bb

Anesthesia

noun loss of bodily sensation with or without loss of consciousness

Adulation

noun servile flattery; exaggerated and hypocritical praise

Absolution

noun the act of absolving or remitting; formal redemption as pronounced by a priest in the sacrament of penance; the condition of being formally forgiven by a priest in the sacrament of penance

Abhor

verb find repugnant

Imminent

adj. close in time; about to occur

Droll

adj. comical in an odd or whimsical manner

Serene

adj. completely clear and fine; not agitated; without losing self-possession

Devoid

adj. completely lacking; completely wanting or lacking

Aesthetic

adj. concerning or characterized by an appreciation of beauty or good taste; aesthetically pleasing; relating to or dealing with the subject of aesthetics; noun (philosophy) a philosophical theory as to what is beautiful

Pithy

adj. concise and full of meaning

Auspicious

adj. conducive to success; favorable.

Clandestine

adj. conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods

Surreptitious

adj. conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods; marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed

Esoteric

adj. confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle

Untoward

adj. contrary to your interests or welfare; not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society

Analogous

adj. corresponding in function but not in evolutionary origin; similar or equivalent in some respects though otherwise dissimilar

Commensurate

adj. corresponding in size or degree or extent

Inundated

adj. covered with water

Salacious

adj. crude

Incumbent

adj. currently holding an office; necessary (for someone) as a duty or responsibility; morally binding; lying or leaning on something else; noun the official who holds an office

Sinuous

adj. curved or curving in and out

Embroiled

adj. deeply involved especially in something complicated

Recondite

adj. difficult to penetrate; incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge

Unwieldy

adj. difficult to work or manipulate; difficult to use or handle or manage because of size or weight or shape; lacking grace in movement or posture

Affable

adj. diffusing warmth and friendliness

Disaffected

adj. discontented as toward authority

Daunting

adj. discouraging through fear

Slothful

adj. disinclined to work or exertion

Acquisitive

adj. eager to acquire and possess things especially material possessions or ideas

Peevish

adj. easily irritated or annoyed

Petulant

adj. easily irritated or annoyed

Tractable

adj. easily managed (controlled or taught or molded); readily reacting to suggestions and influences

Maudlin

adj. effusively or insincerely emotional

Mawkish

adj. effusively or insincerely emotional

maudlin

adj. effusively or insincerely emotional

Holistic

adj. emphasizing the organic or functional relation between parts and the whole

Lax

adj. emptying easily or excessively; lacking in rigor or strictness; not taut or rigid; not stretched or held tight; pronounced with muscles of the tongue and jaw relatively relaxed (e.g., the vowel sound in `bet'); lacking in strength or firmness or resilience

Rapacious

adj. excessively greedy and grasping; devouring or craving food in great quantities; living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey

Lugubrious

adj. excessively mournful

Understated

adj. exhibiting restrained good taste

Nominal

adj. existing in name only; insignificantly small; a matter of form only (`tokenish' is informal); being value in terms of specification on currency or stock certificates rather than purchasing power; pertaining to a noun or to a word group that functions as a noun; relating to or constituting or bearing or giving a name; named; bearing the name of a specific person; noun a phrase that can function as the subject or object of a verb

Beatific

adj. experiencing or bestowing celestial joy; marked by utter benignity; resembling or befitting an angel or saint

Arch

adj. expert in skulduggery; (used of behavior or attitude) characteristic of those who treat others with condescension;

Pejorative

adj. expressing disapproval

Concise

adj. expressing much in few words

Scurrilous

adj. expressing offensive reproach

Plaintive

adj. expressing sorrow

Articulate

adj. expressing yourself easily or characterized by clear expressive language;

Eloquent

adj. expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively

Effusive

adj. extravagantly demonstrative; uttered with unrestrained enthusiasm

Execrable

adj. extremely bad or unpleasant, appalling

Squalid

adj. extremely dirty and unpleasant, especially as a result of poverty or neglect.

Repugnant

adj. extremely distasteful; unacceptable.

Diabolical

adj. extremely evil or cruel; expressive of cruelty or befitting hell; showing the cunning or ingenuity or wickedness typical of a devil

Fervent

adj. extremely hot; characterized by intense emotion

Harrowing

adj. extremely painful

Nefarious

adj. extremely wicked

Elated

adj. exultantly proud and joyful; in high spirits; full of high-spirited delight

Remiss

adj. failing in what duty requires

Derelict

adj. failing in what duty requires; in deplorable condition; forsaken by owner or keeper; worn and broken down by hard use; noun a person unable to support himself; a ship abandoned on the high seas

Surpassing

adj. far beyond what is usual in magnitude or degree; exceeding or surpassing usual limits especially in excellence

Egalitarian

adj. favoring social equality; noun a person who believes in the equality of all people

Repentant

adj. feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds

Penitent

adj. feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds; noun (Roman Catholic Church) a person who repents for wrongdoing (a Roman Catholic may be admitted to penance under the direction of a confessor)

Reverent

adj. feeling or showing profound respect or veneration; showing great reverence for god

Contrite

adj. feeling regret for a fault or offence; feeling or expressing pain or sorrow for sins or offenses

Vainglorious

adj. feeling self-importance

Nonplussed

adj. filled with bewilderment

Fraught

adj. filled with or destined to result in (something undesirable).

Steadfast

adj. firm and dependable especially in loyalty; marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakable

Staunch

adj. firm and dependable especially in loyalty; verb stop the flow of a liquid

Resolute

adj. firm in purpose or belief; characterized by firmness and determination; characterized by quickness and firmness

Condign

adj. fitting or appropriate and deserved; used especially of punishment

Concomitant

adj. following as a consequence; noun an event or situation that happens at the same time as or in connection with another

Emphatic

adj. forceful and definite in expression or action; sudden and strong; spoken with emphasis

Exculpated

adj. freed from any question of guilt

Cowed

adj. frightened into submission or compliance

Sonorous

adj. full and loud and deep

Sapid

adj. full of flavor

Laudatory

adj. full of or giving praise

Garrulous

adj. full of trivial conversation

Loquacious

adj. full of trivial conversation

Benevolent

adj. generous in providing aid to others; intending or showing kindness; generous in assistance to the poor; showing or motivated by sympathy and understanding and generosity

Openhanded

adj. given or giving freely

Fastidious

adj. giving careful attention to detail; hard to please; excessively concerned with cleanliness; having complicated nutritional requirements; especially growing only in special artificial cultures

Crescendo

adj. gradually increasing in volume; noun (music) a gradual increase in loudness; verb grow louder

Encroaching

adj. gradually intrusive without right or permission

Sovereign

adj. greatest in status or authority or power; (of political bodies) not controlled by outside forces; noun a nation's ruler or head of state usually by hereditary right

Exorbitant

adj. greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation

Unconscionable

adj. greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation; lacking a conscience

Aerial

adj. growing in air; in or belonging to the air or operating (for or by means of aircraft or elevated cables) in the air; characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; as impalpable or intangible as air; noun a pass to a receiver downfield from the passer; an electrical device that sends or receives radio or television signals

Querulous

adj. habitually complaining

Slovenly

adj. habitually dirty and unkempt

Froward

adj. habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition

Acerbic

adj. harsh or corrosive in tone; sour or bitter in taste

Dour

adj. harshly uninviting or formidable in manner or appearance; showing a brooding ill humor; stubbornly unyielding

Cursory

adj. hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough

Perfunctory

adj. hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough; as a formality only

Churlish

adj. having a bad disposition; surly; rude and boorish

relevant

adj. having a bearing on or connection with the subject at issue

Lucid

adj. having a clear mind; (of language) transparently clear; easily understandable; transmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity; capable of thinking and expressing yourself in a clear and consistent manner

Diurnal

adj. having a daily cycle or occurring every day; belonging to or active during the day

Reputable

adj. having a good reputation

Inveterate

adj. having a habit of long standing

Iridescent

adj. having a play of lustrous rainbow-like colors; varying in color when seen in different lights or from different angles

Undulate

adj. having a wavy margin and rippled surface; verb increase and decrease in volume or pitch, as if in waves; move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion; stir up (water) so as to form ripples; occur in soft rounded shapes

Affluent

adj. having an abundant supply of money or possessions of value; noun an affluent person; a person who is financially well off; a branch that flows into the main stream

Notorious

adj. having an exceedingly bad reputation

Pendulous

adj. having branches or flower heads that bend downward

Defunct

adj. having ceased to exist or live; no longer in force or use; inactive

Workmanlike

adj. having efficient competence.

Primeval

adj. having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or original stage or state

Primordial

adj. having existed from the beginning; in an earliest or original stage or state

Resplendent

adj. having great beauty and splendor

Ponderous

adj. having great mass and weight and unwieldiness; labored and dull; slow and laborious because of weight

Multifarious

adj. having many aspects

Viscous

adj. having the sticky properties of an adhesive; having a relatively high resistance to flow

Lackadaisical

adj. idle or indolent especially in a dreamy way; lacking spirit or liveliness

Halcyon

adj. idyllically calm and peaceful; suggesting happy tranquillity;

Pristine

adj. immaculately clean and unused; completely free from dirt or contamination

Avaricious

adj. immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth

Grasping

adj. immoderately desirous of acquiring e.g. wealth; noun the act of gripping something firmly with the hands; understanding with difficulty

Restive

adj. impatient especially under restriction or delay; being in a tense state

Incorrigible

adj. impervious to correction by punishment

incorrigible

adj. impervious to correction by punishment

Adamant

adj. impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, reason; noun very hard native crystalline carbon valued as a gem

Ineluctable

adj. impossible to avoid or evade:"inescapable conclusion"

Incontrovertible

adj. impossible to deny or disprove; necessarily or demonstrably true

Insatiable

adj. impossible to satisfy

Indomitable

adj. impossible to subdue

Headlong

adj. in a rush; with reckless haste.

Infinitesimal

adj. infinitely or immeasurably small; noun (mathematics) a variable that has zero as its limit

Redoubtable

adj. inspiring fear; having or worthy of pride

Ebullient

adj. joyously unrestrained

Poignant

adj. keenly distressing to the mind or feelings; arousing affect

Random

adj. lacking any definite plan or order or purpose; governed by or depending on chance; taken haphazardly

Nebulous

adj. lacking definition or definite content; lacking definite form or limits; of or relating to or resembling a nebula

Nondescript

adj. lacking distinct or individual characteristics; dull and uninteresting; noun a person is not easily classified and not very interesting

Licentious

adj. lacking moral discipline; especially sexually unrestrained

Rickety

adj. lacking physical strength or vitality

Decrepit

adj. lacking physical strength or vitality; worn and broken down by hard use

Vapid

adj. lacking significance or liveliness or spirit or zest; lacking taste or flavor or tang

Gauche

adj. lacking social polish

Languid

adj. lacking spirit or liveliness

Arid

adj. lacking vitality or spirit; lifeless; lacking sufficient water or rainfall

Pedestrian

adj. lacking wit or imagination; noun a person who travels by foot

Listless

adj. lacking zest or vivacity; marked by low spirits; showing no enthusiasm

Capacious

adj. large in capacity

Copious

adj. large in number or quantity (especially of discourse); affording an abundant supply

Voluminous

adj. large in volume or bulk; large in number or quantity (especially of discourse); marked by repeated turns and bends

Transitory

adj. lasting a very short time

Impeded

adj. made difficult or slow

Apathetic

adj. marked by a lack of interest; showing little or no emotion or animation

Sedulous

adj. marked by care and persistent effort

Impudent

adj. marked by casual disrespect; improperly forward or bold

Conformist

adj. marked by convention and conformity to customs or rules or styles; adhering to established customs or doctrines (especially in religion); noun someone who conforms to established standards of conduct (especially in religious matters)

Furtive

adj. marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed; secret and sly or sordid

Brusque

adj. marked by rude or peremptory shortness

Wily

adj. marked by skill in deception

Acrimonious

adj. marked by strong resentment or cynicism

Profane

adj. nonreligious

Moderate

adj. not extreme; being within reasonable or average limits;

Inimical

adj. not friendly

Discordant

adj. not in agreement or harmony; lacking in harmony

Unassuming

adj. not pretentious or arrogant; modest.

Unbridled

adj. not restrained or controlled

Quixotic

adj. not sensible about practical matters; unrealistic

Permeated

adj. occurring throughout

Austere

adj. of a stern or strict bearing or demeanor; forbidding in aspect; severely simple; practicing great self-denial

Apropos

adj. of an appropriate or pertinent nature; adv. by the way; at an opportune time

Gargantuan

adj. of great mass; huge and bulky

Monastic

adj. of or relating to monks, nuns, or others living under religious vows, or the buildings in which they live.

Tangential

adj. of or relating to or acting along or in the direction of a tangent; of superficial relevance if any

Philanthropic

adj. of or relating to or characterized by philanthropy; generous in assistance to the poor

Genial

adj. of or relating to the chin or median part of the lower jaw; diffusing warmth and friendliness; agreeable, conducive to comfort

Unruly

adj. of persons; noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline; unwilling to submit to authority

Fetid

adj. offensively malodorous

Noisome

adj. offensively malodorous; causing or able to cause nausea

Inchoate

adj. only partly in existence; imperfectly formed

Remunerated

adj. pay (someone) for services rendered or work done.

Facile

adj. performing adroitly and without effort; arrived at without due care or effort; lacking depth; expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively

Destitute

adj. poor enough to need help from others; completely wanting or lacking

Cogent

adj. powerfully persuasive

Mendicant

adj. practicing beggary; noun a pauper who lives by begging; a male member of a religious order that originally relied solely on alms

August

adj. profoundly honored; of or befitting a lord; noun the month following July and preceding September

Foster

adj. providing or receiving nurture or parental care though not related by blood or legal ties;

Grandiloquent

adj. puffed up with vanity; lofty in style

Imperative

adj. requiring attention or action; relating to verbs in the imperative mood; noun some duty that is essential and urgent; a mood that expresses an intention to influence the listener's behavior

Heinous

adj. shockingly brutal or cruel

Canny

adj. showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others

Dolorous

adj. showing sorrow

Lachrymose

adj. showing sorrow

Artless

adj. simple and natural; without cunning or deceit; (of persons) lacking art or knowledge; showing lack of art; characterized by an inability to mask your feelings; not devious

Profound

adj. situated at or extending to great depth; too deep to have been sounded or plumbed;

Deft

adj. skillful in physical movements; especially of the hands

Dexterous

adj. skillful in physical movements; especially of the hands

Oblique

adj. slanting or inclined in direction or course or position--neither parallel nor perpendicular nor right-angled; indirect in departing from the accepted or proper way; misleading; noun any grammatical case other than the nominative; a diagonally arranged abdominal muscle on either side of the torso

Soporific

adj. sleep inducing; inducing mental lethargy; noun a drug that induces sleep

Somnolent

adj. sleepy; drowsy.

Torpid

adj. slow and apathetic; in a condition of biological rest or suspended animation

Politic

adj. smoothly agreeable and courteous with a degree of sophistication; marked by artful prudence, expedience, and shrewdness

Abysmal

adj. so deep as to be unmeasurable; very great; limitless

Antiquated

adj. so extremely old as seeming to belong to an earlier period

Prodigious

adj. so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe; far beyond what is usual in magnitude or degree; of momentous or ominous significance

Rotund

adj. spherical in shape; excessively fat; (of sounds) full and rich

Diffuse

adj. spread out; not concentrated in one place; lacking conciseness; (of light) transmitted from a broad light source or reflected; verb move outward; cause to become widely known; spread or diffuse through

Pervasive

adj. spreading or spread throughout

Coherent

adj. sticking together; marked by an orderly, logical, and aesthetically consistent relation of parts; capable of thinking and expressing yourself in a clear and consistent manner

Extant

adj. still in existence; not extinct or destroyed or lost

Aghast

adj. struck with fear, dread, or consternation

Fractious

adj. stubbornly resistant to authority or control; easily irritated or annoyed

Pertinacious

adj. stubbornly unyielding

Risque

adj. suggestive of sexual impropriety

Incisive

adj. suitable for cutting or piercing; having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions

Potable

adj. suitable for drinking; noun any liquid suitable for drinking

Palatial

adj. suitable for or like a palace; relating to or being a palace

Opportune

adj. suitable or at a time that is suitable or advantageous especially for a particular purpose

Funereal

adj. suited to or suggestive of a grave or burial

Satiated

adj. supplied (especially fed) to satisfaction

Satiate

adj. supplied (especially fed) to satisfaction; verb fill to satisfaction; overeat or eat immodestly; make a pig of oneself

Unctuous

adj. sycophantic, ingratiating, obsequious, fawning, grovel

Remedial

adj. tending or intended to rectify or improve; tending to cure or restore to health

Perfidious

adj. tending to betray; especially having a treacherous character as attributed to the Carthaginians by the Romans

Dismissive

adj. tending to dismiss or reject; showing indifference or disregard

Captious

adj. tending to find and call attention to faults

Truncated

adj. terminating abruptly by having or as if having an end or point cut off; cut short in duration

Truncate

adj. terminating abruptly by having or as if having an end or point cut off; verb make shorter as if by cutting off; approximate by ignoring all terms beyond a chosen one; replace a corner by a plane

Desiccated

adj. thoroughly dried out; lacking vitality or spirit; lifeless; preserved by removing natural moisture

Minatory

adj. threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments

Timorous

adj. timid by nature or revealing timidity

Interminable

adj. tiresomely long; seemingly without end

Ineffable

adj. too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words.

Myriad

adj. too numerous to be counted; noun a large indefinite number

Coagulate

adj. transformed from a liquid into a soft semisolid or solid mass; verb change from a liquid to a thickened or solid state; cause to change from a liquid to a solid or thickened state

Mercenary

adj. used of soldiers hired by a foreign army; profit oriented; marked by materialism; noun a person hired to fight for another country than their own

Menial

adj. used of unskilled work (especially domestic work); noun a domestic servant

Verbose

adj. using or containing too many words

Waspish

adj. very irritable

Diminutive

adj. very small; noun a word that is formed with a suffix (such as -let or -kin) to indicate smallness

Vivacious

adj. vigorous and animated

Boisterous

adj. violently agitated and turbulent; noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline; full of rough and exuberant animal spirits

Indolent

adj. wanting to avoid activity or exertion; lazy.

Dilatory

adj. wasting time; inclined to waste time and lag behind; using cautious slow strategy to wear down opposition; avoiding direct confrontation

Eldritch

adj. weird and sinister or ghostly.

Bygone

adj. well in the past; former; noun past events to be put aside

Renowned

adj. widely known and esteemed

Feral

adj. wild and menacing

Contumacious

adj. wilfully obstinate; stubbornly disobedient

Docile

adj. willing to be taught or led or supervised or directed; easily handled or managed; ready and willing to be taught

Malevolent

adj. wishing or appearing to wish evil to others; arising from intense ill will or hatred; having or exerting a malignant influence

Gratuitous

adj. without cause; unnecessary and unwarranted; costing nothing

Amorphous

adj. without real or apparent crystalline form; lacking the system or structure characteristic of living bodies; having no definite form or distinct shape

Denuded

adj. without the natural or usual covering

Pernicious

adj. working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way; exceedingly harmful

Epistolary

adj. written in the form of or carried on by letters or correspondence

Callow

adj. young and inexperienced

Nettle

cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

Sangfroid

composure or coolness, sometimes excessive, as shown in danger or under trying circumstances.

Solipsistic.

extreme preoccupation with and indulgence of one's feelings, desires

Tumid

adj. (especially of a part of the body) swollen.

Etiolated

adj. (especially of plants) developed without chlorophyll by being deprived of light

Antiseptic

adj. (extended sense) of exceptionally clean language; clean and honest;

Picayune

adj. (informal) small and of little importance

Discursive

adj. (of e.g. speech and writing) tending to depart from the main point or cover a wide range of subjects; proceeding to a conclusion by reason or argument rather than intuition

Calamitous

adj. (of events) having extremely unfortunate or dire consequences; bringing ruin

Arable

adj. (of farmland) capable of being farmed productively

Nomadic

adj. (of groups of people) tending to travel and change settlements frequently

Platonic

adj. Platonic describes a relationship that is purely spiritual and not physical.

Arbitrary

adj. based on or subject to individual discretion or preference or sometimes impulse or caprice

Marginal

adj. being close to a lower limit or or of lower class; producing at a rate that barely covers production costs; of a bare living gained by great labor; at or constituting a border or edge; of questionable or minimal quality; just barely adequate or within a lower limit

Tantamount

adj. being essentially equal to something

Rudimentary

adj. being in the earliest stages of development; not fully developed in mature animals; being or involving basic facts or principles

Apocryphal

adj. being of questionable authenticity; of or belonging to the Apocrypha

Apposite

adj. being of striking appropriateness and pertinence

Divine

adj. being of such surpassing excellence as to suggest inspiration by the gods; emanating from God; being or having the nature of a god; appropriate to or befitting a god; devoted to or in the service or worship of a deity; resulting from divine providence; noun terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God; a clergyman or other person in religious orders; verb search by divining, as if with a rod; perceive intuitively or through some inexplicable perceptive powers

Moribund

adj. being on the point of death; breathing your last; not growing or changing; without force or vitality

Vernacular

adj. being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language; noun the everyday speech of the people (as distinguished from literary language); a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves)

Ubiquitous

adj. being present everywhere at once

Strident

adj. being sharply insistent on being heard; unpleasantly loud and harsh;

Acidulous

adj. being sour to the taste

Implicit

adj. being without doubt or reserve; implied though not directly expressed; inherent in the nature of something

Objective

adj. belonging to immediate experience of actual things or events; undistorted by emotion or personal bias; based on observable phenomena; emphasizing or expressing things as perceived without distortion of personal feelings,

Nocturnal

adj. belonging to or active during the night; of or relating to or occurring in the night

Bourgeois

adj. belonging to the middle class;

Mundane

adj. belonging to this earth or world; not ideal or heavenly; concerned with the world or worldly matters; found in the ordinary course of events

Wry

adj. bent to one side; humorously sarcastic or mocking

Inordinate

adj. beyond normal limits

Idolatrous

adj. blindly or excessively devoted or adoring; relating to or practicing idolatry

Obstreperous

adj. boisterously and noisily aggressive; noisily and stubbornly defiant

Laconic

adj. brief and to the point; effectively cut short

Terse

adj. brief and to the point; effectively cut short

Curt

adj. brief and to the point; effectively cut short; marked by rude or peremptory shortness

Succinct

adj. briefly giving the gist of something

Scintillating

adj. brilliantly clever; having brief brilliant points or flashes of light; marked by high spirits or excitement

Reprehensible

adj. bringing or deserving severe rebuke or censure

Ludicrous

adj. broadly or extravagantly humorous; resembling farce; incongruous; inviting ridicule

Crestfallen

adj. brought low in spirit

Affront

insult, offend, treat, mention, or speak to rudely

Discreet

adj. careful and circumspect in one's speech or actions, especially in order to avoid causing offense or to gain an advantage.

Prudent

adj. careful and sensible; marked by sound judgment

Vigilant

adj. carefully observant or attentive; on the lookout for possible danger

Estranged

adj. caused to be unloved

Cohesive

adj. causing cohesion; cohering or tending to cohere; well integrated

Enervating

adj. causing debilitation

Quiescent

adj. causing no symptoms; being quiet or still or inactive; not active or activated; marked by a state of tranquil repose

Grievous

adj. causing or marked by grief or anguish; causing fear or anxiety by threatening great harm; shockingly brutal or cruel; of great gravity or crucial import; requiring serious thought

Ossified

adj. changed into bone; hardened by deposits of mineral matter; set in a rigidly conventional pattern of behavior, habits, or beliefs

Histrionic

adj. characteristic of acting or a stage performance; often affected

Colloquial

adj. characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation

Worldly

adj. characteristic of or devoted to the temporal world; concerned with secular rather than sacred matters; very sophisticated especially because of surfeit; versed in the ways of the world

Provincial

adj. characteristic of the provinces or their people; of or associated with a province; noun (Roman Catholic Church) an official in charge of an ecclesiastical province acting under the superior general of a religious order; a country person

Totalitarian

adj. characterized by a government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control; of or relating to the principles of totalitarianism according to which the state regulates every realm of life; noun an adherent of totalitarian principles or totalitarian government

Pert

adj. characterized by a lightly pert and exuberant quality

Impertinent

adj. characterized by a lightly pert and exuberant quality; improperly forward or bold; not pertinent to the matter under consideration

Dynamic

adj. characterized by action or forcefulness or force of personality; of or relating to dynamics; expressing action rather than a state of being; used of verbs (e.g. `to run') and participial adjectives (e.g. `running' in `running water'); noun an efficient incentive

Ingenuous

adj. characterized by an inability to mask your feelings; not devious; lacking in sophistication or worldliness

Irascible

adj. characterized by anger; quickly aroused to anger

Diligent

adj. characterized by care and perseverance in carrying out tasks; quietly and steadily persevering especially in detail or exactness

decorous

adj. characterized by propriety and dignity and good taste in manners and conduct; according with custom or propriety

Lenient

adj. characterized by tolerance and mercy; not strict; tolerant or lenient

Tumultuous

adj. characterized by unrest or disorder or insubordination

Ethereal

adj. characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy; of or containing or dissolved in ether; characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; as impalpable or intangible as air; of heaven or the spirit

Complement

noun something added to complete or make perfect; either of two parts that mutually complete each other; a word or phrase used to complete a grammatical construction; number needed to make up a whole force; a complete number or quantity; one of a series of enzymes in the blood serum that are part of the immune response; verb make complete or perfect; supply what is wanting or form the complement to

Pretext

noun something serving to conceal plans; a fictitious reason that is concocted in order to conceal the real reason; an artful or simulated semblance

Quandary

noun state of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavorable options; a situation from which extrication is difficult especially an unpleasant or trying one

Composure

noun steadiness of mind under stress

Equanimity

noun steadiness of mind under stress

Fortitude

noun strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity with courage

Chagrin

noun strong feelings of embarrassment; verb cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of

Pluck

noun take hold of (something) and quickly remove it from its place; pick.

Cobbler

noun tall sweetened iced drink of wine or liquor with fruit; a person who makes or repairs shoes; made of fruit with rich biscuit dough usually only on top of the fruit

Reservoir

noun tank used for collecting and storing a liquid (as water or oil); lake used to store water for community use; anything (a person or animal or plant or substance) in which an infectious agent normally lives and multiplies; a large or extra supply of something

Renunciation

noun the act of renouncing; sacrificing or giving up or surrendering (a possession or right or title or privilege etc.); an act (spoken or written) declaring that something is surrendered or disowned; rejecting or disowning or disclaiming as invalid; the state of having rejected your religious beliefs or your political party or a cause (often in favor of opposing beliefs or causes)

Winnow

noun the act of separating grain from chaff; verb blow away or off with a current of air; separate the chaff from by using air currents; blow on; select desirable parts from a group or list

Temperance

noun the act of tempering; the trait of avoiding excesses; abstaining from excess

Abort

noun the act of terminating a project or procedure before it is completed; verb terminate a pregnancy by undergoing an abortion; cease development, die, and be aborted; terminate before completion

Contusion

noun the action of bruising; an injury that doesn't break the skin but results in some discoloration

Pathology

noun the branch of medical science that studies the causes and nature and effects of diseases; any deviation from a healthy or normal condition

Camaraderie

noun the quality of affording easy familiarity and sociability

Congruity

noun the quality of agreeing; being suitable and appropriate

Candor

noun the quality of being honest and straightforward in attitude and speech.

Caterwaul

noun the yowling sound made by a cat in heat; verb utter shrieks, as of cats

Salutation

noun word of greeting used to begin a letter; (usually plural) an acknowledgment or expression of good will (especially on meeting); an act of honor or courteous recognition

Collateral

something pledged as security for repayment of a loan, to be forfeited in the event of a default.

Aggrandize

verb add details to

Espouse

verb adopt or support, marry

Transmute

verb alter the nature of (elements); change in outward structure or looks; change or alter in form, appearance, or nature

Reciprocate

verb alternate the direction of motion of; act, feel, or give mutually or in return

Beseech

verb ask for or request earnestly

Entreat

verb ask for or request earnestly

Relegate

verb assign to a class or kind; refer to another person for decision or judgment; assign to a lower position; reduce in rank; expel, as if by official decree

Abet

verb assist or encourage, usually in some wrongdoing

Abet

verb assist or encourageusually in some wrongdoing

Impugn

verb attack as false or wrong

Assail

verb attack someone physically or emotionally; attack in speech or writing; launch an attack or assault on; begin hostilities or start warfare with

Importune

verb beg persistently and urgently

Dissemble

verb behave unnaturally or affectedly; hide under a false appearance; make believe with the intent to deceive

Deprecate

verb belittle; express strong disapproval of; deplore

Vindicate

verb clear of accusation, blame, suspicion, or doubt with supporting proof; maintain, uphold, or defend; show to be right by providing justification or proof

Reconcile

verb come to terms; bring into consonance or accord; make compatible with; accept as inevitable

Proscribe

verb command against

Emulate

verb compete with successfully; approach or reach equality with; imitate the function of (another system), as by modifying the hardware or the software; strive to equal or match, especially by imitating

Coddle

verb cook in nearly boiling water; treat with excessive indulgence

Beatify

verb declare (a dead person) to be blessed; the first step of achieving sainthood; make blessedly happy; fill with sublime emotion; tickle pink

Deface

verb deface a building facade, for example; mar or spoil the appearance of

Contravene

verb deny the truth of; go against, as of rules and laws

Elicit

verb derive by reason; deduce (a principle) or construe (a meaning); call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)

Subvert

verb destroy completely; cause the downfall of; of rulers; destroy property or hinder normal operations; corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality

Discern

verb detect with the senses

Refract

verb determine the refracting power of (a lens); subject to refraction

Disclose

verb disclose to view as by removing a cover; make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret

Bowdlerize

verb edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate

Disparage

verb express a negative opinion of

Upbraid

verb express criticism towards

Decry

verb express strong disapproval of

Evince

verb give expression to

Inhibit

verb limit the range or extent of; to put down by force or authority

Amortize

verb liquidate gradually

Dissipate

verb live a life or pleasure, especially with respect to alcoholic consumption; spend frivolously and unwisely.

Revere

verb love unquestioningly and uncritically or to excess; venerate as an idol; regard with feelings of respect and reverence; consider hallowed or exalted or be in awe of

Debase

verb lower in value by increasing the base-metal content; corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones; corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality

Placate

verb make (someone) less angry or hostile.

Concoct

verb make a concoction (of) by mixing; prepare or cook by mixing ingredients; devise or invent; invent

Expiate

verb make amends for

Refurbish

verb make brighter and prettier

Emend

verb make improvements or corrections to

Exasperate

verb make worse; make furious; exasperate or irritate

Calibrate

verb mark (a gauge or instrument) with a standard scale of readings.

Fathom

verb measure the depth of (a body of water) with a sounding line; come to understand

Convene

verb meet formally; call together

Confound

verb mistake one thing for another; be confusing or perplexing to; cause to be unable to think clearly

Conflate

verb mix together different elements

Disperse

verb move away from each other; to cause to separate and go in different directions; cause to separate; cause to become widely known; distribute loosely

Vacillate

verb move or sway in a rising and falling or wavelike pattern; be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action

Expunge

verb remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line

Desecrate

verb remove the consecration from a person or an object; violate the sacred character of a place or language

Excavate

verb remove the inner part or the core of; form by hollowing; find by digging in the ground; lay bare through digging

Renovate

verb restore to a previous or better condition; give new life or energy to; make brighter and prettier

Constrain

verb restrict; hold back

Supplant

verb take the place or move into the position of

Reprove

verb take to task

Raze

verb tear down so as to make flat with the ground

Defenestrate

verb throw through or out of the window. remove or dismiss (someone) from a position of power or authority.

Immerse

verb thrust or throw into; enclose or envelop completely, as if by swallowing; engross (oneself) fully; cause to be immersed

Acquiesce

verb to agree or express agreement

Coerce

verb to cause to do through pressure or necessity, by physical, moral or intellectual means :"She forced him to take a job in the city"

Interject

verb to insert between other elements

Peregrinate

verb travel around, through, or over, especially on foot

Retract

verb use a surgical instrument to hold open (the edges of a wound or an organ); formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure; pull inward or towards a center; pull away from a source of disgust or fear

Deplete

verb use up (resources or materials)

Modulate

verb vary the frequency, amplitude, phase, or other characteristic of (electromagnetic waves); adjust the pitch, tone, or volume of; change the key of, in music; fix or adjust the time, amount, degree, or rate of; vary the pitch of one's speech

Enervate

verb weaken mentally or morally; disturb the composure of

Covet

verb wish, long, or crave for (something, especially the property of another person)

Scotch

a slight surface cut (especially a notch that is made to keep a tally); verb make a small cut or score into; hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of

Vacuous

adj. devoid of matter; void of expression; devoid of significance or point; devoid of intelligence

Voracious

adj. devouring or craving food in great quantities; excessively greedy and grasping

Arduous

adj. difficult to accomplish; demanding considerable mental effort and skill; characterized by toilsome effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort; taxing to the utmost; testing powers of endurance

Cumbersome

adj. difficult to handle or use especially because of size or weight; not elegant or graceful in expression

Abstruse

adj. difficult to penetrate; incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge

Sardonic

adj. disdainfully or ironically humorous; scornful and mocking

Bashful

adj. disposed to avoid notice; self-consciously timid

amiable

adj. disposed to please; diffusing warmth and friendliness

Audacious

adj. disposed to venture or take risks; unrestrained by convention or propriety; invulnerable to fear or intimidation

Divisive

adj. dissenting (especially dissenting with the majority opinion)

Bifurcated

adj. divided into or made up of two parts

Flaccid

adj. drooping without elasticity; wanting in stiffness; lacking in strength or firmness or resilience; out of condition; not strong or robust; incapable of exertion or endurance

Pugnacious

adj. eager or quick to argue, quarrel, or fight.

Incandescent

adj. emitting light as a result of being heated; characterized by ardent emotion or intensity or brilliance

Callous

adj. emotionally hardened; having calluses; having skin made tough and thick through wear; verb make insensitive or callous; deaden feelings or morals

Sentient

adj. endowed with feeling and unstructured consciousness; consciously perceiving

Piquant

adj. engagingly stimulating or provocative; having an agreeably pungent taste; attracting or delighting

Disparate

adj. essentially different in kind; not allowing comparison.

Malign

adj. evil or harmful in nature or influence; having or exerting a malignant influence; verb speak unfavorably about

Finicky

adj. exacting especially about details

Euphoric

adj. exaggerated feeling of well-being or elation

Idyllic

adj. excellent and delightful in all respects; suggestive of an idyll; charmingly simple and serene

Rife

adj. excessively abundant; encountered generally especially at the present time

Frenetic

adj. excessively agitated; transported with rage or other violent emotion

Presumptuous

adj. excessively forward

Parsimonious

adj. excessively unwilling to spend

Penurious

adj. excessively unwilling to spend; not having enough money to pay for necessities

Verboten

adj. excluded from use or mention

Felicitous

adj. exhibiting an agreeably appropriate manner or style; marked by good fortune

Mimetic

adj. exhibiting mimicry; characterized by or of the nature of or using mimesis

Intrepid

adj. fearless; adventurous

Ecstatic

adj. feeling great rapture or delight

Rapturous

adj. feeling great rapture or delight

Clairvoyant

adj. foreseeing the future; perceiving things beyond the natural range of the senses; noun someone who has the power of clairvoyance

Prophetic

adj. foretelling events as if by supernatural intervention

Quotidian

adj. found in the ordinary course of events

Magnanimous

adj. generous and understanding and tolerant; noble and generous in spirit

Willful

adj. habitually disposed to disobedience and opposition; done by design

Taciturn

adj. habitually reserved and uncommunicative

Deleterious

adj. harmful to living things

Cryptic

adj. having a puzzling terseness; of an obscure nature; having a secret or hidden meaning

Disputatious

adj. inclined or showing an inclination to dispute or disagree, even to engage in law suits

Submissive

adj. inclined or willing to submit to orders or wishes of others or showing such inclination; abjectly submissive; characteristic of a slave or servant

Amorous

adj. inclined toward or displaying love; expressive of or exciting sexual love or romance

Comprehensive

adj. including all or everything; broad in scope; noun an intensive examination testing a student's proficiency in some special field of knowledge

Recrudescent

adj. increased severity of a disease after a remission

Cumulative

adj. increasing by successive addition

Sanctimonious

adj. making a show of being morally superior to other people. "what happened to all the sanctimonious talk about putting his family first?"

Manifold

adj. many and varied; having many features or forms;

Perverse

adj. marked by a disposition to oppose and contradict; marked by immorality; deviating from what is considered right or proper or good; resistant to guidance or discipline

Zealous

adj. marked by active interest and enthusiasm

Nonchalant

adj. marked by blithe unconcern

Assiduous

adj. marked by care and persistent effort

Intimate

adj. marked by close acquaintance, association, or familiarity; thoroughly acquainted through study or experience;

Plebeian

adj. of the common people of ancient Rome; of or associated with the great masses of people; noun one of the common people

Cosmopolitan

adj. of worldwide scope or applicability; composed of people from or at home in many parts of the world; especially not provincial in attitudes or interests; growing or occurring in many parts of the world; noun a sophisticated person who has travelled in many countries

Obsolete

adj. old; no longer in use or valid or fashionable; no longer in use

Turbid

adj. opaque, cloudy, unclear,

Aquatic

adj. operating or living or growing in water; relating to or consisting of or being in water; noun a plant that lives in or on water

Terrestrial

adj. operating or living or growing on land; of this earth; concerned with the world or worldly matters; of or relating to or characteristic of the planet Earth or its inhabitants; of or relating to or inhabiting the land as opposed to the sea or air

Indigenous

adj. originating where it is found

Bombastic

adj. ostentatiously lofty in style

Cloying

adj. overly sweet

Saccharine

adj. overly sweet

Treacly

adj. overly sweet

Extenuating

adj. partially excusing or justifying

Idiosyncratic

adj. peculiar to the individual

Prescient

adj. perceiving the significance of events before they occur

Tangible

adj. perceptible by the senses especially the sense of touch; (of especially business assets) having physical substance and intrinsic monetary value;

Quizzical

adj. perplexed (as if being expected to know something that you do not know); playfully vexing (especially by ridicule)

Apoplectic

adj. pertaining to or characteristic of apoplexy

Specious

adj. plausible but false; based on pretense; deceptively pleasing

benign

adj. pleasant and beneficial in nature or influence; kindness of disposition or manner; not dangerous to health; not recurrent or progressive (especially of a tumor)

Rarefied

adj. reserved for an elite group; of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style; having low density

Servile

adj. submissive or fawning in attitude or behavior; relating to or involving slaves

Vicarious

adj. suffered or done by one person as a substitute for another; occurring in an abnormal part of the body instead of the usual site involved in that function; experienced at secondhand

Dyspeptic

adj. suffering from dyspepsia; irritable as if suffering from indigestion; noun a person suffering from indigestion

Bilious

adj. suffering from or suggesting a liver disorder or gastric distress; relating to or containing bile; irritable as if suffering from indigestion

Picturesque

adj. suggesting or suitable for a picture; pretty as a picture; strikingly expressive

Uncanny

adj. suggesting the operation of supernatural influences; surpassing the ordinary or normal

Statuesque

adj. suggestive of a statue; of size and dignity suggestive of a statue

Companionable

adj. suggestive of companionship

Sensuous

adj. taking delight in beauty

Protean

adj. taking on different forms

Subjective

adj. taking place within the mind and modified by individual bias; of a mental act performed entirely within the mind

Garish

adj. tastelessly showy

Prolix

adj. tediously prolonged or tending to speak or write at great length

Humdrum

adj. tediously repetitious or lacking in variety; not challenging; dull and lacking excitement; noun routine, and lack of variety

Compelling

adj. tending to persuade by forcefulness of argument; driving or forcing

Salutary

adj. tending to promote physical well-being; beneficial to health

Evanescent

adj. tending to vanish like vapor

Harried

adj. troubled persistently especially with petty annoyances

Askew

adj. turned or twisted toward one side; adv. turned or twisted to one side

Impregnable

adj. unable to be captured or broken into

Incoherent

adj. unable to express yourself clearly or fluently; without logical or meaningful connection

Equivocal

adj. uncertain as a sign or indication; open to two or more interpretations; or of uncertain nature or significance; or (often) intended to mislead; open to question

Ambivalent

adj. uncertain or unable to decide about what course to follow

Odious

adj. unequivocally detestable

Fidelity

noun accuracy with which an electronic system reproduces the sound or image of its input signal; the quality of being faithful

Forage

noun the act of searching for food and provisions; animal food for browsing or grazing; verb wander and feed; collect or look around for (food)

Concede

verb be willing to concede; admit, make a clean breast of; acknowledge defeat; give over; surrender or relinquish to the physical control of another

Congeal

verb become gelatinous

Subjugate

verb make subservient; force to submit or subdue; put down by force or intimidation

Fabricate

verb make up something artificial or untrue; put together out of components or parts

Validate

verb make valid or confirm the validity of; prove valid; show or confirm the validity of something; give evidence for; declare or make legally valid

Debilitate

verb make weak

Oscillate

verb move or swing from side to side regularly; be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action

Skulk

verb move stealthily; avoid responsibilities and duties, e.g., by pretending to be ill; lie in wait, lie in ambush, behave in a sneaky and secretive manner

Propagate

verb multiply sexually or asexually; cause to propagate, as by grafting or layering; transmit or cause to broaden or spread; transmit; travel through the air; transmit from one generation to the next; cause to become widely known; become distributed or widespread

Counteract

verb oppose and mitigate the effects of by contrary actions; destroy property or hinder normal operations; act in opposition to; oppose or check by a counteraction

Quell

verb overcome or allay; suppress or crush completely

Permeate

verb spread or diffuse through; penetrate mutually or be interlocked; pass through

Vex

verb subject to prolonged examination, discussion, or deliberation; be a mystery or bewildering to; change the arrangement or position of; disturb the peace of mind of; afflict with mental agitation or distress; cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations

Defer

verb submit or yield to another's wish or opinion; hold back to a later time

Succumb

verb submit, surrender, capitulate

Recapitulate

verb summarize briefly; repeat stages of evolutionary development during the embryonic phase of life; repeat an earlier theme of a composition

Corroborate

verb support with evidence or authority or make more certain or confirm; establish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts; give evidence for

Extirpate

verb surgically remove (an organ); pull up by or as if by the roots; destroy completely, as if down to the roots

Capitulate

verb surrender under agreed conditions

Distend

verb swell from or as if from internal pressure; cause to expand as it by internal pressure; become wider

Vitiate

verb take away the legal force of or render ineffective; make imperfect; corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality

Gainsay

verb take exception to

Accede

verb take on duties or office; to agree or express agreement; submit or yield to another's wish or opinion

Arrogate

verb take or claim (something) without justification.

Usurp

verb take the place of; seize and take control without authority and possibly with force; take as one's right or possession

Inculcate

verb teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions

Wrath

noun belligerence aroused by a real or supposed wrong (personified as one of the deadly sins); intense anger (usually on an epic scale)

Perfidy

noun betrayal of a trust; an act of deliberate betrayal

Meld

noun blend; combine.

Palette

noun board that provides a flat surface on which artists mix paints and the range of colors used; the range of colour characteristic of a particular artist or painting or school of art; one of the rounded armor plates at the armpits of a suit of armor

Resurgence

noun bringing again into activity and prominence

Veneer

noun coating consisting of a thin layer of superior wood glued to a base of inferior wood; an ornamental coating to a building; verb cover with veneer

Probity

noun complete and confirmed integrity; having strong moral principles

Duress

noun compulsory force or threat

Scuttle

noun container for coal

Ardor

noun feelings of great warmth and intensity; enthusiasm or passion.

Fervor

noun feelings of great warmth and intensity; the state of being emotionally aroused and worked up

Festoon

noun flower chains suspended in loops between points; an embellishment consisting of a decorative representation of a string of flowers suspended between two points;

Dint

noun force; power

Imprimatur

noun formal and explicit approval

Gravitas

noun formality in bearing and appearance

Gumption

noun fortitude and determination; sound practical judgment

Restitution

noun getting something back again; the act of restoring something to its original state; a sum of money paid in compensation for loss or injury

Serendipity

noun good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries

Aplomb

noun great coolness and composure under strain

Relish

noun great enjoyment.

Censure

noun harsh criticism or disapproval; the state of being excommunicated; verb rebuke formally

Asperity

noun harshness of manner; something hard to endure

Sagacity

noun having or showing keen mental discernment and good judgment; shrewd.

Nurture

noun helping someone grow up to be an accepted member of the community; the properties acquired as a consequence of the way you were treated as a child; verb help develop, help grow; provide with nourishment; bring up

Grandiloquence

noun high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation

Parody

noun humorous or satirical mimicry; a composition that imitates somebody's style in a humorous way; verb make a spoof of or make fun of; make a parody of

Panacea

noun hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases; once sought by the alchemists; (Greek mythology) the goddess of healing; daughter of Aesculapius and sister of Hygeia

Prattle

noun idle or foolish and irrelevant talk; verb speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly

Clergy

noun in Christianity, clergymen collectively (as distinguished from the laity)

Wont

noun in the habit of doing something; accustomed.

Hypocrisy

noun insincerity by virtue of pretending to have qualities or beliefs that you do not really have; an expression of agreement that is not supported by real conviction

Implement

noun instrumentation (a piece of equipment or tool) used to effect an end;

Nostrum

noun patent medicine whose efficacy is questionable; hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases; once sought by the alchemists

Bedlam

noun pejorative terms for an insane asylum; a state of extreme confusion and disorder

Doggedness

noun persistent determination

Pulchritude

noun physical beauty (especially of a woman)

Linchpin

noun pin inserted through an axletree to hold a wheel on; a central cohesive source of support and stability

Novice

noun someone new to a field or activity; someone who has entered a religious order but has not taken final vows

Scapegoat

noun someone punished for the errors of others

Confidant

noun someone to whom private matters are confided

Iconoclast

noun someone who attacks cherished ideas or traditional institutions; a destroyer of images used in religious worship

Libertarian

noun someone who believes the doctrine of free will

Misanthrope

noun someone who dislikes people in general

Interloper

noun someone who intrudes on the privacy or property of another without permission

Recidivist

noun someone who lapses into previous undesirable patterns of behavior; someone who is repeatedly arrested for criminal behavior (especially for the same criminal behavior)

Pander

noun someone who procures customers for whores (in England they call a pimp a ponce); verb arrange for sexual partners for others; yield (to); give satisfaction to

Celerity

noun a rate that is rapid

Rapport

noun a relationship of mutual understanding or trust and agreement between people

Debauch

noun a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity; verb corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality

Aberration

noun an optical phenomenon resulting from the failure of a lens or mirror to produce a good

Aberration

noun an optical phenomenon resulting from the failure of a lens or mirror to produce a good image; a disorder in one's mental state; a state or condition markedly different from the norm

Demagogue

noun an orator who appeals to the passions and prejudices of his audience

Bard

noun an ornamental caparison for a horse; a lyric poet; verb put a caparison on

Neophyte

noun any new participant in some activity

Wax

noun any of various substances of either mineral origin or plant or animal origin; they are solid at normal temperatures and insoluble in water; verb go up or advance; increase in phase; cover with wax

Blight

noun any plant disease resulting in withering without rotting; a state or condition being blighted; verb cause to suffer a blight

Oblivious

adj. (followed by `to' or `of') lacking conscious awareness of; failing to keep in mind

Resigned

adj. (followed by `to') having come to accept; showing utter resignation or hopelessness

Replete

adj. (followed by `with')deeply filled or permeated; filled to satisfaction with food or drink; verb fill to satisfaction

Placid

adj. (of a body of water) free from disturbance by heavy waves; living without undue worry; taking life easy; not easily irritated

Tranquil

adj. (of a body of water) free from disturbance by heavy waves; not agitated; without losing self-possession

Effervescent

adj. (of a liquid) giving off bubbles; marked by high spirits or excitement; used of wines and waters; charged naturally or artificially with carbon dioxide

Newfangled

adj. (of a new kind or fashion) gratuitously new

Indefatigable

adj. (of a person or their efforts) persisting tirelessly, tireless

Rampant

adj. (of a plant) having a lush and unchecked growth; unrestrained and violent

Soluble

adj. (of a substance) capable of being dissolved in some solvent (usually water); susceptible of solution or of being solved or explained

Occluded

adj. (of a substance) taken into and retained in another substance; closed off

Inviolate

adj. (of a woman) having the hymen unbroken; must be kept sacred

Seminal

adj. (of a work, event, moment, or figure) strongly influencing later developments. influential

Verdant

adj. (of countryside) green with grass or other rich vegetation.

Pellucid

adj. (of language) transparently clear; easily understandable; transmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity

Limpid

adj. (of language) transparently clear; easily understandable; transmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity; clear and bright

Incessant

adj. (of something regarded as unpleasant) continuing without pause or interruption.

Motile

adj. (of spores or microorganisms) capable of movement; noun one whose prevailing mental imagery takes the form of inner feelings of action

Tempestuous

adj. (of the elements) as if showing violent anger; characterized by violent emotions or behavior

Tremulous

adj. (of the voice) quivering as from weakness or fear

Cognizant

adj. (sometimes followed by `of') having or showing knowledge or understanding or realization or perception

Gaudy

adj. (used especially of clothes) marked by conspicuous display; tastelessly showy.

Ignominious

adj. (used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame

Rancid

adj. (used of decomposing oils or fats) having a rank smell or taste usually due to a chemical change or decomposition; smelling of fermentation or staleness

Miserly

adj. (used of persons or behavior) characterized by or indicative of lack of generosity

Defamatory

adj. (used of statements) harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign

Figurative

adj. (used of the meanings of words or text) not literal; using figures of speech; consisting of or forming human or animal figures

Conversant

adj. (usually followed by `with') well informed about or knowing thoroughly

Sectarian

adj. a group of people with somewhat different religious beliefs

Surrogate

adj. a substitute, especially a person deputizing for another in a specific role or office.

Imperious

adj. able to deal authoritatively with affairs

Pallid

adj. abnormally deficient in color as suggesting physical or emotional distress; lacking in vitality or interest or effectiveness; (of light) lacking in intensity or brightness; dim or feeble

Turgid

adj. abnormally distended especially by fluids or gas; ostentatiously lofty in style

Palatable

adj. acceptable to the taste or mind

Toothsome

adj. acceptable to the taste or mind; having strong sexual appeal; extremely pleasing to the sense of taste

Sapient

adj. acutely insightful and wise

Perspicacious

adj. acutely insightful and wise; mentally acute or penetratingly discerning

Orthodox

adj. adhering to what is commonly accepted; of or pertaining to or characteristic of Judaism; of or relating to or characteristic of the Eastern Orthodox Church

Demure

adj. affectedly modest or shy especially in a playful or provocative way

Precarious

adj. affording no ease or reassurance; not secure; beset with difficulties; dangerously insecure; fraught with danger

Homogeneous

adj. all of the same or similar kind or nature

Reprobate

adj. an unprincipled person

Ashen

adj. anemic looking from illness or emotion; made of wood of the ash tree

Incensed

adj. angered at something unjust or wrong

Indignant

adj. angered at something unjust or wrong

Plausible

adj. apparently reasonable and valid, and truthful; given to or characterized by presenting specious arguments

Precocious

adj. appearing or developing early; characterized by or characteristic of exceptionally early development or maturity (especially in mental aptitude)

Verisimilar

adj. appearing to be true or real

Suitable

adj. appropriate for a condition or purpose or occasion or a person's character, needs; worthy of being chosen especially as a spouse; meant or adapted for an occasion or use

Risible

adj. arousing or provoking laughter

Stilted

adj. artificially formal

Flabbergasted

adj. as if struck dumb with astonishment and surprise

Fawning

adj. attempting to win favor by flattery; attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery

Obsequious

adj. attentive in an ingratiating or servile manner; attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery

Cunning

adj. attractive especially by means of smallness or prettiness or quaintness; showing inventiveness and skill; marked by skill in deception; noun crafty artfulness (especially in deception); shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception

Frugal

adj. avoiding waste

Appalling

adj. awful; terrible.

Splenetic

adj. bad-tempered; spiteful.

Fallacious

adj. based on an incorrect or misleading notion or information; containing or based on a fallacy; intended to deceive

Illusory

adj. based on or having the nature of an illusion

Tenable

adj. based on sound reasoning or evidence

Hypothetical

adj. based primarily on surmise rather than adequate evidence; noun a hypothetical possibility, circumstance, statement, proposal, situation, etc.

Prolific

adj. bearing in abundance especially offspring; intellectually productive

Nascent

adj. being born or beginning

Torrid

adj. burning hot; extremely and unpleasantly hot; emotionally charged and vigorously energetic; characterized by intense emotion

Deliberate

adj. by conscious design or purpose; marked by careful consideration or reflection; with care and dignity; produced or marked by conscious design or premeditation; carefully thought out in advance; verb discuss the pros and cons of an issue; think about carefully; weigh

Delectable

adj. capable of arousing desire; extremely pleasing to the sense of taste

Pliable

adj. capable of being bent or flexed or twisted without breaking; able to adjust readily to different conditions; capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out; susceptible to being led or directed

Venal

adj. capable of being corrupted

Accessible

adj. capable of being reached; easy to get along with or talk to; friendly; easily obtained; capable of being read with comprehension

Malleable

adj. capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out; easily influenced

Incendiary

adj. capable of catching fire spontaneously or causing fires or burning readily; arousing to action or rebellion; involving deliberate burning of property; noun a bomb that is designed to start fires; is most effective against flammable targets (such as fuel); a criminal who illegally sets fire to property

Solvent

adj. capable of meeting financial obligations; noun a liquid substance capable of dissolving other substances; a statement that solves a problem or explains how to solve the problem

Mutable

adj. capable of or tending to change in form or quality or nature

Fecund

adj. capable of producing offspring or vegetation; intellectually productive

Analgesic

adj. capable of relieving pain; noun a medicine used to relieve pain

Anodyne

adj. capable of relieving pain; noun a medicine used to relieve pain

Choleric

adj. characterized by anger; quickly aroused to anger; easily moved to anger

Dogmatic

adj. characterized by assertion of unproved or unprovable principles.

Staid

adj. characterized by dignity and propriety

Extraneous

adj. not essential; irrelevant or unrelated to the subject being dealt with.

Impecunious

adj. not having enough money to pay for necessities

Innocuous

adj. not injurious to physical or mental health; not causing disapproval; lacking intent or capacity to injure; unlikely to harm or disturb anyone

Inextricable

adj. not permitting extrication; incapable of being disentangled or untied

Insipid

adj. not pleasing to the sense of taste; lacking interest or significance; lacking significance or impact; lacking taste or flavor or tang

Latent

adj. not presently active; potentially existing but not presently evident or realized

Unkempt

adj. not properly maintained; not neat or cared for; slovenly; not neatly combed

Frivolous

adj. not serious in content or attitude or behavior

Tortuous

adj. not straightforward; marked by repeated turns and bends; highly complex or intricate

Immutable

adj. not subject or susceptible to change or variation in form or quality or nature

Intractable

adj. not tractable; difficult to manage or mold

Convivial

adj. occupied with or fond of the pleasures of good company

Fortuitous

adj. occurring by happy chance; having no cause or apparent cause

Contemporaneous

adj. occurring in the same period of time; of the same period

Transient

adj. of a mental act; causing effects outside the mind; lasting a very short time; noun (physics) a short-lived oscillation in a system caused by a sudden change of voltage or current or load; one who stays for only a short time

Vitriolic

adj. of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action; harsh or corrosive in tone

Caustic

adj. of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action; harsh or corrosive in tone; noun any chemical substance that burns or destroys living tissue

Corrosive

adj. of a substance, especially a strong acid; capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action; noun a substance having the tendency to cause corrosion (such a strong acids or alkali)

Eminent

adj. of imposing height; especially standing out above others; having achieved eminence; standing above others in quality or position; (used of persons) standing above others in character or attainment or reputation

Nugatory

adj. of no real value

Puerile

adj. of or characteristic of a child; displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity

Pragmatic

adj. of or concerning the theory of pragmatism; concerned with practical matters; guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory; noun an imperial decree that becomes part of the fundamental law of the land

Demotic

adj. of or for the common people; of or written in or belonging to the form of modern Greek based on colloquial use; noun a simplified cursive form of the ancient hieratic script; the modern Greek vernacular

Polemic

adj. of or involving dispute or controversy; noun a controversy (especially over a belief or dogma); a writer who argues in opposition to others (especially in theology)

Draconian

adj. of or relating to Draco or his harsh code of laws

Magisterial

adj. of or relating to a magistrate; used of a person's appearance or behavior; befitting an eminent person; offensively self-assured or given to exercising usually unwarranted power

Physiological

adj. of or relating to the biological study of physiology; of or consistent with an organism's normal functioning

legacy

an amount of money or property left to someone in a will. "a legacy from a great aunt" a thing handed down by a predecessor.

Fraternize

verb be on friendly terms with someone, as if with a brother, especially with an enemy

Hector

noun (Greek mythology) a mythical Trojan who was killed by Achilles during the Trojan War; verb be bossy towards

Kismet

noun (Islam) the will of Allah

Pinnacle

noun (architecture) a slender upright spire at the top of a buttress of tower; a lofty peak; the highest level or degree attainable; the highest stage of development; verb raise on or as if on a pinnacle; surmount with a pinnacle

Culmination

noun (astronomy) a heavenly body's highest celestial point above an observer's horizon; a concluding action; the decisive moment in a novel or play; a final climactic stage

Outstrip

verb be or do something to a greater degree; go far ahead of

Microcosm

noun a miniature model of something

Procure

verb get by special effort; arrange for sexual partners for others

Rescind

verb annul by recalling or rescinding

Apprehend

verb anticipate with dread or anxiety; get the meaning of something; take into custody

Embezzle

verb appropriate (as property entrusted to one's care) fraudulently to one's own use

Cadge

verb ask for and get free; be a parasite

Captivate

verb attract; cause to be enamored

Beguile

verb attract; cause to be enamored; influence by slyness

Impute

verb attribute or credit to; attribute (responsibility or fault) to a cause or source

Eschew

verb avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of

Circumvent

verb avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues); beat through cleverness and wit; surround so as to force to give up

Malinger

verb avoid responsibilities and duties, e.g., by pretending to be ill

Foment

verb bathe with warm water or medicated lotions; try to stir up public opinion

Perplex

verb be a mystery or bewildering to; make more complicated

Emote

verb give expression or emotion to, in a stage or movie role

distribute

verb give out;

Consign

verb give over to another for care or safekeeping; commit forever; commit irrevocably; send to an address

Abdicate

verb give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations

Abdicate

verb give upsuch as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations

Enfranchise

verb grant voting rights; grant freedom to; as from slavery or servitude

Aspire

verb have an ambitious plan or a lofty goal

Impinge

verb have an effect or impact, especially a negative one.

Encumber

verb hold back

Enthrall

verb hold spellbound

Undermine

verb hollow out as if making a cave or opening; destroy property or hinder normal operations

Encompass

verb include in scope; include as part of something broader; have as one's sphere or territory

Prognosticate

verb indicate by signs; make a prediction about; tell in advance

Castigate

verb inflict severe punishment on; censure severely

Cajole

verb influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering

Insinuate

verb introduce or insert (oneself) in a subtle manner; give to understand

insinuate

verb introduce or insert (oneself) in a subtle manner; give to understand

Prescribe

verb issue commands or orders for

Forestall

verb keep from happening or arising; make impossible; act in advance of; deal with ahead of time

Eradicate

verb kill in large numbers; destroy completely, as if down to the roots

Decimate

verb kill one in every ten, as of mutineers in Roman armies; kill in large numbers

Ascertain

verb learn or discover with certainty; be careful or certain to do something; make certain of something; establish after a calculation, investigation, experiment, survey, or study; find out, learn, or determine with certainty, usually by making an inquiry or other effort

Bequeath

verb leave or give by will after one's death

Forsake

verb leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch

Belittle

verb lessen the authority, dignity, or reputation of; express a negative opinion of; cause to seem less serious; play down

abridge

verb lessen, diminish, or curtail; reduce in scope while retaining essential elements

abridge

verb lessendiminish, or curtail; reduce in scope while retaining essential elements

Garble

verb make false by mutilation or addition; as of a message or story

Elucidate

verb make free from confusion or ambiguity; make clear; make clear and (more) comprehensible

satisfy

verb make happy or satisfied; fulfil the requirements or expectations of; fill or meet a want or need

Preclude

verb make impossible, especially beforehand; keep from happening or arising; make impossible

Efface

verb make inconspicuous; remove completely from recognition or memory; remove by or as if by rubbing or erasing

Divulge

verb make known to the public information that was previously known only to a few people or that was meant to be kept a secret

Slake

verb make less active or intense; cause to heat and crumble by treatment with water; satisfy (thirst)

Mollify

verb make less rigid or softer; make more temperate, acceptable, or suitable by adding something else; moderate; cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of

Mitigate

verb make less severe or harsh; lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of

Embellish

verb make more beautiful; add details to; make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.; be beautiful to look at

Obfuscate

verb make obscure or unclear

Compensate

verb make payment to; compensate; make amends for; pay compensation for; adjust for; do or give something to somebody in return; make reparations or amends for; make up for shortcomings or a feeling of inferiority by exaggerating good qualities

Construe

verb make sense of; assign a meaning to

Stupefy

verb make senseless or dizzy by or as if by a blow; be a mystery or bewildering to; make dull or stupid or muddle with drunkenness or infatuation

Becalm

verb make steady

Byzantine

adj. characterized by elaborate scheming and intrigue; devious; highly complex or intricate; of or relating to or characteristic of the Byzantine Empire or the ancient city of Byzantium; of or relating to the Eastern Orthodox Church or the rites performed in it; noun a native or inhabitant of Byzantium or of the Byzantine Empire

Painstaking

adj. characterized by extreme care and great effort

Conscientious

adj. characterized by extreme care and great effort; guided by or in accordance with conscience or sense of right and wrong

Chary

adj. characterized by great cautious and wariness

Vehement

adj. characterized by great force or energy; marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions; inclined to react violently; fervid

Industrious

adj. characterized by hard work and perseverance; working hard to promote an enterprise

Jocose

adj. characterized by jokes and good humor

Prurient

adj. characterized by lust

Reductive

adj. characterized by or causing diminution or curtailment

Strenuous

adj. characterized by or performed with much energy or force; taxing to the utmost; testing powers of endurance

Decorous

adj. characterized by propriety and dignity and good taste in manners and conduct; according with custom or propriety

Gossamer

adj. characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy; so thin as to transmit light; noun a gauze fabric with an extremely fine texture; filaments from a web that was spun by a spider

Winsome

adj. charming in a childlike or naive way

Manifest

adj. clear or obvious to the eye or mind.

Trenchant

adj. clearly or sharply defined to the mind; characterized by or full of force and vigor; having keenness and forcefulness and penetration in thought, expression, or intellect

Facetious

adj. cleverly amusing in tone

Hermetic

adj. completely sealed; completely airtight

Sanguine

adj. confidently optimistic and cheerful; inclined to a healthy reddish color often associated with outdoor life; noun a blood-red color

Heterogeneous

adj. consisting of elements that are not of the same kind or nature; originating outside the body

Prominent

adj. conspicuous in position or importance; having a quality that thrusts itself into attention

Vociferous

adj. conspicuously and offensively loud; given to vehement outcry

Egregious

adj. conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible

Flagrant

adj. conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible

Discrete

adj. constituting a separate entity or part

Integral

adj. constituting the undiminished entirety; lacking nothing essential especially not damaged; existing as an essential constituent or characteristic

Constituent

adj. constitutional in the structure of something (especially your physical makeup); noun (grammar) a word or phrase or clause forming part of a larger grammatical construction; a member of a constituency; a citizen who is represented in a government by officials for whom he or she votes;

Illicit

adj. contrary to accepted morality (especially sexual morality) or convention; contrary to or forbidden by law

Prepossessing

adj. creating a favorable impression

Desolate

adj. crushed by grief; providing no shelter or sustenance; verb devastate or ravage; reduce in population; leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch

Truculent

adj. defiantly aggressive

Meager

adj. deficient in amount or quality or extent

Inimitable

adj. defying imitation; matchless

Stringent

adj. demanding strict attention to rules and procedures

Empirical

adj. derived from experiment and observation rather than theory; relying on medical quackery

Culpable

adj. deserving blame or censure as being wrong or evil or injurious

Estimable

adj. deserving of respect or high regard; deserving of esteem and respect; may be computed or estimated

Hapless

adj. deserving or inciting pity

Meritorious

adj. deserving reward or praise

Whimsical

adj. determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason

Capricious

adj. determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason; changeable

Devious

adj. deviating from a straight course; indirect in departing from the accepted or proper way; misleading; characterized by insincerity or deceit; evasive

Atypical

adj. deviating from normal expectations; somewhat odd, strange, or abnormal; not representative of a group, class, or type

Fatuous

adj. devoid of intelligence

Inane

adj. devoid of intelligence

Emollient

adj. having a softening or soothing effect especially to the skin; noun toiletry consisting of any of various substances in the form of a thick liquid that have a soothing and moisturizing effect when applied to the skin

Utilitarian

adj. having a useful function; having utility often to the exclusion of values; noun someone who believes that the value of a thing depends on its utility

Variegated

adj. having a variety of colors

Despoiled

adj. having been robbed and destroyed by force and violence

Nonpareil

adj. having no match or equal; unrivaled. matchless

Vertiginous

adj. having or causing a whirling sensation; liable to falling

Hirsute

adj. having or covered with hair

Tendentious

adj. having or marked by a strong tendency especially a controversial one

Stolid

adj. having or revealing little emotion or sensibility; not easily aroused or excited

Impassive

adj. having or revealing little emotion or sensibility; not easily aroused or excited; deliberately impassive in manner

Virtuoso

adj. having or revealing supreme mastery or skill; noun a musician who is a consummate master of technique and artistry; someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field

Bellicose

adj. having or showing a ready disposition to fight

Haughty

adj. having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy

Erudite

adj. having or showing profound knowledge

Scrupulous

adj. having scruples; arising from a sense of right and wrong; principled; characterized by extreme care and great effort

Piebald

adj. having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly

Motley

adj. having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly; consisting of a haphazard assortment of different kinds (even to the point of incongruity); noun a multicolored woolen fabric woven of mixed threads

Storied

adj. having stories as indicated; having an illustrious past

Paramount

adj. having superior power and influence

Melodramatic

adj. having the excitement and emotional appeal of melodrama; characteristic of acting or a stage performance; often affected

Audible

adj. heard or perceptible by the ear; noun a football play is changed orally after both teams have assumed their positions at the line of scrimmage

Circumspect

adj. heedful of potential consequences

Ribald

adj. humorously vulgar; noun a ribald person; someone who uses vulgar and offensive language

Intransigent

adj. impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, reason

Inexorable

adj. impossible to stop or prevent.

Grandiose

adj. impressive because of unnecessary largeness or grandeur; used to show disapproval; affectedly genteel

Venerable

adj. impressive by reason of age; profoundly honored

Rash

adj. imprudently incurring risk; marked by defiant disregard for danger or consequences; noun a series of unexpected and unpleasant occurrences; any red eruption of the skin

Stupefied

adj. in a state of mental numbness especially as resulting from shock; as if struck dumb with astonishment and surprise

Disgruntled

adj. in a state of sulky dissatisfaction

Embryonic

adj. in an early stage of development; of an organism prior to birth or hatching

Insurgent

adj. in opposition to a civil authority or government; noun a person who takes part in an armed rebellion against the constituted authority (especially in the hope of improving conditions); a member of an irregular armed force that fights a stronger force by sabotage and harassment

Subversive

adj. in opposition to a civil authority or government; noun a radical supporter of political or social revolution

Modish

adj. in the current fashion or style

Dormant

adj. inactive but capable of becoming active; of e.g. volcanos; not erupting and not extinct; in a condition of biological rest or suspended animation

Lethargic

adj. inactive, underactive, slow, torpid, lifeless

Wanting

adj. inadequate in amount or degree; not existing

Implacable

adj. incapable of being placated

Irrevocable

adj. incapable of being retracted or revoked

Maverick

adj. independent in behavior or thought; noun an unbranded range animal (especially a stray calf); belongs to the first person who puts a brand on it; someone who exhibits great independence in thought and action

Virulent

adj. infectious; having the ability to cause disease; harsh or corrosive in tone; extremely poisonous or injurious; producing venom

Omniscient

adj. infinitely wise

Punitive

adj. inflicting punishment

Arboreal

adj. inhabiting or frequenting trees; resembling a tree in form and branching structure; of or relating to or formed by trees

Noxious

adj. injurious to physical or mental health

Peremptory

adj. insisting on immediate attention or obedience, especially in a brusquely imperious way. lordly

Gregarious

adj. instinctively or temperamentally seeking and enjoying the company of others; (of animals) tending to form a group with others of the same species;

Didactic

adj. instructive (especially excessively)

Conciliatory

adj. intended or likely to overcome animosity or hostility; making or willing to make concessions

Ostentatious

adj. intended to attract notice and impress others; of a display that is tawdry or vulgar

Spurious

adj. intended to deceive; born out of wedlock; plausible but false

Mendacious

adj. intentionally untrue; given to lying

Fitful

adj. intermittently, not regular or steady

Officious

adj. intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner

Incarnate

adj. invested with a bodily form especially of a human body; possessing or existing in bodily form; verb make concrete and real; represent in bodily form

Picaresque

adj. involving clever rogues or adventurers especially as in a type of fiction

Cerebral

adj. involving intelligence rather than emotions or instinct; of or relating to the cerebrum or brain

Consonant

adj. involving or characterized by harmony; in keeping; noun a speech sound that is not a vowel; a letter of the alphabet standing for a spoken consonant

Contentious

adj. involving or likely to cause controversy; inclined or showing an inclination to dispute or disagree, even to engage in law suits

Peripatetic

adj. itinerant

Jubilant

adj. joyful and proud especially because of triumph or success; full of high-spirited delight

Myopic

adj. lacking foresight or scope; unable to see distant objects clearly

Scanty

adj. lacking in amplitude or quantity; noun short underpants for women or children (usually used in the plural)

Pusillanimous

adj. lacking in courage and manly strength and resolution; contemptibly fearful

Feckless

adj. lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible, useless, worthless

Obtuse

adj. lacking intellectual acuity

Jejune

adj. lacking interest or significance; displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity; lacking in nutritive value

Diffident

adj. lacking self-confidence; showing modest reserve

Ephemeral

adj. lasting a very short time; noun anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form

Fleeting

adj. lasting for a markedly brief time

Wizened

adj. lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness

Sublime

adj. lifted up or set high; inspiring awe; of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style; worthy of adoration or reverence; verb vaporize and then condense right back again; change or cause to change directly from a solid into a vapor without first melting

Avuncular

adj. like an uncle in kindness or indulgence; being or relating to an uncle

Meretricious

adj. like or relating to a prostitute; based on pretense; deceptively pleasing; tastelessly showy

Crepuscular

adj. like twilight; dim

Invidious

adj. likely to arouse or incur resentment or anger in others.

Fallible

adj. likely to fail or make errors; having the attributes of man as opposed to e.g. divine beings

Archaic

adj. little evolved from or characteristic of an earlier ancestral type; so extremely old as seeming to belong to an earlier period

Streamlined

adj. made efficient by stripping off nonessentials; designed or arranged to offer the least resistant to fluid flow

Disheartened

adj. made less hopeful or enthusiastic

Homespun

adj. made of cloth spun or woven in the home; of textiles; having a rough surface; characteristic of country life; noun a rough loosely woven fabric originally made with yarn that was spun at home

Brazen

adj. made of or resembling brass (as in color or hardness); unrestrained by convention or propriety; verb face with defiance or impudence

Elaborate

adj. marked by complexity and richness of detail; developed or executed with care and in minute detail; verb work out in detail; add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing; produce from basic elements or sources; change into a more developed product; make more complex, intricate, or richer

Duplicitous

adj. marked by deliberate deceptiveness especially by pretending one set of feelings and acting under the influence of another

Fickle

adj. marked by erratic changeableness in affections or attachments; liable to sudden unpredictable change

Cocksure

adj. marked by excessive confidence

Fanatic

adj. marked by excessive enthusiasm for and intense devotion to a cause or idea.

Effete

adj. marked by excessive self-indulgence and moral decay

Decadent

adj. marked by excessive self-indulgence and moral decay; noun a person who has fallen into a decadent state (morally or artistically)

Meticulous

adj. marked by extreme care in treatment of details; marked by precise accordance with details

Slipshod

adj. marked by great carelessness

Scathing

adj. marked by harshly abusive criticism

Negligent

adj. marked by insufficient care or attention; characterized by neglect and undue lack of concern

Circuitous

adj. marked by obliqueness or indirection in speech or conduct; deviating from a straight course

Forlorn

adj. marked by or showing hopelessness

Astute

adj. marked by practical hardheaded intelligence

Punctilious

adj. marked by precise accordance with details

Efficacious

adj. marked by qualities giving the power to produce an intended effect; producing or capable of producing an intended result or having a striking effect

Recalcitrant

adj. marked by stubborn resistance to authority; stubbornly resistant to authority or control

Discriminate

adj. marked by the ability to see or make fine distinctions; noting distinctions with nicety; verb recognize or perceive the difference; distinguish; treat differently on the basis of sex or race

Judicious

adj. marked by the exercise of good judgment or common sense in practical matters

Impetuous

adj. marked by violent force; characterized by undue haste and lack of thought or deliberation

Sordid

adj. meanly avaricious and mercenary; foul and run-down and repulsive; unethical or dishonest; morally degraded

Putrid

adj. morally corrupt or evil; in an advanced state of decomposition and having a foul odor; of or relating to or attended by putrefaction

Unsavory

adj. morally offensive; not pleasing in odor or taste

Superfluous

adj. more than is needed, desired, or required; serving no useful purpose; having no excuse for being

Salient

adj. most noticeable or important.

Lithe

adj. moving and bending with ease

Agile

adj. moving quickly and lightly; mentally quick

Sacrosanct

adj. must be kept sacred

Inviolable

adj. must be kept sacred; incapable of being transgressed or dishonored; not capable of being violated or infringed; able to withstand attack

Illiberal

adj. narrow-minded about cherished opinions

Insular

adj. narrowly restricted in outlook or scope; suggestive of the isolated life of an island; relating to or characteristic of or situated on an island

Swarthy

adj. naturally having skin of a dark color

Requisite

adj. necessary for relief or supply; noun anything indispensable

Penultimate

adj. next to the last; noun the next to last syllable in a word

Blase

adj. nonchalantly unconcerned; uninterested because of frequent exposure or indulgence.

Impervious

adj. not admitting of passage or capable of being affected

Retiring

adj. not arrogant or presuming; moving toward a position farther from the front; reluctant to draw attention to yourself; of a person who has held and relinquished a position or office

Impeccable

adj. not capable of sin; without fault or error

Prosaic

adj. not challenging; dull and lacking excitement; lacking wit or imagination; not fanciful or imaginative

Obscure

adj. not clearly understood or expressed; not drawing attention; not famous or acclaimed; marked by difficulty of style or expression;

Dubious

adj. not convinced; fraught with uncertainty or doubt; open to doubt or suspicion

Onerous

adj. not easily borne; wearing

Novel

adj. pleasantly new or different; original and of a kind not seen before; noun a printed and bound book that is an extended work of fiction; a extended fictional work in prose; usually in the form of a story

Mellifluous

adj. pleasing to the ear

Indigent

adj. poor enough to need help from others

Ascetic

adj. practicing great self-denial; pertaining to or characteristic of an ascetic or the practice of rigorous self-discipline; noun someone who practices self denial as a spiritual discipline

Ominous

adj. presaging ill fortune; threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments

Innate

adj. present at birth but not necessarily hereditary; acquired during fetal development; being talented through inherited qualities; not established by conditioning or learning

Propitious

adj. presenting favorable circumstances; likely to result in or show signs or success

Profuse

adj. produced or growing in extreme abundance

Pacific

adj. promoting peace; disposed to peace or of a peaceful nature; relating to or bordering the Pacific Ocean; noun the largest ocean in the world

Reclusive

adj. providing privacy or seclusion; withdrawn from society; seeking solitude

Admonished

adj. punished especially by reproof or reprimand

Effulgent

adj. radiating or as if radiating light

Refulgent

adj. radiating or as if radiating light

Spendthrift

adj. recklessly wasteful; noun someone who spends money prodigally

Resilient

adj. recovering readily from adversity, depression, or the like; elastic; rebounds readily

Perennial

adj. recurring again and again; lasting three seasons or more; lasting an indefinitely long time; suggesting self-renewal; noun a plant lasting for three seasons or more

Florid

adj. red-faced

Chronological

adj. relating to or arranged according to temporal order

Guttural

adj. relating to or articulated in the throat; like the sounds of frogs and crows; noun a consonant articulated in the back of the mouth or throat

Filial

adj. relating to or characteristic of or befitting an offspring; designating the generation or the sequence of generations following the parental generation

Glacial

adj. relating to or derived from a glacier; extremely cold; devoid of warmth and cordiality; expressive of unfriendliness or disdain

Parochial

adj. relating to or supported by or located in a parish; narrowly restricted in outlook or scope

Bucolic

adj. relating to shepherds or herdsmen or devoted to raising sheep or cattle; used of idealized country life; noun a short descriptive poem of rural or pastoral life; a country person

Reticent

adj. reluctant to draw attention to yourself; temperamentally disinclined to talk; cool and formal in manner

Banal

adj. repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse

Hackneyed

adj. repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse

Trite

adj. repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse

Redundant

adj. repetition of same sense in different words; more than is needed, desired, or required

Delineate

adj. represented accurately or precisely; verb describe in vivid detail; trace the shape of; make a mark or lines on a surface; determine the essential quality of; show the form or outline of

Ostensible

adj. represented or appearing as such; pretended; appearing as such but not necessarily so

Archetypal

adj. representing or constituting an original type after which other similar things are patterned

Quintessential

adj. representing the perfect example of a class or quality

Exigent

adj. requiring precise accuracy; demanding attention

Exacting

adj. requiring precise accuracy; severe and unremitting in making demands; having complicated nutritional requirements; especially growing only in special artificial cultures

Arcane

adj. requiring secret or mysterious knowledge

Sedentary

adj. requiring sitting or little activity

Enigmatic

adj. resembling an oracle in obscurity of thought; not clear to the understanding

Obstinate

adj. resistant to guidance or discipline; stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing; tenaciously unwilling or marked by tenacious unwillingness to yield; verb persist stubbornly

Derivative

adj. resulting from or employing derivation; noun (linguistics) a word that is derived from another word; the result of mathematical differentiation; the instantaneous change of one quantity relative to another; df(x)/dx; a financial instrument whose value is based on another security

Inept

adj. revealing lack of perceptiveness or judgment or finesse; generally incompetent and ineffectual; not elegant or graceful in expression

Opulent

adj. rich and superior in quality

Ornate

adj. rich in decorative detail; marked by elaborate rhetoric and elaborated with decorative details

Convoluted

adj. rolled or coiled together; highly complex or intricate

Robust

adj. rough and crude; physically strong; strong enough to withstand or overcome intellectual challenges or adversity; marked by richness and fullness of flavor

Covert

adj. secret or hidden; not openly practiced or engaged in or shown or avowed; (of a wife) being under the protection of her husband; noun a flock of coots; a covering that serves to conceal or shelter something

Stoic, Stolid

adj. seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive; someone who is seemingly indifferent to emotions

Eclectic

adj. selecting what seems best of various styles or ideas; noun someone who selects according to the eclectic method

Bumptious

adj. self-assertive or proud to an irritating degree.

Cardinal

adj. serving as an essential component;

Expedient

adj. serving to promote your interest; appropriate to a purpose; practical; noun a means to an end; not necessarily a principled or ethical one

Sensual

adj. sexually exciting or gratifying; marked by the appetites and passions of the body

Grisly

adj. shockingly repellent; inspiring horror

Macabre

adj. shockingly repellent; inspiring horror

Morose

adj. showing a brooding ill humor

Urbane

adj. showing a high degree of refinement and the assurance that comes from wide social experience

Consummate

adj. showing a high degree of skill and flair; complete or perfect, superb, ultimate.

Speculative

adj. showing curiosity; not based on fact or investigation; not financially safe or secure

Rancorous

adj. showing deep-seated resentment

Deferential

adj. showing deference

Overweening

adj. showing excessive confidence or pride.

Dilettante

adj. showing frivolous or superficial interest; amateurish; noun an amateur who engages in an activity without serious intentions and who pretends to have knowledge

Solicitous

adj. showing hovering attentiveness; full of anxiety and concern

Flippant

adj. showing inappropriate levity

Ingenious

adj. showing inventiveness and skill; skillful (or showing skill) in adapting means to ends; (used of persons or artifacts) marked by independence and creativity in thought or action

Phlegmatic

adj. showing little emotion

Vindictive

adj. showing malicious ill will and a desire to hurt; motivated by spite; disposed to seek revenge or intended for revenge

Circumscribed

adj. showing or determining a boundary; subject to limits or subjected to limits

Wistful

adj. showing pensive sadness

Obdurate

adj. showing unfeeling resistance to tender feelings; stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing

Cordial

adj. sincerely or intensely felt; showing warm and heartfelt friendliness; diffusing warmth and friendliness; noun strong highly flavored sweet liquor usually drunk after a meal

Diaphanous

adj. so thin as to transmit light

Luminous

adj. softly bright or radiant

Consecrate

adj. solemnly dedicated to or set apart for a high purpose; verb render holy by means of religious rites; dedicate to a deity by a vow; give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause; appoint to a clerical posts

Grating

adj. sounding harsh and unpleasant.

Quaint

adj. strange in an interesting or pleasing way; very strange or unusual; odd or even incongruous in character or appearance; attractively old-fashioned (but not necessarily authentic)

Pungent

adj. strong and sharp; "the pungent taste of radishes"; capable of wounding

Refractory

adj. stubborn or unmanageable.

Hidebound

adj. stubbornly conservative and narrow-minded

Gallant

adj. unflinching in battle or action; having or displaying great dignity or nobility; being attentive to women like an ideal knight; lively and spirited; noun a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance; a man who attends or escorts a woman

Lovelorn

adj. unhappy in love; suffering from unrequited love

Bereft

adj. unhappy in love; suffering from unrequited love; sorrowful through loss or deprivation

Fulsome

adj. unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech

Raucous

adj. unpleasantly loud and harsh; disturbing the public peace; loud and rough

Skittish

adj. unpredictably excitable (especially of horses)

Bootless

adj. unproductive of success

Profligate

adj. unrestrained by convention or morality; recklessly wasteful; noun a recklessly extravagant consumer; a dissolute man in fashionable society

Insolent

adj. unrestrained by convention or propriety; marked by casual disrespect

Stingy

adj. unwilling to spend; deficient in amount or quality or extent

Conniving

adj. used of persons; acting together in secret toward a fraudulent or illegal end

Congenial

adj. used of plants; capable of cross-fertilization or of being grafted; suitable to your needs or similar to your nature

Tedious

adj. using or containing too many words; so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness

Boon

adj. very close and convivial; noun a desirable state

Munificent

adj. very generous

Lavish

adj. very generous; characterized by extravagance and profusion; verb expend profusely; also used with abstract nouns

Emaciated

adj. very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold

Haggard

adj. very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold;

Tenuous

adj. very thin in gauge or diameter; having thin consistency; having little substance or significance

Lurid

adj. very vivid in color, especially so as to create an unpleasantly harsh or unnatural effect.

Impromptu

adj. with little or no preparation or forethought; adv. without advance preparation; noun an extemporaneous speech or remark; a short musical passage that seems to have been made spontaneously without advance preparation

Despondent

adj. without or almost without hope

Inarticulate

adj. without or deprived of the use of speech or words

Insidious

adj. working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way; intended to entrap; beguiling but harmful

Laudable

adj. worthy of high praise

Hallowed

adj. worthy of religious veneration

Vehemently

adv. in a vehement manner

Non

adv. negation of a word or group of words

Apace

adv. with rapid movements

Complaint

noun (civil law) the first pleading of the plaintiff setting out the facts on which the claim for relief is based; an expression of grievance or resentment; (formerly) a loud cry (or repeated cries) of pain or rage or sorrow;

Foreground

noun (computer science) a window for an active application; the part of a scene that is near the viewer; verb move into the foreground to make more visible or prominent

crime

noun (criminal law) an act punishable by law; usually considered an evil act; an evil act not necessarily punishable by law

Demur

noun (law) a formal objection to an opponent's pleadings; verb take exception to; enter a demurrer

Injunction

noun (law) a judicial remedy issued in order to prohibit a party from doing or continuing to do a certain activity; a formal command or admonition

Litigant

noun (law) a party to a lawsuit; someone involved in litigation

Posit

noun (logic) a proposition that is accepted as true in order to provide a basis for logical reasoning; verb take as a given; assume as a postulate or axiom; put before; put (something somewhere) firmly

Paradox

noun (logic) a statement that contradicts itself

Mores

noun (sociology) the conventions that embody the fundamental values of a group

Tome

noun a (usually) large and scholarly book

Idiosyncrasy

noun a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual

Epitome

noun a brief abstract (as of an article or book); a standard or typical example

Coup

noun a brilliant and notable success; a sudden and decisive change of government illegally or by force

Shard

noun a broken piece of a brittle artifact

Luminary

noun a celebrity who is an inspiration to others

Gambit

noun a chess move early in the game in which the player sacrifices minor pieces in order to obtain an advantageous position; an opening remark intended to secure an advantage for the speaker; a maneuver in a game or conversation

Caucus

noun a closed political meeting; verb meet to select a candidate or promote a policy

Compress

noun a cloth pad or dressing (with or without medication) applied firmly to some part of the body (to relieve discomfort or reduce fever); verb squeeze or press together; make more compact by or as if by pressing

Bludgeon

noun a club used as a weapon; verb overcome or coerce as if by using a heavy club; strike with a club or a bludgeon

Farce

noun a comedy characterized by broad satire and improbable situations;

Disdain

noun a communication that indicates lack of respect by patronizing the recipient; lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike; verb reject with contempt; look down on with disdain

Metamorphosis

noun a complete change of physical form or substance especially as by magic or witchcraft; transformation, mutation

Travesty

noun a composition that imitates somebody's style in a humorous way; a comedy characterized by broad satire and improbable situations; verb make a travesty of

Demarcation

noun a conceptual separation or distinction; the boundary of a specific area

Apothegm

noun a concise saying or maxim; an aphorism.

Welter

noun a confused multitude of things; verb be immersed in; toss, roll, or rise and fall in an uncontrolled way; roll around, "pigs were wallowing in the mud"

Turpitude

noun a corrupt or depraved or degenerate act or practice

Depravity

noun a corrupt or depraved or degenerate act or practice; moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral principles

Machination

noun a crafty and involved plot to achieve your (usually sinister) ends

Juggernaut

noun a crude idol of Krishna; a massive inexorable force that seems to crush everything in its way; an avatar of Vishnu

Boor

noun a crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement

Ruffian

noun a cruel and brutal fellow

Despot

noun a cruel and oppressive dictator

Curmudgeon

noun a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas

Harrow

noun a cultivator that pulverizes or smooths the soil; verb draw a harrow over (land)

Retrenchment

noun a cutting down or off, as by the reduction of expenses

Artifice

noun a deceptive maneuver (especially to avoid capture)

Ruse

noun a deceptive maneuver (especially to avoid capture)

Forbearance

noun a delay in enforcing rights or claims or privileges; refraining from acting; good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence

Discrepancy

noun a difference between conflicting facts or claims or opinions; an event that departs from expectations

Prevaricate

verb be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information

Dissent

noun a difference of opinion; (law) the difference of one judge's opinion from that of the majority; the act of protesting; a public (often organized) manifestation of dissent; verb withhold assent; be of different opinions; express opposition through action or words

Conundrum

noun a difficult problem

Plenipotentiary

noun a diplomat who is fully authorized to represent his or her government

Bonhomie

noun a disposition to be friendly and approachable (easy to talk to)

Propensity

noun a disposition to behave in a certain way; a natural inclination; an inclination to do something

Irreverence

noun a disrespectful act; an irreverent mental attitude

Trepidation

noun a feeling of alarm or dread

Umbrage

noun a feeling of anger caused by being offended

Rancor

noun a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will

Compunction

noun a feeling of deep regret (usually for some misdeed)

Indignation

noun a feeling of righteous anger

Flotilla

noun a fleet of small craft; a United States Navy fleet consisting of two or more squadrons of small warships

Confluence

noun a flowing together; a place where things merge or flow together (especially rivers); a coming together of people

Presage

noun a foreboding about what is about to happen; a sign of something about to happen; verb indicate by signs

Encomium

noun a formal expression of praise

Kowtow

noun a former Chinese custom of touching the ground with the forehead as a sign of respect or submission; verb try to gain favor by cringing or flattering; bend the knees and bow in a servile manner

Effluvium

noun a foul-smelling outflow or vapor (especially a gaseous waste)

Plenitude

noun a full supply

Largess

noun a gift or money given (as for service or out of benevolence); usually given ostentatiously; liberality in bestowing gifts; extremely liberal and generous of spirit

Wane

noun a gradual decline (in size or strength or power or number); verb decrease in phase; become smaller; grow smaller

Solecism

noun a grammatical mistake in speech or writing.

Canvas

noun a heavy, closely woven fabric

Cache

noun a hidden storage space (for money or provisions or weapons);

Asylum

noun a hospital for mentally incompetent or unbalanced person; a shelter from danger or hardship

Exodus

noun a journey by a large group to escape from a hostile environment; the second book of the Old Testament: tells of the departure of the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt led by Moses; God gave them the Ten Commandments and the rest of Mosaic law on Mount Sinai during the Exodus

Excursion

noun a journey taken for pleasure; wandering from the main path of a journey

Marshal

noun a law officer having duties similar to those of a sheriff in carrying out the judgments of a court of law; (in some countries) a military officer of highest rank; verb arrange in logical order; place in proper rank; lead ceremoniously, as in a procession; make ready for action or use

Harangue

noun a loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion; verb deliver a harangue to; address forcefully

Malediction

noun a magical word or phrase uttered with the intention of bringing about evil or destruction; a curse.

Artifact

noun a man-made object taken as a whole

Stratagem

noun a maneuver in a game or conversation; an elaborate or deceitful scheme contrived to deceive or evade

Levity

noun a manner lacking seriousness; feeling an inappropriate lack of seriousness

Blemish

noun a mark or flaw that spoils the appearance of something (especially on a person's body); verb mar or impair with a flaw; add a flaw or blemish to; make imperfect or defective; mar or spoil the appearance of

Exponent

noun a mathematical notation indicating the number of times a quantity is multiplied by itself; someone who expounds and interprets or explains; a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea

Automaton

noun a mechanism that can move automatically; someone who acts or responds in a mechanical or apathetic way

Approval

noun a message expressing a favorable opinion; a feeling of liking something or someone good; acceptance as satisfactory; the formal act of approving

Commendation

noun a message expressing a favorable opinion; an official award (as for bravery or service) usually given as formal public statement

Surmise

noun a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence; verb infer from incomplete evidence; imagine to be the case or true or probable

Coin

noun a metal piece (usually a disc) used as money; verb make up; form by stamping, punching, or printing

Reproach

noun a mild rebuke or criticism; disgrace or shame; verb express criticism towards

Hiatus

noun a missing piece (as a gap in a manuscript); a natural opening or perforation through a bone or a membranous structure; an interruption in the intensity or amount of something

Bauble

noun a mock scepter carried by a court jester; cheap showy jewelry or ornament on clothing

Elegy

noun a mournful poem; a lament for the dead

Medley

noun a musical composition consisting of a series of songs or other musical pieces from various sources

Ballad

noun a narrative poem of popular origin; a narrative song with a recurrent refrain

Rift

noun a narrow fissure in rock; a gap between cloud masses; a personal or social separation (as between opposing factions)

Defile

noun a narrow pass (especially one between mountains); verb place under suspicion or cast doubt upon; spot, stain, or pollute; make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically

Proclivity

noun a natural inclination

Parley

noun a negotiation between enemies; verb discuss, as between enemies

Choreography

noun a notation used by choreographers; the representation of dancing by symbols as music is represented by notes; a show involving artistic dancing

Conduit

noun a passage (a pipe or tunnel) through which water or electric wires can pass

Respite

noun a pause from doing something (as work); a pause for relaxation; the act of reprieving; postponing or remitting punishment; an interruption in the intensity or amount of something; a (temporary) relief from harm or discomfort; verb postpone the punishment of a convicted criminal, such as an execution

Sybarite

noun a person addicted to luxury and pleasures of the senses

Delegate

noun a person appointed or elected to represent others; verb give an assignment to (a person) to a post, or assign a task to (a person); transfer power to someone

Behemoth

noun a person of exceptional importance and reputation; someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful

Colossus

noun a person of exceptional importance and reputation; someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful

Raconteur

noun a person skilled in telling anecdotes

Precursor

noun a person who goes before or announces the coming of another; a substance from which another substance is formed (especially by a metabolic reaction); an indication of the approach of something or someone

Poseur

noun a person who habitually pretends to be something he is not

Gourmand

noun a person who is devoted to eating and drinking to excess

Pariah

noun a person who is rejected (from society or home)

Dupe

noun a person who is tricked or swindled; verb fool or hoax

Interlocutor

noun a person who takes part in a conversation; the performer in the middle of a minstrel line who engages the others in talk

Sycophant

noun a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage

Toady

noun a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage; verb try to gain favor by cringing or flattering

Miscreant

noun a person without moral scruples

Denizen

noun a plant or animal naturalized in a region; a person who inhabits a particular place

Plutocracy

noun a political system governed by the wealthy people

Maelstrom

noun a powerful circular current of water (usually the result of conflicting tides)

Predilection

noun a predisposition in favor of something; a strong liking

Combustion

noun a process in which a substance reacts with oxygen to give heat and light; a state of violent disturbance and excitement; the act of burning something

Forum

noun a public facility to meet for open discussion; a public meeting or assembly for open discussion

Pathos

noun a quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow); a style that has the power to evoke feelings; a feeling of sympathy and sorrow for the misfortunes of others

Inquisitor

noun a questioner who is excessively harsh; an official of the ecclesiastical court of the Inquisition

Riposte

noun a quick clever reply to an insult or criticism.

Chronicle

noun a record or narrative description of past events; verb record in chronological order; make a historical record

Cadence

noun a recurrent rhythmical series; the close of a musical section; (prosody) the accent in a metrical foot of verse

Patois

noun a regional dialect of a language (especially French); usually considered substandard; a characteristic language of a particular group (as among thieves)

Compliment

noun a remark (or act) expressing praise and admiration; verb say something to someone that expresses praise; express respect or esteem for

Platitude

noun a remark or statement that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful. cliche

Watershed

noun a ridge of land that separates two adjacent river systems; an event marking a unique or important historical change of course or one on which important developments depend

Potentate

noun a ruler who is unconstrained by law

Maxim

noun a saying that is widely accepted on its own merits; English inventor (born in the United States) who invented the Maxim gun that was used in World War I (1840-1916)

Minion

noun a servile or fawning dependant

Fetter

noun a shackle for the ankles or feet; verb restrain with fetters

Portent

noun a sign of something about to happen

Simper

noun a silly self-conscious smile; verb smile affectedly or derisively

Artisan

noun a skilled worker who practices some trade or handicraft

Intimation

noun a slight suggestion or vague understanding; an indirect suggestion

Modicum

noun a small or moderate or token amount

Apartheid

noun a social policy or racial segregation involving political and economic and legal discrimination against people who are not Whites; the former official policy in South Africa

Gaffe

noun a socially awkward or tactless act

Morass

noun a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot

Quagmire

noun a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot

Dirge

noun a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person

Tirade

noun a speech of violent denunciation

Grandstand

noun a stand at a racecourse or stadium consisting of tiers with rows of individual seats that are under a protective roof; the audience at a stadium or racetrack; verb perform ostentatiously in order to impress the audience and with an eye to the applause

Ignominy

noun a state of dishonor

Opprobrium

noun a state of extreme dishonor; state of disgrace resulting from public abuse

Penury

noun a state of extreme poverty or destitution

Repose

noun a state of rest, sleep, or tranquility.

Penchant

noun a strong liking

Nuance

noun a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude

Debacle

noun a sudden and violent collapse; flooding caused by a tumultuous breakup of ice in a river during the spring or summer; a sound defeat

Furor

noun a sudden outburst (as of protest); an interest followed with exaggerated zeal

Paroxysm

noun a sudden uncontrollable attack

Prowess

noun a superior skill that you can learn by study and practice and observation

Buttress

noun a support usually of stone or brick; supports the wall of a building; verb make stronger or defensible; reinforce with a buttress

Bravado

noun a swaggering show of courage

Sojourn

noun a temporary stay, reside temporarily

Milquetoast

noun a timid man or boy considered childish or unassertive

Vestige

noun a trace of something that is disappearing or no longer exists.

Anxiety

noun a vague unpleasant emotion that is experienced in anticipation of some (usually ill-defined) misfortune; a relatively permanent state of anxiety occurring in a variety of mental disorders

Goad

noun a verbalization that encourages you to attempt something;

Imbroglio

noun a very embarrassing misunderstanding; an intricate and confusing interpersonal or political situation

Conflagration

noun a very intense and uncontrolled fire

Soupcon

noun a very small quantity of something.

Precipice

noun a very steep cliff

Magnate

noun a very wealthy or powerful businessman

Sap

noun a watery solution of sugars, salts, and minerals that circulates through the vascular system of a plant;

Debauchery

noun a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity

Pastiche

noun a work of art that imitates the style of some previous work; a musical composition consisting of a series of songs or other musical pieces from various sources

Iniquity

noun absence of moral or spiritual values; an unjust act; morally objectionable behavior

Sobriety

noun abstaining from excess; moderation in or abstinence from alcohol or other drugs; a manner that is serious and solemn; the state of being sober and not intoxicated by alcohol

Invective

noun abusive or venomous language used to express blame or censure or bitter deep-seated ill will

Permutation

noun act of changing the lineal order of objects in a group; complete change in character or condition; the act of changing the arrangement of a given number of elements; an event in which one thing is substituted for another

Redress

noun act of correcting an error or a fault or an evil; a sum of money paid in compensation for loss or injury; verb make reparations or amends for

Privation

noun act of depriving someone of food or money or rights; a state of extreme poverty

Duplicity

noun acting in bad faith; deception by pretending to entertain one set of intentions while acting under the influence of another; a fraudulent or duplicitous representation

Cordon

noun adornment consisting of an ornamental ribbon or cord; cord or ribbon worn as an insignia of honor or rank

Dexterity

noun adroitness in using the hands

Consensus

noun agreement in the judgment or opinion reached by a group as a whole

Attribute

noun an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of an entity; a construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished; verb attribute or credit to; decide as to where something belongs in a scheme

Calumny

noun an abusive attack on a person's character or good name.

Rebuke

noun an act or expression of criticism and censure; verb censure severely or angrily

Semaphore

noun an apparatus for visual signaling with lights or mechanically moving arms; verb convey by semaphore, of information; send signals by or as if by semaphore

Calamity

noun an event resulting in great loss and misfortune

Dither

noun an excited state of agitation; verb make a fuss; be agitated; act nervously; be undecided; be uncertain

Connoisseur

noun an expert able to appreciate a field; especially in the fine arts

Kudos

noun an expression of approval and commendation

Condolence

noun an expression of sympathy with another's grief

Encore

noun an extra or repeated performance; usually given in response to audience demand; verb request an encore, from a performer

Paragon

noun an ideal instance; a perfect embodiment of a concept; model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal

Balk

noun an illegal pitching motion while runners are on base; the area on a billiard table behind the balkline; one of several parallel sloping beams that support a roof; something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or progress; verb refuse to comply

Legerdemain

noun an illusory feat; considered magical by naive observers

Pittance

noun an inadequate payment

Misnomer

noun an incorrect or unsuitable name

Harbinger

noun an indication of the approach of something or someone; verb foreshadow or presage

Innuendo

noun an indirect (and usually malicious) implication

Circumlocution

noun an indirect way of expressing something; a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things

Euphemism

noun an inoffensive expression that is substituted for one that is considered offensive

Repulse

noun an instance of driving away or warding off; verb force or drive back; cause to move back by force or influence; be repellent to; cause aversion in

Oration

noun an instance of oratory

Simulacrum

noun an insubstantial or vague semblance; a representation of a person (especially in the form of sculpture)

Paucity

noun an insufficient quantity or number

Dearth

noun an insufficient quantity or number; an acute insufficiency

Petulance

noun an irritable petulant feeling

Requisition

noun an official form on which a request in made; the act of requiring; an authoritative request or demand, especially by a military or public authority that takes something over (usually temporarily) for military or public use;

Edict

noun an official order

Onus

noun an onerous or difficult concern

Semblance

noun an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading; picture consisting of a graphic image of a person or thing; an erroneous mental representation

Flounder

noun any of various European and non-European marine flatfish; flesh of any of various American and European flatfish; verb behave awkwardly; have difficulties; walk with great difficulty

Carp

noun any of various freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae; the lean flesh of a fish that is often farmed; can be baked or braised; verb raise trivial objections

Atrophy

noun any weakening or degeneration (especially through lack of use); a decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse; verb undergo atrophy

Salve

noun anything that remedies or heals or soothes; semisolid preparation (usually containing a medicine) applied externally as a remedy or for soothing an irritation; verb apply a salve to, usually for the purpose of healing; save from ruin, destruction, or harm

Succor

noun assistance in time of difficulty; verb help in a difficult situation

Effrontery

noun audacious (even arrogant) behavior that you have no right to

Propriety

noun correct or appropriate behavior

Politesse

noun courtesy towards women

Dissonance

noun disagreeable sounds; the auditory experience of sound that lacks musical quality; sound that is a disagreeable auditory experience; a conflict of people's opinions or actions or characters

Prudence

noun discretion in practical affairs; knowing how to avoid embarrassment or distress

Profligacy

noun dissolute indulgence in sensual pleasure; the trait of spending extravagantly

Schism

noun division of a group into opposing factions; a split or division between strongly opposed sections or parties,

Ferret

noun domesticated albino variety of the European polecat bred for hunting rats and rabbits; musteline mammal of prairie regions of United States; nearly extinct; verb hunt with ferrets;

Gluttony

noun eating to excess (personified as one of the deadly sins); habitual eating to excess

Fruition

noun enjoyment derived from use or possession; the condition of bearing fruit; something that is made real or concrete

Plaudits

noun enthusiastic approval

Raiment

noun especially fine or decorative clothing; verb provide with clothes or put clothes on

Infamy

noun evil fame or public reputation; a state of extreme dishonor

Preponderance

noun exceeding in heaviness; having greater weight; a superiority in numbers or amount; superiority in power or influence

Parsimony

noun extreme care in spending money; reluctance to spend money unnecessarily; extreme stinginess

Plethora

noun extreme excess

Cupidity

noun extreme greed for material wealth

Jingoism

noun fanatical patriotism; an appeal intended to arouse patriotic emotions

Nepotism

noun favoritism shown to relatives or close friends by those in power (as by giving them jobs)

Consternation

noun fear resulting from the awareness of danger

Temerity

noun fearless daring

Revulsion

noun intense aversion

Clemency

noun leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice; good weather with comfortable temperatures

Munificence

noun liberality in bestowing gifts; extremely liberal and generous of spirit

Nostalgia

noun longing for something past

Clamor

noun loud and persistent outcry from many people; a loud harsh or strident noise; verb make loud demands; utter or proclaim insistently and noisily; compel someone to do something by insistent clamoring

Cacophony

noun loud confusing disagreeable sounds; a loud harsh or strident noise

Squelch

noun make a soft sucking sound such as that made by walking heavily through mud.

Retrospection

noun memory for experiences that are past; reference to things past

Vicissitude

noun mutability in life or nature (especially successive alternation from one condition to another); a variation in circumstances or fortune at different times in your life or in the development of something

Fracas

noun noisy quarrel

Approbation

noun official recognition or approval; official approval

Scofflaw

noun one who habitually ignores the law and does not answer court summonses

Hubris

noun overbearing pride or presumption

Waffle

noun pancake batter baked in a waffle iron; verb pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness

Logorrhea

noun pathologically excessive (and often incoherent) talking

Grouse

noun popular game bird having a plump body and feathered legs and feet; flesh of any of various grouse of the family Tetraonidae; usually roasted; flesh too dry to broil; verb hunt grouse; complain

Perusal

noun reading carefully with intent to remember

Avarice

noun reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth (personified as one of the deadly sins); extreme greed for material wealth

Carouse

noun revelry in drinking; a merry drinking party; verb engage in boisterous, drunken merrymaking

Rectitude

noun righteousness as a consequence of being honorable and honest

Collusion

noun secret agreement; agreement on a secret plot

Stricture

noun severe criticism;

Quail

noun small gallinaceous game birds; flesh of quail; suitable for roasting or broiling if young; otherwise must be braised; verb draw back, as with fear or pain

Fudge

noun soft creamy candy; verb fake or falsify.

Pith

noun soft spongelike central cylinder of the stems of most flowering plants; the choicest or most essential or most vital part of some idea or experience; verb remove the pith from (a plant)

Arbiter

noun someone chosen to judge and decide a disputed issue; someone with the power to settle matters at will

Hedonist

noun someone motivated by desires for sensual pleasures

Bane

noun something causes misery or death

Credulity

noun tendency to believe readily

Segue

noun the act of changing smoothly from one state or situation to another; verb proceed without interruption; in music or talk

Congregation

noun the act of congregating; an assemblage of people or animals or things collected together.

Consolation

noun the act of consoling; giving relief in affliction; the comfort you feel when consoled in times of disappointment

Consumption

noun the act of consuming something; the process of taking food into the body through the mouth (as by eating); (economics) the utilization of economic goods to satisfy needs or in manufacturing; involving the lungs with progressive wasting of the body

Convention

noun the act of convening; something regarded as a normative example; (diplomacy) an international agreement; a large formal assembly; orthodoxy as a consequence of being conventional

Confection

noun the act of creating something (a medicine or drink or soup etc.) by compounding or mixing a variety of components; a food rich in sugar; verb make into a confection

Entail

noun the act of entailing property; the creation of a fee tail from a fee simple; land received by fee tail; verb impose, involve, or imply as a necessary accompaniment or result; have as a logical consequence; limit the inheritance of property to a specific class of heirs

Ostracism

noun the act of excluding someone from society by general consent; the state of being banished or ostracized (excluded from society by general consent)

Distension

noun the act of expanding by pressure from within; the state of being stretched beyond normal dimensions

Pretense

noun the act of giving a false appearance; imaginative intellectual play; pretending with intention to deceive; an artful or simulated semblance; a false or unsupportable quality

Inclination

noun the act of inclining; bending forward; an attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others

Infusion

noun the act of infusing or introducing a certain modifying element or quality; (medicine) the passive introduction of a substance (a fluid or drug or electrolyte) into a vein or between tissues (as by gravitational force); the process of extracting certain active properties (as a drug from a plant) by steeping or soaking (usually in water); a solution obtained by steeping or soaking a substance (usually in water)

Laceration

noun the act of lacerating; a torn ragged wound

Volition

noun the act of making a choice; the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention

Obeisance

noun the act of obeying; dutiful or submissive behavior with respect to another person; bending the head or body or knee as a sign of reverence or submission or shame

Juxtaposition

noun the act of positioning close together (or side by side); a side-by-side position

Reprieve

noun the act of reprieving; postponing or remitting punishment; a warrant granting postponement (usually to postpone the execution of the death sentence); a (temporary) relief from harm or discomfort;

Enamor

verb be filled with a feeling of love for.

Dispatch

noun the act of sending off something; killing a person or animal; the property of being prompt and efficient; an official report (usually sent in haste); verb kill without delay; send away towards a designated goal; dispose of rapidly and without delay and efficiently; complete or carry out; kill intentionally and with premeditation

Aspersion

noun the act of sprinkling water in baptism (rare); an abusive attack on a person's character or good name; a disparaging remark

Pillage

noun the act of stealing valuable things from a place; goods or money obtained illegally; verb steal goods; take as spoils

Larceny

noun the act of taking something from someone unlawfully

Aversion

noun the act of turning yourself (or your gaze) away; a feeling of intense dislike

Increment

noun the amount by which something increases; a process of becoming larger or longer or more numerous or more important

Brevity

noun the attribute of being brief or fleeting; the use of brief expressions

Perspicacity

noun the capacity to assess situations or circumstances shrewdly and to draw sound conclusions; intelligence manifested by being astute (as in business dealings)

Coronation

noun the ceremony of installing a new monarch

Mandate

noun the commission that is given to a government and its policies through an electoral victory; a document giving an official instruction or command;

Mettle

noun the courage to carry on

Hegemony

noun the dominance or leadership of one social group or nation over others

Apotheosis

noun the elevation of a person (as to the status of a god); model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal

Milieu

noun the environmental condition

Lucre

noun the excess of revenues over outlays in a given period of time (including depreciation and other non-cash expenses); informal terms for money

Facade

noun the face or front of a building; a showy misrepresentation intended to conceal something unpleasant

Enmity

noun the feeling of a hostile person; a state of deep-seated ill-will

Ennui

noun the feeling of being bored by something tedious

Complacency

noun the feeling you have when you are satisfied with yourself

Flotsam

noun the floating wreckage of a ship

Paradigm

noun the generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time; systematic arrangement of all the inflected forms of a word; a standard or typical example; the class of all items that can be substituted into the same position (or slot) in a grammatical sentence (are in paradigmatic relation with one another)

Antithesis

noun the juxtaposition of contrasting words or ideas to give a feeling of balance; exact opposite

Revoke

noun the mistake of not following suit when able to do so; verb annul by recalling or rescinding; fail to follow suit when able and required to do so

Hierarchy

noun the organization of people at different ranks in an administrative body; a series of ordered groupings of people or things within a system

Vocation

noun the particular occupation for which you are trained; a body of people doing the same kind of work

Heyday

noun the period of greatest prosperity or productivity

Novitiate

noun the period or state of being a novice

Zenith

noun the point above the observer that is directly opposite the nadir on the imaginary sphere against which celestial bodies appear to be projected

Nadir

noun the point below the observer that is directly opposite the zenith on the imaginary sphere against which celestial bodies appear to be projected; an extreme state of adversity; the lowest point of anything

nadir

noun the point below the observer that is directly opposite the zenith on the imaginary sphere against which celestial bodies appear to be projected; an extreme state of adversity; the lowest point of anything

Husbandry

noun the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock

Juvenescence

noun the process of growing into a youth

Proximity

noun the property of being close together; a Gestalt principle of organization holding that (other things being equal) objects or events that are near to one another (in space or time) are perceived as belonging together as a unit; the region close around a person or thing

Burnish

noun the property of being smooth and shiny; verb polish and make shiny

Corpulence

noun the property of excessive fatness

Beneficence

noun the quality of being kind or helpful or generous; doing good; feeling beneficent

Glut

noun the quality of being so overabundant that prices fall; verb overeat or eat immodestly; make a pig of oneself; supply with an excess of

Liability

noun the quality of being something that holds you back; the state of being legally obliged and responsible; an obligation to pay money to another party

Cherish

verb be fond of; be attached to

Knell

noun the sound of a bell rung slowly to announce a death or a funeral or the end of something; verb ring as in announcing death; make (bells) ring, often for the purposes of musical edification

Disrepute

noun the state of being held in low esteem

Surfeit

noun the state of being more than full; eating until excessively full; the quality of being so overabundant that prices fall; verb indulge (one's appetite) to satiety; supply or feed to surfeit

Renown

noun the state or quality of being widely honored and acclaimed

Ascendancy

noun the state that exists when one person or group has power over another

Etymology

noun the study of the sources and development of words; a history of a word

Discretion

noun the trait of judging wisely and objectively; knowing how to avoid embarrassment or distress; freedom to act or judge on one's own; the power of making free choices unconstrained by external agencies; refined taste; tact

Dialect

noun the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people

Sophistry

noun the use of fallacious arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving

Chicanery

noun the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them)

Guile

noun the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them); the quality of being crafty; shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception

Foible

noun the weaker part of a sword's blade from the forte to the tip; a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual

Lumber

noun the wood of trees cut and prepared for use as building material; an implement used in baseball by the batter; verb move heavily or clumsily; cut lumber, as in woods and forests

Synergy

noun the working together of two things (muscles or drugs for example) to produce an effect greater than the sum of their individual effects

Diatribe

noun thunderous verbal attack

Empathy

noun understanding and entering into another's feelings

Miasma

noun unhealthy vapors rising from the ground or other sources; an unwholesome atmosphere

Revel

noun unrestrained merrymaking; verb celebrate noisily, often indulging in drinking;

Veracity

noun unwillingness to tell lies

Skulduggery

noun verbal misrepresentation intended to take advantage of you in some way

Doggerel

noun verse or words that are badly written or expressed.

Expatriate

noun voluntarily absent from home or country; verb move away from one's native country and adopt a new residence abroad; expel from a country

Lassitude

noun weakness characterized by a lack of vitality or energy; a feeling of lack of interest or energy; a state of comatose torpor (as found in sleeping sickness)

Polarize

verb become polarized in a conflict or contrasting situation; cause to concentrate about two conflicting or contrasting positions; cause to vibrate in a definite pattern

Implicate

verb bring into intimate and incriminating connection; impose, involve, or imply as a necessary accompaniment or result

Ingratiate

verb bring oneself into favor with someone by flattering or trying to please them.

Innovate

verb bring something new to an environment

Engender

verb call forth; make children

Descry

verb catch sight of

Espy

verb catch sight of

Inure

verb cause to accept or become hardened to; habituate

Stultify

verb cause to appear foolish; prove to be of unsound mind or demonstrate someone's incompetence; deprive of strength or efficiency; make useless or worthless

Disseminate

verb cause to become widely known

soothe

verb cause to feel better; give moral or emotional strength to

Proliferate

verb cause to grow or increase rapidly; grow rapidly

Germinate

verb cause to grow or sprout; produce buds, branches, or germinate; work out

Daunt

verb cause to lose courage

Discomfit

verb cause to lose one's composure

Disconcert

verb cause to lose one's composure; cause to feel embarrassment

Kindle

verb cause to start burning; catch fire; call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)

Stagnate

verb cease to flow; stand without moving; cause to stagnate; stand still; be idle; exist in a changeless situation

chastise

verb censure severely

Berate

verb censure severely or angrily

Chide

verb censure severely or angrily

Catalyze

verb change by catalysis or cause to catalyze

Denigrate

verb charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone; cause to seem less serious; play down

Ruminate

verb chew the cuds; reflect deeply on a subject

Apportion

verb distribute according to a plan or set apart for a special purpose; give out as one's portion or share

Expurgate

verb edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate

Connive

verb encourage or assent to illegally or criminally; form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner

Augment

verb enlarge or increase; grow or intensify

Assess

verb estimate the value of (property) for taxation; charge (a person or a property) with a payment, such as a tax or a fine; place a value on; judge the worth of something; set or determine the amount of (a payment such as a fine)

Elude

verb evade or escape from (a danger, enemy, or pursuer), typically in a skillful or cunning way.

Bilk

verb evade payment to; cheat somebody out of what is due, especially money.

Scrutinize

verb examine carefully for accuracy with the intent of verification; to look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail

Exacerbate

verb exasperate or irritate; make worse

Condone

verb excuse, overlook, or make allowances for; be lenient with

Debunk

verb expose while ridiculing; especially of pretentious or false claims and ideas

Deplore

verb express strong disapproval of; regret strongly

Exult

verb feel extreme happiness or elation; to express great joy

pacify

verb fight violence and try to establish peace in (a location); cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of

Inundate

verb fill or cover completely, usually with water; fill quickly beyond capacity; as with a liquid

Exhort

verb force or impel in an indicated direction; urge on or encourage especially by shouts

Dispel

verb force to go away; used both with concrete and metaphoric meanings; to cause to separate and go in different directions

Recant

verb formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure

Coalesce

verb fuse or cause to grow together; mix together different elements

Reap

verb gather, as of natural products; get or derive

Transgress

verb pass beyond (limits or boundaries); act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises; spread over land, especially along a subsiding shoreline; commit a sin; violate a law of God or a moral law

Badger

verb persuade through constant efforts; annoy persistently

Shelve

verb place on a shelf; hold back to a later time

Curtail

verb place restrictions on; terminate or abbreviate before its intended or proper end or its full extent

Cavort

verb play boisterously

Blandish

verb praise somewhat dishonestly

Extol

verb praise, glorify, or honor

Cultivate

verb prepare for crops; foster the growth of; adapt (a wild plant or unclaimed land) to the environment; train to be discriminative in taste or judgment

Exculpate

verb pronounce not guilty of criminal charges

Exonerate

verb pronounce not guilty of criminal charges

Refute

verb prove to be false or incorrect; overthrow by argument, evidence, or proof

Palliate

verb provide physical relief, as from pain; lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of

Assuage

verb provide physical relief, as from pain; satisfy (thirst); cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of

Abduct

verb pull away from the body; take away to an undisclosed location against their will and usually

Promulgate

verb put a law into effect by formal declaration; state or announce

Quash

verb put down by force or intimidation; declare invalid

Disgruntle

verb put into a bad mood or into bad humour

Exalt

verb raise in rank, character, or status; praise, glorify, or honor; fill with sublime emotion; tickle pink; heighten or intensify

Attain

verb reach a point in time, or a certain state or level; reach a destination, either real or abstract; find unexpectedly; to gain with effort

Induce

verb reason or establish by induction; cause to do; cause to act in a specified manner; cause to arise; cause to occur rapidly; produce electric current by electrostatic or magnetic processes

Demean

verb reduce in worth or character, usually verbally

Repudiate

verb refuse to acknowledge, ratify, or recognize as valid; reject as untrue, unfounded, or unjust; refuse to recognize or pay; cast off or disown

Disavow

verb refuse to acknowledge; disclaim knowledge of; responsibility for, or association with

Venerate

verb regard with feelings of respect and reverence; consider hallowed or exalted or be in awe of

Bemoan

verb regret strongly

Extricate

verb release from entanglement of difficulty

Regurgitate

verb repeat after memorization; feed through the beak by regurgitating previously swallowed food; pour or rush back; eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth

Allege

verb report or maintain

Rhapsodize

verb say (something) with great enthusiasm; recite a rhapsody

Cleave

verb separate or cut with a tool, such as a sharp instrument; make by cutting into; come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation

Instigate

verb serve as the inciting cause of; provoke or stir up

Demarcate

verb set, mark, or draw the boundaries of something; separate clearly and as if by boundaries

Whet

verb sharpen by rubbing, as on a whetstone; make keen or more acute

Grovel

verb show submission or fear

Macerate

verb soften or become softened by soaking in a liquid.

Substantiate

verb solidify, firm, or strengthen; establish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts; make real or concrete; give reality or substance to; represent in bodily form

Opine

verb speak one's opinion without fear or hesitation; expect, believe, or suppose

Denounce

verb speak out against; give away information about somebody; announce the termination of, as of treaties; to accuse or condemn or openly or formally or brand as disgraceful

Revile

verb spread negative information about

Vituperate

verb spread negative information about

Perturb

verb throw into great confusion or disorder; disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed; cause a celestial body to deviate from a theoretically regular orbital motion, especially as a result of interposed or extraordinary gravitational pull; disturb or interfere with the usual path of an electron or atom

Aver

verb to declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true; report or maintain

Commiserate

verb to feel or express sympathy or compassion

Revamp

verb to patch up or renovate; repair or restore; provide (a shoe) with a new vamp

Inoculate

verb treat (a person or animal) with a vaccine to produce immunity against a disease.

Deride

verb treat or speak of with contempt

Flout

verb treat with contemptuous disregard; laugh at with contempt and derision

Reverberate

verb treat, process, heat, melt, or refine in a reverberating furnace; be reflected as heat, sound, or light or shock waves; have a long or continuing effect; spring back; spring away from an impact; to throw or bend back or reflect (from a surface); ring or echo with sound

Deter

verb try to prevent; show opposition to; turn away from by persuasion

Dissuade

verb turn away from by persuasion

Atone

verb turn away from sin or do penitence; make amends for

Annul

verb annul by recalling or rescinding; declare invalid

Accost

verb approach with an offer of sexual favors; speak to someone

Abate

verb become less in amount or intensity; make less active or intense

Abstain

verb choose not to consume; refrain from voting

Allocate

verb distribute according to a plan or set apart for a special purpose

Adhere

verb follow through or carry out a plan without deviation; stick to firmly; be a devoted follower or supporter; be compatible or in accordance with; come or be in close contact with; stick or hold together and resist separation; be loyal to

Abjure

verb formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure

Ameliorate

verb get better; to make better

Adorn

verb make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.; furnish with power or authority; of kings or emperors; be beautiful to look at

Abduct

verb pull away from the body; take away to an undisclosed location against their will and usually in order to extract a ransom

Accentuate

verb put stress on; utter with an accent; to stress, single out as important

Abide

verb put up with something or somebody unpleasant; dwell

Adumbrate

verb report or represent in outline.

Abrogate

verb revoke formally

Abscond

verb run away; usually includes taking something or somebody along

Allay

verb satisfy (thirst); lessen the intensity of or calm

Admonish

verb take to task; admonish or counsel in terms of someone's behavior; warn strongly; put on guard

Antedate

verb establish something as being earlier relative to something else; be earlier in time; go back further

Amenable

adj. (of a person) open and responsive to suggestion; easily persuaded or controlled.

Anachronistic

adj. chronologically misplaced

Anonymous

adj. having no known name or identity or known source; not known or lacking marked individuality

Acute

adj. having or experiencing a rapid onset and short but severe course; of critical importance and consequence; extremely sharp or intense; having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions; of an angle; less than 90 degrees; ending in a sharp point; noun a mark (') placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation

Adept

adj. having or showing knowledge and skill and aptitude; noun someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field

Accommodating

adj. helpful in bringing about a harmonious adaptation; obliging; willing to do favors

Adverse

adj. in an opposing direction; contrary to your interests or welfare

Amalgamate

adj. joined together into a whole; verb to bring or combine together or with something else

Adulterate

adj. mixed with impurities; verb corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones

Antecedent

adj. preceding in time or order; noun the referent of an anaphor; a phrase or clause that is referred to by an anaphoric pronoun; a preceding occurrence or cause or event; anything that precedes something similar in time; someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)

Adorned

adj. provided with something intended to increase its beauty or distinction; clothed or adorned with finery

Adroit

adj. quick or skillful or adept in action or thought; skillful (or showing skill) in adapting means to ends

adroit

adj. quick or skillful or adept in action or thought; skillful (or showing skill) in adapting means to ends

Aloof

adj. remote in manner; adv. in an aloof manner

Abject

adj. showing humiliation or submissiveness; of the most contemptible kind; most unfortunate or miserable; showing utter resignation or hopelessness

Antediluvian

adj. so extremely old as seeming to belong to an earlier period; of or relating to the period before the biblical flood; noun any of the early patriarchs who lived prior to the Noachian deluge; a very old person

Alias

adv. as known or named at another time or place; noun a name that has been assumed temporarily

Accretion

an increase by natural growth or addition; (geology) an increase in land resulting from alluvial deposits or waterborne sediment;

Affinity

close connection marked by community of interests or similarity in nature or character;

Anthology

noun a collection of selected literary passages

Affectation

noun a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display

Animosity

noun a feeling of ill will arousing active hostility

Anathema

noun a formal ecclesiastical curse accompanied by excommunication; a detested person

Advocate

noun a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea; a lawyer who pleads cases in court; verb speak, plead, or argue in favour of; push for something

Acrimony

noun a rough and bitter manner

accolade

noun a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction

Acumen

noun a tapering point; shrewdness shown by keen insight

Annex

noun an addition that extends a main building; verb attach to; take (territory) as if by conquest

Anarchist

noun an advocate of anarchism

Anachronism

noun an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred

Antipode

noun direct opposite

Acclaim

noun enthusiastic approval; verb praise vociferously; clap one's hands or shout after performances to indicate approval

Anguish

noun extreme mental distress; extreme distress of body or mind; verb suffer great pains or distress; cause emotional anguish or make miserable

Aegis

noun kindly endorsement and guidance; armor plate that protects the chest; the front part of a cuirass

Alacrity

noun liveliness and eagerness

Altercation

noun noisy quarrel

approbation

noun official recognition or approval; official approval

Amenity

noun pleasantness resulting from agreeable conditions

Abnegation

noun renunciation of your own interests in favor of the interests of others; the denial and rejection of a doctrine or belief

adulation

noun servile flattery; exaggerated and hypocritical praise

Anecdote

noun short account of an incident (especially a biographical one)

Annotation

noun the act of adding notes; a comment or instruction (usually added)

Antipathy

noun the object of a feeling of intense aversion; something to be avoided; a feeling of intense dislike