JGRE combo

statutory

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

malefactor

criminal We must try to bring these malefactors to justice.

censorious

critical censorious people delight in casting blame.

stricture

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

animadversion

critical remark He resented the animadversions of his critics, particularly because he realized they were true.

pan

criticize harshly Hoping for a rave review of his new show, the playwright was miserable when the critics panned it unanimously.

askew

crookedly; slanted; at an angle When he placed his hat askew upon his head, his observers laughed.

horde

crowd Just before Christmas the stores are filled with hordes of shoppers.

throng

crowd Throngs of shoppers jammed the aisles.

diadem

crown The king's diadem was on display at the museum.

fell

cruel; deadly The newspapers told of the tragic spread of the fell disease

therapeutic

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

elixir

cure-all; something invigorating "magical or medical potion is elixir" The news of her chance to go abroad acted on her like an elixir.

imprecation

curse Roused from the bed at what he considered an ungodly hour, Roy muttered imprecations under his breath.

execrate

curse; express abhorrence for The world execrates the memory of Hitler and hopes that genocide will never again be the policy of any nation.

dank

damp The walls of the dungeon were dank and slimy.

swarthy

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

murkiness

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

reverie

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

cloying

distasteful (because excessive); excessively sweet or sentimental "cloying sweetness" Disliking the cloying sweetness of standard wedding cakes, Jody and Tom chose a homemade carrot cake for their reception.

stalemate

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

libertine

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

decadence

decay The moral decadence of the people was reflected in the lewd literature of the period.

guile

deceit; duplicity She achieved her high position by guile and treachery.

delude

deceive Do not delude yourself into believing that he will relent.

hoodwink

deceive; delude Having been hoodwinked once by the fast-talking salesman, he was extremely cautious when he went to purchase a used car.

sensual

devoted to the pleasures of the senses; carnal; voluptous I cannot understand what caused him to drop his sensual way of life and become so ascetic.

resolve

decide; settle; solve Homes resolved to travel to Bohemia to resolve the dispute between Irene Adler and the King.

awry

distorted;crooked He held his head awry, giving the impression that he had caught cold in his neck during the night.

tribulation

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

ramify

divide into branches or subdivisions When the plant begins to ramify, it is advisable to nip off most of the new branches.

hatch

deck opening; lid covering a deck opening The latch on the hatch failed to catch, so the hatch remained unlatched.

avow

declare openly I must avow that I am innocent.

garnish

decorate Parsley was used to garnish the boiled potato.

adorn

decorate Wall paintings and carved statues adorned the temple.

consecrate

dedicate; sanctify We shall consecrate our lives to this noble purpose.

tureen

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

inveterate

deep-rooted; habitual She is an inveterate smoker and cannot break the habit.

slander

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

libelous

defamatory; injurious to the good name of a person He sued the newspaper because of its libelous story.

rampart

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

mulct

defraud a person of something The lawyer was accused of trying to mulct the boy of his legacy.

respite

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

piety

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

tarry

delay; dawdle We can't tarry if we want to get to the airport on time.

demur

delay; object To demur at this time will only worsen the already serious situation; now is the time for action.

sleight

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

malicious

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

finesse

delicate skill The finesse and adroitness of the surgeon impressed the observers in the operating room.

filigree

delicate, lacelike metalwork The pendant with gold filigree that she wore round her neck trembled with each breath she took.

consign

deliver officially; entrust; set apart The court consigned the child to her paternal grandmother's care.

render

deliver; provide; represent He rendered aid to the needy and indigent.

peremptory

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

nihilism

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

disavowal

denial; disclaiming His disavowal of his part in the conspiracy was not believed by the jury.

stratified

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

canto

division of a long poem Dante's poetic masterpiece The Divine Comedy is divided into cantos.

stanza

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

severance

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

schism

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

tractable

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

quay

dock; landing place Because of the captain's carelessness, the ship crashed into the quay.

tenet

doctrine; dogma The agnostic did not accept the tenets of their faith.

homespun

domestic; made at home homespun wit, like homespun cloth, was often coarse and plain.

inveigh

denounce; utter censure or invective He inveighed against the demagoguery of the previous speaker and urged that the audience reject his philosophy as dangerous.

renege

deny; go back on He reneged on paying off his debt.

exodus

departure The exodus from the hot and stuffy city was particularly noticeable on Friday evenings.

turpitude

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

despondent

depressed; gloomy To the dismay of his parents, he became more and more despondent every day.

bereft

deprived of; lacking The foolish gambler soon found himself bereft of funds.

devolve

deputize; pass to others It devolved upon us, the survivors, to arrange peace terms with the enemy.

sacrilegious

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

forsake

desert; abandon; renounce No one expected Foster to forsake his wife and children and run off with another woman.

renegade

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

reprehensible

deserving blame Your vicious conduct in this situation is reprehensible.

invidious

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

scurvy

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

raze

destroy completely The owners intend to raze the hotel and erect an office building on the site.

obliterate

destroy completely The tidal wave obliterated several island villages.

resolution

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

resolve

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

bent

determined; natural talent or inclination bent on advancing in the business world, the secretary heroine of Working Girl had a true bent for high finance.

dogged

determined;stubborn Les Miserables tells of Inspector Javert's long, dogged pursuit of the criminal Jean Valjean.

loathe

detest We loathed the wicked villain.

depose

dethrone; remove form office The army attempted to DEPOSE THE KING and set up a military government.

swerve

deviate; turn aside sharply The car swerved wildly as the driver struggled to regain control of the wheel.

condign

adequate; deservedly severe The public approved the condign punishment for the crime.

contiguous

adjacent to; touching upon The two countries are contiguous for a few miles; then they are separated by the gulf.

fastidious

difficult to please; squeamish The waitresses disliked serving him dinner because of his very fastidious taste.

quarry

dig into They quarried blocks of marble out of the hillside.

exhume

dig out of the ground; remove from a grave Because of the rumor that he had been poisoned, his body was exhumed in order that an autopsy might be performed.

disinter

dig up; unearth They disinterred the body and held an autopsy.

delve

dig; investigate delving into old books and manuscripts is part of a researcher's job.

discursive

digressing; rambling They were annoyed and bored by her discursive remarks.

quandary

dilemma When the two colleges to which he had applied accepted him, he was in a quandary as to which one he should attend.

sedulous

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

sap

diminish; undermine The element kryptonite had an unhealthy effect on Superman: it sapped his strength.

refectory

dining hall In this huge refectory, we can feed the entire student body at one sitting.

subsidy

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

squalid

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

espouse

adopt; support 1. Ted was to espouse his reactionary views 2. She was always ready to espouse a worthy cause.

embellish

adorn My mother-in-law's stories about her journey from Russia made us laugh because she embellished the bare facts of her travels with humourous acecdotes.

precocious

advanced in development By her rather adult manner of discussing serious topics, the child demonstrated that she was precocious.

chasten

discipline; punish in order to correct Whom God loves, God chastens.

faze

disconcert; dismay No crisis could faze the resourceful hotel manager.

dissonance

discord Some contemporary musicians deliberately use dissonance to achieve certain effects.

omniscient

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

omnipotent

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

rider

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

reparation

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

rebate

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

bandy

discuss lightly; exchange blows or words The president refused to bandy words with reporters at the press conference.

disport

amuse The popularity of Florida as a winter resort is constantly increasing; each year, thousands more disport themselves at Miami and Palm Beach.

beguile

amuse; delude; cheat I beguiled himself during the long hours by playing solitaire.

forebears

ancestors Reverence for one's forebears (sometimes referred to as ancestor worship) plays an important part in many Oriental cultures.

papyrus

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

cherubic

angelic; innocent-looking With her cheerful smile and rosy cheeks, she was a particularly cherubic child.

indignation

anger ar an injustice He felt indignation at the ill-treatment of the helpless animals.

gadfly

animal-biting fly; an irritating person Like a gadfly, he irritated all the guests at the hotel; within forty eight hours, everyone regarded him as an annoying busybody.

gall

annoy; chafe Their taunts galled him.

nettle

annoy; vex Do not let him nettle you with his sarcastic remarks.

irksome

annoying; tedious He found working on the assembly line irksome because of the monotony of the operation he had to perform.

apposite

appropriate; fitting He was always able to find the apposite phrase, the correct expression for every occasion.

ratify

approve formally; verify Before the treaty could go into effect, it had to be ratified by the president.

sanction

approve; ratify Nothing will convince me to sanction the engagement of my daughter to such a worthless young man.

plauditory

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

felicitous

apt; suitably expressed; well chosen He was famous for his felicitous remarks and was called upon to serve as master-of-ceremonies at many banquet.

conduit

aqueduct; passageway for fluids Water was brought to the army in the desert by an improvised conduit from the adjoining mountain.

fervid

ardent Her fervid enthusiasm inspired all of us to undertake the dangerous mission.

fervent

ardent; hot She felt that the fervent praise was excessive and somewhat undeserved.

haggle

argue about prices I prefer to shop in a store that has a one-price policy because, whenever I haggle with a shopkeeper, I am never certain that I paid a fair price for the articles I purchased.

stemfrom

arise from Milton's problems in school stemmed from his poor study habits.

cohorts

armed band Caesar and his Roman cohorts conquered almost all of the known world.

symmetry

arrangement of parts so that balance is obtained; congruity The addition of a second tower will give this edifice the symmetry that it now lacks.

hubris

arrogance; excessive self-conceit Filled with hubris, Lear refused to heed his friends' warnings.

presumptous

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

incendiary

arsonist The fire spread in such an unusual manner that the fire department chiefs were certain that it had been set by an incendiary.

rhetoric

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

dictum

arthoritative and weighty statement She repeated the statement as though it were the dictum of the most expert worker in the group.

treatise

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

sluice

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

mannered

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

synthetic

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

factitous

artificial; sham Hollywood actresses often create factitious tears but forget to show factitious tears by using glycerine.

sophistication

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

consort

associate with We frequently judge people by the company with whom they consort.

posture

assume an affected pose; act artificially No matter how much Arnold boasted or postured, I could not believe he was as important as he pretended to be.

supposititious

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

imposture

assuming a false identity; masquerade She was imprisoned for her imposture of a doctor.

premise

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

quiescent

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

moribund

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

sardonic

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

prattle

babble The children prattle endlessly about their new toys.

hinterlands

back country They seldom had visitors, living as they did way out in the hinderlands.

thwart

baffle; frustrate He felt that everyone was trying to thwart his plans and prevent his success.

equipoise

balance; balancing force; equilibrium The high-wire acrobat used his pole as an equipose to overcome the swaying caused by the wind.

rusticate

banish to the country; dwell in the country I like city life so much that I can never understand how people can rusticate in the suburbs.

relegate

banish; consign to inferior position If we relegate these experts to minor posts because of their political persuasions, we shall lose their valuable services.

insolvent

bankrupt; lacking money to pay When rumors that he was insolvent reached his creditors, they began to press him for payment of the money due them.

quizzical

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

chaffing

bantering; joking Sometimes his flippant and chaffing remarks annoy us.

seethe

be disturbed; boil The nation was seething with discontent as the nobleman continued their arrogant ways.

dote

be excessively fond of; show signs of mental decline Not only grandmothers bore you with stories about their brilliant grandchildren; grandfathers dote on the littel rascals, too.

betroth

become engaged to marry The announcement that they had become betrothed surprised their friends who had not suspected any romance.

ingratiate

become popular with He tried to ingratiate himself into her parents' good graces.

ignominious

disgraceful The country smarted under the ignominious defeat and dreamed of the day when it would be victorious.

subliminal

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

genuflect

bend the knee as in worship A proud denocrat, he refused to genuflect to any man.

refraction

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

condescend

bestow courtesies with a superior air The king condescended to grant an audience to the friends of the condemned man.

indubitably

beyond a doubt Because her argument was indubitably valid, the judge accepted it.

preternatural

beyond that which is normal in nature John's mother's total ability to tell when he was lying struck him as almost preternatural.

partial

biased; having a liking for something I am extremely partial to chocolate eclairs.

beatitude

blessedness; state of bliss Growing closer to God each day, the mystic achieved a state of indescribable beatitude.

benison

blessing Let us pray that the benison of peace once more shall prevail among the nations of the world.

gory

bloody The audience shuddered as they listened to the details of the gory massacre.

sanguinary

bloody The battle of lwo Jina was unexpectedly sanguinary with many casualties.

doldrums

blues; listlessness; slack period Once the excitement of meeting her deadline was over, she found herself in the doldrums.

brusque

blunt; abrupt She was offended by his brusque reply.

palette

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

magniloquent

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

braggadocio

boasting He was disliked because his manner was always full of braggadocio.

regatta

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

hierarchy

body divided into ranks It was difficult to step out of one's place in this hierarchy.

guffaw

boisterous laughter The loud guffaws that came from the closed room indicated that the members of the committe had not yet settled down to a serious business.

revelry

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

hilarity

boisterous mirth The hilarity is improper on this solemn day of mourning.

temerity

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

stilted

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

catechism

book for religious instruction; instruction by question and answer "engage pupils in a catechism" He taught by engaging his pupils in a catechism until they gave him the correct answer.

abut

border upon; adjoin Where our estates abut, we must build a fence.

ennui

boredom The monotonous routine of hopital life induced a feeling of ennui which made him moody and irritable.

tedium

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

overbearing

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

abysmal

bottomless His arrogance is exceeded only by his abysmal ignorance.

pugilist

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

ramification

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

fortitude

bravery; courage He was awarded the medal for his fortitude in the battle.

fray

brawl The three musketeers were in the thick of fray.

fracas

brawl; melee The military police stopped the fracas in the bar and arrested the belligerents.

harrow

break up ground after plowing; torture I don't want to harrow you at this time by asking you to recall the details of your unpleasant experience.

respiration

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

fancier

breeder or dealer of animals The dog fancier exhibited her prize collie at the annual Kennel Club show.

succinct

brief; terse; compact His remarks are always succinct and pointed.

resplendent

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

nonplus

bring to a halt by confusion; perplex Jack's uncharacteristic rudeness nonplussed Jill, leaving her uncertain how to react.

incur

bring upon oneself His parents refused to pay any future debts he might incur.

rationalization

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

farce

broad comedy; mockery Nothing went right; the entire interview degenerated into a farce.

spatula

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

sibling

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

bugaboo

bugbear; object of baseless terror If we become frightened by such bugaboos, we are no wiser than the birds who fear scarecrows.

ruffian

bully; scoundrel The ruffians threw stones at the police.

sheaf

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

encumber

burden "encumber with luggage" Some people encumber themselves with too much luggage, when they take short trips.

incubus

burden; mental care; nightmare The incubus of financial worry helped bring on her nervous breakdown.

onerous

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

smolder

burn without flame; be liable to break out at any moment The rags smoldered for hours before they burst into flame.

inter

bury They are going to inter the body tomorrow ar Broadlawn Cemetry.

dispassionate

calm; impartial In a [dispassionate analysis of the problem], he carefully examined the causes of the conflict and proceeded to suggest suitable remedies.

phlegmatic

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

halcyon

calm; peaceful In those halcyon days, people were not worried about sneak attacks and bombings.

sedative

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

equanimity

calmness of temperament In his later years, he could look upon the foolishness of the world with equanimity and humor.

tranquillity

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

serenity

calmness; placidity The serenity of the sleepy town was shattered by a tremendous explosion.

rescind

cancel Because of public resentment, the king had to rescind his order.

expunge

cancel; remove If you behave, I will expunge this notation from your record.

revoke

cancel; retract Repeat offenders who continue to drive under the influence of alcohol face having their driver's licenses permanently revoked.

taper

candle He lit the taper on the windowsill.

reparable

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

tensile

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

prehensile

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

enthrall

capture; enslave From the moment he saw her picture, he was enthralled by her beauty.

thrifty

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

lax

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

scabbard

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

quiver

case for arrows Robin Hood reached back and plucked one last arrow from his quiver.

slough

cast off Each spring, the snake sloughs off its skin.

cavalier

casual and offhand; arrogant Sensitive about having her ideas taken lightly, Marcia felt insulted by Mark's cavalier dismissal of her suggestion.

offhand

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

pander

cater to the low desires of others The reviewer accused the makers of Lethal Weapon of pandering to the masses' taste of violence.

bane

cause of ruin Lack of public transportation is the bane of urban life.

dissemble

disguise; pretend Even though John tried to dissemble his motive for taking modern dance, we all knew there not to dance but to meet girls.

stultify

cause to appear or become stupid or inconsistent; frustrate or hinder His long hours in the blacking factory left young Dickens numb and incurious, as if the menial labor had stultified his mind.

supersede

cause to be set aside; replace This regulation will supersede all previous rules.

fulsome

disgustingly excessive His fulsome praise of the dictator annoyed his listeners.

downcast

disheartened; sad Cheerful and optimistic by nature, Beth was never downcast despite the difficulties she faced.

skulduggery

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

dissolution

disintegration; looseness in morals "dissolution of parliament/ assembly/ marriage" The profligacy and dissolution of life in Caligula's Rome appall some historians.

pestilential

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

prudent

cautious; careful A miser hoards money not because he is prudent but because he is greedy.

reprove

censure; rebuke The principal reproved the students when they became unruly in the auditorium.

pivotal

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

repudiate

disown; disavow He announced that he would repudiate all debts incurred by his wife.

disclaim

disown; renounce claim to If I grant you this previlege, will you disclaim all other rights?

flaunt

display ostentatiously She is not the one of those actresses who flaunt their physical charms; she can act.

provident

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

mace

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

ordination

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

shackle

chain; fetter The criminal's ankles were shackled to prevent his escape.

hap

chance; luck In his poem hap, Thomas Hardy objects to the part chance plays in our lives.

gerrymander

change in voting district lines in order to favor a political party The illogical pattern of the map of this congressional district is proof that the state legislature gerrymandered this area in order to favor the majority party.

ossify

change or harden into bone When he called his opponent a "bonehead," he implied that his adversary's brain had ossified and that he was not capable of clear thinking.

transmute

change; convert to something different He was unable to transmute his dreams into actualities.

babble

chatter idly The little girl babbled about her doll.

tawdry

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

swindler

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

stanch

check flow of blood It is imperative that we stanch the gushing wound before we attend to the other injuries.

stem

check the flow The paramedic used a tourniquet to stem the bleeding from the slashed artery.

sanguine

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

geniality

cheerfulness; kindliness; sympathy This restaurant is famous and popular because of the geniality of the proprietor, who tries to make everyone happy.

ruminate

chew the cud; ponder We cannot afford to wait while you ruminate upon these plans.

puerile

childish His puerile pranks sometimes offended his more mature friends.

infantile

childish; infantlike When will he outgrow such infantile behavior?

indiscriminate

choosing at random; confused She disapproved of her son's indiscriminate television viewing and decided to restrict him to educational programs.

prelate

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

rotunda

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

obsidian

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

friction

clash in opinion; rubbing against At this time when harmony is essential, we cannot afford to have any friction in our group.

talon

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

purge

clean by removing impurities; clear of changes If you are to be purged of the charge of contempt of Congress, you must be willing to answer the questions previously asked.

bouillon

clear beef soup The cup of bouillon served by the stewards was welcomed by those who had been chilled by the cold ocean breezes.

sanctimonious

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

refute

disprove The defense called several respectable witnesses who were able to refute the false testimony of the prosecution's only witness.

perspicuity

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

ingenious

clever He came up with a use for Styrofoam packing balls that was so ingenious that his business school professors declared it was marketable.

repartee

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

shrewd

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

precipice

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

scale

climb up; ascend To locate a book on the top shelf of the stacks, Lee had to scale an exceptionally rickety ladder.

array

clothe; adorn She liked to watch her mother array herself in her finest clothes before going out for the evening.

raiment

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

notoriety

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

saccharine

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

lout

clumsy person The delivery boy is an awkward lout.

bleak

cold; cheerless The Aleutian Islands are bleak military outposts.

hue

color; aspect The aviary contained birds of every possible hue.

spectrum

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

pugnacious

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

synthesis

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

solace

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

travesty

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

fiat

command I cannot accept government by fiat; I feel that I must be consulted.

enjoin

command; order; forbid The owners of the company asked the court to enjoin the union from picketing the plant.

memorialize

commemorate Let us memorialize his great contribution by dedicating this library in his honor. 2. "The President memorialized the heroes of the battle"

perpetrate

commit an offense Only an insane person could perpetrate such a horrible crime.

plebeian

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

hackneyed

commonplace; trite The English teacher criticized her story because of its hackneyed and unoriginal plot.

tumult

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

simile

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

remunerative

compensating; rewarding I find my new work so renumerative that I may not return to my previous employment.

terse

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

pithy

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

brevity

conciseness brevity is essential when you send a telegram or cablegram; you are charged for every word.

peroration

conclusion of an oration The peroration was largely hortatory and brought the audience to its feet clamoring for action at its close.

deign

condescend He felt that he would debase himself if he deigned to answer his critics.

muddle

confuse; mix up His thoughts were muddled and chaotic.

disconcert

confuse; upset; embarrass The lawyer was disconcerted by the evidence produced by her adversary.

hubbub

confused uproar The marketplace was a scene of hubbub and excitement.

discombobulated

confused; discomposed The novice square dancer became so discombobulated that he wandered into wrong set.

turmoil

confusion; strife Conscious he had sinned, he was in a state of spiritual turmoil.

epicure

connoisseur of food and drink epicures frequent this restaurant because it features exotic wines and dishes.

subjugate

conquer; bring under control It is not our aim to subjugate our foe; we are interested only in establishing peaceful relations.

scrupulous

conscientious; extremely thorough I can recommend him for a position of responsibility for I have found him a very scrupulous young man.

flagrant

conspicuously wicked We cannot condone such flagrant violations of the rules.

solecism

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

trough

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

tainted

contaminated; corrupt Health authorities are always trying to prevent the sale and use of tainted food.

despicable

contemptible;deserving to be DESPIsed Your despicable remarks call for no reply.

supercilious

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

din

continued loud noise The din of the jackhammers outside the classroom window drowned out the lecturer's voice.

reconcile

correct inconsistencies; become friendly after a quarrel Every time we try to reconcile our checkbook with the bank statement, we quarrel. However, despite these monthly lovers' quarrels, we always manage to reconcile.

orthography

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

perversion

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

recrimination

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

diabolical

devilish; demoniac , fiendish , Luciferian, satanic "sinister diabolical summoning (lyrics); diabolical designs(book)" while [sinister people[ are evil people that hide their motives from their victims; [diabolical people] deliberately incite fear, anger, greed, panic, and outrage, in some people, for the purpose of causing them to harm others.

machiavellian

crafty; double-dealing Niccolò Machiavelli's double- dealing principles I do not think he will be a good ambassador because he is not accustomed to the machiavellian maneuverings of foreign diplomats.

hurtle

crash; rush The runaway train hurtled toward disaster.

grovel

crawl or creep on ground; remain prostrate Even though we have been defeated, we do not have to grovel before our conquerors.

lope

gallop slowly As the horses loped along, we had an opportunity to admire the ever-changing scenery.

hiatus

gap; pause Except for a brief two-year hiatus, during which she enrolled in the Peace Corps, Ms. Clements has devoted herself to her medical career.

glean

gather leavings After the crops had been harvested by the machines, the peasants were permitted to glean the wheat left in the fields.

garish

gaudy She wore a garish rhinestone necklace.

fester

generate pus When her finger began to fester, the doctor lanced it and removed the splinter that had caused the pus to form.

largess

generous gift Lady Bountiful distributed largess to the poor.

seminal

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

grisly

ghastly She shuddered at the grisly sight.

spectral

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

serendipity

gift for finding valuable or desirable things by accident; accidental good fortune or luck Many scientific discoveries are a matter of serendipity: Newton was not sitting there thinking about gravity when the apple dropped on his head.

benefactor

gift giver; patron Scrooge later became Tiny Tim's benefactor and gave him a benediction.

titanic

gigantic titanic waves beat aginst the shore during the hurricane.

colossus

gigantic statue The legendary Colossus of Rhodes, bronze statue of the sun god that dominated the harbor of the Greek seaport, was one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

foreshadow

give an indication beforehand; portend; prefigure In retrospect, political analysts realized that Yeltsin's defiance of the attempted coup foreshadowed his emergence as the dominant figure of the new Russian republic.

relent

give in When her stern father would not relent and allow her to marry Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett eloped with her suitor.

forgo

give up; do without Determined to lose weight for the summer, Ida decided to forgo dessert until she could fit into a size eight again.

gratuitous

given freely; unwarranted; uncalled for Quit making gratuitous comments about my driving; no one asked you for your opinion.

morbid

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

carafe

glass water bottle "carafe of red wine" With each dinner, the patron receives a carafe of red or white wine.

shimmer

glimmer intermittently The moonlight shimmered on the water as the moon broke through the clouds for a moment.

saturnine

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

somber

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

fervor

glowing ardor Their kiss was full of the fervor of first love.

disembark

go ashore; unload cargo from a ship Before the [passengers disembark], they have to pick up their passports from the ship's purser.

retrograde

go backwards; degenerate Instead of advancing, our civilization seems to have retrograded in ethics and culture.

traverse

go through or across When you traverse this field, be careful of the bull.

chalice

goblet; consecrated cup In a small room adjoining the cathedral, many ornately decorated chalices made by the most famous European goldsmiths were on display.

devious

going astray; erratic Your devious behavior in this matter puzzles me since you are usually direct and straightforward.

transition

going from one state of action to another During the period of transition from oil heat to gas heat, the furnace will have to be shut off.

bullion

gold and silver in the form of bars Much bullion is stored in the vaults at Fort Knox.

theocracy

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

gerontocracy

government ruled by old people Gulliver visited a gerontocracy in which the young people acted as servants to their elders, all the while dreaming of the day they would be old enough to have servants of their own.

attrition

gradual wearing down They decided to wage a war of attrition rather than to rely on all-out attack.

raspy

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

pall

grow tiresome The study of word lists can eventually pall and put one to sleep.

macabre

gruesome; grisly The city morgue is a macabre spot for the uninitiated. An example of macabre is a series of bloody murders committed by a serial killer.

tutelage

guardianship; training Under the tutelage of such masters of the instrument, she made rapid progress as a virtuoso.

surmise

guess I surmise that he will be late for this meeting.

remorse

guilt; self-reproach The murderer felt no remorse for his crime.

inebriety

habitual intoxication Because of his inebriety, he was discharged from his position as family chauffeur.

recidivism

habitual return to crime Prison reformers in the United States are disturbed by the high rate of recidivism; the number of persons serving second and third terms indicates the failure of the prisons to rehabilitate the inmates.

clairvoyant

having foresight; fortuneteller clairvoyant warning... Cassandra's clairvoyant warning was not heeded by the Trojans.

taciturn

habitually silent; talking a little New Englanders are reputedly taciturn people.

trite

hackneyed; commonplace Thr trite and predictable situations in many television programs alienate many viewers.

hackles

hairs on back and neck, especially of a dog The dog's hackles rose and he began to growl as the sound of footsteps grew louder.

hirsute

hairy He was a hitsute individual with a heavy black beard.

somnolent

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

satyr

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

snicker

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

tilter

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

factotum

handyman; person who does all kinds of work Although we had hired him as a messenger, we soon began to use him as a general factotum around the office.

perspicacious

having insight; penetrating; astute The brillant lawyer was known for his perspicacious deductions.

hover

hang about; wait nearby The police helicopter hovered above the accident.

pendant

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

slapdash

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

placebo

harmless substance prescribed as a dummy pill In a controlled experiment, fifty volunteers were given erythromycin tablets; the control group received only placebos.

concord

harmony Watching Tweediedum and Tweedledee battle, Alice wondered why the two brothers could not manage to life in concord.

consonance

harmony; agreement Her agitation seemed out of consonance with her usual calm.

raucous

harsh and shrill His raucous laughter irritated me and grated on my ears.

severity

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

headlong

hasty; rash The slave seized the unexpected chance to make a headlong dash across the border to freedom.

odious

hateful I find the task of punishing you most odious.

misogynist

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

misogamy

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

determinate

having a fixed order of procedure; invariable At the royal wedding, the procession of the nobles followed a determinate order of precedence.

decollete

having a low-cut neckline Fashion decrees that evening gowns be decollete this season; bare shoulders are again the vogue.

serrated

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

plausible

having a show of truth but open to doubt; specious Even though your argument is plausible, I still would like to have more proof.

tendentious

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

halting

hesitant; faltering Novice extemporaneous speakers often talk in a halting fashion as they grope for the right words.

falter

hesitate When told to dive off the high board, she did not falter, but proceeded at once.

flinch

hesitate; shrink He did not flinch in the face of danger but fought back bravely.

potpourri

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

secrete

hide away or cache; produce and release a substance into an organism. The pack rat secretes odds and ends in its nest; the pancreas secretes insulin in the islets of Langerhans.

apogee

highest point When the moon in its orbit is furthest away from the earth, it is at its apogee.

prodigy

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

baroque

highly ornate Accustomed to the severe, angular lines of modern skyscrapers, they found the flamboyance of baroque architecture amusing.

impede

hinder; block The special prosecutor determined that the Attorney General, though inept, had not intentionally set out to impede the progress of the investigation.

inkling

hint This came as a complete surprise to me as I did not have the slightest inkling of your plans.

insinuate

hint; imply What are you trying to insinuate by that remark?

innuendo

hint; insinuation I can defend myself against direct accusations; innuendos and oblique attacks on my character are what trouble me.

tenacious

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

tenure

holding of an office; time during which such an office is held He was permanent tenure in this position and cannot be fired.

retentive

holding; having a good memory The pupil did not need to spend much time in study as he had a retentive mind.

concave

hollow The back-packers found partial shelter from the storm by huddling against the concave wall of the cliff.

hermitage

home of a hermit Even in his remote hermitage he could not escape completely from the world.

fete

honor at a festival The returning hero was feted at a community supper and dance.

animus

hostile feeling or intent The animus of the speaker became obvious to all when he began to indulge in sarcastic and insulting remarks.

firebrand

hothead; troublemaker The police triedto keep track of all the local firebrands when the President came to town.

colossal

huge Radio City Music Hall has a colossal stage.

behemoth

huge creature; something of monstrous size or power Sportcasters nicknamed the linebacker "The Behemoth."

gargantuan

huge; enormous The gargantuan wrestler was terrified of mice.

mortify

humiliate; punish the flesh She was so mortified by her blunder that she ran to her room in tears. It mortified me to have to admit that I'd never actually read the book. <was mortified by her children's atrocious manners>

indulgent

humoring; yielding; lenient indulgent parents spoil their children by giving in to their every whim.

parody

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

facetious

humorous; jocular facetious rules of tresspassing

scavenge

hunt through discarded materials for usable items; search, especially for food If you need car parts that the dealers no longer stock, try scavenging for odd bits and pieces at the auto wreckers' yards.

supposition

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

quixotic

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

drone

idle person; male bee Content to let his wife support him, the would-be writer was in reality nothing but a drone.

sophomoric

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

evenhanded

impartial; fair Do men and women receive evenhanded treatment from their teachers, or, as recent studies suggest, do teachers pay more attention to male students than to females?

transitoriness

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

pert

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

metaphor

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

gamely

in a spirited manner; with courage Because he had fought gamely against a much superior boxer, the crowd gave him a standing ovation when he left the arena.

amok

in a state of rage The police had to be called in to restrain him after he ran amok in the department store.

impugn

doubt; challenge; gainsay I cannot impugn your honesty without evidence.

skeptic

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

misgivings

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

conscript

draftee; person forced into military service Did Rambo volunteer to fight in Vietnam, or was he a conscript, drafted against his will?

oratorio

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

limn

draw; outline; describe Parodoxically, the more realistic the details this artist chooses, the better able to limn her fantastic, other- worldly landscapes.

pensive

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

primp

dress or groom oneself with care She primps for hours before a dance.

flotsam

drifting wreckage Beachcombers eke out a living by salvaging the flotsam and jetsam of the sea.

tipple

drink (alcoholic beverages) frequently He found that his most enjoyable evenings occurred when he tippled with his friends at the local pub.

swill

drink greedily Singing, "Yo, ho, ho, and a bottle of rum," Long John Silver and his fellow pirates swilled their grog.

quaff

drink with relish As we quaffed our ale, we listened to the gay songs of the students in the tavern.

ferret

drive or hunt out of hiding She was ferreted out their secret.

repellent

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

propulsive

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

flag

droop; grow feeble When the opposing hockey team scored its third goal only minutes into the first period, the home team's spirits flagged.

apothecary

druggist In Holland, apothecaries still sell spices as well as ointments and pills.

carousal

drunken revel The party degenerated into an ugly carousal.

provender

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

timid

easily frightened; apprehensive He was timid and cowardish; always backing up at daunting situations.

queasy

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

facile

easy La vita Facile- Easy Life Movie (Italian)

reverberate

echo; resound The entire valley reverberated with the sound of the church bells.

resonant

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

mawkish

effusively or insincerely emotional (to the point of being unplesant); insipid Your mawkish sighs fill me with disgust.

maudlin

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

narcissist

egoism, simple selfishness; vanity, conceit, conceit-ed person- person- having an excessively high opinion of oneself(conceit) A narcissist is his own best friend.

resilient

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

abash

embarrass He was not at all abashed by her open admiration.

reek

emit (odor) The room reeked with stale tobacco smoke.

rapport

emotional closeness; harmony In team teaching, it is important that all teachers in the group have good rapport with one another.

hortatory

encouraging; exhortive The crowd listened to his hortatory statements with ever-growing excitement; finally they rushed from the hall to carry to his suggestions.

endue

endow, indue He was endued with a lion's courage.

savor

enjoy; have a distinctive flavor, smell, or quality Relishing his triumph, Costner especially savored the chagrin of the critics who had predicted his failure.

gusto

enjoyment; enthusiasm He accepted the assignment with such gusto that I feel he would have been satisfied with a smaller salary.

prodigious

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

mire

entangle; stick in swampy ground Their rear wheels became mired in mud.

regale

entertain John regaled us with tales of his adventures in Africa.

suppliant

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

gourmand

epicure; person who takes excessive pleasure in food and drink goumands lack self-restraint; if they enjoy a particular cuisine, they eat far too much of it.

tantamount

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

quibble

equivocate; play on words Do not quibble; I want a straightforward and definite answer.

substantive

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

intrinsically

essentially; inherently; naturally Although my grandmother's china has intrinsically little value, I shall always cherish it for the memories it evokes.

elusive

evasive; baffling; hard to grasp His elusive dreams of wealth were costly to those of his friends who supported him financially.

perpetual

everlasting Ponce de Leon hoped to find perpetual youth.

sinister

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

gestate

evolve, as in prenatal growth While this scheme was being gestated by the conspirators, they maintained complete silence about their intentions.

inflated

exaggerated; pompous; enlarged (with air or gas) His claims about the new product were inflated; it did not work as well as he had promised.

hyperbole

exaggeration; overstatement This salesman is guilty of hyperbole in describing his product; it is wise to discount his claims.

sublime

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

scrutinize

examine closely and critically Searching for flaws, the sergeant scrutinized every detail of the private's uniform.

collate

examine in order to verify authenticity; arrange in order (Compare , gather, examine) They collated the newly found manuscripts to determine their age.

ejaculation

exclamation He could not repress an ejaculation of surprise when he heard the news.

ostracize

exclude from public favor; ban As soon as the newspapers carried the story of his connection with the criminals, his friends began to ostracize him.

pretext

excuse He looked for a good pretext to get out of paying a visit to his aunt.

grueling

exhausting The marathon is a grueling race.

iridescent

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

expatriate

exile; someone who has withdrawn from his native land Henry James was an American expatriate who settled in England.

expository

explanatory; serving to explain The mannual that came with my VCR was no masterpiece of expository prose: its explanations were so garbled that I couldn't even figure out how to rewind a tape.

debunk

expose as false, exaggerated, worthless, etc.; ridicule Pointing out that he consistently had voted against strengthening antipollution legislation, reporters debunked the candidate's claim that he was a fervent environmentalist.

traduce

expose to slander His opponents tried to traduce the candidate's reputation by spreading rumors about his past.

deprecate

express disapproval of; protest against; belittle "old-fashioned deprecates modern views" A firm believer in old-fashioned courtesy, Miss Post deprecated the modern tendency to address new acquaintances by their first names.

gloat

express evil satisfaction; view malevolently As you gloat over your ill-gotten wealth, do you think of the many victims you have defrauded?

tirade

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

pterodactyl

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

physiognomy

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

philanderer

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

ravel

fall apart into tangles; unravel or untwist; entangle A sigle thread pulled loose, and the entire scarf started to ravel.

relapse

fall back or sink again The economy relapsed into a depression from the peak.

plummet

fall sharply Stock prices plummeted as Wall Street reacted to the rise in interest rates.

perjury

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

spurious

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

renown

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

grotesque

fantastic; comically hideous On Halloween people enjoy wearing groteque costumes.

modish

fashionable AJ- modish, pretty and talented She always discarded all garments that were no longer modish.

splice

fasten together; unite Before you splice two strips of tape together, be sure to line them up evenly.

kismet

fate kismet is the Arabic word for "fate."

beget

father; produce; give rise to One good turn may deserve another; it does not necessarily beget another.

captious

faultfinding His criticisms were always captious and frivolous, never offering constructive suggestions.

propitious

favorable; kindly I think it is advisable that we wait for a more propitious occasion to announce our plans; this is not a good time.

claustrophobia

fear of being locked in His fellow classmates laughed at his claustrophobia and often threatened to lock him in his room.

trepidation

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

timorous

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

intrepid

fearless For his intrepid conduct in battle, he was promoted.

lineaments

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

feckless

feeble, ineffective; unthinking, irresponsible Einstein was noted for his extraordinary inspirations; on the other hand, he was noted for being feckless in his daily chores.

simulate

feign He simulated insanity in order to avoid punishment for his crime.

frond

fern leaf; palm or banana leaf After the storm the beach was littered with the fronds of palm trees.

luxuriant

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

capricious

fickle; incalculable The storm was capricious and changed course constantly.

dossier

file of documents on a subject Ordered by J. Edgar Hoover to investigate the senator, the FBI compiled a complete dossier.

replenish

fill up again Before she could take another backpacking trip, Carla had to replenish her stock of freeze-dried foods.

fraught

filled Since this enterprise is fraught with danger, I will ask for volunteers who are willing to assume the risks.

replete

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

sordid

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

conflagration

fire; or holocaust, inferno In the conflagration that followed the 1906 earthquake, much of San Francisco was destroyed.

purchase

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

sherbet

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

excoriate

flay; abrade These shoes are so ill-fitting that they will excoriate the feet and create blisters.

fugitive

fleeting or transitory; roving The film brought a few fugitive images to her mind, but on the whole it made no lasting impression upon her.

evanescent

fleeting; vanishing For a brief moment, the entire skyline was bathed in an orange-red hue in the evanescent rays of the sunset.

pliant

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

supple

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

lithe

flexible; supple Her figure was lithe and willowy.

pliable

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

sleazy

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

parquet

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

florid

flowery; ruddy His complexion was even more florid than usual because of his anger.

mellifluous

flowing smoothly; smooth;pleasing to the ear French is a mellifluous language. Latin mell- honey + fluere to flow

confluence

flowing together; crowd They built the city at the confluence of two rivers.

glib

fluent He is a glib and articulate speaker.

flit

fly; dart lightly; pass swiftly by Like a bee flitting from flower to flower, Rose flitted from one boyfriend to the next.

balk

foil When the warden learned that several inmates were planning to escape, he took steps to balk their attempt.

retinue

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

subsequent

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

fatuous

foolish; inane He is far too intelligent to utter such fatuous remarks.

contrived

forced; artificial; not spontaneous Feeling ill at ease with his new in-laws; James made a few contrived attempts at conversation and then retreated into silence.

duress

forcible restraint, especially unlawfully The hostages were held under duress until the prisoners' demands were met.

harbinger

forerunner The crocus is an early harbinger of spring.

bode

foreshadow; portend The gloomy skies and the sulfurious odors from the mineral springs seemed to bode evil to those who settled in the area.

presage

foretell The vultures flying overhead presaged the discovery of the corpse in the desert.

portend

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

premonition

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

oblivion

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

granulate

form into grains Sugar that has been granulated dissolves more readily than lump sugar.

polity

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

satire

form of literature in which irony, sarcasm, and ridicule are employed to attack vice and folly Gulliver's Travels, which is regarded by many as a tale for children, is actually a bitter satire attacking human folly.

redoubtable

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

noisome

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

quadruped

four-footed animal Most mammals are quadrupeds.

shard

fragment, generally of pottery The archaeologist assigned several students the task of reassembling earthenware vessels from the shards he had brought back from the expedition.

rubble

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

redolent

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

chassis

framework & working parts of an automobile "Chassis of a car" Examining the car after the accident, the owner discovered that the body had been ruined but that the chassis was unharmed.

impunity

freedom from punishment The bully mistreated everyone in the class with impunity for he felt that no one would dare retaliate.

berserk

frenzied, angered, he went berserk and began to wreck the room.

frenetic

frenzied; frantic His frenetic activities convinced us that he had no organized plan of operation.

furor

frenzy; great excitement The story of her embezzlement of the funds created a furor on the stock exchange.

scruple

fret about; hesitate, for ethical reasons Fearing that her husband had become involved in an affair, she did not scruple to read his diary.

repine

fret; complain There is no sense repining over the work you have left undone.

querulous

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

facade

front of the building The facade of the building had often been photographed by tourists because it was more interesting than the rear.

obsequy

funeral ceremony Hundreads paid their last respects at his obsequies.

mortician

funeral director; undertaker The mortician prepared the corpse for burial.

purveyor

furnisher of foodstuffs; caterer As purveyor of rare wines and viands, he traveled through France and Italy every year in search of new products to sell.

nugatory

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

stickler

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

interregnum

period between two reigns Henry VIII desperately sought a male heir because he feared the civil strife that might occur if any prolonged interregum succeeded his death.

epoch

period of time The glacial epoch lasted for thousands of years.

tangential

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

indissoluble

permanent The indissoluble bonds of marriage are all too often being dissolved.

transparent

permitting to light to pass through freely; easily detected Your scheme is so transparent that it will fool no one.

founder

person who establishes (an organization, business) Among those drowned when the Titanic sank was the founder of the Abraham & Straus chain.

stoic

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

heretic

person who maintains opinions contrary to the doctrines of the church She was punished by the Spanish Inquisition because she was a heretic.

poseur

person who pretends to be sophisticated, elegant, etc., to impress others Some thought Dali was a brillant painter; others dismissed him as a poseur.

tanner

person who turns animal hides into leather Using a solution of tanbark, the tanner treated the cowhide, transforming it into supple leather.

heckler

person who verbally harasses others The heckler kept interrupting the speaker with rude remarks.

pyromaniac

person with an insane desire to set things on fire The detectives searched the area for the pyromaniac who had set these costly fires.

suborn

persuade to act unlawfully (especially to commit perjury) In the Godfather, the mobsters used bribery and threats to suborn the witnesses against Don Michael Corleone.

induce

persuade; bring about After the quarrel, Tina said nothing could induce her to talk to Tony again.

pharisaical

pertaining to Pharisees, who paid scrupulous attention to tradition; self-righteous; hypocritical Walter Lippmann has pointed out that moralists who do not attempt to explain the moral code they advocate are often regarded as pharisaical and ignored.

pontifical

pertaining to a bishop or pope; pompous or pretentious From the very beginning of his ministry it was clear from his pontifical pronouncements that John was destined for a high pontifical office.

provincial

pertaining to a province; limited in outlook; unsophisticated As provincial governor, Sir Henry administered the Queen's law in his remote corner of Canada.

filial

pertaining to a son or daughter Many children forget their filial obligations and disregard the wishes of their parents.

traumatic

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

rustic

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

thespian

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

seismic

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

existential

pertaining to existence; pertaining to the philosophy of existentialism To the existential philosopher, human reason is inadequate to explain an irrational, meaningless universe.

piscatorial

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

thermal

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

infernal

pertaining to hell; devilish They could think of no way to hinder his infernal scheme.

inductive

pertaining to induction or preceeding from the specific to the general The discovery of the planet Pluto is an excellent example of the results that can be obtained from inductive reasoning.

mnemonic

pertaining to memory; assisting memory 1. He used mnemonic tricks to master new words. 2. Knuckle mnemonic for the number of days in each month of the Gregorian Calendar. Each projecting knuckle represents a 31-day month. 3.One such mnemonic is "Bill Brown Realized Only Yesterday Good Boys Value Good Work", representing the colours black (0), brown (1), red(2), orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, gray (-m) and white

impenitent

not repentant We could see by his brazen attitude that he was impenitent.

pecuniary

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

sartorial

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

incommodious

not spacious; inconvenient In their incommodious quarters, they had to improvise for closet space.

beholden

obligated; indebted Since I do not wish to be beholden to anyone, I cannot accept this favor.

scurrilous

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

recalcitrant

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

engross

occupy fully John was so engrossed in his studies that he did not hear his mother call.

incumbent

officeholder The newly elected public official received valuable advice from the present incumbent.

functionary

official As his case was transferred from one functionary to another, he began to despair of ever reaching a settlement.

somatic

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

hireling

one who serves for hire (usually used contemptuously) In a matter of such importance, I do not wish to deal with hirelings; I must meet with the chief.

herpetologist

one who studies reptiles As a boy, Indiana Jones had a traumatic experience involving snakes; sensibly enough, he studies to be archaeologist, not a herpetologist.

ecclesiastic

pertaining to the church The minister donned his ecclesiastic garb and walked to the pulpit.

tactile

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

seep

ooze; trickle During the rainstorm, water seeped through the crack in the basement wall and damaged the floor boards.

overt

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

gape

open widely The huge pit gaped before him; if he stumbled, he would fall in.

gambit

opening in chess in which a piece is sacrificed The player was afraid to accept his opponent's gambit because he feared a trap which as yet he could not see.

rift

opening; break The plane was lost in the stormy sky until the pilot saw the city through a rift in the clouds.

agape

openmouthed She stared, agape, at the many strange animals in the zoo.

diva

operatic singer; prima donna Although world famous as a diva, she did not indulge in fits of temerament.

controvert

oppose with arguments; contradict To controvert your theory will require much time but it is essential that we disprove it.

tyranny

oppression; cruel government Frederick Douglass fought against the tyranny of slavery throughout his entire life.

implacable

incapable of being pacified Madame Defarge was the implacable enemy of the Evremonde family.

nascent

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

proclivity

inclination; natural tendency The cross old lady has a proclivity to grumble.

sadistic

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

factious

inclined to form factions; causing dissension. Your statement is factious and will upset the harmony that now exists.

subsume

include; encompass Does the general theory of relativity contradict Newtonian physics, or is Newton's law of gravity subsumed into Einstein's larger scheme?

irreconsilable

incompatible; not able to be resolved Because the separated couple were irreconcilable, the marriage counselor recommended a divorce.

provenance

origin or source of something I am not interested in its provenance; I am more concerned with its usefulness than with its source.

prototype

original work used as a model by others The crude typewriter on display in this museum is the prototype of the elaborate machines in use today.

pendant

ornament (hanging from a necklace, etc.) The grateful team presented the coach with a silver chain and pendant engraved with the school's motto.

chase

ornament a metal surface by indenting With his hammer, he carefully chased an intricate design onto the surface of the chalice.

epaulet

ornament worn on the shoulder (of a uniform, etc.) The shoulder loops on Sam Spade's trench coat are the nonmilitary counterparts of the fringed epaulets on George Washington's uniform.

frieze

ornamental band on a wall The frieze of the church was adorned with sculpture.

brooch

ornamental clasp She treasured the brooch because it was an heirloom.

rococo

ornate; highly decorated The rococo style in furniture and architecture, marked by scrollwork and excessive decoration, flourished during the middle of the eighteenth century.

irremediable

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

nonchalance

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

insouciant

indifferent; without concern or care Your insouciant attitude at such a critical moment indicates that you do not understand the gravity of the situation.

circumlocution

indirect or roundabout expression He was afraid to call spade a spade and resorted to circumlocutions to avoid direct reference to his subject.

mealymouthed

indirect speech; hypocritical; evasive <a mealymouthed compliment from a jealous competitor>

pretentious

ostentatious; ambitious I do not feel that your limited resources will permit you to carry out such a pretentious program.

proscribe

ostracize; banish; outlaw Antony, Octavius and Lepidus proscribed all those who had conspired against Julius Caesar.

incontrovertible

indisputable We must yield to the incontrovertible evidence that you have presented and free your client.

proselytize

induce someone to convert to religion or belief In these interfaith meetings, there must be no attempt to proselytize; we must respect all points of view.

inerrancy

infallibility Jane refused to believe in the pope's inerrancy, reasoning: "All human beings are capable of error. The pope is a human being. Therefore, he pope is capable of error.

opprobrium

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

illimitable

infinite Human beings, having explored the far corners of the earth, are now reaching out into illimitable space.

colloquy

informal discussion loqui (speak, intelligent)-conference I enjoy our colloquies but I sometimes wish that they could be made more formal and more searching.

denizen

inhabitant of Ghosts are denizens of the land of the dead who return to earth.

discordant

inharmonious; conflicting She tried to unite the discordant factions.

mayhem

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

tesselated

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

demented

insane She became increasingly demented and had to be hospitalized.

epitaph

inscription in memory of a dead person In his will, he dictated the epitaph he wanted placed on his tombstone.

interpolate

insert between She talked so much that I could not interpolate a single remark.

foist

insert improperly; palm off I will not permit you to foist such ridiculous ideas upon the membership of this group.

perceptive

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

puny

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

inconsequential

insignificant; unimportant Brushing off Ali's apologies for having broken the wine glass, Tamara said, "Don't worry about it; it's inconsequential."

knotty

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

prelude

introduction; forerunner I am afraid that this border raid is the prelude to more serious attacks.

prefactory

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

interloper

intruder The merchant thought of his competitors as interlopers who were stealing away his trade.

figment

invention; imaginary thing That incident never took place; it is a figment of your imagination.

tonic

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

ineluctable

irresistable; not to be escaped He felt that his fate was ineluctible and refused to make any attempt to improve his lot.

impiety

irreverence; wickedness We must regard your blasphemy as an act of impiety.

impious

irreverent The congregation was offended by her impious remarks.

testy

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

demotic

pertaining to the people He lamented the passing of aristocratic society and maintained that a demotic society would lower the nation's standards.

sensuous

pertaining to the physical senses; operating through the senses He was stimulated by the sights, sounds and smells about him; he was enjoying his sensuous experience.

stellar

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

sylvan

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

relevant

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

supplicate

petition humbly; pray to grant a favor We supplicate Your Majesty to grant him amnesty.

denouement

outcome; final development of the plot of a play or other literary work The play was childishly written; the denouement was obvious to sophisticated theatergoers as early as the middle of the first act.

outwit

outsmart; trick By disguising himself as an old woman, Holmes was able to outwit his pursuers and escape capture.

semblance

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

trappings

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

carping

petty criticism; fault-finding Welcoming constructive criticism, Lexy appreciated her editor's comments, finding them free of carping.

epistemologist

philosopher who studies the nature of knowledge "What is more important, a knowledge of nature of the nature of knowledge?" the epistemologist asked the naturalist.

circumvent

outwit; baffle "Circumvent the enemy" Circumvent the enemy with our alternative plan. In order to circumvent the enemy, we will make two preliminary attacks in other sections before starting our major campaign.

rankle

irritate; fester The memory of having been jilted rankled him for years.

pique

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

beneficent

kindly; doing good The overgenerous philanthropist had to curb his beneficent impulses before he gave away all his money and left himself with nothing.

realm

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

consanguinity

kinship "con- associated- sanguin -blood" The lawsuit developed into a test of the consanguinity of the claimant to the estate.

trinket

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

timidity

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

levity

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

mal-adroit

lacking adroit-ness; clumsy; bungling In his usual maladroit way, he managed to upset the cart and spill the food.

imprudent

lacking caution; injudicious It is imprudent to exercise vigorously and become overheated when you are unwell.

insipid

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

dispirited

lacking in spirit The coach used all the tricks at his command to buoy up the enthusiasm of his team, which I had become dispirited at the loss of the star player.

gloss

over explain away No matter how hard he tried to talk around the issue, President Bush could not gloss over the fact that he had raised the taxes after all.

surmount

overcome He had to surmount many obstacles in order to succeed.

topography

physical features of a region Before the generals gave the order to attack, they ordered a complete study of the topography of the region.

oculist

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

spartan

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

incontinent

lacking self-restraint His incontinent behavior off stage shocked many people and they refused to attend the plays and movies in which he appeared.

inept

lacking skill; inadequate; inappropriate inept as a carpenter, Ira was all thumbs.

insubstantial

lacking substance; insignificant; frail His hopes for a career in acting proved insubstantial; no one would cast him, even in an insubstantial role.

jargon

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

parlance

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

pine

languish, decline; long for, yearn Though she tried to be happy living with Clara in the city, Heidi pined for the mountains and for her gruff but loving grandfather.

bevy

large group The movie actor was surrounded by a bevy of startlets.

mosaic

picture made of smell, colorful inlaid tiles The mayor compared the ciry to a beautiful mosaic made up of people of every race and religion on earth.

hieroglyphic

picture writing The discovery of the Rosetta Stone enabled scholars to read the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

impale

pierce He was impaled by the spear hurled by his adversary.

galleon

large sailing ship The Spaniards pinned their hopes on the galleon, the large warship; the British, on the smaller and faster pinnace.

tome

large volume He spent much time in the libraries poring over ancient tomes.

salacious

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

scourge

lash; whip; severe punishment They feared the plague and regarded it as a deadly scourge.

languor

lassitude; depression His friends tried to overcome the languor into which he had fallen by taking him to parties and to the theater.

terminus

last stop of railroad After we reached the railroad terminus, we continued our journey into the wilderness on saddle horses.

enduring

lasting; surviving 1. Enduring friendship was supposed to be based upon. 2. Keats believed in the enduring power of great art, which outlast its creator's brief lives.

ludicrous

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

profusion

lavish expenditure; overabundant condition Seldom have I seen food and drink served in such profusion as at the wedding feast.

sumptuous

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

statute

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

shyster

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

spawn

lay eggs Fish ladders had to be built in the dams to assist the salmon returning to spawn in their native streams.

stratum

layer of earth's surface; layer of society Unless we alleviate conditions in the lowest stratum of our society, we may expect grumbling and revolt.

punctilious

laying stress on niceties of conduct or form; precise We must be punctilious in our planning of this affair, for any error may be regarded as a personal affront.

cant

pious phraseology; jargon of criminals Angry that the president had slashed the education budget, we dismissed his speech on the importance of education as mere cant.

cartographer

map-maker Though not a professional cartographer, Tolkien was able to construct a map of the fictional world.

disfigure

mar the appearance of; spoil "villain disfigure pleasant face"

checkered

marked by changes in fortune "checkered career" During his checkered career he had lived in palatial mansions and in dreary boardinghouses.

holster

pistol case Even when he was not in uniform, he carried a holster and pistol under his arm.

aphorism

pithy maxim An aphorism differs from an adage in that it is more philosophical or scientific.

ruthless

pitiless The escaped convict was a dangerous and ruthless murderer.

sheathe

place into a case As soon as he recognized the approaching men, he sheathed his dagger and hailed them as friends.

purgatory

place of spiritual expiation Naraka/ Hell serves only as a temporary purgatory where the soul is purified of sin by its suffering

superimpose

place over something else Your attempt to superimpose another agency in this field will merely increase the bureaucratic nature of our government.

ford

place where a river can be crossed on foot Rather than risk using the shaky rope bridge, David walked a half-mile downstream until he came to the neartest ford.

perspicuous

plainly expressed Her perspicuous comments eliminated all posibility of misinterpretation.

premeditate

plan in advance She had premeditated the murder for months, reading about common poisons and buying weed killer that contained arsenic.

rostrum

platform for speech-making; pulpit The crowd murmured angrily and indicated that they did not care to listen to the speaker who was approaching the rostrum.

staccato

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

sportive

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

entreat

plead; ask earnestly She entreated her father to let her stay out till midnight.

piquant

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

enrapture

please intensely The audience was enraptured by the freshness of the voices and the excellent orchestration.

luscious

pleasing to taste or smell The ripe peach was luscious.

troth

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

scenario

plot outline; screenplay; opera libretto Scaramouche startled the other actors in the commedia troupe when he suddenly departed from their customary scenario and began to improvise.

fallow

plowed but sowed; uncultivated Farmers have learned that it is advisable to permit land to le fallow every few years.

ravage

plunder; despoil The marauding army ravaged the countryside.

despoil

plunder; to strip of belongings, possessions, or value : pillage If you do not yield, I am afraid the enemy will despoil the countryside.

depredation

plundering; plunder, pillage, or rapine-ing After the DEPREDATIONS OF THE INVADERS, the people were penniless.

douse

plunge into water; drench; extinguish They doused each other with hoses and balloons.

elegy

poem or song expressing lamentation On the death of Edward King, Milton composed the elegy "Lycidas."

bard

poet The ancient bard Homer sang of the fall of Troy.

solstice

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

perigee

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

martrix

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

doggerel

poorverse Although we find occasional snatches of genuine poetry in her work, most of her writing is mere doggerel.

demoniac

possessed or influenced by a demon; fiendish The Spanish Inquisition (inquiry) devised many demoniac means of torture.

striated

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

sustenance

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

mete

measure; distribute; L He tried to be impartial in his efforts to mete out justice.

jocund

merry Santa Claus is always vivacious and jocund.

lode

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

regime

method or system of government When a Frenchman mentions the Old Regime, he refers to the government existing before the revolution.

euphemism

mild expression in place of an unpleasant one The expression "he passed away" is a euphemism for "he died."

skirmish

minor fight Custer's troops expected they might run into a skirmish or two on maneuvers; they did not expect to face a major battle.

squabble

minor quarrel; bickering Children invariably get involved in petty squabbles; wise parents know when to interfere and when to let the children work things out on their own.

misadventure

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

skinflint

miser The old skinflint refused to give her a raise.

qualms

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

fallacious

misleading Your reasoning must be fallacious because it leads to a ridiculous answer.

projectile

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

misapprehension

misunderstanding; error To avoid msapprehension, I am going to ask all of you to repeat the instructions I have given.

knead

mix; work dough Her hands grew strong from kneading bread.

promiscuous

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

garbled

mixed up; jumbled; distorted A favorite party game involves passing a whispered message from one person to another; by the time it reaches the last player, the message has become totally garbled.

miscellany

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

gibe

mock As you gibe at their superstitious beliefs, do you realize that you, too, are guilty of similarly foolish thoughts?

scoff

mock; ridicule He scoffed at dentists until he had his first toothache.

satirical

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

simian

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

mausoleum

monumental tomb His body was placed in the family mausolem.

low

moo From the hilltop, they could see the herd like ants in the distance; they could barely hear the cattle low.

probity

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

impetus

moving force; incentive; stimulus A new federal highway program would create jobs and five added impetus to our economic recovery.

bate

let down; restrain Until it was time to open the presents, the children had to bate their curiosity.

torpor

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

missive

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

fallible

liable to err I know I am fallible, but I feel confident that I am right this time.

prevaricate

lie Some people believe that to prevaricate in a good cause is justifiable and regard the statement as a "white lie."

equivocate

lie; mislead; attempt to conceal the truth The audience saw through his attempts to equivocate on the subject under discussion and ridiculed his remarks.

inanimate

lifeless she was asked to identify the still and inanimate body.

flick

light stroke as with a whip The horse needed no encouragement; only one flick of the whip was all the jockey had to apply to get the animal to run at top speed.

giddy

light-hearted; dizzy He felt his giddy youth was past.

ethereal

light; heavenly; fine Visitors were impressed by her ethereal beauty, her delicate charm.

jaunty

lighthearted; animated; easy and carefree In Singing in the Rain, Gene Kelly sang and danced his way throughtthe lighthearted title number in a properly jaunty style.

rabid

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

leonine

like a lion He was leonine in his rage.

diorama

like-size, three-dimensional scene from nature or history Because they dramatically pose actual stuffed animals against realistic painted landscapes, the dioramas at the Museum of Natural History particularly impress high school biology students.

qualified

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

queue

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

concatenate

link as in a chain "concatenate the events" It is difficult to understand how these events could concatenate as they did without outside assistance.

roster

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

repertoire

list of works of music, drama, etc., a performer is prepared to present The opera company decided to include Madame Butterfly in its repertoire for the following season.

stygian

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

knoll

little, round hill Robert Louis Stevenson's grave is on a knoll in Samoa; to reach the grave site, you must climb uphill and walk a short distance along a marked path.

skittish

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

rousing

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

coeval

living at the same time as; contemporary coeval with the dinosaur, the pterodactyl flourished during the Mesozoic era.

abominate

loathe; hate Moses scolded the idol worshippers in the tribe because he abominated the custom.

repugnance

loathing She looked at the snake with repugnance.

patois

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

syllogism

logical formula consisting of a major premise, a minor premise and a conclusion; deceptive or specious argument There must be a fallacy in this syllogism; I cannot accept its conclusion.

dawdle

loiter; waste time In as much as we must meet a deadline, do not dawdle over this work.

lank

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

epic

long heroic poem, novel, or similar work of art Kurosawa's film Seven Samurai is an epic portraying the struggle of seven warriors to destroy a band of robbers.

eon

long period of time; an age aeon (variant) It has taken eons for our civilization to develop.

odyssey

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

nostalgia

longing for the past; desire to return to an earlier time in life (noun); An example of nostalgia is the craving to be back in college again. homesickness; The first settlers found so much work to do that they had little time for nostalgia.

retrospective

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

episodic

loosely connected Though he tried to follow the plot of Gravity's Rainbow, John found the novel too episodic.

languish

lose animation; lose strength In stories, lovelorn damsels used to languish and pine away.

strident

loud and harsh She scolded him in a strident voice

clangor

loud, resounding noise "clangor of hammers" The blacksmith was accustomed to the clangor of hammers on steel.

loll

lounge about They lolled around in their chairs watching television.

sybarite

lover of luxury Rich people are not always sybarites; some of them have little taste for a life of luxury.

nether

lower Nether edge sunset Tradition locates hell in the nether regions.

steadfast

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

fidelity

loyalty A dog's fidelity to its owner is one of the reasons why that animal is a favorite household pet.

preen

make oneself tidy in appearance; feel self-satisfaction As Kitty preened before the mirror, carefully smoothing her shining hair, she couldn't help preening herself on her good looks.

indemnify

make secure against loss; compensate for loss The city will indemnify all home owners whose property is spoiled by this project.

addle

muddle; drive crazy This idiotic plan is confusing enough to addle anyone.

turbid

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

regicide

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

mutter

murmur or grumble The child muttered at the doll.

maim

mutilate; injure The hospital could not take care of all who had been mangled or [maimed in the railroad accident].

reciprocal

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

internecine

mutually destructive The rising death toll on both sides indicates the internecine natire of his conflict.

occult

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

runic

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

centaur

mythical figure, half man and half horse I was particularly impressed by the statue of the centaur in the Roman Hall of the museum.

ingenuous

naive; young and unsophisticated Although she was over forty, the movie star still insisted that she be cast as an ingenuous sweet young thing.

recount

narrate or tell; count over again About to recount the latest adventure of Sherlock Holmes, Watson lost track of exactly how many cases Holmes had solved and refused to begin his tale until he'd recounted them one by one.

gorge

narrow canyon; steep, rocky cleft Terrified of heights, George could not bring himself to peer down into the gorge to see the rapids below.

isthmus

narrow neck of land connecting two larger bodies of land In a magnificent feat of engineering, Goethals and his men cut through the isthmus of Panama in constructing the Panama Canal.

ravine

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

philistine

narrow-minded person, uncultured and exculsively interested in material gain We need more men of culture and enlightenment; we have too many philistines among us.

sectarian

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

insularity

narrow-mindedness; isolation The insularity of the islanders manifested itself in their suspicion of anyuthing foreign.

sextant

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

impending

nearing; approaching The entire country was saddened by the news of his impending death.

propinquity

nearness; kinship Their relationship could not be explained as being based on mere propinquity: they were more than relatives; they were true friends.

spruce

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

deft

neat; skillful The deft waiter uncorked the champagne without spilling a drop.

natty

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

requisite

necessary requirement Many colleges state that a student must offer three years of a language as a requisite for admission.

tautological

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

pejorative

negative in connotation; having a belittling effect. Instead of criticizing Clinton's policies, the Republicans made [pejorative remarks] about his character. Some call them by more pejorative terms, such as "illegals" or "illegal aliens."

derelict

neglectful of duty; abandoned The corporal who fell asleep while on watch was thrown into the guardhouse for being DERELICT IN his DUTY..

remiss

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

titter

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

seine

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

subtlety

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

outmoded

no longer stylish; old-fahioned Unconcerned about keeping in style, Lenore was perfectly happy to wear outmoded clothes as long as they were clean and unfrayed.

patrician

noble; aristocratic; original aristocratic families of Ancient Rome We greatly admired her well-bred, patrician elegance

simplistic

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

streotyped

oversimplified; lacking individuality; seen as a type My chief objection to the book is that the characters are stereotyped; they come across as ethnic caricatures, not as real people with individual quirks, fears, and dreams.

glut

overstock; fill to excess The many manufacturers glutted the market and could not find purchasers for the many articles they had produced.

rave

overwhelmingly favorable review Though critic John Simon seldom has a good word to say about contemporary plays, his review of All in the Timing was a total rave.

placate

pacify; conciliate The teacher tried to placate the angry mother.

travail

painful labor How long do you think a man can endure such travail and degradation without rebelling?

stipple

paint or draw with dots Seurat carefully stippled dabs of pure color on the canvas, juxtaposing dots of blue and yellow that the viewer's eye would interpret as green.

fresco

painting in plaste (usually fresh) The cathedral is visited by many tourists who wish to admire the frescoes by Glotto.

mauve

pale purple [mauve tint in the lilac bush] was another indication that spring had finally arrived.

tract

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

sere

parched; dry After the unseasonably dry winter the Berkeley hills looked dusty and sere.

rudimentary

not developed; elementary His dancing was limited to a few rudimentary steps.

insatiable

not easily satisfied; greedy Welty's thirst for knowledge was insatiable; she was in the library day and night.

ineffectual

not effective; weak Because the candidate failed to get across his message to the public, his campaign was ineffectual.

disingenuous

not naive; sophisticated Although he was young, his remarks indicated that he was disingenous.

heedless

not noticing; disregarding He drove on, heedless of the warnings that the road was dangerous.

extemporaneous

not planned; impromtu Because his extemporaneous remarks were misinterpreted, he decided to write all his speeches in advance.

theoretical

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

palimpsest

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

proscenium

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

penumbra

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

complicity

participation; involvement You cannot keep your complicity in this affair secret very long; you would be wise to admit your involvement immediately.

genre

particular variety of art or literature Both a short story writer and a poet, Langston Hughes proved himself equally skilled in either genre.

translucent

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

trajectory

path taken by a projectile The police tried to locate the spot from which the assassin had fired the fatal shot by tracing the trajectory of the bullet.

forberance

patience We must use forbearance in dealing with him because he is still weak from his illness.

resignation

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

millinery

person who makes or sells women's hats Philip Treacy OBE, an award-winning Irish milliner who designs hats for the most important designers in the world and for such women as Sarah Jessica Parker, Princess Beatrice of York, Lady Gaga and Isabella Blow. The millinery displayed fashionable hats in the street where many women passed by.

thrive

prosper; flourish Despite the impact of recession on the restaurant trade, Philip's cafe thrived.

tutelary

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

remonstrance

protest; objection The authorities were deaf to the pastor's remonstrances about the lack of police protection in the area.

expostulation

protest; remonstrance Despite the teacher's scoldings and expostulations, the class remained unruly.

maxim

proverb; a truth pithily stated Aesop's fables(comic book series) illustrate moral maxims.

skimp

provide scantily; live very economically They were forced to skimp on necessities in order to make their limited supplies last the winter.

synoptic

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

tentative

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

paranoia

psychosis marked by delusions of grandeur or persecution Suffering from paranois, he claimed everyone was out to get him; ironically, his claim was accurate; even paranoids have enemies.

obtrusive

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

quell

put down; quiet The police used fire hoses and teat gas to quell the rioters.

marshal

put in order At a debate tournament, extemporaneous speakers have only a minute or two to [marshal their thoughts] before addressing their audience.

discomfit

put to rout; defeat; disconcert This ruse will [discomfit the enemy].

entrance

put under a spell; carry away with emotion Shafts of sunlight on a wall could entrance her and leave her spellbound.

septic

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

rebus

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

timbre

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

poignancy

quality of being deeply moving; keenness of emotion Watching the tearful reunion of the long-separated mother and child, the social worker was touched by the poignancy of the scene.

naivete

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

droll

queer and amusing He was a popular guest because his droll anecdotes were always entertaining.

slake

quench; sate When we reached the oasis, we were able to slake our thirst.

nostrum

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

inquisitor

questioner (specially harsh); investigator Fearing being grilled ruthlessly by the secret police, Marsha faced her inquisitors with trepidation.

receptive

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

retort

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

foray

raid The company staged a midnight foray against the enemy outpost.

exalt

raise in rank or dignity; praise The actor Alec Guinness was exalted to the rank of knighthood by the Queen; he now is known as Sir Alec Guinness.

ken

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

fester

rankle, produce irritation or resentment Joe's insult festered in Anne's mind for days, and made her too angry to speak to him.

rummage

ransack; thoroughly search When we rummaged through the trunks in the attic, we found many souvenirs of our childhood days.

knavery

rascality We cannot condone such knavery in public officials.

foolhardy

rash Don't be foolhardy. Get the advice of experienced people before undertaking this venture.

rant

rave; speak bombastically As we heard him rant on the platform, we could not understand his strange popularity with many people.

maniac-al

raving mad His maniacal laughter frightened us.

perusal

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

lectern

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

foster

rear; encourage According to the legend, Romulus and Remus were fostered by a she-wolf that raised the abandoned infants as her own.

rampant

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

rationalize

reason; justify an improper act Do not try to rationalize your behavior by blaming your companions.

ratiocination

reasoning; act of drawing conclusions from premises While Watson was a man of average intelligence, Holmes was a genius, whose gift for ratiocination made him a superb detective.

maverick

rebel; nonconformist; independent in behavior or thought; an unbranded range animal; especially : a motherless calf(n); an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party(n); from Samuel Maverick, Texas lawyer Steve Jobs Was Digital Maverick but Marketing Traditionalist. To the masculine literary establishment, George Sand with her insistence on wearing trousers and smoking cigars was clearly a maverick who fought her proper womanly role.

insurrection

rebellion; uprising Given the current state of affairs in South Africa, an insurrection seems unavoidable.

insurgent

rebellious We will not discuss reforms until the insurgent troops have returned to their homes.

repercussion

rebound; reverberation; reaction I am afraid that this event will have serious repercussions.

comeuppance

rebuke; deserts no comeuppance for their crimes? After his earlier rudeness, we were delighted to see him get his comeuppance.

ebb

recede; lessen His fortunes began to ebb during the recession.

recipient

receiver Although he had been the recipient of many favors, he was not grateful to his benefactor.

advert

refer to Since you advert to this matter so frequently, you must regard it as important.

sublimate

refine; purify We must strive to sublimate these desires and emotions into worthwhile activities.

rebuttal

refutation; response with contrary evidence The defense lawyer confidently listened to the prosecutor sum up his case, sure that she could answer his arguments in her rebuttal.

limbo

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

clime

region; climate His doctors advised him to move to a milder clime.

deplore

regret; bemoan, lament, grieve (for), mourn, wail (for) Although I deplore the vulgarity of your language, I defend your right to express yourself freely.

rueful

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

redress

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

compunction

remorse "compunction for crime" The judge was especially severe in this sentencing because he felt that the criminal had shown no compunction for his heinous crime.

dislodge

remove (forcible) Thrusting her fist up under the choking man's lower ribs, Margaret used the Heimlich maneuver to [dislodge the food caught in this throat].

rote

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

alliteration

repetition of beginning sound in poetry "The furrow followed free" is an example of alliteration.

supplant

replace; usurp Corazon Aquino supplanted Ferdinand Marcos as president of the Philippines.

replicate

reproduce; duplicate To the chagrin of the scientists, they were unable to replicate the results of their controversial experiment.

reprimand

reprove severely I am afraid that my parents will reprimand me when I show them my report card.

recant

repudiate; withdraw previous statement Unless you recant your confession, you will be punished severely.

odium

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

solicit

request earnestly; seek Knowing she needed to have a solid majority for the budget to pass, the mayor telephoned all the members of the city council to solicit their votes.

sedentary

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

salvage

rescue from loss All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.

atavism

resemblance to remote ancestors rather than to parents; reversion to an earlier type; throwback Martin seemed an atavism to his Tuscan ancestors who lavished great care on their small plots of soil.

reticent

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

slag

residue from smelting metal; dross; waste matter The blast furnace had a special opening at the bottom to allow the workers to remove the worthless slag.

sedition

resistance to authority; insubordination His words, though not treasonous in themselves, were calculated to arouse thoughts of sedition.

sonorous

resonant His sonorous voice resounded through the hall.

recourse

resorting to help when in trouble The boy's only recourse was to appeal to his father for aid.

reputable

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

reverent

respectful His reverent attitude was appropriate in a house of worship.

restive

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

renovate

restore to good condition; renew They claim that they can renovate worn shoes so that they look like new ones.

rehabilitate

restore to proper condition We must rehabilitate those whom we send to prison.

pinion

restrain They pinioned his arms against his body but left his legs free so that he could move about.

repress

restrain; crush; oppress Anne's parents tried to curb her impetuosity without repressing her boundless high spirits.

manacle

restrain; handcuff The police immediately manacled the prisoner so he could not escape.

temperate

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

procrastinate

postpone; delay It is wise not to procrastinate; otherwise, we find ourselves bogged down in a mass of work that should have been finished long ago.

effusion

pouring forth The critics objected to her literary effusion because it was too flowery.

effusive

pouring forth; gushing Her effusive manner of greeting her friends finally began to irritate them.

indigence

poverty Neither the economists nor the political scientists have found a way to wipe out the inequities of wealth and eliminate indigence from our society.

impuissance

powerlessness; feebleness The lame duck President was frustrated by his shift from enormous power to relative impuissance.

precept

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

extol

praise; glorify The astronauts were extolled as the pioneers of the Space Age.

encomiastic

praising; eulogistic Some critics believe that his [encomiastic statements] about Napoleon were inspired by his desire for material advancement rather than by an honest belief in the Emperor's genius.

escapade

prank; flighty conduct The headmaster could not regard this latest escapade as a boyish joke and expelled the young man.

frolicsome

prankish; gay The frolicsome puppy tried to lick the face of its master.

nicety

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

foreboding

premonition of evil Caeser ridiculed his wife's foreboding about the Ides of March.

presentiment

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

concoct

prepare by combining; make up in concert How did the inventive chef ever concoct such strange dish?

regimen

prescribed diet and habits I doubt whether the results warrant our living under such a strict regimen.

stymie

present an obstacle; stump The detective was stymied by the contradictory evidence in the robbery investigation.

overweening

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

sham

pretend He shammed sickness to get out of going to school.

feign

pretend Lady Macbeth feigned illness in the courtyard although she was actually healthy.

dissimulate

pretend; conceal by feigning She tried to dissimulate her grief by her exuberant attitude.

hypocritical

pretending to be virtuous; deceiving I resent his hypocritical posing as a friend for I know he is interested only in his own advancement.

bluff

pretense (of strength); deception; high cliff Claire thought Lord Byron's boast that he would swim the Hellespont was just a bluff, she was astounded when he dove from the high bluff into the waters below.

connivance

pretense of ignorance of something wrong; assistance; permission to offend With the connivance of his friends, he plotted to embarrass the teacher.

subterfuge

pretense; evasion As soon as we realized that you had won our support by a subterfuge we withdrew our endorsement of your candidacy.

haughtiness

pride; arrogance I resent his haughtiness because he is no better than we are.

hummock

small hill The ascent of the hummock is not difficult and the view from the hilltop is ample reward tor the effort.

spangle

small metallic piece sewn to clothing for ornamentation The thousands of spangles on her dress sparkled in the glare of the stage lights.

ostentatious

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

scintilla

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

clarion

shrill, trumpetlike sound We woke to the clarion to muffle its striking.

diffidence

shyness You must overcome your diffidence if you intend to become a salesperson.

portent

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

muted

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

inane

silly; senseless Such comments are inane because they do not help us solve our program.

synchronous

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

fusilade

simultaneous firing or outburs (of missiles, questions, etc.) Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture concludes with a thunderous fusilade of cannon fire.

incantation

singing or chanting of magical formula Uttering incantations to make the brew more potent, the witch doctor stirred the liquid in the caldron.

scuttle

sink The sailors decided to scuttle their vessel rather than surrender it to the enemy.

obloquy

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

revile

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

detraction

slandering; aspersion He is offended by your frequent detractions of his ability as a leader.

argot

slang In the argot of the underworld, she "was taken for a ride."

shambles

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

thrall

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

servitude

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

servile

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

soporific

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

somnambulist

sleepwalker The most famous somnambulist in literature is Lady Macbeth; her monologue in the sleepwalking scene is one of the highlights of Shakespeare's play.

smattering

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

slither

slip or slide During the recent ice storm, many people slithered down this hill as they walked to the station.

ramp

slope; inclined plane The house was built with ramps instead of stairs in order to enable the man in the wheelchair to move easily from room to room and floor to floor.

dowdy

slovenly; untidy She tried to change her dowdy image by buying a fashionable new wardrobe.

slacken

slow up; loosen As they passed the finish line, the runners slackened their pace.

sloth

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

sluggish

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

stealth

slyness; sneakiness; secretiveness Fearing detection by the sentries on duty, the scout inched his way toward the enemy camp with great stealth.

satellite

small body revolving around a larger one During the first few years of the Space Age, hundreds of satellites were launched by Russia and the United States.

grotto

small cavern The Blue Grotto in Capri can be entered only by small boats rowed by natives through a natural opening in the rocks.

figurine

small ornamental statuette In the Maltese Falcon, Sam Spade was hired to trace the missing figurine of a black bird.

facet

small plane surface (of a gem); a side The stonecutter decided to improve the rough diamond by providing it with several facets.

circlet

small ring; band This tiny circlet is very costly because it is set with precious stones.

rivulet

small stream As the rains continued, the trickle of water running down the hillside grew into a rivulet that threatened to wash away a portion of the slope.

microcosm

small world In the microcosm of our rural village, we find illustrations of all the evils that beset the universe.

clique

small, exclusive group She charged that a clique had assumed control of school affairs.

skiff

small, light sailboat or rowboat Tom dreamed of owning an ocean-going yacht but had to settle for a skiff he could sail in the bay.

pallet

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

exiguous

small; minute Grass grew there, an exiguous outcropping among the rocks.

daub

smear (as with paint) From the way he daubed his paint on the canvas, I could tell he knew nothing of oils.

simper

smirk; smile affectedly Complimented on her appearance, Stella self-consciously simpered.

rebuff

snub; beat back She rebuffed his invitation so smoothly that he did not realize he had been snubbed.

saturate

soak Their clothes were saturated by the rain.

steep

soak; saturate Be sure to steep the fabric in the dye bath for the full time prescribed.

sodden

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

staid

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

gregarious

sociable Typically, party-throwers are gregarious; hermits are not.

gaffe

social blunder According to Miss Manners, to call your husband by your lover's name is worse than a mere gaffe; it is a tactical mistake.

scapegoat

someone who bears the blame for others After the Challenger disaster, NASA searched for scapegoats on whom they could cast the blame.

glutton

someone who eats too much When Mother saw that Bobby had eaten all the cookies, she called him a little glutton.

pathos

tender to sorrow; pity; quality in art or literature that produces these feelings. The quiet tone of pathos that ran through the novel never degenerated into the maudlin or the overly sentimental.

spendthrift

someone who wastes money Easy access to credit encourages people to turn into spendthrifts who shop till they drop. 193. sphinx-like enigmatic; mysterious The Mona Lisa's sphinx-like expression has puzzled art lovers for centuries.

prate

speak foolishly; boast idly Let us not prate about our qualities; rather, let our virtues speak for themselves.

polyglot

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

taxonomist

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

inarticulate

speechless; producing indistinct speech He became inarticulate with rage and uttered sounds without meaning.

tempo

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

celerity

speed; rapidity "celerity of GRE study" Hamlet resented his mother's celerity in remarrying within a month after his father's death.

niggle

spend too much time on minor points; carp Let's not niggle over details.

regeneration

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

polarize

split into opposite extremes or camps The abortion issue has polarized the country into pro-choice and anti-abortion camps.

rend

split; tear apart In his grief, he tried to rend his garments.

bungle

spoil by clumsy behavior I was afraid you would bungle his assignment but I had no one else to send.

musty

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

scotch

stamp out; thwart; hinder Heather tried to scotch the rumor that she had stolen her best friend's fiance.

philatelist

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

rout

stampede; drive out The reinforcements were able to rout the enemy

gawk

stare foolishly; look in open-mouthed awe The country boy gawked at the skyscrapers and neon lights of the big city.

kindle

start a fire; inspire Her teacher's praise kindled a spark a hope inside her.

quirk

startling twise; caprice By a quirk of fate, he found himself working for the man whom he had discharged years before.

stupor

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

bereavement

state of being deprived of something valuable or beloved His friends gathered to console him upon his sudden bereavement.

inertia

state of being inert or indisposed to move Our inertia in this matter may prove disastrous; we must move to aid our allies immediately.

multiplicity

state of being numerous He was appalled by the multuplicity of details he had to complete before setting out on his mission.

salutary

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

inconsistency

state of being self-contradictory; lack of uniformity or steadiness How are lawyers different from agricultural inspectors? Where lawyers check inconsistencies in witnesses' statements, agricultural inspectors check inconsistencies in Grade A eggs.

decrepitude

state of collapse caused by illness or old age I was unprepared for the state of decrepitude in which I had found my old friend; he seemed to have aged twenty years in six months.

responsiveness

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

turbulence

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

rigid

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

extant

still in existence 1. extant Roman theater - almost perfect 2. Although the authorities suppressed the book, many copies are extant and may be purchased at exorbitant prices.

galvanize

stimulate by shock; stir up The entire nation was galvanized into strong military activity by the news of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

subversive

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

terminology

terms used in a science or art The special terminology developed by some authorities in the field has done more to confuse laypersons than to enlighten them.

enclave

territory enclosed within an alien land The Vatican is an independent enclave in Italy.

sententious

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

proviso

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

stoke

stir up a fire; feed plentifully As a Scout, Marisa learned how to light a fire, how to stoke it if it started to die down, and how to extinguish it completely.

suture

stitches sewn to hold the cut edges of a wound or incision; material used in sewing We will remove the sutures as soon as the wound heals.

squat

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

touchstone

stone used to test the fineness of gold alloys; criterion What touchstone can be used to measure the character of a person?

balk

stoop short, as if faced with an obstacle, and refuse to continue The chief of police balked at sending his officers into the riot-torn area.

check

stop motion; curb or restrain Thrusting out her arm, Grandma checked Bobby's lunge at his sister. "Young man," she said, "you'd better check your temper."

repository

storehouse Libraries are repositories of the world's best thoughts.

granary

storehouse for grain We have reason to be thankful, for our crops were good and our granaries are full.

cantata

story set to music, to be sung by a chorus The choral society sang the new cantata composed by its leader.

raconteur

story-teller My father was a gifted raconteur with an unlimited supply of anecdotes.

portly

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

forthright

straightforward; direct; frank I prefer Jill's forthright approach to Jack's tendency to beat around the bush.

throttle

strangle The criminal tried to throttle the old man with his bare hands.

forte

strong point or special talent I am not eager to play this rather seious role, for my forte is comedy.

stalwart

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

scuffle

struggle confusedly; move off in a confused hurry. The twins briefly scuffled, wrestling to see which of them would get the toy. When their big brother yelled, "Let go of my Gameboy!" they scuffled off down the hall.

contend

struggle; compete; assert earnestly In Revolt of the Black Athlete, sociologist Harry Edwards contends that young black athletes have been exploited by some college recruiters.

bigotry

stubborn intolerance Brought up in a democratic atmosphere, student was shocked by the bigotry and narrowness expressed by several of his classmates.

pertinacious

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

refractory

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

headstrong

stubborn; willful; unyielding Because she refused to marry the man her parents had chosen for her, everyone scolded Minna and called her a foolish, headstrong girl.

perverse

stubbornly wrongheaded; wicked and unacceptable When Hannibal Lecter was in a perverse mood, he ate the flesh of his victims.

pore

study industriously; ponder; scrutinize Determined to become a physician, Beth spends hours poring over her anatomy text.

philology

study of language The professor of philology advocated the use of Esperanto as an international language.

ethnology

study of mankind Sociology is one aspect of the science of ethnology.

etymology

study of word parts A knowledge of etymology can help you on many English tests.

gorge

stuff oneself The gluttonous guest gorged himself with food as though he had not eaten for days.

stodgy

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

dolt

stupid person I thought I was talking to a mature audience; instead, I find myself addressing a pack of dolts.

oaf

stupid, awkward person He called the unfortunate waiter a clumsy oaf.

rakish

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

quash

subdue; crush; squash The authorities acted quickly to quash the student rebellion, sending in tanks to cow the demonstrators.

subaltern

subordinate The captain treated his subalterns as though they were children rather than commissioned officers.

subsidiary

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

humus

substance formed by decaying vegetable matter In order to improve his garden, he spread humus over his lawn and flower beds.

surrogate

substitute For a fatherless child, a male teacher may become a father surrogate.

spate

sudden flood I am worried about the possibility of a spate if the rains do not diminish soon.

revulsion

sudden violent change of feeling; negative reaction Many people in this country who admired dictatorships underwent a revulsion when they realized what Hitler and Mussolini were trying to do.

bilious

suffering from indigestion; irritable His bilious temperament was apparent to all who heard him rant about his difficulties.

connotation

suggested or implied meaning of an expression Foreigners frequently are unaware of the connotations of the words they use.

expedient

suitable; practical; politic A pragmatic politician, he was guided by what was expedient rather than by what was ethical.

dour

sullen; stubborn The man was dour abd taciturn.

recapitulate

summarize Let us recapitulate what has been said thus far before going ahead.

conjure

summon a devil; proactive magic; imagine; invent 1. He conjured up an image of a reformed city and had the voters completely under his spell. 2. imagine, contrive —often used with up <we conjure up our own metaphors for our own needs 3. to bring to mind <words that conjure pleasant images 3.

redundant

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

supererogatory

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

preponderance

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

codicil

supplement to the body of a will This codicil was drawn up five years after the writing of the original will.

litany

supplicatory prayer On this solemn day, the congregation responded to the prayers of the priest during the litany with fervor and intensity.

satiate

surfeit; satisfy fully The guests, having eaten until they were satiated, now listened inattentively to the speakers.

conjecture

surmise; guess; supposition I will end all your conjectures; I admit I am guilty as charged.

outrtip

surpass; outdo Jesse Owens easily outstripped his competitors to win the gold metal at the Olympic Games.

capitulate

surrender The enemy was warned to capitulate or face annihilation.

disgorge

surrender something; efect; vomit Unwilling to disgorge the cash he had stolen from the pension fund, the embezzler tried to run away.

reconnaissance

survey of enemy by soldiers; reconnoitering If you encounter any enemy soldiers during your reconnaissance, capture them for questioning.

relic

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

bravado

swagger; assumed air of defiance The bravado of the young criminal disappeared when he was confronted by the victims of his brutal attack.

miasma

swamp gas; heavy, vaporous atmosphere, often emanating from decaying matter; pervasive corrupting influence The smog hung over Victorian London like a dark cloud; noisome, reeking of decay, it was a visible miasma.

euphony

sweet sound Noted for its euphony even when it is spoken, the Italian language is particularly pleasing to the ear when sung.

dulcet

sweet sounding "dulcet sounds of birds at dawn" The dulcet sounds of the birds at dawn were soon drowned out by the roar of traffic passing our motel.

sultry

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

meteoric

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

natation

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

bilk

swindle; cheat The con man specialized in bilking insurance companies.

eddy

swirling current of water, air, etc. The water in the tide pool was still, except for an occasional eddy.

turgid

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

tumid

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

doff

take off dont doff hat for a lady.

retroactive

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

resumption

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

flair

talent She has an uncanny flair for discovering new artists before the public has become aware of their existence.

expatiate

talk at length At this time, please give us a brief resume of your work; we shall permit you to expatiate later.

drone

talk dully; buzz or murmur like a bee On a gorgeous day, who wants to be stuck in a classroom listening to the teacher drone?

loquacious

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

blowhard

talkative boaster After all Sol's talk about his big show business connections led nowhere, Sally decided he was just another blowhard.

soliloquy

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

obelisk

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

sully

tarnish; soil He felt that it was beneath his dignity to sully his hands in such menial labor.

savory

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

quip

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

brindled

tawny or grayish with streaks or spots He was disappointed in the litter because the puppies were brindled; he had hoped for animals of uniform color.

tribute

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

tithe

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

pedagogue

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

sophist

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

pedagogy

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

fulminate

thunder; explode The people against whom she fulminated were innocent of any wrongdoing.

titillate

tickle I am here not to titillate my audience but to enlighten it.

tether

tie with a rope Before we went to sleep, we tethered the horses to prevent their wandering off during the night.

taut

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

heyday

time of greatest success; prime In their heyday, the San Francisco Forty-Niners won the Super Bowl two years running.

gratuity

tip Many service employees rely more on gratuities than on salaries for their livelihood.

indefatigable

tireless He was indefatigable in his constant efforts to raise funds for the Red Cross.

harping

tiresome dwelling on a subject After he had reminded me several times about what he had done for me I told him to stop his harping on my indebtedness to him.

rubric

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

terminate

to bring to an end When his contract was terminated unexpectedly, he desperately needed a new job.

commandeer

to draft for military purposes; to take for public use The policeman commandeered the first car that approached and ordered the driver to go to the nearest hospital.

Camouflage

to hide by blending in with surroundings 1.Camouflaged carpet shark devours(eat: fr vorare voracious) another shark whole. 2. Army Field Manual covers Camouflage, Concealment, and Decoys(lure or bait)

quietude

tranquillity He was impressed by the air of quietude and peace that pervaded the valley.

cede

transfer; yield title to "cede this property" I intend to cede this property to the city.

rendition

translation; artistic interpretation of a song, etc. The audience cheered enthusiastically as she completed her rendition of the aria.

pellucid

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

trek

travel; journey The tribe made their trek further north that summer in search of game.

insidious

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

coddle

treat gently; pamper Don't coddle the children to much; they need a taste of discipline.

disdain

treat with scorn or contempt You make enemies of all you disdain.

tremor

trembling; slight quiver She had a nervous tremor in her right hand.

tremulous

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

torso

trunk of statue with head and limbs missing; human trunk This torso, found in the ruins of Pompeii, is now on exhibition in the museum in Naples.

kaleidoscope

tube in which patterns made by the reflection in mirrors of colored pieces of glass, etc., produce interesting symmetrical effects People found a new source of entertainment while peering through the kaleidoscope; they found the ever- changing patterns fascinating.

shunt

turn aside; divert; sidetrack If the switchman failed to shunt the Silver Streak onto a side track, the train would plow right into Union Station.

petrify

turn to stone His sudden and unexpected appearance seemed to petrify her.

gnarled

twisted The gnarled oak tree had been a landmark for years and was mentioned in several deeds.

torque

twisting force; force producing rotation With her wrench she applied sufficient torque to the nut the loosen it.

rent

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

gouge

tear out In that fight, all the rules were forgotten; the adversaries bit, kicked, and tried to gouge each other's eyes out.

tantalize

tease; torture with disappointment Tom loved to tantalize his younger brother with candy; he knew the boy was forbidden to have it.

incursion

temporary invasion The nightly incursions and hit-and-run raids of our neighbors across the border tried the patience of the country to the point where we decided to retaliate in force.

remission

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

scaffold

temporary platform for workers; bracing framework; platform for execution Before painting the house, the workers put up a scaffold to allow them to work on the second story.

sojourn

temporary stay After his sojourn in Florida, he began to long for the colder climate of his native New England home.

reprieve

temporary stay During the twenty-four-hour reprieve, the lawyers sought to make the stay of execution permanent.

cohesion

tendency to keep together A firm believer in the maxim "Divide and conquer," the emperor, by lies and trickery, sought to disrupt the cohesion ofthe free nations.

distortion

twisting out of shape It is difficult to believe the newspaper accounts of this event because of the distortions and exaggerations of the reporters.

contortions

twistings; distortions As the effects of the opiate wore away, the contortions of the patient became more violent and demonstrated how much pain she was enduring.

ethos

underlying character of a culture, group, etc. Seeing how tenderly Spaniards treated her small daughter made author Barbara Kingsolver aware of how greatly children were valued in the Spanish ethos.

equestrian

rider on horseback These paths in the park are reserved for equestrians and their steeds.

derision

ridicule They greeted his proposal with derision and refused to consider it seriously.

immutable

unchangeable Scientists are constantly seeking to discover the immutable laws of nature.

static

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

eclectic

selective; composed of elements drawn from disparate sources "eclectic taste in music " His style of interior decoration was eclectic: bits and pieces of furnishings from widely divergent periods,strikingly juxtaposed to create a unique color.

reserve

self-control; formal but distant manner Although some girls were attracted by Mark's reserve, Judy was put off by it, for she felt his aloofness indicated a lack of openness.

indomitable

unconquerable The founders of our country had indomitable willpower.

disengage

uncouple; separate; disconnect A standard movie routine involves the hero's desperate attempt to disengage a railroad car from a moving train.

franchise

right granted by authority The city issued a franchise to the company to operate surface transit lines on the streets for ninety-nine years.

title

right or claim to possession; mark of rank; name (of a book, film, etc.) Though the penniless Duke of Ragwort no longer held title to the family estate, he still retained his title as head of one of England's oldest families.

resurgent

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

bristling

rising like bristles; showing irritation The dog stood there, bristling with anger.

desolate

rob of joy; lay waste to; forsake; The bandits desolated the countryside, burning farms and carrying off the harvest.

fleece

rob; plunder The tricksters fleeced him of his inheritance.

tundra

rolling, treeless plain in Siberia and arctic North America Despite the cold, many geologists are trying to discover valuable mineral deposits in the tundra.

leeway

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

roseate

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

carrion

rotting flesh of a dead body Buzzards are nature's scavengers; they eat the carrion left behind by other predators.

gruff

rough-mannered Although he was blunt and gruff with most people, he was always gentle with children.

rotundity

roundness; sonorousness of speech Washington Irving emphasized the rotundity of the governor by describing his height and circumference.

regal

royal Prince Albert had a regal manner.

efface

rub out The coin had been handled so many times that its data had been effaced.

surly

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

domineer

rule over tyrannically Students prefer teachers who guide, not ones who domineer.

snivel

run at the nose; snuffle; whine Don't you come sniveling to me complaining about your big brother.

seedy

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

torrent

rushing stream; flood Day after day of heavy rain saturated the hillside until the water ran downhill in torrents.

bucolic

rustic; pastoral The meadow was the scene of bucolic gaiety.

disconcolate

sad The death of his wife left him disconsolate.

jocular

said or done in jest Do not take my jocular remarks seriously.

dispel

scatter; drive away; cause to vanish The bright sunlight eventually dispelled the morning mist.

machinations

schemes I can see through your wily machinations.

savant

scholar Our faculty includes many worldfamous savants.

seminary

school for training future ministers; secondary school, especially for young women Sure of his priestly vocation, Terrence planned to pursue his theological training at the local Roman Catholic seminary.

conservatory

school of the fine arts (especially music or drama) A gifted violinist, Marya was selected to study at the conservatory.

truism

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

gastronomy

science of preparing and serving good food One of the by-products of his trip to Europe was his interest in gastronomy; he enjoyed preparing and serving foreign dishes to his friends.

deride

scoff (at); ridicule, gibe, jeer, laugh (at), mock, scout, shoot down, skewer The people derided his grandiose schemes.

chide

scold Grandma began to chide Steven for his lying.

berate

scold strongly He feared she would berate him for his forgetfulness.

rail

scold; rant You may rail at him all you want; you will never change him.

shrew

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

sarcasm

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

glower

scowl The angry boy glowered at his father.

surreptitious

secret News of their surreptitious meeting gradually leaked out.

cipher

secret code "message in cipher" Lacking his code book, the spy was unable to decode the message sent to him in cipher.

privy

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

inviolability

security from being destroyed, corrupted or profaned They respected the inviolability of her faith and did not try to change her manner of living.

silt

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

dregs

sediment; worthless residue David poured the wine carefully to avoid stirring up the dregs.

sophistry

seemingly plausible but fallacious reasoning Instead of advancing valid arguments, he tried to overwhelm his audience with a flood of sophistries.

specious

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

pomposity

self-important behavior; acting like a stuffed shirt Although the commencement speaker had some good things to say, we had to laugh at his pomposity and general air of parading his own dignity.

continence

self-restraint; sexual chastity She vowed to lead a life of continence.

carillon

set of bells capable of being played "carillon in the set of bells" The carillon in the bell tower of the Coca-Cola pavilion at the New York World's Fair provided musical entertainment every hour.

trigger

set off John is touchy today; say one word wrong and you'll trigger an explosion.

ensconce

settle comfortably The parents thought that their children were ensconced safely in the private school and decided to leave for Europe.

subside

settle down; descend; grow quiet The doctor assured us that the fever would eventually subside.

reprobation

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

rigor

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

mangy

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

hovel

shack; small, wretched house He wondered how poor people could stand living in such a hovel.

fetter

shackle The prisoner was fettered to the wall.

nuance

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

doddering

shaky; infirm from old age Although he is not as yet a doddering and senile old man, his ideas and opinions no longer can merit the respect we gave them years ago.

shoddy

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

barefaced

shameless; bold; unconcealed Shocked by Huck Finn's barefaced lies, Miss Watson prayed the good Lord would give him a sense of his unregenerate wickedness.

hone

sharpen To make shaving easier, he honed his razor with great care.

pungency

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

tonsure

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

gossamer

sheer; like cobwebs Nylon can be woven into gossaner or thick fabrics.

diaphanous

sheer; transparent They saw the burglar clearly through the DIAPHANOUS CURTAIN.

carapace

shell covering the back (of a turtle, crab, etc) "turtle's hard carapace" At the children's zoo, Richard perched on top of the giant turtle's hard carapace as it slowly made its way around the enclosure.

cameo

shell or jewel carved in relief Tourists are advised not to purchase cameos from the street peddlers of Rome who sell poor specimens of the carver's art.

glimmer

shine erratically; twinkle In the darkness of the cavern, the glowworms hanging from the cavern roof glimmered like distant stars.

lustrous

shining Her large and lustrous eyes gave a touch of beauty to an otherwise drab face.

luminous

shining; issuing light The sun is a luminous body.

cabal

small group of persons secretly united to promote their own interests The cabal was defeated when its scheme was discovered.

ingrate

ungrateful person That ingrate Bob sneered at the tie I gave him.

heterodox

unorthodox; unconventional To those who upheld the belief that the earth did not move, Galileo's theory that the earth circled the sun was disturbingly heterodox.

disinterested

unprejudiced The only disinterested person in the room was the judge.

mirage

unreal reflection; optical illusion The lost prospector was fooled by a mirage in the desert.

fractious

unruly The fractious horse unseated its rider.

studied

unspontaneous; deliberate; thoughtful Given Jill's previous slights, Jack felt that the omission of his name from the guest list was a studied insult.

disheveled

untidy Your disheveled appearance will hurt your chances in this interview.

slovenly

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

inopportune

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

ineffable

unutterable; cannot be expressed in speech Such ineffable joy must be experienced; it cannot be described.

insalubrious

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

grudging

unwilling; reluctant; stingy We received only grudging support from the mayor despite his earlier promises of aid.

rectitude

uprightness He was renowned for his rectitude and integrity.

distraught

upset; distracted by anxiety The distraught parents frantically searched the ravine for their lost child.

aloft

upward The sailor climbed aloft into the rigging.

suavity

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

exhort

urge The evangelist will exhort all sinners in his audience to reform.

goad

urge on He was goaded by his friends until he yielded to their wishes.

exigency

urgent situation In this exigency, we must look for aid from our allies.

importunate

urging; demanding He tried to hide from his importunate creditors until his allowance arrived.

foppish

vain about dress and appearance He tried to imitate the foppish manner of the young men of the court.

egotism

vanity (vain);an exaggerated opinion of oneself or one's appearance(conceit) She thought so much of herself that we found her egotism unwarranted and irritating.

multifarious

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

pied

variegated; multicolored The pied piper of Hamelin got his name from the multicolored clothing he wore.

sundry

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

retribution

vengeance; compensation; punishment for offenses The evangelist maintained that an angry deity would exact retribution from the sinners.

tarantula

venomous spider We need an antitoxin to counteract the bite of the tarantula.

prolix

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

substantiate

verify; support I intend to substantiate my statement by producing witnesses.

protean

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

plumb

vertical Before hanging wallpaper it is advisable to drop a plumb line from the ceiling as a guide.

execrable

very bad The anecdote was in execrable taste and shocked the audience.

gingerly

very carefully To separate egg whites, first crack the egg gingerly.

munificent

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

lofty

very high in the air, elevated in character They used to tease him about his lofty ambitions.

momentous

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

myriad

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

infringe

violate; encroach I think your machine infringes on my patent and intend to sue.

infraction

violation Because of his many infractions of school regulations, he was suspended by the dean.

transgression

violation of a law; sin Forgive us our transgressions; we know not what we do.

throes

violent anguish The throes of despair can be as devastating as the spasms accompanying physical pain.

impetuous

violent; hasty; rash We tried to curb his impetuous behavior because we felt that in his haste he might offend some people.

peripatetic

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

ramble

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

ribald

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

parry

ward off a blow He was content to wage a defensive battle and tried to parry his opponent's thrusts.

muggy

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

chafe

warm by rubbing The collar chafed his neck.

ablution

washing His daily ablutions were accompanied by loud noises that he humorously labeled "Opera in the Bath."

fritter

waste He could not apply himself to any task and frittered away his time in idle conversation.

squander

waste The prodigal son squandered the family estate.

dross

waste matter; worhtless impurities Many methods have been devised to separate the valuable metal from the dross.

haggard

wasted away; gaunt After his long illness, he was pale and haggard.

surveillance

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

gargolye

waterspout carved in groteque figures on a building The gargoyles adorning the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris are amusing in their grotesqueness.

extenuate

weaken; mitigate It is easier for us to extenuate our own shortcomings than those of others.

infirmity

weakness Her greatest infirmity was lack of willpower.

frailty

weakness The doctor prescribed vitamin and mineral supplements for the sick old woman because of her frailty.

imbecility

weakness of mind I am amazed at the imbecility of the readers of these trashy magazines.

foible

weakness; slight fault We can overlook the foibles of our friends; no one is perfect.

tycoon

wealthy leader John D. Rockefeller was a prominent tycoon.

imponderable

weightless I can evaluate the data gathered in this study; the imponderable items are not so easily analyzed.

ponderous

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

eerie

weird In that eerie setting, it was easy to believe in ghosts and other supernatural beings.

genteel

well-bred; elegant We are looking for a man with a genteel apperance who can inspire confidence by his cultivated manner.

sinecure

well-paid position with little responsibility My job is no sinecure; I work long hours and have much responsibility.

caprice

whim unpredictable creature acting on caprice She was an unpredictable creature, acting on caprice, never taking thought of the consequences.

conceit

whimsical idea; extravagant metaphor; strong, exaggerated opinion of one's self. self admiration. He was an entertaining companion, always expressing himself in amusing conceits and witty turns of phrase.

fanciful

whimsical; visionary This is a fanciful scheme because it does not consider the facts.

hoary

white with age The man was hoary and wrinkled when he was 70.

frantic

wild At the time of the collision, many people became frantic with fear.

lurid

wild; sensational The lurid stories he told shocked his listeners.

sinuous

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

tortuous

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

serpentine

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

dormer

window projecting from roof In remodeling the attic into a bedroom, we decided that we needed to put in dormers to provide sufficient ventilation for the new room.

gusty

windy The gusty weather made sailing precarious.

hibernal

wintry Bears prepare for their long hibernal sleep by overeating.

malevolent

wishing evil We must thwart his [malevolent schemes].

askance

with a sideways or indirect look Looking askance at her questioner, she displayed her scorn.

incognito

with identity concealed; using an assumed name The monarch enjoyed traveling throughthe town incognito and mingling with the populace.

retraction

withdrawal He dropped his libel suit after the newspaper published a retraction of its statement.

secession

withdrawal The secession of the Southern states provided Lincoln with his first major problem after his inauguration.

recession

withdrawal; retreat; time of low economic activity The slow recession of the flood waters created problems for the crews working to restore power to the area.

incredulous

withholding belief; skeptical When Jack claimed he hadn't eaten the jelly doughnut, Jill took an incredulous look at his smeared face and laughed.

guileless

without deceit He is naive, simple, and guileless; he cannot be guilty of fraud.

random

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

insensate

without feeling She lay there as insensate as a log.

impassive

without feeling; not affected by pain The Native American has been incorrectly depicted as an impassive individual, undemonstrative and stoical.

artless

without guile; open and honest Red Riding Hood's artless comment, "Grandma, what big eyes you have!" indicates the child's innocent surprises at her "grandmother's" changed appearance.

impecunious

without money Now that he was wealthy, he gladly contributed to funds to assist impecunious and disbled persons.

epigram

witty thought or saying, usually short Poor Richard's epigrams made Benjamin Franklin famous.

deadpan

wooden; impassive We wanted to see how long he could maintain his deadpan expression.

epithet

word or phrase characteristically used to describe a person or thing So many kings of France were named Charles that modern students need epithets to tell them apart: Charles the Wise, for example, was someone far different from Charles the Fat.

diffusion

wordiness; spreading in all directions like a gas Your composition suffers from a diffusion of ideas; try to be more compact.

onomatopoeia

words formed in imitation of natural sounds Words like "rustle" and "gargle" are illustrations of onomatopoeia.

militate

work against Your record of lateness and absence will militate against your chances of promotion.

toil

work laboriously; make slow painful progress You must toil through 3500 words list in order to achieve a high score on GRE.

mundane

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

secular

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

effete

worn out; exhausted; barren effeminate; having lost character, vitality/virility, or strength The literature of the age reflected the effete condition of the writers; no new ideas were forthcoming.

solicitous

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

swathe

wrap around; bandage When I visited him in the hospital, I found him swathed in bandages.

grapple

wrestle; come to grips with He grappled with the burglar and overpowered him.

extort

wring from; get money by threats, etc. The blackmailer extorted money from his victim.

subpoena

writ summoning a witness to appear The prosecutor's office was ready to serve a subpoena on the reluctant witness.

indite

write; compose Cyrano indited many letters for Christian.

sallow

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

succumb

yield; give in; die I succumb to temptation whenever it comes my way.

cession

yielding to another; ceding The cession of Alaska to the United States is discussed in this chapter.

submissive

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

compact

agreement; contract The signers of the Mayflower Compact were establishing a form of government.

truculence

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

succor

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

desperado

a DESPERATE bold or violent CRIMINAL; reckless outlaw Butch Cassidy was a bold desperado with a price on his head.

incredulity

a tendency to disbelief Your incredulity in the face of all the evidence is hard to understand.

tangible

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

talisman

charm She wore the talisman to ward off evil.

rife

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

exuberant

abundant; effusive; lavish His speeches were famous for his exuberant language and vivid imagery.

toga

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

saga

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

invective

abuse He had expected criticism but not the invective that greeted his proposal.

chasm

abyss They could not see the bottom of the chasm.

grimace

a facial distortion to show feeling such as pain, disgust, etc. Even though he remained silent, his grimace indicated his displeasure.

disquisition

a formal systematic inquiry; an explanation of the results of a formal inquiry In his disquisition, he outlined the steps he had taken in reaching his conclusions.

scad

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

spoonerism

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

collation

a light meal "lait et les cookies - une collation typique de Noël " Tea sandwiches and cookies were offered at the collation.

fortuitous

accidental; by chance There is no connection between these two events; their timing is entirely fortuitous.

pittance

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

endearment

a word or act expressing affection; fond word or act Your gifts and endearments cannot make me forget your earlier insolence. Terms of Endearment.- LarryJeff McMurtry; Title of novel, subsequently filmed.

relinquish

abandon I will relinquish my claims to this property if you promise to retain my employees.

renounce

abandon; disown; repudiate Even though she knew she would be burned at the stake as a witch, Joan of Arc refused to renounce her belief that her voices came from God.

plasticity

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

prescience

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

empathy

ability to identify with another's feelings, ideas, etc What made Ann such a fine counselor was her empathy, her ability to put herself in her client's place and feel his emotions as if they were her own.

solvent

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

distrait

absentminded Because of his concentration on the problem, the professor often appeared distrait and unconcerned about routine.

riveting

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

recondite

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

preposterous

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

plenitude

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

exonerate

acquit; exculpate I am sure this letter naming the actual culprit will exonerate you.

repulsion

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

summation

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

dissuade

advise against He could not dissuade his friend from joining the conspirators.

suffragist

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

mincing

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

lackadaisical

affectedly languid He was lackadaisical and indifferent about his part in the affair.

gustatory

affecting the sense of taste The Thai restaurant offered an unusual gustatory experience for those used in a bland cuisine.

emissary

agent; messenger The secretary of State was sent as the President's special emissary to the conference on disarmament.

defeatist

an attitude of accepting, expecting, or being resigned to defeat If you maintain your defeatist attitude, you will never succeed.

perquisite

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

canker

any ulcerous sore; any evil Poverty is a canker in the body politic; it must be cured.

gyroscope

apparatus used to maintain balance, ascertain direction, etc. By using a rotating gyroscope, they were able to stabilize the vessel, counteracting the rolling movements of the sea. 114. - apparatus used to maintain balance, ascertain direction, etc.

ostensible

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

guise

appearance; costume In the guise of a plumber, the detective investigated the murder case.

propitiate

appease The natives offered sacrifices to propitiate the gods.

personable

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

comely

attractive; agreeable "comly wife" I would rather have a poor and comely wife than a rich and homely one.

impute

attribute; ascribe If I wished to impute blame to the officers in charge of this program, I would state my feelings definitely and immediately.

magisterial

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

proxy

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

eschew

avoid He tried to eschew all display of temper.

shirk

avoid (responsibility, work, etc.); malinger Brian has a strong sense of duty; he would never shirk any responsibility.

temporize

avoid committing oneself; gain time I cannot permit you to temporize any longer; I must have a definite answer today.

swelter

be oppressed by heat I am going to buy an air conditioning unit for my apartment as I do not intend to swelter through another hot and humid summer.

transpire

be revealed; happen When Austen writes the sentence "It had just transpired that he had left gaming debts behind him," her meaning is not that the debts had just been incurred, but the the shocking news had just leaked out.

behoove

be suited to; be incumbent upon In this time of crisis, it behooves all of us to remain calm and await the instructions of our superiors.

stint

be thrifty; set limits "Spare no expense," the bride's father said, refusing to stint on the wedding arrangements.

fructify

bear fruit This peach tree should fructify in three years.

comport

bear one's self; behave "French: Comporter" He comported himself with great dignity.

fruition

bearing of fruit; fulfillment; realization This building marks the fruition of all our aspirations and years of hard work.

pummel

beat The severity with which he was pummeled was indicated by the bruises he displayed on his head and face.

pulchritude

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

implore

beg He implored her to give him a second chance.

importune

beg persistently Democratic and Republican phone solicitors importuned her for contributions so frequently that she decided to give nothing to either party.

tyro

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

subservient

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

monotheism

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

hedonism

belief that pleasure is the sole aim in life hedonism and asceticism are opposing philosophies of human behavior.

indenture

bind as servant or apprentice to master Many immigrants could come to America only after they had indentured themselves for several years.

stringent

binding; rigid I think these regulations are too stringent.

mordant

biting; sarcastic; stinging Actors feared the critic's mordant pen.

rancor

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

gall

bitterness; nerve The knowledge of his failure filled him with gall.

outlandish

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

necromancy

black magic; dealings with the dead; conjuration of the spirits of the dead for purposes of magically revealing the future or influencing the course of events Because he was able to perform feats of necromancy, the natives thought he was in league with the devil.

reproach

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

hallowed

blessed; consecrated She was laid to rest in hallowed ground.

rectify

correct I want to rectify my error before it is too late.

sear

char or burn; brand Accidentally brushing against the hot grill, she seared her hand badly.

temperament

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

generic

characteristic of an entire class or species Sue knew so many computer programmers who spent their spare time playing fantasy games that she began to think that playing Dungeon & Dragons was a generic trait.

mountebank

charlatan; boastful pretender The patent medicine man was a mountebank.

quack

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

grouse

complain; fuss Students traditionally grouse about the abysmal quality of "mystery meat" and similar dornitory food.

consummate

complete I have never seem anyone who makes as many stupid errors as you do; you must be a consummate idiot.

plenary

complete; full The union leader was given plenary power to negotiate a new contract with the employers.

integral

complete; necessary for completeness Physical education is an integral part of our curriculum; a sound mind and a sound body are complementary.

imbroglio

complicated situation; perplexity; entanglement He was called in to settle the imbroglio but failed to bring harmony into the situation.

sedate

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

fathom

comprehend; investigate I find his motives impossible to fathom.

smirk

conceited smile Wipe that smirk off your face!

knit

contract into wrinkles Whenever David worries, his brow knits in a frown.

belie

contradict; give a false impression His coarse, hard-bitten exterior belied his innate sensitivity.

contravene

contradict; oppose: infringe on or transgress Mr. Barrett did not expect his frail daughter Elizabeth to contravene his will by eloping with Robert Browning.

foil

contrast In "Star Wars," dark, evil Darth Vader is a perfect foil for fair-haired, naive Luke Skywalker.

restraint

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

ascendancy

controlling influence President Marcos failed to maintain his ascendency over Philippines.

polemic

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

cogent

convincing She presented cogent arguments to the jury.

replica

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

transcribe

copy When you transcribe your notes, please send a copy to Mr.Smith and keep the original for our files.

pluck

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

tribunal

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

deference

courteous regard for another's wish In deference to his desires, the employers granted him a holiday.

chivalrous

courteous; faithful; brave chivalrous behavior involves noble words and good deeds.

comity

courtesy; civility A spirit of comity should exist among nations.

fawning

courting favor by cringing and flattering She was constantly surrounded by a group of fawning admirers who had hoped to win some favor.

glaze

cover with a thin and shiny surface The freezing rain glazed the streets and made driving hazardous.

quail

cower; lose heart He was afraid that he would quail in the face of danger.

mores

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

prune

cut away; trim With the help of her editor, she was able to prune her manuscript into publishable form.

retrench

cut down; economize If they were to be able to send their children to college, they would have to retrench.

truncate

cut the top off The top of the cone that has been truncated in a plane parallel to its base is a circle.

hew

cut to pieces with ax or sword The cavalry rushed into melee and hewed the enemy with their swords.

trenchant

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

incisive

cutting; sharp His incisive remarks made us see the fallacy in our plans.

quotidian

daily; commonplace; customary To Philip, each new day of his internship was filled with excitement; he could not dismiss his rounds as merely quotidian routine.

marred

damaged; disfigured She had to refinish the marred surface of the table.

perdition

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

prosaic

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

drab

dull; lacking color; cheerless The Dutch woman's drab winter coat contrasted with the distinctive, colorful native costume she wore beneath it.

humdrum

dull; monotonous After years of adventure, he could not settle down to a humdrum existence.

dingy

dull; not fresh; cheerless Refusing to be depressed by her dingy studio apartment, Bea spent the weekend polishing the floors and windows and hanging bright posters on the walls.

stolidity

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

gnome

dwarf; underground spirit In medieval mythology, gnomes were the special guardians and inhabitants of subterranean mines.

levee

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

surpass

exceed Her SAT scores surpassed out expectations.

transcend

exceed; surpass This accomplishment transcends all our previous efforts.

fanaticism

excessive zeal The leader of the group was held responsible even though he could not control the fanaticism of his followers.

superfluous

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

hypercritical

excessively exacting You are hypercritical in your demands for perfection; we all make mistakes.

tightwad

excessively frugal person; miser Jill called Jack a tightwad because he never picked up the check.

rapacious

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

prude

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

subsistence

existence; means of support; livelihood In those days of inflated prices, my salary provided mere subsistence.

primordial

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

egress

exit The auditorium is designed to provide easy egress in an emergency.

distend

expand;swell out I can tell when he is under stress by the way the veins distend on his forehead.

politic

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

sustain

experience; support; nourish He sustained such a severe injury that the doctors feared he would be unable to work to sustain his growing family.

seasoned

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

belabor

explain or go over excessively or to a ridiculous degree; assail verbally The debate coach warned her student not to bore the audience by belaboring his point.

explicate

explain; interpret; clarify Harry Levin explicated James Joyce's novels with such clarity that even Finnegan's Wake seemed comprehensible to his students.

opulence

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

jingoism

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

exacting

extremely demanding The colonies rebelled against the exacting financial claims of the mother country.

parched

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

ravenous

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

stentorian

extremely loud The town crier had stentorian voice.

inherent

firmly established by nature or habit His inherent love of justice compelled him to come to their aid.

tenacity

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

tantrum

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

paroxysm

fit or attack of pain, laughter, rage When he heared of his son's misdeeds, he was seized by a paroxysm of rage.

spasmodic

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

propriety

fitness; correct conduct I want you to behave at this dinner with propriety; don't embarass me.

moodiness

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

rig

fix or manipulate The ward boss was able to rig the election by bribing people to stuff the ballot boxes with ballots marked in his candidate's favor.

gaudy

flashy; showy Her gaudy taste in clothes apalled us.

meretricious

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

patina

green crust on old bronze works; tone slowly taken by varnished painting Judging by the patina on this bronze statue, we can conclude that this is the work of a medieval artist.

lechery

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

junta

group of persons joined in political intrigue; cabal As soon as he learned of its existence, the dictator ordered the execution of all of the members of the junta.

trilogy

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

felicity

happines; appropriateness (of a remark, choice, etc.) She wrote a note to the newlyweds wishing them great felicity in their wedded life.

harry

harass, annoy, torment; raid The guerrilla band harried the enemy nightly.

bait

harass; tease The soldiers baited the prisoners, terrorizing them.

beset

harass; trouble Many problems beset the American public school system.

privation

hardship; want In his youth, he knew hunger and privation.

musky

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

rancid

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

titular

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

cognitive

having to do with knowing or perceiving related to the mental precesses Though Jack was emotionally immature, his cognitive development was admirable; he was very advanced intellectually.

fluted

having vertical parallel grooves (as in a pillar) All that remained of the ancient building were the fluted columns.

preempt

head off; forestall by acting first; appropriate for oneself; supplant Hoping to preempt any attempts by the opposition to make educational reform a hot political issue, the candidate set out her own plan to revitalize the public schools.

promontory

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

precipitate

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

salubrious

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

hale

healthy After a brief illness, he was soon hale.

pyre

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

ardor

heat; passion; zeal Katya's ardor was contagious; soon all her fellow demonstrators were busily making posters and handing out flyers, inspired by her ardent enthusiasm for the cause.

recluse

hermit The recluse lived in a hut in the forest.

morose

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

fictitious

imaginary Although this book purports to be a biography of George Washington, many of the incidents are fictitious.

fancied

imagined; unreal You are resenting fancied insults. No one has ever said such things about you.

pastiche

imitation of another's style in musical composition or in writing We cannot even say that her music is a pastiche of this or that composer; it is rather, reminiscent of many musicians.

incorporeal

immaterial; without a material body We must devote time to the needs of our incorporeal mind as well as our corporeal body.

prestige

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

susceptible

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

grandeur

impressiveness; stateliness; majesty No matter how often he hiked through the mountains, David never failed to be struck by the grandeur of the Sierra Nevada range.

immure

imprison; shut up in confinement For the two weeks before the examination, the student immureed himself in his room and concentrated upon his studies.

insolence

imprudent disrespect; haughtiness How dare you treat me so rudely! The manager will hear of you insolence.

spontaneity

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

pellmell

in confusion; disorderly The excited students dashed pellmell into the stadium to celebrate the victory.

enamored

in love Narcissus became enamored of his own beauty.

edify

instruct; correct morally; instruct to enlighten or uplift morally, spiritually or intellectualy "Edifying sermons" Although his purpose was to edify and not to entertain his audience, many of his listeners were amused and not enlightened.

slur

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

slight

insult to one's dignity; snub Hypersensitive and ready to take offense at any discourtesy, Bertha was always on the lookout for real or imaginary slights.

insuperable

insurmountable; invincible In the face of insuperable difficulties they maintained their courage and will to resist.

frigid

intensely cold Alaska is in the frigid zone.

purport

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

symbiosis

interdependent relationship (between groups, species), often mutually beneficial Both the crocodile bird and the crocodile derive benefit from their symbiosis; pecking away at food particles embedded in the crocodile's teeth, the bird derives nourishment; the crocodile, meanwhile, derives proper dental hygiene.

expletive

interjection; profane oath The sergeant's remarks were filled with expletives that offended the new recruits.

misconstrue

interpret incorrectly; misjudge She took the passage seriously rather than humourously because she misconstrued the author's ironic tone.

construe

interpret; explain If I construe your remarks correctly, you disagree with the theory already advanced.

quarantine

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

seclusion

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

peregrination

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

festive

joyous; celebratory Their wedding in the park was a festive occasion.

succulent

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

sagacious

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

shun

keep away from Cherishing his solitude, the recluse shunned the company of other human beings.

retain

keep; employ Fighting to retain his seat in Congress, Senator Foghorn retained a new manager to head his reelection campaign.

decimate

kill, usually one out of ten We do more to decimate our population in automobile accidents than we do in war.

laity

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

indolence

laziness He outgrew his youthful indolence to become a model of industry and alertness on the job.

sloth

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

sluggard

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

inveigle

lead astray; wheedle She was inveigled into joining the club after an initial reluctance.

livid

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

gaunt

lean and angular; barren His once-round face looked surprisingly gaunt after he had lost weight.

bequeath

leave to someone by means of a will; hand down In his will, Father bequeathed his watch to Phillip; the bequest meant a great deal to the boy.

tepid

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

decoy

lure or bait The wild ducks were not fooled by the decoy.

bask

luxuriate; take pleasure in warmth basking on the beach, she relaxed so completely that she fell asleep.

supine

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

mendacious

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

rarefied

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

osseus

made of bone; bony The hollow "soft spot" found at the top of the infant's skull gradually closes as new osseus tissue fills in the gap.

mutilate

maim The torturer threatened to mutilate his victim.

stupefy

make numb; stun; amaze Disapproving of drugs in general, Laura refused to take sleeping pills or any other medicine that might stupefy her.

grate

make a harsh noise; have an unpleasant effect; shred The screams of the quarreling children grated on her nerves.

expiate

make amends for (a sin) He tried to expiate his crimes by a full confession to the authorities.

atone

make amends for; pay for He knew no way in which he could atone for his brutal crime.

stipulate

make express conditions, specify Before agreeing to reduce American military forces in Europe, the president stipulated that NATO teams be allowed to inspect Soviet bases.

preclude

make impossible; eliminate This contract does not preclude my being employed by others at the same time that I am working for you.

rejuvenate

make young again The charlatan claimed that his elixir would rejuvenate the aged and weary.

testator

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

ductility

malleability; flexibility; ability to be drawn out Copper wire has many industrial uses because of its extreme ductility.

fetid

malodorous The neglected wound became fetid.

megalomania

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

nubile

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

array

marshal; draw up in order His actions were bound to array public sentiment against him.

requiem

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

floe

mass of floating ice The ship made slow progress as it battered its way through the ice floes.

conglomeration

mass of material sticking together In such a conglomeration of miscellaneous statistics, it was impossible to find a single area of analysis.

inimitable

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

scanty

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

niggardly

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

tryst

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

rendezvous

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

molten

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

proletarian

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

composure

mental calmness Even the latest work crisis failed to shake her composure.

psychosis

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

delirium

mental disorder marked by confusion The drunkard in his delirium saw strange animals.

discerning

mentally quick and observant; having insight Because he was considered the most discerning member of the firm, he was assigned the most difficult cases.

paragon

model of perfection The class disliked him because the teacher was always pointing him out as a paragon of virtue.

temper

moderate; tone down or restrain; toughen (steel) Not even her supervisor's grumpiness could temper Nancy's enthusiasm for her new job.

sobriety

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

retiring

modest; shy Given Susan't retiring personality, no one expected her to take up public speaking; surprisingly enough, she became a star of the school debate team.

lull

moment of calm Not wanting to get wet, they waited under the awning for a lull in the rain.

transient

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

potentate

monarch; sovereign The potentate spent more time at Monte Carlo than he did at home on his throne.

cloister

monastery or convent The nuns lived in the cloister.

sacrosanct

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

gesticulation

motion; gesture Operatic performers are trained to make exaggerated gesticulations because of the large auditoriums in whic they appear.

stagnant

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

actuate

motivate I fail to understand what actuated you to reply to this letter so nastily.

plaintive

mournful The dove has a plaintive and melancholy call

lugubrious

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

scurry

move briskly The White Rabbit had to scurry to get to his appointment on time.

skulk

move furtively and secretly He skulked through the less fashionable sections of the city in order to avoid meeting any of his former friends.

lumber

move heavily of clumsily Still somewhat torpid after its long hibernation, the bear lumbered through the woods.

cipher

nonentity; worthless person or thing She claimed her ex-husband was a total cipher and wondered why she had ever married him.

gibberish

nonsense; babbling Did you hear that foolish boy spouting gibberish about monsters from outer space?

alcove

nook; recess Though their apartment lacked a full-scale dining room, an alcove adjacent to the living room made an adequate breakfast nook for the young couple.

temporal

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

figurative

not literal, but metaphorical; using a figure of speech "To lose one's marbles" is a figurative expression; if you're told Jack has lost his marbles, no one expects you to rush out to buy him a replacement set.

impolitic

not wise I think it is impolitic to raise this issue at the present time because the public is too angry.

egregious

notorious; conspicuously bad; shocking "extraordinarily negative" She was an egregious liar; we all knew better than to believe a word she said.

effluvium

noxious smell Air pollution has become a serious problem in our major cities; the effluvium and the poisons in the air are hazards to life.

quorum

number of members necessary to conduct a meeting The senator asked for a roll call to determine whether a quorum was present.

mani-fold

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

recurrent

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

sporadic

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

subjective

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

quaint

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

piebald

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

ignoble

of lowly origin; unworthy This plan is inspired by ignoble motives and I must, therefore, oppose it.

indignity

offensive or insulting treatment Although he seemed to accept cheerfully the indignities heaped upon him, he was inwardly very angry.

immolate

offer as a sacrifice The tribal kind offered to immolate his daughter to quiet the angry gods.

tender

offer; extend Although no formal changes had been made against him, in the wake of the recent scandal the mayor felt he should tender his resignation.

senility

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

passe

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

ellipsis

omission of words from a text "Begin when ready" for "Begin when you are ready" is an example of ellipsis. elleipein to leave out

terrestrial

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

pacifist

one opposed to force; antimilitarist The pacifists urged that we reduce our military budget and recall our troops stationed overseas.

saboteur

one who commits sabotage; destroyer of property Members of the Resistance acted as saboteurs, blowing up train lines to prevent supplies from reaching the Nazi army.

reaper

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

stipend

pay for services There is a nominal stipend for this position.

placid

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

pinnacle

peak We could see the morning sunlight illuminate the pinnacle while the rest of the mountain lay in shadow.

acme

peak; pinnacle; highest point Welles's success in Citizen Kane marked the acme of his career as an actor; never again did he achieve such popular acclaim.

podium

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

contrite

penitent; remourseful Her contrite tears did not influence the judge when he imposed sentence.

gentry

people of standing; class of people just below nobility The local gentry did not welcome the visits of the summer tourists and tried to ignore their presence in the community.

epitome

perfect example or embodiment epitome of evil-Hitler

sage

person celebrated for wisdom Hearing tales of a mysterious Master of All Knowledge who lived in the hills of Tibet, Sandy was possessed with a burning desire to consult the legendary sage.

reprobate

person hardened in sin, devoid of a sense of decency I cannot understand why he has so many admirers if he is the reprobate you say he is.

supernumerary

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

hypochondriac

person unduly worried about his health; worrier without cause about illness The doctor prescribed chocolate pills for his patient who was a hypocondriac.

ragamuffin

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

numismatist

person who collects coins The numismatist had a splendid collection of antique coins.

awl

pointed tool used for piercing She used an awl to punch additional holes in the leather belt she had bought.

toxic

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

prod

poke; stir up; urge If you prod him hard enough, he'll eventually clean his room.

defile

pollute; profane The hoodlums defiled the church with their scurrilous writing.

strut

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

grandiloquent

pompous; bombastic; using high-sounding language The politician could bever speak simply; she was always grandiloquent.

muse

ponder For a moment he mused about the beauty of the scene, but his thought soon changed as he recalled his own personal problems.

reiterate

repeat He reiterated the warning to make sure everyone understood it.

desecrate

profane; violate the sanctity of Md Gazhani DESECRATED THE TEMPLE of SOMNATH .

protract

prolong Seeking to delay the union members' vote, the management team tried to protract the negotiations endlessly, but the union representatives saw through their strategy.

salient

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

seemly

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

sibylline

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

apocalyptic

prophetic; pertaining to revelations; especially of disaster His apocalyptic remarks were dismissed by his audience as wild surmises.

tout

publicize; praise excessively I lost confidence in my broker after he touted some junk bonds that turned out to be a bad investment.

pillory

punish by placing in a wooden frame; subject to criticism and ridicule PUBLIC RIDICULE Even though he was mocked and pilloried, he maintained that he was correct in his beliefs.

penance

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

chaste

pure Her chaste and decorous garb was appropriately selected for the solemnity of the occasion.

immaculate

pure; spotless The West Point cadets were immaculate as they lined up for inspection.

platonic

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

quintessence

purest and highest embodiment Noel Coward displayed the quintessence of wit.

recumbent

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

reactionary

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

reminiscence

recollection Her reminiscences of her experiences are so fascinating that she ought to write a book.

recuperate

recover The doctors were worried because the patient did not recuperate as rapidly as they had expected.

retrieve

recover; find and bring in The dog was intelligent and quickly learned to retrieve the game killed by the hunter.

reprise

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

ruddy

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

flout

reject; mock The headstrong youth flouted all authority; he refused to be curbed.

spurn

reject; scorn The heroine spurned the villain's advances.

exult

rejoice We exulted when our team won the victory.

jubilation

rejoicing There was great jubilitation when the armistice was announced.

cognate

related linguistically; allied by blood; similar or akin in nature The English word "mother" cognate to the Latin word "mater," whose influence is visible in the words "maternal" and "maternity."

kindred

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

thematic

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

schematic

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

elysian

relating to paradise; blissful An afternoon sail on the bay was for her an [elysian journey].

spatial

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

sidereal

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

inexorable

relentless; unyielding; implacable After listening to the pleas for clemency, the judge was inexorable and gave the convicted man the maximum punishment allowed by law.

remnant

remainder I suggest that you wait until the store places the remnants of these goods on sale.

residue

remainder; balance In his will, he requested that after payment of debts, taxes, and funeral expenses, the residue be given to his wife.

forswear

renounce; abandon The captured knight could escape death only if he agreed to forswear Christianity and embrace Islam as the one true faith.

refurbish

renovate; make bright by polishing The flood left a deposit of mud on everything; it was necessary to refurbish our belongings.

solder

repair or make whole by using a metal alloy The plumber fixed the leak in the pipes by soldering a couple of joints from which water had been oozing.

remediable

reparable Let us be grateful that the damage is remediable.

restitution

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

reimburse

repay Let me know what you have spent and I will reimburse you.

reciprocate

repay in kind If they attack us, we shall be compelled to reciprocate and bomb their territory.

retaliate

repay in kind (usually for bad treatment) Fear that we will retaliate immediately deters our foe from attacking us.

requite

repay; revenge The wretch requited his benefactors by betraying them.

reprisal

retaliation I am confident that we are ready for any reprisals the enemy may undertake.

sequester

retire from public life; segregate; seclude Although he had hoped for a long time to sequester himself in a small community, he never was able to drop his busy round of activities in the city.

superannuated

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

rejoinder

retort; comeback; reply When someone has been rude to me, I find it particularly satisfying to come up with a quick rejoinder.

nemesis

revenging act or agent;the Greek goddess of retributive justice; fate that cannot be escaped Captain Bligh vowed to be Christian's nemesis.

resuscitate

revive The lifeguard tried to resuscitate the drowned child by applying artificial respiration.

repeal

revoke; annul What would the effect on our society be if we decriminalized drug use by repealing the laws against the possession and sale of narcotics?

cadence

rhythmic rise and fall (of words or sounds); beat Marching down the road, the troops sang out, following the cadence set by the sergeant.

brocade

rich, figured fabric The sofa was covered with expensive brocade.

ramshackle

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

saline

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

surfeit

satiate; stuff; indulge to excess in anything Every Thanksgiving we are surfeited with an overabundance of holiday treats.

sate

satisfy to the full; cloy Its hunger sated, the lion dozed.

imbue

saturate, fill His visits to the famous Gothic cathedrals imbued him with feelings of awe and reverence.

relish

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

dotage

senility In his dotage, the old man bored us with long tales of events in his childhood.

primogeniture

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

touchy

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

sentinel

sentry; lookout Though camped in enemy territory, Bledsoe ignored the elementary precaution of posting sentinels around the encampment.

sunder

separate; part Northern and southern Ireland are politically and religiously sundered.

demure

serious; coy She was demure and reserved.

solemnity

seriousness; gravity The minister was concerned that nothing should disturb the solemnity of the marriage service.

homily

sermon; serious warning His speeches were always homilies, advising his listeners to repent and reform.

sycophant

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

toady

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

premonitory

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

epilogue

short speech at conclusion of dramatic work The audience was so disappointed in the play that many did not remain to hear the epilogue.

parable

short, simple story teaching a moral Let us apply to our own conduct the lesson that this parable teaches.

ephemeral

short-lived; fleeting The mayfly is an ephemeral creature.

jostle

shove; bump In the subway he was jostled by the crowds.

ebullient

showing excitement; overflowing with enthusiasm His ebullient nature could not be repressed.

plutocracy

society ruled by the wealthy From the way the government caters to the rich, you might think our society is a plutocracy rather than a democracy.

quagmire

soft, wet, boggy land; complex or dangerous situation from which it is difficult to free oneself Up to her knees in mud, Myra wondered how on earth she was going to extricate herself from this quagmire.

besmirch

soil, defile The scandalous remarks in the newspaper besmirch the reputations of every member of the society.

adjuration

solemn urging Her adjuration to tell the truth did not change the witnesses' testimony.

awe

solemn wonder The tourists gazed with awe at the tremendous expanse of the Grand Canyon.

monolithic

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

dupe

someone easily fooled While the gullible Watson often was made a dupe by unscrupulous parties, Sherlock Holmes was far more difficult to fool.

comestible

something fit to be eaten The roast turkey and other comestibles, the wines, and the excellent service made this Thanksgiving dinner particularly memorable.

sleeper

something originally of little value or importance that in time becomes very valuable Unnoticed by the critics at its publication, the eventual Pulitzer Prize winner was a classic sleeper.

precedent

something preceding in time that may be used as an authority or guide for future action This decision sets a precedent for future cases of a similar nature.

poultice

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

seamy

sordid; unwholesome In the Godfather, Michael Corleone is unwilling to expose his wife and children to the seamy side of his life as the son of a Mafia don.

dolorous

sorrowfrl He found the dolorous lamentations of the bereaved family emotionally disturbing and he left as quickly as he could.

scintillate

sparkle; flash I enjoy her dinner parties because the food is excellent and the conversation scintillates.

fitful

spasmodic; intermittent After several fitful attempts, he decided to postpone the start of the project until he felt more energetic.

enunciate

speak distinctly How will people understand you if you do not enunciate?

fleck

spot Her cheeks flecked with tears, were testimony to the hours of weeping.

dappled

spotted The sunlight filtering though the screens created a dappled effect on the wall.

maculated

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

suffuse

spread over A blush suffused her cheeks when we teased her about her love affair.

strew

spread randomly; sprinkle; scatter Preceding the bride to the altar, the flower girl will strew rose petals along the aisle.

pervasive

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

spat

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

adjutant

staff officer assisting the commander; assistant Though Wellington delegated many tasks to his chief adjutant, Lord Fitzroy Somerset, Somerset was in no doubt as to who made all major decisions.

diligence

steadiness of effort; persisten hard work Her employers were greatly impressed by her diligence and offered her a partnership in the firm.

filch

steal The boys filched apples from the fruit stand.

plagiarize

steal another's ideas and pass them off as one's own The editor could tell that the writer had plagiarized parts of the article; he could recognize whole paragraphs from the original source.

embezzlement

stealing The bank teller confessed his embezzlement of the funds.

lurk

stealthily lie in waiting; slink; exist unperceived "Who knows what evils lurk in the hearts of men? The shadow knows."

furtive

stealthy; sneaky The boy gave a furtive look at his classmate's test paper.

precipitous

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

protrude

stick out His fingers protruded from the holes in his gloves.

cohere

stick together Solids have a greater tendency to cohere than liquids.

glutinous

sticky; viscous Molasses is a glutinous substance.

stamina

strength; staying power I doubt that she has the stamina to run the full distance of the marathon race.

prostrate

stretch out full on ground He prostrated himself before the idol.

clapper

striker (tongue) of a bell Wishing to be undisturbed by the bell, Dale wound his scarf around the clapper to muffle its striking.

percussion

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

flay

strip off skin; plunder The criminal was condemned to be flayed alive.

divest

strip; deprive He was divested of his power to act and could no longer govern.

apoplexy

stroke; loss of consciousness followed by paralysis He was crippled by an attack of apoplexy.

saunter

stroll slowly As we sauntered through the park, we stopped frequently to admire the spring flowers.

transport

strong emotion Margo was a creature of extremes, at one moment in transports of joy over a vivid sunset, at another moment in transports of grief over a dying bird.

stint

supply; allotted amount; assigned portion of work He performed his daily stint cheerfully and willingly.

constituent

supporter The congressman received hundreds of letters from angry constituents after the Equal Rights Amendment failed to pass.

strut

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

reputed

supposed He is the reputed father of the child.

stifle

suppress; extinguish; inhibit Halfway through the boring lecture, Laura gave up trying to stifle her yawns.

concomitant

that which accompanies Culture is not always a concomitant of wealth.

galaxy

the Milky Way; any collection of brilliant personalities The deaths of such famous actors as Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy, and Marlene Dietrich demonstrate that the galaxy of Hollywood superstars is rapidly disppearing.

prosody

the art of versification This book on prosody contains a rhyming dictionary as well as samples of the various verse forms.

occident

the countries of (originally) Europe and (now including) North and South America; the West It will take occident to understand the ways and customs of the orient.

embroil

throw into confusion He became embroiled in the heated discussion when he tried to arbitrate the dispute.

histrionic

theatrical He was proud of his histrionic ability and wanted to paly the role of Hamlet.

motif

theme This simple motif runs throughout the score.

pachyderm

thick-skinned animal The elephant is probably the best-known pachyderm.

gruel

thin, liquid porridge Our daily allotment of gruel made the meal not only monotonous but also unpalatable.

tenuous

thin; rare; slim The allegiance of our allies is held by rather tenuous ties; let us hope they will remain loyal.

cogitate

think over cogitate on this problem; the solution will come.

tertiary

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

gentility

those of gentle birth; refinement Her family was proud of its gentility and elegance.

trident

three-pronged spear Neptune is usually depicted as rising from the sea, carrying his trident on his shoulder.

flail

thresh grain by hand; strike or slap; toss about In medieval times, warriors flailed their foe with a metal ball attached to a handle.

improvident

thriftless He was constantly being warned to mend his improvident ways and begin to "save for a rainy day."

pulsate

throb We could see the blood vessels in his temple pulsate as he became more angry.

precipitate

throw headlong; hasten The removal of American political support appeared to have precipitated the downfall of the Marcos regime.

fret

to be annonyed or vexed To fret over your poor grades is foolish; instead, decide to work harder in the future.

roil

to make liquids murky by stirring up sediment; to disturb Be careful when you pour not to roil the wine; if you stir up the sediment you'll destroy the flavor.

knell

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

sepulcher

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

rhapsodize

to speak or write in an exaggeratedly enthusiastic manner She greatly enjoyed her Hawaiian vacation and rhapsodized about it for weeks.

equable

tranquil; steady; uniform After the hot summers and cold winters of New England, he found the climate of the West Indies equable and pleasant.

stigma

token of disgrace; brand I do not attach any stigma to the fact that you were accused of this crime; the fact that you were acquitted clears you completely.

brook

tolerate; endure The dean would brook no interference with his disciplinary actions.

indisputable

too certain to be disputed In the face of these indisputable statements, I withdraw my complaint.

finicky

too particular; fussy The old lady was finicky about her food and ate very little.

cog

tooth projecting from a wheel A bicycle chain moves through a series of cogs in order to propel the bike.

fiasco

total failure Our ambitious venture ended in a fiasco and we were forced to flee.

petulant

touchy; peevish The feverish patient was petulant and restless.

sinewy

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

orthodox

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

turncoat

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

quisling

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

hoax

trick; practical joke Embarrassed by the hoax, he reddened and left the room.

feint

trick; shift; sham blow The boxer was fooled by his opponent's feint and dropped his guard.

ruse

trick; stratagem You will not be able to fool your friends with such an obvious ruse.

dally

trifle with; procrastinate Laertes told Ophelia that Hamlet could only dally with her affections.

trivia

trifles; unimportant matters Too many magazines ignore newsworthy subjects and feature trivia.

flippancy

trifling gaiety Your flippancy at this serious moment is offensive.

junket

trip, especially one taken for pleasure by an official at public expense Though she maintained she had gone abroad to collect firsthand data on the Common Market, the opposition claimed that her trip was merely a political junket.

platitude

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

superficial

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

petty

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

despotism

tyranny--- [despot: a ruler with absolute power] The people rebelled against the despotism of the king.

doctrinaire

unable to compromise about points of doctrine; dogmatic; unyielding Weng had hoped that the student-led democracy movement might bring about change in China, but the repressive response of the doctrinaire hard-liners crushed his dreams of democracy.

infidel

unbeliever The Saracens made war against tne infidels.

indeterminate

uncertain; not clearly fixed; indefinite That interest rates shall rise appears certain; when they will do so, however, remains indeterminate.

precarious

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

litotes

understatement for emphasis To say, "He little realizes," when we mean that he does not realize at all, is an example of the kind of understatement we call litotes.

tacit

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

inquisitive

unduly curious; prying; seeking knowledge We need more inquisitive students in this school; lectures are dull.

infallible

unerring We must remember that none of us is infallible; we all make mistakes.

inequity

unfairness In demanding equal pay for equal work, women protest the basic inequity of a system that allots greater financial rewards to men.

hapless

unfortunate This hapless creature had never known a moment's pleasure.

canard

unfounded rumor It is almost impossible to protect oneself from such a base canard.

inimical

unfriendly; hostile She felt that they were inimical and were hoping for her downfall.

singular

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

lumen

unit of light energy (one candle's worth) In buying light bulbs, she checked not only their power, as measured in watts, but their brightness, as measured in lumens.

iniquitous

unjust; wicked I cannot approve of the iniquitous methods you used to gain your present position.

implausible

unlikely; unbelievable Though her alibi seened implausible, it in fact turned out to be true.

indifferent

unmoved; lacking concern Because she felt no desire to marry, she was indifferent to his constant proposals.

colander

utensil with perforated bottom used for straining Before serving the spaghetti, place it in a colander to drain it.

blurt

utter impulsively Before she could stop him, he blurted out the news.

refrain

v. abstain from; resist n. chorus Whenever he heard a song with a lively chorus, Sol could never refrain from joining in on the refrain.

nebulous

vague; hazy; cloudy I had only a nebulous memory of my grandmother's face.

pauper

very poor person Though Widow Brown was living on a reduced income, she was by no means a pauper. Nankudhu, a decorated war hero and politician, died a pauper

prim

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

infinitesimal

very small In the twentieth century, physicists have made their greatest discoveries about the characteristics of infinitesimal objects like the atom and its parts.

rile

vex; irritate; muddy Red had a hair-trigger temper: he was an easy man to rile.

onslaught

vicious assault We suffered many casualties during [unexpected onslaght of the enemy troops].

quarry

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

robust

vigorous; strong The candidate for the football team had a robust physique.

spry

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

profane

violate; desecrate Tourists are urged not to profane the sanctity of holy places by wearing improper garb.