Barron's GRE with sentences - Complete Wordlist

stricture

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

disband

dissolve; disperse The chess club disbanded after its disastrous initial season.

elixir

cure-all; something invigorating The news of her chance to go abroad acted on her like an elixir.

humid

damp She could not stand the humid climate and moved to a drier area.

audacious

daring; bold Audiences cheered as Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia made their audacious, death-defying leap to freedom and escaped Darth Vader's troops.

obscure

darken; make unclear At times he seemed purposely to obscure his meaning, preferring mystery to clarity.

obituary

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

illusive

deceiving This is only a mirage; let us not be fooled by its illusive effect.

artifice

deception; trickery The Trojan War proved to the Greeks that cunning and artifice were often more effective than military might.

delusive

deceptive; raising vain hopes Do not raise your hopes on the basis of his delusive promises.

pious

devout The pious parents gave their children a religious upbringing.

conclusive

decisive; ending all debate When the stolen books turned up in John's locker, we finally had conclusive evidence of the identity of the mysterious thief.

avow

declare openly I must avow that I am innocent.

ordinance

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

consecrate

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

piety

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

mulct

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

demean

degrade; humiliate He felt that he would demean himself if he replied to the scurrilous letter.

tarry

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

sleight

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

malicious

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

disparity

difference; condition of inequality The disparity in their ages made no difference at all.

diverse

differing in some characteristics; various There are diverse ways of approaching this problem.

consign

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

disavowal

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

charisma

divine gift; great popular charm or appeal Political commentators have deplored the importance of a candidate's charisma in these days of television campaigning.

tractable

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

podiatrist

doctor who treats ailments of the feet He consulted a podiatrist about his fallen arches.

asceticism

doctrine of self-denial We find asceticism practiced in many monastries.

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.

panoramic

denoting an unobstructed and comprehensive view On a clear day, from the top of the World Trade Center you can get a panoramic view of New York City and neighboring stretches of New Jersey and Long Island.

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.

gainsay

deny She was too honest to gainsay the truth of the report.

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.

posterity

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

lineage

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

forsake

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

scurvy

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

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.

swerve

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

acclimate

adjust to climate or environment One of the difficulties of our present air age is the need of travellers to acclimate themselves to their new and often strange environments.

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.

incapacitate

disable During the winter, many people were incapacitated by respiratory ailments.

dissent

disagree In a landmark Supreme Court decision, Justice Marshall dissented from the majority opinion.

disapprobation

disapproval; condemnation The conservative father viewed his daughter's radical boyfriend with disapprobation.

enfranchise

admit to the rights of citizenship (especially the right to vote) Although blacks were enfranchised shortly after the Civil War, women did not receive the right to vote until 1920.

concede

admit; hield Despite all the evidence Monica had assembled, Mark refused to concede that she was right.

rebate

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

indignation

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

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.

apprehend

arrest ( a criminal); dread; perceive The police will apprehend the culprit and convict him before long.

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.

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.

iconoclastic

attacking cherished traditions George Bernard Shaw's iconoclastic plays often startled more conventional people.

offensive

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

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.

fundamental

basic; primary; essential The committee discussed all sorts of side issues without ever getting down to addressing the fundamental problem.

disparate

basically different; unrelated It is difficult, if not impossible, to organize these disparate elements into a coherent whole.

seethe

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

betroth

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

virus

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

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.

benison

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

hindrance

block; obstacle Stalled cars along the highway are a hindrance to traffic that tow trucks should remove without delay.

vendetta

blood feud The rival mobs engaged in a bitter vendetta.

hierarchy

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

clientele

body of customers The rock club attracted a young, stylish clientele.

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.

hilarity

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

venturesome

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

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.

breach

breaking of contract or duty; fissure; gap They found a breach in the enemy's fortifications and penetrated their lines.

debacle

breaking up; downfall This debacle in the government can only result in anarchy.

succinct

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

illuminate

brighten; clear up or make understandable; enlighten Just as a lamp can illuminate a dark room, a perceptive comment can illuminate a knotty problem.

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.

outspoken

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

taper

candle He lit the taper on the windowsill.

venal

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

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.

grievance

cause of complaint When her supervisor ignored her complaint, she took her grievance to the union.

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.

prompt

cause; provoke; provide a cue for an actor Whatever prompted you to ask for such a big piece of cake when you're on a diet?

carcinogenic

causing cancer Many supposedly harmless substances have been revealed to be carcinogenic.

downcast

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

unkempt

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

appal

dismay; shock We were appalled by the horrifying conditions in the city's jails.

analgesic

causing insensitivity to pain The analgesic qualities of his lotion will provide temporary relief.

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.

insubordinate

disobedient The insubordinate private was confined to the barracks.

unruly

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

contumacious

disobedient; resisting authority The contumacious mob shouted defiantly at the police.

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?

belittle

disparage; depreciate Parents should not belittle their children's early attempts at drawing, but should encourage their efforts.

flaunt

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

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.

innovation

change; introduction of something new She loved innovatins just because they were new.

progeny

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

indiscriminate

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

vociferous

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

limpid

clear A limpid stream ran through his property.

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.

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.

array

clothe; adorn She liked to watch her motherarray 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."

discount

disregard Be prepared to discount what he has to say about his ex-wife.

buffoonery

clowning John Candy's buffoonery in Uncle Buck was hilarious.

fodder

coarse food for cattle, horses etc. One of Nancy's chores ar the ranch was to put fresh supplies of fodder in the horses' stalls.

embark

commence; go on board a boat; begin a journey In devoting herself to the study of gorillas, Dian Fossey embarked on a course of action that was to cost her her life.

annotate

comment; make explanatory notes In the appendix to the novel, the critic sought to annotate many of the more esoteric references.

mercantile

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

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.

finale

conclusion It is not until we reach the finale of this play that we can understand the author's message.

denounce

condemn; critcize The reform candidate denounced the corrupt city officers for having betrayed the public's trust.

deign

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

contingent

conditional The continuation of this contract is contingent on the quality of your first output.

bestow

confer He wished to bestow great honors upon the hero.

parley

conference The peace parley has not produced the anticipated truce.

validate

confirm; ratify I will not publish my findings until I validate my results.

fluster

confuse The teacher's sudden question flustered him and he stammered his reply.

turmoil

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

gourmet

connoisseur of food and drink The gourmet stated that this was the best onion soup she had ever tasted.

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.

anoint

consecrate The prophet Samuel anointed David with oil, crowning him king of Israel.

deliberate

consider; ponder; unhurried Offered the new job, she asked for time to deliberate before she made her decision.

prominent

conspicuous; notable; protruding Have you ever noticed that Prince Charles's prominent ears make him resemble the big-eared character in Mad comics?

despicable

contemptible Your despicable remarks call for no reply.

supercilious

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

vie

contend; compete Politicians vie with one another, competing for donations and votes.

din

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

dissident

dissenting; rebellious In the purge that followed the student demonstrations at Tianamen Square, the government hunted down the dissident students and their supporters.

heterogeneous

dissimilar In a heterogeneous group, we have an unassorted assemblage, while in a homogeneous group we have people or things that have common traits.

orthography

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

depravity

corruption; wickedness The depravity of the tyrant's behavior shocked us all.

zany

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

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.

muster

gather; assemble Washington mustered his forces at Trenton.

garner

gather; store up She hoped to garner the world's literature in one library.

garish

gaudy She wore a garish rhinestone necklace.

blithe

gay; joyous; careless Shelley called the skylark a "blithe spirit" because of its happy song.

largess

generous gift Lady Bountiful distributed largess to the poor.

bountiful

generous; showing bounty She distributed gifts in a bountiful and gracious manner.

zephyr

gentle breeze; west wind. When these zephyrs blow, it is good to be in an open boat under a full sail.

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.

orient

get one's bearings; adjust Philip spent his first day in Denver orienting himself to the city.

grisly

ghastly She shuddered at the grisly sight.

apparition

ghost; phantom Hamlet was uncertain about the identity of the apparition that had appeared and spoken to him.

morbid

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

beatific

giving bliss; blissful The beatific smile on the child's face made us very happy.

odoriferous

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

shimmer

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

bantering

good-naturedly ridiculing They resented his bantering remarks because they misinterpreted his teasing as sarcasm.

virtue

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

bureaucracy

government by bureaus Many people fear that the constant introduction of federal agencies will create a government by bureaucracy.

voluptuous

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

pall

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

flourish

grow well; prosper; make sweeping gestures The orange trees flourished in the sun.

arroyo

gully Until the heavy rains of the past spring, this arroyo had been a dry bed.

inebriety

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

banal

hackneyed; commonplace; trite His frequent use of cliches made his essay seem banal.

hirsute

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

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.

maul

handle roughly The rock star was mauled by his overexcited fans.

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.

hover

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

loiter

hang around; linger The policeman told him not to loiter in the alley.

defamation

harming a person's reputation Such defamation of character may result in a slander suit.

innocuous

harmless Let him drink it; it is innocuous and will have no ill effect.

placebo

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

headlong

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

incubate

hatch; scheme Inasmuch as our supply of electricity is cut off, we shall have to rely on the hens to incubate these eggs.

odious

hateful I find the task of punishing you most odious.

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.

wan

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

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.

capillary

having a very fine bore The changes in surface tension of liquids in capillary vessels is of special interest to physicists.

tendentious

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

multiform

having many forms Snowflakes are multiform but always hexagonal.

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.

irony

hidden sarcasm or satire; use of words that convey a meaning opposite to the literal meaning Gradually his listeners began to realize that the excessive praise he was lavishing was merely irony; he was actually denouncing his opponent.

encomium

high praise; eulogy Uneasy with the encomiums expressed by his supporters, Tolkien felt unworthy of such high praise.

virtuoso

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

impediment

hindrance; stumbling-block She had a speech impediment that prevented her from speaking clearly.

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.

hermitage

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

choleric

hot-tempered His flushed, angry face indicated a choleric nature.

firebrand

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

parody

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

consort

husband or wife The search for a consort for the young Queen Victoria ended happily.

burly

husky; muscular The burly mover lifted the packing crate with ease.

mesmerize

hypnotize The incessant drone seemed to mesmerize him and place him in a trance.

supposition

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

drone

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

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?

impalpable

imperceptible; intangible The ash is so fine that it is impalpable to the touch but it can be seen as a fine layer covering the window ledge.

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.

vehement

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

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.

oratorio

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

elicit

draw out by discussion The detectives tried to elicit where he had hidden his loot.

limn

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

primp

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

bedizen

dress with vulgar finery The witch doctors were bedizened in their gaudiest costumes.

imbibe

drink in The dry soil imbibed the rain quickly.

exorcise

drive our evil spirits By incantation and prayer, the medicine man sought to exorcise the evil spirits that had taken possession of the young warrior.

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.

lethargic

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

anodyne

drug that relieves pain; opiate His pain was so great that no anodyne could relieve it.

bacchanalian

drunken Emperor Nero attended the bacchanalian orgy.

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.

desiccate

dry up A tour of this smokehouse will give you an idea of how the pioneers used to desiccate food in order to preserve it.

arid

dry; barren The cactus had adapted to survive in an arid environment.

gullible

easily deceived He preyed upon gullible people, who believed his stories of easy wealth.

timid

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

lucid

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

accessible

easy to approach; obtainable We asked our guide whether the ruins were accessible on foot.

facile

easy; expert Because he was a facile speaker, he never refused a request to address an organization.

erode

eat away The limestone was eroded by the dripping water

omnivorous

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

reverberate

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

economy

efficiency or conciseness in using something Reading the epigrams of Pope, I admire the economy of his verse: in few words he conveys worlds of meaning.

effectual

efficient If we are to succeed, we must seek effectual means of securing our goals.

exertion

effort; expenditure of much physical work The exertion involved in unscrewing the rusty bolt left her exhausted.

ovoid

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

worldly

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

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.

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.

audit

examination of accounts When the bank examiners arrived to hold their annual audit, they discovered the embezzlements of the chief cashier.

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.

grueling

exhausting The marathon is a grueling race.

deprecate

express disapproval of; protest against; belittle 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?

decry

express strong disapproval of ; disparage The founder of the Children's Defense Fund, Marian Wright Edelman, strongly decries the lack of financial and moral support for children in America today.

condole

express sympathetic sorrow His friends gathered to condole with him over his loss.

prolong

extend; draw out; lengthen In their determination to discover ways to prolong human life, doctors fail to take into account that longer lives are not always happier ones.

physiognomy

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

visage

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

laxative

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

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.

windfall

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

deciduous

falling off, as of leaves The oak is a deciduous tree.

delusion

false belief; hallucination This scheme is a snare and a delusion.

perjury

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

grotesque

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

chimerical

fantastic; highly imaginative Poe's chimerical stories are sometimes too morbid for reading in bed.

bizarre

fantastic; violently contrasting The plot of the novel was too bizarre to be believed.

modish

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

kismet

fate kismet is the Arabic word for "fate."

patriarch

father and ruler of a family or tribe In many primitive tribes, the leader and lawmaker was the patriarch.

jaded

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

commiserate

feel or express pity or sympathy for Her friends commiserated with the widow.

euphoria

feeling of exaggerated (or unfounded) well-being "Jill's been on cloud nine ever since Jacj asked her out," said Betty, dismissing her friend's euphoria.

witless

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

fatuous

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

extrude

force or push out Much pressure is required to extrude these plastics.

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.

harbinger

forerunner The crocus is an early harbinger of spring.

dissertation

formal essay In order to earn a graduate degree from many of our universities, a candidate is frequently required to prepare a dissertation on some scholarly subject.

panegyric

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

predecessor

former occupant of a post I hope I can live up to the fine example set by my late predecessor in this office.

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.

malodorous

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

putrid

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

latitude

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

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.

outskirts

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

facade

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

husbandry

frugality; thrift; agriculture He accumulated his small fortune by diligence and husbandry.

baffle

frustrate; perplex The new code baffled the enemy agents.

jollity

gaiety; cheerfulness The festive Christmas dinner was a merry one, and old and young alike joined in the general jollity.

intermittent

periodic; on and off Our picnic was marred by intermittent rains.

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.

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.

anarchist

person who rebels against the established order Only the total overthrow of all governmental regulations would satisfy the anarchist.

proponent

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

tanner

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.

induce

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

germinal

pertaining to a germ; creative Such an idea is germinal; I am certain that it will influence thinkers and philosophers for many generations.

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.

horticultural

pertaining to cultivation of gardens When he bought his house, he beganto look for flowers and decorative shrubs, and began to read books dealing with horticultural matters.

pathological

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

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.

valedictory

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

piscatorial

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

infernal

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

agrarian

pertaining to land or its cultivation As a result of its recent industrialization, the country is gradually losing its agrarian traditions.

connubial

pertaining to maffige or the matrimonial state In his telegram, he wished the newlyweds a lifetime of connubial bliss.

marital

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

conjugal

pertaining to marriage Their dreams of conjugal bliss were shattered as soon as their temperaments clashed.

mnemonic

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

psychopathic

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

pecuniary

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

monetary

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

vitreous

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

erotic

pertaining to passionate love The erotic passages in this novel should be removed as they are merely pornographic.

nautical

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

vernal

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

sartorial

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

metallurgical

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

mandatory

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

scurrilous

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

hermetic

obscure and mysterious; occult It is strange to consider that modern chemistry originated in the hermetic teachings of the ancient alchemists.

procurement

obtaining The personnel department handles the procurement of new employees.

gazette

official publication He read the gazettes regularly for announcement of his promotion.

convert

one who has adopted a different religion or opinion On his trip to Japan, though the President spoke at length about the merits of American automobiles, he made few converts to his beliefs.

polygamist

one who has more than one spouse at a time He was arrested as a polygamist when his two wives filed complaints about him.

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.

cerebral

pertaining to the brain or intellect The content of philosophical works is cerebral in nature and requires much thought.

ecclesiastic

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

eugenic

pertaining to the improvement of race It is easier to apply eugenic principles to the raising of racehorses or prize cattle than t the development of human beings.

lunar

pertaining to the moon lunar craters can be plainly seen with the aid of a small telescope.

tactile

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

dermatologist

one who studies the skin and its diseases I advise you to consult a dermatologist about your acne.

unilateral

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

partisan

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

patent

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

broach

open up He did not even try to broach the subject of poetry.

aperture

opening; hole She discovered a small aperture in the wall, through which the insects had entered the room.

agape

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

adversary

opponent; enemy Batman struggled to save Gotham City from the machinations of his wicked adversary, the Joker.

controvert

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

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?

increment

increase The new contract calls for a 10 percent increment in salary for each employee for the next two years.

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.

demotic

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

pretentious

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

wax

increase; grow. With proper handling, his fortunes waxed and he became rich.

irremediable

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

circumlocution

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

opportunist

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

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.

prevail

induce; triumph over He tried to prevail on her to type his essays for him.

futile

ineffective; fruitless Why waste your time on futile pursuits?

fledgling

inexperienced While it is necessary to provide these fledgling poets with an opportunity to present their work, it is not essential that we admire everything they write.

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.

wreak

inflict. I am afraid he will wreak his vengeance on the innocent as well as the guilty.

colloquy

informal discussion 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.

incompatible

inharmonious The married couple argued incessantly and finally decided to separate because they were incompatible.

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.

effervescence

inner excitement; exuberance Nothing depressed her for long; her natural effervescence soon reasserted itself.

deranged

insane He had to be institutionalized because he was deranged.

demented

insane She became increasingly demented and had to be hospitalized.

paltry

insignificant; petty This is a paltry sum to pay for such a masterpiece.

puny

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

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.

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.

upshot

outcome The upshot of the rematch was that the former champion proved that he still possessed all the skills of his youth.

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.

hue

outcry When her purse was snatched, she raised such a hue and cry that the thief was captured.

minutiae

petty details She would have liked to ignore the minutiae of daily living.

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.

cliche

phrase culled in meaning by repetition High school compositions are often marred by such cliches as "strong as an ox."

circumvent

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

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.

trinket

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

imbalance

lack of balance or symmetry; disproportion Because of the great imbalance between the number of men and women invited, the dance was unsuccessful.

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.

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.

listless

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

pediatrician

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

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.

irreverent

lacking proper respect The worshippers resented her irreverent remarks about their faith.

inept

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

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.

metropolis

large city Every evening this terminal is filled with the thousands of commuters who are going from this metropolis to their homes in the suburbs.

bevy

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

hieroglyphic

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

vignette

picture; short literary sketch The New Yorker published her latest vignette.

impale

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

perforate

pierce; put a hole through Before you can open the aspirin bottle, you must first perforate the plastic safety seal that covers the cap.

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.

ultimatum

last demand; warning Since they have ignored our ultimatum, our only recourse is to declare war.

terminus

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

enduring

lasting; surviving 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.

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.

virile

manly I do not accept the premise that a man is virile only when he is belligerent.

gait

manner of walking or running; speed The lame man walked with an uneven gait.

variegated

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

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 An ugly frown disfigured his normally pleasant face.

deface

mar; disfigure If you deface a library book, you will have to pay a hefty fine.

peripheral

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

welt

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

checkered

marked by changes in fortune 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.

uproarious

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

ceremonious

marked by formality Ordinary dress would be in appropriate at so ceremonious an affair.

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 In this purgatory, he could expect no help from his comrades.

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.

despoil

plunder If you do not yield, I am afraid the enemy will despoil the countryside.

predatory

plundering The hawk is a predatory bird.

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.

permeable

porous; allowing passage through Glass is permeable to light.

delineate

portray He is weakest when he attempts to delineate character.

depict

portray In this book, the author depicts the slave owners as kind and benevolent masters.

vantage

position giving an advantage They fired upon the enemy from behind trees, walls and any other point of vantage they could find.

affirmation

positive assertion; confirmation; solemn pledge by one who refuses to take an oath Despite Tom's affirmation of innocence, Aunt Polly still suspected he had eaten the pie.

dogmatic

positive; arbitrary Do not be so dogmatic about that statement; it can be easily refuted.

mete

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

carnivorous

meat-eating The lion is a carnivorous animal.

alchemy

medieval chemistry The changing of baser metals into gold was the goal of the students of alchemy.

mirth

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

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.

bourgeois

middle class The French Revolution was inspired by the bourgeois, who resented the aristocracy.

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.

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.

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.

undulate

move with a wavelike motion The flag undulated in the breeze.

amorous

moved by sexual love; loving Don Juan was known for his amorous adventures.

console

lessen sadness or disappointment; give comfort When her father died, Marius did his best to console Cosette.

fallible

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

unfettered

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

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.

glacial

like a glacier; extremely cold Never a warm person, when offended hugo could seem positively glacial.

imperial

like an emperor; related to an empire When hotel owner Leona Helmsley appeared in ads as Queen Leona standing guard over the Palace Hotel, her critics mocked her imperial fancies.

enumerate

list; mention one by one Huck hung his head in shame as Miss Watson enumerated his many flaws.

chameleon

lizard that changes color in different situations Like the chameleon, he assumed the political coloration of every group he met.

odyssey

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

aphasia

loss of speech due to injury or illness After the automobile accident, the victim had periods of aphasia when he could not speak at all or could only mumble incoherently.

strident

loud and harsh She scolded him in a strident voice

clangor

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

loll

lounge about They lolled around in their chairs watching television.

reciprocal

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

occult

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

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.

insularity

narrow-mindedness; isolation The insularity of the islanders manifested itself in their suspicion of anyuthing foreign.

indigenous

native Tobacco is one of the indigenous plants that the early explorers found in this country.

imminent

near at hand; impending Rosa was such a last-minute worker that she could never start writing a paper till the deadline was imminent.

impending

nearing; approaching The entire country was saddened by the news of his impending death.

derelict

neglectful of duty; abandoned The corporal who fell asleep while on watch was thrown into the guardhouse for being derelic in his duty.

altercation

noisy quarrel Throughout the altercation, not one sensible word was uttered.

placate

pacify; conciliate The teacher tried to placate the angry mother.

appease

pacify; soothe We have discovered that, when we try to appease our enemies, we encourage them to make additional demands.

optional

not compulsory; left to one's choice I was impressed by the range of optional accessories for my microcomputer that were available.

rudimentary

not developed; elementary His dancing was limited to a few rudimentary steps.

unearthly

not earthly; weird There is an unearthly atmosphere in her work that amazes the casual observer.

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.

motley

parti-colored; mixed The captain had gathered a motley crew to sail the vessel.

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.

forberance

patience We must use forbearance in dealing with him because he is still weak from his illness.

authenticate

prove genuine An expert was needed to authenticate the original Van Gogh painting, distinguishing it from its imitation.

maxim

proverb; a truth pithily stated Aesop's fables illustrate moral maxims.

defray

provide ofr the payment of Her employer offered to defray the costs of her postgraduate education.

marshal

put in order At a debate tournament, extemporaneous speakers have only a minute or two to marshal their thoughts before addressing their audience.

verbalize

put into words I know you don't like to talk about these things, but please try to verbalize your feelings.

interrogate

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

centrifugal

radiating; departing from the center Many automatic drying machines remove excess moisture from clothing by centrifugal force.

foray

raid The company staged a midnight foray against the enemy outpost.

ken

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

incidence

rate of occurrence; particular occurrence Health professionals expressed great concern over the high incidence of infant mortality in major urban areas.

maniacal

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.

entity

real being As soon as the charter was adopted, the United Nations became an entity and had to be considered as a factor in world diplomacy.

foster

rear; encourage According to the legend, Romulus and Remus were fostered by a she-wolf that raised the abandoned infants as her own.

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.

debase

reduce to lower state Do not debase youself by becoming maudlin.

redress

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

commemorative

remembering; honoring The new commemorative stamp honors the late Martin Luther King, Jr.

compunction

remorse 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.

penitent

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

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.

sedentary

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

defeatist

resigned to defeat; accepting defeat as a natural outcome If you maintain your defeatist attitude, you will never succeed.

dutiful

respectful; obedient The dutiful child grew up to be a conscientious adult aware of his civic obligations.

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.

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.

adversity

poverty, misfortune We must learn to meet adversity gracefully.

intuition

power of knowing without reasoning She claimed to know the truth by intuition.

mogul

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

potent

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

puissant

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

impuissance

powerlessness; feebleness The lame duck President was frustrated by his shift from enormous power to relative impuissance.

pragmatic

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

feasible

practical This is an entirely feasible proposal. I suggest we adopt it.

pragmatist

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

eulogistic

praising To everyone's surprise, the speech was eulogistic rather than critical in tone.

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.

connivance

pretense of ignorance of something wrong; assistance; permission to offend With the connivance of his friends, he plotted to embarrass the teacher.

forestall

prevent by taking action in advance By setting up a prenuptial agreement, the prospective bride and groom hoped to forestall any potential arguments about money in the event of a divorce.

avert

prevent; turn away She averted her eyes from the dead cat on the highway.

asceptic

preventing infection; having a cleansing effect Hospitals succeeded in lowering the mortality rate as soon as they introduced asceptic conditions.

arrogance

pride, haughtiness The arrogance of the nobility was resented by the middle class.

haughtiness

pride; arrogance I resent his haughtiness because he is no better than we are.

conclave

private meeting He was present at all their conclaves as an unofficial observer.

caucus

private meeting of members of a party to select officers or determine policy At the opening of Congress the members of the Democratic Party held a caucus to elect the majority leader of the House and the party whip.

idiosyncratic

private; peculiar to an individual Such behavior is idiosyncratic, it is as easily identifiable as a signature.

prerogative

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

dilemma

problem; choice of two unsatisfactory alternatives In this dilemma, he knew no one to whom he could turn for advice.

cavalcade

procession; parade As described by Chaucer, the cavalcade of Canterbury pilgrims was motley group.

igneous

produced by fire; volcanic Lava, pumice, and other igneous rocks are found in great abundance around Mount Vesuvius near Naples.

visionary

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

wince

shrink back; flinch. The screech of the chalk on the blackboard made her wince.

dwindle

shrink; reduce They spent so much money that their funds dwindled to nothing.

wither

shrivel; decay. Cut flowers are beautiful for a day, but all too soon they wither.

mawkish

sickening; insipid Your mawkish sighs fill me with disgust.

winnow

sift; separate good parts from bad. This test will winnow out the students who study from those who don't bother.

portent

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

inane

silly; senseless Such comments are inane because they do not help us solve our program.

fusilade

simultaneous firing or outburs (of missiles, questions, etc.) Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture concludes with a thunderous fusilade of cannon fire.

scuttle

sink The sailors decided to scuttle their vessel rather than surrender it to the enemy.

ulterior

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

dexterous

skillful The magician was so dexterous that we could not follow his movements as he performed his tricks.

gambol

skip; leap playfully Watching children gamboling in the park is a pleasant experience

azure

sky blue azure skies are indicative of good weather.

argot

slang In the argot of the underworld, she "was taken for a ride."

oblique

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

thrall

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

obsequious

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

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.

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.

laggard

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

stealth

slyness; sneakiness; secretiveness Fearing detection by the sentries on duty, the scout inched his way toward the enemy camp with great stealth.

figurine

small ornamental statuette In the Maltese Falcon, Sam Spade was hired to trace the missing figurine of a black bird.

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.

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.

glutton

someone who eats too much When Mother saw that Bobby had eaten all the cookies, she called him a little glutton.

prate

speak foolishly; boast idly Let us not prate about our qualities; rather, let our virtues speak for themselves.

inarticulate

speechless; producing indistinct speech He became inarticulate with rage and uttered sounds without meaning.

velocity

speed The train went by at considerable velocity.

tempo

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

celerity

speed; rapidity Hamlet resented his mother's celerity in remarrying within a month after his father's death.

dispatch

speediness; prompt execution; message sent with all due speed Young Napoleon defeated the enemy with all possible dispatch; he then sent a dispatch to headquarters, informing his commander of the great victory.

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.

cleft

split Erosion caused a cleft in the huge boulder.

cleave

split asunder The lightening cleaves the tree in two.

polarize

split into opposite extremes or camps The abortion issue has polarized the country into pro-choice and anti-abortion camps.

bungle

spoil by clumsy behavior I was afraid you would bungle his assignment but I had no one else to send.

deadlock

standstill; stalemate The negotiations had reached a deadlock.

kindle

start a fire; inspire Her teacher's praise kindled a spark a hope inside her.

parallelism

state of being parallel; similarity There is a striking parallelism between the twins.

inclined

tending or leaning toward; bent Though I am inclined to be skeptical, the witness's manner inclines me to believe his story.

turbulence

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

nomenclature

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

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.

raconteur

story-teller My father was a gifted raconteur with an unlimited supply of anecdotes.

bastion

stronghold; something seen as a source of protection The villagers fortified the town hall, hoping this improvised bastion could protect them from the guerrila raids.

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.

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.

anthropologist

student of the history and science of humankind Anthropologists have discovered several relics of prehistoric humans in this area.

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.

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.

asinine

stupid Your asinine remarks prove that you have not given this problem any serious consideration.

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.

hardy

sturdy; robust; able to stand inclement weather We asked the gardening expert to recommend particularly hardy plants that could withstand our harsh New England winters.

meek

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

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.

abate

subside or moderate Rather than leaving immediately, they waited for the storm to abate.

emetic

substance causing vomiting The use of an emetic like mustard is useful in cases of poisoning.

humus

substance formed by decaying vegetable matter In order to improve his garden, he spread humus over his lawn and flower beds.

spate

sudden flood I am worried about the possibility of a spate if the rains do not diminish soon.

connotation

suggested or implied meaning of an expression Foreigners frequently are unaware of the connotations of the words they use.

indicative

suggestive; implying A lack of appetite may be indicative of a major mental or physical disorder.

forensic

suitable to debate or courts of law In her best forensic manner, the lawyer addressed the jury.

expedient

suitable; practical; politic A pragmatic politician, he was guided by what was expedient rather than by what was ethical.

pertinent

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

dour

sullen; stubborn The man was dour abd taciturn.

conjure

summon a devil; proactive magic; imagine; invent He conjured up an image of a reformed city and had the voters completely under his spell.

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.

satiate

surfeit; satisfy fully The guests, having eaten until they were satiated, now listened inattentively to the speakers.

conjecture

surmise; guess 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.

extradition

surrender of prisoner by one state to another The lawyers opposed the extradition of their client on the grounds that for more than five years he had been a model citizen.

vulnerable

susceptible to wounds Achilles was vulnerable only in his heel.

abeyance

suspended action The deal was held in abeyance until her arrival.

leery

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

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.

bilk

swindle; cheat The con man specialized in bilking insurance companies.

bloated

swollen or puffed as with water or air Her bloated stomach came from drinking so much water.

methodical

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

doff

take off A gentleman used to doff his hat to 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.

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.

palpable

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

quip

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

pedagogue

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

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.

list

tilt; lean over That flagpole should be absolutely vertical; instead, it lists to one side.

yore

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

gratuity

tip Many service employees rely more on gratuities than on salaries for their livelihood.

apex

tip; summit; climax He was at the apex of his career.

caption

title; chapter heading; text under illustration I find the captions that accompany these cartoons very clever and humorous.

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.

cede

transfer; yield title to I intend to cede this property to the city.

pellucid

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

conspiracy

treacherous plot Brutus and Cassius joined in the conspiracy to kill Julius Caesar.

perifidious

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

exchequer

treasury He had been Chancellor of the exchequer before his promotion to the office he now holds.

lionize

treat as a celebrity She enjoyed being lionized and adored by the public.

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.

confidant

trusted friend He had no confidants with whom he could discuss his problems at home.

veracious

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

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.

deflect

turn aside His life was saved when his cigarette case deflected the bullet.

deviate

turn away from Do not deviate from the truth; you must face the facts.

deify

turn into a god; idolize Admire the rock star all you want; just don't deify him.

petrify

turn to stone His sudden and unexpected appearance seemed to petrify her.

torque

twisting force; force producing rotation With her wrench she applied sufficient torque to the nut the loosen it.

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.

homeostasis

tendency of a system to maintain relative stability A breakdown of the body's immune system severely undermines the body's ability to maintain homeostasis.

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.

bicameral

two-chambered, as a legislative body The United States Congress is a bicameral body.

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.

lampoon

ridicule This article lampoons the pretensions of some movie moguls.

static

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

invincible

unconquerable Superman is invincible.

indomitable

unconquerable The founders of our country had indomitable willpower.

insensible

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

bristling

rising like bristles; showing irritation The dog stood there, bristling with anger.

wallow

roll in; indulge in; become helpless. The hippopotamus loves to wallow in the mud.

dilapidated

ruined because of neglect We felt that the dilapidated building needed several coats of paint.

disconcolate

sad The death of his wife left him disconsolate.

jocular

said or done in jest Do not take my jocular remarks seriously.

emolument

salary; compensation In addition to the emolument this position offers, you must consider the social prestige it carries with it.

intersperse

scatter The molecules will intersperse throughout the space according to the second law of thermodynamics.

dispel

scatter; drive away; cause to vanish The bright sunlight eventually dispelled the morning mist.

machinations

schemes I can see through your wily machinations.

pedant

scholar who overemphasizes book learning or technicalities Her insistence that the book be memorized marked the teacher as a pedant rather than a scholar.

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.

postulate

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

deride

scoff at 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.

shrew

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

despise

scorn I despise your attempts at a reconciliation at this time and refuse to meet you.

glower

scowl The angry boy glowered at his father.

clandestine

secret After avoiding their chaperon, the lovers had a clandestine meeting.

surreptitious

secret News of their surreptitious meeting gradually leaked out.

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.

collateral

security given for loan The sum you wish to borrow is so large that it must be secured by collateral.

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.

trigger

set off John is touchy today; say one word wrong and you'll trigger an explosion.

acuity

sharpness In time his youthful acuity of vision failed him, and he needed glasses.

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.

molt

shed or cast off hair or feathers The male robin molted in the spring.

manifest

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

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.

fantastic

unreal; grotesque; whimsical Your fears are fantastic because no such animal as you have described exists.

arbitrary

unreasonable or capricious; tyrannical The coach claimed the team lost because the umpire made some arbitrary calls.

earthy

unrefined; coarse His earthy remarks often embarrassed the women in the audience.

mutinous

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

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.

apocryphal

untrue; made up To impress his friends, Tom invented apocryphal tales of his adventures in the big city.

ineffable

unutterable; cannot be expressed in speech Such ineffable joy must be experienced; it cannot be described.

disinclination

unwilingness Some mornings I feel a great disinclination to get out of bed.

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.

advocate

urge; plead for The abolitionists advocated freedom for the slaves.

coercion

use of force They forced him to obey, but only by great coercion.

wistful

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

multifarious

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.

diversity

variety; dissimilitude The diversity of colleges in this country indicates that many levels of ability are being served.

sundry

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

diverge

vary; go in different directionsfrom the same point The spokes of the wheel diverge from the hub.

isotope

varying form of an element The study of the isotopes of uranium led to the development of the nuclear bomb.

conveyance

vehicle; transfer During the transit strike, commuters used various kinds of conveyances.

tarantula

venomous spider We need an antitoxin to counteract the bite of the tarantula.

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.

wary

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

pernicious

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

munificent

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

lofty

very high 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.

transgression

violation of a law; sin Forgive us our transgressions; we know not what we do.

impetuous

violent; hasty; rash We tried to curb his impetuous behavior because we felt that in his haste he might offend some people.

boisterous

violent; rough; noisy The unruly crowd became even more boisterous when he tried to quiet them.

insomnia

wakefulness; inability to sleep He refused to join us in a midnight cup of coffee because he claimed it gave him insomnia.

vagabond

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

errant

wandering Many a charming tale has been written about the knights-errant who helped the weak and punished the guilty during the Age of Chivalry.

nomadic

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

vigilance

watchfulness Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

fluctuation

wavering Meteorologists watch the fluctuations of the barometer in order to predict the weather.

impotent

weak; ineffective Although he wished to break the nicotine habit, he found himself impotent in resisisting the craving for a cigarette.

enervate

weaken She was slow to recover from her illness; even a short walk to the window evervated her.

foible

weakness; slight fault We can overlook the foibles of our friends; no one is perfect.

languid

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

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.

fanciful

whimsical; visionary This is a fanciful scheme because it does not consider the facts.

maelstrom

whirlpool The canoe was tossed about in the maelstrom.

breadth

width; extent We were impressed by the breadth of her knowledge.

pandemonium

wild tumult When the ships collided in the harbor, pandemonium broke out among the passengers.

lurid

wild; sensational The lurid stories he told shocked his listeners.

vintner

winemaker; seller of wine The poet wondered what the vintners could buy that would be half as precious as the wine they sold.

adage

wise saying; proverb There is much truth in the old adage about fools and their money.

astute

wise; shrewd That was a very astute observation.

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.

apropos

with reference to; regarding I find your remarks apropos of the present situation timely and pertinent.

retraction

withdrawal He dropped his libel suit after the newspaper published a retraction of its statement.

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.

unique

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

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.

categorical

without exceptions; unqualified; absolute Though the captain claimed he was never, never sick at sea, he finally qualified his categorical denial; he was hardly ever sick at sea.

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.

impromptu

without previous preparation Her listeners were amazed that such a thorough presentation could be made in an impromptu speech.

deadpan

wooden; impassive We wanted to see how long he could maintain his deadpan expression.

verbatim

word for word He repeated the message verbatim.

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.

verbose

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

opus

work Although many critics hailed his Fifth Symphony, he did not regard it as his major opus.

militate

work against Your record of lateness and absence will militate against your chances of promotion.

collaborate

work together Two writers collaborated in preparing this book.

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.

solicitous

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

exacerbate

worsen; embitter This latest arrest will exacerbate the already existing discontent of the people and enrage them.

swathe

wrap around; bandage When I visited him in the hospital, I found him swathed in bandages.

miscreant

wretch; villain His kindness to the miscreant amazed all of us who had expected to hear severe punishment pronounced.

abject

wretched; lacking pride On the streets of New York the homeless live in abject poverty, huddling in doorways to find shelter from the wind.

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.

annuity

yearly allowance The annuity he set up with the insurance company supplements his social security benefits so that he can live very comfortably without working.

jaundiced

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

compliant

yielding He was compliant and ready to go along with his friends' desires.

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.

whelp

young wolf, dog, tiger, etc. This collie whelp won't do for breeding, but he'd make a fine pet.

skulduggery

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

palatial

magnificent He proudly showed us through his palatial home.

formidable

menacing; threatening We must not treat the battle lightly for we are facing a formidable foe.

amble

moving at an easy pace When she first mounted the horse, she was afraid to urge the animal to go faster than a gentle amble.

addle

muddle; drive crazy This idiotic plan is confusing enough to addle anyone.

augury

omen; prophecy He interpreted the departures of the birds as an augury of evil.

liquidate

settle accounts; clear up He was able to liquidate all his debts in short period of time.

ordeal

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

rigor

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

polyglot

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

antiseptic

substance that prevents infection It is advisable to apply an antiseptic to any wound, no matter how slight or insignificant.

propellant

substance that propels or drives forward The development of our missile program has forced our scientists to seek more powerful propellants.

serpentine

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

migratory

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

brazen

insolent Her brazen contempt for authority angered the officials.

impertinent

insolent I regard your remarks as impertinent and I resent them.

wizardry

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

canto

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

derogatory

expressing a low opinion I resent your derogatory remarks.

potential

expressing possibility; latent The juvenile delinquent is a potential murderer.

laudatory

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

eloquence

expressiveness; persuasive speech The crowds were stirred by Martin Luther King's eloquence.

bowdlerize

expurgate After the film editors had bowdlerized the language in the script, the motion picture's rating was changed from "R" to "PG."

splice

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

granulate

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

extricate

free; disentangle He found that he could not extricate himself from the trap.

phobia

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

optimum

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

inverse

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

momentum

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

bicker

quarrel The children bickered morning, noon, and night, exasperating their parents.

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.

discrete

separate; unconnected The universe is composed of discrete bodies.

estranged

separated; alienated The estranged wife sought a divorce.

casualty

serious or fatal accident The number of automotive casualties on this holiday weekend was high.

dismantle

take apart When the show closed, they dismantled the scenery before restoring it.

anomalous

abnormal; irregular He was placed in the anomalous position of seeming to approve procedures that he despised.

palpitate

throb; flutter As he became excited, his heart began to palpitate more and more erratically.

barrage

barrier laid down by artillery fire; overwhelming profusion The company was forced to retreat through the barrage of heavy canyons.

exasperate

vex Johnny often exasperates his mother with his pranks.

rile

vex; irritate; muddy Red had a hair-trigger temper: he was an easy man to rile.

chagrin

vexation; disappointment Her refusal to go with us filled us with chagrin.

imbecility

weakness of mind I am amazed at the imbecility of the readers of these trashy magazines.

tycoon

wealthy leader John D. Rockefeller was a prominent tycoon.

saccharine

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

voyeur

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

lout

clumsy person The delivery boy is an awkward lout.

gauche

clumsy; boorish Such remarks are gauche and out of place; you should apologize for making them.

centurion

Roman army officer Because he was in command of a company of one hundred soldiers, he was called a centurion.

befuddle

confuse thoroughly His attempts to clarify the situation succeeded only on befuddling her further.

muddle

confuse; mix up His thoughts were muddled and chaotic.

confound

confuse; puzzle No mystery could confound Sherlock Holmes for long.

discombobulated

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

hypothetical

based on assumptions or hypotheses Why do we have to consider hypothetical cases when we have actual case histories that we may examine?

bemused

confused; lost in thought; preoccupied Jill studied the garbled instructions with a bemused look on her face.

empirical

based on experience He distrusted hunches and intuitive flashes; he placed his reliance entirely on empirical data.

throng

crowd Throngs of shoppers jammed the aisles.

fell

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

tureen

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

incipient

beginning; in an early stage I will go to sleep early for I want to break an incipient cold.

demeanor

behavior; bearing His sober demeanor quieted the noisy revelers.

arrears

being in debt He was in arrears with his payments on the car.

fatalism

belief that events are determined by forces beyond one's control With fatalism, he accepted the hardships that beset him.

vituperative

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

chasm

abyss They could not see the bottom of the chasm.

mishap

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

dissection

analysis; cutting apart in order to examine The dissection of frogs on the laboratory is particularly unpleasant to some students.

graduated

arraged by degree (of height, difficulty, etc.) Margaret loved her graduated set of Russian hollow wooden dolls; she spent hours happily putting the smaller dolls into their larger counterparts.

codify

arrange (laws, rules) as a code; classify We need to take the varying rules and regulations of the different health agencies and codify them into a national health code.

abet

assist, usually in doing something wrong She was unwilling to abet him in the swindle he had planned.

lax

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

cajole

coax; wheedle I will not be cajoled into granting your wish.

narcissist

conceited person A narcissist is his own best friend.

nexus

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

profound

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

dissolution

disintegration; looseness in morals The profligacy and dissolution of life in Caligula's Rome appall some historians.

disaffected

disloyal Once the most loyal of Gorbachev's supporters, Shverdnaze found himself becoming increasingly disaffected.

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.

egoism

excessive interest in one's self; belief that one should be interested in one's self rather than in others His egoism prevented him from seeing the needs of his colleagues.

meticulous

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

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.

concurrent

happening at the same time In America, the colonists were resisting the demands of the mother contry; at the concurrent moment in France, the middle class was sowing the seeds of rebellion.

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.

colossal

huge Radio City Music Hall has a colossal stage.

levy

impose (a fine); collect (a payment) Crying "No taxation withouth representation," the colonists demonstrated against England's power to levy taxes.

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.

incentive

spur; motive Students who dislike school must be given an incentive to learn.

filch

steal The boys filched apples from the fruit stand.

molecule

the smallest particle (one or more atoms) of a substance that has all the properties of that substance In chemistry, we study how atoms and molcules react to form new substances.

histrionic

theatrical He was proud of his histrionic ability and wanted to paly the role of Hamlet.

nullify

to make invalid Once the contract was nullified, it no longer had any legal force.

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.

rendition

translation; artistic interpretation of a song, etc. The audience cheered enthusiastically as she completed her rendition of the aria.

trek

travel; journey The tribe made their trek further north that summer in search of game.

fractious

unruly The fractious horse unseated its rider.

insalubrious

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

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.

generality

vague statement This report is filled with generalities; you must be more specific in you statements.

nebulous

vague; hazy; cloudy She had only a nebulous memory of her grandmother's face.

muggy

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

chafe

warm by rubbing The collar chafed his neck.

admonish

warn; reprove He admonished his listeners to change their wicked ways.

context

writings preceding and following the passage quoted Because these lines are taken out of context, they do not convey the message the author intended.

amiss

wrong; faulty Seeing her frown, he wondered if anything were amiss.

nirvana

Buddihist teachings, the ideal state in which the individual loses himself in the attainment of an impersonal beatitude Despite his desire to achieve nirvana, the young Buddhist found that even the buzzing of a fly could distract him from his meditation.

arcade

a covered passageway, usually lined with shops The arcade was popular with shoppers because it gave them protection from the summer sun and the winter rain.

disarray

a disorderly or untidy state After the New Year's party, the once orderly house was in total disarray.

psychiatrist

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

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.

legacy

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

scad

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

relinquish

abandon I will relinquish my claims to this property if you promise to retain my employees.

ventral

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

elaboration

addition of details; intricacy Tell what happened simply, without any elaboration.

addendum

addition; appendix to book Jane's editor approved her new comparative literature text but thought it would be even better with an addendum on recent developments in literary criticism.

accessory

additional object; useful but not essential thing She bought an attractive handbag as an accessory for her dress.

amiable

agreeable; lovable His amiable disposition pleased all who had dealings with him.

palatable

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

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.

disputatious

argumentative; fond of argument People avoided discussing contemporary problems with him because of his disputatious manner.

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.

practical

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

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.

fructify

bear fruit This peach tree should fructify in three years.

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.

lateral

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

sacrilegious

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

reprehensible

deserving blame Your vicious conduct in this situation is reprehensible.

sedulous

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

caricature

distortion; burlesque The caricatures he drew always emphasized personal weaknesses of the people he burlesqued.

primordial

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

exegesis

explanation, especially of biblical passages I can follow your exegesis of this passage to a limited degree; some of your reasoning eludes me.

default

failure to do As a result of her husband's failure to appear in court, she was granted a divorce by default.

equitable

fair; impartial I am seeking an equitable solution to this dispute, one which will be fair and acceptable to both sides.

equity

fairness; justice Our courts guarantee equity to all.

purchase

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

florid

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

influx

flowing into The influx of refugees into the country has taxed the relief agencies severely.

mellifluous

flowing smoothly; smooth Italian is a mellifluous language.

citadel

fortress The citadel overlooked the city like a protecting angel.

buxom

full-bosomed; plump; jolly High fashion models usually are slender rather than buxom.

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.

ogle

glance coquettishly at; make eyes at Sitting for hours at the sidewalk cafe, the old gentleman would oggle the young girls and recall his youthful romances.

raspy

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

avarice

greed for wealth King Midas's avarice has been famous for centuries.

avid

greedy; eager for He was avid for learning and read everything he could get.

accretion

growth; increase The accretion of wealth marked the family's rise in power.

tutelage

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

trite

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

arduous

hard; strenuous Her arduous efforts had sapped her energy.

eminent

high; lofty After his appointment to this emiment position, he seldom had time for his former friends.

intellect

higher mental powers He thought college would develop his intellect.

apogee

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

aghast

horrified He was aghast at the nerve of the speaker who had insulted his host.

enormity

hugeness (in a bad sense) He did not realize the enormity of his crime until he saw what suffering he had caused.

humility

humbleness of spirit He spoke with a humility and lack of pride that impressed his listeners.

metaphor

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

chaotic

in utter disorder He tried to bring order into the chaotic state of affairs.

innate

inborn His innate talent for music was soon recognized by his parents.

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.

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.

apathetic

indifferent He felt apathetic about the conditions he had observed and did not care to fight against them.

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.

impregnable

invulnerable Until the development of the airplane as a military weapon, the fort was considered impregnable.

opalescent

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

anvil

iron block used in hammering out metals After heating the iron horseshoe in the forge, the blacksmith picked it up with his tongs and set it on the anvil.

anomaly

irregularity A bird that cannot fly is an anomaly.

ineluctable

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

juggernaut

irresistible crushin force Nothing could survive in the path of the juggernaut.

impiety

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

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.

emanate

issue forth A strong odor of sulfur emanated from the spring.

agenda

items of business at a meeting We had so much difficulty agreeing upon an agenda that there was very little time for the meeting.

yoke

join together, unite. I don't wish to be yoked to him in marriage, as if we were cattle pulling a plow.

insubstantial

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

lavish

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

baleful

menacing; deadly Casting a baleful eye at his successful rival, the rejected suitor stole off, vowing to have his revenge.

medley

mixture The band played a medley of Gershwin tunes.

sacrosanct

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

maternal

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

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

waft

moved gently by wind or waves. Daydreaming, he gazed at the leaves that wafted past his window.

regicide

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

myopic

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

natty

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

impenitent

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

ironic

occurring in an unexpected and contrary manner It is ironic that his success came when he least wanted it.

sporadic

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

eccentricity

oddity; idiosyncrasy Some of his friends tried to account for his rudeness to strangers as the eccentricity of genius.

piebald

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

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.

trappings

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

manifestation

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

elliptical

oval; ambiguous, either purposely or because key words have been left out An elliptical billiad ball wobbles because it is not perfectly round; an elliptical remark baffles because it is not perfectly clear.

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.

inundate

overflow; flood The tremendous waves inundated the town.

elated

overjoyed; in high spirits Grinning from ear to ear, Bonnie Blair was clearly elated by her Olympic victory.

beneficiary

person entitled to benefits or proceeds of an insurance policy You may change your beneficiary as often as you wish.

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.

devout

pious The devout man prayed daily.

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.

fallow

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

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.

awl

pointed tool used for piercing She used an awl to punch additional holes in the leather belt she had bought.

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.

doggerel

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

vogue

popular fashion Jeans became the vogue on many college campuses.

presentiment

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

docket

program asfor trial; book where such entries are made The case of Smith v. Jones was entered in the docket for July 15.

interdict

prohibit; forbid Civilized nations must interdict the use of nuclear weapons if we expect out society to live.

inhibit

prohibit; restrain The child was not inhibited in her responses.

extrapolation

projection; conjecture Based on their extrapolation from the results of the primaries on Super Tuesday, the networks predicted that George Bush would be the Republican candidate for the presidency.

salient

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

whiff

puff or gust (of air, scent, etc.); hint. The slightest whiff of Old Spice cologne brought memories of George to her mind.

wrest

pull away; take by violence. With only ten seconds left to play, our team wrested victory from their grasp.

wrench

pull; strain; twist. She wrenched free of her attacker and landed a powerful kick to his kneecap.

chastise

punish I must chastise you for this offense.

pillory

punish by placing in a wooden frame; subject to criticism and ridicule Even though he was mocked and pilloried, he maintained that he was correct in his beliefs.

punitive

punishing He asked for punitive measures against the offender.

castigation

punishment; severe criticism Sensitive even to mild criticism, Woolf could not bear castigation that she found in certain reviews.

retort

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

cite

quote; commend She could cite passages in the Bible from memory.

compute

reckon; calculate He failed to compute the interest, so his bank balance was not accurate.

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.

sublimate

refine; purify We must strive to sublimate these desires and emotions into worthwhile activities.

meditation

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

abstain

refrain; withhold from participation After considering the effect of alcohol on his athletic performance, he decided to abstain from drinking while he trained for the race.

limbo

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

kindred

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

requite

repay; revenge The wretch requited his benefactors by betraying them.

venerate

revere In China, the people venerate their ancestors.

circuitous

roundabout Because of the traffic congestion on the main highways, she took a circuitous route.

conservatory

school of the fine arts (especiallymusic or drama) A gifted violinist, Marya was selected to study at the conservatory.

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.

usurp

seize power; supplant The revolution ended when the victorious rebel leader usurped the throne.

confiscate

seize; commandeer The army confiscated all available supplies of uranium.

truism

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

exemplary

serving as a model; outstanding Her exemplary behavior was praised at commencement.

ancillary

serving as an aid or accessory; auxiliary In an ancillary capacity Doctor Watson was helpful; however, Holmes could not trust the good doctor to solve a perplexing case on his own.

premonitory

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

emancipate

set free At first, the attempts of the Abolitioninst to emancipate the slaves were unpopular in New England as well as in the South.

carillon

set of bells capable of being played The carillon in the bell tower of the Coca-Cola pavilion at the New York World's Fair provided musical entertainment every hour.

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.

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.

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.

dolorous

sorrowfrl He found the dolorous lamentations of the bereaved family emotionally disturbing and he left as quickly as he could.

judicious

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

capacious

spacious In the capacious areas of the railroad terminal, thousands of travelers lingered while waiting for their train.

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

diligence

steadiness of effort; persisten hard work Her employers were greatly impressed by her diligence and offered her a partnership in the firm.

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.

agitate

stir up; disturb Her fiery remarks agitated the already angry mob.

appurtenances

subordinate possessions He bought the estate and all its appurtenances.

reputed

supposed He is the reputed father of the child.

venison

the meat of a deer The hunters dined on venison.

larceny

theft Because of the prisoner's record, the district attorney refused to reduce the charge from grand larceny to petit larceny.

motif

theme This simple motif runs throughout the score.

memento

token; reminder Take this book as a memento of your visit.

trivia

trifles; unimportant matters Too many magazines ignore newsworthy subjects and feature trivia.

flippancy

trifling gaiety Your flippancy at this serious moment is offensive.

jaunt

trip; short journey He took a quick jaunt to Atlantic City.

despotism

tyranny The people rebelled against the despotism of the king.

unintimidating

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

ingrate

ungrateful person That ingrate Bob sneered at the tie I gave him.

carat

unit of weight for precious stones; measure of fineness of gold He gave her a diamond that weighed three carats and was mounted in an eighteen-carat gold band.

prophylactic

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

foppish

vain about dress and appearance He tried to imitate the foppish manner of the young men of the court.

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.

mite

very small object or creature; small coin Gnats are annoying mites that sing.

iota

very small quantity She hadn't an iota of common sense.

sinuous

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

gusty

windy The gusty weather made sailing precarious.

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.

welter

wallow. At the height of the battle, the casualties were so numerous that the victims weltered in their blood while waiting for medical attention.

ramble

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

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.

prodigal

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

vacillate

waver; fluctuate Uncertain which suitor she ought to marry, the princess vacillated, saying now one, now the other.

sinecure

well-paid position with little responsibility My job is no sinecure; I work long hours and have much responsibility.

bedraggle

wet thoroughly We were so bedraggled by the severe storm that we had to change into dry clothing.

onomatopoeia

words formed in imitation of natural sounds Words like "rustle" and "gargle" are illustrations of onomatopoeia.

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.

debutante

yound woman making formal entrance into society As a debutante, she was often mentioned in the society columns of the newspapers.

condign

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

assent

agree; accept It gives me great pleasure to assent to your request.

accord

agreement She was in complete accord with the verdict.

synthetic

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

append

attach I shall append this chart to my report.

prattle

babble The children prattle endlessly about their new toys.

encumber

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

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.

prehensile

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

viable

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

ambidextrous

capable of using either hand with equal ease A switch-hitter in baseball should be naturally ambidextrous.

vagary

caprice; whim She followed every vagary of fashion.

whimsical

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

coalesce

combine; fuse The brooks coalesce into one large river.

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.

absolute

complete; totally unlimited; certain Although the King of Siam was an absolute monarch, he did not want to behead his unfaithful wife without absolute evidence of her infidelity.

fathom

comprehend; investigate I find his motives impossible to fathom.

constraint

compulsion; repression of feelings There was a feeling of constraint in the room because no one dared to criticize the speaker.

egotism

conceit; vanity She thought so much of herself that we found her egotism unwarranted and irritating.

smirk

conceited smile Wipe that smirk off your face!

obfuscate

confuse; muddle Do not obfuscate the issues by dragging in irrelevant arguments.

censorious

critical censorious people delight in casting blame.

anathematize

curse The high priest anathematized the heretic.

dank

damp The walls of the dungeon were dank and slimy.

inveterate

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

ingrained

deeply established; firmly rooted Try as they would, the missionaries were unable to uproot the ingrained superstitions of the natives.

slander

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

carnage

destruction of life The carnage that can be caused by atomic warfare adds to the responsibilities of our statesmen.

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.

squalid

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

calamity

disaster; misery As news of the calamity spread, offers of relief poured in to the stricken community.

discernible

distinguishable; perceivable The ships in the harbor were not discernible in the fog.

awry

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

perturb

disturb greatly I am afraid this news will perturb him and cause him grief.

dubious

doubtful He has the dubious distinction of being the lowest man in his class.

equivocal

doubtful; ambiguous Macbeth was misled by the equivocal statements of the witches.

misgivings

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

ferret

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

rapport

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

libido

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

exorbitant

excessive The people grumbled at his exorbitant prices but paid them because he had a monopoly.

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.

pretext

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

impeccable

faultless He was proud of his impeccable manners.

gaudy

flashy; showy Her gaudy taste in clothes apalled us.

flux

flowing; series of changes While conditions are in such a state of flux, I do not wish to commit myself too deeply in this affair.

glib

fluent He is a glib and articulate speaker.

voluble

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

retinue

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

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.

porous

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

obsequy

funeral ceremony Hundreads paid their last respects at his obsequies.

hindmost

furthest behind The coward could always be found in the hindmost lines whenever a battle was being waged.

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.

mammoth

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

titanic

gigantic titanic waves beat aginst the shore during the hurricane.

pendulous

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

adamant

hard, inflexible He was adamant in his determination to punish the wrongdoer.

callous

hardened; unfeeling He had worked in the hospital for so many years that he was callous to the suffering in the wards.

partiality

inclination; bias As a judge, not only must I be unbiased, but I must also avoid any evidence of partiality when I award the prize.

proclivity

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

daunt

intimidate Your threats cannot daunt me.

devoid

lacking He was devoid of any personal desire for gain in his endeavor to secure improvement in the community.

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.

dirge

lament with music The funeral dirge stirred us to tears.

peon

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

parlance

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

missive

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

prevaricate

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

queue

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

coeval

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

vernacular

living language; natural style Cut out those old-fashioned "thee's" and "thou's" and write in the vernacular.

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.

yen

longing; urge. She had a yen to get away and live on her own for a while.

retrospective

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

introspective

looking within oneself We all have our introspective moments during which we examine our souls.

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.

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.

decoy

lure or bait The wild ducks were not fooled by the decoy.

entice

lure; attract; tempt She always tried to entice her baby brother into mischief.

lascivious

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

libidinous

lustful They objected to his libidinous behavior.

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.

calumny

malicious misrepresentation He could endure his financial failure, but he could not bear the calumny that his foes heaped upon him.

ductility

malleability; flexibility; ability to be drawn out Copper wire has many industrial uses because of its extreme ductility.

inimitable

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

labyrinth

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

scanty

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

denotation

meaning; distinguishing by name A dictionary will always give us the denotation of a word; frequently, it will always give us its connotation.

niggardly

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

cloister

monastery or convent The nuns lived in the cloister.

whinny

neigh like a horse. When he laughed through his nose, it sounded as if he whinnied.

patrician

noble; aristocratic We greatly admired her well-bred, patrician elegance

clamor

noise The clamor of the children at play outside made it impossible for her to take a nap.

passive

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

nutrient

nourishing substance As a budding nutritionist, Kim has learned to design diets that contain foods rich in important basic nutrients.

docile

obedient; easily managed As docile as he seems today, that old lion was once a ferocious, snarling beast.

missile

object to be thrown or projected Scientists are experimenting with guided missiles.

recalcitrant

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

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.

auxiliary

offering or providing help; additional or sub-sidiary To prepare for the emergency, they built an auxiliary power station.

incumbent

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

liaison

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

functionary

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

unctous

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

unguent

ointment Apply this unguent to the sore muscles before retiring.

passe

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

caste

one of the hereditary classes in Hindu society, social stratification; prestige The differences created by caste in India must be wiped out if true democracy is to prevail in that country.

pacifist

one opposed to force; antimilitarist The pacifists urged that we reduce our military budget and recall our troops stationed overseas.

apostate

one who abandons his religious faith or political beliefs Because he switched from one party to another, his former friends shunned him as an apostate.

malingerer

one who feigns illness to escape duty The captain ordered the sergeant to punish all malingerers and force them to work.

optometrist

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

reaper

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

introvert

one who is introspective; inclined to think more about oneself In his poetry, he reveals that he is an introvert by his intense interest in his own problems.

agnostic

one who is skeptical of the existence of knowability of a god or any ultimate reality The agnostic demanded proof before she would accept the statement of the minister.

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.

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.

aria

operatic solo At her Metropolitan Opera audition, Marian Anderson sang an aria from Norma.

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.

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.

flamboyant

ornate Modern architecture has discarded the flamboyant trimming on buildings and emphasizes simplicity of line.

proscribe

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

travail

painful labor How long do you think a man can endure such travail and degradation without rebelling?

absolve

pardon (an offense) The father confessor absolved him of his sins.

whittle

pare; cut off bits. As a present for Aunt Polly, Tom whittled some clothespins out of a chunk of wood.

proscenium

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

translucent

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

faction

party; clique; dissension The quarrels and bickering of the two small factions within the club disturbed the majority of the members.

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.

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.

stipend

pay for services There is a nominal stipend for this position.

pseudonym

pen name Samuel Clemens' pseudonym was Mark Twain.

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.

divine

perceive intuitively; foresee the future Nothing infuriated Tom more than Aunt Polly's ability to divine when he was not telling the truth.

epitome

perfect example or embodiment Singing "I am the very model of a modern Major-General" in The Pirates of Penzance, Major-General Stanley proclaimed himself the epitome of an officer and a gentleman.

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.

problematic

perplexing; unsettled: questionable Given the many areas of conflict still awaiting resolution, the outcome of the peace talks remains problematic.

magnate

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

founder

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

arbiter

person with power to decide a matter in a dispute; judge As an arbiter in labor disputes, she has won the confidence of the workers and the employers.

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.

rustic

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

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.

linguistic

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

graphic

pertaining to the art of delineating; vividly described I was particularly impressed by the graphic presentation of the storm.

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.

germane

pertinent; bearing upon the case at hand The lawyer objected that the testimony being offered was not germane to the case at hand.

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.

badger

pester; annoy She was forced to change her telephone number because she was badgered by obscene phone calls.

carping

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

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.

obstetrician

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

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.

juxtapose

place side by side Comparison will be easier if you juxtapose the two objects.

arboretum

place where different varieties of trees and shrubs are studied and exhibited Walking along the treelined paths of the arboretum, Rita noted poplars, firs, and some particularly fine sycamores.

gratify

please Her parents were gratified by her success.

pillage

plunder The enemy pillaged the quiet village and left it in ruins.

strut

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

prognosticate

predict I prognosticate disaster unless we change our wasteful ways.

endue

provide with some quality; endow He was endued with a lion's courage.

wrangle

quarrel; obtain through arguing; herd cattle. They wrangled over their inheritance.

haphazard

random; by chance His haphazard reading left him unaquainted with the authors of the books.

knavery

rascality We cannot condone such knavery in public officials.

allude

refer indirectly Try not to allude to this matter in his presence because the topic annoys him.

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.

chronicle

report; record (in chronological order) The gossip columnist was paid to chronicle the latest escapades of the socially prominent celebrities.

nemesis

revenging agent Captain Bligh vowed to be Christian's nemesis.

resurgent

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

exposure

risk, particularly of being exposed to disease or to the elements; unmasking; act of laying something open Exposure to sun and wind had dried out her hair and weathered her face.

fleece

rob; plunder The tricksters fleeced him of his inheritance.

dearth

scarcity The dearth of skilled labor compelled the employers to open trade schools.

paucity

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

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.

jurisprudence

science of law He was more a student of jurisprudence than a practitioner of the law.

anchor

secure or fasten firmly; be fixed in place We set the post in concrete to anchor it in place.

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.

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.

angular

sharp-cornered; stiff in manner His features, though angular, were curiously attractive.

acrid

sharp; bitterly pungent The acrid odor of burnt gunpowder filled the room after the pistol had been fired.

hone

sharpen To make shaving easier, he honed his razor with great care.

whet

sharpen; stimulate. The odors from the kitchen are whetting my appetite; I will be ravenous by the time the meal is served.

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.

hazy

slightly obscure In hazy weather, you cannot see the top of this mountain.

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.

vent

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

writhe

squirm, twist. He was writhing in pain, desperate for the drug his body required.

protrude

stick out His fingers protruded from the holes in his gloves.

surrogate

substitute For a fatherless child, a male teacher may become a father surrogate.

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.

overhaul

thoroughly examine the condition of and repair if necessary It is necessary for the engineers of NASA to overhaul the rocket everyday; otherwise, an incident similar to that of Challenger accident might happen.

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.

frugality

thrift; economy In these economically difficult days businesses must practice frugality or risk bankruptcy.

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.

embroil

throw into confusion He became embroiled in the heated discussion when he tried to arbitrate the dispute.

jettison

throw overboard In order to enable the ship to ride safely through the storm, the captain had to jettison much of his cargo.

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.

taut

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

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.

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.

disdain

treat with scorn or contempt You make enemies of all you disdain.

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.

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.

pest

troublesome or annoying person He was a pest; always bothering people.

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.

veracity

truthfulness Trying to prove Hill a liar, Senator Spector repeatedly questioned her veracity.

irresolute

uncertain how to act; weak She had no respect for him because he seemed weak-willed and irresolute.

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.

inequity

unfairness In demanding equal pay for equal work, women protest the basic inequity of a system that allots greater financial rewards to men.

adverse

unfavorable; hostile adverse circumstances compelled him to close his business.

hapless

unfortunate This hapless creature had never known a moment's pleasure.

untoward

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

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.

unscathed

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

fusion

union; coalition The opponents of the political party in power organized a fusion of disgruntled groups and became an important element in the election.

fluke

unlikely occurrence; stroke of fortune When Douglass defeated Tyson for the heavyweight championship, some sportscasters dismissed his victory as a fluke.

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.

derivative

unoriginal; obtained from another source Although her early poetry was clearly derivative in nature, the critics thought she had promise and eventually would find her own voice.

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.

intractable

unruly; refractory The horse was intractable and refused to enter the starting gate.

unassuaged

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

abortive

unsuccessful; fruitless We had to abandon our abortive attempts.

untenable

unsupportable I find your theory untenable and must reject it.

unsullied

untarnished I am happy that my reputation is unsullied.

rectitude

uprightness He was renowned for his rectitude and integrity.

integrity

uprightness; wholeness Lincoln, whose personal integrity has inspired millions, fought a civil war to maintain the integrity of the republic, that these United States might remain undivided for all time.

instigate

urge; start; provoke I am afraid that this statement will instigate a revolt.

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.

substantiate

verify; support I intend to substantiate my statement by producing witnesses.

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.

grimace

a facial distortion to show feeling such as pain, disgust, etc. Even though he remained silent, his grimace indicated his displeasure.

minion

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

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.

incredulity

a tendency to disbelief Your incredulity in the face of all the evidence is hard to understand.

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.

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.

aberrant

abnormal or deviant Given the aberrant nature of the data, we came to doubt the validity of the entire experiment.

anarchy

absence of governing body; state of disorder The assassination of the leaders led to a period of anarchy.

distrait

absentminded Because of his concentration on the problem, the professor often appeared distrait and unconcerned about routine.

assimilate

absorb; cause to become homogenous The manner in which the United States was able to assimilate the hordes of immigrants during the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries will always be a source of pride.

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.

celibate

abstaining from sexual intercourse; unmarried Though the late Havelock Ellis wrote extensively about sexual customs and was considered an expert in such matters, recent studies maintain he was celibate throughout his life.

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.

incarnation

act of assuming a human body and human nature The incarnation of Jesus Christ is a basic tenet of Christian theology.

vivisection

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

repulsion

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

orientation

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

summation

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

volition

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

diversion

act of turning aside; pastime After studying for several hours, he needed a diversion from work.

vicarious

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

formality

adherence to established rules or procedures Signing this petition is a mere formality; it does not obligate you in any way.

viscid

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

contiguous

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

compromise

adjust; endanger the interests or reputation of Your presence at the scene of the dispute compromises our claim to neutrality in this matter.

espouse

adopt; support 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.

enhance

advance; improve Your chances for promotion in this department will be enhanced if you take some more courses in evening school.

precocious

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

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.

mannered

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

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.

posthumous

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

catalyst

agent that brings about a chemical change while it remains unaffected and unchanged Many chemical reactions cannot take place without the presence of a catalyst.

emissary

agent; messenger The secretary of State was sent as the President's special emissary to the conference on disarmament.

ferment

agitation; commotion With the breakup of the Soviet Union, much of Eastern Europe was in a state of ferment.

accede

agree If I accede to this demand for blackmail, I am afraid that I will be the victim of future demands.

concur

agree Did you concur with the decision of the court or did you find it unfair?

winsome

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

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.

dilettante

aimless follower of the arts; amateur; dabbler He was not serious in his painting; he was rather a dilettante.

desultory

aimless; haphazard; digressing at random In prison Malcolm X set himself the task of reading straight through the dictionary; to him reading was purposeful, not desultory.

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.

waylay

ambush; lie in wait. They agreed to waylay their victim as he passed through the dark alley going home.

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.

yield

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

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.

concession

an act of yielding Before they could reach an agreement, both sides had to make certain concessions.

alias

an assumed name John Smith's alias was Bob Jones.

assay

analyze; evaluate When they assayed the ore, they found that they had discovered a very rich vein.

progenitor

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

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.

wrath

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

irate

angry When John's mother found out that he had overthrown his checking account for the third month in a row, she was so irate that she could scarcely speak to him.

parasite

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

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.

fauna

animals of a period or region The scientist could visualize the fauna of the period by examining the skeletal remains and the fossils.

harass

annoy by repeated attacks When he could not pay his bills as quickly as he had promised, he was harrassed by his creditors.

gall

annoy; chafe Their taunts galled him.

vex

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

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.

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.

verisimilitude

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

mitigate

appease Nothing he did could mitigate her wrath; she was unforgiving.

propitiate

appease The natives offered sacrifices to propitiate the gods.

accost

approach and speak first to a person When the two young men accosted me, I was frightened because I thought they were going to attack me.

apposite

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

approbation

approval Wanting her parents' regard, she looked for some sign of their approbation.

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.

endorse

approve; support Everyone waited to see which one of the rival candidates for the city council the mayor would endorse.

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.

incite

arouse to action The demogogue incited the mob to take action into its own hands.

advent

arrival Most Americans were unaware of the advent of the Nuclear Age until the news of Hiroshima reached them.

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.

choreography

art of dancing Martha Graham introduced a form of choreography that seemed awkward and alien to those who had been brought up on classic ballet.

dialectic

art of debate I am not skilled in dialectic and therefore, cannot answer your arguments as forcefully as I wish.

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.

affected

artificial; pretended His affected mannerisms irritated may of us who had known him before his promotion.

factitous

artificial; sham Hollywood actresses often create 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.

attribute

ascribe; explain I attribute her success in science to the encouragement she received from her parents.

ashen

ash-colored; deadly pale Her face was ashen with fear.

assail

assault He was assailed with questions after his lecture.

convene

assemble Because much is needed legislation had to be enacted, the governor ordered the legislature to convene in special session by January 15.

acquiesce

assent; agree passively Although she appeared to acquiesce to her employer's suggestions, I could tell she had reservations about the changes he wanted made.

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.

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.

heinous

atrocious; hatefully bad Hitler's heinous crimes will never be forgotten.

affix

attach or add on; fasten First the registrar had to affix his signature to the license; then he had to affix his official seal.

engage

attract; hire; pledge oneself; confront "Your case has engaged my interest, my lord," said Holmes, "You many engage my services."

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 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.

loath

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

antipathy

aversion; dislike His extreme antipathy to dispute caused him to avoid argumentative discussions with his friends.

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.

accolade

award of merit In Hollywood, an "Oscar" is the highest accolade.

unwieldy

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

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.

equilibrium

balance After the divorce, he needed some time to regain his equilibrium.

equipoise

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

embargo

ban on commerce or other activity As a result of the embargo, trade with colonies was at a standstill.

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.

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.

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.

appreciate

be thankful for; increase in worth; be thoroughly conscious of Little Orphan Annie truly appreciated the stocks Daddy Warbucks ave her, whose value appreciated considerably over the years.

stint

be thrifty; set limits "Spare no expense," the bride's father said, refusing to stint on the wedding arrangements.

nib

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

comport

bear one's self; behave 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.

ursine

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

bestial

beastlike; brutal; inhuman The Red Cross sought to put an end to the bestial treatment of prisoners of war.

pummel

beat The severity with which he was pummeled was indicated by the bruises he displayed on his head and face.

lambaste

beat; thrash verbally or physically It was painful to watch the champion lambaste his opponent, tearing into him mercilessly.

calligraphy

beautiful writing; excellent penmanship As we examine ancient manuscripts, we became impressed with the calligraphy of the scribes.

pulchritude

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

ingratiate

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

degenerate

become worse; deteriorate As the fight dragged on, the champion's style degenerated until he could barely keep on his feet.

novice

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

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.

decapitate

behead They did not hang Lady Jane Grey; they decapitated her.

ubiquitous

being everywhere; omnipresent That Christmas "The Little Drummer Boy" seemed ubiquitous: Justin heard the tune everywhere he went.

monotheism

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

pessimism

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

hedonism

belief that pleasure is the sole aim in life hedonism and asceticism are opposing philosophies of human behavior.

disparage

belittle Do not disparage anyone's contribution; these little gifts add up to large sums.

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.

beleaguer

besiege As soon as the city was beleaguered, the life became more subdued as the citizens began their long wait for outside assitance.

indenture

bind as servant or apprentice to master Many immigrants could come to America only after they had indentured themselves for several years.

astringent

binding; causing contraction; harsh or severe The astringent quality of unsweetened lemon juice made swallowing difficult.

obligatory

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

stringent

binding; rigid I think these regulations are too stringent.

mordant

biting; sarcastic; stinging Actors feared the critic's mordant pen.

diatribe

bitter scolding; invective During the lengthy diatribe delivered by his opponent he remained calm and self-controlled.

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 Because he was able to perform feats of necromancy, the natives thought he was in league with the devil.

denigrate

blacken All attempts to denigrate the character of our late President have failed; the people still love him and cherish his memory.

reproach

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

censure

blame; criticize He was censured for his inappropriate behavior.

unimpeachable

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

blanch

bleach; whiten Although age had blanched his hair, he was still vigorous and energetic.

hallowed

blessed; consecrated She was laid to rest in hallowed ground.

beatitude

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

benediction

blessing The appearance of the sun after the many rainy days was like a benediction.

boon

blessing; benefit The recent rains that filled our empty reservoirs were a boon to the whole community.

chauvinist

blindly devoted patriot A chauvinist cannot recognize any faults in his country, no matter how flagrant they may be.

filibuster

block legislation by making long speeches Even though we disapproved of Senator Foghorn's political goals, we were impressed by his ability to filibuster endlessly to keep an issue from coming to a vote.

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.

obtuse

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

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.

vaunted

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

braggart

boaster Modest by nature, she was no braggart, preferring to let her accomplishments speak for themselves.

magniloquent

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

vainglorious

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

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.

revelry

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

obstreperous

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

dauntless

bold Despite the dangerous nature of the undertaking, the dauntless soldier volunteered for the assignment.

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 He taught by engaging his pupils in a catechism until they gave him the correct answer.

churlish

boorish; rude Dismayed by his churlish manners at the party, the girls vowed never to invite him again.

abut

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

verge

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

maritime

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

blase

bored with pleasure or dissipation Your blase attitude gives your students an erroneous impression of the joys of scholarship.

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.

obeisance

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

pugilist

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

dichotomy

branching into two parts The dichotomy of our legislative system provides us with many safeguards.

ramification

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

valor

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

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.

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.

concise

brief and compact When you define a new word, be concise; the shorter the definition, the easier it is to remember.

laconic

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

glossary

brief explanation of words used in the text I have found the glossary in this book very useful; it has eliminated many trips to the dictionary.

compendium

brief, comprehensive summary This text can serve as a compendium of the tremendous amount of new material being developed in this field.

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.

contusion

bruise She was treated for contusions and abrasions.

atrocity

brutal deed In time of war, many atrocities are committed by invading armies.

bugaboo

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

fabricate

build; lie Because of the child's tendency to fabricate, we had trouble believing her.

voluminous

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

browbeat

bully; intimidate Billy resisted Ted's attempts to browbeat him into handing over his lunch money.

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.

incubus

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

onus

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

onerous

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

cauterize

burn with hot iron or caustic In order to prevent infection, the doctor cauterized the wound.

smolder

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

caustic

burning; sarcastically biting The critic's caustic remarks angered the hapless actors who were the subjects of his sarcasm.

inter

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

entrepreneur

businessperson; contractor Opponents of our present tax program argue that it discourages entrepreneurs from trying new fields of business activity.

wheedle

cajole; coax; deceive by flattery. She knows she can wheedle almost anything she wants from her father.

catastrophe

calamity The Johnstown flood was a catastrophe.

actuarial

calculating; pertaining to insurance statistics According to recent actuarial tables, life expectancy is greater today than it was a century ago.

fanfare

call by bugles or trumpets; showy display The exposition was opened with fanfare of trumpets and the firing of cannon.

evoke

call forth He evoked much criticism by his hostile manner.

invoke

call upon; ask for She invoked her advisor's aid in filling out her financial aid forms.

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.

allay

calm; pacify The crew tried to allay the fears of the passengers by announcing that the fire had been controlled.

halcyon

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

imperturbable

calm; placid Wellington remained imperturbable and in full command of the situation in spite of the hyteria and panic all around him.

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.

reparable

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

malleable

capable of being shaped by pounding Gold is a malleable metal.

tensile

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

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.

inadvertently

carelessly; unintentionally; by oversight She inadvertently omitted two questions on the examination and mismarked her answer sheet.

negligence

carelessness negligence can prove costly near complicated machinery.

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.

descry

catch sight of In the distance, we could barely descry the enemy vessels.

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.

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.

nauseate

cause to become sick; fill with disgust The foul smells began to nauseate him.

leaven

cause to rise or grow lighter; enliven As bread dough is leavened, it puffs up, expanding in volume.

germinate

cause to sprout; sprout After the seeds germinate and develop their permanent leaves, the plants may be removed from the cold frames and transplanted to the garden.

engender

cause; produce To receive praise for real accomplishments engenders self-confidence in a child.

pathetic

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

chary

cautious; sparing or restrained about giving A prudent, thrifty New Englander, DeWitt was as chary of investing money in junk bonds as he was chary of paying people unnecessary compliments.

luminary

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

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.

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.

veer

change in direction After what seemed an eternity, the wind veered to the east and the storm abated.

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.

metamorphosis

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

vicissitude

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

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.

volatile

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

fickle

changeable; faithless He discovered his supposedly faithful girlfriend was fickle

mutable

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

migrant

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

impeach

charge with crime in office; indict The angry congressman wanted to impeach the President for his misdeeds.

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.

idyllic

charmingly carefree; simple Far from the city, she led an idyllic existence in her rural retreat.

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.

fraudulent

cheating; deceitful The government seeks to prevent fraudulent and misleading advertising.

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.

alacrity

cheerful promptness He demonstrated his eagerness to serve by his alacrity in executing the orders of his master.

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.

masticate

chew We must masticate our food carefully and slowly in order to avoid digestive disorders.

ruminate

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

cardinal

chief If you want to increase your word power, the cardinal rule of vocabulary-building is to read.

puerile

childish His puerile pranks sometimes offended his more mature friends.

infantile

childish; infantlike When will he outgrow such infantile behavior?

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.

expurgate

clean; remove offensive parts of a book The editors felt that certain passages in the book had to be expurgated before it could be used in the classroom.

exculpate

clear from blame He was exculpated of the crime when the real criminal confessed.

vindicate

clear of charges I hope to vindicate my client and return him to society as a free man.

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.

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.

clamber

climb by crawling She clambered over the wall.

scale

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

compress

close; squeeze; contract She compressed the package under her arm.

bludgeon

club; heavy-headed weapon His walking stick served him as a bludgeon on many occasions.

maladroit

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

abusive

coarsely insulting; physically harmful An abusive parent damages a child both mentally and physically.

bleak

cold; cheerless The Aleutian Islands are bleak military outposts.

clavicle

collarbone Even though he wore shoulder pads, the football player broke his clavicle during a practice scrimmage.

amass

collect The miser's aim is to amass and hoard as much gold as possible.

agglomeration

collection; heap It took weeks to assort the agglomeration of miscellaneous items she had collected on her trip.

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.

pigment

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

militant

combative; bellicose Althoughat this time he was advocating a policy of neutrality, one could usually find him adopting a more militant attitude.

pugnacious

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

merger

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

compound

combine; constitute; pay interest; increase The makers of the popular cold remedy compounded a nasal decongestant with an antihistamine.

amalgamate

combine; unite in one body The unions will attempt to amalgamate their groups into one national body.

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.

accrue

come about by addition You must pay the interest that has accrued on your debt as well as the principal sum.

intervene

come between She intervened in the argument between her two sons.

converge

come together Marchers converged on Washington for the great Save Our Cities-Save Our Children March.

solace

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

malapropism

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

travesty

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.

ordain

command; arrange; consecrate The king ordained that no foreigner should be allowed to enter the city.

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.

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.

analogous

comparable She called our attention to the things that had been done in an analogous situation and recommended that we do the same.

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.

lexicographer

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

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.

unanimity

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

complement

complete; consummate; make perfect The waiter recommended a glass of port to complement the cheese.

imbroglio

complicated situation; perplexity; entanglement He was called in to settle the imbroglio but failed to bring harmony into the situation.

improvise

compose on the spur of the moment She would sit at the piano and improvise for hours on themes from Bach and Handel.

sedate

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

brevity

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

coda

concluding section of a musical or literary composition The piece concluded with a distinctive coda that strikingly brought together various motifs.

peroration

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

anemia

condition in which blood lacks red corpuscles The doctor ascribes her tiredness to anemia.

compliance

conformity in fulfilling requirements; readiness to yield The design for the new school had to be in compliance with the local building code.

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.

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.

collusion

conspiring in a fraudulent scheme The swindlers were found guilty of collusion.

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.

antithesis

contrast; direct opposite of or to This tyranny was the antithesis of all that he had hoped for, and he fought it with all his strength.

polemic

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

amenities

convenient features; courtesies In addition to the customary amenities for the business traveler -- fax machines, modems, a health club -- the hotel offers the services of a butler versed in social amenities.

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?

facsimilie

copy Many museums sell facsimilies of the works of art on display.

transcribe

copy When you transcribe your notes, please send a copy to Mr.Smith and keep the original for our files.

rectify

correct I want to rectify my error before it is too late.

disabuse

correct a false impression; undeceive I will attempt to diabuse you of your impression of my client's guilt; I know he is innocent.

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.

emend

correct, usually a text The critic emended the book by retranslating several passages.

amend

correct; change, generally for the better Hoping to amend his condition, he left Vietnam for the United States.

emendation

correction of errors; improvement Please initial all the emendations you have made in this contract.

congruence

correspondence of parts; harmonious relationship The student demonstrated the congruence of the two triangles by using the hypotenuse-arm theorem.

vitriolic

corrosive; sarcastic Such vitriolic criticism is uncalled for.

debauch

corrupt; make intemperate A vicious newspaper can debauch public ideals.

perversion

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

barrister

counselor-at-law Galsworthy started as a barrister, but when he found the practice of law boring, turned to writing.

mentor

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

recrimination

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

bogus

counterfeit; not authentic The police quickly found the distributors of the bogus twenty-dollar bills.

yokel

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

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.

mettle

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

tribunal

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

affable

courteous Although he held a position of responsibility, he was an affable individual and could be reached by anyone with a complaint.

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.

pusillanimous

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

quail

cower; lose heart He was afraid that he would quail in the face of danger.

bovine

cowlike; placid and dull Nothing excites Esther; even when she won the state lottery, she still preserved her air of bovine calm.

machiavellian

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

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.

statutory

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

fissure

crevice The mountain climbers secured footholds in tiny fissures in the rock.

malefactor

criminal We must try to bring these malefactors to justice.

juncture

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

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.

diadem

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

pulverize

crush or grind into very small particles Before sprinkling the dried herbs into the stew, Michael first pulverized them into a fine powder.

wily

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

therapeutic

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

panacea

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

imprecation

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

malediction

curse The witch uttered maledictions against her captors.

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.

aquiline

curved, hooked He can be recognized by his aquiline nose, curved like the beak of the eagle.

convex

curving outward He polished the convex lens of his telescope.

wont

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

excise

cut away; cut out When you excise the dead and dying limbs of a tree, you not only improve its appearance but also enhance its chances of bearing fruit.

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.

dismember

cut into small parts When the Austrian Empire was dismembered, several new countries were established.

amputate

cut off part of body; prune When the doctors had to amputate Ted Kennedy's leg to prevent the spread of cancer, he did not let the loss of his leg keep him from participating in sports.

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.

diurnal

daily A farmer cannot neglect his diurnal tasks at any time; cows, for example, must be milked regularly.

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.

hazardous

dangerous Your occupation is too hazardous for insurance companies to consider your application.

swarthy

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

opaque

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

obscure

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

eclipse

darken; extinguish; surpass The new stock market high eclipsed the previous record set in 1985.

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.

defunct

dead; no longer in use or existence The lawyers sought to examine the books of the defunct corporation.

stalemate

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

lethal

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

demise

death Upon the demise of the dictator, a bitter dispute about succession to power developed.

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.

decomposition

decay Despite the body's advanced state of decomposition, the police were able to identify the murdered man.

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.

illusory

deceptive; not real Unfortunately, the costs of running the lemonade stand were so high that Tom's profits proved illusory.

resolve

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

hatch

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

manifesto

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

decipher

decode I could not decipher the doctor's handwriting.

garnish

decorate Parsley was used to garnish the boiled potato.

adorn

decorate Wall paintings and carved statues adorned the temple.

infer

deduce; conclude We must be particularly cautious when we infer that a person is guilty on the basis of circumstantial evidence.

exploit

deed or action, particularly a brave deed Raoul Wallenberg was noted for his exploits in rescuing Jews from Hitler's forces.

libelous

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

discredit

defame; destroy confidence in; disbelieve The campaign was highly negative in tone; each candidate tried to discredit the other.

foil

defeat; frustrate In the end, Skywalker is able to foil Vader's diabolical schemes.

rampart

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

apotheosis

deification; glorification The Roman empress Livia envied the late emperor his apotheosis; she hoped that on her death she, too, would be exalted to the rank of a god.

respite

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

demur

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

belated

delayed He apologized for his belated note of condolence to the widow of his friend and explained that he had just learned of her husband's untimely death.

dilatory

delaying Your dilatory tactics may compel me to cancel the contract.

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.

render

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

acquittal

deliverance from a charge His acquittal by the jury surprised those who had thought him guilty.

cataclysm

deluge; upheaval A cataclysm such as the French Revolution affects all countries.

hallucination

delusion I think you were frightened by a hallucination that you created in you own mind.

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.

laborious

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

negation

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

nihilism

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

centigrade

denoting a widely used temperature scale (basically same as Celsius) On the centigrade thermometer, the freezing point of water is zero degrees.

atheistic

denying the existence of God His atheistic remarks shocked the religious worshippers.

abscond

depart secretly and hide The teller absconded with the bonds and was not found.

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 depondent every day.

disenfranchise

deprive of a civil right The imposition if the poll tax effectively disenfranchised poor Southern blacks, who lost their right to vote.

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.

deducible

derived byreasoning If we accept your premise, your conclusions are easily deducible.

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.

defection

desertion The children, who had made him an idol, were hurt most by his defection from our cause.

venerable

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

invidious

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

annihilate

destroy The enemy in its revenge tried to annihilate the entire population.

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.

defoliate

destroy leaves In Vietnam the army made extensive use of chemical agents to defoliate the woodlands.

demolition

destruction One of the major aims of the air force was the complete demolition of all means of transportation by the bombing of rail lines and the terminals.

holocaust

destruction by fire Citizens of San Francisco remember that the destruction of the city was caused not by the earthquake but by the holocaust that followed.

canvass

determine or seek opinions, votes, etc. After canvassing the sentiments of his constituents, the congressman was confident that he represented the majority opinion of his district.

depose

dethrone; remove form office The army attempted to depose the king and set up a military government.

die

device for stamping or impressing; mold In coining pennies, workers at the old mint squeezed sheets of softened copper between two dies.

diabolical

devilish This scheme is so diabolical that I must reject it.

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.

lexicon

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

divergent

differing; deviating The two witnesses presented the jury with remarkably divergent accounts of the same epipode.

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.

unearth

dig up When they unearthed the city, the archeologists found many relics of an ancient civilization.

disinter

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

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.

assiduous

diligent It took Rembrandt weeks of assiduous labor before he was satisfied with his portrait of his son.

application

diligent attention; (secondary meaning) apply Pleased with how well Tom had whitewashed the fence, Aunt Polly praised him for his application.

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.

protocol

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

subsidy

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

dire

disastrous People ignored her dire predictions of an approaching depression.

exude

discharge; give forth The maple syrup is obtained from the sap that the trees exude in early spring.

chasten

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

faze

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

disjointed

disconnected His remarks were so disjointed that we could not follow his reasoning.

dissonance

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

cacophony

discord Some people seem to enjoy the cacophony of an orchestra that is tuning up.

dishearten

discourage His failure to pass the bar exam disheartened him.

bandy

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

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.

unravel

disentangle; solve With equal ease Miss Marple unraveled tangled balls of yarn and baffling murder mysteries.

ignominious

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

fulsome

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

provident

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

sanctimonious

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

clemency

disposition ot be lenient; mildness, as of the weather The lawyer was pleased when the case was sent to Judge Smith's chambers because Smith was noted for her clemency toward first offenders.

refute

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

contest

dispute The defeated candidate attempted to contest the election results.

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.

profilgate

dissipated; wasteful; licentious In this profilgate company, she lost all sense of decency.

girth

distance around something; circunference It took an extra-large cummerbund to fit around Andrew Carnegie's considerable girth.

cloying

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

unsavory

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

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.

stratified

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

bifurcated

divided into two branches; forked With a bifurcated branch and a piece of elastic rubber, he made a crude but effective slingshot.

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.

vertigo

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

quay

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

hegemony

dominance, especially of one nation over others As one Eastern European nation after another declared its independence, commentators marveled at the sudden breakdown of the once monolithic Soviet hegemony.

nocturnal

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

latent

dormant; hidden Her latent talent was discovered by accident.

potion

dose (of liquid) Tristan and Lsolde drink a love potion in the first act of the opera.

deplicity

double-dealing; hypocrisy People were shocked and dismayed when they learned of his duplicity in this affair, as he had always seemed honest and straightforward.

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.

declivity

downward slope The children loved to ski down the declivity.

conscript

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

liability