GRE Verbal 2020

Anamalous

abnormal, irregular, departing from the usual The scientists at the weather station were extremely worried about the anomalous readings they were getting from their instruments

Imminent

about to happen There was no luggage standing by to indicate an imminent departure

Exculpate

absolve, to clear from blame; prove innocent It took centuries for the church to officially exculpate Galileo for stating that the Earth revolved around the Sun.

Flush

abundant

prodigious

abundant in size, force, or extent; extraordinary Prodigious numbers of villagers, young and old, traveled to the castle to pay their respects to the departed queen.

Acquiese

accept something reluctantly but without protest He will acquiesce simply because he is a sick man.

Resignation

acceptance of fate/unpleasantness Since Jack could not think of a convincing reason why he had to miss the seminar, he attended it with a sense of resignation

Indict

accuse formally of a crime

Audacious

(adj.) daring and fearless; recklessly bold; taking risks As all of the other campers cowered in their tents, Bill, armed only with a flashlight, audaciously tracked down the bear that had raided their food.

Specious

(adj.) deceptive, apparently good or valid but lacking real merit; misleading The intruder tried to give the authorities a specious excuse regarding his presence in the building.

Poignant

(adj.) deeply affecting, touching; keen or sharp in taste or smell It was a poignant memoir of their lost life together

Abject

(adj.) degraded; base, contemptible; cringing, servile; complete and unrelieved His break up letter plunged her into abject misery.

Prosaic

(adj.) dull, lacking in distinction and originality; matter-of-fact, straightforward; characteristic of prose, not poetic Because the biggest thing in my hometown is the grocery store, the city really is a prosaic little place.

Vapid

(adj.) dull, uninteresting, tiresome; lacking in sharpness, flavor, liveliness, or force To me, baseball is a vapid sport that quickly puts me to sleep.

Tractable

(adj.) easily managed, easy to deal with; easily wrought, malleable This new approach should make the problem more tractable; He's a very tractable child.

Stalwart

(adj.) loyal and committed; strong and sturdy; brave; resolute; (n.) a brave, strong person; a strong supporter; one who takes an uncompromising position A stalwart knight; a stalwart supporter of the U.N.

Negligent

(adj.) marked by carelessness or indifference; failing to do what should be done Smallpox also is practically endemic, owing in great part to negligent sanitary supervision.

Ostentatious

(adj.) marked by conspicuous or pretentious display, showy; going all out The economic downturn is causing some wealthy people to curtail their ostentatious lifestyles.

Depraved

(adj.) marked by evil and corruption, devoid of moral principles "Yes, Count," she would say, "he is too noble and pure-souled for our present, depraved world."

Enigmatic

(adj.) mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand Historians have long debated the meaning of the Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile.

Myopic

(adj.) nearsighted; lacking a broad, realistic view of a situation; lacking foresight or discernment Unimaginative/unclear For the observation of small objects, a myopic eye is consequently superior to a normal eye; and the normal eye in its turn is superior to the hypermetropic one.

Flippant

(adj.) lacking in seriousness; disrespectful, saucy; not showing a serious or respectful attitude Many people have a flippant attitude to the potential risks and effects of skin cancer.

Perennial

(adj.) lasting for a long time, persistent; (n.) a plant that lives 'year-round'; doesn't go away David is the perennial optimist; he is always hopeful no matter how bad things get at the office.

Transient

(adj.) lasting only a short time, fleeting; (n.) one who stays only a short time It is unusually hard, owing to the recent severe but transient cold, and all watered or waved like a palace floor.

Fickle

(adj.) liable to change very rapidly, erratic; marked by a lack of constancy or steadiness, inconsistent (disloyal) Sasha's moods were varied and fickle, never lasting too long.

Imperturbable

(adj.) not easily excited; emotionally steady After an hour of meditation, Ivan is imperturbable and nothing will faze him.

Opaque

(adj.) not letting light through; not clear or lucid The opaque curtains prevent the early morning light from waking me up.

Insular

(adj.) provincial, narrow minded The board was so insular in its thinking that its members were shocked to hear criticism of its policies from stockholders.

Glib

(adj.) ready and fluent in speech; thoughtless, insincere Your glib response to my question lets me know that you don't take me seriously.

Germane

(adj.) relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting

Boisterous

(adj.) rough and noisy in a cheerful way; lacking restraint Children are boisterous by nature, but experienced teachers can calm an entire class down in a matter of seconds.

Boorish

(adj.) rude, unrefined; clumsy or coarse The comedian's jokes were so vulgar and boorish that the only ones left in the audience were those who were too drunk to be offended

Erudite

(adj.) scholarly, learned, bookish, pedantic Before the Internet, the library was typically where you would find erudite readers.

Clandestine

(adj.) secret, concealed; underhanded stealthy, like a spy Little was said of our clandestine activities of the past year as we simply enjoyed each other's company.

Austere

(adj.) severe or stern in manner; without adornment or luxury, simple, plain; harsh or sour in flavor The Sanctuary was plain to the point of austere, with no luxuries.

Amorphous

(adj.) shapeless, without definite form; of no particular type or character; without organization, unity, or cohesion Because the painting was amorphous, I had no idea what it represented.

Tactful

(adj.) skilled in handling difficult situations or people, polite

Somnolent

(adj.) sleepy, drowsy; inducing sleep A somnolent summer day

Wily

(adj.) sly, shrewd, cunning Wily Coyote is anything but his name suggests.

Diminutive

(adj.) small, smaller than most others of the same type; think of Napoleon He's a diminutive figure, less than five feet tall.

Sodden

(adj.) soaked with liquid or moisture; expressionless, dull; spiritless, listless My shirt was sodden with rain and mud after we played soccer during the downpour.

Surreptitious

(adj.) stealthy, secret, intended to escape observation; made or accomplished by fraud

Fatuous

(adj.) stupid or foolish in a self-satisfied way Critics claim that fatuous reality shows have eroded standards of taste and quality in the public realm.

Humdrum

(n) ordinary, dull, routine, without variation The humdrum of his house was not proving to be congenial for his writing, which is why he decided to move elsewhere.

Propriety

(n) the state of being proper, appropriateness; (pl) standards of what is proper or socially acceptable The propriety of this extended use is open to question and is denied by some logicians.

Chauvinism

(n) undue or biased devotion to any group, cause, etc.; fanatical patriotism or blind enthusiasm for military glory;

Avarice

(n.) a greedy desire, particularly for wealth

Diatribe

(n.) a harsh denunciation My failure to turn off the light led to my father's diatribe on saving electricity.

Dearth

(n.) a lack, scarcity, inadequate supply; a famine Given the dearth of food in her pantry, Rebecca considered having her pet rabbit for dinner.

Clangor

(n.) a loud ringing sound; (v.) to make a loud ringing noise The clangor of honking cars and the maddening din of a thousand engines almost drive me to vertigo.

Neophyte

(n.) a new convert, beginner, novice (Think Neo from the matrix) The freshman senator is a neophyte to the conventions of Capitol Hill.

Antipathy

(n.) a strong dislike, hostile feeling The traditional antipathy of the rhinoceros to the elephant seems to be mythical.

Catalyst

(n.) a substance that causes or hastens a chemical reaction; any agent that causes change We hope the new ambassador will be a catalyst for reviving peace discussions.

Proxy

(n.) an agent, substitute; a written permission allowing one person to act in another's place. Application to vote by proxy due to physical incapacity.

Transmute

(v.) alter in form One of the goals of alchemy was to find the substance or process that would transmute lead into gold.

Languish

(v.) to become weak, feeble, or dull After four days, the hiker languished, eating bark and nuts.

Impugn

(v.) to call into question; to attack as false The candidate impugned his opponent's flawless record in office.

Jettison

(v.) to cast overboard, get rid of as unnecessary or burdensome The CEO of the failing company jettisoned the entire product development department and hired a new team.

Precipitate

(v.) to cause or bring about suddenly; hasty Instead of conducting a thorough investigation after the city hall break-in, the governor acted precipitately, accusing his staff of aiding and abetting the criminals

Admonish

(v.) to caution or advise against something; to scold mildly; to remind of a duty; rebuke/reprimand Adam admonished his son for tracking mud into the house.

Corroborate

(v.) to confirm, make more certain, bolster, substantiate, verify The witness had corroborated the boy's account of the attack.

Contravene

(v.) to contradict, oppose, violate (Edwidge contravened his landlady's rule against overnight guests.) "Because your actions contravene school policy, you're being suspended for ten days."

Dissent

(v.) to disagree; (n.) disagreement He did everything in his power to suppress political dissent.

Dissemble

(v.) to disguise or conceal, deliberately give a false impression; mislead The celebrity wore a wig and glasses to dissemble her appearance and avoid prying photographers.

Repudiate

(v.) to disown, reject, or deny the validity of; dispute The minister repudiated allegations of human rights abuses.

Immure

(v.) to enclose or confine within walls; to imprison; to seclude or isolate Its purpose was to immure the emperor, protecting him from the gaze of the common people, who were forbidden from entering.

Reconnoiter

(v.) to engage in reconnaissance; to make a preliminary inspection The captain sent soldiers to reconnoiter the region for signs of enemy activity.

Quibble

(v.) to evade or belittle a point by twisting words or raising minor objections; (n.) a petty objection They are always quibbling about the amount they are prepared to pay. The only quibble about this book is the price.

Contend

(v.) to fight, struggle; to compete; to argue "she had to contend with his uncertain temper"

Dovetail

(v.) to fit together exactly; to connect so as to form a whole; (n.) a carpentry figure resembling a dove's tail Although Darwin's evolution and Mendel's genetics were developed in isolation from one another, they dovetail very well

Inundate

(v.) to flood, overflow; to overwhelm by numbers or size The low lying areas were inundated by flood waters.

Disabuse

(v.) to free from deception or error, set right in ideas or thinking

Foment

(v.) to incite; to rouse Elvis's rock music was said to foment impure thoughts and rebelliousness in his young audience.

Aggrandize

(v.) to increase in greatness, power, or wealth; to build up or intensify; to make appear greater The Romans aggrandized their influence through the use of military tactics.

Preclude

(v.) to make impossible, prevent, shut out "the secret nature of his work precluded official recognition"

Burnish

(v.) to make smooth or glossy by rubbing, polish A few more big sales will burnish my reputation and position me well for my next salary review.

Plummet

(v.) to plunge straight down; (n.) a weight fastened to a line I watched my flower pot plummet five stories and then shatter on the pavement.

Castigate

(v.) to punish severely; to criticize severely The teacher castigated the student for arriving late to class.

Expurgate

(v.) to remove objectionable passages or words from a written text; to cleanse, purify The expurgated edition of the story is more suitable for children.

Reconcile

(v.) to restore to friendship or harmony; to settle; to resign (oneself)

Malign

(v.) to speak evil of, slander; (adj.) evil Think malevolent Speak about (someone) in a spitefully critical manner. Don't you dare malign her in my presence

Equivocate

(v.) to speak or act in a way that allows for more than one interpretation; to be deliberately vague or ambiguous When asked by employees about cuts to benefits, the CEO equivocated and steered the discussion to a different topic

Bolster

(v.) to support, give a boost to Bob convinced me he was right only after he bolstered his argument with facts and data.

Buttress

(v.) to support, prop up, strengthen; (n.) a supporting structure The treaty will buttress the cause of peace.

Vacillate

(v.) to swing indecisively from one idea or course of action to another; to waver weakly in mind or will Some students vacillate between schools when deciding which to attend, while others focus only on one school.

Enervate

(v.) to weaken or lessen the mental, moral, or physical vigor; to reduce in vitality Working a double shift at the restaurant enervated me.

Attenuate

(v.) to weaken or make thinner, lessen in force, intensity, or value Economic hardships have attenuated the value of the dollar, making it much more expensive for Americans to travel in Europe.

Collaborate

(v.) to work with, work together He had no way to collaborate with scientists in other places, no Internet, and no library.

Fungible

Able to replace or be replaced by another identical item; mutually interchangeable. The problem is that all money is fungible. Diamonds are not fungible and can't be easily exchanged with each other

Moribund

About to die

Underscore

Emphasize While the hiking instructor agreed that carrying a first aid kit could be a good idea under certain circumstances, he underscored the importance of carrying enough water.

Pensive

Engaged in, involving, or reflecting deep or serious thought; contemplative She became withdrawn and pensive, hardly speaking to anyone

Edifying

Enlightening Spending the holidays with his family was edifying; I now know the source of many of his quirks and fears.

Adjudicate

To hear and decide judicially; to judgeOnly those with the most refined palates were able to adjudicate during the barbeque competition.

Pirate

To illegally use or reproduce I always heed the warning and do not pirate materials by making illegal copies.

Subsume

To include, incorporate, absorb. I would abolish the offense and have the act subsumed under the general laws against homicide.

Rescind

To invalidate, to repel, to retract Once he realized he had given his troops the wrong target, the captain rescinded his order to attack.

Rankle

To irritate; to cause resentment The critic's mixed review of the book rankled the author for days.

Eschew

To keep away from; to avoid; to shun In order to reduce his cholesterol, my father must eschew foods high in saturated fat and sodium.

Cachinnate

To laugh loudly The made scientist began to cachinnate after he thought of a brilliant plan to capture the hero.

Palliate

To make something appear less serious; to make less severe I tried to palliate the throbbing migraine with aspirin and deep breathing, but what I really needed to do was go home and sleep.

Exacerbate

To make worse or more severe Her sleeplessness exacerbated her cold--when she woke up the next day, her sinuses were completely blocked.

Obeisance

a gesture expressing deferential respect, such as a bow or curtsy; deferential respect; First, the Queen's mother was a saint, and her funeral allowed a willing nation to pay obeisance to that fact.

Conflagration

a large destructive fire In the summer months, conflagrations are not uncommon in the southwest, due to the heat and lack of rain

Alchemy

a medieval science aimed at the transmutation of metals, esp. base metals into gold Although alchemy never produced its intended results, it led to advances in industries like metal refining and manufacturing.

Paragon

a model of excellence or perfection

Proclivity

a natural or habitual inclination or tendency (especially of human character or behavior) I prefer to work with people that have a proclivity to be efficient and reliable.

Fracas

a noisy quarrel or brawl The fracas outside of the nightclub caused the manager to call the police

idiosyncrasy

a peculiarity that serves to distinguish or identify Peggy's numerous idiosyncrasies include wearing mismatched shoes, laughing loudly to herself, and owning a pet aardvark

Pedant

a person who is excessively concerned with minor details and rules or with displaying academic learning A kindly old pedant, Fulcher interlards his history with much discourse on geography, zoology and sacred history.

Sybarite

a person who leads a life of pleasure and luxury After winning the lottery, Justin quit his grueling job, and he is now living as a sybarite on a boat in the Caribbean.

Ephemeral

fleeting; lasting a very short time The bump to his ego lasted far longer than his ephemeral brush with fame.

Stygian

gloomy, dark The moonless night and the suffocating humidity created a stygian backdrop for the murder.

Saturnine

gloomy; dark; sullen The saturnine look on her face indicated that things had not gone well at the hospital.

Creditable

good but not great Critics agreed the movie was creditable, but few gave it more than three out of five stars

Salubrious

healthy, promoting health or well-being I hope the salubrious climate of the Bahamas will soothe my stress.

Boon

helpful thing; a gift or blessing

Hallowed

holy; consecrated Strawberry Fields in Central Park is hallowed ground for fans of John Lennon.

Ribald

humorous in a vulgar way

Petulant

ill-tempered, annoyed by trifles, easily irritated and upset; bratty or having a bad mood The parents apologized for their petulant child and left the dinner party early.

Impunity

immunity from punishment or penalty I was granted impunity for my repeated absences from work due to serious medical problems.

Moment

importance; consequence Despite the initial hullabaloo, the play was of no great moment in Hampton's writing career, and within a few years the public quickly forgot his foray into theater arts.

Haltingly

in a nervous way

Inchoate

in an initial stage; not fully formed the more experienced engineers sent his original, inchoate proposal back fro revision.

Dormant

inactive; in abeyance The separatist group, which had been dormant after the arrest of a top leader, struck last night for the first time in five years.

Inherent

ingrained within one's nature Even though lumpectomies are common, there are still dangers inherent to any surgery.

Inborn

innate, natural, congenital to Mammals have an inborn fear of snakes.

Consiliatroy

intended or likely to placate or pacify; appeasing In a conciliatory tone, the presidential candidate promoted himself as a man of the people.

Fervid

intensely emotional; overly enthusiastic; feverish The politician spoke with a fervid intensity that made people want to vote for him.

Filibuster

intentional obstruction, esp. using prolonged speechmaking to delay legislative action The senators decided that a filibuster was their only remaining option to block the other party's legislation.

Daunting

intimidating, causing one to lose courage He sat, petting her, thinking how unreal this all seemed, but at the same time celebrated that they had overcome their most daunting hardship.

Heady

intoxicating; exhilarating He felt a heady mixture of desire and fear when getting on the roller coaster

trecherous

involving betrayal, dangerous, or hazardous

Involved

complicated, and difficult to comprehend

Accessible

comprehensible

Charlatan

con artist Ray Kurzweil is no charlatan. He writes about immortality because he truly believes in it—not just to sell expensive magazines.

Solicitous

concerned and attentive; eager to please Our neighbor made solicitous inquiries about our family after my grandmother passed away.

Primacy

condition of being first in time or importance

Discordant

conflicting; dissonant or harsh in sound the sound of the opera singer's voice over the accordion was quite discordant.

Pusillanimous

contemptibly cowardly or mean-spirited

Belie

contradict; give a false impression The lack of school funding belies the government's claim of making education reform a top priority.

Inflamatory

controversial It only takes one person to leave an inflammatory comment on an Internet thread for that thread to blow up into pages upon pages of reader indignation

Polemical

controversial; argumentative Paula disagrees with many of her college's policies and often send polemical letters to the school paper.

Unflappable

cool under pressure, not easily upset

Comity

courtesy; civility Courteous behavior; politeness; civility.

Craven

cowardly; a coward Despite all his military training, he feared he was craven by nature and would turn and run in battle.

Artifice

deception; trickery

Profundity

deep insight; great depth of knowledge or thought. Even the disciples of Jesus could not grasp the simplicity and profundity of his message; still less could his opponents.

Tenable

defensible, justifiable, maintainable But assuredly they do not include a tenable theory of the universe.

Apotheosis

deification; supreme example With the face that launched a thousand ships, Helen of Troy was said to be the apotheosis of female beauty. f

Crestfallen

dejected; disappointed, discouraged She interviewed for the position three times and was crestfallen when the job was finally offered to another candidate.

Rash

displaying or proceeding from a lack of careful consideration of the possible consequences of an action.

Ennui

dissatisfaction and restlessness resulting from boredom or apathy At least a dozen students because victims of ennui during the torturous economics lecture.

Heretical

dissenting from established dogma Some might find it heretical to put celery in a grilled-cheese sandwich, but I recommend trying it before passing judgment.

Epitome

embodiment; quintessence He's the epitome of a used-car salesman: slicked-back hair, toothy smile, and unctuous manner.

Nascent

adj. coming into being; in early developmental stages My novel is still in its nascent form, so I'm hesitant to describe the plot.

Irreverent

adj. showing a lack of respect for people or things that are generally taken seriously. As adjectives the difference between impertinent and irreverent. is that impertinent is insolent, ill-mannered while irreverent is lacking respect or seriousness.

Pugnacious

aggressive, quarrelsome, fond of fighting It is a clever, agile and powerful dog, extremely pugnacious in disposition.

Countenanced

allowed; approved; supported; tolerated He was reluctant to countenance the use of force

Chimera

an illusion; originally, an imaginary fire-breathing she-monster Many believe that a world free of war is a chimera—a dream that ignores humanity's violent tendencies

Filigree

an ornamental work, especially of delicate, lace-like patterns I appreciate the work that goes into making filigree jewelry, but I prefer a simpler modern style.

Pariah

an outcast; a rejected and despised person

Denouement

an outcome or solution; resolution of a story At the denouement of the movie, all questions were answered, and the true identity of the robber was revealed.

Hauter

arrogance; extreme pride As soon as she won the lottery, Alice began displaying a hauteur to her friends, calling them dirty-clothed peasants behind their backs

Hubris

arrogant presumption or pride Bill Clinton was criticized for his hubris, since he believed he could get away with anything once in the White House.

Haughty

arrogantly superior and disdainful; condescending The principal at my school is haughty and considers herself to be above everyone else

Ingenuous

artless; frank and candid; lacking in sophistication; naive Her fears about childbirth seemed ingenuous to the women at the baby shower.

Credence

belief, mental acceptance

Caustic

burning or stinging, causing corrosion We were reminded to wear gloves when handling the caustic chemicals.

Nettlesome

causing annoyance or irritation

Risible

causing laughter; laughable The teenager was embarrassed by his mother's blond highlights, her use of slang, her constant texting, and other risible attempts to seem younger.

Enormity

extreme evil; a hideous offense; immensity Genocide is such an enormity that one wonders if its perpetrators are as human as you or I.

Ethereal

extremely delicate and light in a way that seems too perfect for this world

Stentorian

extremely loud and powerful the sergeant's stentorian voice and physical size made disobedience unthinkable.

Elude

fail to grasp "The ability to navigate the water eluded him"

Dilapidated

falling apart or ruined, run-down The main house has been restored but the gazebo is still dilapidated and unusable.

Fallacious

false; misleading The utterly fallacious idea at the heart of the pro-war argument is that it is the duty of the anti-war argument to provide an alternative to war

Auspicious

favorable; fortunate The cost of failure is too great, so we must wait for the most auspicious moment to strike.

Incessant

never stopping, going on all the time I don't mind small children in brief doses, but I think the incessant exposure that their parents have to them would quickly wear me down.

Neologism

new word or expression Many neologisms arise from technology, including "spam," "mouse," and "Internet."

Impertinent

not showing proper respect; rude He was always asking impertinent questions, like "how's the divorce?"

Unseemly

not suitable; inappropriate or improper

Acolytes

noun Attendants; faithful followers "she runs the department through a small group of acolytes"

Quotidian

occurring or recurring daily; commonplace The nonprofit organization strives to supply the quotidian needs of people in remote parts of developing countries.

Mundane

of the world; typical of or concerned with the ordinary You might think that an office is too mundane a setting for a comedy, but popular TV shows prove otherwise.

Augury

omen; portent The smooth test-run of the new software was a favorable augury of the product's success.

Peripheral

on the edge, not important

Epicure

one devoted to sensual pleasure, particularly in food and drink Always trust an epicure's restaurant recommendations

Dissembler

one who hides himself or puts on a false appearance

Spendthrift

one who spends money wastefully Putt was a spendthrift and a heavy gambler

Dillettante

one with an amateurish or superficial understanding of a field of knowledge These advanced cheese-tasting courses are meant for connoisseurs; dilettantes should take the beginners' class.

Venal

open to or marked by bribery or corruption Expecting politicians to be dishonest and venal is letting them off the hook.

Flouted

openly disregard (a rule, law or convention). Fabio flouts the class rules by speaking out of turn and interrupting class.

gregarious

outgoing; sociable

Histrionic

overly dramatic, theatrical

Cosseted

pampered; care for and protect in an overindulgent way

Percipient

perceptive; insightful Even the most percipient editor will make an occasional error when proofreading.M

Grandiloquence

pompous speech or expression The dictator was known for his grandiloquent speeches, puffing his chest out and using big, important-sounding words.

Feasible

possible, able to be done It is not feasible to monitor such a range of organisms.

Penury

poverty; destitution During the Great Depression, thousands of people lost their life savings and were reduced to penury.

Puissant

powerful, mighty Over the years of service, and quite to his surprise, he became a puissant advisor to the community.

Exalt

praise highly The teenagers exalted the rock star, covering their bedrooms with posters of him.The teenagers exalted the rock star, covering their bedrooms with posters of him.

Antedate

precede in time; come before (something) in date Harry was so unknowledgable that he was unaware the Egyptian pharaohs antedated the American Revolution.

Ubiquitous

present or existing everywhere He aims to make his product ubiquitous by selling it internationally

Overweening

presumptuously arrogant; overbearing The overweening pride of the celebrity is unbearable; he showed up at the restaurant with an entourage and expected to be seated immediately.

Feign

pretend to be affected by (a feeling, state, or injury). Feigning an injury is typical in professional male soccer.

Affected

pretentious; phony; like an affected personality; fake personality The gesture appeared both affected and stagy

Acumen

quick, keen, or accurate knowledge or insight Her business acumen led her to invest in new companies just before they launched successful products

Refulgent

radiant; shining; brilliant At night, Las Vegas is a refulgent sight against the dark and vast desert sky.

Desultory

random, disconnected The patient's desultory speech pattern was a sign she was still under the anesthetic.

Foolhardy

rash, excessively bold

Bristle

react angrily; stiffen with fear or anger

Urbane

refined in manner or style, suave She describes him as urbane and charming

Venerate

regard with great respect; revere. "Mother Teresa is venerated as a saint"

Contrite

regretful, penitent; seeking forgiveness The judge looked favorably on the defendant's contrite plea for leniency.

Rustic

relating to country The vacation cabin had no electricity and no indoor plumbing, but despite these inconveniences, Nigel adored its rustic charm.

Forswear

renounce; repudiate I forswear Twinkies, Ding Dongs, and other junk food and promise to maintain a healthier diet.

Telltale

revealing

Asperity

roughness or harshness; severity in manner

Inviolate

sacred, free or safe from injury or violation

Doleful

sad, mournful

Funereal

sad; solemn; suitable for a funeral

Morose

sad; sullen; melancholy Alan's morose attitude made him an unpopular dinner guest.

Vindictive

seeking revenge

Galvanize

shock or excite (someone) into taking action. "the urgency of his voice galvanized them into action"

Apothegm

short saying ; a concise saying or maxim; an aphorism. Winston Churchill is famous for many apothegms, but this might be his most famous: It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried.

Diffident

shy, lacking self-confidence; modest, reserved He is too diffident to be a good teacher, which is a shame because h possesses a boundless knowledge of the subject.

Coy

shy, modest

Digressions

side-stories; a temporary departure from the main subject in speech or writing His narrative is badly arranged and full of unexpected digressions.

Unfeigned

sincere, real, without pretense

Behemoth

something of tremendous power or size That huge shopping mall is a behemoth that ruins the charm of the historical waterfront.

nuance

something subtle; a fine shade of meaning

Dispatch

speed, efficiency She finished her thesis with dispatch, amazing her advisors who couldn't believe she had written 60 scholarly pages so quickly.

Celerity

speed; quickless The celerity with which she accepted the terms indicated that we had perhaps offered too much.

Preeminent

standing out above others; superior

Avers

state or assert to be the case He averred that he was innocent. "I am innocent," he averred.

Complaisance

the willingness to comply with the wishes of others The child showed her complaisance by wearing the dress her mother chose.

Viscous

thick; sticky

baleful

threatening harm; menacing

Machinate

to contrive or plot, especially artfully or with evil purpose; scheme The rebels met at night in an abandoned barn to machinate

Chasten

to correct by punishment or reproof; to restrain or subdue We all hoped that joining the army would chasten his wild behavior.

Bastardize

to corrupt or debase "The movie is a complete bastardization of the book"

Censure

to criticize harshly; to officially rebuke When the senator was caught buying a boat with taxpayer dollars, many members of his party publicly censured him.

Truncate

to cut off abruptly Carmen's road trip was supposed to last for two weeks, but she had to truncate her trip when she got sick.

Canonize

to declare a person a saint; raise to highest honors; to glorify She was singing star so canonized by his fans that they refuse to believe anything bad about him

Harangue

to deliver a pompous speech or tirade; a long, pompous speech Sonny harangued his brother for returning the car with no gas.

Gainsay

to deny, contradict, controvert; to dispute, oppose Since Jack told the truth on the witness stand, no one was able to gainsay his statement

Abscond

to depart clandestinely; to steal off and hide The suspect absconded to Canada.

Divulge

to disclose something secret CIA agents may not divulge any information related to the jobs, even to their family members.

Refute

to disprove; to successfully argue against His claim to be the child's father was refuted by DNA evidence.

Harrow

to distress; to cause agony to The child's uncontrollable outbursts at home harrowed his parents.

Preen

to dress up; to primp; to groom oneself with elaborate care Male birds of paradise preen their feathers and clean their nests in order to woo females.

Flag

to droop; grow weak or tired

Regale

to entertain or delight I could regale you with stories from the family reunion, but let's just say I'm glad that I live on the other side of the country.

Malinger

to feign illness to avoid work She malingered so often that when she actually fell ill, she had used up all of her sick days.

Ascertain

to find out; determine; identify Please ascertain who has responsibility for this footpath

Portend

to foreshadow or indicate in advance Having a black cat pass your path is said to portend bad luck.

Begrudge

to give reluctantly, to envy a possession or one's enjoyment After what he's been through, it's hard to begrudge him the money he has.

Cede

to give up control

Inure

to harden; accustom; become used to

Encumber

to hold back

Hobble

to hold back the progress of something

Intimate

to imply, suggest, or insinuate Surprised by the intimate motion that seemed meant to comfort her, Deidre glanced up at him before nuzzling his neck

Ameliorate

to improve, make better, correct a flaw or shortcoming A centralized policy would compound, not ameliorate, the problem.

Extrapolate

to infer or estimate by extending or projecting known information

Unnerve

to make nervous or upset

Rarefy

to make or become thin, less dense; to refine It is hard for climbers to breathe the rarefied air at the top of Mount Everest without oxygen masks.

Consecrate

to make sacred, hallow; to set apart for a special purpose

exacerbate

to make worse

Descry

to observe or discern the astute editor could descry a misspelling or factual error before the rest of us could even finish the sentence.

Inveigle

to obtain by means of deception or flattery The salesperson inveigled the woman to buy the outlandish and expensive hat.

Laud

to praise highly The sea-weary crew lauded the captain's decision to stay in port for an extra day.

Frustrate

to prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; to cause feelings of discouragement I thought I would finish writing the paper by lunchtime, but a number of urgent interruptions served to frustrate my plan.

Obviate

to prevent; to make unnecessary Streaming movies online obviates the need to go to a video store.

Engender

to produce, cause, or bring about The presidents policies have engendered arguments within the party.

Dog

to pursue relentlessly; to hound He was dogged by insecurities his entire life.

Assay

to put to a test Her ability to quickly assay a situation and find a solution is what makes her a great manager and troubleshooter.

Deride

to putdown, ridicule, with contempt The nun derided the students for trying to sneak insects and worms into the classroom.

Adulterate

to reduce purity, make worse by the addition of something of lesser value Some people believe that cream and sugar adulterate coffee.

Proliferate

to reproduce, increase, or spread rapidly With the popularity of the Zumba craze, health clubs that feature this exercise class have begun to proliferate in most cities

Reiterate

to say again, repeat She reiterated her point for those who were still confused.

Fetter

to shackle; to put in chains My understanding of the argument was fettered by my lack of fluency in the language.

Founder

to sink; to fail completely I had a great business plan and product, but my company foundered because I couldn't attract investors.

Gambol

to skip about playfully

Preempt

to supersede; appropiate for oneself

Capitulate

to surrender Paul, losing 19-0 in a ping-pong match against his nimble friend, basically capitulated when he played the last two points with his eyes closed.

Cogently

to the point; pertinent

Equivocating

to use unclear language especially to deceive or mislead someone; deflecting The applicant seemed to be equivocating when we asked him about his last job.

Desecrate

to violate the sacredness of a thing or place When folding a national flag, you should not desecrate it by letting it drag on the ground.

Pine

to yearn intensely; to languish; to lose vigor Meredith lost her appetite and became noticeably thinner as she pined for her dog, which had been missing for three months.

Presumptuous

too forward or bold; overstepping proper bounds Wandering into the kitchen at the home of an acquaintance and helping yourself to the contents of their refrigerator, for instance, would be presumptuous.

Pellucid

transparent, clear, easy to understand If the tax code were more pellucid, thousands of accountants would be out of business.

Doggerel

trivial or poorly constructed verse Amid the doggerel on the bathroom walls, there is occasionally one piece of poetry that's quite clever.

Firebrand

troublemaker

Veritable

true, actual, real, authentic When the unruly students were left unattended, they turned the classroom into a veritable circus

Tempestuous

turbulent, stormy; intensely emotional Chuck and Kathy had always been stable and agreeable people on their own, but when they got involved, it was a tempestuous relationship.

Exemplar

typical or standard specimen; paradigm, model "Candy Girl" is an exemplar of the Jackson 5's best work.

Impregnable

unable to be captured or broken into; indestructable As a child, Amy would build pillow castles and pretend they were impregnable fortresses.

Disinterested

unbiased, neutral, or free from personal motive The potential juror knew the defendant, and therefore could not serve on the jury, which must consist only of disinterested members

Apathetic

uncaring Mr. Thompson was so talented at teaching math that even normally apathetic students took interest.

Insensible

unconscious; unresponsive The boxer dropped his defenses just long enough for his opponent to land a right hook that left him insensible on the canvas for a few minutes.

Raffish

unconventional and slightly disreputable, carefree, vulgar Though he was raffish, there was something about his careless style that was refreshing in the stuffy boardroom.

Tacit

understood or implied without being stated; indirect Dean was beginning to have serious reservations about the trip and his tacit agreement to it now that it was a reality.

Infelicitous

unfortunate; inappropriate An uncomfortable silence fell over the dinner table after one of the guests made an infelicitous comment to the hostess.

Bromide

unintentional remark

Hapless

unlucky

Inert

unmoving; lethargic; sluggish The overweight dog is inert and refuses to go for a walk.

Derivative

unoriginal; Imitative of the work of another, and usually disapproved of for that reason. Until she developed her own style, her early painting were derivative; their reliance on other artists' work was obvious.

Nebulous

vague; cloudy; lacking clearly defined form My plans for tomorrow are nebulous, but I'll contact you later to work out the details.

Jejune

vapid, uninteresting, nugatory; childish, immature, puerile Critics slammed the author's first novel for being jejune; hopefully her second will be more mature.

Variegated

varied; marked with different colors

Eloquent

well-spoken; expressive The author of the book sounded eloquent when he read his work, but he mumbled and stuttered during the Q&A session.

Truculence

with a tendency to fight; aggressiveness, ferocity

Artless

without deception or guile; open and honest She laughed her mellow, easy laugh, that was either very artless or very comprehending, one never quite knew which.

Epigram

witty comment or saying Only those with the most refined palates were able to adjudicate during the barbeque competition.

Verbose

wordy, very talkative For once, his usually verbose wife was content to listen.

Cosmopolitan

worldly; sophisticated Since Jane loved being around people of various cultures, she enjoyed the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the international market.

Maculate

marked with spots or blotches; impure After the unruly holiday feast, we all laughed over the maculate tablecloth.

Consummate

masterful; complete or perfect in the highest degree

Arcane

mysterious; esoteric Arcane vocabulary words are a source of great frustration for many GRE test-takers.

Lambaste

(Lamb-based) (v) criticize (someone or something) harshly; to excoriate; to berate The coach lambasted his players at halftime for their bad attitude, bad decisions, and exceptionally bad performance.

Recondite

(Of a subject of knowledge) little known; abstruse; dealing with very profound, difficult, or abstruse subject matter The recondite speech of the guest lecturer left audience members confused and bored.

Dissident

(Think revolutionary) A person who opposes official policy, especially that of an authoritarian state. "a dissident who had been jailed by a military regime"

Goaded

(V) provoke or annoy (someone) so as to stimulate some action or reaction he goaded her on to more daring revelations

Base

(adj) Contemptible and ignoble She was not so base as to begrudge the mendicant the unwanted crumbs from her dinner plate.

Debase

Reduce the value

Laudable

(adj) Through his laudable and courageous actions, the fireman saved five people from a burning building.

Magnanimous

(adj) bigger than oneself, generous and noble in mind and heart, especially in forgiving Giving the employees Fridays off during the summer was a magnanimous gesture.

Corporeal

(adj) bodily (rather than spiritual); of a bodily form; material; tangible He took corporeal shape as a huge crab that lay floating, face upwards, upon the waters.

Byzantine

(adj) extremely intricate or complicated in structure. In our department, byzantine filing systems are a form of job security since we are the only ones who can find key documents.

Judicious

(adj) having, showing, or done with good judgment or sense. Judicious use of one's money; you did not waste a dime!

Sullen

(adj) silent or brooding because of ill humor, anger, or resentment; slow moving, sluggish.

Deft

(adj) skillful, nimble, especially relating to hands With deft fingers she untangled the wire

Fanciful

(adj) whimsical, capricious; imaginary; freely imaginative rather than based on reason or reality It was too fanciful to look so far ahead when he needed to determine how to prevent his people from starving.

Misanthropic

(adj)disliking humankind and avoiding human society

Polemical (polemic)

(adj)relating to or involving strongly critical, controversial, or disputatious writing or speech. (noun) a controversial argument or person engaged in or inclined to controversy, argument, or refutation. "Her book is a fierce polemic against the inequalities in our society"

Slight

(adj, v, n) small, not very important, slender or delicate (adj); treat as though not very important; snub, ignore (verb); an act of treating in this way, a discourtesy (noun) She slighted me when she asked me for my name after 3 years of working together.

Meritorious

(adj.) - deserving of praise or merit Of all his achievements, winning the gold medal was definitely his most meritorious.

Salutary

(adj.) beneficial, helpful; healthful, wholesome Salutary exercises such as stretching can keep tendonitis from getting worse

Unctuous

(adj.) Excessively smooth or smug; trying too hard to give an impression of earnestness, sincerity, or piety; fatty, oily; pliable He seemed anxious to please but not in an unctuous way

Felicitous

(adj.) appropriate, apt, well chosen; marked by well-being or good fortune, happy The felicitous arrival of the pizza put my grumbling stomach at ease.

Spurious

(adj.) artificial, false, counterproductive; poor idea Politicians often accuse each other of saying things that are spurious and meant to deceive the voters.

Gauche

(adj.) awkward, lacking in social graces, tactless, clumsy She was a rather gauche, provincial creature.

Mordant

(adj.) biting, witty, or caustic in thought, manner, or style; sharply or bitterly harsh He joined the Extreme Left, and his energy and mordant eloquence speedily made him the leader of the Radical section.

Vitriolic

(adj.) bitter, sarcastic; highly caustic or biting (like a strong acid)

Insouciant

(adj.) blithely indifferent or unconcerned; carefree; happy-go-lucky The insouciant cyclist sang along with his headphones as he wove in and out of the busy downtown traffic.

Brazen

(adj.) bold and without shame, impudent; made of brass He went about his illegal business with a brazen assurance

Dilatory

(adj.) causing delay; intended to delay or postpone; tending to delay or procrastinate, not prompt; I realized later that the students' dilatory interruptions were a plot to get to the end of class before I had time to assign homework.

Bucolic

(adj.) characteristic of the countryside, rural; relating to shepherds and cowherds, pastoral "Where do they live?" she asked as we rolled up and down low hills by bucolic pastures.

Mawkish

(adj.) excessively and objectionably sentimental; having a mildly sickening flavor How you'd describe two lovebirds gushing over each other or your grandma's cooing, cheek pinches, and sloppy-lipstick kisses.

Captious

(adj.) excessively ready to find fault; given to petty criticism; intended to trap, confuse, or show up Watch out for captious questions during the cross-examination; the opposing counsel is a master at entrapping witnesses on the stand.

Eminent

(adj.) famous, outstanding, distinguished; projecting

Forthright

(adj.) frank, direct, straightforward

Congenial

(adj.) getting on well with others; agreeable, pleasant He found the work to be congenial. She was congenial and easygoing.

Taciturn

(adj.) habitually silent or quiet, inclined to talk very little The taciturn employee blew my mind when he spoke for longer than 3 sentences at the meeting.

Inscrutable

(adj.) incapable of being understood or discovered The secrets of the inscrutable Sphinx are likely to remain undiscovered forever.

Feckless

(adj.) ineffectual; irresponsible She can't rely on her feckless sonThe feckless chief inspector always solved the crime despite his ignorance and uselessness.

Provocative

(adj.) inflammatory; tending to produce a strong feeling or response; arousing desire or appetite; irritating, annoying His provocative words only fueled the argument further.

Esoteric

(adj.) intended for or understood by only a select few, private, secret Janice's thesis on deconstructing syntax and meter of Old Norse poetry is esoteric.

Vehement

(adj.) intense, forceful, powerful; very emotional

Paradigmatic

(adj.) of or relating to a typical example His biography is paradigmatic of the experiences of this generation

Noisome

(adj.) offensive or disgusting; foul-smelling Each August, when the winds moved in a south easterly direction, the garbage dump would spread noisome vapors through the small town

Ebullient

(adj.) overflowing with enthusiasm and excitement; boiling, bubbling Because my Uncle Jake has an ebullient personality, he is a great circus clown.

Smug

(adj.) overly self-satisfied, self-righteous When Phil was dating the model, he had a smug attitude that annoyed his buddies.

Beneficent

(adj.) performing acts of kindness or charity; conferring benefits, doing good; generosity My beneficent neighbor gives out meals to the poor every Sunday

Sedulous

(adj.) persistent, diligent, showing industry and determination With sedulous concentration, the chess player managed to defeat the reigning champion.

Loquacious

(adj.) talkative, wordy; fond of talking My aunt is annoyingly loquacious; she speaks at great length about minor occurrences in her life.

Soporific

(adj.) tending to cause sleep, relating to sleepiness or lethargy; (n.) something that induces sleep 1. The professor's boring speech was soporific and had everyone in the audience yawning. 2. While alcohol is soporific and can help you sleep, it does not take away your problems

Desiccated

(adj.) to dry out; to make dull or dry When you desiccate fresh herbs, they keep longer, but lose some of their flavor.

Irresolute

(adj.) uncertain how to act; unable to make up one's mind, hesitating

Exorbitant

(adj.) unreasonably high; excessive His exorbitant spending caused his bankruptcy

Wayward

(adj.) unruly, disobedient, willful; unpredictable, capricious Ever since leaving college during his first year, Ken has been a wayward young man who cannot keep a job.

Cumbersome

(adj.) unweildy, hard to handle; slow-moving Cumbersome diving suits make walking across the beach a challenge.

Evanescent

(adj.) vanishing, soon passing away like vapor Despite the evanescent nature of fashion, the classic look of blue jeans and a T-shirt will never go out of style.

Punctilious

(adj.) very careful and exact, attentive to fine points of etiquette or propriety; overly precise The colonel was so punctilious about enforcing regulations that men feel compelled to polish even the soles of their shoes

Fervent

(adj.) very earnest, emotional, passionate; zealous Fred sent a fervent letter to his senator expressing his strong opposition to the bill.

Illustrious

(adj.) very famous, distinguished Einstein was possibly the most illustrious scientist in recent history.

Prodigal

(adj.) wastefully extravagant; lavishly or generously abundant; (n.) one who is wasteful and self-indulgent The government wished to clip the wings of the local authority prodigals

Nefarious

(adj.) wicked, depraved, devoid of moral standards Some of the most nefarious criminals in the world are held in that maximum-security prison.

Amenable

(adj.) willing to follow advice or authority, tractable, submissive; responsive; liable to be held responsible "If your friends want to try sky diving and you're amenable to the idea, sounds like you're going to be jumping out of a plane. If a person or thing is amenable to something, they are ready, willing, or responsive."

Tortuous

(adj.) winding, twisted, crooked; highly involved, complex; devious The tortuous path through the redwoods twists around dozens of tree trunks.

Scintillating

(adj., part.) sparkling, twinkling, exceptionally brilliant (applied to mental or personal qualities) Choosing either a Newbery book or an honor book will guarantee a scintillating story

Parsimoniously

(adv.) not willing to spend money or give something. Frugal to the point of being stingy. He is said to have been parsimonious, and certainly he was quicker to receive than to reciprocate hospitalities.

Akimbo

(adverb) With hands on the hips and elbows turned outward "She stood with arms akimbo, frowning at the small boy"

Synoptic

(from synopsis; "abbreviated") A synoptic outline of the contents

Cajole

(inveigle/flatter in order to get something) (v.) to coax, persuade through flattery or artifice The director had to cajole the vain actor into wearing the chicken suit.

Wheedle

(like cajole/convince) Verb use flattery or coaxing in order to persuade someone to do something or give one something. She wheedled her way on to the guest list.

Gaffe

(n) a clumsy social error; a faux pas There are times when a celebrity makes a gaffe in public or does something truly outrageous, but these actions fail to make much of an impression with the public.

Decadent

(n) a person who is luxuriously self-indulgent. I do resent a Government Minister telling me I got into debt because I was flighty, frivolous and decadent

Harbinger

(n) a thing/person that announces or signals the approach of another The Grim Reaper, with his cloak and scythe, is a harbinger of death.

Clemency

(n.) mercy, humaneness; mildness, moderateness In the final moments of the trial, during his closing speech, Phillips was nearly begging the judge for clemency.

Decorum

(n.) polite or appropriate conduct or behavior There are courses available in which one can learn the proper decorum for job interviews, such as shaking hands firmly and looking your interviewer in the eye.

Sophistry

(n.) reasoning that seems plausible but is actually unsound; a fallacy The subtlety of his sophistry made him a dangerous con man.

Approbation

(n.) the expression of approval or favorable opinion, praise; official approval The civil rights leader's most recent speech to her supporters was received with great approbation.

Animus

(noun) hostile feeling or intent; animosity; hostility; disposition Having learned forgiveness, she felt no animus toward those who had wronged her

Fervor

(noun) intense and passionate feeling Consumers met the dolls with such fervor that the company couldn't keep up with demand.

Probity

(noun) the quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency. The person who returned the stolen necklace to the police showed a great deal of probity

Estranged

(of a person) no longer close or affectionate to someone; alienated. The revision of the constitution had estranged the two heads of the Liberal party

Florid

(think "flower,"/too flowery/elaborate) flowery; ornate; ruddy The lyrics to the song were positively florid; every other word was about hearts or love.

Rapacious

(think of 'rape and pillage') Excessively greedy or grasping "Rapacious landlords"

Fractious

(typically of children) irritable, unruly and quarrelsome. What appeared to be outsiders as a fractious department was actually an open and democratic team in which all opinions were heard and debated.

Skirt

(v) border, lie along the edge of , go around; evade; sidestep The mayor skirted the issue by saying that a committee was looking into the problem.

Disseminate

(verb) To distribute, spread, broadcast, or disperse widely; to spread abroad as though sowing seed. "health authorities should foster good practice by disseminating information"

Vitiate

(verb) to weaken, debase, or corrupt; to impair the quality or value of The air of a mine is vitiated by the presence of large numbers of men and animals and of numerous lights, each of which may consume as much air as a number of men.

Disparate

*think separate* Contrasting; fundamentally distinct or dissimilar After the controversial proposition passed, there were disparate reactions.

Apologist

A backer/supporter; person who speaks in defense of a person, an idea, or a position

Dirge

A slow, sad song or poem of grief At the funeral, Claudia sang a dirge she had composed in honor of her grandmother.

Relent

Abandon or mitigate a harsh intention or cruel treatment she was going to refuse his request, but relented

Untenable

Indefensible; not viable; uninhabitable The captain ordered soldiers to pill out from the untenable situation

Aphorism

A brief, cleverly worded statement that makes a wise observation about life.

Idyll

A carefree, lighthearted pastoral or romantic episode Often while riding the subway to her monotonous job, she daydreamed of a tropical idyll.

Nexus

A connection; tie or link Greenwich Village became a nexus for artists and writers during the 1920s.

Desposition

Official testimony The deposition states that the defendant was at home on the night in question, but I know that's not the whole story.

Parody

A humorous imitation intended for ridicule or comic effect, especially in literature and art The comedy troupe performed a parody in which a popular young actress was portrayed by a large hairy man.

Sinecure

A job that pays a salary but requires little work A sinecure was given to the CEO's son and now he spends most of his days browsing the internet.

Miscreant

A law breaker Come back you miscreant! yelled the woman who just had her purse stolen

Epiphany

A moment of sudden revelation or insight

Egress

A path to go out; the right to go out As a result of a tragic fire in a garment factory in 1911, factories and other places of business now must have at least two means of egress.

Jingoist

A person who displays jingoism; extreme, chauvinistic patriotism, often favoring an aggressive, warlike foreign policy

Ombudsman

A person who investigates citizens' complaints The newspaper's ombudsman fielded phone calls from readers who complained about factual errors in the front-page story.

Frieze

A sculptural, raised-surface trip of ornamental facade on a building It is ironic that a frieze depicting the Roman conquest, enslavement, and plundering of Corinth adorns the courthouse.

Homily

A sermon or morally instructive lecture The priest's homily encouraged people to be generous toward their enemies.

Manacled

A shackle for the hand; handcuff; meaning restricted He was sleeping despite having his wrists manacled to the railing on the side of the bed.

Penchant for

A strong or habitual liking for something or a tendency to do something. The backpacker did not have a penchant for luxury travel.

Tenacious

Adhering to or persisting in something valued My grandfather's tenacious grip on old habits keeps him away from new experiences.

Garrulous

Adj. given to much talking, tediously chatty; long-winded My grandma Eury was garrulous on the phone

Cerebral

Adjective 1. Appealing to or requiring the use of the intellect; intellectual rather than emotional. OR 2. Of or relating to the brain or cerebrum. "Cerebral people use their brains instead of their hearts."

Aspersion

An act of defamation or maligning The hot-headed candidate cast aspersions on his opponent's honesty.

Cynicism

An attitude or quality of belief that all people are motivated by selfishness. People driven b cynicism are often skeptical of others' generosity.

Accolade

An expression of praise The speeches at Sue's retirement dinner were filled with accolades for her achievements.

Maverick

An independent individual who does not go along with a group The candidate was once considered a maverick, but now most people agree that he just follows the party line.

Connoisseur

An informed and astute judge in matters of taste; expert Derek is such a chocolate connoisseur that he has chocolates shipped to him from Belgium and Switzerland.

Fallacy

An invalid or incorrect notion; a mistaken belief Scientists have exposed the fallacy that certain cigarettes are safe.

Curmudgeon

An irritable, ill-tempered person My neighbor is an old curmudgeon who complains loudly whenever anyone makes a sound.

Plethora

An overabundance; a surplus The plethora of pastries at the bakery made it difficult to decide.

Perfunctory

Done in a routine fashion; done without care The short film examines modern perfunctory cleaning rituals such as washing dishes, doing laundry and tooth-brushing.

Cogent

Appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing Corrine's cogent argument made a lot of sense to me, so I switched my vote.

Sidereal

Astral; relating to stars or constellations The girl loved to learn about constellations, galaxies, novas, and all things sidereal.

Sanction

Authoritative permission or approval City officials granted a sanction to the nonprofit organization, which is organizing a marathon to raise money for cancer research

Empirical

Based on practical experience rather than theory. The researchers spent four years gathering empirical data for their study on obsessive-compulsive behaviors.

Incipient

Beginning to come into being or to become apparent Fortunately, the doctor detected the patient's incipient tumor during a routine check-up

Entitled

Believing oneself to be inherently deserving of privileges or special treatment "All the same," he said, "You're entitled to a little free time yourself.

Bellicose

Belligerent; warlike The bellicose voices in the Senate grab the headlines, but fortunately the diplomatic voices are more likely to grab the votes.

Transcendent

Beyond or above the range of normal or merely physical human experience The search for a transcendent level of knowledge.

Partisan

Biased or prejudiced Many newspapers have become increasingly partisan, and few offer objective and balanced coverage of current events.

Astringent

Bitter/server, biting After hearing the director's astringent criticism of his performance, the actor stormed out of the theater.

Alacrity

Brisk and cheerful readiness. Having stripped off with great alacrity, Daniel got on the bed.

perfunctory

Done without care of interest; done merely as a duty I don't expect warm hugs at the registration office, but even a perfunctory hello would be nice.

Forestall

By taking action ahead of time, prevent or obstruct (an anticipated event or action) Vitamins may forestall many aging diseases.

Halcyon

Calm and peaceful The first decade after WWI was a halcyon period in America with new-found wealth and rapidly improving technology

Placid

Calm, peaceful; (of a person or animal) not easily upset or excited. A placid person is admired for their capability to remain levelheaded and poised, unaffected by outside forces or beings. Someone who is placid is neither excited nor upset; they remain composed.

Malleable

Capable of being shaped or formed; tractable Mabel kneaded the malleable clay into a work of art.

Discretion

Cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible decisions Daniel edited his article with discretion and double-checked all the facts and quotes.

Tumult

Chaos; Noisy excitement; an uproar or disturbance.

Meticulous

Characterized by extreme care and precision; attentive to detail Maury is a meticulous editor who will find every last typo and mistake.

Pureile

Childish; Immature Andy is up to his usual puerile behavior by making a photocopy of his face

Relegate

Downgrade; lower in position When Dexter was unable to fulfill his basic duties, instead of firing him, the boss relegated him to kitchen cleanup.

Imperious

Commanding; arrogant; haughty Writers and photographers feared the editor-in-chief because of her imperious attitude.

Convoluted

Complex or complicated

Equanimity

Composure; self-possession My mother took the news of the stolen car with surprising equanimity.

Terse

Concise; to the point, abrupt My mother left me a terse message after I broke my curfew: "Home. Now."

Coda

Concluding section of a musical or literary piece At the end of the movie, a coda described what happened to each of the characters later in life.

Modish

Conforming to or following what is fashionable, stylish, chic, modern, contemporary, all the rage Her hair, not yet very gray, was becomingly arranged, and her black gown was modish.

Tact

Consideration in dealing with others and avoiding giving offense. The inspector broke the news to me with tact and consideration.

Complacent

Contended to a fault

Decorous

Correct; formal; marked by decorum I don't trust such decorous behavior; people who rely so heavily on politeness probably have something to hide.

Rebuke

Criticize severely The police chief rebuked the two officers whose irresponsible decisions almost led to the deaths of seven innocent by-standers.

Eclectic

Culled from many sources; having a variety Joey was known for his eclectic tastes in music, one moment dancing to disco the next air conducting along to Beethoven's 9th symphony.

Precarious

Dangerous; risky; lacking in security or stability; uncertain People smoke to relax and forget their cares, but ironically, in terms of health risks, smoking is far more precarious than either mountain-climbing or skydiving.

Skullduggery

Deceit, trickery; underhandedness He is serving a prison sentence for financial skulduggery.

Ousted

Drive out or expel (someone) from a position or place. He ousted a long-term incumbent by only 500 votes.

Truculent (aggressive)

Eager or quick to argue or fight; aggressively defiant. My neighbor's truculent dog has attacked and chased several kids on the block

Conspicuous

Easily seen or noticed She felt very conspicuous in her pink coat.

Exacting

Demanding Though his childhood piano teacher was so exacting, Max is thankful now, as a professional pianist.

Cataclysmic

Devastating, used to emphasize the extent of something bad or unwelcome. The concert was a cataclysmic failure

Aberrant`

Deviating from the norm

Aberrant

Deviating from the norm The child is usually well-mannered; sticking out her tongue was aberrant behavior.

Discursive

Digressive passing from one topic to another It took the discursive professor two calss sessions to get through the same material that it took the succinct professor to get through one.

Assiduous

Diligent; hard-working, with great care The Internet has made research so easy that the gap between the assiduous student and the lackadaisical student is harder to discern.

Abate

Diminish (v.) to make less in amount, degree, etc.; to subside, become less; to nullify; to deduct, omit Although she filed her tax returns late, Mary hoped the IRS would abate the penalties.

Magisterial

Domineering

Odious

Evoking intense aversion or dislike Rotting eggs cause an odious smell.

Scrupulous

Exact, careful, attending thoroughly to details; having high moral standards, principled Because Kaori is a scrupulous person, she took the wallet that she found on the ground in front of the store to customer service

Surfeit

Excess; overindulgence The surfeit of food at the banquet caused more than a few stomachaches that evening.

Finicky

Excessively concerned with trifles or details; hard to please; fussy; particular; fastidious; persnickety A finicky eater, my sister is.

Despotic

Exercising absolute power; tyrannical. The Internet is still able to be "turned off" by despotic rulers.

Obsequious

Exhibiting a fawning attentiveness Roger thought fawning over the boss would help him get promoted, but his obsequious behavior annoyed his co-workers

Pundit

Expert Steven Pinker's credentials are unquestioned as a pundit; he has taught at MIT and Stanford, teaches at Harvard, and has published a number of influential books on cognition, language, and psychology.

Derided

Express contempt for; ridicule/mock Critics derided the proposals as clumsy attempts to find a solution

Approbatory

Expressing approval.

Plaintively

Expressing sorrow or melancholy; mournful The sad news of their grandmother's death left the room full of plaintive cries.

Protracted

Extended in time; prolonged

Torpor

Extreme mental and physical sluggishness After the surgery, the patient's torpor lasted several hours until the anesthesia wore off.

Virulent

Extremely severe or harmful in its effects OR bitterly hostile. A virulent insect bite.

Mettlesome

FULL OF COURAGE AND FORTITUDE; SPIRITED

Perfidy

Faithlessness, treachery, deceit "Then you include me in a generality on the perfidy of certain men."

Apogee

Farthest or highest point; culmination; zenith Winning the Pulitzer Prize was an affirmation that the journalist was at the apogee of her career.

Timorous

Fearful, timid He spoke with a timorous voice.

(To take) Umbrage (at something)

Feel resentment, take offense, as in Aunt Agatha is quick to take umbrage at any suggestion to do things differently

Wary

Feeling or showing caution about possible dangers or problems. Dogs that have been mistreated often remain very wary of strangers.

Meretricious

Flashy; gaudy The meretricious stretch limousine looked out of place in the church parking lot.

Canonical

Following or in agreement with accepted, transitional standards

Panegyric

Formal praise, eulogy At the retirement dinner, Juan's panegyric on loyalty and friendship brought tears to a few people's eyes.

Fecund (Feck-and)

Fruitful in offspring or vegetation; intellectually productive A lush and fecund garden

Encomium

Glowing and enthusiastic praise The young actress received encomiums from theater critics for her stunning debut.

Poise

Good judgment with composure; balance; V: place in a carefully balanced position Natalie Portman demonstrated poise in Black Swan.

Fortuitous

Happening by fortunate accident or chance It was fortuitous that I missed the bus and ended up running into an old friend on the street.

Inured

Harden Three years of Manhattan living has inured her to the sound of wailing sirens; she could probably sleep through the apocalypse.

Noxious

Harmful; poisonous; injurious I think my old car is leaking noxious gases because whenever I drive it, I get a headache.

Innocuous

Harmless; causing no damage The movie is innocuous entertainment suitable for all ages.

Cacophony

Harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance Gerald can't sleep because of the cacophony of car alarms going off each night.

Impetuous

Hastily or rashly energetic; impulsive and vehement Teenagers often make impetuous decisions that they later regret.

Cursory

Hasty, done with little attention The producer took a cursory look at the script, then tossed it in the trash.

Numinous

Having a strong religious or spiritual quality; indicating or suggesting the presence of a divinity

Indifferent

Having no interest or concern

Avaricious

Having or showing an extreme greed for wealth or material gain The inventors avarice led her to make risky moves to increase her already sizable fortune.

Shrewd

Having or showing sharp powers of judgment; astute. She was shrewd enough to guess the motive behind his gesture

Pervasive

Having the tendency to permeate or spread throughout Exaggeration is pervasive in advertising today; I just saw an ad for a diet pill that works overnight!

Abet

Help, especially with something bad (v.) to encourage, assist, aid, support (especially in something wrong or unworthy) Their actions were shown to abet terrorism.

Veracity

Honesty, truth and accuracy officials expressed doubts concerning the veracity of the story

Inimical

Hostile, unfriendly, detrimental. It has been proven that asbestos has inimical effects on respiratory health.

Enmity

Hostility, hatred Decades of enmity between the two countries

Jocular

Humorous; joking His jocular attitude and hilarious take on things made him a pleasure to work with.

Mercurial

Quick, shrewd, and unpredictable change in mood You can never tell what mood the director will be in because of his mercurial personality

Ultramodern

Incorporating ideas, styles, or techniques only recently developed or available; futuristic. The U. S. Navy owns sixty of these ultramodern attack nuclear boats.

Turpitude

Immorality (n.) depravity, moral corruption Sir Marcus's chivalry often contrasted with the turpitude he exhibited with the ladies at the tavern.

Quiescent

In a state or period of inactivity or dormancy It has been quiescent since 1566, and is now completely extinct.

Bombastic

Inflated (adj.) pompous or overblown in language; full of high-sounding words intended to conceal a lack of ideas Hitler in his speeches was bombastic.

Denizen

Inhabitant; one who frequents a place The denizens of that artists' studio are a tight-knit group who don't welcome strangers.

Cerebral

Intellectual rather than emotional or physical; betraying or characterized by the use of the intellect rather than intuition or instinct: His is a cerebral music that leaves many people cold.

Didactic

Intended to teach, particularly in having moral instruction as an ulterior motive. "A didactic novel that set out to expose social injustice"

Duplicitous

Intentionally misleading; deceptive; wearing two faces He's not presenting different faces to different people - he's not duplicitous in that regard, but he is a complex man

Extraneous

Irrelevant, immaterial If there are no extraneous forces, the resultant linear momentum is constant in every respect

Pedestrian

Lacking excitement; ordinary and dull; tedious Disenchantment with their present, pedestrian lives

Lugubrious

Looking or sounding sad and dismal Eeyore's face looked even more lugubrious than usual.

Episodic

Loosely connected; sporadic The comic's episodic narrative was entertaining, though hard to follow

Alleviated

Made less severe "It's supposed to alleviate bad moods," Dan said to Lana.

perpetuate

Make happen indefinitely make happen indefinitely If you do not let him do things for himself, you are merely perpetuating bad habits that will be even harder to break in the future.

Quixotic

Marked by lofty romantic ideals; unrealistic and impractical Maria's parents thought that her plans to move to the French countryside were just quixotic dreams.

Furtive

Marked by stealth, secret, stealthy, attempting to avoid notice or attention. He watched her furtive glances, waiting for the signal to approach.

Reverent

Marked by, feeling, or expressing profound awe and respect The entire audience settled into a reverent silence when the Dalai Lama began to speak

Recalcitrant

Obstinately resistant to authority; difficult to manage Boot camps are sometimes used as a last resort to deal with recalcitrant teenagers.

Apocryphal

Of dubious authenticity or origin; spurious The apocryphal story about the origins of the school mascot is clearly a legend.

Commensurate

Matching; corresponding in degree, size, or amount Many job listings don't give a specific salary, but state that it will be commensurate with experience.

Homogeneous

Material or system has the same properties at every point; it is uniform without irregularities Timbermen prefer to deal with homogeneous woods

Sentimentality

Mawkishness excessive tenderness, sadness, or nostalgia "Is it just sentimentality, old wives' tales, or is she right?"

Officious

Meddlesome; pushy in one's services/domineering in almost a petty way/think Paul Blart going after kids who are loitering The professor had trouble concentrating on her new theorem, because her officious secretary would barge in frequently reminding her of some trivial detail involving departmental paperwork.

Dulcet

Melodious; pleasant-sounding The dulcet tones of her voice lulled the baby to sleep.

Minatory

Menacing; threatening The territorial dog gave a minatory look at the mail carrier.

Malfeasance

Misconduct or wrongdoing, especially by a public official Not even the mayor's trademark pearly-toothed grin could save him from charges of malfeasance: while in power, he'd been running an illegal gambling ring in the room behind his office.

Obstreperous

Noisily defiant When the teacher asked the obstreperous student simply to bus his tray, the student threw the entire tray on the floor, shouted an epithet, and walked out.

Immutable

Not capable of change Gravity is an immutable law of nature.

Provisional

Not final

Aplomb

Noun poise, assurance, great self-confidence "Diana passed the test with aplomb"

dispassionate

Objective, unemotional

Dubious

On shaky ground; doubtful; of unlikely authenticity

Apostate

One who abandons long-held religious or political convictions The senator was branded an apostate after he switched political parties midterm.

Tendentious

One-sided; intended to promote a particular point of view, doctrine, or cause; biased or partisan The president was tendentious on his plan for the company and would not listen to other options

Sanguine

Optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation. He is sanguine about prospects for the global economy

Effluvia

Outflow in a stream of particles; a noxious odor or vapor The effluvia that emerged when we unclogged our shower drain was as disturbing as it was smelly.

Nostrum

Panacea; questionable remedy Chocolate chip cookies were an effective nostrum for the crying child.

Zealous

Passionate, eager, earnest, devoted Because my husband is a zealous supporter of the high school football team, he donates money to their organization every year.

Forbearance

Patience; willingness to wait His forbearance in not replying to the extremely sarcastic waiter was commendable.

Doggedness

Persistence; stubbornness; tenacity The team's doggedness was rewarded with a last-minute goal.

Philistine

Person hostile to art (adj.) lacking in, hostile to, or smugly indifferent to cultural and artistic values or refinements; (n.) such a person When the philistine was questioned about his opinion of the school's art program, he stated it was a waste of taxpayers' dollars

Demurred

Raise doubts, question, or objections or show reluctance. Concerned about the budget deficit, I had to demur at the candidate's position on lowering taxes.

Profligate

Recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources Their profligate lifestyle resulted in bankruptcy

Personable

Pleasing in appearance or personality I think personable bartenders make more money than the grumpy or homely ones.

Pliant

Pliable; flexible Its pliant and flexible branches are made into brooms.

Pragmatic

Practical rather than idealistic Pragmatic solutions often involve cooperation and compromise.

Pithy

Precise and brief The car had a banal but pithy bumper sticker: "Mean people suck."

Prescient

Prophetic; having or showing knowledge of events before they take place The psychic's predictions were uncannily prescient and ended up proving true a few weeks later

Auspices

Protection or support Since my project falls under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security, I no longer have to wait in airport lines.

Debunk

Prove to be false

Incendiary

Provocative, tending to arouse strife, sedition, etc.; inflammatory: incendiary speeches Hitlers speeches were incendiary.

Lampoon

Publicly criticize (someone or something) by using ridicule, irony, or sarcasm. The mayor hated being lampooned by the press for his efforts to improve people's politeness.

Unalloyed

Pure (adj.) pure, of high quality During the church service, the congregation gave God unalloyed praise

Query

Question; inquiry; doubt in the mind; reservation The magazine editor complied a list of queries for the fact checker to address.

Hackneyed

Rendered trite or common place by frequent usage "You win some you lose some" is an example of a hackneyed saying.

Repugnant

Repulsive (adj.) offensive, disagreeable, distasteful The thought of going back into the fog was repugnant to him.

Deference

Respectful submission or yielding to the judgment, opinion, will, etc., of another. respectful or courteous regard Taran bowed his head in deference to his master

Betray

Reveal (unconsciously or unwillingly); be unfaithful;Ex. Her trembling hands betray her anxiety.

Impassive

Revealing no emotion The defendant looked surprisingly impassive after the judge sentenced him to life in prison.

Countermand

Reverse a command By the time the colonel countermanded his soldiers not to land in enemy territory, a few helicopters had already touched down amid heavy gunfire.

Recrudescent

Revival, breaking out into renewed activity A recrudescence of the disease marked the closing years of the 19th century, the outbreaks having been 748 in 1898, 853 in 1899 and 1119 in 1900.

Debacle

Rout; fiasco; complete failure Our date was a debacle; not only did I forget her name and spill wine on her, but we ran into my ex-girlfriend, who told me I had ruined her life.

Paucity

Scarcity In the dead of winter, there is a paucity of fresh vegetables available at the farmers' market.

Gambit

Scheme

Derision

Scorn; ridicule; contemptuous treatment The regional manager was held in derision by the entire board for botching his annual presentation.

Hermetic

Sealed, airtight When you buy a bottle of medicine, check the hermetic seal to make sure it is not broken.

Ostensible

Seeming; appearing as such The ostensible purpose of college is for children to learn about different academic areas, but what they really learn are life skills and responsibility.

Bombast

Self important or pompous writing or speech The CEO's toast at the launch party was quickly turning into bombast.

Sanctimonious

Self riotous/ preachy/pious My sanctimonious aunt tends to look down upon people who do not go to church every Sunday.

Axiomatic

Self-evident, expressing a universally accepted principle or rule There was a time when it was regarded as axiomatic that the earth is flat

Obloquy

Sharp criticism, abusively detractive language After the judge was arrested for accepting bribes, she became the target of public obloquy.

Trenchant

Sharply perceptive; keen; penetrating To become a world-class chess player, one must have both a trenchant strategy and an understanding of human nature.

Insolent

Showing a rude and arrogant lack of respect. Rampant fanaticism and tawdry, insolent antics only hurt the feminist cause.

Insolence

Showing a rude and arrogant lack of respect; insolence Personally unpopular, and the rapacity and insolence of her family was well known.

Marginalized

Sidelined; treat (a person, group, or concept) as insignificant or peripheral. There are attempts to marginalize those who disagree.

Cryptic

Since Sarah did not want her husband to guess the Christmas present she had bought him, she only answered cryptically when he would ask her questions about it.

Dross

Slag; worthless matter; impurity Meditation is a good technique for purging the dross of your everyday thoughts

Ascetic

Someone practicing self-denial The ascetic tried to convince others there was virtue in the denial of worldly goods.

Libertines

Someone unrestrained by morality or convention Libertines challenge society's understanding of morality and sexuality.

Emollient

Soothing, especially to the skin, making less harsh The emollient properties of aloe make it a popular additive to moisturizers.

Burgeon

To grow rapidly or flourish The researcher was pleased to discover that the wolf population burgeoned only two years after the area was turned into a reserve.

Pith

The essential or central part Please stop digressing and get to the pith of your argument.

Conjectural

Speculative, an opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information. Conjectures about the newcomer were many and varied

Surreptitiously

Stealthy; Done by secretive means/not to draw attention Since his mom was a light sleeper, Timmy had to tiptoe surreptitiously through the entire house, careful to not make the floors creak, until he at last was able to enjoy his plunder: a box of chocolate chip cookies

Fetid

Stinking; smelly I needed gloves, bleach, and a mask to clean the fetid refrigerator.

Uncanny

Strange, unsettling Reggie has an uncanny ability to connect with animals: feral cats will readily approach him, and sometimes even wild birds will land on his finger

Mettle

Strength of spirit; courage The weeks of physical competition tested his mettle in unforeseen ways

Exhorted

Strongly encourage or urge (someone) to do something She exhorted her listeners to support the proposition.

Obstinate

Stubborn; hardheaded Otto was obstinate and refused to compromise even on trivial issues.

Dogmatic

Stubbornly opinionated Nancy is dogmatic about food and insists that lemon makes everything taste better.

Distilling

Summarizing/extracting most important ideas

Lissome

Supple; Graceful The Ballerina's lissome form does not come easily; she spends hours practicing every day.

Melliflous

Sweetly flowing, often used to describe a voice The grandmother's mellifluous voice soothed the crying child

In abeyance

Temporary suppression or suspension. Charles the Fair having died and left only a daughter, the nations rights, so long in abeyance, were once more regained

Credulous

Tending to believe too readily The con artist easily deceived his credulous victims.

Condusive to

Tending to cause or produce something Regular exercise is conducive to happiness and a feeling of well-being.

Mendacity

The condition of being untruthful When his lies became public, Will lost many friends because of his mendacity.

Pedantic

The parading of learning; excessive attention to minutiae and formal rules Pete is pedantic about grammar and will nitpick my essay for even the minutest of errors.

Perigee

The point nearest the earth in an orbit of a body At its perigee, the moon appears to be larger in our night sky.

Ebullience

The quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings Edna can hardly contain her ebullience when she talks about her new puppy.

Redolence

The state of being fragrant, suggestive, or evocative The redolence of dried leaves always brings me back to the colorful falls of my childhood in New England.

Desuetude

The state of not being used VCRs fell into desuetude as more people started buying DVD players.

Distention

The state or act of extending or being swollen out of shape After eating the large holiday meal, I could barely hide the distention of my belly.

Chicanery

The use of trickery or subterfuge Enron's financial chicanery included creating fake businesses in order to boost profit.

Apprise

To give notice to; to inform Be sure to apprise the security officers that you will be visiting the site so they don't think you are a trespasser.

Baleful

Threatening. sinister, ominous Movies often use storms or rain clouds as a baleful omen of evil events that will soon befall the main character

Jibe

To agree; to be in accord Despite our very different backgrounds, Richard's political views jibe rather closely with my own.

Countenance

To approve of or tolerate The judge was quite a disciplinarian and would not countenance any stunts in his courtroom.

Importune

To ask incessantly; to beg, nag The actor importuned the director to give him a bigger part in the play.

Assailed

To attack/ criticize The Scots army assailed Edward's army from the rear

Prattle

To babble meaninglessly; to talk in an empty and idle manner I couldn't stand to hear my teenage sister prattle on about the prom during dinner, so I left the table.

Squander

To go to waste (v.) to spend foolishly, waste Entrepreneurs squander their profits on expensive cars

Abound

To be plentiful, be filled The lakes and rivers of Albania abound in fish

Supplicate

To beg earnestly and humbly "the plutocracy supplicated to be made peers"

Beleaguer

To beset; to besiege Within a week of starting the job, she was beleaguered by complaints from clients and employees about the company's bad service.

Beatify

To bless, make happy, or ascribe a virtue to Inductions into the Hall of Fame are ways to beatify the greatest players of the game.

Cosset

To coddle He was a selfish child and was cosseted by his parents, so he never learned to share or to compromise.

Coalesce

To come together or unite Suddenly, all the different ideas coalesced into one perfect story, and the rest of the script practically wrote itself.

Daunt

To cow or dismay The size of the workload alone is likely to daunt even the most dedicated students.

Cozen

To deceive, beguile, or hoodwink A common internet scam attempts to cozen people into revealing their bank account details.

Obfuscate

To deliberately obscure, to make confusing The politician obfuscated the truth about his corruption by accusing his opponent of having an affair.

Extirpate

To destroy; to exterminate; to cut out After their break-up, she extirpated his face from every photo in the album

Deprecate

To disparage or put down Annie has low self-esteem and always deprecates herself despite her many accomplishments.

Lacerate

To distress deeply the teacher was let go for lacerating a student

Limn

To draw; to outline in detail The artist limned the Parisian market scene so perfectly that I could imagine myself in the painting.

Quaff

To drink deeply Inga quaffed a liter of water after the marathon.

Exorcised

To drive out evil spirit, freed from bad influence; eject

Peruse

To examine with great care Frank peruses every page of the newspaper for any mention of his name.

Renege

To fail to honor a commitment; to break a promise Roommate contracts are important in case on party reneges on the agreed financial contributions to the household.

Fawn

To flatter or praise excessively The star's fans fawned over his great new look

Occlude

To obstruct or block The last mile of the trail was occluded by overgrown brush and fallen trees.

Pervade

To permeate Spring pervaded the entire city; flowers were blooming and everyone was energetic and happy.

Proselytize

To persuade someone to convert to a faith, belief, or cause. The lawyer worked with his clients to proselytize the judge, hoping to get a decision in their favor.

Tout

To publicly praise or promote Javier's parents always tout his achievements to their coworkers and friends.

Quash

To quell; to put an end to forcibly The governor called in the riot police to quash the protest, which was getting larger and more unruly.

Forbear

To refrain from; to abstain from We decided to forbear provoking him any further.

Abjure

To reject; abandon or give up formally While the church believed that Galileo abjured the heliocentric theory under threat of torture, he later wrote a book clearly supporting the theory..

Exonerate

To remove blame Velma insists that she did not commit the crime and that DNA evidence will exonerate her.

Slake

To satisfy or quench How could any vampire resist slaking his thirst at the sight of such a long, porcelain neck.

Conspire

To scheme, to plan together secretly to do something wrong or illegal. The students have decided to conspire to steal the test answers.

Redress

To set something right; to make amends for The waitress redressed her mistake by offering the diners a free dessert.

Evince

To show clearly I told the bully I was not afraid, but my knocking knees evinced otherwise.

Calumniate

To slander Tight political races can become very dirty in their final days, with each candidate trying to calumniate the other.

Disparage

To slight or belittle The bully disparaged the classmate for her mismatched socks and outdated clothes.

Aver

To state as a fact; to confirm or support The court records show that the witness averred that she saw the defendant at the scene of the crime.

Appropriate

To take possession of for one's own use; confiscate His images have been appropriated by advertisers

Discomfit

To unnerve,. make uneasy or perplexed; disconcert The students discomfited me with sharp questions, a sign that I wasn't prepared enough for class.

Atrophy

To waste away or deteriorate Kate's leg has been in a cast for weeks, and her muscles are starting to atrophy from lack of use.

Diaphanous

Transparent; gauzy The celebrity's diaphanous dress was the talk of the town the next day.

Facetious

Treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant someone saying that people whose homes have burned down don't have to worry about whether the housekeeper did a good job.

Nugatory

Trifling; inconsequential Our meeting was derailed because we discussed nugatory details instead of matters of substance.

Natty

Trimly neat and tidy The natty young man always wore a well-pressed suit to the office

Onerous

Troubling; burdensome Shoveling out the stables is a more onerous task than feeding the chickens.

Doctrinaire

Uncompromising; rigidly devoted to theories without regard for practicality; dogmatic. His doctrinaire attitude turned off others as he attempted to force his personal beliefs on all he met

Immaterial

Unimportant to the circumstances So long as the band kept the beat, what they played was immaterial

Catholic

Universal Jonah's friends said that Jonah's taste in music was eclectic; Jonah was quick to point out that not only was his taste eclectic but it was also catholic: he enjoyed music from countries as far-flung as Mali and Mongolia

unpropitious

Unlikely to be successful With only a bottle of water and a sandwich, the hikers faced an unpropitious task: ascending a huge mountain that took most two days to climb

Heterodox

Unorthodox; iconoclastic The heterodox dessert combined bits of bacon and chocolate.

Incontrovertible

Unquestionable, irrefutable, beyond dispute CCTV provided incontrovertible evidence that he was at the scene of the crime

Fallow

Unseeded; inactive; dormant My creativity has lain fallow this winter; I haven't written anything in months.

Obdurate

Unyielding; hardhearted The obdurate ruler would not change his policies, even to ease the suffering of his people.

Exigent

Urgent or dire urgent; requiring immediate action I've already missed two payments, so writing a check to the gas company is my most exigent priority.

Fastidious

Very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail. Though he prides himself on being hip, he is too fastidious to do anything dangerous or dirty.

Ardent

Very enthusiastic, impassioned The decked out dude was an ardent baseball fan.

Ironclad

Very rigid or exacting; inflexible; unbreakable; an Ironclad contract The company has an ironclad policy against revealing secrets to competitors.

Churlishly

Vulgar; difficult and intractable As I am far from a morning person, my loud nieces are likely to find me churlish before eight o'clock.

Errant

Wandering; straying No amount of hair gel can tame the errant strands at the top of my head.

Indolent

Wanting to avoid activity or exertion; lazy The fat, indolent cat didn't even stir when the mouse skittered across the kitchen.

Chary of

Wary of/circumspect cautious or careful; wary: He was chary of investing in oil wells.

Cirucmspect

Wary, unwilling to take risks The officials were circumspect in their statements regarding the murder

Lachrymose

Weepy; tearful.

Benevolent

Well meaning and kindly; charitable The benevolent gentleman left a further sum of $5000 to be divided among the poor.

Acquisitive

While I am somewhat acquisitive and can afford to buy anything I want, I try to only purchase things I need Ending or seeking to acquire and own, often greedily; eager to get wealth

Sinuous

Winding; undulating A chill ran down my spine when I glimpsed a sinuous shape weave through the underbrush.

Bereft of

Without; deprived of; lacking For some time the poor prince stood utterly bereft of speech

Repartee

Witty conversation Few contemporary films have the same clever repartee between the lead characters as those screwball comedies of the 1930s.

Deified

Worshipped as a god She was deified by the early Romans as a fertility goddess

Reprehensible

Worthy of blame or censure The principal suspended the student for his reprehensible behavior at school.

Estimable

Worthy; formidable All great heroes, in order to be great heroes, must have equally estimable foes

Convention

a generally agreed-upon practice or attitude Flouting convention, the bride wore a brilliant red suit while her bridesmaids were dressed in white.

Chauvinist

a blindly devoted patriot Giovanni is a chauvinist about his grandmother's cooking and complains constantly whenever he eats at an Italian restaurant.

Arabesque

a complex, ornate design. Also a dance position. The highly valuable picture frame was covered with arabesques, including gold-leaf animals, plants, and fruits.

subpoena

a court order requiring appearance and/or testimony

Reprisal

a retaliatory action against an enemy in wartime The Old Testament doctrine of an eye for an eye is not the kind of retaliation practiced in war; rather, an arm, a leg, and both ears are the reprisal for the smallest scratch

Boor

a rude or insensitive person Many people have called him a boor; his genius leaves him with little patience for social niceties.

Elegy

a sad or mournful poem, especially one lamenting the dead

Cabal

a scheme or plot, a group of plotters The stock price of a healthy company is not likely to drop that dramatically unless a cabal of investors decides to sell the stock short.

Presentiment

a sense of something about to happen

Quagmire

a situation difficult to get out of The company fell into a quagmire when it ran out of money after promising employees year-end bonuses.

Peccadillo

a slight offense (literally: a minor sin) Taking a few office supplies from the office is a peccadillo, but stealing a laptop is a whole different story.

Anathema

a solemn or ecclesiastical (religious) curse; accursed or thoroughly loathed person or thing When the soccer player's bribery scandal came to light, the signed jersey the fan once had treasured became anathema to him.

Platitude

a superficial remark, especially one offered as meaningful The politician's speech was full of the regular, tired platitudes about "making the world a better place for our children and our children's children."

Torque

a turning or twisting force

Inklink

a vague sense

Archetype

a very typical example of a certain person or thing This archetype differs in many respects from the form in which it was republished by the editor of the entire work.

Cataclysm

a violent upheaval that causes great destruction and change

Misnomer

a wrong or inaccurate name or designation. The oysters from the beds on the west coast of Schleswig are widely known under the misnomer of "Holstein natives."

Solvent

able to meet financial obligations; able to dissolve another substance It was impossible for Stephen to remain solvent after he lost his job.

Prudent

acting with or showing care and thought for the future Isn't seeking medical or scientific help a prudent course to take?

Patent

adj (adjective) - clearly revealed to the mind or the senses or judgment; manifest; plain; unmistakable. "It was a patent attempt of extortion from his work."

Incredulous

adj (of a person or their manner) unwilling or unable to believe something. "I'm still incredulous at the idea that oil had nothing to do with this political problem in the Middle East.

Pious

adj. devout, usually religiously They were pious foundations created for mutual benefit and for purposes of charity.

Munificent

adj. extremely generous, lavish (think 'munitions') I respect Bill Gates for his munificence; he has funded much of the research to combat malaria in developing countries.

Verisimilitude

adj. the quality of appearing to be true, real, likely, or probable All bad novels are bad for numerous reasons; all good novels are good for their verisimilitude of reality, placing the readers in a world that resembles the one they know.

Intrepid

adj. very brave, fearless, unshakable; courageous The intrepid eater will try any regional dish wherever she travels.

unforthcoming

adjective: uncooperative, not willing to give up information The teacher demanded to know who broke the window while he was out of the room, but the students understandably were unforthcoming.

Concede

admit wrong-doing I concede; you win!

Droll

amusing in an odd or whimsical way Nick is very droll; he's got a very good dry sense of humor.

Canon

an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature The priest encouraged the parishioners to adhere to the canons of the church.

Apposite

appropriate, pertinent, relevant, apropos The lawyer argued that the witness's testimony was apposite to the case.

Martial

associated with war and the armed forces During the riots, the national Guard was called in to enforce martial law.

Nonplussed

baffled; at a loss for what to say or do When I first saw that I had the winning lottery numbers I was nonplussed, but I soon recovered and went on a shopping spree.

Proscribe

banish; outlaw

Mendicant

beggar; supplicant The humble mendicant spent his days collecting money to help others.

Burgeoned

begin to grow or increase rapidly; flourish The city's suburbs have burgeoned, sprawling out from the center

Phlegmatic

calm and unemotional in temperament; sluggish Even though Phil seems phlegmatic, I think he actually cares about doing a good job.

Corrigible

capable of being set right, correctable, reparable The earlier the intervention, the more corrigible the condition; if left too long, it can't be fixed.

Solicitude

care or concern for someone or something I walked to his house in the rain to make sure he had enough to eat while he was sick, but he seemed not to appreciate my solicitude.

Impugned

challenged; called into question Some critics have impugned his legal knowledge, but probably without justice.

Rancorous

characterized by bitter, long-lasting resentment The rancorous feud between the rival families lasted decades.

Luminous

characterized by brightness and the emission of light Sirius is considered the most luminous star in the northern sky.

Kinetic

characterized by motion The kinetic choreography had audience members gasping during the performance.

Parsimonious

cheap, miserly The parsimonious man left a meager tip for the kind and overworked waitress.

Effrontery

cheeky behavior; Boldness; impudence; arrogance The effrontery of the CEOs who insist on bonuses during the recession is not ingratiating them to the public.

Spartan

marked by simplicity and lack of luxury

Limpid

clear, transparent; readily understood; cogent I looked into my ailing grandmother's limpid eyes and understood that she was at peace with her life.

Ingenuity

cleverness Daedalus was famous for his ingenuity; he was able to fashion his son Icarus with a pair of wings, using wax to hold them together.

Exegesis

critical examination, explication The exegesis of the ancient Rosetta Stone has contributed much to our understanding of hieroglyphic writing,

Reproach

critisize; express disapproval of At first, Sarah was going to yell at the boy, but she didn't want to reproach him for telling the truth about the situation.

Panacea

cure-all; rememdy for all ills Unfortunately there is no panacea that will make cancer instantly vanish from your body.

Deleterious

damaging, harmful, injurious divorce is assumed to have deleterious effects on children

Eccentric

departing from norms or conventions The new physics professor quickly became known for flinging marbles around the room, throwing things off the roof, and other eccentric teaching methods.

Disenfranchise

deprive of voting rights The U.S. Constitution disenfranchised women until 1920 when they were given the right to vote.

Utilitarian

designed to be useful or practical rather than attractive Because Ann sees her car only as a utilitarian asset that transports her, she is not concerned about its appearance.

Diabolical

devilish; wicked or evil

Hedonism

devotion to pleasurable pursuits, especially to the pleasures of the senses Monks lead a quiet, ascetic life devoid of hedonism.

Antithetical

diametrically opposed, as in antithesis She quit her position as press secretary when she realized that her views on civil rights were antithetical to the senator's.

Imbroglio

difficult or bitter situation The governor was caught in an imbroglio over misappropriated funds.

Opprobrium

disgrace; contempt; scorn; abuse Their families also needed to be shielded from public opprobrium

Chagrin

dismay, embarrassment; a complete loss of courage

Epithet

disparaging or descriptive word or phrase An old man yelled epithets at the kids who were vandalizing a wall.

Indefatigable

dogged; tireless The shark's indefatigable pursuit of the seal was eventually rewarded.

Carousing

drunken merrymaking

Irascible

easily angered, prone to temperamental outbursts If Arthur's dog is not fed adequately, he becomes highly irascible, even growling at his own shadow.

Abstemious

eating and drinking in moderation Studies have shown that abstemious people live longer, but I love cheesecake too much to moderate my intake.

Adulation

excessive praise; intense adoration The young girl's adulation of the pop singer irritated her older brothers.

Ostracize

exclude Later in his life, Leo Tolstoy was ostracized from the Russian Orthodox Church for his writings that contradicted church doctrine.

Dolorous

exhibiting sorrow or pain Chopin's ballades are filled with sharp changes in moods--a dolorous melody can give way to a lighthearted tempo

Weary

feeling or showing tiredness, especially as a result of excessive exertion or lack of sleep. I was weary after studying all night.

Convivial

festive, sociable, having fun together, genial affable An example of convivial is a person who is cheerful and who always makes you feel welcome.

Inveterate

firmly established, long-standing; habitual The inveterate hostility between the two countries was not easily eradicated

Replete

fully stocked

Dynamo

generator; forceful, energetic person The visionary dynamo had no problems finding investors for her start-up.

Openhanded

generous and giving willingly

Misogynist

hater of women

Idolatrous

given to intense or excessive devotion to something My son's idolatrous adoration of his grandmother is overwhelming; I think he loves her more than me!

Conniving

given to or involved in conspiring to do bad The queen was so conniving that, with the help of the prince, she tried to overthrow the king.Master 45 more words to finish Intermediate Level 6.Next word →

Capricious

given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior At first the child wanted tacos, but now she wants banana pudding; she cannot help her capricious appetite.

Coveted

greedily desired or wished for He won the prize they all coveted.

Mercenary

greedy; in it for the money Mercenaries fight for money or other forms of payment rather than for political interests.

Sardonic

grimly or scornfully mocking, bitterly sarcastic A stand-up comedian walks a fine line when making jokes about members of the audience; such fun and joking can quickly become sardonic and cutting.

Iniquity

gross injustice; wickedness The iniquity of the government bailouts angers me; large corporations are being saved, while public schools are struggling for funding.

Antic

grotesque or bizarre

curmmudgeon

grouch

Effusive

gushing; excessively demonstrative It was hard not to feel welcomed by such an effusive greeting.

Arduous

hard to do, requiring much effort They began the arduous climb, puffing in the high elevation for ten minutes until the trail leveled.

Debonair

having a cheerful, lively, and self-confident air He was a handsome, debonair, death-defying racing-driver.

Acerbic

having a sour or bitter taste or character; sharp; biting The child was so adorable that even the acerbic old man had to smile

Sagacious

having keen perception and sound judgement; wise Steve Jobs is surely one of the most sagacious CEOs, making Apple the most recognizable and valuable companies in the world.

impecunious

having little or no money

Tenuous

having little substance or strength; flimsy; weak The poor grades from the final exam demonstrated that the students had nothing more than a tenuous understanding of the material.

Malevolent

having or showing a wish to do evil to others Once the intruder revealed his gun, it was clear the he had malevolent intentions.

Unscrupulous

having or showing no moral principles; not honest or fair Unscrupulous landlords might be tempted to harass existing tenants

Pecuniary

having to do with money The stockbroker was motivated by pecuniary interest and resorted to insider trading.

Ineptitude

incompetence the ineptitude of the new assistant was maddening; he forgot to take meeting minutes and misplaced the packages he was supposed to send out.

Fledgling

inexperienced dMurray has years of experience in family practice, but he is just a fledgling in surgery.

Peripatetic

itinerant, traveling, nomadic It's difficult to maintain lasting relationships and long-term employment with such a peripatetic lifestyle.

Prescience

knowledge of events or actions before they happen; foresight The fortune-teller's prescience of death prevented her from leaving the house.

Insipid

lacking flavor; dull; not at all stimulating syn: flat; lifeless His insipid behavior convinced me that he was going to be no good for my team. Without any seasoning or sauce, chicken can often be insipid and dry.

Impecunious

lacking funds; without money

Trite

lacking originality; overstated Many style guides recommend not using idioms in writing because these trite expressions are uninteresting and show a lack of imagination on the part of the writer.

Obtuse

lacking sharpness of intellect; not clear or precise in thought or expression My father is obtuse when it comes to computers; he doesn't even know how to turn one on.

Anemic

lacking vigor or energy After three straight shows, the lead actress gave an anemic performance the fourth night, barely speaking loudly enough for those in the back rows to hear.

Bemoan

lament; moan for; express sorrow or disapproval of

Salacious

lascivious, lustful, obscene Let's be honest: the more salacious the gossip, the more we love it.

Lubricious

lewd, wanton, greasy, slippery The lubricious stare from that strange man in the park left me disgusted.

Affable

like-able For all his surface affability, Marco was remarkably glum when he wasn't around other people

Din

loud sustained noise The din in the train station rendered cell phone conversation futile, but fortunately texting saved the day.

Nadir

lowest point At my emotional nadir, I considered some drastic options to relieve my pain.

serendipity

luck By pure serendipity, Sarah discovered, at a flea market in Peoria, a matching earring to replace the one that fell down the storm drain back home

Assuaged

make (an unpleasant feeling) less intense Shining a flashlight under the bed helped to assuage the child's fears of a monster lurking there.

Mitigate

make less severe, serious, or painful. I can only spend so much time mitigating your disagreements with your wife, and at certain point, you need to do it on your own

Conciliate

make peace with

Obviates

makes unnecessary, prevents as a result of anticipating "a parachute can be used to obviate disaster"

Tempered

moderated in effect The wide-eyed optimism of her youth was now tempered after she had worked many years in the criminal justice system

Retiring

modest and shy

Cardinal

most important; chief

Endemic

native; characteristic of or often found in a particular locality, region, or people Irish cuisine makes great use of potatoes, but ironically, the potato is not endemic to Ireland

Supple

nimble/flexible. Bending easily; bending with agility; readily adaptable; servile Jessi's body was supple and relaxed in his arms, her gray eyes wide and her features flushed.

Revelry

noisy merrymaking

Itinerant

nomadic; traveling from place to place Long before newspapers, telephones, and the internet, itinerant salesmen were once valuable sources of news.

Implacable

not capable of being appeased or significantly changed Sadly, Irina is an implacable pessimist and will never see the brighter side of any situation.

Intractable

not easily managed or directed; stubborn; obstinate The financial crisis has created intractable problems for the new government in power.

Incidental

not essential; minor; peripheral; accompanying but not a major part of something. Incidental expenses

Aloof

not friendly or forthcoming; cool and distant. "they were courteous but faintly aloof

spurious

not genuine, not true, not valid

Improvident

not having or showing foresight; spendthrift or thoughtless

Reticent

not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily Even the reticent members participated enthusiastically.

Tyro

novice; greenhorn; rank amateur The tyro was unable to stand on top of the surfboard and balance, even on calm waters.

Provident

planning ahead; providing for future need, frugal

Querulous

prone to complaining or grumbling; quarrelsome I've had numerous arguments with that querulous man.

Chastise

scold Though chastised for eating the snacks for the party, Lawrence shrugged off his mother's harsh words, and continued to plow through jars of cookies and boxes of donuts

Collusion

secret agreement or cooperation

Ignominious

shameful; undignified The senator's corruption scandal cast an ignominious shadow over his career.

Contiguous

sharing an edge or boundary; touching; adjacent We offer free shipping to any of the forty-eight contiguous states in the United States.

Adroit

skillful, expert in the use of the hands or mind Because Leonard is adroit at mental calculations, he is able to effortlessly solve complicated math problems

Calumny

slander, a false and malicious accusation; misrepresentation Othello believed the calumny that his wife was cheating on him, setting in motion Shakespeare's tragedy.

Detraction

slandering; aspersion; verbal attack The company's representatives responded quickly to the whistleblower's detraction and hoped to deflect any bad press about the faulty product.

Penchant

strong inclination; a liking The stylist has a penchant for expensive designer labels.

Pertinacity

stubbornness, doggedness, intransigence The pertinacious girl would not stop trying to sell cookies to the toothless man.

Intransigence

stubbornness; refusal to change one's views or to agree about something. Howie remained intransigent in restricting his gift to the rescue children.

Tribulation

suffering; distress As of 2013, nearly 1.5 million Syrians have fled their country hoping to escape the tribulations of a civil war tearing their country to pieces

Becoming

suitable and appropriate, and matches nicely Her dress was becoming and made her look even more beautiful"

Mellifluous

sweet-sounding

Toady

sycophant; flatterer The spineless toady in my department strokes the president's ego in order to get a promotion.

Prolix

tediously wordy His speeches were apt to be prolix, and he defended their prolixity on principle

Ossified

tending to become more rigid, conventional, sterile, and reactionary with age; literally, turned into bone At what point is it no longer possible to change the ossified opinions of someone from an older generation?

Cow

terrorize; intimidate "Do not be cowed by a 5000 word vocab list"

verisimilitude

the appearance of being true or real Video games have achieved such verisimilitude that they are now being used to train pilots and soldiers.

Pedagogy

the art or progression of training, teaching, or instructing The pedagogy of early primary science focuses on the development of critical thinking skills and exploration through hands-on experiments.

Rhetoric

the art or study of effective use of language for communication and persuasion Clearly the lawyer was skilled at the art of rhetoric; her closing arguments were lucid and moving.

Hegemony

the consistent dominance of one state or ideology over others At its height, the Roman Empire exercised hegemony over the entire Mediterranean area.

Subersion

the destabilization/undermining of the power and authority of an established system or institution. hey view individual liberty as a threat, new political ideas as subversion, and political opposition as treason.

Edification

the instruction or improvement of a person morally or intellectually to instruct and improve especially in moral and religious knowledge : uplift also : enlighten, inform In church it is best that he should confine himself to prophesying, for that brings to others "edification and comfort and consolation."

Vituperate

to abuse verbally; berate

Exasperate

to annoy As a child, I exasperated my mother with strings of never-ending questions.

Antagonize

to annoy or provoke to anger Mrs. Anna loves to antagonize her little sister by hiding her doll clothes.

Exaserbate

to annoy, irritate

Placate

to appease, soothe, pacify Doctors often placate children with lollipops after giving them shots.

Denigrate

to belittle; to defame Some tried to denigrate the hometown hero with stories of his questionable private life, but most citizens still idolized him.

Mollify

to calm or soothe; to reduce in emotional intensity Marlena tried to mollify her angry neighbor by offering to pay for the broken window.

Excoriate

to censure scathingly The radio host excoriated the caller for defending the unpopular politician.

Vagary

unpredictable action or behavior Some investors prefer the relative stability of bonds to the vagaries of the stock market

Unimpeachable

unquestionable; beyond doubt; blameless After his long and unimpeachable service to the company, Sharat felt that a gold watch was a slap in the face rather than an honor.

imprudent

unwise

Laconic

using few words The exhausted babysitter's laconic response was simply "no."

Deluding

verb Deceiving/misleading (think delusion) "Too many theorists have deluded the public"

Brook

verb to tolerate/put up with/ deal with something/someone The speaker would brook no interruptions from his listeners

Protean

versatile; able to change shape; displaying great variety

Plodding

walking slowly; working slowly at a boring task; lumbering (think of a three toed sloth)

Opulence

wealth, affluence, abundance