02

ventral

adj. abdominal We shall now examine the ventral plates of this serpent, not the dorsal side.

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.

riveting

adj. absorbing; engrossing The reviewer described Byatt's novel Possession as a riveting tale: absorbed in the story, he had finished it in a single evening.

recondite

adj. abstruse; profound; secret He read many recondite books in order to obtain the material for the scholarly thesis.

preposterous

adj. absurd; ridiculous When the candidate 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.

omnipotent

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

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.

plauditory

adj. approving; applauding The theatrical company reprinted the plauditory comments of the critics in its advertisement.

presumptuous

adj. arrogant; taking liberties It seems presumptuous for one so relatively new to the field to challenge the conclusions of its leading experts.

synthetic

adj. artificial; resulting from synthesis During the twentieth century, many synthetic products have replaced the natural products.

supposititious

adj. assumed; counterfeit; hypothetical I find no similarity between your supposititious illustration and the problem we are facing.

quiescent

adj. at rest; dormant After this geyser erupts, it will remain quiescent for twenty-four hours.

moribund

adj. at the point of death The doctors called the family to the bedside of the moribund patient.

offensive

adj. attacking; insulting; distasteful Getting into street brawls is no minor offense 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.

magisterial

adj. authoritative; imperious The learned doctor laid down the law to his patient in a magisterial tone of voice.

loath

adj. averse; reluctant They were both loath for him to go.

ungainly

adj. awkward He is an ungainly young man; he trips over everything.

unwieldy

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

quizzical

adj. bantering; comical; humorously serious Will Rogers' quizzical remarks endeared him to his audiences.

practical

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

ursine

adj. bearlike; pertaining to a bear Because of its ursine appearance, the great panda has been identified with the bears; actually, it is closely related to the raccoon.

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: Justin heard the tune everywhere he went.

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.

sanguinary

adj. bloody The battlewas unexpectedly sanguinary with many casualties.

obtuse

adj. blunt; stupid Because he was so obtuse, he could not follow the teacher's reasoning and asked foolish questions.

vaunted

adj. boasted; bragged; highly publicized This much vaunted project proved a disappointment when it collapsed.

magniloquent

adj. boastful, pompous In their stories of the trial, the reporters ridiculed the magniloquent speeches of the defense attorney.

vainglorious

adj. boastful; excessively conceited She was a vainglorious and arrogant individual.

obstreperous

adj. boisterous; noisy The crowd became obstreperous and shouted their disapproval of the proposals made by the speaker.

venturesome

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

stilted

adj. bombastic; stiffly pompous 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.

overbearing

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

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 His remarks are always succinct and pointed.

resplendent

adj. brilliant; lustrous The toreador wore a resplendent costume called a suit of lights.

voluminous

adj. bulky; large Despite her family burdens, she kept up a voluminous correspondence with her friends.

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 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 Gold is a malleable metal.

tensile

adj. capable of being stretched Mountain climbers must know the tensile strength of their ropes.

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.

viable

adj. capable of maintaining life; practicable; workable The infant, though prematurely born, is viable and has a good chance to survive.

whimsical

adj. capricious; fanciful He dismissed his generous gift to his college as a sentimental fancy, an old man's whimsical gesture.

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 costs, Great-Aunt Maud was offended by their offhand manner.

pestilential

adj. causing plague; baneful People were afraid to explore the pestilential swap.

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.

pivotal

adj. central; critical De Klerk's decision to set Nelson Mandela free was pivotal; without Mandela's release, there was no possibility that the African National Congress would entertain talks with the South African government.

volatile

adj. changeable; explosive; evaporating rapidly The political climate today is extremely volatile: no one can predict what the electorate will do next.

mutable

adj. changing in form; fickle His opinion were mutable and easily influenced by anyone who had any powers of persuasion.

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.

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 In his usual maladroit way, he managed to upset the cart and spill the food.

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.

pugnacious

adj. combative; disposed to fight As a child he was pugnacious and fought with everyone.

lateral

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

plebeian

adj. common; pertaining to the common people His speeches were aimed at the plebeian minds and emotions; they disgusted the more refined.

mercantile

adj. concerning trade I am more interested in the opportunities available in the mercantile field than I am in those in the legal profession.

terse

adj. concise; abrupt; pithy I admire his terse style of writing; he comes directly to the point.

pithy

adj. concise; meaty I enjoy reading his essays because they are always compact and pithy.

supercilious

adj. contemptuous; haughty I prefer Jill's modesty to Jack's supercilious and arrogant attitude.

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.

statutory

adj. created by statute or legislative action The judicial courts review and try statutory crimes.

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."

swarthy

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

opaque

adj. dark; not transparent The opaque window kept the sunlight out of the room.

profound

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

laborious

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

panoramic

adj. denoting 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 neighboring stretches of New Jersey and Long Island.

sacrilegious

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

malicious

adj. dictated by hatred or spite The malicious neighbor spread the gossip.

sedulous

adj. diligent The young woman was so sedulous that she received a commendation for her hard work.

squalid

adj. dirty; neglected; poor It is easy to see how crime can breed in such a squalid neighborhood.

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; with uncared-for appearance The beggar was dirty and unkempt.

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; licentious In this profligate company, she lost all sense of decency.

unsavory

adj. distasteful; morally offensive People with unsavory reputations should not be allowed to work with young children.

nondescript

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

stratified

adj. divided into classes; arranged into strata As the economic gap between the rich and the poor increased, Roman society grew increasingly stratified.

tractable

adj. docile You will find the children in this school very tractable and willing to learn.

nocturnal

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

latent

adj. dormant; hidden Her latent talent was discovered by accident.

pensive

adj. dreamily thoughtful; thoughtful with a hint of sadness The pensive youth gazed at the painting for a long time and then sighed.

repellent

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

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.

lackluster

adj. dull We were disappointed by the lackluster performance.

prosaic

adj. dull and unimaginative; matter-of-fact; factual Though the ad writers had come up with a highly creative campaign to publicize the company's newest product, the head office rejected it for a more prosaic, down-to-earth approach.

timid

adj. easily frightened; apprehensive When will this timid nation have the courage to dispense with British royalty?

queasy

adj. easily nauseated; squeamish As the ship left the harbor, he became queasy and thought that he was going to suffer from seasickness.

lucid

adj. easily understood; clear; intelligible Her explanation was lucid enough for a child to grasp.

omnivorous

adj. eating both plant and animal food; devouring everything Some animals, including humans, 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.

maudlin

adj. effusively sentimental I do not like such maudlin pictures. I call them tearjerkers.

ovoid

adj. egg-shaped At Easter she had to cut out hundreds of brightly colored ovoid shapes.

resilient

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

vacuous

adj. empty; lacking in ideas; stupid The candidate's vacuous remarks 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 puzzled art lovers for centuries.

prodigious

adj. enormous; marvelous He marveled at her prodigious appetite when he saw all the food she ate.

suppliant

adj. entreating; beseeching He could not resist the dog's suppliant whimpering, and he gave it some food.

tantamount

adj. equal Your ignoring their pathetic condition is tantamount to the murder.

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 perpetual youth.

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; noble; uplifting Mother Teresa has been honored for her sublime deeds.

superfluous

adj. excessive; overabundant, unnecessary Please try not to include so many superfluous details in your report; just give me the bare facts.

meticulous

adj. excessively careful He was meticulous in checking his accounts and never made mistakes.

uxorious

adj. excessively devoted to one's wife His friends laughed at him because he was so uxorious and submissive to his wife's desires.

obese

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

rapacious

adj. excessively grasping; plundering Hawks and other rapacious birds prey on variety of small animals.

ornate

adj. excessively or elaborately decorated Furniture of the Baroque period can be recognized by its ornate carvings.

politic

adj. expedient; prudent; well devised Even though he was disappointed, he did not think it politic to refuse the offer.

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 The juvenile delinquent is a potential murderer.

laudatory

adj. expressing praise The critics' laudatory comments helped to make her a star.

opulence

adj. extreme wealth; luxuriousness; abundance The glitter and opulence of the ballroom took Cinderella's breath away.

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.

prohibitive

adj. extremely high (of prices etc.) The super computer's price was prohibitive.

ravenous

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

stentorian

adj. extremely loud The town crier had stentorian voice.

virulent

adj. extremely poisonous The virus is highly virulent and has made many of us ill for days.

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.

minuscule

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

laxative

adj. facilitating evacuation of the bowels The effect of the constipation medicine is laxative; it empties the bowels.

spurious

adj. false; counterfeit; forged; illogical The hero of Jonathan Gash's mystery novels is an antique dealer who gives the reader advice on how to tell spurious antiques from the real things.

modish

adj. fashionable She always discarded all garments that were no longer modish.

jaded

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

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.

luxuriant

adj. fertile; abundant; ornate Farming was easy in this luxuriant soil.

mercurial

adj. fickle; changing He was of a mercurial temperament and therefore unpredictable.

replete

adj. filled to capacity; abundantly supplied The book is replete with humorous situations.

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 the ultimate truths.

spasmodic

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

meretricious

adj. flashy; tawdry; falsely attractive Her jewels were inexpensive but not meretricious.

limber

adj. flexible Hours of ballet classes kept him limber.

pliant

adj. flexible; easily influenced Catherine's disposition was pliant; she was like putty in her suitor's hands.

supple

adj. flexible; pliant The angler found a supple limb and used it as a fishing rod.

lithe

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

pliable

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

sleazy

adj. flimsy; unsubstantial This is a sleazy fabric; it will not wear well.

mellifluous

adj. flowing smoothly; smooth Italian is a mellifluous language.

voluble

adj. fluent; glib She was a voluble speaker, always ready to talk.

subsequent

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

witless

adj. foolish; idiotic Such witless and fatuous statements will create the impression that you are an ignorant individual.

paramount

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

oracular

adj. foretelling; mysterious Oedipus could not understand the oracular warning he received.

venial

adj. forgivable; trivial We may regard a hungry man's stealing as a venial crime.

redoubtable

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

noisome

adj. foul smelling; unwholesome I never could stand the noisome atmosphere surrounding the slaughter houses.

malodorous

adj. foul-smelling The component heap was most malodorous in summer.

putrid

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

redolent

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

querulous

adj. fretful; whining His classmates were repelled by his querulous and complaining statements.

porous

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

nugatory

adj. futile; worthless This agreement is nugatory for no court will enforce it.

unfeigned

adj. genuine; real She turned so pale that I am sure her surprise was unfeigned.

seminal

adj. germinal; influencing future developments; related to seed or semen Although Freud has generally been regarded as a seminal thinker who shaped the course of psychology, his psychoanalytic methods have come under attack recently.

spectral

adj. ghostly We were frightened by the spectral glow that filled the room.

vampire

adj. ghostly being that sucks the blood of the living Children were afraid to go to sleep at night because of the many legends of vampires.

mammoth

adj. gigantic The mammoth corporations of the twentieth century are a mixed blessing

titanic

adj. gigantic titanic waves beat against the shore during the hurricane.

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; gloomy These morbid speculations are dangerous; we must lighten our spirits by emphasizing more pleasant matters.

odoriferous

adj. giving off an odor The odoriferous spices stimulated her jaded appetite.

saturnine

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

somber

adj. gloomy; depressing From the doctor's grim expression, I could tell he had somber news.

jovial

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

somnolent

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

pendulous

adj. hanging; suspended The pendulous chandeliers swayed in the breeze as if they were about to fall from the ceiling.

slapdash

adj. haphazard; careless; sloppy From the number of typos and misspellings I've found on 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 His raucous laughter irritated me and grated on my ears.

odious

adj. hateful I find the task of punishing you most odious.

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 Even though your argument is plausible, I still would like to have more proof.

tendentious

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

malignant

adj. having an evil influence; virulent This is a malignant disease; we must have to use drastic measures to stop its spread.

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.

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 He was a versatile athlete; at college he had earned varsity letters in baseball, football, and track.

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.

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.

titular

adj. having the title of an office without the obligations Although he was the titular head of the company, the real decisions were made by his general manager.

precipitate

adj. headlong; rash Do not be precipitate in this matter; investigate further.

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 in study as he had a retentive mind.

quixotic

adj. idealistic but impractical His head is in the clouds; he is constantly presenting these quixotic schemes.

morose

adj. ill-humored; sullen When we first meet Hamlet, we find him morose and depressed.

unfledged

adj. immature It is hard for an unfledged writer to find a sympathetic publisher.

sophomoric

adj. immature; shallow Your sophomoric remarks are a sign of your youth and indicate that you have not given much thought to the problem.

pert

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

vehement

adj. impetuous; with marked vigor He spoke with vehement eloquence in defense of his client.

susceptible

adj. impressionable; easily influenced; having little resistance, as to a disease He was a very susceptible young man, and so his parents worried that he might fall into bad company.

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.

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.

prone

adj. inclined to; prostrate She was prone to sudden fits of anger.

partial

adj. incomplete In this issue we have published only a partial list of contributors because we lack space to acknowledge everyone.

unobtrusive

adj. inconspicuous; not blatant The secret service agents in charge of protecting the President tried to be as unobtrusive as possible.

mealymouthed

adj. indirect speech; hypocritical; evasive Rather than tell Jill directly what he disliked, Jack made a few mealymouthed comments and tried to change the subject.

tessellated

adj. inlaid; mosaic I recall seeing a table with a tessellated top of bits of stone and glass in a very interesting pattern.

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.

meddlesome

adj. interfering He felt his marriage was suffering 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.

prefatory

adj. introductory The chairman made a few prefatory remarks before he called on the first speaker.

withdrawn

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

opalescent

adj. iridescent The Ancient Mariner admired the opalescent sheen on the water.

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.

sagacious

adj. keen; shrewd; having insight He is much too sagacious to be fooled by a trick like that.

listless

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

spartan

adj. lacking 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.

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; precise We must be punctilious in our planning of this affair, for any error may be regarded as a personal affront.

livid

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

lavish

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

unfettered

adj. liberated; freed from chains Chained to the wall for months on end, the hostage despaired that he would ever be unfettered.

jaunty

adj. lighthearted; animated; easy and carefree In singing in the Rain, Gene Kelly sang and danced his way through the lighthearted title number 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.

vulpine

adj. like a fox; crafty She disliked his sly ways, but granted him a certain vulpine intelligence.

leonine

adj. like a lion He was leonine in his rage.

ligneous

adj. like wood Petrified wood may be ligneous in appearance, but it is stonelike in composition.

labile

adj. likely to change; unstable Because the hormonal changes they undergo affect their spirits, adolescents may become emotionally labile and experience sudden shifts of mood.

qualified

adj. limited; restricted Unable to give the candidate full support, the mayor gave him only a qualified endorsement.

stygian

adj. literary dark The stygian room reminded him of an empty space.

vivacious

adj. lively or animated; sprightly She had always been vivacious and sparkling.

skittish

adj. lively; frisky She is as skittish as a kitten playing with a piece of string.

rousing

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

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.

lank

adj. long and thin lank, gaunt, Abraham Lincoln was a striking figure.

retrospective

adj. looking back on the past It is only when we become retrospective that we can appreciate the tremendous advances made during this century.

strident

adj. loud and harsh She scolded him in a strident voice

nether

adj. lower Tradition locates hell in the nether regions.

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.

lascivious

adj. lustful Because they might arouse lascivious impulses in their readers, the lewd books were banned by the clergy.

lewd

adj. lustful They found his lewd stories objectionable.

libidinous

adj. lustful They objected to his libidinous behavior.

supine

adj. lying on back The defeated pugilist lay supine on the canvas.

mendacious

adj. lying; false He was pathological liar, and his friends learned to discount his mendacious stories.

rarefied

adj. made less dense [of a gas] The mountain climbers had difficulty breathing in the rarefied atmosphere.

uproarious

adj. marked by commotion; extremely funny; very noisy The uproarious comedy hit Home Alone featured Macaulay Culkin, whose mugging and comic antics provoked gales of uproarious laughter from audiences coast to coast.

striated

adj. marked with parallel bands; grooved The glacier left many striated rocks.

nubile

adj. marriageable Mrs. Bennet, in Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, was worried about finding suitable husbands for her five nubile daughters.

monumental

adj. massive Writing a dictionary is a monumental task.

scanty

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

niggardly

adj. meanly stingy; parsimonious The niggardly pittance the widow receives from the government cannot keep her from poverty.

officious

adj. meddlesome; excessively pushy in offering one's services After her long flight, Jill just wanted to nap, but the officious bellboy was intent on showing her all the special features of the deluxe suite.

molten

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

minatory

adj. menacing; threatening Jabbing a minatory forefinger at Dorothy, the Wicked Witch cried, "I'll get you, and your little dog, too!"

jocund

adj. merry Santa Claus is always vivacious and jocund.

waggish

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

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 cartoonists Gary Trudeau often is satirical; though 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.

stagnant

adj. motionless; stale; dull The stagnant water was a breeding ground for disease.

mercenary

adj. motivated solely by money or gain "I'm not in this war because I get my kicks waving flags," said the mercenary soldier. "I'm in it for the dough."

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.

turbid

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

reciprocal

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

occult

adj. mysterious; secret; supernatural The occult rites of the organization were revealed only to members.

runic

adj. mysterious; set down in an ancient alphabet Tolkien's use of Old English words and inscriptions in the runic alphabet give The Lord of the Rings its atmosphere of antiquity.

parochial

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

sectarian

adj. narrow-minded; limited in scope As university chaplain, she sought to address universal religious issues and not limit herself to mere sectarian concerns.

myopic

adj. nearsighted In thinking only of your present needs and ignoring the future, you are being rather myopic.

spruce

adj. neat and trim Every button buttoned, tie firmly in place, young Alex Keaton looked spruce and tidy for his job interview at the bank.

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 He was accused of being remiss in his duty when the prisoner escaped.

outmoded

adj. no 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.

marked

adj. noticeable; targeted for vengeance He walked with a marked limp, a souvenir of an old IRA attack. As British ambassador, he knew he was a marked man.

unprecedented

adj. novel; unparalleled Margaret Mitchell's book Gone with the Wind was an unprecedented success.

manifold

adj. numerous; varied I cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciate your manifold kindnesses.

mandatory

adj. obligatory These instructions are mandatory; any violation will be severely punished.

scurrilous

adj. obscene; indecent Your scurrilous remarks are especially offensive because they are untrue.

recalcitrant

adj. obstinately stubborn Donkeys are reputed to be the most recalcitrant of animals.

recurrent

adj. occurring again and again These recurrent attacks disturbed us and we consulted a physician.

sporadic

adj. occurring irregularly Although there are still sporadic outbursts of shooting in the streets, the rebellion is essentially over.

subjective

adj. occurring or taking place within the mind; 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.

piebald

adj. of different colors; mottled; spotted You should be able to identify Polka Dot in this race; he is the only piebald horse running.

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".

passe

adj. old-fashioned; past the prime Her style is passe and reminiscent of the Victorian era.

terrestrial

adj. on or relating to the earth We have been able to explore the terrestrial regions much more thoroughly than the aquatic or celestial regions.

unilateral

adj. one-sided This legislation is unilateral since it binds only one party in the controversy.

partisan

adj. one-sided; prejudiced; committed to a party On certain issues of conscience, she refused to take a partisan stand.

patent

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

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.

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.

pathological

adj. pertaining to disease As we study the pathological aspects of this disease, we must not overlook the psychological elements.

thespian

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

seismic

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

valedictory

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

piscatorial

adj. pertaining to fishing He spent many happy hours at the lake in his piscatorial activities.

thermal

adj. pertaining to heat The natives discovered that the host springs gave excellent thermal baths and began to develop their community as a health resort.

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.

psychopathic

adj. pertaining to mental derangement The psychopathic patient suffers more frequently from a disorder of the nervous system than from a diseased brain.

pecuniary

adj. pertaining to money I never expected a pecuniary reward for my work in this activity.

monetary

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

vitreous

adj. pertaining to or resembling glass Although this plastic has many vitreous qualities such as transparency, it is unbreakable.

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.

vernal

adj. pertaining to spring We may expect vernal showers all during the month of April.

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.

somatic

adj. pertaining to the body; physical Why do you ignore the spiritual aspects and emphasize only the corporeal and the somatic ones?

pulmonary

adj. pertaining to the lungs In his researches on pulmonary diseases, he discovered many facts about the lungs of animals and human beings.

lunar

adj. pertaining to the moon lunar craters can be 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.

sylvan

adj. pertaining to the woods; rustic His paintings of nymphs in sylvan backgrounds were criticized as oversentimental.

relevant

adj. pertinent; referring to the case in hand Teri was impressed by how relevant Virginia Woolf's remarks were to her as a woman writer; it was as if Woolf had been writing with Teri's situation in mind.

unequivocal

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

perspicuous

adj. plainly expressed Her perspicuous comments eliminated all possibility of misinterpretation.

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.

luscious

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

predatory

adj. plundering The hawk is a predatory bird.

toxic

adj. poisonous We must seek an antidote for whatever toxic substance he has eaten.

permeable

adj. porous; allowing passage through Glass is permeable to light.

potent

adj. powerful; persuasive; greatly influential The jury was swayed by the highly potent testimony of the crime's sole eyewitness.

puissant

adj. powerful; strong; potent We must keep his friendship for he will make a puissant ally.

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.

laudable

adj. praiseworthy; commendable His laudable deeds will be remarked by all whom he aided.

precedent

adj. preceding in time, rank, etc. Our discussions, precedent to this event, certainly did not give you any reason to believe that we would adopt your proposal.

overweening

adj. presumptuous; arrogant His overweening pride in his accomplishments was not justified.

visionary

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

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 that is more appropriate at 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 marry her daughter.

sibylline

adj. prophetic; oracular Until their destruction by fire in 83 B.C., the sibylline books were often consulted by the Romans.

tutelary

adj. protective; pertaining to a guardianship I am acting in my tutelary capacity when I refuse to grant you permission to leave the campus.

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.

tentative

adj. provisional; experimental Your tentative plans sound plausible; let me know when the final details are worked out.

punitive

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

platonic

adj. purely spiritual; theoretical; without sensual desire Accused of impropriety in his dealings with female students, the professor maintained he had only a platonic interest in the women involved.

obtrusive

adj. pushing forward I found her a very obtrusive person, constantly seeking the center of the stage.

septic

adj. putrid; producing putrefaction The hospital was in such a filthy state that we were afraid that many of the patients would suffer from septic poisoning.

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.

voracious

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

maniacal

adj. raving mad His maniacal laughter frightened us.

rampant

adj. rearing up on hind legs; unrestrained The rampant weeds in the garden killed all the flowers that had been planted in the spring.

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; retrograde His program was reactionary since it sought to abolish many of the social reforms instituted by the previous administration.

ruddy

adj. reddish; healthy-looking His ruddy features indicated that he had spent much time in the open.

rueful

adj. regretful; sorrowful; dejected The artist has captured the sadness of childhood in his portrait of the boy with the rueful countenance.

nuptial

adj. related to marriage Their nuptial ceremony was performed in Golden Gate Park.

monastic

adj. related to monks Wanting to live a religious life, he took his monastic vows.

narrative

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

kindred

adj. related; similar in nature or character Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn were two kindred spirits.

thematic

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

schematic

adj. relating to an outline or diagram; using a system of symbols In working out the solution to an analytical logic question, you may find it helpful to construct a simple schematic diagram illustrating the relationships between the items of information given in the question.

spatial

adj. relating to space It is difficult to visualize the spatial extent of our universe.

sidereal

adj. relating to the stars Although hampered by optical and mechanical flaws, the orbiting Hubble space telescope has relayed extraordinary images of distant sidereal bodies.

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.

sedentary

adj. requiring sitting Because he had a sedentary occupation, he decided to visit a gymnasium weekly.

reticent

adj. reserved; uncommunicative; inclined to silence Hughes preferred reticent employees to loquacious ones, noting that the formers' dislike of idle chatter might ensure their discretion about his affairs.

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 His reverent attitude was appropriate in a house of worship.

restive

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

temperate

adj. restrained; self-controlled Noted for his temperate appetite, he seldom gained weight.

superannuated

adj. retired or disqualified because of age The superannuated man was indignant because he felt that he could still perform a good day's work.

vindictive

adj. revengeful She was very vindictive and never forgave an injury.

ramshackle

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

resurgent

adj. rising again after defeat, etc. The resurgent nation surprised everyone by its quick recovery after total defeat.

roseate

adj. rosy; optimistic I am afraid you will have to alter your roseate views in the light of the distressing news that has just arrived.

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 Do not take my jocular remarks seriously.

saline

adj. salty The slightly saline taste of this mineral water is pleasant.

surreptitious

adj. secret News of their surreptitious meeting gradually leaked out.

privy

adj. secret; hidden; not public We do not care for privy chamber of government.

specious

adj. seemingly reasonable but incorrect Let us not be misled by such specious arguments.

touchy

adj. sensitive; irascible Do not discuss this phase of the problem as he is very touchy about it.

premonitory

adj. serving to warn You should have visited a doctor as soon as you felt these premonitory chest pains.

mangy

adj. shabby; wretched We finally thew out the mangy rug that the dog had destroyed.

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 gave a touch of beauty to an otherwise drab face.

luminous

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

painstaking

adj. showing hard work; taking great 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 Leaving his decisions with humorous, down-to-earth anecdotes, Judge Walker was not at all pedantic legal scholar.

ostentatious

adj. showy; pretentious; trying to attract attention Trump's latest casino in Atlantic City is the most ostentatious gambling place in the East: it easily outglitters its competitors.

mawkish

adj. sickening; insipid Your mawkish sighs fill me with disgust.

muted

adj. silent; muffled; toned down In the funeral parlor, the mourners' voices had a muted quality.

synchronous

adj. similarly timed; simultaneous with We have many examples of scientists in different parts of the world who have made synchronous discoveries.

ulterior

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

oblique

adj. slanting; deviating from the perpendicular or from a straight line The sergeant ordered the men to march "oblique right."

servile

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

obsequious

adj. slavishly attentive; servile; sycophantic Helen valued people who behaved as if they respected themselves; nothing irritated her more than an excessively obsequious waiter or a fawning salesclerk.

soporific

adj. sleep producing I do not need a sedative when I listen to one of his soporific speeches.

sluggish

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

laggard

adj. slow; sluggish The sailor had been taught not to be laggard in carrying out orders.

negligible

adj. so small, trifling, or unimportant as to 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.

perennial

adj. something long-lasting These plants are hardy perennials and will bloom for many years.

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.

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.

mottled

adj. spotted When he blushed, his face took on a mottled hue.

maculated

adj. spotted; stained Instead of writing that Gorbachev had a birthmark on his forehead, the pompous young poet sang of the former premier's maculated brow.

pervasive

adj. spread throughout Despite airing them for several hours, she could not rid her clothes of the pervasive odor of mothballs that clung to them.

musty

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

unfaltering

adj. steadfast She approached the guillotine with unfaltering steps.

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.

viscous

adj. sticky, gluey Melted tar is a viscous substance.

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.

parsimonious

adj. stingy; excessively frugal His parsimonious nature did not permit him to enjoy any luxuries.

miserly

adj. stingy; mean The miserly old man hoarded his coins not out of prudence but out of greed.

penurious

adj. stingy; parsimonious He was a penurious man, averse to spending money even for the necessities of life.

squat

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

portly

adj. stout; corpulent The salesclerk tactfully referred to the overweight customer as portly rather than fat.

uncanny

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

vagrant

adj. stray; random He tried to study, but could not collect his vagrant thoughts.

stalwart

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

obdurate

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

obstinate

adj. stubborn We tried to persuade him to give up smoking, but he was obstinate and refused to change.

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 unacceptable When Hannibal Lecter was in a perverse mood, he ate the flesh of his victims.

stodgy

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

rakish

adj. stylish; sporty He wore his hat at a rakish and jaunty angle.

urbane

adj. suave; refined; elegant The courtier was urbane and sophisticated

meek

adj. submissive; patient and long-suffering Mr. Barrett never expected his meek daughter would dare to defy him by eloping with her suitor.

subsidiary

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

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.

menial

adj. suitable for servants; low I cannot understand why a person of your ability and talent should engage in such menial activities.

pertinent

adj. suitable; to the point The lawyer wanted to know all the pertinent details.

perfunctory

adj. superficial; not thorough; lacking interest, care, or enthusiasm The auditor's perfunctory inspection of the books overlooked many errors.

redundant

adj. superfluous; excessively wordy; repetitious Your composition is redundant; you can easily reduce its length.

supererogatory

adj. superfluous; more than needed or demanded We have more than enough witnesses to corroborate your statement; to present any more would be supererogatory.

reputed

adj. supposed He is the reputed father of the child.

putative

adj. supposed; reputed Although there are some doubts, the putative author of this work is Massinger.

vulnerable

adj. susceptible to wounds Achilles was vulnerable only in his heel.

leery

adj. suspicious; cautious Don't eat sushi at this restaurant; I'm a bit leery about how fresh it is.

sultry

adj. sweltering He could not adjust himself to the sultry climate of the tropics.

meteoric

adj. swift; momentarily brilliant We all wondered at his meteoric rise to fame.

turgid

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

tumid

adj. swollen; pompous; bombastic I especially dislike his tumid style; I prefer writing which is less swollen and bombastic.

methodical

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

retroactive

adj. taking effect before its enactment (as a law) or imposition (as a tax) Because the new pension law was retroactive to the first of the year, even though Martha had retired in February she was eligible for the pension.

loquacious

adj. talkative She is very loquacious and can speak on the telephone for hours.

palpable

adj. tangible; easily perceptible I cannot understand how you could overlook such a palpable blunder.

savory

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

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 The appointment is provisional; only on the approval of the board of directors will it be made permanent.

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; let us hope they will remain loyal.

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.

tertiary

adj. third He is so thorough that he analyzes tertiary causes where other writers are content with primary and secondary reasons.

ominous

adj. threatening Those clouds are ominous; they suggest that 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 You have come at an opportune moment for I need a new secretary.

petulant

adj. touchy; peevish The feverish patient was petulant and restless.

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.

pellucid

adj. transparent; limpid; easy to understand After reading these stodgy philosophers, I find his pellucid style very enjoyable.

perfidious

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

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.

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.

veracious

adj. truthful I can recommend him for this position because I have always found him veracious and reliable.

wry

adj. twisted; with a humorous twist We enjoy Dorothy Parker's verse for its wry wit.

unsightly

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

unwonted

adj. unaccustomed He hesitated to assume the unwonted role of master of ceremonies at the dinner.

unprepossessing

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

unseemly

adj. unbecoming; indecent Your levity is unseemly at this time of mourning.

precarious

adj. uncertain; risky I think this stock is a precarious investment and advise against its purchase.

static

adj. unchanging; lacking development Nothing had changed at home; things were static there

manifest

adj. understandable; clear His evil intentions were manifest and yet we could not stop him.

tacit

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

untoward

adj. unfortunate; annoying Untoward circumstances prevent me from being with you on this festive occasion.

unintimidating

adj. unfrightening Though Phil had expected to feel overawed when he met Joe Montana, he found the experience unintimidating and relaxing.

unscathed

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

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.

unwarranted

adj. unjustified; groundless; undeserved We could not understand Martin's unwarranted rudeness to his mother's guests.

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, Sara accused Sheldon of making an unfounded, wanton attack.

mutinous

adj. unruly; rebellious The captain had to use force to quiet his mutinous crew.

unassuaged

adj. unsatisfied; not soothed Her anger is unassuaged by your apology.

slovenly

adj. untidy; slipshod Such slovenly work habits will never produce good products.

prophylactic

adj. used to prevent disease Despite all prophylactic measures introduced by the authorities, the epidemic raged until cool weather set in.

wistful

adj. vaguely longing; sadly pensive 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.

sundry

adj. various; several My suspicions were aroused when I read sundry items in the newspapers about your behavior.

prolix

adj. verbose; drawn out Her prolix arguments irritated and bored the jury.

wary

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

pernicious

adj. very destructive, harmful He argued that these books had a pernicious effect on young and susceptible minds.

munificent

adj. very generous The munificent gift was presented to the bride by her rich uncle.

momentous

adj. very important On this momentous occasion, we must be very solemn.

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.

nefarious

adj. very wicked He was universally feared because of his many nefarious deeds.

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 The candidate for the football team had a robust physique.

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.

peripatetic

adj. walking about; moving The peripatetic school of philosophy derives its name from the fact that Aristotle walked with his pupils while discussing philosophy with them.

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.

licentious

adj. wanton; lewd; dissolute The licentious monarch helped bring about his country's downfall.

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 was always inspiring to the young poet.

muggy

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

prodigal

adj. wasteful; reckless with money The prodigal son squandered his inheritance.

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.

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 The lurid stories he told shocked his listeners.

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.

serpentine

adj. winding; twisting The car swerved at every curve in the serpentine road.

malevolent

adj. wishing evil We must thwart his malevolent schemes.

wizened

adj. withered; shriveled The wizened old man in the home for the aged was still active and energetic.

unique

adj. without an equal; single in kind You have the unique distinction of being the first 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.

verbatim

adj. word for word He repeated the message verbatim.

verbose

adj. wordy This article is too verbose; we must edit it.

mundane

adj. worldly as opposed to spiritual He was concerned only with mundane matters, especially the daily stock market quotations.

secular

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

solicitous

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

jaundiced

adj. yellowed; prejudiced; envious She gazed at the painting with jaundiced eyes; she knew it was better than hers.

sallow

adj. yellowish; sickly in color We were disturbed by his sallow complexion, which was due to jaundice.

submissive

adj. yielding; timid Crushed by his authoritarian father, Will had no defiance left in him; he was totally submissive in the face of authority.

pell-mell

adv. in confusion; disorderly The excited students dashed pell-mell into the stadium to celebrate the victory.

unerringly

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

toga

n. Roman outer robe Marc Antony pointed to the slashes in Caesar's toga.

saga

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

psychiatrist

n. a doctor who treats mental diseases A psychiatrist often needs long conferences with his patient before a diagnosis can be made.

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."

minion

n. a servile dependent He was always accompanied by several of his minions because he enjoyed their subservience and flattery.

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.

plasticity

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

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.

motility

n. ability to move spontaneously Certain organisms exhibit remarkable motility; motile spores, for example, may travel for miles before coming to rest.

plenitude

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

spoonerism

n. accidental transposition of sounds in successive words When the radio announcer introduced the President as Hoobert Herver, he was guilty of spoonerism.

vivisection

n. act of dissecting living animals The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals opposed vivisection and deplored the practice of using animals in scientific experiments.

repulsion

n. act of driving back; distaste The repulsion of the enemy forces was not accomplished bloodlessly; many of the defenders were wounded in driving the enemy back.

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.

vigor

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

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 suffragist Susan B. Anthony.

truculence

n. aggressiveness; ferocity Tynan's reviews were noted for their caustic attacks and general tone of truculence.

succor

n. aid; assistance; relief We shall be ever grateful for the succor our country gave us when we were in need.

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 rider to 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.

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.

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 The addition of a second tower will give this edifice the symmetry that it now lacks.

rhetoric

n. art of effective communication; insincere or grandiloquent 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.

sluice

n. artificial channel for directing or controlling the flow of water In times of drought, this sluice enables farmers to obtain water for irrigation.

sophistication

n. artificiality; unnaturalness; act of employing sophistry in reasoning Sophistication is an acquired characteristic, found more frequently among city dwellers than among residents of rural areas.

premise

n. assumption; postulate Because Jack had based his argument upon a faulty premise, his opponent cheerfully pointed out the holes in his logic.

proxy

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

nib

n. beak; pen point The nibs of fountain pens often become clotted and corroded.

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 From the moment we left the ship, we were surrounded by mendicants and peddlers.

novice

n. beginner Even a novice can do good work if he follows these simple directions.

tyro

n. beginner; novice For a mere tyro, you have produced some marvelous results.

monotheism

n. belief in one God Abraham was the first to proclaim his belief in monotheism.

pessimism

n. belief that life is basically bad or evil; gloominess The good news we have been receiving lately indicates that there is little reason for your pessimism.

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.

rancor

n. bitterness; hatred Let us forget out rancor and cooperate in this new endeavor.

necromancy

n. black magic; dealings with the dead Because he was able to perform feats of necromancy, the natives thought he was in league with the devil.

obsidian

n. black volcanic rock The deposits of obsidian on the mountain slopes were an indication that volcano had erupted in ancient times.

reproach

n. blame; censure I want my work to be above reproach and without error

vendetta

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

palette

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

regatta

n. boat or yacht race Many boating enthusiasts followed the regatta in their own yachts.

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.

tedium

n. boredom; weariness We hope this radio will help overcome the tedium of your stay in the hospital.

obeisance

n. bow She made an obeisance as the king and queen entered the room.

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.

rationalization

n. bringing into conformity with reason All attempts at rationalization at this time are doomed to failure; tempers and emotions run too high for intelligent thought to prevail.

spatula

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

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.

sedative

n. calming drug or influence It is dangerous to drive after taking the sedative; it brings drowsiness.

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 serenity of the sleepy town was shattered by a tremendous explosion.

taper

n. candle He lit the taper on the windowsill.

vagary

n. caprice; whim She followed every vagary of fashion.

negligence

n. carelessness negligence can prove costly near complicated machinery.

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.

luminary

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

mace

n. ceremonial staff; clublike medieval weapon The Grand Marshal of the parade raised his mace to signal that it was time for the procession to begin.

ordination

n. ceremony conferring holy orders The candidate for ordination had to meet with the bishop and the diocesan officers before being judged ready to be ordained a deacon.

metamorphosis

n. change of form The metamorphosis of caterpillar to butterfly is typical of many such changes in animal life.

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.

swindler

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

prelate

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

rotunda

n. circular building or hall covered with a dome His body lay in state in the rotunda of the Capitol.

talon

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

perspicuity

n. clearness of expression; freedom from ambiguity One of the outstanding features of this book is the perspicuity of its author; her meaning is always clear.

repartee

n. clever reply He was famous for his witty repartee and his sarcasm.

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 The delivery boy is an awkward lout.

spectrum

n. colored band produced when a 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.

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.

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 criticizes Lydia for being "as headstrong as an allegory on the banks of the Nile," she confuses "allegory" and "allegator" in a typical malapropism.

travesty

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

unanimity

n. complete agreement We were surprised by the unanimity with which our proposals were accepted by the different groups.

narcissist

n. conceited person A narcissist is his own best friend.

nexus

n. connection I fail to see the nexus that binds these two widely separated events.

solecism

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

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.

restraint

n. controlling force She dreamt of living an independent life, free of all restraints.

polemic

n. controversy; argument in support of point of view Her essays were, for the main part, polemics for the party's policy.

replica

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

orthography

n. correct spelling Many of us find English orthography difficult to master because so many of our words are written phonetically.

perversion

n. corruption; turning from right to wrong Inasmuch as he had no motive for his crimes, we could not understand his perversion.

mentor

n. counselor; teacher During this very trying period, she could not have had a better mentor, for the teacher was sympathetic and understanding.

recrimination

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

yokel

n. country bumpkin At school, his classmates regarded him as a yokel and laughed at his rustic mannerisms.

pluck

n. courage Even the adversaries of young Indiana Jones were impressed by the boy's pluck in trying to rescue the archeological treasure they had stolen.

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.

tribunal

n. court of justice The decision of the tribunal was final and the prisoner was sentenced to death.

machiavellian

n. crafty; double-dealing I do not think he will be a good embassador because he is not accustomed to the machiavellian maneuverings of foreign diplomats.

malefactor

n. criminal We must try to bring these malefactors to justice.

juncture

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

stricture

n. critical comments; severe and adverse criticism His strictures on the author's style are prejudiced and unwarranted.

throng

n. crowd Throngs of shoppers jammed the aisles.

panacea

n. cure-all; remedy for all diseases There is no easy panacea that will solve our complicated international situation.

malediction

n. curse The witch uttered maledictions against her captors.

wont

n. custom; habitual procedure As was his wont, he jogged two miles every morning before going to work.

mores

n. customs The mores of Mexico are those of Spain with some modifications.

perdition

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

murkiness

n. darkness; gloom The murkiness and fog of the waterfront that evening depressed me.

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.

obituary

n. death notice I first learned of her death when I read the obituary in the newspaper.

libertine

n. debauched person, roue Although she was aware of his reputation as a libertine, she felt she could reform him and help him break his dissolute way of life.

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.

tureen

n. deep dish for serving soup The waiters brought the soup to the tables in silver tureens.

slander

n. defamation; utterance of false and malicious statements Unless you can prove your allegations, your remarks constitute slander.

rampart

n. defensive mound on earth "From the ramparts we watched" as the fighting continued.

respite

n. delay in punishment; interval of relief; rest The judge granted the condemned man a respite to enable his attorneys to file an appeal.

negation

n. denial I must accept his argument since you have been unable to present any negation of his evidence.

nihilism

n. denial of traditional values; total skepticism nihilism holds that existence has no meaning.

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.

resolution

n. determination Nothing could shake his resolution to succeed despite all difficulties.

resolve

n. determination Nothing could shake his resolve that his children would get the best education that money could buy.

piety

n. devoutness; reverence for God Living her life in prayer and good works, Mother Teresa exemplifies the true spirit of piety.

sleight

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

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.

rebate

n. discount We offer a rebate of ten percent to those who pay cash.

virus

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

skulduggery

n. dishonest behavior The investigation into municipal corruption turned up new instances of skulduggery daily.

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.

tribulation

n. distress; suffering After all the trials and tribulations we have gone through, we need this rest.

stanza

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

severance

n. division; partition; separation The severance of church and state is a basic principle of our government.

schism

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

vertigo

n. dizziness We test potential plane pilots for susceptibility to spells of vertigo.

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 Lsolde drink a love potion in the first act of the opera.

skeptic

n. doubter; person who suspends judgment until he has examined the evidence supporting a point of view. In this matter, I am a skeptic; I want proof.

misgivings

n. doubts Hamlet described his misgivings to Horatio but decided to fence with Laertes despite his foreboding of evil.

oratorio

n. dramatic poem set to music The Glee Club decided to present an oratorio during their recital.

liability

n. drawback; debts Her lack of an extensive vocabulary was a liability that she was able to overcome.

provender

n. dry food; fodder I am afraid of a severe winter because I have stored a large quantity of provender for the cattle.

stolidity

n. dullness; impassiveness The earthquake shattered his usual stolidity; trembling, he crouched on the no longer stable ground.

zeal

n. eager enthusiasm Wang's zeal was contagious; soon all his fellow students were busily making posters, inspired by his ardent enthusiasm for the cause.

levee

n. earthen or stone embankment to prevent flooding As the river rose and threatened to overflow the levee, emergency workers rushed to reinforce the walls with sandbags.

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.

libido

n. emotional urges behind human activity The psychiatrist maintained that suppression of the libido often resulted in maladjustment and neuroses.

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 Placido Domingo came on stage in the first act of La Boheme, he was greeted by a tremendous ovation.

milieu

n. environment; means of expression His milieu is watercolors, although he has produced excellent oil paintings and lithographs.

parity

n. equality; close resemblance I find your analogy inaccurate because I do not see the parity between the two illustrations.

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.

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 or proper person The X-rated film was definitely not for prudes.

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 those days of inflated prices, my salary provided mere subsistence.

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.

jeopardy

n. exposure to death or danger Legally, one cannot be placed in double jeopardy.

tirade

n. extended scolding; denunciation Long before he had finished his tirade, we were sufficiently aware of the seriousness of our misconduct.

pterodactyl

n. extinct flying reptile The remains of pterodactyls indicate that these flying reptiles had a wingspan of as much as twenty feet.

penury

n. extreme poverty When his pension fund failed, George feared he would end his days in penury.

jingoism

n. extremely aggressive and militant patriotism We must be careful to prevent a spirit of jingoism from spreading at this time.

physiognomy

n. face He prided himself on his ability to analyze a person's character by studying his physiognomy.

visage

n. face; appearance The stern visage of the judge indicated that she had decided to impose a severe penalty.

philanderer

n. faithless lover; flirt Swearing he had never so much as looked at another woman, Jack assured Jill he was no philanderer.

windfall

n. fallen fruit; unexpected lucky event This huge tax refund is quite a windfall.

perjury

n. false testimony while under oath When several witnesses appeared to challenge his story, he was indicted for perjury.

renown

n. fame For many years an unheralded researcher, Barbara McClintock gained international renown when she won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine.

zealot

n. fanatic; person who shows excessive zeal It is good to have a few zealots in our group for their enthusiasm is contagious.

kismet

n. fate kismet is the Arabic word for "fate".

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; trembling agitation We must face the enemy without trepidation if we are to win this battle.

lineaments

n. features, especially of the face She quickly sketched the lineaments of his face.

vixen

n. female fox; ill-tempered woman Aware that she was right once again, he lost his temper and called her a shrew and a vixen.

melee

n. fight The captain tried to ascertain the cause of the melee that had broken out among the crew members.

purchase

n. firm grasp or footing The mountaineer struggled to get a proper purchase on the slippery rock.

tenacity

n. firmness; persistency; adhesiveness It is extremely difficult to overcome the tenacity of a habit such as smoking.

tantrum

n. fit of petulance; caprice The child learned that he could have almost anything if he went into tantrums.

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 I want you to behave at this dinner with propriety; don't embarrass me.

moodiness

n. fits of depression or gloom We could not discover the cause of her recurrent moodiness.

obsession

n. fixed idea; continued brooding This obsession with the supernatural has made him unpopular with his neighbors.

panache

n. flair; flamboyance Many performers imitate Noel Coward, but few have his panache and sense of style.

sherbet

n. flavored dessert ice I prefer raspberry sherbet to ice cream since it is less fattening.

parquet

n. floor made of wood strips inlaid in a mosaic-like pattern. In laying the floor, the carpenters combined redwood and oak in an elegant parquet.

retinue

n. following; attendants The queen's retinue followed her down the aisle.

victuals

n. food I am very happy to be able to provide you with these victuals; I know you are hungry.

viand

n. food There was a variety of viands at the feast.

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.

portend

n. foretell; presage The king did not know what these omens might portend and asked his soothsayers to interpret them.

premonition

n. forewarning We ignored these premonitions of disaster because they appeared to be based on childish fears.

oblivion

n. forgetfulness Her work had fallen into a state of oblivion; no one bothered to read them.

polity

n. form of government of nation or state Our polity should be devoted to the concept that the government should strive for the good of all citizens.

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 human folly.

panegyric

n. formal praise The modest hero blushed to hear the speakers delivering panegyrics about his valorous act.

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.

rubble

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

latitude

n. freedom from narrow limitations I think you have permitted your son too much latitude in this matter.

outskirts

n. fringes; outer borders Living outskirts of Boston, Sarah sometimes felt as if she were cut off from the cultural heart of the city.

obsequy

n. funeral ceremony Hundreds paid their last respects at his obsequies.

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.

magnanimity

n. generosity Noted for his magnanimity, philanthropist Eugene Lang donated millions to charity.

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.

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 there 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.

virtue

n. goodness; moral excellence; good quality A virtue carried to extremes can turn into something resembling vice; humility, for example, can degenerate into servility and spinelessness.

oligarchy

n. government by a few The feudal oligarchy was supplanted by an autocracy.

theocracy

n. government of a community by religious leaders Some Pilgrims favored the establishment of a theocracy in New England.

monarchy

n. government under a single hereditary ruler with varying degrees of power England today remains a monarchy.

magnitude

n. greatness; extent It is difficult to comprehend the magnitude of his crime.

verdigris

n. green coating on copper which has been exposed to the weather Despite all attempts to protect the statue from the elements, it became coated with verdigris.

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.

lechery

n. gross lewdness; lustfulness In his youth he led a life of lechery and debauchery; he did not mend his ways until middle age.

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 and cholesterol were for our health.

junta

n. group of persons 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.

trilogy

n. group of three works Romain Rolland's novel Jean Christophe was first published as a trilogy.

warranty

n. guarantee; assurance by seller The purchaser of this automobile is protected by the manufacturer's warranty that he 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 persons serving second and third terms indicates the failure of the prisons to rehabilitate the inmates.

satyr

n. half-human, half-bestial being in the court of Dionysus, portrayed as wanton and cunning He was like a satyr in his lustful conduct.

snicker

n. half-stifled laugh The boy could not suppress a snicker when the teacher sat on the tack.

tilter

n. handle used to move the boat's rudder (to steer) Fearing the wind might shift suddenly and capsize the skiff, Tom kept one hand on the tilter at all times.

pendant

n. hanging down from something Her pendant earrings glistened in the light.

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 erythromycin tablets; the control group received only placebos.

severity

n. harshness; plainness The newspapers disapproved of the severity of the sentence.

misogynist

n. hater of women She accused him of being a misogynist because he had been a bachelor all his life.

misogamy

n. hatred of marriage He remained a bachelor not because of misogamy but because of ill fate: his fiancee died before the wedding.

promontory

n. headland They erected a lighthouse on the promontory to warn approaching ships of their nearness to the shore.

pyre

n. heap of combustible material, esp. for burning a corpse. The mortician put pyre on the corpse before burning a corpse.

recluse

n. hermit The recluse lived in a hut in the forest.

potpourri

n. heterogeneous mixture; medley He offered a potpourri of folk songs from many lands.

prodigy

n. highly gifted child; marvel Menuhin was a prodigy, performing wonders on his violin when he was barely eight years old.

virtuoso

n. highly skilled artist The child prodigy Yehudi Menuhin grew into a virtuoso whose virtuosity on the violin thrilled millions.

tenure

n. holding of an office; time during which such an office is held He was 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.

vagrant

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

nostalgia

n. homesickness; longing for the past The first settlers found so much work to do that they had little time for nostalgia.

kudos

n. honor; glory; praise The singer complacently received kudos on his performance from his entourage.

parody

n. humorous imitation; travesty We enjoyed the clever parodies of popular songs that the chorus sang.

supposition

n. hypothesis; surmise I based my decision to confide in him on the supposition that he would be discreet.

mischance

n. ill luck By mischance, he lost his week's salary.

paramour

n. illicit lover She sought a divorce on the grounds that her husband had a paramour in another town.

utopia

n. imaginary land with perfect social and political system Shangri-la was the name of James Hilton's Tibetan utopia.

mimicry

n. imitation Her gift for mimicry was so great that her friends said that she should be in the theater.

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 or that composer; it is rather, reminiscent of many musicians.

transitoriness

n. impermanence Conscious that all things pass, the psalmist relates the transitoriness of happiness and fame.

metaphor

n. implied comparison "He soared like an eagle" is an example of a simile; "He is an eagle in flight," is a metaphor.

prestige

n. impression produced by achievements or reputation The wealthy man sought to obtain social prestige by contributing to popular charities.

spontaneity

n. impulsiveness; absence of premeditation What I liked best about Dale's parties was their spontaneity: a couple of friends would drop by, someone would pull out a fiddle or guitar, and before you knew it the party would be in full swing.

vassal

n. in feudalism, one who held land of a superior lord The lord demanded that his vassals contribute more to his military campaign.

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 The cross old lady has a proclivity to grumble.

nonchalance

n. indifference; lack of interest Few people could understand how he could listen to the news of the tragedy with such nonchalance; the majority regarded him as callous and unsympathetic.

opportunist

n. individual who sacrifices principles for expediency by taking advantage of circumstances Forget about ethics! He's such an opportunist that he'll vote in favor of any deal that will give him a break.

opprobrium

n. infamy; vilification He refused to defend himself against the slander and opprobrium hurled against him by the newspapers; he preferred to rely on his record.

mayhem

n. injury to the body The riot was marked not only by mayhem, with its attendant loss of life and limb, but also by arson and pillage.

slur

n. insult to one's character or reputation; slander olls revealed that the front-runner's standing had been damaged by the slurs and innuendoes circulated by his opponent's staff.

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.

purport

n. intention; meaning If the purport of your speech was to arouse the rabble, you succeeded admirably.

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 derives nourishment; the crocodile, meanwhile, derives proper dental hygiene.

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.

tonic

n. invigorating medicine The tonic water invigorated her, contrary to the enervating effect of the alcohol.

juggernaut

n. irresistible crushing force Nothing could survive in the path of the juggernaut.

pique

n. irritation; resentment She showed her pique by her refusal to appear with the other contestants at the end of the contest.

quarantine

n. isolation of a person, place, or ship to prevent spread of infection We will have to place this house under quarantine until we determine the nature of the disease.

seclusion

n. isolation; solitude One moment she loved crowds; the next, she sought seclusion.

peregrination

n. journey Auntie Mame was a world traveler whose peregrinations took her from Tiajuana to Timbuctoo.

realm

n. kingdom; sphere The realm of possibilities for the new invention was endless.

trinket

n. knickknack; bauble Whenever she traveled abroad, Ethel would pick up costume jewelry and other trinkets as souvenirs.

timidity

n. lack of self-confidence or courage If you are to succeed as a salesperson, you must first lose your timidity and fear of failure.

levity

n. lack of seriousness or steadiness; frivolity Stop giggling and wriggling around in the pew; such levity is improper in church.

peon

n. landless agricultural worker; bond servant The land reformers sought to liberate the peons and establish them as independent farmers.

jargon

n. language used by special group; gibberish We tried to understand the jargon of the peddlers in the market place but could not find any basis for comprehension.

parlance

n. language; idiom All this legal parlance confuses me; I need an interpreter.

lassitude

n. languor; weariness The hot, tropical weather created a feeling of lassitude and encouraged drowsiness.

statute

n. law We have many statutes in our law books which should be repealed.

litigation

n. lawsuit Try to settle this amicably; I do not want to start litigation.

shyster

n. lawyer using questionable methods. On L.A. Law, respectable attorney Brackman was horrified to learn that his newly discovered half brother was 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.

laity

n. laypersons; persons not connected with the clergy The laity does not always understand the clergy's problems.

sloth

n. laziness Such sloth in a young person is deplorable; go to work!

sluggard

n. lazy person "You are a sluggard, a drone, a parasite," the angry father shouted at his lazy son.

pundit

n. learned Hindu; any learned person; authority on a subject Even though he discourses on the matter like a pundit, he is actually rather ignorant about this topic.

lien

n. legal claim on a property There was a delay before Ralph could take possession of his late uncle's home; apparently, another claimant had a lien upon the estate.

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.

usury

n. lending money at illegal rates of interest The loan shark was found guilty of usury.

torpor

n. lethargy; sluggishness; dormancy Nothing seemed to arouse him from his torpor; he had wholly surrendered himself to lethargy.

missive

n. letter The ambassador received a missive from the Secretary of State.

parameter

n. limit; independent variable We need to define the parameters of the problem.

modicum

n. limited quantity Although his story is based on a modicum of truth, most of the events he describes are fictitious.

queue

n. line They stood patiently in the queue outside the movie theatre.

roster

n. list They print the roster of players in the season's program.

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.

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.

repugnance

n. loathing She looked at the snake with repugnance.

patois

n. local or provincial dialect His years of study of the language at the university did not enable him to understand the patois of the natives.

venue

n. location The attorney asked for a change of venue; he thought his client would do better if the trial were held in a less conservative county.

odyssey

n. long, eventful journey The refugee's journey from Cambodia was a terrifying odyssey.

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 As he grew older, he became famous as a philanthropist and benefactor of the needy.

nadir

n. lowest point Although few people realized it, the Dow-Jones averages had reached their nadir and would soon begin an upward surge.

optician

n. maker and seller of eyeglasses The patient took the prescription given him by his oculist to the optician.

testator

n. maker of a will The attorney called in his secretary and his partner to witness the signature of the testator.

yeoman

n. man owing small estate; middle-class farmer It was not the aristocrat but the yeoman who determined the nation's policies.

megalomania

n. mania for doing grandiose things Developers who spend millions trying to build the world's tallest skyscraper suffer from megalomania.

welt

n. mark from beating or whipping The evidence of child abuse was very clear; Jennifer's small body was covered with welts and bruises.

requiem

n. mass for the dead; dirge They played Mozart's Requiem at the funeral.

labyrinth

n. maze Tom and Becky were lost in the labyrinth of secret caves.

sustenance

n. means of support, food, nourishment In the tropics, the natives find sustenance easy to obtain because of all the fruit trees.

tryst

n. meeting The lovers kept their tryst even though they realized their danger.

rendezvous

n. meeting place The two fleets met at the rendezvous at the appointed time.

proletarian

n. member of the working class The aristocrats feared mob rule and gave the right to vote only to the wealthy, thus depending the proletarians of a voice in government.

psychosis

n. mental disorder We must endeavor to find an outlet for the patient's repressed desires if we hope to combat this psychosis.

mirth

n. merriment; laughter Sober Malvolio found Sir Toby's mirth improper.

lode

n. metal-bearing vein If this lode that we have discovered extends for any distance, we have found a fortune.

regime

n. method or system of government When a Frenchman mentions the Old Regime, he refers 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.

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.

misadventure

n. mischance; ill luck The young explorer met death by misadventure.

urchin

n. mischievous child (usually a boy) Get out! This store is no place for grubby urchins!

skinflint

n. miser The old skinflint refused to give her a raise.

qualms

n. misgivings His qualms of conscience had become so great that he decided to abandon his plans.

projectile

n. missile Man has always hurled projectiles at his enemy whether in the form of stones or of highly explosive shells.

medley

n. mixture The band played a medley of Gershwin tunes.

miscellany

n. mixture of writings on various subjects This is an interesting miscellany of nineteenth-century prose and poetry.

paragon

n. model of perfection The class disliked him because the teacher was always pointing him 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.

sobriety

n. moderation (especially regarding indulgence in alcohol); seriousness Neither drunkards nor comics are noted for sobriety.

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.

lucre

n. money Preferring lucre to undying fame, he wrote stories of popular appeal.

mausoleum

n. monumental tomb His body was placed in the family mausoleum.

phobia

n. morbid fear Her fear of flying was more than mere nervousness; it was a real phobia.

orifice

n. mouthlike opening; small opening The Howe Caverns were discovered when someone observed that a cold wind was issuing from an orifice in the hillside.

regicide

n. murder of a king or queen The beheading of Mary Queen of Scots was an act of regicide.

ravine

n. narrow valley with steep sides Steeper than a gully, less precipitous than a canyon, a ravine is, like them, the product of years of erosion.

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.

sextant

n. navigation tool used to determine a ship's latitude and longitude Given a clear night, with the aid of his sextant and compass, he could keep the ship safely on course.

proximity

n. nearness The deer sensed the hunter's proximity and bounded away.

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.

titter

n. nervous laugh Her aunt's constant titter nearly drove her mad.

seine

n. net for catching fish When the shad run during the spring, you may see fishermen with seines along the banks of our coastal rivers.

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.

subtlety

n. nicety; cunning; guile; delicacy The subtlety of his remarks was unnoticed by most of his audience.

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 Scientists are experimenting with guided missiles.

phenomena

n. observable facts; subjects of scientific investigation We kept careful records of the phenomena we noted in the course of these experiments.

procurement

n. obtaining The personnel department handles the procurement of new employees.

liaison

n. officer who acts as go-between for two armies; intermediary As the liaison, he had to avoid offending the leaders of the two armies.

unguent

n. ointment Apply this unguent to the sore muscles before retiring.

senility

n. old age; feeble mindedness of old age Most of the decisions are being made by the junior members of the company because of the senility of the president.

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 The pacifists urged that we reduce our military budget and recall our troops stationed overseas.

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.

optometrist

n. one who fits glasses to remedy visual defects Although an optometrist is qualified to treat many eye disorders, she may not use medicines or surgery in her examinations.

reaper

n. one who harvests grain Death, the Grim Reaper, cuts down men and women, just as a farmer cuts down the ripened grain.

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 We thought the hermit was a misanthrope because he shunned our society.

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 entire 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 and poor housing.

pendant

n. ornament (hanging from a necklace, etc.) The grateful 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.

semblance

n. outward appearance; guise Although this book has a semblance of wisdom and scholarship, a careful examination will reveal many errors and omissions.

trappings

n. outward decorations; ornaments He loved the trappings of success: the limousines, the stock options, the company jet.

manifestation

n. outward demonstration; indication Mozart's early attraction to the harpsichord was the first manifestation of his pronounced musical bent.

rave

n. overwhelmingly favorable review Though critic John Simon seldom has a good word to say about 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?

tract

n. pamphlet; a region of indefinite size The King granted William Penn a tract of land in the New World.

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.

palimpsest

n. parchment used for second time after original writing has been erased Using chemical reagents, scientists have been able to restore the original writings on many palimpsests.

proscenium

n. part of stage in front of curtain In the theater-in-the-round there can be no proscenium or proscenium arch.

penumbra

n. partial shadow (in an eclipse) During an eclipse, we can see an area of total darkness and a lighter area, which is the penumbra.

predilection

n. partiality; preference Although the artist used various media from time to time, she had a predilection for watercolors.

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.

resignation

n. patient submissiveness; statement that one is quitting a job If Bob Cratchit had not accepted Scrooge's bullying with timid resignation, he might have gotten up the nerve to hand in his resignation.

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.

quirk

n. peculiarity of action or behavior; caprice By a quirk of fate, he found himself working for the man whom he had discharged years before.

podium

n. pedestal; raised platform The audience applauded as the conductor made his way to the podium.

voyeur

n. peeping Jill called Jack a voyeur when she caught him aiming his binoculars at a bedroom window of the house next door.

pseudonym

n. pen name Samuel Clemens' pseudonym was Mark Twain.

stickler

n. perfectionist; person who insists things be exactly right The Internal Revenue Service agent was a stickler for accuracy; no approximations or rough estimates would satisfy him.

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.

malcontent

n. person dissatisfied with existing state of affairs He was one of the few malcontents in the Congress; he constantly voiced his objections to the Presidential program.

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 Don't dismiss John as a nonentity; in his quiet way, he's very important to the firm.

magnate

n. person of prominence or influence The steel magnate decided to devote more time to city politics.

supernumerary

n. person or thing in excess of what is necessary; extra His first appearance on the stage was as a supernumerary in a Shakespearean tragedy.

ragamuffin

n. person wearing tattered clothes He felt sorry for the ragamuffin who was begging for food and gave him money to buy a meal.

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.

stoic

n. person who is indifferent to pleasure or pain The doctor called her patient a stoic because he had borne the pain of the examination without whimpering.

optimist

n. person who looks on the bright 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 Dali was a brilliant painter; others dismissed him as a poseur.

proponent

n. person who supports or proposes (an idea) After the bill had been amended and re-amended in committee, even its original proponents didn't want to vote in its favor.

tanner

n. person who turns animal hides into leather Using a solution of tanbark, the tanner treated 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.

minutia

n. petty details (usually used in plural) She would have liked to ignore the minutiae of daily living.

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.

pediatrician

n. physician specializing in children's diseases. The family doctor advised the parents to consult a pediatrician about their child's ailment.

obstetrician

n. physician specializing in delivery of babies Unlike midwives, who care for women giving birth at home, obstetricians generally work in a hospital setting.

oculist

n. physician who specialized in treatment of the eyes In many states, an oculist is the only one who may apply medicinal drops to the eyes for the purpose of examining them.

mosaic

n. picture made of small, colorful 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.

purgatory

n. place of spiritual expiation In this purgatory, he could expect no help from his comrades.

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.

troth

n. pledge of good faith especially in betrothal He gave her his troth and vowed to cherish her always.

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.

solstice

n. point at which the sun is farthest from the equator The winter solstice usually occurs on December 21.

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.

perigee

n. point of moon's orbit when it is nearest the earth The rocket which was designed to take photographs of the moon was launched as the moon approached its perigee.

matrix

n. point of origin; array of numbers or algebraic symbols; mold or die Some historians claim the Nile Valley was the matrix of the Western civilization.

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 His strut as he marched about the parade ground revealed him for what he was: a pompous buffoon.

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.

mogul

n. powerful person The oil moguls made great profits when the price of gasoline rose.

pragmatist

n. practical person No pragmatist enjoys becoming involved in a game that he can never win

precept

n. practical rule guiding conduct "Love thy neighbor as thyself" is a worthwhile precept.

nicety

n. precision; minute distinction I cannot distinguish between such niceties of reasoning.

presentiment

n. premonition; foreboding Hamlet felt a presentiment about his meeting with Laertes.

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 She was not used to their lavish mode of living.

prerogative

n. privilege; unquestionable right The President cannot levy taxes; that is the prerogative of the legislative branch of government.

wastrel

n. profligate He was denounced as a wastrel who 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.

protuberance

n. protrusion; bulge A ganglionic cyst is a fluid-filled tumor (generally benign) 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 paranoias, he claimed everyone was out to get him; ironically, his claim was accurate; even paranoias have enemies.

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.

rebus

n. puzzle in which pictures stand for words A coven of witches beside a tree is a possible rebus for the town Coventry.

timbre

n. quality of a musical tone produced by a musical instrument We identify the instrument producing a musical sound by its timbre.

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.

naivete

n. quality of being unsophisticated I cannot believe that such naivete is unassumed in a person of her age and experience.

momentum

n. quantity of motion of a moving body; impetus The car lost momentum as it tried to ascend the steep hill.

nostrum

n. questionable medicine No quack selling nostrums is going to cheat me.

retort

n. quick, sharp reply Even when it was advisable for her to keep her mouth shut, she was always ready with a retort.

ken

n. range of knowledge I cannot answer your question since this matter is beyond my ken.

knavery

n. rascality We cannot condone such knavery in public officials.

perusal

n. reading I am certain that you have missed important details in your rapid perusal of this document.

lectern

n. reading desk The chaplain delivered his sermon from a hastily improvised lectern.

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 event 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.

reprise

n. recurrent action; musical repetition; repeat performance At Waterloo, it was not the effect of any one skirmish that exhausted Colonel Audly; rather it was the cumulative effect of the constant reprises that left him spent.

meditation

n. reflection; thought She reached her decision only after much meditation.

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.

limbo

n. region near heaven or hell where certain souls are kept Among the divisions of Hell are Purgatory and limbo.

jubilation

n. rejoicing There was great jubilation when the armistice was announced.

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.

redress

n. remedy; compensation Do you mean to tell me that I can get no redress for my injuries?

restitution

n. reparation; indemnification He offered to make restitution for the window broken by his son.

rote

n. repetition He recited the passage by rote and gave no indication he understood what he was saying.

odium

n. repugnance; dislike I cannot express the odium I feel at your heinous actions.

umbrage

n. resentment; anger; sense of injury or insult She took umbrage at his remarks and stormed away in a huff.

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.

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.

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.

leeway

n. room to move; margin When you set a deadline, allow a little leeway.

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.

monotony

n. sameness leading to boredom He took a clerical job, but soon grew to hate the monotony of his daily routine.

uniformity

n. sameness; consistency; monotony After a while, the uniformity of TV situation comedies becomes boring.

relish

n. savor; enjoy I relish a good joke as much as anyone else.

meager

n. scanty; inadequate His salary was far too meager for him to afford to buy a new car.

paucity

n. scarcity They closed the restaurant because the paucity of customers made it uneconomical to operate.

machinations

n. schemes I can see through your wily machinations.

savant

n. scholar Our faculty includes many world famous savants.

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.

seminary

n. school for training future ministers; secondary school, especially 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 Auduborn's drawings of American bird life have been of interest not only to the ornithologists but also to the general public.

shrew

n. scolding woman No one wanted to marry Shakespeare's Kate because she was a shrew.

sarcasm

n. scornful remarks, stinging rebuke His feelings were hurt by the sarcasm of his supposed friends.

silt

n. sediment deposited by running water The harbor channel must be dredged annually to remove the silt.

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 reserve, Judy was put off by it, for she felt his aloofness indicated a lack of openness.

truism

n. self-evident truth Many a truism is well expressed in a proverb.

postulate

n. self-evident truth We must accept these statements as postulates before pursuing our discussions any further.

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.

penance

n. self-imposed punishment for sin The Ancient Mariner said, "I have penance done and penance more will do," to atone for the sin of killing the albatross.

vendor

n. seller The fruit vendor sold her wares from a stall on the sidewalk.

primogeniture

n. seniority by birth By virtue of primogeniture, in some cultures the first-born child has many privileges denied his brothers and sisters.

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.

sycophant

n. servile flatterer The king enjoyed the servile compliments and attentions of the sycophants in his retinue.

toady

n. servile flatterer; yesman Never tell the boss anything he doesn't wish to hear: he doesn't want an independent adviser, he just wants a toady.

reprobation

n. severe disapproval The students showed their reprobation of his act by refusing to talk with him.

ordeal

n. severe trial or affliction Terry Anderson spoke movingly of his long ordeal as a hostage in Lebanon.

rigor

n. severity Many settlers could not stand the rigors of the New England winters.

nuance

n. shade of difference in meaning or color The unskilled eye of the layperson has difficulty in discerning the nuances of color in the paintings.

lagoon

n. shallow body of water near a sea; lake They enjoyed their swim in the calm lagoon.

pungency

n. sharpness; stinging quality The pungency of the cigarette smoke made me cough.

tonsure

n. shaving of the head, especially by person entering religious orders His tonsure, even more than his monastic garb, indicated that he was a member of the religious order.

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.

scintilla

n. shred; least bit You have not produced a scintilla of evidence to support your argument.

portent

n. sign; omen; forewarning He regarded the black cloud as a portent of evil.

obloquy

n. slander; disgrace; infamy I resent the obloquy that you are casting upon my reputation.

revile

n. slander; vilify He was avoided by all who feared that he would revile and abuse them if they displeased him.

shambles

n. slaughterhouse; scene of carnage By the time the police arrived, the room was a shambles.

thrall

n. slave; bondage The captured soldier was held in thrall by the conquering army.

servitude

n. slavery; compulsory labor Born a slave, Douglass resented his wife of servitude and plotted to escape to the North.

opiate

n. sleep producer; deadener of pain By such opiates, she made the people forget their difficulties and accept their unpleasant circumstances.

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.

smattering

n. slight knowledge I don't know whether it is better to be ignorant of a subject or to have a mere smattering of information about it.

peccadillo

n. slight offense If we examine these escapades carefully, we will realize that they are mere peccadilloes rather than major crimes.

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.

sloth

n. slow-moving tree-dwelling mammal Note how well the somewhat greenish coat of the sloth enables it to blend in with its arboreal surroundings.

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 ornamentation The thousands of spangles on her dress sparkled in the glare of the stage lights.

vent

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

mote

n. small speck The tiniest mote in the eye is very painful.

rivulet

n. small stream As the rains continued, the 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 In the microcosm of our rural village, we find illustrations of all the evils that beset the universe.

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.

pallet

n. small, poor bed The weary traveler went to sleep on his straw pallet.

whit

n. smallest speck There is not a whit of intelligence or understanding in your observations.

pariah

n. social outcast I am not a pariah to be shunned and ostracized.

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.

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.

poultice

n. soothing application applied to sore and inflamed portions of the body He was advised to apply a flaxseed poultice to the inflammation.

wizardry

n. sorcery; magic Merlin amazed the knights with his wizardry.

taxonomist

n. specialist in classifying (animals, etc.) Dental patterns often enable the taxonomist to distinguish members of one rodent species from those of another.

tempo

n. speed of music I find the conductor's tempo too slow for such a brilliant piece of music.

regeneration

n. spiritual rebirth Modern penologists strive for the regeneration of the prisoners.

spat

n. squabble; minor dispute What had started out as a mere spat escalated into a full-blown argument.

philatelist

n. stamp-collector When she heard the value of the Penny Black stamp, Phyllis was inspired to become a philatelist.

stupor

n. state of apathy; daze; lack of awareness In his stupor, the addict was unaware of the events taking place around him.

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 There is a striking parallelism between the twins.

responsiveness

n. state of reacting readily to appeals, order, etc. The audience cheered and applauded, delighting the performers by its responsiveness.

turbulence

n. state of violent agitation We were frightened by the turbulence of the ocean during the storm.

paradox

n. statement that looks false but is actually correct; a contradictory statement Wordworth's "The child is father to the man" is an example of paradox.

proviso

n. stipulation I am ready to accept your proposal with the two proviso that you meet your obligations within the next two weeks.

raconteur

n. story-teller 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.

paleontology

n. study of prehistoric life The professor of paleontology had a superb collection of fossils.

preponderance

n. superiority of power, quantity, etc. The rebels sought to overcome the preponderance of strength of the government forces by engaging in guerrilla tactics.

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.

strut

n. supporting bar The engineer calculated that the strut supporting the rafter needed to be reinforced.

relic

n. surviving remnant; memento Egypt's Department of Antiquities prohibits tourists from taking mummies and other ancient relics out of the country.

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.

natation

n. swimming The Red Cross emphasizes the need for courses in natation.

resumption

n. taking up again; recommencement During the summer break, Don had not realized how much he missed university life: at the resumption of classes, however, he felt marked excitement and pleasure.

soliloquy

n. talking to oneself The soliloquy is a device used by the dramatist to reveal a character's innermost thoughts and emotions.

obelisk

n. tall column tapering and ending in a pyramid Cleopatra's Needle is an obelisk in New York City's Central Park.

prey

n. target of a hunt; victim In Stalking the Wild Asparagus, Euell Gibbons has as his prey not wild beasts but wild plants.

quip

n. taunt You are unpopular because you are too free with your quips and sarcastic comments.

tribute

n. tax levied by a ruler; mark of respect The colonists refused to pay tribute to a foreign despot.

tithe

n. tax of one-tenth Because he was an agnostic, he refused to pay his tithes to the clergy.

pedagogue

n. teacher He could never be a stuffy pedagogue; his classes were always lively and filled with humor.

sophist

n. teacher of philosophy; quibbler; employer of fallacious reasoning You are using all the devices of a sophist in trying to prove your case; your argument is specious.

pedagogy

n. teaching; art of education Though Maria Montessori gained fame for her innovations in pedagogy, it took years before her teaching techniques became common practice in American schools.

rent

n. tear or rip; split The conflict over abortion threatens to split our nation, creating a rent in the social fabric that will be difficult to mend.

remission

n. temporary moderation of disease symptoms; cancellation of a debt; forgiveness or pardon Though Senator Tsongas had been treated for cancer, his symptoms were in remission, and he was considered fit to handle the strains of a Presidential race.

nomenclature

n. terminology; system of names She struggled to master scientific nomenclature.

veneer

n. thin layer; cover Casual acquaintances were deceived by his veneer of sophistication and failed to recognize his fundamental shallowness.

yore

n. time past He dreamed of the elegant homes of yore, but gave no thought to their inelegant plumbing.

rubric

n. title or heading (in red print); directions for religious ceremony; protocol In ordaining the new priests, the bishop carefully observed all the rubrics for the ordination service.

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.

knell

n. tolling of a bell, especially to indicate a funeral, disaster, etc.; sound of the funeral bell "The curfew tolls the knell of parting day."

sepulcher

n. tomb Annabel Lee was buried in a sepulcher by the sea.

modulation

n. toning down; changing from one key to another When we she spoke, it was with quiet modulation of voice.

vise

n. tool for holding work in place Before filling its edges, the keysmith took the blank key and fixed it firmly between the jaws of a vise.

turncoat

n. traitor The British considered Benedict Arnold a loyalist; the Americans considered him a turncoat.

quisling

n. traitor who aids invaders In his conquest of Europe, Hitler was aided by the quislings who betrayed their own people and served in the puppet governments established by the Nazis.

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 further north that summer in search of game.

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.

platitude

n. trite remark; commonplace statement The platitudes in his speech were applauded by the vast majority in his audience; only a few people perceived how trite his remarks were.

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.

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.

warren

n. tunnels in which rabbits live; crowded conditions in which people live The tenement was a veritable warren, packed with people too poor to live elsewhere.

welter

n. turmoil; bewildering jumble The existing welter of overlapping federal and state proclaims cries out for immediate reform.

probity

n. uprightness; incorruptibility Everyone took his probity for granted; his defalcations, therefore, shocked us all.

suavity

n. urbanity; polish He is particularly good in roles that require suavity and sophistication.

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.

mammal

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

myriad

n. very large number myriads of mosquitoes from the swamps invaded our village every twilight.

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 sing.

onslaught

n. vicious assault We suffered many casualties during unexpected onslaught of the enemy troops.

quarry

n. victim; object of a hunt The police closed in on their quarry.

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.

ramble

n. wander aimlessly (physically or mentally) Listening to the teacher ramble, Judy wondered whether he'd ever get to his point.

vagabond

n. wanderer; tramp In summer, college students wander the roads of Europe like carefree vagabonds.

surveillance

n. watching; guarding The FBI kept the house under constant surveillance in the hope of capturing all the criminals at one time.

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.

vintner

n. winemaker; seller of wine The poet wondered what the vintners could buy that would be half as precious as the wine they sold.

retraction

n. withdrawal He dropped his libel suit after the newspaper published a retraction of its statement.

secession

n. withdrawal The secession of the Southern states provided Lincoln with his first major problem after his inauguration.

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.

witticism

n. witty saying; facetious remark What you regard as witticisms are often offensive to sensitive people.

matriarch

n. woman who rules a family or larger social group The matriarch ruled her gypsy tribe with a firm hand.

onomatopoeia

n. words formed in imitation of natural sounds Words like "rustle" and "gargle" are illustrations of onomatopoeia.

opus

n. work Although many critics hailed his Fifth Symphony, he did not regard it as his major opus.

miscreant

n. wretch; villain His kindness to the miscreant amazed all of us who had expected to hear severe punishment pronounced.

subpoena

n. writ summoning a witness to appear The prosecutor's office was ready to serve a subpoena on the reluctant witness.

writ

n. written command issued by a court The hero of Leonard's novel is a process server who invents unorthodox ways of serving writs on reluctant parties.

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.

relinquish

v. abandon I will relinquish my claims to this property if you promise to retain my employees.

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.

refrain

v. abstain from; resist n. chorus Whenever he heard a song with a lively chorus, Sol could never refrain from joining in on the refrain.

wean

v. accustom a baby not to nurse; give up a cherished activity He decided he would wean himself away from eating junk food and stick to fruits and vegetables.

waylay

v. ambush; lie in wait They agreed to waylay their victim as he passed through the dark alley going home.

vex

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

nettle

v. annoy; vex Do not let him nettle you with his sarcastic remarks.

mitigate

v. appease Nothing he did could mitigate her wrath; she was unforgiving.

propitiate

v. appease The natives offered sacrifices to propitiate the gods.

ratify

v. approve formally; verify Before the treaty could go into effect, it had to be ratified by the president.

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.

posture

v. assume an affected pose; act artificially No matter how much Arnold boasted or postured, I could not believe he was as important as he pretended to be.

shirk

v. avoid (responsibility, work, etc.); malinger Brian has a strong sense of duty; he would never shirk any responsibility.

temporize

v. avoid committing oneself; gain time I cannot permit you to temporize any longer; I must have a definite answer today.

prattle

v. babble The children prattle endlessly about their new toys.

thwart

v. baffle; frustrate He felt that everyone was trying to thwart his plans and prevent his success.

rusticate

v. banish to the country; dwell in the country I like city life so much that I can never understand how people can rusticate in the suburbs.

relegate

v. banish; consign to inferior position If we relegate these experts to minor posts because of their political persuasions, we shall lose their valuable services.

seethe

v. be disturbed; boil The nation was seething with discontent as the nobleman 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.

transpire

v. be revealed; happen When Austen writes the sentence "It had just transpired that he had left gaming debts behind him," her meaning is not that the debts had just been incurred, but the the shocking news had just leaked out.

stint

v. be thrifty; set limits "Spare no expense," the bride's father said, refusing to stint on the wedding arrangements.

pummel

v. beat The severity with which he was pummeled was indicated by the bruises he displayed on his head and face.

lambaste

v. beat; thrash verbally or physically It was painful to watch the champion lambaste his opponent, tearing into him mercilessly.

nonplus

v. bring to a 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.

wheedle

v. cajole; coax; deceive by flattery She knows she can wheedle almost anything she wants from her father.

rescind

v. cancel Because of public resentment, the king had to rescind his order.

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 of 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 mind.

supersede

v. cause to be set aside; replace This regulation will supersede all previous rules.

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 reproved the students when they became unruly in the auditorium.

shackle

v. chain; fetter The criminal's ankles were shackled to prevent his escape.

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 and that he was not capable of clear thinking.

transmute

v. change; convert to something different He was unable to transmute his dreams into actualities.

sear

v. char or burn; brand Accidentally brushing against the hot grill, she seared her hand badly.

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.

masticate

v. chew We must masticate our food carefully and slowly in order to avoid digestive disorders.

ruminate

v. chew the cud; ponder We cannot afford to wait while you ruminate upon these plans.

purge

v. clean by removing impurities; clear of changes If you are to be purged of the charge of contempt of Congress, you must be willing to answer the questions previously asked.

vindicate

v. clear of charges I hope to vindicate my client and return him to society as a free man.

scale

v. climb up; ascend To locate a book on the top shelf of the stacks, Lee had to scale an exceptionally rickety ladder.

ordain

v. command; arrange; consecrate The king ordained that no foreigner should be allowed to enter the city.

memorialize

v. commemorate Let us memorialize his great contribution by dedicating this library in his honor.

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.

obfuscate

v. confuse; muddle Do not obfuscate the issues by dragging in irrelevant arguments.

subjugate

v. conquer; bring under control It is not our aim to subjugate our foe; we are interested only in establishing peaceful relations.

vie

v. contend; compete Politicians vie with one another, competing for donations and votes.

knit

v. contract into wrinkles Whenever David worries, his brow knits in a frown.

transcribe

v. copy When you transcribe your notes, please send a copy to Mr. Smith and keep the original for our files.

rectify

v. correct I want to rectify my error before it is too late.

reconcile

v. correct inconsistencies; become friendly after a quarrel Every time 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 He 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 very small particles 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 manuscript into publishable form.

retrench

v. cut down; economize If they were to be able to send their children to college, they would have to retrench.

truncate

v. cut the top off The top of the cone that has been truncated in a plane parallel to its base is a circle.

obscure

v. darken; make unclear At times he seemed purposely to obscure his meaning, preferring mystery to clarity.

resolve

v. decide; settle; solve Homes resolved to travel to Bohemia to resolve the dispute between Irene Adler and the King.

mulct

v. defraud a person of something The lawyer was accused of trying to mulct the boy of his legacy.

tarry

v. delay; dawdle We can't tarry if we want to get to the airport on time.

loathe

v. detest We 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.

unearth

v. dig up When they unearthed the city, the archeologists found many relics of an ancient civilization.

sap

v. diminish; undermine Ten years of war had sapped the country's strength.

unravel

v. disentangle; solve With equal ease Miss Marple unraveled tangled balls of yarn and baffling murder mysteries.

repudiate

v. disown; disavow He announced that he would repudiate all debts incurred by his wife.

refute

v. disprove The defense called several respectable witnesses who were able to refute the false testimony of the prosecution's only witness.

perturb

v. disturb greatly I am afraid this news will perturb him and cause him grief.

ramify

v. divide into branches or subdivisions When the plant begins to ramify, it is advisable to nip off most of the new branches.

limn

v. draw; outline; describe Paradoxically, the more realistic the details this artist chooses, the better able to limn her fantastic, other-worldly landscapes.

primp

v. dress or groom oneself with care She primps for hours before a dance.

tipple

v. drink (alcoholic beverages) frequently He found that his most enjoyable evenings occurred when he tippled with his friends at the local pub.

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 gay songs of the students in the tavern.

palliate

v. ease pain; make less severe or offensive If we cannot cure this disease at present, we can, at least try to palliate the symptoms.

reverberate

v. echo; resound The entire valley reverberated with the sound of the church bells.

manumit

v. emancipate; free from bondage Enlightened slave owners were willing to manumit their slaves and thus put an end to the evil slavery in the country.

reek

v. emit (odor) The room reeked with stale tobacco smoke.

underscore

v. emphasize Addressing the jogging class, Kim underscored the importance to runners of good nutrition.

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.

savor

v. enjoy; have a distinctive flavor, smell, or quality Relishing his triumph, Costner especially savored the chagrin of the critics who had predicted his failure.

mire

v. entangle; stick in swampy ground Their rear wheels became mired in mud.

regale

v. entertain John regaled us with tales of his adventures in Africa.

quibble

v. equivocate; play on words Do not quibble; I want a straightforward and definite answer.

scrutinize

v. examine closely and critically Searching for flaws, the sergeant scrutinized every detail of the private's uniform.

surpass

v. exceed Her SAT scores surpassed out expectations.

transcend

v. exceed; surpass This accomplishment transcends all our previous efforts.

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.

oust

v. expel; drive out The world wondered if Aquino would be able to oust Marcos from office.

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.

traduce

v. expose to slander His opponents tried to traduce the candidate's reputation by spreading rumors about his past.

vent

v. express; utter He vented his wrath on his class.

prolong

v. extend; 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.

ravel

v. fall apart into tangles; unravel or untwist; entangle A single thread pulled loose, and the entire scarf started to ravel.

relapse

v. fall back or sink again The economy relapsed into a depression from the peak.

plummet

v. fall sharply Stock prices plummeted as Wall Street reacted to the rise in interest rates.

splice

v. fasten together; unite Before you splice two strips of tape together, be sure to line them up evenly.

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.

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.

repine

v. fret; complain There is no sense repining over the work you have left undone.

lope

v. gallop slowly As the horses loped along, we had an opportunity to admire the ever-changing scenery.

muster

v. gather; assemble Washington mustered his forces at Trenton.

orient

v. get one's bearings; adjust Philip spent his first day in Denver orienting himself to the city.

relent

v. give in When her stern father would not relent and allow her to marry Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett eloped with her suitor.

yield

v. give in; surrender The wounded knight refused to yield to his foe.

waive

v. give up temporarily; yield I will waive my rights in this matter in order to expedite our reaching a proper decision.

ogle

v. glance coquettishly at; make eyes at Sitting for hours at the sidewalk cafe, the old gentleman would ogle the young girls and recall his youthful romances.

retrograde

v. go backwards; degenerate Instead of advancing, our civilization seems to have retrograded in ethics and culture.

traverse

v. go through or across When you traverse this field, be careful of the bull.

vouchsafe

v. grant condescendingly; guarantee I can safely vouchsafe you fair return on your investment.

lament

v. grieve; express sorrow Even advocates of the war lamented the loss of so many lives in combat.

wane

v. grow gradually smaller From now until December 21, the winter solstice, the hours of daylight will wane.

proliferate

v. grow rapidly; spread; multiply Times of economic hardship inevitably encourage countless get-rich-quick schemes to proliferate

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.

maul

v. handle roughly The rock star was mauled by his overexcited 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.

secrete

v. hide away or cache; 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.

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.

levy

v. impose (a fine); collect (a payment) Crying "No taxation without representation," the colonists demonstrated against England's power to levy taxes.

subsume

v. include; encompass Does the general theory of relativity contradict Newtonian physics, or is Newton's law of gravity subsumed into Einstein's larger scheme?

wax

v. increase; grow With proper handling, his fortunes waxed and he became rich.

proselytize

v. induce someone to convert to religion or belief In these interfaith meetings, there must be no attempt to proselytize; we must respect all points of view.

prevail

v. induce; triumph over He tried to prevail on her to type his essays for him.

wreak

v. inflict I am afraid he will wreak his vengeance on the innocent as well as the guilty.

misconstrue

v. interpret incorrectly; misjudge She took the passage seriously rather than humourously because she misconstrued the author's ironic tone.

rankle

v. irritate; fester The memory of having been jilted rankled him for years.

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.

prevaricate

v. lie Some people believe that to prevaricate in a good cause is justifiable and regard the statement as a "white lie."

vegetate

v. live in a monotonous way I do not understand how you can vegetate in this quiet village after the adventurous life you have led.

languish

v. lose animation; lose strength In stories, lovelorn damsels used to languish and pine away.

loll

v. lounge about They lolled around in their chairs watching television.

mutilate

v. maim The torturer threatened to mutilate his victim.

stipulate

v. make express conditions, specify Before agreeing to reduce American military forces in Europe, the president stipulated that NATO teams be allowed to inspect Soviet bases.

preclude

v. make impossible; eliminate This contract does not preclude my being employed by others at the same time that I am working for you.

promulgate

v. make known by official proclamation or publication As soon as the Civil Service Commission promulgates the names of the successful candidates, we shall begin to hire members of our staff.

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.

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 herself on her good looks.

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.

lacerate

v. mangle; tear Her body was lacerated in the automobile crash.

mete

v. measure; distribute He tried to be impartial in his efforts to mete out justice.

knead

v. mix; work dough Her hands grew strong from kneading bread.

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.

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.

mutter

v. murmur or grumble The child muttered at the doll.

maim

v. mutilate; injure The hospital could not take care of all who had been mangled or maimed in the railroad accident.

recount

v. narrate or tell; count over again About to recount the latest adventure of Sherlock Holmes, Watson lost track of exactly how many cases Holmes had solved and refused to begin his tale until he'd recounted them one by one.

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 prekindergarten children so that they will do well when they enter public school.

tender

v. offer; extend Although no formal changes 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.

manipulate

v. operate with the hands; control or change by artful means How do you manipulate these puppets?

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 He had to surmount many obstacles in order to succeed.

placate

v. pacify; conciliate The teacher tried to placate the angry mother.

stipple

v. paint or draw with dots Seurat carefully stippled dabs of pure color on the canvas, juxtaposing dots of blue and yellow that the viewer's eye would interpret as green.

mollycoddle

v. pamper; indulge excessively Don't mollycoddle the boy, Maud! You'll spoil him.

whittle

v. pare; cut off bits As a present for Aunt Polly, Tom whittled some clothespins out of a chunk of wood.

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.

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.

juxtapose

v. place side by side Comparison will be easier if you juxtapose the two objects.

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.

ravage

v. plunder; despoil The marauding army ravaged the countryside.

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 thought soon changed as he recalled his own personal problems.

procrastinate

v. postpone; delay It is wise not to procrastinate; otherwise, we find ourselves bogged down in a mass of work that should have been finished long ago.

prognosticate

v. predict I prognosticate disaster unless we change our wasteful ways.

stymie

v. present an obstacle; stump The detective was stymied by the contradictory evidence in the robbery investigation.

sham

v. pretend He shammed sickness to get out of going to school.

protract

v. prolong Seeking to delay the union members' vote, the management team tried to protract the negotiations endlessly, but the union representatives saw through their strategy.

thrive

v. prosper; flourish Despite the impact of 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.

tout

v. publicize; praise excessively I lost confidence in my broker after he touted some junk bonds that turned out to be a bad investment.

wrest

v. pull away; take by violence With only ten seconds left to play, our team wrested victory from their grasp.

wrench

v. pull; strain; twist She wrenched free of her attacker and landed a powerful kick to his kneecap.

pillory

v. punish by placing in a wooden frame; subject to criticism and ridicule Even though he was mocked and pilloried, he maintained that he was correct in his beliefs.

quell

v. put down; quiet The police used fire hoses and teat gas to quell the rioters.

propound

v. put forth for analysis In you 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 addressing 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.

wrangle

v. quarrel; obtain through arguing; herd cattle They wrangled over their inheritance.

slake

v. quench; sate When we reached the oasis, we were able to slake our thirst.

rummage

v. ransack; thoroughly search When we rummaged through the trunks in the attic, we found many souvenirs of our childhood days.

rant

v. rave; speak bombastically As we heard him rant on the platform, we could not understand his strange popularity with many people.

rationalize

v. reason; justify an improper act Do not try to rationalize your behavior by blaming your companions.

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.

sublimate

v. refine; purify We must strive to sublimate these desires and emotions into worthwhile activities.

spurn

v. reject; scorn The heroine spurned the villain's advances.

refurbish

v. renovate; make bright by polishing The flood left a deposit of mud on everything; it was necessary 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.

reimburse

v. repay Let me know what you have spent and I will reimburse you.

reciprocate

v. repay in kind If they attack us, we shall be compelled to reciprocate and bomb their territory.

retaliate

v. repay in kind (usually for bad treatment) Fear that we will retaliate immediately deters our foe from attacking us.

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 Corazon Aquino supplanted Ferdinand Marcos as president of the Philippines.

replicate

v. reproduce; duplicate To the chagrin of the scientists, they were unable to replicate the results of their controversial experiment.

reprimand

v. reprove severely I am afraid that my parents will reprimand me when I show them my report card.

recant

v. repudiate; withdraw previous statement Unless you recant your confession, you will be punished severely.

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.

paraphrase

v. restate a passage in one's own words while retaining thought of author In 250 words or less, paraphrase this article.

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.

pinion

v. restrain They pinioned his arms against his body but left his legs free so that he could move about.

repress

v. restrain; crush; oppress Anne's parents tried to curb her impetuosity without repressing her boundless high spirits.

manacle

v. restrain; handcuff The police immediately manacled the prisoner so he could not escape.

sequester

v. retire from public life; segregate; seclude Although he had hoped for a long time to sequester himself in a small community, he never was able to drop his busy round of activities in the city.

venerate

v. revere In China, the people venerate their ancestors.

resuscitate

v. revive The lifeguard tried to resuscitate the drowned child by applying artificial respiration.

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.

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.

surfeit

v. satiate; stuff; indulge to excess in anything Every Thanksgiving we are surfeited with an overabundance of holiday treats.

sate

v. satisfy to the full; cloy Its hunger sated, the lion dozed.

rail

v. scold; rant You may rail at him all you want; you will never change him.

upbraid

v. scold; reproach I must upbraid him for his unruly behavior.

usurp

v. seize power; supplant The revolution ended when the victorious rebel leader usurped the throne.

sunder

v. separate; part Northern and southern Ireland are politically and religiously sundered.

trigger

v. set off John is touchy today; say one word wrong and you'll trigger an explosion.

mediate

v. settle a dispute through the services of an outsider Let us mediate out differences rather than engage in a costly strike.

liquidate

v. settle accounts; clear up He was able to liquidate all his debts in short period of time.

subside

v. settle down; descend; grow quiet The doctor assured us that the fever would eventually subside.

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 The male robin molted in the spring.

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.

occlude

v. shut; close A blood clot occluded an artery to the heart.

winnow

v. sift; separate good parts from bad This test will winnow out the students who study from those who don't bother.

vilify

v. slander She is a liar and is always trying to vilify my reputation.

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.

saturate

v. soak Their clothes were saturated by the rain.

steep

v. soak; saturate Be sure to steep the fabric in the dye bath for the full time prescribed.

macerate

v. soften by soaking in liquid; waste away The strawberries had been soaking in the champagne for so long that they had begun to macerate: they literally fell apart at the touch of a spoon.

mollify

v. soothe We tried to mollify the hysterical child by promising her many gifts.

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; defame Because of her hatred of the family, she maligns all who are friendly to them.

prate

v. speak foolishly; boast idly Let us not prate about our qualities; rather, let our virtues speak for themselves.

niggle

v. spend too much time on minor points; carp Let's not niggle over details.

polarize

v. split into opposite extremes or camps The abortion issue has polarized the country into pro-choice and anti-abortion camps.

rend

v. split; tear apart In his grief, he tried to rend his garments.

vitiate

v. spoil the effect of; make inoperative Fraud will vitiate the contract.

suffuse

v. spread over A blush suffused her cheeks when we teased her about her love affair.

strew

v. spread randomly; sprinkle; scatter Preceding the bride to the altar, the flower girl will strew rose petals along the aisle.

writhe

v. squirm, twist He was writhing in pain, desperate for the drug his body required.

scotch

v. stamp out; thwart; hinder Heather tried to scotch the rumor that she had stolen her best friend's fiance.

rout

v. stampede; drive out The reinforcements were able to rout the enemy

kindle

v. start a fire; inspire Her teacher's praise kindled a spark a hope inside her.

pore

v. study industriously; ponder; scrutinize Determined to become a physician, Beth spends hours poring over her anatomy text.

quash

v. subdue; crush; squash The authorities acted quickly to quash the student rebellion, sending in tanks to cow the demonstrators.

recapitulate

v. summarize Let us recapitulate what has been said thus far before going ahead.

patronize

v. support; act superior toward Experts in a field sometimes appear to patronize people who are less knowledgeable of the subject.

stifle

v. suppress; extinguish; inhibit Halfway through the boring lecture, Laura gave up trying to stifle her yawns.

satiate

v. surfeit; satisfy fully The guests, having eaten until they were satiated, now listened inattentively to the speakers.

outstrip

v. surpass; outdo Jesse Owens easily outstripped his competitors to win the gold metal at the Olympic Games.

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.

overhaul

v. thoroughly examine the condition of and repair if necessary It is necessary for the engineers of NASA to overhaul the rocket everyday; otherwise, an incident similar to that of Challenger accident might happen.

pulsate

v. throb We could see the blood vessels in his temple pulsate as he became more angry.

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 appeared 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.

titillate

v. tickle I am here not to titillate my audience but to enlighten it.

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.

terminate

v. to bring to an end When his contract was terminated unexpectedly, he desperately needed a new job.

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; to disturb 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.

meander

v. to wind or turn in its course It is difficult to sail up this stream because of the way it meanders through the countryside.

lionize

v. treat as a celebrity She enjoyed being lionized and adored by the public.

shunt

v. turn aside; divert; sidetrack If the switchman failed to shunt the Silver Streak onto a side track, the train would plow right into Union Station.

petrify

v. turn to stone His sudden and unexpected appearance seemed to petrify her.

substantiate

v. verify; support I intend to substantiate my statement by producing witnesses.

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 Tourists are urged not to profane the sanctity of holy places by wearing improper garb.

welter

v. wallow At the height of the battle, the casualties were so numerous that the victims weltered in their blood while waiting for medical attention.

parry

v. ward off a blow He was content to wage a defensive battle and tried to parry his opponent's thrusts.

vacillate

v. waver; fluctuate Uncertain which suitor she ought to marry, the princess vacillated, saying now one, now the other.

undermine

v. weaken; sap The recent corruption scandals have undermined many people's faith in the city government.

wangle

v. wiggle out; fake She tried to wangle an invitation to the party.

militate

v. work against Your record of lateness and absence will militate against your chances of promotion.

toil

v. work laboriously; make slow painful progress You must toil through 3500 words list in order to achieve a high score on GRE.

swathe

v. wrap around; bandage When I visited him in the hospital, I found him swathed in bandages.

solvent

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

prolific

adj. abundantly fruitful She was a prolific writer who produced as many as three books a year.

vituperative

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

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 By her rather adult manner of discussing serious topics, the child demonstrated that she was precocious.

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.

lackadaisical

adj. affectedly languid He was lackadaisical and indifferent about his part in the affair.

noncommittal

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

patrician

adj. noble; aristocratic We greatly admired her well-bred, patrician elegance

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.

optional

adj. not compulsory; left to one's choice I was impressed by the range of optional accessories for my microcomputer that were available.

rudimentary

adj. not developed; elementary His dancing was limited to a few rudimentary steps.

unearthly

adj. not earthly; weird There is an unearthly atmosphere in her work that amazes the casual observer.

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 one time in our history, temporal rulers assumed that they had been given their thrones by divine right.

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 hard-heartedness.

rococo

adj. ornate; highly decorated The rococo style in furniture and architecture, marked by scrollwork and excessive decoration, flourished during the middle of the eighteenth century.

pretentious

adj. ostentatious; ambitious I do not feel that your limited resources will permit you to carry out such a pretentious program.

uncouth

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

obsolete

adj. outmoded "Hip" is an obsolete expression; it went out with love beads and tie-dye shirts.

preeminent

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

simplistic

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

stereotyped

adj. oversimplified; lacking individuality; seen as a type My chief objection to the book is that the characters are stereotyped; they come across as ethnic caricatures, not as real people with individual quirks, fears, and dreams.

mauve

adj. pale purple The mauve tint in the lilac bush was another indication that spring had finally arrived.

pallid

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

sere

adj. parched; dry After the unseasonably dry winter the Berkeley hills looked dusty and sere.

motley

adj. parti-colored; mixed The captain had gathered a motley crew to sail the vessel.

translucent

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

placid

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

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?

transparent

adj. permitting to light to pass through freely; easily detected Your scheme is so transparent that it will fool no one.

problematic

adj. perplexing; unsettled: questionable Given the many areas of conflict still awaiting resolution, the outcome of the peace talks remains problematic.

pharisaical

adj. pertaining to Pharisees, who paid scrupulous attention to tradition; self-righteous; hypocritical Walter Lippmann has pointed out that moralists who do not attempt to explain the moral code they advocate are often regarded as pharisaical and ignored.

pontifical

adj. pertaining to a bishop or pope; pompous or pretentious From the very beginning of his ministry it was clear from his pontifical pronouncements that John was destined for a high pontifical office.

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.

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 place in his rustic attire.

sensuous

adj. pertaining to the physical senses; operating through the senses He was stimulated by the sights, sounds and smells about him; he was enjoying his sensuous experience.

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.

ruthless

adj. pitiless The escaped convict was a dangerous and ruthless murderer.

piquant

adj. pleasantly tart-tasting; stimulating The piquant sauce added to our enjoyment of the meal.

omnipresent

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

unconscionable

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

studied

adj. unspontaneous; deliberate; thoughtful Given Jill's previous slights, Jack felt that the omission of his name from the guest list was a studied insult.

untenable

adj. unsupportable I find your theory untenable and must reject it.

unsullied

adj. untarnished I am happy that my reputation is unsullied.

nebulous

adj. vague; hazy; cloudy She had only a nebulous memory of her grandmother's face.

protean

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

plumb

adj. vertical Before hanging wallpaper it is advisable to drop a plumb line from the ceiling as a guide.

lofty

adj. very high They used to tease him about his lofty ambitions.

pandemic

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

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.

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 me.

omniscient

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

subliminal

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

preternatural

adj. beyond that which is normal in nature John's mother's total ability to tell when he was lying struck him as almost preternatural.

partial

adj. biased; having a liking for something I am extremely partial to chocolate eclairs.

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.

mordant

adj. biting; sarcastic; stinging Actors feared the critic's mordant pen.

remunerative

adj. compensating; rewarding I find my new work so remunerative that I may not return to my previous employment.

plenary

adj. complete; full The union leader was given plenary power to negotiate a new contract with the employers.

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 The olfactory organ is the nose.

scrupulous

adj. conscientious; extremely thorough I can recommend him for a position of responsibility for I have found him a very scrupulous young man.

prominent

adj. conspicuous; notable; protruding Have you ever noticed that Prince Charles's prominent ears make him resemble the big-eared character in Mad comics?

tainted

adj. contaminated; corrupt Health authorities are always trying to prevent the sale and use of tainted food.

trenchant

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

quotidian

adj. daily; commonplace; customary To Philip, each new day of his internship was filled with excitement; he could not dismiss his rounds as merely quotidian routine.

marred

adj. damaged; disfigured She had to refinish the marred surface of the table.

obscure

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

lethal

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

libelous

adj. defamatory; injurious to the good name of a person He sued the newspaper because of its libelous story.

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.

reprehensible

adj. deserving blame Your vicious conduct in this situation is reprehensible.

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; carnal; voluptuous I cannot understand what caused him to drop his sensual way of life and become so ascetic.

pious

adj. devout The pious parents gave their children a religious upbringing.

primordial

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

propitious

adj. favorable; kindly I think it is advisable that we wait for a more propitious occasion to announce our plans; this is not a good time.

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.

macabre

adj. gruesome; grisly The city morgue is a macabre spot for the uninitiated.

taciturn

adj. habitually silent; talking a little New Englanders are reputedly taciturn people.

trite

adj. hackneyed; commonplace The trite and predictable situations in many television programs alienate many viewers.

prophetic

adj. having to do with predicting the future In interpreting Pharaoh's prophetic dream, Joseph said that the seven fat cows eaten by the seven lean cows represented seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine.

sadistic

adj. inclined to cruelty If we are to improve conditions in this prison, we must first get rid of the sadistic warden.

perceptive

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

paltry

adj. insignificant; petty This is a paltry sum to pay for such a masterpiece.

puny

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

vapid

adj. insipid; inane She delivered an uninspired and vapid address.

osseous

adj. made of bone; bony The hollow "soft spot" found at the top of the infant's skull gradually closes as new osseous tissue fills in the gap.

palatial

adj. magnificent He proudly showed us through his palatial home.

virile

adj. manly I do not accept the premise that a man is virile only when he is 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 the great city.

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 the largely transient trade.

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 .

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.

nirvana

n. 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.

mishap

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

migrant

n. changing its habitat; wandering These migrant birds return every spring.

temperament

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

mountebank

n. charlatan; boastful pretender The patent medicine man was a mountebank.

quack

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

talisman

n. charm She wore the talisman to ward off evil.

progeny

n. children; offspring He was proud of his progeny but regarded George as the most promising of all his children.

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.

smirk

n. conceited smile Wipe that smirk off your face!

peroration

n. conclusion of an oration The peroration was largely hortatory and brought the audience to its feet clamoring for action at its close.

parley

n. conference The peace parley has not produced the anticipated truce.

turmoil

n. confusion; strife Conscious he had sinned, he was in a state of spiritual turmoil.

lexicon

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

quandary

n. dilemma When the two colleges to which he had applied accepted him, he was in a quandary as to which one he should attend.

refectory

n. dining hall In this huge refectory, we can feed the entire student body at one sitting.

metropolis

n. large city Every evening this terminal is filled with the thousands of commuters who are 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.

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.

ultimatum

n. last demand; warning Since they have ignored our ultimatum, our only recourse is to declare war.

terminus

n. last stop of railroad After we reached the railroad terminus, we continued our journey into the wilderness on saddle horses.

profusion

n. lavish expenditure; overabundant condition Seldom have I seen food and drink served in such profusion as at the wedding feast.

syllogism

n. logical formula consisting of a major premise, a minor premise and a conclusion; deceptive or specious argument There must be a fallacy in this syllogism; I cannot accept its conclusion.

longevity

n. long life When he reached ninety, the old man was proud of his longevity.

yen

n. longing; urge She had a yen to get away and live on her own for a while.

provenance

n. origin or source of something I am not interested in its provenance; I am more concerned with its usefulness than with its source.

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.

millinery

n. person who makes or sells women's hats The millinery displayed fashionable hats in the street where many women passed by.

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.

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.

nemesis

n. revenging agent Captain Bligh vowed to be Christian's nemesis.

whorl

n. ring of leaves around stem; ring Identification by fingerprints is based on the difference in shape and number of whorls on the fingers.

novelty

n. something new; newness The computer is no longer a novelty around the office.

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 This decision sets a precedent for future cases of a similar nature.

paean

n. song of praise or joy paeans celebrating the victory filled the air.

velocity

n. speed The train went by at considerable velocity.

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.

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.

martinet

n. strict disciplinarian The commanding officer was a martinet who observed each regulation to the letter.

percussion

n. striking one object against another sharply The drum is a percussion instrument.

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.

penchant

n. strong inclination; liking He had a strong penchant for sculpture and owned many statues.

philology

n. study of language The professor of philology advocated the use of Esperanto as an international language.

oaf

n. stupid, awkward person He called the unfortunate waiter a clumsy oaf.

subaltern

n. subordinate The captain treated his subalterns as though they were children rather than commissioned officers.

propellant

n. substance that propels or drives 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 I am worried about the possibility of a spate if the rains do not diminish soon.

revulsion

n. sudden violent change of feeling; negative 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.

reconnaissance

n. survey of enemy by soldiers; reconnoitering If you encounter any enemy soldiers during your reconnaissance, capture them for questioning.

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.

pathos

n. tender to 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.

terminology

n. terms used in a science or art The special terminology developed by some authorities in the field has done more to confuse laypersons than to enlighten them.

libretto

n. text of an opera The composer of an opera's music is remembered more frequently than the author of its libretto.

occident

n. the West It will take occident to understand the ways and customs of the orient.

unction

n. the act of anointing with oil The anointing with oil of a person near death is called extreme unction.

prosody

n. the art of versification This book on prosody contains a rhyming dictionary as well as samples of the various verse forms.

venison

n. the meat of a deer The hunters dined on venison.

molecule

n. the smallest particle (one or more atoms) of a substance that has all the properties of that substance In chemistry, we study how atoms and molecules react to form new substances.

larceny

n. theft Because of the prisoner's record, the district attorney refused to reduce the charge from grand larceny to petit larceny.

motif

n. theme This simple motif runs throughout the score.

pachyderm

n. thick-skinned animal The elephant is probably the best-known pachyderm.

millennium

n. thousand-year period; period of happiness and prosperity I do not expect the millennium to come during my lifetime.

trident

n. three-pronged spear Neptune is usually depicted as rising from the sea, carrying his trident on his shoulder.

pestle

n. tool for mashing or grinding substances in a hard bowl From the way in which the elderly pharmacist pounded the drug with his pestle, young George could tell that his employer was agitated about something.

vestige

n. trace; remains We discovered vestiges of early Indian life in the cave.

trivia

n. trifles; unimportant matters Too many magazines ignore newsworthy subjects and feature trivia.

junket

n. trip, especially one taken for pleasure by an official at public expense Though she maintained she had gone abroad to collect firsthand data on the Common Market, the opposition claimed that her trip was merely a political junket.

jaunt

n. trip; short journey He took a quick jaunt to Atlantic City.

pest

n. troublesome or annoying person He was a pest; always bothering people.

verity

n. truth; reality The four verities were revealed to Buddha during his long meditation.

veracity

n. truthfulness Trying to prove Hill a liar, Senator Spector repeatedly questioned her veracity.

torque

n. twisting force; force producing rotation With her wrench she applied sufficient torque to the nut the loosen it.

litotes

n. understatement for emphasis To say, "He little realizes," when we mean that he does not realize at all, is an example of the kind of understatement we call litotes.

mortician

n. undertaker The mortician prepared the corpse for burial.

malaise

n. uneasiness; distress She felt a sudden vague malaise when she heard sounds at the door.

lumen

n. unit of light energy (one candle's worth) In buying light bulbs, she checked not only their power, as measured in watts, but their brightness, as measured in lumens.

unison

n. unity of pitch; complete accord The choir sang in unison.

mirage

n. unreal reflection; optical illusion The lost prospector was fooled by a mirage in the desert.

rectitude

n. uprightness He was renowned for his rectitude and integrity.

vigilance

n. watchfulness Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

tycoon

n. wealthy leader John D. Rockefeller was a prominent tycoon.

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 The owners intend to raze the hotel and erect an office building on the site.

obliterate

v. destroy completely The tidal wave obliterated several island villages.

shimmer

v. glimmer intermittently The moonlight shimmered on the water as the moon broke through the clouds for a moment.

mortify

v. humiliate; punish the flesh She was so mortified by her blunder that she ran to her room in tears.

mesmerize

v. hypnotize The incessant drone seemed to mesmerize him and place him in a trance.

yoke

v. join together, unite I don't wish to be yoked to him in marriage, as if we were cattle pulling a plow.

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.

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 of clumsily Still somewhat torpid after its long hibernation, the bear lumbered through the woods.

undulate

v. move with a wavelike motion The flag undulated in the breeze.

warble

v. sing; babble Every morning the birds warbled outside her window.

scuttle

v. sink The sailors decided to scuttle their vessel rather than surrender it to the enemy.

plagiarize

v. steal another's ideas and pass them off as one's own The editor could tell that the writer had plagiarized parts of the article; he could recognize whole paragraphs from the original source.

lurk

v. stealthily lie in waiting; slink; exist unperceived "Who knows what evils lurk in the hearts of men? The shadow knows."

protrude

v. stick out His fingers protruded from the holes in his gloves.

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.

provoke

v. stir up anger; cause retaliation In order to prevent a sudden outbreak of hostilities, we must not provoke our foe.

throttle

v. strangle The criminal tried to throttle the old man with his bare hands.

undergird

v. strengthen the base of Whereas relativity theory undermined the Newtonian mechanics, cosmology was undergirded by it.

prostrate

v. stretch out full on ground He prostrated himself before the idol.

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.

squander

v. waste The prodigal son squandered the family estate.

succumb

v. yield; give in; die I succumb to temptation whenever it comes my way.