. soothe; make calm or quiet; subdue. Dentists criticize the practice of giving fussy children sweets to pacify them.

scintillate

V. sparkle; flash. I enjoy her dinner parties because the food is excellent and the conversation scintillates.

waffle

V. speak equivocally about an issue. When asked directly about the governor's involvement in the savings and loan scandal, the press secretary waffled, talking all around the issue.

malign

V. speak evil of; bad-mouth; defame. Putting her hands over her ears, Rose refused to listen to Betty malign her friend Susan.

prate

V. speak foolishly; boast idly. Let us not prate about our good qualities; rather, let our virtues speak for themselves.

slur

V. speak indistinctly; mumble. When Sol has too much to drink, he starts to slur his words: "Washamatter? Cansh you undershtand what I shay?"

polarize

V. split into opposite extremes or camps. The abortion issue has polarized the country into pro-choice and anti-abortion camps. polarization, N.

rend

V. split; tear apart. In his grief, he tried to rend his garments. rent, N.

strew

V. spread randomly; sprinkle; scatter. Preceding the bride to the altar, the flower girl will strew rose petals along the aisle.

rout

V. stampede; drive out. The reinforcements were able to rout the enemy. also N.

withstand

V. stand up against; successfully resist. If you can withstand all the peer pressure in high school to cut classes and goof off, you should survive college just fine.

kindle

V. start a fire; inspire. One of the first things Ben learned in the Boy Scouts was how to kindle a fire by rubbing two dry sticks together. Her teacher's praise for her poetry kindled a spark of hope inside Maya.

plagiarize

V. steal another's ideas and pass them off as one's own. The teacher could tell that the student had plagiarized parts of his essay; she could recognize whole paragraphs straight from Barron's Book Notes.

lurk

V. stealthily lie in waiting; slink; exist unperceived. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows."

protrude

V. stick out. His fingers protruded from the holes in his gloves. protrusion, N.

suppress

V. stifle; overwhelm; subdue; inhibit. Too polite to laugh in anyone's face, Roy did his best to suppress his amusement at Ed's inane remark.

provoke

V. stir to anger; cause retaliation. In order to prevent a sudden outbreak of hostilities, we must not provoke our foe. provocation, N; provocative,ADJ.

stoke

V. stir up a fire; feed plentifully. As a Scout Marisa learned how to light a fire, how to stoke it if it started to die down, and how to extinguish it completely.

nip

V. stop something's growth or development; snip off; bite; make numb with cold. The twins were plotting mischief, but Mother intervened and nipped that plan in the bud. The gardener nipped off a lovely rose and gave it to me. Last week a guard dog nipped the postman in the leg; this week the extreme chill nipped his fingers till he could barely hold the mail.

prostrate

V. stretch out full on ground. He prostrated himself before the idol. alsoADJ.

saunter

V. stroll slowly. As we sauntered through the park, we stopped frequently to admire the spring flowers.

scuffle

V. struggle confusedly; move off in a confused hurry. The twins briefly scuffled, wrestling to see which of them would get the toy. When their big brother yelled, "Let go of my Gameboy!" they scuffled off down the hall. scurrilous ADJ. obscene; indecent. Your scurrilous remarks are especially offensive because they are untrue.

pore

V. study industriously; ponder; scrutinize. Determined to become a physician, Beth spent hours poring over her anatomy text.

recapitulate

V. summarize. Let us recapitulate what has been said thus far before going ahead.

patronize

V. support; act superior toward; be a customer of. Penniless artists hope to find some wealthy art-lover who will patronize them. If some condescending wine steward patronized me because he saw I knew nothing about fine wine, I'd refuse to patronize his restaurant.

stifle

V. suppress; extinguish; inhibit. Halfway through the boring lecture, Laura gave up trying to stifle her yawns.

outstrip

V. surpass; outdo. Jesse Owens easily outstripped his white competitors to win the gold medal at the Olympic Games.

lap

V. take in food or drink with one's tongue; splash gently. The kitten neatly lapped up her milk. The waves softly lapped against the pier.

sully

V. tarnish; soil. He felt that it was beneath his dignity to sully his hands in such menial labor.

tantalize

V. tease; torture with disappointment. Tom loved to tantalize his younger brother with candy; he knew the boy was forbidden to have it.

palpitate

V. throb; flutter. As he became excited, his heart began to palpitate more and more erratically.

precipitate

V. throw headlong; hasten. The removal of American political support appears to have precipitated the downfall of the Marcos regime.

jettison

V. throw overboard. In order to enable the ship to ride safely through the storm, the captain had to jettison much of his cargo.

tether

V. tie with a rope. Before we went to sleep, we tethered the horses to prevent their wandering off during the night.

list

V. tilt; lean over. That flagpole should be absolutely vertical; instead, it lists to one side. (secondary meaning)

nullify

V. to make invalid. Once the contract was nullified, it no longer had any legal force.

roil

V. to make liquids murky by stirring up sediment. Be careful when you pour not to roil the wine; if you stir up the sediment you'll destroy the flavor.

rhapsodize

V. to speak or write in an exaggeratedly enthusiastic manner. She greatly enjoyed her Hawaiian vacation and rhapsodized about it for weeks.

unfrock

V. to strip a priest or minister of church authority. To disbar a lawyer, to unfrock a priest, to suspend a doctor's license to practice-these are extreme steps that the authorities should take only after careful consideration.

modulate

V. tone down in intensity; regulate; change from one key to another. Always singing at the top of her lungs, the budding Brunhilde never learned to modulate her voice.

lionize

V. treat as a celebrity. She enjoyed being lionized and adored by the public.

quiver

V. tremble; shake. The bird dog's nose twitched and his whiskers quivered as he strained eagerly against the leash. also N.

*vaporize

V. turn into vapor (steam, gas, fog, etc.). "Zap!" went Super Mario's atomic ray gun as he vaporized another deadly foe.

petrify

V. turn to stone. His sudden and unexpected appearance seemed to petrify her.

writhe

V. twist in coils; contort in pain. In Dances with Snakes, the snake dancer wriggled sinuously as her boa constrictor writhed around her torso.

trespass

V. unlawfully enter the boundaries of some else's property. The wicked baron flogged any poacher who trespassed on his private hunting grounds. also N.

rile

V. vex; irritate; muddy. Red had a hair-trigger temper: he was an easy man to rile.

oscillate

V. vibrate pendulumlike; waver. It is interesting to note how public opinion oscillates between the extremes of optimism and pessimism.

profane

V. violate; desecrate; treat unworthily. The members of the mysterious Far Eastern cult sought to kill the British explorer because he had profaned the sanctity of their holy goblet by using it as an ashtray. alsoADJ.

ramble

V. wander aimlessly (physically or mentally). Listening to the teacher ramble, Judy wondered whether he'd ever get to his point.

parry

V. ward off a blow; deflect. Unwilling to injure his opponent in such a pointless clash, Dartagnan simply tried to parry his rival's thrusts. What fun it was to watch Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy parry each other's verbal thrusts in their classic screwball comedies!

squander

V. waste. If you squander your allowance on candy and comic books, you won't have any money left to buy the new box of crayons you want.

undermine

V. weaken; sap. The recent corruption scandals have undermined many people's faith in the city government. The recent torrential rains have washed away much of the cliffside; the deluge threatens to undermine the pillars supporting several houses at the edge of the cliff.

meander

V. wind or turn in its course. Needing to stay close to a source of water, he followed every twist and turn of the stream as it meandered through the countryside.

retract

V. withdraw; take back. When I saw how Fred and his fraternity brothers had trashed the frat house, I decided to retract my offer to let them use our summer cottage for the weekend. retraction, N.

swathe

V. wrap around; bandage. When I visited him in the hospital, I found him swathed in bandages.

succumb

V. yield; give in; die. I succumb to temptation whenever I see chocolate.

manipulate

v, operate with one's hands; control or play upon (people, forces, etc.) artfully. Jim Henson understood how to manipulate the Muppets. Madonna understands how to manipulate men (and publicity).

renounce

V. abandon; disown; repudiate. Even though she knew she would be burned at the stake as a witch, Joan of Arc refused to renounce her belief that her voices came from God. renunciation, N.

refrain

V. abstain from; resist. Whenever he heard a song with a lively chorus, Sol could never refrain from joining in on the refrain.

wean

V. accustom a baby to not nurse; give up a cherished activity. He decided he would wean himself away from eating junk food and stick to fruits and vegetables.

succor

V. aid; assist; comfort. If you believe that con man has come here to succor you in your hour of need, you're an even bigger sucker than I thought. also N.

waylay

V. ambush; lie in wait. They agreed to waylay their victim as he passed through the dark alley going home.

nettle

V. annoy; vex. Do not let him nettle you with his sarcastic remarks.

loom

V. appear or take shape (usually in an enlarged or distorted form). The shadow of the gallows loomed threateningly above the small boy.

propitiate

V. appease. The natives offered sacrifices to propitiate the gods.

mitigate

V. appease; moderate. Nothing Jason did could mitigate Medea's anger; she refused to forgive him for betraying her.

ratify

V. approve formally; confirm; verify. Party leaders doubted that they had enough votes in both houses of Congress to ratify the constitutional amendment.

sanction

V. approve; ratify. Nothing will convince me to sanction the engagement of my daughter to such a worthless young man.

stem from

V. arise from. Milton's problems in school stemmed from his poor study habits.

revile

V. attack with abusive language; vilify. Though most of his contemporaries reviled Captain Kidd as a notorious, bloody-handed pirate, some of his fellow merchant-captains believed him innocent of his alleged crimes.

shirk

V. avoid (responsibility, work, etc.); malinger. Brian has a strong sense of duty; he would never shirk any responsibility.

temporize

V. avoid commiting oneself; gain time. I cannot permit you to temporize any longer; I must have a definite answer today.

prattle

V. babble. Baby John prattled on and on about the cats and his ball and the Cookie Monster.

thwart

V. baffle; frustrate. He felt that everyone was trying to thwart his plans and prevent his success.

relegate

V. banish to an inferior position; delegate; assign. After Ralph dropped his second tray of drinks that week, the manager swiftly relegated him to a minor post cleaning up behind the bar.

seethe

V. be disturbed; boil. The nation was seething with discontent as the noblemen continued their arrogant ways.

swelter

V. be oppressed by heat. I am going to buy an air conditioning unit for my apartment as I do not intend to swelter through another hot and humid summer.

stint

V. be thrifty; set limits. "Spare no expense," the bride's father said, refusing to stint on the wedding arrangements.

pummel

V. beat or pound with fists. Swinging wildly, Pam pummeled her brother around the head and shoulders.

ingratiate

V. become popular with. He tried to ingratiate himself into her parents' good graces.

initiate

V. begin; originate; receive into a group. The college is about to initiate a program in reducing math anxiety among students.

swagger

V. behave arrogantly or pompously; strut or walk proudly. The conquering hero didn't simply stride down the street; he swaggered. also N.

mystify

V. bewilder purposely. When doctors speak in medical jargon, they often mystify their patients, who have little knowledge of medical terminology.

stigmatize

V. brand; mark as wicked. I do not want to stigmatize this young offender for life by sending her to prison.

nonplus

V. bring to halt by confusion; perplex. Jack's uncharacteristic rudeness nonplussed Jill, leaving her uncertain how to react.

smolder

V. burn without flame; be liable to break out at any moment. The rags smoldered for hours before they burst into flame.

inter

V. bury. They are going to inter the body tomorrow at Broadlawn Cemetery.

wheedle

V. cajole; coax; deceive by flattery. She knows she can wheedle almost anything she wants from her father.

inured

ADJ. accustomed; hardened. She became inured to the Alaskan cold.

irate

ADJ. angry. When John's mother found out he had overdrawn his checking account for the third month in a row, she was so irate she could scarcely speak to him.

irksome

ADJ. annoying; tedious. He found working on the assembly line irksome because of the monotony of the operation he had to perform. irk,V.

insolvent

ADJ. bankrupt; unable to repay one's debts. Although young Lord Widgeon was insolvent, he had no fear of being thrown into debtors' prison, for he was sure that if his creditors pressed him for payment his wealthy parents would repay what he owed. insolvency, N.

irreproachable

ADJ. blameless; impeccable. Homer's conduct at the office party was irreproachable; even Marge didn't have anything bad to say about how he behaved.

integral

ADJ. complete; necessary for completeness. Physical education is an integral part of our curriculum; a sound mind and a sound body are complementary.

intricate

ADJ. complex; knotty; tangled. Philip spent many hours designing mazes so intricate that none of his classmates could solve them. intricacy, N.

ingrained

ADJ. deeply established; firmly rooted. Try as they would, the missionaries were unable to uproot the ingrained superstitions of the natives.

interminable

ADJ. endless. Although his speech lasted for only twenty minutes, it seemed interminable to his bored audience.

intrepid

ADJ. fearless. For her intrepid conduct nursing the wounded during the war, Florence Nightingale was honored by Queen Victoria.

injurious

ADJ. harmful. Smoking cigarettes can be injurious to your health.

innocuous

ADJ. harmless. An occasional glass of wine with dinner is relatively innocuous and should have no ill effect on you.

irreconcilable

ADJ. incompatible; not able to be resolved. Because the separated couple were irreconcilable, the marriage counselor recommended a divorce.

irrefutable

ADJ. indisputable; incontrovertible; undeniable. No matter how hard I tried to find a good comeback for her argument, I couldn't think of one: her logic was irrefutable.

irascible

ADJ. irritable; easily angered. Miss Minchin's irascible temper intimidated the younger schoolgirls, who feared she'd burst into a rage at any moment.

insubstantial

ADJ. lacking substance; insignificant; frail. His hopes for a career in acting proved insubstantial; no one would cast him, even in an insubstantial role.

introspective

ADJ. looking within oneself. Though young Francis of Assisi led a wild and worldly life, even then he had introspective moments during which he examined his soul. introvert N. one who is introspective; inclined to think more about oneself. In his poetry, he reveals that he is an introvert by his intense interest in his own problems. alsoV.

ingenuous

ADJ. naive and trusting; young; unsophisticated. The woodsman had not realized how ingenuous Little Red Riding Hood was until he heard that she had gone off for a walk in the woods with the Big Bad Wolf.

irreverence

N. lack of proper respect. Some audience members were amused by the irreverence of the comedian's jokes about the Pope; others felt offended by his lack of respect for their faith. irreverent,ADJ.

insularity

N. narrow-mindedness; isolation. The insularity of the islanders manifested itself in their suspicion of anything foreign. insular,ADJ.

inquisitor

N. questioner (especially harsh); investigator. Fearing being grilled ruthlessly by the secret police, Masha faced her inquisitors with trepidation.

insurrection

N. rebellion; uprising. In retrospect, given how badly the British treated the American colonists, the eventual insurrection seems inevitable.

intransigence

N. refusal of any compromise; stubbornness. The negotiating team had not expected such intransigence from the striking workers, who rejected any hint of a compromise. intransigent,ADJ.

intelligentsia

N. the intelligent and educated classes [often used derogatorily]. She preferred discussions about sports and politics to the literary conversations of the intelligentsia.

ingrate

N. ungrateful person. That ingrate Bob sneered at the tie I gave him.

integrity

N. uprightness; wholeness. Lincoln, whose personal integrity has inspired millions, fought a civil war to maintain the integrity of the Republic, that these United States might remain undivided for all time.

insomnia

N. wakefulness; inability to sleep. He refused to join us in a midnight cup of coffee because he claimed it gave him insomnia.

inkling

N. hint. This came as a complete surprise to me as I did not have the slightest inkling of your plans.

innuendo

N. hint; insinuation. I can defend myself against direct accusations; innuendos and oblique attacks on my character are what trouble me.

intuition

N. immediate insight; power of knowing without reasoning. Even though Tony denied that anything was wrong, Tina trusted her intuition that something was bothering him. intuitive,ADJ.

invective

N. abuse. He had expected criticism but not the invective that greeted his proposal. inveigh,V.

ire

N. anger. The waiter tried unsuccessfully to placate the ire of the diner who had found a cockroach in her soup.

interment

N. burial. Interment will take place in the church cemetery at 2 P.M. Wednesday.

innovation

N. change; introduction of something new. Although Richard liked to keep up with all the latest technological innovations, he didn't always abandon tried and true techniques in favor of something new. innovate,V.

intimacy

N. closeness, often affectionate; privacy; familiarity. In a moment of rare intimacy, the mayor allowed the reporters a glimpse of his personal feelings about his family. intimate,ADJ.

invoke

V. call upon; ask for. She invoked her advisor's aid in filling out her financial aid forms.

intervene

V. come between. When two close friends get into a fight, be careful if you try to intervene; they may join forces to gang up on you.