Words
imminent
about to happen
impending
about to happen
egregious
above what is usually found as right or proper; outrageous
terse
abrupt
eschewing
abstain from, refrain from
eschew
abstain from, refrain from, give up, forgo
recondite
abstruse, arcane, esoteric, recherché, profound, difficult, complex
profusion
abundance
copious
abundant in supply or quantity
palatable
acceptable to the mind or senses
mundane
(adj.) concerned with the world rather than with heaven, commonplace (He is more concerned with the mundane issues of day-to-day life than with spiritual topics.)
pithy
(adj.) concisely meaningful (My father's long-winded explanation was a stark contrast to his usually pithy statements.)
eclectic
(adj.) consisting of a diverse variety of elements (That bar attracts an eclectic crowd: lawyers, artists, circus clowns, and investment bankers.)
orthodox
(adj.) conventional, conforming to established protocol (The company's profits dwindled because the management pursued orthodox business policies that were incompatible with new industrial trends.)
wily
(adj.) crafty, sly (Though they were not the strongest of the Thundercats, wily Kit and Kat were definitely the most clever and full of tricks.)
poignant
(adj.) deeply affecting, moving (My teacher actually cried after reading to us the poignant final chapter of the novel.)
recalcitrant
(adj.) defiant, unapologetic (Even when scolded, the recalcitrant young girl simply stomped her foot and refused to finish her lima beans.)
meager
(adj.) deficient in size or quality (My meager portion of food did nothing to satisfy my appetite.)
lenient
(adj.) demonstrating tolerance or gentleness (Because Professor Oglethorpe allowed his students to choose their final grades, the other teachers believed that he was excessively lenient.)
desolate
(adj.) deserted, dreary, lifeless (She found the desolate landscape quite a contrast to the hustle and bustle of the overcrowded city.)
venerable
(adj.) deserving of respect because of age or achievement (The venerable Supreme Court justice had made several key rulings in landmark cases throughout the years.)
intractable
(adj.) difficult to manipulate, unmanageable (There was no end in sight to the intractable conflict between the warring countries.)
haughty
(adj.) disdainfully proud (The superstar's haughty dismissal of her costars will backfire on her someday.)
licentious
(adj.) displaying a lack of moral or legal restraints (Marilee has always been fascinated by the licentious private lives of politicians.)
insipid
(adj.) dull, boring (The play was so insipid, I fell asleep halfway through.)
banal
(adj.) dull, commonplace (The client rejected our proposal because they found our presentation banal and unimpressive.)
irascible
(adj.) easily angered (At the smallest provocation, my irascible cat will begin scratching and clawing.)
tractable
(adj.) easily controlled (The horse was so tractable, Myra didn't even need a bridle.)
pellucid
(adj.) easily intelligible, clear (Wishing his book to be pellucid to the common man, Albert Camus avoided using complicated grammar when composing The Stranger.)
docile
(adj.) easily taught or trained (She successfully taught the docile puppy several tricks.)
submissive
(adj.) easily yielding to authority (In some cultures, wives are supposed to be submissive and support their husbands in all matters.)
ambivalent
(adj.) having opposing feelings (My feelings about Calvin are ambivalent because on one hand he is a loyal friend, but on the other, he is a cruel and vicious thief.)
puerile
(adj.) juvenile, immature (The judge demanded order after the lawyer's puerile attempt to object by stomping his feet on the courtroom floor.)
vacuous
(adj.) lack of content or ideas, stupid (Beyonce realized that the lyrics she had just penned were completely vacuous and tried to add more substance.)
apathetic
(adj.) lacking concern, emotion (Uninterested in politics, Bruno was apathetic about whether he lived under a capitalist or communist regime.)
oblivious
(adj.) lacking consciousness or awareness of something (Oblivious to the burning smell emanating from the kitchen, my father did not notice that the rolls in the oven were burned until much too late.)
circumscribed
(adj.) marked off, bounded (The children were permitted to play tag only within a carefully circumscribed area of the lawn.)
penurious
(adj.) miserly, stingy (Stella complained that her husband's penurious ways made it impossible to live the lifestyle she felt she deserved.)
enigmatic
(adj.) mystifying, cryptic (That man wearing the dark suit and dark glasses is so enigmatic that no one even knows his name.)
vapid
(adj.) lacking liveliness, dull (The professor's comments about the poem were surprisingly vapid and dull.)
obtuse
(adj.) lacking quickness of sensibility or intellect (Political opponents warned that the prime minister's obtuse approach to foreign policy would embroil the nation in mindless war.)
indolent
(adj.) lazy (Why should my indolent children, who can't even pick themselves up off the couch to pour their own juice, be rewarded with a trip to the mall?)
erudite
(adj.) learned (My Latin teacher is such an erudite scholar that he has translated some of the most difficult and abstruse ancient poetry.)
profane
(adj.) lewd, indecent (Jacob's profane act of dumping frogs in the holy water in the chapel at his boarding school resulted in his dismissal.)
flaccid
(adj.) limp, not firm or strong (If a plant is not watered enough, its leaves become droopy and flaccid.)
animated
(adj.) lively (When he begins to talk about drama, which is his true passion, he becomes very animated.)
coherent
(adj.) logically consistent, intelligible (Renee could not figure out what Monroe had seen because he was too distraught to deliver a coherent statement.)
forlorn
(adj.) lonely, abandoned, hopeless (Even though I had the flu, my family decided to go skiing for the weekend and leave me home alone, feeling feverish and forlorn.)
boisterous
(adj.) loud and full of energy (The candidate won the vote after giving several boisterous speeches on television.)
remiss
(adj.) negligent, failing to take care (The burglar gained entrance because the security guard, remiss in his duties, forgot to lock the door.)
discordant
(adj.) not agreeing, not in harmony with (The girls' sobs were a discordant sound amid the general laughter that filled the restaurant.)
speculative
(adj.) not based in fact (Sadly, Tessa was convicted on merely speculative evidence.)
ingenuous
(adj.) not devious; innocent and candid (He must have writers, but his speeches seem so ingenuous it's hard to believe he's not speaking from his own heart.)
viscous
(adj.) not free flowing, syrupy (The viscous syrup took three minutes to pour out of the bottle.)
stingy
(adj.) not generous, not inclined to spend or give (Scrooge's stingy habits did not fit with the generous, giving spirit of Christmas.)
taciturn
(adj.) not inclined to talk (Though Jane never seems to stop talking, her brother is quite taciturn.)
congenial
(adj.) pleasantly agreeable (His congenial manner made him popular wherever he went.)
profuse
(adj.) plentiful, abundant (The fans were profuse in their cheers for the star basketball player.)
impecunious
(adj.) poor ("I fear he's too impecunious to take me out tonight," the bratty girl whined.)
copious
(adj.) profuse, abundant (Copious amounts of Snapple were imbibed in the cafeteria.)
agile
(adj.) quick, nimble (The dogs were too slow to catch the agile rabbit.)
truculent
(adj.) ready to fight, cruel (This club doesn't really attract the dangerous types, so why was that bouncer being so truculent?)
cerebral
(adj.) related to the intellect (The books we read in this class are too cerebral—they don't engage my emotions at all.)
epistolary
(adj.) relating to or contained in letters (Some people call me "Auntie's boy," because my aunt and I have such a close epistolary relationship that we write each other every day.)
nocturnal
(adj.) relating to or occurring during the night (Jackie was a nocturnal person; she would study until dawn and sleep until the evening.)
terrestrial
(adj.) relating to the land (Elephants are terrestrial animals.)
aquatic
(adj.) relating to water (The marine biologist studies starfish and other aquatic creatures.)
penitent
(adj.) remorseful, regretful (The jury's verdict may have been more lenient if the criminal had appeared penitent for his gruesome crimes.)
aloof
(adj.) reserved, distant (The scientist could sometimes seem aloof, as if he didn't care about his friends or family, but really he was just thinking about quantum mechanics.)
restive
(adj.) resistant, stubborn, impatient (The restive audience pelted the band with mud and yelled nasty comments.)
hardy
(adj.) robust, capable of surviving through adverse conditions (I too would have expected the plants to be dead by mid-November, but apparently they're very hardy.)
commodious
(adj.) roomy (Holden invited the three women to join him in the back seat of the taxicab, assuring them that the car was quite commodious.)
putrid
(adj.) rotten, foul (Those rotten eggs smell putrid.)
circuitous
(adj.) roundabout (The bus's circuitous route took us through numerous outlying suburbs.)
covert
(adj.) secretly engaged in (Nerwin waged a covert campaign against his enemies, while outwardly appearing to remain friendly.)
disparate
(adj.) sharply differing, containing sharply contrasting elements (Having widely varying interests, the students had disparate responses toward the novel.)
fickle
(adj.) shifting in character, inconstant (In Greek dramas, the fickle gods help Achilles one day, and then harm him the next.)
resplendent
(adj.) shiny, glowing (The partygoers were resplendent in diamonds and fancy dress.)
diligent
(adj.) showing care in doing one's work (The diligent researcher made sure to check her measurements multiple times.)
perfunctory
(adj.) showing little interest or enthusiasm (The radio broadcaster announced the news of the massacre in a surprisingly perfunctory manner.)
amorous
(adj.) showing love, particularly sexual (Whenever Albert saw Mariah wear her slinky red dress, he began to feel quite amorous.)
deferential
(adj.) showing respect for another's authority (His deferential attitude toward her made her more confident in her ability to run the company.)
canny
(adj.) shrewd, careful (The canny runner hung at the back of the pack through much of the race to watch the other runners, and then sprinted past them at the end.)
perspicacity
(adj.) shrewdness, perceptiveness (The detective was too humble to acknowledge that his perspicacity was the reason for his professional success.)
saccharine
(adj.) sickeningly sweet (Tom's saccharine manner, although intended to make him popular, actually repelled his classmates.)
inane
(adj.) silly and meaningless (Some films are so inane that the psychology of the characters makes absolutely no sense.)
analogous
(adj.) similar to, so that an analogy can be drawn (Though they are unrelated genetically, the bone structure of whales and fish is quite analogous.)
deft
(adj.) skillful, capable (Having worked in a bakery for many years, Marcus was a deft bread maker.)
adroit
(adj.) skillful, dexterous (The adroit thief could pick someone's pocket without attracting notice.)
cunning
(adj.) sly, clever at being deceitful (The general devised a cunning plan to surprise the enemy.)
paucity
(adj.) small in quantity (Gilbert lamented the paucity of twentieth century literature courses available at the college.)
cosmopolitan
(adj.) sophisticated, worldly (Lloyd's education and upbringing were cosmopolitan, so he felt right at home among the powerful and learned.)
scintillating
(adj.) sparkling (The ice skater's scintillating rhinestone costume nearly blinded the judges.)
dour
(adj.) stern, joyless (The children feared their dour neighbor because the old man would take their toys if he believed they were being too loud.)
impassive
(adj.) stoic, not susceptible to suffering (Stop being so impassive; it's healthy to cry every now and then.)
inveterate
(adj.) stubbornly established by habit (I'm the first to admit that I'm an inveterate coffee drinker—I drink four cups a day.)
pertinacious
(adj.) stubbornly persistent (Harry's parents were frustrated with his pertinacious insistence that a monster lived in his closet. Then they opened the closet door and were eaten.)
capricious
(adj.) subject to whim, fickle (The young girl's capricious tendencies made it difficult for her to focus on achieving her goals.)
servile
(adj.) subservient (The servile porter crept around the hotel lobby, bowing and quaking before the guests.)
puissance
(n) power; might; glory
profligacy
(n) reckless extravagance; shameless dissoluteness
asperity
(n) severity; harshness; irritability
aspersion
(n) slander; false rumor
anamnesis
(n) the ability to recall past occurrences; (n) the case history of a medical patient; (n) a memory
omphalos
(n) the central point; the navel
paregmenon
(n) the juxtaposition of words that have a common derivation, as in "sense and sensibility"
outrance
(n) the utmost extremity
malediction
(n.) a curse (When I was arrested for speeding, I screamed maledictions against the policeman and the entire police department.)
anathema
(n.) a cursed, detested person (I never want to see that murderer. He is an anathema to me.)
fallacy
(n.) a deceptive, misleading, or false notion or belief (That AIDS could be transmitted through the air was a widely believed fallacy in the 1908s.)
maelstrom
(n.) a destructive whirlpool which rapidly sucks in objects (Little did the explorers know that as they turned the next bend of the calm river a vicious maelstrom would catch their boat.)
pathology
(n.) a deviation from the normal (Dr. Hastings had difficulty identifying the precise nature of Brian's pathology.)
partisan
(n.) a follower, adherent (The king did not believe that his rival could round up enough partisans to overthrow the monarchy.)
confluence
(n.) a gathering together (A confluence of different factors made tonight the perfect night.)
zephyr
(n.) a gentle breeze (If not for the zephyrs that were blowing and cooling us, our room would've been unbearably hot.)
boon
(n.) a gift or blessing (The good weather has been a boon for many businesses located near the beach.)
colossus
(n.) a gigantic statue or thing (For 56 years, the ancient city of Rhodes featured a colossus standing astride its harbor.)
salutation
(n.) a greeting (Andrew regularly began letters with the bizarre salutation "Ahoy ahoy.")
dearth
(n.) a lack, scarcity (An eager reader, she was dismayed by the dearth of classic books at the library.)
tome
(n.) a large book (In college, I used to carry around an anatomy book that was the heaviest tome in my bag.)
demagogue
(n.) a leader who appeals to a people's prejudices (The demagogue strengthened his hold over his people by blaming immigrants for the lack of jobs.)
tirade
(n.) a long speech marked by harsh or biting language (Every time Jessica was late, her boyfriend went into a long tirade about punctuality.)
forum
(n.) a medium for lecture or discussion (Some radio talk-shows provide a good forum for political debate.)
caucus
(n.) a meeting usually held by people working toward the same goal (The ironworkers held a caucus to determine how much of a pay increase they would request.)
dirge
(n.) a mournful song, especially for a funeral (The bagpipers played a dirge as the casket was carried to the cemetery.)
commendation
(n.) a notice of approval or recognition (Jared received a commendation from Linda, his supervisor, for his stellar performance.)
confidant
(n.) a person entrusted with secrets (Shortly after we met, she became my chief confidant.)
refugee
(n.) a person who flees for refuge or safety, esp. to a foreign country, as in time of political upheaval, war, etc. (The refugees, driven from their homes by violence, made their way across the desert.)
cobbler
(n.) a person who makes or repairs shoes (I had my neighborhood cobbler replace my worn-out leather soles with new ones.)
conduit
(n.) a pipe or channel through which something passes (The water flowed through the conduit into the container.)
bard
(n.) a poet, often a singer as well (Shakespeare is often considered the greatest bard in the history of the English language.)
artifact
(n.) a remaining piece from an extinct culture or place (The scientists spent all day searching the cave for artifacts from the ancient Mayan civilization.)
panacea
(n.) a remedy for all ills or difficulties (Doctors wish there was a single panacea for every disease, but sadly there is not.)
cadence
(n.) a rhythm, progression of sound (The pianist used the foot pedal to emphasize the cadence of the sonata.)
parody
(n.) a satirical imitation (A hush fell over the classroom when the teacher returned to find Deborah acting out a parody of his teaching style.)
anthology
(n.) a selected collection of writings, songs, etc. (The new anthology of Bob Dylan songs contains all his greatest hits and a few songs that you might never have heard before.)
oration
(n.) a speech delivered in a formal or ceremonious manner (The prime minister was visibly shaken when the unruly parliament interrupted his oration about failed domestic policies.)
affinity
(n.) a spontaneous feeling of closeness (Jerry didn't know why, but he felt an incredible affinity for Kramer the first time they met.)
disrepute
(n.) a state of being held in low regard (The officer fell into disrepute after it was learned that he had disobeyed the orders he had given to his own soldiers.)
crescendo
(n.) a steady increase in intensity or volume (The crescendo of the brass instruments gave the piece a patriotic feel.)
proclivity
(n.) a strong inclination toward something (In a sick twist of fate, Harold's childhood proclivity for torturing small animals grew into a desire to become a surgeon.)
hierarchy
(n.) a system with ranked groups, usually according to social, economic, or professional class (Women found it very difficult to break into the upper ranks of the department's hierarchy.)
reprieve
(n.) a temporary delay of punishment (Because the governor woke up in a particularly good mood, he granted hundreds of reprieves to prisoners.)
excursion
(n.) a trip or outing (After taking an excursion to the Bronx Zoo, I dreamed about pandas and monkeys.)
dialect
(n.) a variation of a language (In the country's remote, mountainous regions, the inhabitants spoke a dialect that the country's other inhabitants had difficulty understanding.)
semaphore
(n.) a visual signal (Anne and Diana communicated with a semaphore involving candles and window shades.)
morass
(n.) a wet swampy bog; figuratively, something that traps and confuses (When Theresa lost her job, she could not get out of her financial morass.)
plethora
(n.) an abundance, excess (The wedding banquet included a plethora of oysters piled almost three feet high.)
paradox
(n.) an apparently contradictory statement that is perhaps true (The diplomat refused to acknowledge the paradox that negotiating a peace treaty would demand more resources than waging war.)
pretense
(n.) an appearance or action intended to deceive (Though he actually wanted to use his parents' car to go on a date, Nick borrowed his parents' car under the pretense of attending a group study session.)
increment
(n.) an enlargement; the process of increasing (The workmen made the wall longer, increment by increment.)
calamity
(n.) an event with disastrous consequences (The earthquake in San Francisco was a calamity worse than any other natural disaster in history.)
condolence
(n.) an expression of sympathy in sorrow (Brian lamely offered his condolences on the loss of his sister's roommate's cat.)
utopia
(n.) an imaginary and remote place of perfection (Everyone in the world wants to live in a utopia, but no one can agree how to go about building one.)
blemish
(n.) an imperfection, flaw (The dealer agreed to lower the price because of the many blemishes on the surface of the wooden furniture.)
infusion
(n.) an injection of one substance into another; the permeation of one substance by another (The infusion of Eastern religion into Western philosophy created interesting new schools of thought.)
innuendo
(n.) an insinuation (During the debate, the politician made several innuendos about the sexual activities of his opponent.)
affront
(n.) an insult (Bernardo was very touchy, and took any slight as an affront to his honor.)
portent
(n.) an omen (When a black cat crossed my sister's path while she was walking to school, she took it as a portent that she would do badly on her spelling test.)
presage
(n.) an omen (When my uncle's old war injury ached, he interpreted it as a presage of bad weather approaching.)
injunction
(n.) an order of official warning (After his house was toilet-papered for the fifth time, the mayor issued an injunction against anyone younger than 21 buying toilet paper.)
edict
(n.) an order, decree (The ruler issued an edict requiring all of his subjects to bow down before him.)
platitude
(n.) an uninspired remark, cliché (After reading over her paper, Helene concluded that what she thought were profound insights were actually just platitudes.)
temerity
(n.) audacity, recklessness (Tom and Huck entered the scary cave armed with nothing but their own temerity.)
acrimony
(n.) bitterness, discord (Though they vowed that no girl would ever come between them, Biff and Trevor could not keep acrimony from overwhelming their friendship after they both fell in love with the lovely Teresa.)
ennui
(n.) boredom, weariness (I feel such ennui that I don't look forward to anything, not even my birthday party.)
camaraderie
(n.) brotherhood, jovial unity (Camaraderie among employees usually leads to success in business.)
contusion
(n.) bruise, injury (The contusions on his face suggested he'd been in a fight.)
prudence
(n.) cautious, circumspect (After losing a fortune in a stock market crash, my father vowed to practice greater prudence in future investments.)
equanimity
(n.) composure (Even though he had just been fired, Mr. Simms showed great equanimity by neatly packing up his desk and wishing everyone in the office well.)
duplicity
(n.) crafty dishonesty (His duplicity involved convincing his employees to let him lower their salaries and increase their stock options, and then to steal the money he saved and run the company into the ground.)
rancor
(n.) deep, bitter resentment (When Eileen challenged me to a fight, I could see the rancor in her eyes.)
irreverence
(n.) disrespect (The irreverence displayed by the band that marched through the chapel disturbed many churchgoers.)
hegemony
(n.) domination over others (Britain's hegemony over its colonies was threatened once nationalist sentiment began to spread around the world.)
alacrity
(n.) eagerness, speed (For some reason, Chuck loved to help his mother whenever he could, so when his mother asked him to set the table he did so with alacrity.)
vicissitude
(n.) event that occurs by chance (The vicissitudes of daily life prevent me from predicting what might happen from one day to the next.)
ostracism
(n.) exclusion from a group (Beth risked ostracism if her roommates discovered her flatulence.)
agriculture
(n.) farming (It was a huge step in the progress of civilization when tribes left hunting and gathering and began to develop more sustainable methods of obtaining food, such as agriculture.)
trepidation
(n.) fear, apprehension (Feeling great trepidation, Anya refused to jump into the pool because she thought she saw a shark in it.)
absolution
(n.) freedom from blame, guilt, sin (Once all the facts were known, the jury gave Angela absolution by giving a verdict of not guilty.)
acclaim
(n.) high praise (Greg's excellent poem won the acclaim of his friends.)
renown
(n.) honor, acclaim (The young writer earned international renown by winning the Pulitzer Prize.)
effrontery
(n.) impudence, nerve, insolence (When I told my aunt that she was boring, my mother scolded me for my effrontery.)
privation
(n.) lacking basic necessities (After decades of rule by an oppressive government that saw nothing wrong with stealing from its citizens, the recent drought only increased the people's privation.)
grandiloquence
(n.) lofty, pompous language (The student thought her grandiloquence would make her sound smart, but neither the class nor the teacher bought it.)
anesthesia
(n.) loss of sensation (When the nerves in his spine were damaged, Mr. Hollins suffered anesthesia in his legs.)
serendipity
(n.) luck, finding good things without looking for them (In an amazing bit of serendipity, penniless Paula found a $20 bill in the subway station.)
vocation
(n.) the work in which someone is employed, profession (After growing tired of the superficial world of high-fashion, Edwina decided to devote herself to a new vocation: social work.)
veracity
(n.) truthfulness, accuracy (With several agencies regulating the reports, it was difficult for Latifah to argue against its veracity.)
wrath
(n.) vengeful anger, punishment (Did you really want to incur her wrath when she is known for inflicting the worst punishments legally possible?)
ensconce
(v) to settle comfortably and firmly in position; to put or hide in a safe place
calumniate
(v) to slander; to accuse falsely and maliciously
depone
(v) to testify under oath; despose
truss
(v) to tie, bind, or fasten; (v) to make fast with skewers, thread
bilk
(v.) cheat, defraud (The lawyer discovered that this firm had bilked several clients out of thousands of dollars.)
abrogate
(v.) to abolish, usually by authority (The Bill of Rights assures that the government cannot abrogate our right to a free press.)
immerse
(v.) to absorb, deeply involve, engross (After breaking up with her boyfriend, Nancy decided to immerse herself in her work in order to avoid crying.)
concede
(v.) to accept as valid (Andrew had to concede that what his mother said about Diana made sense.)
augment
(v.) to add to, expand (The eager student seeks to augment his knowledge of French vocabulary by reading French literature.)
abet
(v.) to aid, help, encourage (The spy succeeded only because he had a friend on the inside to abet him.)
compress
(v.) to apply pressure, squeeze together (Lynn compressed her lips into a frown.)
appraise
(v.) to assess the worth or value of (A realtor will come over tonight to appraise our house.)
ascribe
(v.) to assign, credit, attribute to (Some ascribe the invention of fireworks and dynamite to the Chinese.)
nurture
(v.) to assist the development of (Although Serena had never watered the plant, which was about to die, Javier was able to nurture it back to life.)
dither
(v.) to be indecisive (Not wanting to offend either friend, he dithered about which of the two birthday parties he should attend.)
stagnate
(v.) to become or remain inactive, not develop, not flow (With no room for advancement, the waiter's career stagnated.)
beseech
(v.) to beg, plead, implore (The servant beseeched the king for food to feed his starving family.)
deprecate
(v.) to belittle, depreciate (Always over-modest, he deprecated his contribution to the local charity.)
denigrate
(v.) to belittle, diminish the opinion of (The company decided that its advertisements would no longer denigrate the company's competitors.)
vituperate
(v.) to berate (Jack ran away as soon as his father found out, knowing he would be vituperated for his unseemly behavior.)
induce
(v.) to bring about, stimulate (Who knew that our decision to boycott school lunch would induce a huge riot?)
elicit
(v.) to bring forth, draw out, evoke (Although I asked several times where the exit was, I elicited no response from the stone-faced policeman.)
amalgamate
(v.) to bring together, unite (Because of his great charisma, the presidential candidate was able to amalgamate all democrats and republicans under his banner.)
subjugate
(v.) to bring under control, subdue (The invading force captured and subjugated the natives of that place.)
convene
(v.) to call together (Jason convened his entire extended family for a discussion.)
inure
(v.) to cause someone or something to become accustomed to a situation (Twenty years in the salt mines inured the man to the discomforts of dirt and grime.)
admonish
(v.) to caution, criticize, reprove (Joe's mother admonished him not to ruin his appetite by eating cookies before dinner.)
transmute
(v.) to change or alter in form (Ancient alchemists believed that it was possible to transmute lead into gold.)
enthrall
(v.) to charm, hold spellbound (The sailor's stories of fighting off sharks and finding ancient treasures enthralled his young son.)
elucidate
(v.) to clarify, explain (I didn't understand why my friend was so angry with me, so I asked Janine to elucidate her feelings.)
consummate
(v.) to complete a deal; to complete a marriage ceremony through sexual intercourse (Erica and Donald consummated their agreement in the executive boardroom.)
complement
(v.) to complete, make perfect (Ann's scarf complements her blouse beautifully, making her seem fully dressed even though she isn't wearing a coat.)
accost
(v.) to confront verbally (Though Antoinette was normally quite calm, when the waiter spilled soup on her for the fourth time in 15 minutes she stood up and accosted the man.)
vex
(v.) to confuse or annoy (My little brother vexes me by poking me in the ribs for hours on end.)
vanquish
(v.) to conquer or subdue by superior force (The army vanquished the opposition with cunning, strength, and ingenuity.)
ruminate
(v.) to contemplate, reflect (Terry liked to ruminate while sitting on the banks of the river, staring pensively into the water.)
contravene
(v.) to contradict, oppose, violate (Edwidge contravened his landlady's rule against overnight guests.)
quell
(v.) to control or diffuse a potentially explosive situation (The skilled leader deftly quelled the rebellion.)
decry
(v.) to criticize openly (The kind video rental clerk decried the policy of charging customers late fees.)
chastise
(v.) to criticize severely (After being chastised by her peers for mimicking Britney Spears, Miranda dyed her hair black and affected a Gothic style.)
consecrate
(v.) to dedicate something to a holy purpose (Arvin consecrated his spare bedroom as a shrine to Christina.)
raze
(v.) to demolish, level (The old tenement house was razed to make room for the large chain store.)
disavow
(v.) to deny knowledge of or responsibility for (Not wanting others to criticize her, she disavowed any involvement in the company's hiring scandal.)
excavate
(v.) to dig out of the ground and remove (The pharaoh's treasures were excavated by archeologists in Egypt.)
deter
(v.) to discourage, prevent from doing (Bob's description of scary snakes couldn't deter Marcia from traveling in the rainforests.)
dispel
(v.) to drive away, scatter (She entered the office as usual on Monday, dispelling the rumor that she had been fired.)
placate
(v.) to ease the anger of, soothe (The man purchased a lollipop to placate his irritable son.)
assuage
(v.) to ease, pacify (The mother held the baby to assuage its fears.)
relish
(v.) to enjoy (Pete always relished his bedtime snack.)
revel
(v.) to enjoy intensely (Theodore reveled in his new status as Big Man on Campus.)
assess
(v.) to evaluate (A crew arrived to assess the damage after the crash.)
debunk
(v.) to expose the falseness of something (He debunked her claim to be the world's greatest chess player by defeating her in 18 consecutive matches.)
emote
(v.) to express emotion (The director told the actor he had to emote, or else the audience would have no idea what his character was going through.)
deplore
(v.) to feel or express sorrow, disapproval (We all deplored the miserable working conditions in the factory.)
enamor
(v.) to fill with love, fascinate, usually used in passive form followed by "of" or "with" (I grew enamored of that boy when he quoted my favorite love poem.)
constrain
(v.) to forcibly restrict (His belief in nonviolence constrained him from taking revenge on his attackers.)
exonerate
(v.) to free from guilt or blame, exculpate (The true thief's confession exonerated the man who had been held in custody for the crime.)
confound
(v.) to frustrate, confuse (MacGuyver confounded the policemen pursuing him by covering his tracks.)
circumvent
(v.) to get around (The school's dress code forbidding navel-baring jeans was circumvented by the determined students, who were careful to cover up with long coats when administrators were nearby.)
reciprocate
(v.) to give in return (When Steve gave Samantha a sweater for Christmas, she reciprocated by giving him a kiss.)
consign
(v.) to give something over to another's care (Unwillingly, he consigned his mother to a nursing home.)
abort
(v.) to give up on a half-finished project or effort (After they ran out of food, the men, attempting to jump rope around the world, had to abort and go home.)
exalt
(v.) to glorify, praise (Michael Jordan is the figure in basketball we exalt the most.)
enfranchise
(v.) to grant the vote to (The Nineteenth Amendment enfranchised women.)
delegate
(v.) to hand over responsibility for something (The dean delegated the task of finding a new professor to a special hiring committee.)
surmise
(v.) to infer with little evidence (After speaking to only one of the students, the teacher was able to surmise what had caused the fight.)
interject
(v.) to insert between other things (During our conversation, the cab driver occasionally interjected his opinion.)
abduct
(v.) to kidnap, take by force (The evildoers abducted the fairy princess from her happy home.)
deride
(v.) to laugh at mockingly, scorn (The bullies derided the foreign student's accent.)
prescribe
(v.) to lay down a rule (The duke prescribed that from this point further all of the peasants living on his lands would have to pay higher taxes.)
cavort
(v.) to leap about, behave boisterously (The adults ate their dinners on the patio, while the children cavorted around the pool.)
curtail
(v.) to lessen, reduce (Since losing his job, he had to curtail his spending.)
aspire
(v.) to long for, aim toward (The young poet aspires to publish a book of verse someday.)
vilify
(v.) to lower in importance, defame (After the Watergate scandal, almost any story written about President Nixon sought to vilify him and criticize his behavior.)
debase
(v.) to lower the quality or esteem of something (The large raise that he gave himself debased his motives for running the charity.)
demean
(v.) to lower the status or stature of something (She refused to demean her secretary by making him order her lunch.)
compensate
(v.) to make an appropriate payment for something (Reginald bought Sharona a new dress to compensate her for the one he'd spilled his ice cream on.)
annul
(v.) to make void or invalid (After seeing its unforeseen and catastrophic effects, Congress sought to annul the law.)
undulate
(v.) to move in waves (As the storm began to brew, the placid ocean began to undulate to an increasing degree.)
propagate
(v.) to multiply, spread out (Rumors of Paul McCartney's demise propagated like wildfire throughout the world.)
cultivate
(v.) to nurture, improve, refine (At the library, she cultivated her interest in spy novels.)
expunge
(v.) to obliterate, eradicate (Fearful of an IRS investigation, Paul tried to expunge all incriminating evidence from his tax files.)
carouse
(v.) to party, celebrate (We caroused all night after getting married.)
modulate
(v.) to pass from one state to another, especially in music (The composer wrote a piece that modulated between minor and major keys.)
ascertain
(v.) to perceive, learn (With a bit of research, the student ascertained that some plants can live for weeks without water.)
dissuade
(v.) to persuade someone not to do something (Worried that he would catch a cold, she tried to dissuade him from going out on winter nights.)
palliate
(v.) to reduce the severity of (The doctor trusted that the new medication would palliate her patient's discomfort.)
abate
(v.) to reduce, lessen (The rain poured down for a while, then abated.)
repudiate
(v.) to reject, refuse to accept (Kwame made a strong case for an extension of his curfew, but his mother repudiated it with a few biting words.)
abjure
(v.) to reject, renounce (To prove his honesty, the President abjured the evil policies of his wicked predecessor.)
exult
(v.) to rejoice (When she found out she won the literature prize, Mary exulted by dancing and singing through the school's halls.)
alleviate
(v.) to relieve, make more bearable (This drug will alleviate the symptoms of the terrible disease, but only for a while.)
eradicate
(v.) to remove or destroy utterly; extirpate (The bleach eradicated the germs festering in the collar of the dirty shirt.)
obfuscate
(v.) to render incomprehensible (The detective did want to answer the newspaperman's questions, so he obfuscated the truth.)
supersede
(v.) to replace in power, authority, effectiveness, acceptance, use, etc., as by another person or thing (The general's desire to launch an attack was superseded by the President's desire to try diplomacy to resolve the issue,)
repose
(v.) to rest, lie down (The cat, after eating an entire can of tuna fish, reposed in the sun and took a long nap.)
refurbish
(v.) to restore, clean up (The dingy old chair, after being refurbished, commanded the handsome price of $200.)
disclose
(v.) to reveal, make public (The CEO disclosed to the press that the company would have to fire several employees.)
wallow
(v.) to roll oneself indolently; to become or remain helpless (My roommate can't get over her breakup with her boyfriend and now just wallows in self-pity.)
satiate
(v.) to satisfy excessively (Satiated after eating far too much turkey and stuffing, Liza lay on the couch watching football and suffering from stomach pains.)
berate
(v.) to scold vehemently (The angry boss berated his employees for failing to meet their deadline.)
rail
(v.) to scold, protest (The professor railed against the injustice of the college's tenure policy.)
avenge
(v.) to seek revenge (The victims will take justice into their own hands and strive to avenge themselves against the men who robbed them.)
usurp
(v.) to seize by force, take possession of without right (The rogue army general tried to usurp control of the government, but he failed because most of the army backed the legally elected president.)
pillage
(v.) to seize or plunder, especially in war (Invading enemy soldiers pillaged the homes scattered along the country's border.)
evince
(v.) to show, reveal (Christopher's hand-wringing and nail-biting evince how nervous he is about the upcoming English test.)
adumbrate
(v.) to sketch out in a vague way (The coach adumbrated a game plan, but none of the players knew precisely what to do.)
allay
(v.) to soothe, ease (The chairman of the Federal Reserve gave a speech to try to allay investors' fears about an economic downturn.)
disseminate
(v.) to spread widely (The politician disseminated his ideas across the town before the election.)
embezzle
(v.) to steal money by falsifying records (The accountant was fired for embezzling $10,000 of the company's funds.)
balk
(v.) to stop, block abruptly (Edna's boss balked at her request for another raise.)
accentuate
(v.) to stress, highlight (Psychologists agree that those people who are happiest accentuate the positive in life.)
corroborate
(v.) to support with evidence (Luke's seemingly outrageous claim was corroborated by witnesses.)
revoke
(v.) to take back (After missing the curfew set by the court for eight nights in a row, Marcel's freedom of movement was revoked.)
rescind
(v.) to take back, repeal (The company rescinded its offer of employment after discovering that Jane's resume was full of lies.)
coagulate
(v.) to thicken, clot (The top layer of the pudding had coagulated into a thick skin.)
foil
(v.) to thwart, frustrate, defeat (Inspector Wilkens foiled the thieves by locking them in the bank along with their stolen money.)
fathom
(v.) to understand, comprehend (I cannot fathom why you like that crabby and mean-spirited neighbor of ours.)
instigate
(v.) to urge, goad (The demagogue instigated the crowd into a fury by telling them that they had been cheated by the federal government.)
exhort
(v.) to urge, prod, spur (Henry exhorted his colleagues to join him in protesting against the university's hiring policies.)
goad
(v.) to urge, spur, incite to action (Jim may think he's not going to fight Billy, but Billy will goad Jim on with insults until he throws a punch.)
desecrate
(v.) to violate the sacredness of a thing or place (They feared that the construction of a golf course would desecrate the preserved wilderness.)
transgress
(v.) to violate, go over a limit (The criminal's actions transgressed morality and human decency.)
chide
(v.) to voice disapproval (Lucy chided Russell for his vulgar habits and sloppy appearance.)
encumber
(v.) to weigh down, burden (At the airport, my friend was encumbered by her luggage, so I offered to carry two of her bags.)
atrophy
(v.) to wither away, decay (If muscles do not receive enough blood, they will soon atrophy and die.)
Effusive
Enthusiastic
ember
a glowing piece of burning wood or coal
avocation
a hobby or minor occupation
nonpartisans
a lack of affiliation with a political party
discrepancy
a lack of compatibility or similarity between two or more facts: there's a discrepancy between your account and his.
lethargy
a lack of energy and enthusiasm
stockpiling
a large accumulated stock of goods or materials, esp. one held in reserve for use at a time of shortage or other emergency
swarm
a large number of insects or other small creatures, especially when in motion
emporium
a large retail store selling a wide variety of goods a business establishment that specializes in products or services on a large scale (often used for humorously formal effect)
Demagogue
a leader who tries to stir up people by appeals to emotion, prejudice, etc., in order to achieve power
hypothesis
a message expressing an opinion based on incomplete evidence
camouflage
a method of concealing or hiding military troops
Euphemism
a mild or vague word or phrase replacing one considered harsh or offensively direct
Scintilla
a minute amount; an iota or trace
amalgam
a mixture or blend: a curious amalgam of the traditional and the modern
Proclivity
a natural inclination; predisposition
clauses
a new clause in the treaty: section, paragraph, article, subsection; stipulation, condition, proviso, rider.
bias
a partiality that prevents objective consideration of an issue or situation
virtuoso
a person highly skilled in music or another artistic pursuit
Patrician
a person of refined upbringing, manners and taste
precursor
a person or thing that comes before another of the same kind; a forerunner
milieu
a person's social environment: he grew up in a military milieu.
habitation
a place in which to live; a residence
toxin
a poisonous substance
demagogue
a political leader who appeals to the passions and prejudices of his audience
predilection
a preference or special liking for something; a bias in favor of something
antibody
a protein in blood or tissues that protect you against certain germs
momentum
a quantity used to measure the motion of a body, equal to the product of its mass and velocity. Any change in the speed or direction of a body changes its momentum
Symbiotic
a relationship of mutual benefit or depencence
interloper
a person who becomes involved in a place or situation where they are not wanted or are considered not to belong
orator
a person who delivers a speech or oration
zealot
a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals
recluse
a person who lives alone or has little to do with other people
solicitor
a person who tries to obtain business orders
Egalitarian
favoring social equality
immutable
fixed, set, rigid, inflexible, permanent, established
panache
flamboyant confidence of style or manner
pliant
flexible, easily influenced
jocular
fond of or characterized by joking; humorous or playful
jocularity
fond of or characterized by joking; humorous or playful: she sounded in a jocular mood | his voice was jocular
contrived
forced, strained, studied, artificial, affected
vehement
forceful, ardent, impassioned, heated, spirited
reconciliation
getting two things to correspond
temporize
he temporized for weeks, hoping the problem would go away: equivocate, procrastinate, play for time
reviling
he was reviled as a traitor: criticize, censure, condemn, attack, inveigh against, rail against, castigate, lambaste, denounce; slander, libel
bane
headache, nightmare, trial
infighting
hidden conflict or competitiveness within an organization boxing closer to an opponent than at arm's length.
Zenith
highest point
propensity
his propensity for giving long speeches: tendency, inclination, predisposition, proneness, proclivity
heretical
holding an opinion at odds with what is generally accepted
Probity
honesty, uprightness
gargantuan
huge
bawdy
humorously vulgar
i.e.
id est (that is)
paragon
ideal model
boorish
ill-mannered and coarse and contemptible in behavior or appearance
loutish
ill-mannered and coarse and contemptible in behavior or appearance
conditional
imposing or depending on or containing a condition
irrefutable
impossible to deny or disprove
indomitable
impossible to subdue or defeat: a woman of indomitable spirit
inscrutable
impossible to understand or interpret: Guy looked blankly inscrutable.
despondent
in low spirits from loss of hope or courage
anachronistic
in the wrong time period
denizen
inhabitant or occupant of a particular place
guileless
innocent and without deception, naive
quizzical
inquiring, questioning, curious
precarious
insecure, unpredictable, risky
callous
insensitive
callousness
insensitive & cruel regard toward others
effrontery
insolent or impertinent behavior, imprudence
effrontery
insolent or impertinent behavior: one juror had the effrontery to challenge the coroner's decision.
imbued
inspire or permeate with a feeling or quality: the entire performance was imbued with sparkle and elan.
formidable
inspiring fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful, intense, or capable: a formidable opponent
inculcating
instill (an attitude, idea, or habit) by persistent instruction
edify
instruct or improve (someone) morally or intellectually
didactic
instructive (especially excessively)
didactic
instructive, learning
cerebral
intellectual
pretentious
intended to attract notice and impress others
placatory
intended to make someone less angry or hostile; conciliatory
benevolent
intending or showing kindness
intermittent
intermittent bursts of gunfire: sporadic, irregular, fitful, spasmodic, broken, fragmentary
interceded
intervene on behalf of another
mediation
intervention in a dispute in order to resolve it; arbitration: the parties have sought mediation and it has failed. • intervention in a process or relationship; intercession: they are offering sacrifice and mediation between God and man.
embroiled
involve (someone) deeply in an argument, conflict, or difficult situation: she became embroiled in a dispute between two women she hardly knew | the movie's about a journalist who becomes embroiled with a nightclub owner. • bring into a state of confusion or disorder
Superficial
involving a surface only
intrepid
invulnerable to fear or intimidation
extraneous
irrelevant or unrelated to subject
integrates
combine
synergy
combined effort
banal
commonplace; boring
Banal
commonplace; trivial
analogy
comparing 2 things that are not alike
querulous
complaining in a petulant or whining manner
consummate
complete
consummate
complete something or highly skilled
concession
compromise, acceptance, surrender
litigiousness
concerned with lawsuits or litigation
pragmatic
concerned with practical matters
Aesthetic
concerning or characterized by an appreciation of beauty or good taste
laconic
concise, terse, succinct, short
quandary
condition of uncertainty or doubt; confusion
provisionary
conditional, temporary
corroborating
confirm or give support to (a statement, theory, or finding)
corroborated
confirmed
accosted
confront, call to, shout to, hail, address
corollary
consequence, result, end result, upshot, effect, repercussion, product, by-product, offshoot.
fallacious
containing or based on a fallacy
expedience
convenient and practical, appropriate
dialogue
conversation
Didactic
conveying instruction; teaching some moral lesson
commensurate
corresponding in size or degree; in proportion: salary will be commensurate with experience
Visceral
course, base, instinctive
Pernicious
deadly
duplicitous
deceitful
assertion
declaration, statement
profundity
deep insight; great depth of knowledge or thought
overwrought
deeply agitated especially from emotion
truculent
defiantly aggressive
wanton
deliberate, willful, malicious, spiteful, wicked, cruel
decried
denounce, condemn, criticize, censure, attack, rail against, run down
sedulous
diligent, careful, meticulous, thorough, assiduous
scrupulous
diligent, extremely attentive to detail
Impugned
dispute the truth, validity, or honesty of (a statement or motive); call into question"the father does not impugn her capacity as a good mother"
impugned
dispute truth of something, challenge
subversive
disruptive troublemaker
clandestine
kept secret or done secretively, esp. because illicit
clandestine
kept secret or done secretively, esp. because illicit: she deserved better than these clandestine meetings.
incandescent
emitting light as a result of being heated
impassioned
emotional, heartfelt
obfuscation
ender obscure, unclear, or unintelligible
stoicism
endurance, fortitude
transient
enduring a very short time
perennial
enduring, lasting, everlasting
Verve
energy and enthusiasm in the expression of ideas
momentum
energy, force, power
hedonistic
engaged in the pursuit of pleasure; sensually self-indulgent: a hedonistic existence of drink, drugs, and parties.
sociable
enjoying the company of others; friendly
ardent
enthusiastic or passionate
Milieu
environment; setting
effacement
erase (a mark) from a surface make oneself appear insignificant or inconspicuous.
Substantiate
establish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts
extrapolated
estimate or conclude (something) by extrapolating
concord
agreement, harmony, accord, consensus
mitigated
alleviate, reduce, diminish, lessen, weaken
mitigated
alleviate, reduce, diminish, lessen, weaken, lighten
translucent
allowing light to pass through, but blurring it so that images cannot be seen clearly
Avarice
an excessive desire of gain; greediness
pundit
an expert in a particular subject or field who is frequently called on to give opinions about it to the public
conflagration
an extensive fire that destroys a great deal of land or property
tundra
an extremely cold, dry biome
Sine qua non
an indispensable thing
scarcity
an insufficient amount or supply; a shortage
conjecture
an opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information
adversary
an opponent or enemy
vector
an organism, such as an insect, that transmits pollen
vagary
an unexpected and inexplicable change in a situation or in someone's behavior: the vagaries of the weather.
maverick
an unorthodox or independent-minded person
explications
analyze and develop (an idea or principle) in detail
progenitor
ancestor
at once
and
between
and
both
and
acrimonious
angry, rancorous, caustic
irate
angry; enraged
Indolent
avoiding labor and exertion; lazy
frugal
avoiding waste
perverse
awkward & Illogical
ungainly
awkward, clumsy
perverse
awkward, illogical
rudimentary
basic, elementary, primary, fundamental, essential
supercilious
arrogant, superiority complex
imperious
arrogant; overbearing
not so much
as
ascetic
austere, self-denying, abstinent, abstemious, self-disciplined, self-abnegating; simple
magisterial
authoritative, masterful, assured, lordly, commanding, assertive
credence
belief in or acceptance of something as true
mundane
belonging to this earth or world
patron
benefactor
valor
bravery
terse
brief and to the point; concise
Succinct
brief, concise
succinctly
briefly & clearly expressed
succinct
briefly giving the gist of something
alacrity
brisk and cheerful readiness
alacrity
brisk and cheerful readiness: she accepted the invitation with alacrity.
onerous (adj)
burdensome
not
but
neither
but also
not only
but also
aback
by surprise
vicarious
experienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of another person
empirical
experimental
deride
express contempt for; ridicule
pontificate
express opinions pompously
slipshod
careless, lackadaisical, slapdash, disorganized, haphazard, hit-or-miss, untidy
perfunctory
carried out w/ minimum effort, mechanical
flippant
casual, disrespectful
entangled
cause to become twisted together with or caught in: fish attempt to swim through the mesh and become entangled. • involve (someone) in difficulties or complicated circumstances from which it is difficult to escape: the case of murder in which she had found herself so painfully entangled.
enervating
causing debilitation
repugnant
causing disgust; offensive or repulsive
direful
causing fear or dread or terror
dismal
causing gloom or depression; dreary
deleterious
causing harm or damage
contentious
causing or likely to cause an argument; controversial
leery
cautious or wary due to realistic suspicions: a city leery of gang violence
stealthy
cautiously, secretively
lionized
celebrate, fête, glorify, honor, exalt
disparaging
expressing the opinion that something is of little worth; derogatory
disparaging
expressing the opinion that something is of little worth; derogatory: disparaging remarks about public housing
Hyperbole
extravagant exaggeration
hilarity
extreme amusement
jingoism
extreme patriotism, chauvinism, extreme nationalism, xenophobia, flag-waving; hawkishness, militarism, belligerence, bellicosity
heady
extremely exciting as if by alcohol or a narcotic
Exiguous
extremely scanty (bare)
ebullient
exuberant, buoyant, cheerful, joyful, cheery, merry, jolly, sunny, jaunty, lighthearted
elated
exultantly proud and joyful
abortive
failing to accomplish an intended result
equitable
fair and impartial
equitable
fair and impartial: an equitable balance of power
fidelity
faithfulness, loyalty, constancy; trueheartedness, trustworthiness, dependability
fallacious
fake
auspicious
favorable, oppertune
auspicious
favorable, propitious, promising, rosy, good, encouraging
avant-garde
new forms, innovative
Disingenuous
not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating
fallacy
not true. false. lie.
NB
nota bene (Latin meaning note well); used to direct attention to something particularly important
Salient
noticeable; also, projecting; also, leaping
fortuitous
occurring by happy chance
Apocryphal
of doubtful authority or authenticity
tactile
of or connected with the sense of touch: vocal and visual signals become less important as tactile signals intensify. • perceptible by touch or apparently so; tangible: she had a distinct, almost tactile memory. • designed to be perceived by touch: tactile exhibitions help blind people enjoy the magic of sculpture.
draconian
of or relating to Draco or his harsh code of laws
centennial
of or relating to a hundredth anniversary
bucolic
of or relating to the pleasant aspects of the countryside and country life
despotic
of or typical of a despot; tyrannical: a despotic regime
egalitarian
of, relating to, or believing in the principle that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities
abhorrent
offensive to the mind
revisionists
often derogatory a policy of revision or modification, esp. of Marxism on evolutionary socialist (rather than revolutionary) or pluralist principles. • the theory or practice of revising one's attitude to a previously accepted situation or point of view.
unctuous
oily; flattering
Iconoclast
one who attacks and seeks to overthrow traditional or popular ideas of institutions
defiance
open resistance to an opposing force or authority.
dogmatic
opinionated, peremptory, assertive, insistent, emphatic, adamant, doctrinaire
NOT opposition "against"
opposition "to"
sanguine
optimistic
sanguine
optimistic, bullish, hopeful
recourse
option, possibility, alternative, resort, way out, hope, remedy, choice, expedient.
either
or
whether
or
chronology
order of events. sequence of events.
prosaic
ordinary
prosaic
ordinary, everyday
omnivore
organism that eats plants and animals
parasite
organism that gets it nourishment from another
renegade
outlaw
silhouette
outline of body
maudlin
over sentimental, emotional
treacly
overly sentimental
violate
overstep, disobey
subverting
overthrow, undermine
hackneyed
overused, overdone, overworked
pallid
pale
Inchoate
partially but not fully in existence or operation
extenuating
partially excusing or justifying
bequeath
pass (something) on or leave (something) to someone else
waft
pass or cause to pass easily or gently through or as if through the air
zealous
passionate, fervent
Forbearance
patience; good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence
forbearance
patient self-control; restraint and tolerance
repose
peace, relax, calmness
tranquility
peaceful, quiet, rest
Halcyon
peaceful, undisturbed, and happy
mediated
peacemaker
mediated
peacemaker, resolve
Flotsam
people or things that have been rejected and are regarded as worthless"the room was cleared of boxes and other flotsam"
Ken
perception; understanding; knowledge
doggedness
persistance
tenacity
persistence, determination, perseverance, doggedness, strength of purpose, tirelessness, indefatigability
lobbyist
person who seeks to influence political events
cajoling
persuade, coax
permeated
pervade, spread through
futility
pointlessness or uselessness: the horror and futility of war
ozone
poisonous gas layer
genteel
polite, refined, or respectable, often in an affected or ostentatious way
demagogue
political leader who follows popular ideals; mob leader; unofficial leader of the people
bombastic
pompous, blustering, turgid, verbose, orotund, high-flown, high-sounding, overwrought, pretentious, ostentatious, grandiloquent
positive slope
positive infinity
feasible
possible
procrastinate
postpone doing what one should be doing
destitution
poverty so extreme that one lacks the means to provide for oneself: the family faced eviction and destitution
vitality
power of endurance
plaudits
praise
lauds
praise, extol, hail, applaud, acclaim, commend, sing the praises of, speak highly of
ubiquity
present, appearing, or found everywhere
ubiquitous
present, appearing, or found everywhere: his ubiquitous influence was felt by all the family | cowboy hats are ubiquitous among the male singers.
brash
presumptuously daring
pervasive
prevalent
stymied
prevent or hinder the progress of: the changes must not be allowed to stymie new medical treatments.
forestall
prevent or obstruct (an anticipated event or action) by taking action ahead of time
adverse to
preventing success or development; harmful; unfavorable
hitherto
previously, formerly, earlier, before, beforehand; so far, thus far, to date, as yet, until now
propulsion
putting something foreward
Preeminence
quality of having superior rank or importance
deft
quick and skillful
Acumen
quickness of perception or discernment (understanding)
introspection
quiet. thinks deeply to themselves.
diligent
quietly and steadily persevering especially in detail or exactness
repudiate
renounce, abandon
eclectic
random. all over the place (like having all different types of music on an ipod)
perused
read, study, examine
insurgent
rebellious
profligacy
recklessly extravagant or wasteful in the use of resources
curtails
reduce
curtail
reduce in extent or quantity; impose a restriction on
persistent
refusing to give up or stop
disparaged
regard or represent as being of little worth
disparage
regard or represent as being of little worth: he never missed an opportunity to disparage his competitors.
dichotomize
regard or represent as divided or opposed
nihilistic
rejecting all religious and moral principles in the belief that life is meaningless: an embittered, nihilistic teenage
repudiation
rejection of a proposal or idea
Consanguineous
related by blood, descended from the same ancestor
pertinent
related to the same topic; relevant
funerary
relating to a funeral or the commemoration of the dead: funerary ceremonies
Pecuniary
relating to money
antiquarian
relating to or dealing in antiques or rare books
cataclysmic
relating to or denoting a violent natural event
pertinent
relevant or applicable to a particular matter; apposite
pertinent
relevant or applicable to a particular matter; apposite: she asked me a lot of very pertinent questions
germane
relevant; appropriate
pristine
remaining in a pure or unspoiled state; completely free from dirt or contamination
prodigious
remarkable in extent, unnatural
prodigious
remarkably or impressively great in extent, size, or degree
corrective
remedial
aloof
remote in manner
hackneyed
repeated too often
alliteration
repetiton of the same sounds
supersedes
replace
monochromic
representation or reproduction in black and white or in varying tones of only one color
reproach
reprimand
castigated
reprimand (someone) severely
castigation
reprimand (someone) severely
reticent
reserved
taciturn
reserved, reticent
steadfast
resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering: steadfast loyalty
deferential
respectful
Reciprocate
respond to (a gesture or action) by making a corresponding one"the favor was reciprocated"
reticence
restraint, inhibition, diffidence, shyness
circumscribed
restricted or limited
corollary
result, consequence
resuscitate
revive (someone)
rescind
revoke, cancel, or repeal (a law, order, or agreement): the government eventually rescinded the directive.
opulent
rich and superior in quality
sanctimonious
righteous, making a show of being morally superior to other people
extirpation
root out and destroy completely
impertinent
rude
scuttled
run hurriedly or furtively with short quick steps: a mouse scuttled across the floor
Spontaneous
said or done without having been planned or written in advance
ostensibly
seemingly on surface
Carpe diem
seize the moment
aplomb
self-confidence or assurance
aplomb
self-confidence, especially in a difficult situation; poise, assurance
autonomy
self-gov
autonomous
self-governing, self-ruling
autonomy
self-rule
autonomy
self-rule, home rule, self-determination, independence, sovereignty, freedom
altruistic
selfless
purveyor
seller, vendor, retailer, supplier, trader, peddler, hawker
judicious
sensible
mawkishness
sentimental in a feeble or sickly way
scintillating
shine brightly
galvanized
shock or excite (someone), typically into taking action: the urgency of his voice galvanized them into action
macabre
shockingly repellent
succinct
short (and sweet), brief, compact, condensed
laconic
short answers
Ephemeral
short lived
ephemeral
short-lived
myopic
short-sighted
vaccine
shot that protects you from not getting something, a substance that stimulates the body to produce chemicals that destroy viruses or bacteria
blitheness
showing a casual and cheerful indifference considered to be callous or improper: a blithe disregard for the rules of the road. • happy or joyous: a blithe seaside comedy.
plucky
showing courage in the face of danger
deferential
showing deference, respectful
punctilious
showing great attention to detail
meticulous
showing great concern for details; extremely careful or precise
enthusiastic
showing great excitment or interest
ostentacious
showing off
irresolute
showing or feeling hesitancy; uncertain: she stood irresolute outside his door
Emphatic
showing or giving emphasis; expressing something forcibly and clearly"the children were emphatic that they would like to repeat the experience"
callously
showing or having an insensitive and cruel disregard for others
callous
showing or having an insensitive and cruel disregard for others: his callous comments about the murder made me shiver.
wistful
showing pensive sadness; full of longing or unfulfilled desire
canny
showing self-interest and shrewdness in dealing with others
astute
shrewd, sharp, acute, adroit, quick, clever
harbinger
sign, indication, signal, messenger
watershed
significant moment in history, turning point
inane
silly; stupid
analogous (adj)
similar
synchrony
simultaneous action, development, or occurrence.
cunning
sly, crafty, or clever
modicum
small amount
mosaic
small pieces put to together to make a picture
shroud
something that cloaks or covers
anomilies
something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected
concoction
something that has been prepared by putting several things together; a mixture of ingredients
specimen
something that is studied by scientists as an example of an entire act, such as an entire species of living things
evanescence
soon passing out of sight, memory, or existence; quickly fading or disappearing
triage
sorting, determining assignment
vilified
speak or write about in an abusively disparaging manner: he has been vilified in the press.
rhapsodize
speak or write about someone or something with great enthusiasm and delight: he began to rhapsodize about Gaby's beauty and charm.
prevaricator
speaking/ acting evasively
polyglot
speaks many languages
economizing
spend less; reduce one's expenses
vitiated
spoil, waste away, impair quality of
intuitive
spontaneously derived from or prompted by a natural tendency
disseminate
spread or disperse
pervasive
spreading widely
stock
standard, conventional
despoiled
steal or violently remove valuable or attractive possessions from; plunder: the church was despoiled of its marble wall covering.
precipitous
steep or sudden
stagnation
still
piquant
stimulating to the taste or mind; spicy, pungent; appealingly provocative
miserly
stingy, cheap
lofty
tall, of imposing height
palpable
tangible, capable of being touched
contemptuous
the contemptuous look on your face says it all: scornful, disdainful, disrespectful, insulting, insolent, derisive, mocking, sneering
Syntax
the study of the rules whereby words or other elements of sentence structure are combined to form grammatical sentences
dogmatism
the tendency to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true, without consideration of evidence or the opinions of others: a culture of dogmatism and fanaticism.
Res Ipsa Loquitur
the thing speaks for itself
sophistry
the use of fallacious arguments, esp. with the intention of deceiving. • a fallacious argument.
chicanery
the use of trickery to achieve a political, financial, or legal purpose
Chicanery
the use of trickery to deceive
xylem
the vascular tissue through which water and nutrients move in some plants
*smaller the slope...
thicker the graph
ornamentation
things added to something to provide decoration: a baroque chandelier with plasterwork ornamentation.
metaphor
things compaired without like or as
*bigger the slope...
thinner the graph
precarious
those steps look a bit precarious: uncertain, insecure, unpredictable, risky, parlous, hazardous, dangerous, unsafe
The triangle inequality states that...
three lengths can be the lengths of the sides of a triangle if and only if each length is shorter than the sum of the other two lengths.
belie (v)
to contradict
cower
to crouch back in fear
abate
to decrease; to recede
Prevaricate
to depart from or evade the truth
decimate
to destroy or kill a significant portion
Bifurcate
to divide into two parts or branches
counter
to do or say something the opposite of something else
flourish
to do well. to grow and develop
recede
to draw back from
Structinize
to examine closely
jut
to extend sharply outward or upward
waft
to float easily and gently on the air; drift
meander
to follow a winding or turning course
banish
to force to leave a country or place; exile
Renege
to go back on a promise or commitment
bluffsomeone
to have a false display of confidence, especially in order to deceive
aspire
to have a great ambition
commemorate
to honor memory of
extrapolation
to infer
apprise
to inform
eavesdrop
to listen secretly to the private conversation of others
debase
to lower in quality or value
Vitiate
to make faulty or imperfect
diminish
to make or become smaller or less; reduce or decrease
Ameliorate
to make or grow better
Vilify
to make vicious and defamatory statements about
undulate
to move in waves or with a wavelike motion; to have a wavelike appearance or form
hasten
to move or act swiftly; to hurry
waver
to move unsteadily back and forth
scurry
to move with light running steps; scamper
pulverize
to pound, crush, or grind
hamper
to prevent
Obviate
to prevent by interception
falter
to proceed or continue in an unsteady or weakening manner
illuminate
to provide with light or cast light upon someone or something
replenish
to refill something; make something full again
boycott
to refuse to use or buy from
exult
to rejoice.
recuperate
to return to normal health or strength; recover
divulge
to reveal private information; to spread something (like a secret)
Adumbrate
to sketch, outline in a shadowy way
bolster
to strengthen
floundered
to stumble or break down, struggle
deduction
to subtract.
vacillate
to swing indecisively from one idea or course of action to another; to waver weakly in mind or will
engross
to take all of the attention from someone.
jabber
to talk rapidly or in a senseless manner; chatter
narrate
to tell a story or describe a series of events
insofar
to the extent that: he decided that philosophy spoke of personal problems only insofar as they illustrated general ones.
bamboozle
to trick
Chortle
to utter, or express with, a snorting, exultant laugh or chuckle
desecration
to violate the sanctity of, disrespect
swagger
to walk in a way that makes you look as if you think you are important or very confident; strut
brandish
to wave or exhibit something in a dramatic or threatening way
weather
to wear away or change, as in color or surface texture, by exposure to the wind, rain, and other conditions of the atmosphere.
heritage
tradition. something passed down.
orthodox
traditional
pathos
tragedy
transitory
transient, temporary, brief, short, ephemeral
transient
transitory, temporary, short-lived, short-term, ephemeral, impermanent, brief, short, momentary
trivialize
treat as unimportant
facetious
treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant
bromide
trite and unoriginal idea or remark, typically intended to soothe or placate: feel-good bromides create the illusion of problem solving.
veer
turn, swerve, curve, swing, sheer, career, weave, wheel; change direction, change course, go off course, deviate.
solstice
twice-yearly point at which the Sun reaches its greatest distance north or south of the equator
pluralistic
two coexist
inhibited
unable to act in a relaxed and natural way because of self-consciousness or mental restraint
unassailable
unable to be attacked, questioned, or defeated: an unassailable lead.
imperturbable
unable to be upset or excited; calm
impervious
unaffected by , not allowing to pass through
abiding
unceasing
nonchalant
unconcerned
restrained
under restraint
beleaguered
under siege, blockaded, surrounded, hindered
empathy
understanding and entering into another's feelings
Arcane
understood by only a few
tacit
understood without being openly expressed; implied
indeterminate
undetermined, uncertain, unknown
panacea
universal cure
protean
variable, changeable, mutable, kaleidoscopic, inconstant
sundry
various, miscellaneous
Capricious
whimsical; changeable
Nefarious
wicked in the extreme
nefarious
wicked or criminal
propitiatory
win or regain the favor of (a god, spirit, or person) by doing something that pleases them: the pagans thought it was important to propitiate the gods with sacrifices
Sagacity
wisdom
Prudent
wise, careful, cautious
prudent
wise, sensible
recessive
withdrawn, or detached, and tending to recede
scathing
witheringly scornful; severely critical
Inane
without contents, empty; void of sense or intelligence; purposeless; pointless; useless
inadvertently
without intention; accidentally: his name had been inadvertently omitted from the list.
waggish
witty or joking
collaborate
work together on a common enterprise of project
Subtle
working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
insidious
working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
exemplary
worthy of imitation
venerable
worthy of respect
inversely proportional
xk= y
proportional
y=kx
dapper
marked by smartness in dress and manners
aberrant
markedly different from an accepted norm
exponent
math matic symbol for multipling a number by itself as many times the little number says (example: 3⁴ , 2⁵, 6⁷)
labyrinth
maze
y is directly proportional to x^2
means "y=kx^2"
histrionic
melodramatic
baleful
menacing, threatening, unfriendly, hostile, antagonistic, evil, evil-intentioned
equanimity
mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, esp. in a difficult situation: she accepted both the good and the bad with equanimity.
variegated
multicolored, multicolor, many-colored, many-hued, polychromatic, varicolored, colorful, prismatic, rainbow, kaleidoscopic
symbiosis
mutual helpfulness, specifically the relation between two different species of organisms that are interdependent
arcane
mysterious
enigmatic
mysterious
uncanny
mysterious and impossible to explain; out of the ordinary
imprimatur
(n) formal and explicit approval
spondulics
(n) money
imperious
(adj.) commanding, domineering (The imperious nature of your manner led me to dislike you at once.)
engender
(v) to produce, cause, or bring about
abjure
(v) to reject; abandon formally
Facetious
"tongue-in-cheek-advice" characterized by wit and pleasantry
Limited liability companies
(LLC) combine the liability protection of a coorporation with the tax benefits and simplicity of a partnership
Dumbsize
Reduce Workforce To Size Company Can't Work
sudorific
(adj) Causing sweat
sibilant
(adj) Characterized by a hissing sound
plausible
(adj.) believable, reasonable (He studied all the data and then came up with a plausible theory that took all factors into account.)
impetuous
(adj) characterized by undue haste and lack of thought or deliberation
fetial
(adj) concerned with declarations of war and treaties of peace
PUSILLANIMOUS
(adj) cowardly; without courage; craven
inveterate
(adj) firmly established, long-standing; habitual
aphotic
(adj) lacking light; dark
liturgical
(adj) relating to public worship
intransigent
(adj) uncompromising; refusing to be reconciled
solipsistic
(adj.) believing that oneself is all that exists (Colette's solipsistic attitude completely ignored the plight of the homeless people on the street.)
intrinsic
(adj.) belonging to a thing by its very nature (Jeff thoughtfulness and compassion were intrinsic characteristics; he just always seemed to make the right decisions.)
tenable
(adj.) able to be defended or maintained (The department heads tore down the arguments in other people's theses, but Johari's work proved to be quite tenable.)
mutable
(adj.) able to change (Because fashion is so mutable, what is trendy today will look outdated in five years.)
protean
(adj.) able to change shape; displaying great variety (Among Nigel's protean talents was his ability to touch the tip of his nose with his tongue.)
resilient
(adj.) able to recover from misfortune; able to withstand adversity (The resilient ballplayer quickly recovered from his wrist injury.)
concomitant
(adj.) accompanying in a subordinate fashion (His dislike of hard work carried with it a concomitant lack of funds.)
dynamic
(adj.) actively changing (The parents found it hard to keep up with the dynamic music scene with which their children had become very familiar.)
precocious
(adj.) advanced, developing ahead of time (Derek was so academically precocious that by the time he was 10 years old, he was already in the ninth grade.)
expedient
(adj.) advisable, advantageous, serving one's self-interest (In his bid for reelection, the governor made an expedient move by tabling all controversial legislation.)
palatable
(adj.) agreeable to the taste or sensibilities (Despite the unpleasant smell, the exotic cheese was quite palatable.)
insidious
(adj.) appealing but imperceptibly harmful, seductive (Lisa's insidious chocolate cake tastes so good but makes you feel so sick later on!)
ostensible
(adj.) appearing as such, seemingly (Jack's ostensible reason for driving was that airfare was too expensive, but in reality, he was afraid of flying.)
aesthetic
(adj.) artistic, related to the appreciation of beauty (We hired Susan as our interior decorator because she has such a fine aesthetic sense.)
complicit
(adj.) being an accomplice in a wrongful act (By keeping her daughter's affair a secret, Maddie became complicit in it.)
anachronistic
(adj.) being out of correct chronological order (In this book you're writing, you say that the Pyramids were built after the Titanic sank, which is anachronistic.)
anonymous
(adj.) being unknown, unrecognized (Mary received a love poem from an anonymous admirer.)
raiment
(n) especially fine or decorative clothing
acerbic
(adj.) biting, bitter in tone or taste (Jill became extremely acerbic and began to cruelly make fun of all her friends.)
intrepid
(adj.) brave in the face of danger (After scaling a live volcano prior to its eruption, the explorer was praised for his intrepid attitude.)
concise
(adj.) brief and direct in expression (Gordon did not like to waste time, and his instructions to Brenda were nothing if not concise.)
cursory
(adj.) brief to the point of being superficial (Late for the meeting, she cast a cursory glance at the agenda.)
luminous
(adj.) brightly shining (The light of the luminous moon graced the shoulders of the beautiful maiden.)
effervescent
(adj.) bubbly, lively (My friend is so effervescent that she makes everyone smile.)
onerous
(adj.) burdensome (My parents lamented that the pleasures of living in a beautiful country estate no longer outweighed the onerous mortgage payments.)
malleable
(adj.) capable of being shaped or transformed (Maximillian's political opinions were so malleable that anyone he talked to was able to change his mind instantly.)
impudent
(adj.) casually rude, insolent, impertinent (The impudent young man looked the princess up and down and told her she was hot even though she hadn't asked him.)
divisive
(adj.) causing dissent, discord (Her divisive tactics turned her two friends against each other.)
colloquial
(adj.) characteristic of informal conversation (Adam's essay on sexual response in primates was marked down because it contained too many colloquial expressions.)
convivial
(adj.) characterized by feasting, drinking, merriment (The restaurant's convivial atmosphere put me immediately at ease.)
mawkish
(adj.) characterized by sick sentimentality (Although some nineteenth- century critics viewed Dickens's writing as mawkish, contemporary readers have found great emotional depth in his works.)
philanthropic
(adj.) charitable, giving (Many people felt that the billionaire's decision to donate her fortune to house the homeless was the ultimate philanthropic act.)
quaint
(adj.) charmingly old-fashioned (Hilda was delighted by the quaint bonnets she saw in Amish country.)
incisive
(adj.) clear, sharp, direct (The discussion wasn't going anywhere until her incisive comment allowed everyone to see what the true issues were.)
ribald
(adj.) coarsely, crudely humorous (While some giggled at the ribald joke involving a parson's daughter, most sighed and rolled their eyes.)
euphoric
(adj.) elated, uplifted (I was euphoric when I found out that my sister had given birth to twins.)
tantamount
(adj.) equivalent in value or significance (When it comes to sports, fearing your opponent is tantamount to losing.)
reprobate
(adj.) evil, unprincipled (The reprobate criminal sat sneering in the cell.)
superfluous
(adj.) exceeding what is necessary (Tracy had already won the campaign so her constant flattery of others was superfluous.)
audacious
(adj.) excessively bold (The security guard was shocked by the fan's audacious attempt to offer him a bribe.)
brazen
(adj.) excessively bold, brash (Critics condemned the novelist's brazen attempt to plagiarize Hemingway's story.)
obsequious
(adj.) excessively compliant or submissive (Mark acted like Janet's servant, obeying her every request in an obsequious manner.)
arid
(adj.) excessively dry (Little other than palm trees and cacti grow successfully in arid environments.)
contemporaneous
(adj.) existing during the same time (Though her novels do not feature the themes of Romanticism, Jane Austen's work was contemporaneous with that of Wordsworth and Byron.)
ubiquitous
(adj.) existing everywhere, widespread (It seems that everyone in the United States has a television. The technology is ubiquitous here.)
extant
(adj.) existing, not destroyed or lost (My mother's extant love letters to my father are in the attic trunk.)
stolid
(adj.) expressing little sensibility, unemotional (Charles's stolid reaction to his wife's funeral differed from the passion he showed at the time of her death.)
egregious
(adj.) extremely bad (The student who threw sloppy joes across the cafeteria was punished for his egregious behavior.)
meticulous
(adj.) extremely careful with details (The ornate needlework in the bride's gown was a product of meticulous handiwork.)
pernicious
(adj.) extremely destructive or harmful (The new government feared that the Communist sympathizers would have a pernicious influence on the nation's stability.)
jubilant
(adj.) extremely joyful, happy (The crowd was jubilant when the firefighter carried the woman from the flaming building.)
adept
(adj.) extremely skilled (Tarzan was adept at jumping from tree to tree like a monkey.)
propitious
(adj.) favorable (The dark storm clouds visible on the horizon suggested that the weather would not be propitious for sailing.)
benign
(adj.) favorable, not threatening, mild (We were all relieved to hear that the medical tests determined her tumor to be benign.)
tremulous
(adj.) fearful (I always feel a trifle tremulous when walking through a graveyard.)
disheartened
(adj.) feeling a loss of spirit or morale (The team was disheartened after losing in the finals of the tournament.)
zealous
(adj.) fervent, filled with eagerness in pursuit of something (If he were any more zealous about getting his promotion, he'd practically live at the office.)
florid
(adj.) flowery, ornate (The writer's florid prose belongs on a sentimental Hallmark card.)
squalid
(adj.) foul and repulsive, as from lack of care or cleanliness; neglected and filthy. (With dirt and filth in every corner of the fraternity house, the boys' squalid dwelling drew the attention of the university president.)
frenetic
(adj.) frenzied, hectic, frantic (In the hours between night and morning, the frenetic pace of city life slows to a lull.)
amiable
(adj.) friendly (An amiable fellow, Harry got along with just about everyone.)
genial
(adj.) friendly, affable (Although he's been known to behave like a real jerk, I would say that my brother is an overall genial guy.)
fecund
(adj.) fruitful, fertile (The fecund tree bore enough apples to last us through the entire season.)
wistful
(adj.) full of yearning; musingly sad (Since her pet rabbit died, Edda missed it terribly and sat around wistful all day long.)
garish
(adj.) gaudy, in bad taste (Mrs. Watson has poor taste and covers every object in her house with a garish gold lamé.)
sanctimonious
(adj.) giving a hypocritical appearance of piety (The sanctimonious Bertrand delivered stern lectures on the Ten Commandments to anyone who would listen, but thought nothing of stealing cars to make some cash on the side.)
torrid
(adj.) giving off intense heat, passionate (I didn't want to witness the neighbor's torrid affair through the window.)
morose
(adj.) gloomy or sullen (Jason's morose nature made him very unpleasant to talk to.)
paramount
(adj.) greatest in importance, rank, character (It was paramount that the bomb squad disconnect the blue wire before removing the fuse.)
verdant
(adj.) green in tint or color (The verdant leaves on the trees made the world look emerald.)
negligent
(adj.) habitually careless, neglectful (Jessie's grandfather called me a negligent fool after I left the door to his apartment unlocked even though there had been a recent string of robberies.)
abstruse
(adj.) hard to comprehend (Everyone else in the class understood geometry easily, but John found the subject abstruse.)
defamatory
(adj.) harmful toward another's reputation (The defamatory gossip spreading about the actor made the public less willing to see the actor's new movie.)
noxious
(adj.) harmful, unwholesome (Environmentalists showed that the noxious weeds were destroying the insects' natural habitats.)
innocuous
(adj.) harmless, inoffensive (In spite of their innocuous appearance, these mushrooms are actually quite poisonous.)
callous
(adj.) harsh, cold, unfeeling (The murderer's callous lack of remorse shocked the jury.)
strident
(adj.) harsh, loud (A strident man, Captain Von Trapp yelled at his daughter and made her cry.)
rash
(adj.) hasty, incautious (It's best to think things over calmly and thoroughly, rather than make rash decisions.)
fetid
(adj.) having a foul odor (I can tell from the fetid smell in your refrigerator that your milk has spoiled.)
haggard
(adj.) having a gaunt, wasted, or exhausted appearance; wild looking (The haggard old man stumbled out of the alley in his tattered coat and worn-out shoes.)
nonchalant
(adj.) having a lack of concern, indifference (Although deep down she was very angry, Marsha acted in a nonchalant manner when she found out that her best friend had used her clothing without asking.)
mendacious
(adj.) having a lying, false character (The mendacious content of the tabloid magazines is at least entertaining.)
pungent
(adj.) having a pointed, sharp quality—often used to describe smells (The pungent odor in the classroom made Joseph lose his concentration during the test.)
gasconade
(n) extravagant boasting; boastful talk; (v) to boast extravagantly; bluster
pervasive
(adj.) having the tendency to spread throughout (Stepping off the plane in Havana, I recognized the pervasive odor of sugar cane fields on fire.)
ethereal
(adj.) heavenly, exceptionally delicate or refined (In her flowing silk gown and lace veil, the bride looked ethereal.)
accommodating
(adj.) helpful, obliging, polite (Though the apartment was not big enough for three people, Arnold, Mark, and Zebulon were all friends and were accommodating to each other.)
latent
(adj.) hidden, but capable of being exposed (Sigmund's dream represented his latent paranoid obsession with other people's shoes.)
inextricable
(adj.) hopelessly tangled or entangled (Unless I look at the solution manual, I have no way of solving this inextricable problem.)
inimical
(adj.) hostile, enemy like (I don't see how I could ever work for a company that was so cold and inimical to me during my interviews.)
ignominious
(adj.) humiliating, disgracing (It was really ignominious to be kicked out of the dorm for having an illegal gas stove in my room.)
quixotic
(adj.) idealistic, impractical (Edward entertained a quixotic desire to fall in love at first sight in a laundromat.)
sophomoric
(adj.) immature, uninformed (The mature senior rolled her eyes at the sophomoric gross-out humor of the underclassman.)
impervious
(adj.) impenetrable, incapable of being affected (Because of their thick layer of fur, many seals are almost impervious to the cold.)
consonant
(adj.) in harmony (The singers' consonant voices were beautiful.)
indefatigable
(adj.) incapable of defeat, failure, decay (Even after traveling 62 miles, the indefatigable runner kept on moving.)
fallacious
(adj.) incorrect, misleading (Emily offered me cigarettes on the fallacious assumption that I smoked.)
incontrovertible
(adj.) indisputable (Only stubborn Tina would attempt to disprove the incontrovertible laws of physics.)
grievous
(adj.) injurious, hurtful; serious or grave in nature (Electrocuting the inmate without being sure of his guilt would be a truly grievous mistake.)
appalling
(adj.) inspiring shock, horror, disgust (The judge found the murderer's crimes and lack of remorse appalling.)
cogent
(adj.) intellectually convincing (Irene's arguments in favor of abstinence were so cogent that I could not resist them.)
deliberate
(adj.) intentional, reflecting careful consideration (Though Mary was quite upset, her actions to resolve the dispute were deliberate.)
sensual
(adj.) involving sensory gratification, usually related to sex (With a coy smile, the guest on the blind-date show announced that he considered himself a very sensual person.)
extraneous
(adj.) irrelevant, extra, not necessary (Personal political ambitions should always remain extraneous to legislative policy, but, unfortunately, they rarely are.)
inept
(adj.) not suitable or capable, unqualified (She proved how inept she was when she forgot three orders and spilled a beer in a customer's lap.)
obstinate
(adj.) not yielding easily, stubborn (The obstinate child refused to leave the store until his mother bought him a candy bar.)
arcane
(adj.) obscure, secret, known only by a few (The professor is an expert in arcane Lithuanian literature.)
reputable
(adj.) of good reputation (After the most reputable critic in the industry gave the novel a glowing review, sales took off.)
uncanny
(adj.) of supernatural character or origin (Luka had an uncanny ability to know exactly what other people were thinking. She also had an uncanny ability to shoot fireballs from her hands.)
officious
(adj.) offering one's services when they are neither wanted nor needed (Brenda resented Allan's officious behavior when he selected colors that might best improve her artwork.)
antiquated
(adj.) old, out of date (That antiquated car has none of the features, like power windows and steering, that make modern cars so great.)
elated
(adj.) overjoyed, thrilled (When she found out she had won the lottery, the writer was elated.)
idiosyncratic
(adj.) peculiar to one person; highly individualized (I know you had trouble with the last test, but because your mistakes were highly idiosyncratic, I'm going to deny your request that the class be given a new test.)
repentant
(adj.) penitent, sorry (The repentant Dennis apologized profusely for breaking his mother's vase.)
prosaic
(adj.) plain, lacking liveliness (Heather's prosaic recital of the poem bored the audience.)
preponderance
(adj.) superiority in importance or quantity (Britain's preponderance of naval might secured the nation's role as a military power.)
hypothetical
(adj.) supposed or assumed true, but unproven (Even though it has been celebrated by seven major newspapers, that the drug will be a success when tested in humans is still hypothetical.)
turgid
(adj.) swollen, excessively embellished in style or language (The haughty writer did not realize how we all really felt about his turgid prose.)
figurative
(adj.) symbolic (Using figurative language, Jane likened the storm to an angry bull.)
laconic
(adj.) terse in speech or writing (The author's laconic style has won him many followers who dislike wordiness.)
archetypal
(adj.) the most representative or typical example of something (Some believe George Washington, with his flowing white hair and commanding stature, was the archetypal politician.)
frugal
(adj.) thrifty, economical (Richard is so frugal that his diet consists almost exclusively of catfish and chicken liver—the two most inexpensive foods in the store.)
fractious
(adj.) troublesome or irritable (Although the child insisted he wasn't tired, his fractious behavior—especially his decision to crush his cheese and crackers all over the floor—convinced everyone present that it was time to put him to bed.)
gratuitous
(adj.) uncalled for, unwarranted (Every morning the guy at the donut shop gives me a gratuitous helping of ketchup packets.)
implicit
(adj.) understood but not outwardly obvious, implied (I know Professor Smith didn't actually say not to write from personal experience, but I think such a message was implicit in her instruction to use scholarly sources.)
esoteric
(adj.) understood by only a select few (Even the most advanced students cannot understand the physicist's esoteric theories.)
wanton
(adj.) undisciplined, lewd, lustful (Vicky's wanton demeanor often made the frat guys next door very excited.)
incessant
(adj.) unending (We wanted to go outside and play, but the incessant rain kept us indoors for two days.)
hapless
(adj.) unlucky (My poor, hapless family never seems to pick a sunny week to go on vacation.)
hackneyed
(adj.) unoriginal, trite (A girl can only hear "I love you" so many times before it begins to sound hackneyed and meaningless.)
nebulous
(adj.) vaguely defined, cloudy (The transition between governments meant that who was actually in charge was a nebulous matter.)
heterogeneous
(adj.) varied, diverse in character (I hate having only one flavor so I always buy the swirled, or should I say heterogeneous, type of ice cream.)
vindictive
(adj.) vengeful (The vindictive madman seeks to exact vengeance for any insult that he perceives is directed at him, no matter how small.)
austere
(adj.) very bare, bleak (The austere furniture inside the abandoned house made the place feel haunted.)
indigent
(adj.) very poor, impoverished (I would rather donate money to help the indigent population than to the park sculpture fund.)
capacious
(adj.) very spacious (The workers delighted in their new capacious office space.)
emaciated
(adj.) very thin, enfeebled looking (My sister eats a lot of pastries and chocolate but still looks emaciated.)
scurrilous
(adj.) vulgar, coarse (When Bruno heard the scurrilous accusation being made about him, he could not believe it because he always tried to be nice to everyone.)
nomadic
(adj.) wandering from place to place (In the first six months after college, Jose led a nomadic life, living in New York, California, and Idaho.)
maudlin
(adj.) weakly sentimental (Although many people enjoy romantic comedies, I usually find them maudlin and shallow.)
notorious
(adj.) widely and unfavorably known (Jacob was notorious for always arriving late at parties.)
feral
(adj.) wild, savage (That beast looks so feral that I would fear being alone with it.)
amenable
(adj.) willing, compliant (Our father was amenable when we asked him to drive us to the farm so we could go apple picking.)
interminable
(adj.) without possibility of end (The fact that biology lectures came just before lunch made them seem interminable.)
meritorious
(adj.) worthy of esteem or reward x (Though he was widely respected for his mathematical proofs, the mercurial genius was impossible to live with.)
vehemently
(adv.) marked by intense force or emotion (The candidate vehemently opposed cutting back on Social Security funding.)
consternation
(n) fear resulting from the awareness of danger; amazement or fear that makes one feel confused
sensationalism
(esp. in journalism) the use of exciting or shocking stories or language at the expense of accuracy, in order to provoke public interest or excitement
ramshackle
(esp. of a house or vehicle) in a state of severe disrepair: a ramshackle cottage
vivacious
(esp. of a woman) attractively lively and animated
callow
(esp. of a young person) inexperienced and immature
diaphanous
(esp. of fabric) light, delicate, and translucent
picayune
(informal terms) small and of little importance
novation
(n) (law) the replacement of one obligation by another by mutual agreement of both parties
mensch
(n) A decent, upright, mature, and responsible person
pother
(n) A heated discussion, debate, or argument; fuss; to-do
numen
(n) Divine power, especially one who inhabits a particular object
cicatrix
(n) New tissue that forms over a wound
solecism
(n) a breach of good manners or etiquette; a nonstandard or ungrammatical usage
ruck
(n) a large number or quantity; mass
aioli
(n) a sauce made of oil and eggs, usually flavored with garlic, from the Provence region of France; olive oil, egg yolk, garlic and saffron
depredation
(n) an act of plundering and pillaging and marauding
xenophilia
(n) an attraction to foreign peoples, cultures, or customs
pabulum
(n) any substance that can be used as food; (n) insipid intellectual nourishment
buncombe
(n) empty, showy talk
clergy
(n.) members of Christian holy orders (Though the villagers viewed the church rectory as quaint and charming, the clergy who lived there regarded it as a mildewy and dusty place that aggravated their allergies.)
larceny
(n.) obtaining another's property by theft or trickery (When my car was not where I had left it, I realized that I was a victim of larceny.)
surrogate
(n.) one acting in place of another (The surrogate carried the child to term for its biological parents.)
arbiter
(n.) one who can resolve a dispute, make a decision (The divorce court judge will serve as the arbiter between the estranged husband and wife.)
sycophant
(n.) one who flatters for self-gain (Some see the people in the cabinet as the president's closest advisors, but others see them as sycophants.)
potentate
(n.) one who has great power, a ruler (All the villagers stood along the town's main road to observe as the potentate's procession headed towards the capital.)
despot
(n.) one who has total power and rules brutally (The despot issued a death sentence for anyone who disobeyed his laws.)
inquisitor
(n.) one who inquires, especially in a hostile manner (The inquisitor was instructed to knock on every door in town in order to find the fugitive.)
insurgent
(n.) one who rebels (The insurgent snuck into and defaced a different classroom each night until the administration agreed to meet his demands.)
forbearance
(n.) patience, restraint, toleration (The doctor showed great forbearance in calming down the angry patient who shouted insults at him.)
pulchritude
(n.) physical beauty (Several of Shakespeare's sonnets explore the pulchritude of a lovely young man.)
approbation
(n.) praise (The crowd welcomed the heroes with approbation.)
kudos
(n.) praise for an achievement (After the performance, the reviewers gave the opera singer kudos for a job well done.)
sobriety
(n.) sedate, calm (Jason believed that maintaining his sobriety in times of crisis was the key to success in life.)
sagacity
(n.) shrewdness, soundness of perspective (With remarkable sagacity, the wise old man predicted and thwarted his children's plan to ship him off to a nursing home.)
litigant
(n.) someone engaged in a lawsuit (When the litigants began screaming at each other, Judge Koch ordered them to be silent.)
behemoth
(n.) something of tremendous power or size (The new aircraft carrier is among several behemoths that the Air Force has added to its fleet.)
antecedent
(n.) something that came before (The great tradition of Western culture had its antecedent in the culture of Ancient Greece.)
linchpin
(n.) something that holds separate parts together (The linchpin in the prosecution's case was the hair from the defendant's head, which was found at the scene of the crime.)
fortitude
(n.) strength, guts (Achilles' fortitude in battle is legendary.)
antithesis
(n.) the absolute opposite (Your values, which hold war and violence in the highest esteem, are the antithesis of my pacifist beliefs.)
coronation
(n.) the act of crowning (The new king's coronation occurred the day after his father's death.)
juxtaposition
(n.) the act of placing two things next to each other for implicit comparison (The interior designer admired my juxtaposition of the yellow couch and green table.)
ideology
(n.) the body of doctrine, myth, belief, etc., that guides an individual, social movement, institution, class, or large group. (The communist ideology was used by many leaders to gain favor with the working masses.)
culmination
(n.) the climax toward which something progresses (The culmination of the couple's argument was the decision to divorce.)
precipice
(n.) the face of a cliff, a steep or overhanging place (The mountain climber hung from a precipice before finding a handhold and pulling himself up.)
nadir
(n.) the lowest point of something (My day was boring, but the nadir came when I accidentally spilled a bowl of spaghetti on my head.)
arbitration
(n.) the process or act of resolving a dispute (The employee sought official arbitration when he could not resolve a disagreement with his supervisor.)
congruity
(n.) the quality of being in agreement (Bill and Veronica achieved a perfect congruity of opinion.)
discretion
(n.) the quality of being reserved in speech or action; good judgment (Not wanting her patient to get overly anxious, the doctor used discretion in deciding how much to tell the patient about his condition.)
precocious
(of a child) having developed certain abilities or proclivities at an earlier age than usual
sedulous
(of a person or action) showing dedication and diligence: he watched himself with the most sedulous care.
placid
(of a person or animal) not easily upset or excited: this horse has a placid nature. • (esp. of a place or stretch of water) calm and peaceful, with little movement or activity: the placid waters of a small lake.
forthrightness
(of a person or their manner or speech) direct and outspoken; straightforward and honest
petulant
(of a person or their manner) childishly sulky or bad-tempered: he was moody and petulant | a petulant shake of the head
Phlegmatic
(of a person) having an unemotional and stolidly calm disposition
amenable
(of a person) open and responsive to suggestion; easily persuaded or controlled: parents who have had easy babies and amenable children
amenable
(of a person) open and responsive to suggestion; easily persuaded or controlled: parents who have had easy babies and amenable children. • [ predic. ] (amenable to) (of a thing) capable of being acted upon in a particular way; susceptible to: the patients had cardiac failure not amenable to medical treatment.
circuitous
(of a route or journey) longer than the most direct way: the canal followed a circuitous route | figurative : a circuitous line of reasoning.
resilient
(of a substance or object) able to recoil or spring back into shape after bending, stretching, or being compressed. • (of a person or animal) able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions: the fish are resilient to most infections.
nonporous
(of a substance) not allowing liquid or air to pass through it; not porous
shopworn
(of an article) made dirty or imperfect by being displayed or handled in a store
convival
(of an atmosphere or event) friendly, lively, and enjoyable (of a person) cheerful and friendly; jovial
convivial
(of an atmosphere or event) friendly, lively, and enjoyable (of a person) cheerful and friendly; jovial
barbarous
(of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
converge
(of several people or things) come together from different directions so as eventually to meet
apprise
(v) to inform
stagnation
(of water or air) cease to flow or move; become stagnant. • cease developing; become inactive or dull: teaching can easily stagnate into a set of routines | (as adj. stagnating) : stagnating consumer confidence.
comely
(typically of a woman) pleasant to look at; attractive
efficacious
(typically of something inanimate or abstract) successful in producing a desired or intended result; effective: the vaccine has proved both efficacious and safe.
intromit
(v) to introduce; to send, put, or let in
besot
(v) To infatuate; obsess
obtest
(v) To invoke as witness; to protest
prorogue
(v) adjourn, as in a legislative session
adulate
(v) flatter in an obsequious manner
comport
(v) to conduct or bear oneself, behave
flummox
(v) to confuse or perplex
mulct
(v) to deprive (someone) of something, as by fraud, extortion, etc.; swindle.
imbue
(v) to fill completely with a feeling or idea; to inspire; (v) to infuse, dye, wet, or moisten
in quadratic function: g(x)= ax^2 + bx + c ...a affects & c affects
+a: graph open up, -a: graph open down +c: positive y- int, -c: negative y- int
redoubtable
1. (adj.) formidable 2. (adj.) commanding respect (1. The fortress looked redoubtable set against a stormy sky.) (2. The audience greeted the redoubtable speaker with a standing ovation.)
Recumbentibus
A Knock Out Punch Or Word
Camisado
A Miltary Attack At Night
Peterman
A Name For A Safe Cracker
Bibliopole
A Person Who Buys And Sells Rare Books
Afreet
A Powerful Demon From Muslim Mythology
Amphisbaena
A Snake Like Creature With Heads Either End
Alcazar
A Spanish Palace
Chiliad
A Thousand Years
tariff
a tax or duty imposed by the government
Sojourn
a temporary stay; a brief period of residence
Ineffable
Indescribable
elliptical
1 (of speech or writing) using or involving ellipsis, esp. so as to be difficult to understand: an elliptical lyrical style.
indictment
1 Law a formal charge or accusation of a serious crime: an indictment for conspiracy. • the action of indicting or being indicted: the indictment of twelve people who had imported cocaine. 2 a thing that serves to illustrate that a system or situation is bad and deserves to be condemned: these rapidly escalating crime figures are an indictment of our society.
soliciting
1 Phil tried to solicit his help: ask for, request, seek, apply for, put in for, call for, press for, beg, plead for. 2 they are solicited for their opinions: ask, petition, importune, implore, plead with, entreat, appeal to, lobby, beg, supplicate, call on, press; literary beseech.
backlash
1 [ in sing. ] a strong and adverse reaction by a large number of people, esp. to a social or political development: a public backlash against racism. 2 recoil arising between parts of a mechanism. • degree of play between parts of a mechanism.
incumbent
1 [ predic. ] (incumbent on/upon) necessary for (someone) as a duty or responsibility: it is incumbent on all decent people to concentrate on destroying this evil. 2 [ attrib. ] (of an official or regime) currently holding office: the incumbent president had been defeated.
manifest
1. (adj.) easily understandable, obvious 2. (v.) to show plainly (1. When I wrote the wrong sum on the chalkboard, my mistake was so manifest that the entire class burst into laughter.) (2. His illness first manifested itself with particularly violent hiccups.)
conceded
1 [ reporting verb ] admit that something is true or valid after first denying or resisting it: [ with clause ] : I had to concede that I'd overreacted | [ with obj. ] : that principle now seems to have been conceded. • [ with obj. ] admit (defeat) in a contest: he conceded defeat. • [ with obj. ] admit defeat in (a contest): ready to concede the gold medal. 2 [ with obj. ] surrender or yield (something that one possesses): to concede all the territory he'd won. • grant (a right, privilege, or demand): their rights to redress of grievances were conceded once more. • (in sports) fail to prevent the scoring of (a goal or point) by an opponent: the coach conceded three safeties rather than kick into the wind. • allow (a lead or advantage) to slip: he took an early lead that he never conceded.
cumbersome
1 a cumbersome diving suit: unwieldy, unmanageable, awkward, clumsy, inconvenient, incommodious; bulky, large, heavy, hefty, weighty, burdensome; informal hulking, clunky. 2 cumbersome procedures: complicated, complex, involved, inefficient, unwieldy, slow.
florid
1 a florid complexion: ruddy, red, red-faced, rosy, rosy-cheeked, pink; flushed, blushing, high-colored; archaic sanguine. ANTONYMS pale. 2 florid plasterwork: ornate, fancy, elaborate, embellished, curlicued, extravagant, flamboyant, baroque, rococo, fussy, busy. ANTONYMS plain. 3 florid prose: flowery, flamboyant, high-flown, high-sounding, grandiloquent, ornate, fancy, bombastic, elaborate, turgid, pleonastic; informal highfalutin; rare fustian. ANTONYMS plain.
malleable
1 a malleable substance: pliable, ductile, plastic, pliant, soft, workable. ANTONYMS hard. 2 a malleable young woman: easily influenced, suggestible, susceptible, impressionable, pliable, amenable, compliant, tractable; biddable, complaisant, manipulable, persuadable, like putty in someone's hands.
countenance
1 a person's face or facial expression: his impenetrable eyes and inscrutable countenance give little away. 2 support: she was giving her specific countenance to the occasion. verb [ with obj. ] admit as acceptable or possible: he was reluctant to countenance the use of force.
inundation
1 an overwhelming abundance of people or things: we see an inundation of campaign posters. 2 flooding: the annual inundation of the Nile | areas at risk of inundation.
patronage
1 art patronage: sponsorship, backing, funding, financing, promotion, assistance, support. 2 political patronage: power of appointment, favoritism, nepotism, preferential treatment, cronyism, pork-barreling. 3 thank you for your patronage: custom, trade, business.
attenuated
1 attenuated fingers: thin, slender, narrow, slim, skinny, spindly, bony; rare attenuate 2 the patient's muscle activity was much attenuated: weakened, reduced, lessened, decreased, diminished, impaired
constituents
1 being a part of a whole: the constituent minerals of the rock. 2 being a voting member of a community or organization and having the power to appoint or elect: the constituent body has a right of veto
reckoning
1 by my reckoning, this comes to $2 million: calculation, estimation, count, computation, working out, summation, addition. 2 by her reckoning, the train was late: opinion, view, judgment, evaluation, estimate, estimation. 3 the terrible reckoning that he deserved: retribution, fate, doom, nemesis, punishment. PHRASES day of reckoning I promise you, the enemy w
fulsome
1 complimentary or flattering to an excessive degree: they are almost embarrassingly fulsome in their appreciation. 2 of large size or quantity; generous or abundant: a fulsome harvest.
discursive
1 dull, discursive prose: rambling, digressive, meandering, wandering, maundering, diffuse, long, lengthy, wordy, verbose, long-winded, prolix; circuitous, roundabout, circumlocutory; informal waffly. 2 an elegant discursive style: fluent, flowing, fluid, eloquent, expansive.
florid
1 having a red or flushed complexion: a stout man with a florid face. 2 elaborately or excessively intricate or complicated: florid operatic-style music was out. • (of language) using unusual words or complicated rhetorical constructions: the florid prose of the nineteenth century.
finesse
1 intricate and refined delicacy: orchestral playing of great finesse. • artful subtlety, typically that needed for tactful handling of a difficulty: clients want advice and action that calls for considerable finesse. 2 (in bridge and whist) an attempt to win a trick with a card that is not a certain winner.
finesse
1 intricate and refined delicacy: orchestral playing of great finesse. • artful subtlety, typically that needed for tactful handling of a difficulty: clients want advice and action that calls for considerable finesse. 2 (in bridge and whist) an attempt to win a trick with a card that is not a certain winner. verb [ with
susceptible
1 likely or liable to be influenced or harmed by a particular thing: patients with liver disease may be susceptible to infection. • (of a person) easily influenced by feelings or emotions; sensitive: they only do it to tease him—he's too susceptible.
incarnate
1. (adj.) existing in the flesh, embodied 2. (v.) to give human form to (1. In the church pageant, I play the role of greed incarnate.) (2. The alien evaded detection by incarnating himself in a human form.)
lofty
1 of imposing height: the elegant square was shaded by lofty palms. • of a noble or exalted nature: an extraordinary mixture of harsh reality and lofty ideals. • proud, aloof, or self-important: lofty intellectual disdain. 2 (of wool and other textiles) thick and resilient
avuncular
1 of or relating to an uncle. • kind and friendly toward a younger or less experienced person: an avuncular manner. 2 Anthropology of or relating to the relationship between men and their siblings' children.
orthodox
1 orthodox views: conventional, mainstream, conformist, established, well-established, traditional, traditionalist, prevalent, popular, conservative, unoriginal. 2 an orthodox Hindu: conservative, traditional, observant, devout, strict.
licentiousness
1 promiscuous and unprincipled in sexual matters. 2 archaic disregarding accepted rules or conventions, esp. in grammar or literary style.
soporific
1 soporific drugs: sleep-inducing, sedative, somnolent, calmative, tranquilizing, narcotic, opiate; drowsy, sleepy, somniferous; Medicine hypnotic. ANTONYMS invigorating. 2 a soporific TV drama: boring, tedious, tired, dreary, turgid, dry
tout
1 street merchants were touting their wares: peddle, sell, hawk, offer for sale, promote. 2 cab drivers were touting for business: solicit, seek, drum up; ask for, petition for, appeal for. 3 she's being touted as the next party leader: recommend, speak of, extol, advocate, talk of; predict.
husbandry
1 the care, cultivation, and breeding of crops and animals: crop husbandry. 2 management and conservation of resources.
coinciding
1 the events coincided: occur simultaneously, happen together, be concurrent, concur, coexist. 2 their interests do not always coincide: correspond, tally, agree, accord, concur, match, fit, be consistent, equate, harmonize, be compatible
recede
1 the floodwaters receded: retreat, go back, go down, move back, move away, withdraw, ebb, subside, abate. ANTONYMS advance, approach. 2 the lights receded into the distance: disappear from view, fade, be lost to view, pass from sight. 3 fears of violence have receded: diminish, lessen, decrease, dwindle, fade, abate, subside, ebb, wane. ANTONYMS intensify, grow.
thresholds
1 the threshold of the church: doorstep, doorway, entrance, entry, door, gate, gateway, portal, doorsill. 2 the threshold of a new era: start, beginning, commencement, brink, verge, cusp, dawn, inception, day one, opening, debut; informal kickoff. 3 the human threshold of pain: lower limit, minimum.
provincialism
1 the way of life or mode of thought characteristic of the regions outside the capital city of a country, esp. when regarded as unsophisticated or narrow-minded. • narrow-mindedness, insularity, or lack of sophistication: the myopic provincialism of women's studies. 2 concern for one's own area or region at the expense of national or supranational unity.
quelled
1 troops quelled the unrest: put an end to, put a stop to, end, crush, put down, check, crack down on, curb, nip in the bud, squash, quash, subdue, suppress, overcome; informal squelch. 2 he quelled his misgivings: calm, soothe, pacify, settle, quiet, silence, allay, assuage, mitigate, moderate; literary stay.
empirical
1. (adj.) based on observation or experience 2. (adj.) capable of being proved or disproved by experiment (1. The scientist gathered empirical data on the growth rate of dandelions by studying the dandelions behind his house.) (2. That all cats hate getting wet is an empirical statement: I can test it by bathing my cat, Trinket.)
eminent
1. (adj.) distinguished, prominent, famous (Mr. Phillips is such an eminent scholar that every professor on campus has come to hear him lecture.) 2. (adj.) conspicuous (There is an eminent stain on that shirt.)
lavish
1. (adj.) given without limits 2. (v.) to give without limits (1. Because they had worked very hard, the performers appreciated the critic's lavish praise.) (2. Because the performers had worked hard, they deserved the praise that the critic lavished on them.)
didactic
1. (adj.) intended to instruct 2. (adj.) overly moralistic (1. She wrote up a didactic document showing new employees how to handle the company's customers.) (2. His didactic style of teaching made it seem like he wanted to persuade his students not to understand history fully, but to understand it from only one point of view.)
moderate
1. (adj.) not extreme 2. (n.) one who expresses moderate opinions (1. Luckily, the restaurant we chose had moderate prices; none of us have any money.) (2. Because he found both the liberal and conservative proposals too excessive, Mr. Park sided with the moderates.)
sultry
1. (adj.) oppressively hot; sweltering 2. rousing passion (1. The workers dripped with sweat on the sultry summer day.) (2. The girl's sultry glance made the boy blush.)
acute
1. (adj.) sharp, severe 2. (adj.) having keen insight (1. Arnold could not walk because the pain in his foot was so acute.) (2. Because she was so acute, Libby instantly figured out how the magician pulled off his "magic.")
coup
1. (n.) a brilliant, unexpected act 2. (n.) the overthrow of a government and assumption of authority (1. Alexander pulled off an amazing coup when he got a date with Cynthia by purposely getting hit by her car.) (2. In their coup attempt, the army officers stormed the Parliament and took all the
battery
1. (n.) a device that supplies power 2. (n.) assault, beating (1. Most cars run on a combination of power from a battery and gasoline.) (2. Her husband was accused of assault and battery after he attacked a man on the sidewalk.)
asylum
1. (n.) a place of refuge, protection, a sanctuary 2. (n.) an institution in which the insane are kept (1. For Thoreau, the forest served as an asylum from the pressures of urban life.) (2. Once diagnosed by a certified psychiatrist, the man was put in an asylum.)
solvent
1. (n.) a substance that can dissolve other substances 2. (adj.) able to pay debts (1. Water is sometimes called the universal solvent because almost all other substances can dissolve into it.) (2. Upon receiving an unexpected check from her aunt, Annabelle found herself suddenly solvent.)
aggregate
1. (n.) a whole or total 2. (v.) to gather into a mass (1. The three branches of the U.S. Government form an aggregate much more powerful than its individual parts.) (2. The dictator tried to aggregate as many people into his army as he possibly could.)
chronicle
1. (n.) a written history 2. (v.) to write a history (1. The library featured the newly updated chronicle of World War II.) (2. Albert's diary chronicled the day-to-day growth of his obsession with Cynthia.)
implement
1. (n.) an instrument, utensil, tool 2. (v.) to put into effect, to institute (1. Do you have a knife or some other sort of implement that I could use to pry the lid off of this jar?) (2. After the first town curfew failed to stop the graffiti problem, the mayor implemented a new policy to use security cameras to catch perpetrators in the act.)
clamor
1. (n.) loud noise 2. (v.) to loudly insist (1. Each morning the birds outside my window make such a clamor that they wake me up.) (2. Neville's fans clamored for him to appear on stage, but he had passed out on the floor of his dressing room.)
liability
1. (n.) something for which one is legally responsible, usually involving a disadvantage or risk 2. (n.) a handicap, burden (1. The bungee-jumping tower was a great liability for the owners of the carnival.) (2. Because she often lost her concentration and didn't play defense, Marcy was a liability to the team.)
façade
1. (n.) the wall of a building 2. (n.) a deceptive appearance or attitude (1. Meet me in front of the museum's main façade.) (2. Despite my smiling façade, I am feeling melancholy.)
advocate
1. (v.) to argue in favor of something 2. (n.) a person who argues in favor of something (Arnold advocated turning left at the stop sign, even though everyone else thought we should turn right.)
compound
1. (v.) to combine parts 2. (n.) a combination of different parts 3. (n.) a walled area containing a group of buildings (1. The problem was compounded by the crowds.) (2. Donna is a compound of intellect and physical beauty.) (3. Joe rushed into the compound when the fighting began.)
attribute
1. (v.) to credit, assign (He attributes all of his success to his mother's undying encouragement.) 2. (n.) a facet or trait (Among the beetle's most peculiar attributes is its thorny protruding eyes.)
dissipate
1. (v.) to disappear, cause to disappear 2. (v.) to waste (1. The sun finally came out and dissipated the haze.) (2. She dissipated her fortune on a series of bad investments.)
cleave
1. (v.) to divide into parts 2. (v.) to stick together firmly (1. Following the scandalous disgrace of their leader, the entire political party cleaved into warring factions.) (2. After resolving their marital problems, Junior and Rosa cleaved to one another all the more tightly.)
resolve
1. (v.) to find a solution 2. (v.) to firmly decide (1. Sarah and Emma resolved their differences and shook hands.) (2. Lady Macbeth resolved to whip her husband into shape.)
impinge
1. (v.) to impact, affect, make an impression 2. (v.) to encroach, infringe (1. The hail impinged the roof, leaving large dents.) (2. I apologize for impinging upon you like this, but I really need to use your bathroom. Now.)
catalog
1. (v.) to list, enter into a list 2. (n.) a list or collection (1. The judge cataloged the victim's injuries before calculating how much money he would award.) (2. We received a catalog from J. Crew that displayed all of their new items.)
abide
1. (v.) to put up with 2. (v.) to remain (1 - Though he did not agree with the decision, Chuck decided to abide by it.) (2 - Despite the beating they've taken from the weather throughout the millennia, the mountains abide.)
reconcile
1. (v.) to return to harmony 2. (v.) to make consistent with existing ideas (1. The feuding neighbors finally reconciled when one brought the other a delicious tuna noodle casserole.) (2. Alou had to reconcile his skepticism about the existence of aliens with the fact that he was looking at a flying saucer.)
diffuse
1. (v.) to scatter, thin out, break up 2. (adj.) not concentrated, scattered, disorganized (1. He diffused the tension in the room by making in a joke.) (2. In her writings, she tried unsuccessfully to make others understand her diffuse thoughts.)
disdain
1. (v.) to scorn, hold in low esteem 2. (n.) scorn, low esteem (1. Insecure about their jobs, the older employees disdained the recently hired ones, who were young and capable.) (2. After learning of his immoral actions, Justine held Lawrence in disdain.)
buffet
1. (v.) to strike with force 2. (n.) an arrangement of food set out on a table (1. The strong winds buffeted the ships, threatening to capsize them.) (2. Rather than sitting around a table, the guests took food from our buffet and ate standing up.)
buttress
1. (v.) to support, hold up 2. (n.) something that offers support (1. The column buttresses the roof above the statue.) (2. The buttress supports the roof above the statues.)
regurgitate
1. (v.) to vomit 2. (v.) to throw back exactly (1. Feeling sick, Chuck regurgitated his dinner.) (2. Margaret rushed through the test, regurgitating all of the facts she'd memorized an hour earlier.)
libertine
1. a person, esp. a man, who behaves without moral principles or a sense of responsibility, esp. in sexual matters. 2 a person who rejects accepted opinions in matters of religion; a freethinker
parochial
1. church parish, 2. narrow-minded
languor
1. fatigue, weariness, sleepiness, drowsiness; 2. stillness, tranquility
levy
1. impose (a tax, fee, or fine), 2. enlisting troops
austere
1. severe, 2. simple
austerity
1. strictness, seriousness, solemnity, gravity; 2. frugality
liberality
1. the quality of giving or spending freely. 2. the quality of being open to new ideas and free from prejudice. "liberality toward bisexuality"
inhibition
1.shyness, reticence, self-consciousness 2. hinderance, obstruction
kilometer
1000 meters
synergistic
2 things combined > alone
triumvirate
3 rulers
quadrilaterals
360 degrees
hologram
3d image.
Barmecide
A Bad Imagination Thought Thats Disappointing
Ogdoad
A Group Of Eight
Boffola
A Jokes The Causes High Laugh
participle
A verb used as a noun: Working women
Spurious
Adj. not genuine, not true, not valid
Logomachy
Agrument About Words
Clime
Another Term For Weather
Erubescent
Another Word For Blushing
Welter
Another Word For Confused
Meacock
Another Word For Coward
Otalgia
Another Word For Earache
Noctambulist
Another Word For Sleepwalker
Ecdysiast
Another Word For Stripper
Deglutition
Another Word Meaning Swallowing
credulity
a tendency to be too ready to believe that something is real or true
Plew
Beaver Skin
Neither "donna" nor "Mahenoor"
Believe, singular bc separated by "nor"
Incunabula
Book Printed Before 1501
Cybersquatting
Buying Names Relating To Known Companies
Aphorism
a tensely phrased statement of a truth or opinion; an adage
Bawbee
Coin Of Low Value
Fuscous
Dark Within Colour
Entomophagy
Eating Of Insects By People
fraught
Filled with or attended with
Disenthral
Freeing Someone From Bondage
Bruxism
Habit Of Grinding Teeth
Eucatastrophe
Happy Ending To A Story
remiss
I would be remiss if I did not thank my sister: negligent, neglectful, irresponsible, careless, thoughtless, heedless, lax, slack, slipshod, lackadaisical
Noyade
Killing Someone by Drowing
Absquatulate
Leaving Somewhere Quickly
Pavonine
Looks Like A Peacock
Zugzwang
Meaning Any Choice Is A Bad One
Deasil
Moving Clockwise
Hallux
Name Of Biggest Toe
Extramundane
Not Of The Real World
Disingenuous
Not candid or sincere
Ellipsis
Omission or suppression of parts of words or sentences with a mark or series of marks (... or *** for example)
ellipse
Oval shaped.
forbeareance
Patience; restraint; liberation
Cryptozoology
People Who Research Animals Not Proven As Real
Emmetropia
Perfect Eye Sight
Panurgic
Ready For Anything
Noegenesis
Production Of Knowledge
Autotomy
Removing A Limb Off A Reptile
Borborygmus
Rumbling Noise From Intestines
Scrippage
Someone Bag
Moonraker
Someone From Wiltshire
Emacity
Someone Who Enjoys Buying Things
Comminatory
Someone Who Is Threating
Wittol
Someone Who Know Wife Cheating But Stays With Her
Cereology
Someone Who Researches Crop Circles
Opsimath
Someone Who Studies In Later Life
Blatherskite
Someone Who Talks Loads But Makes No Sense
Anguilliform
Something That Looks Similar To A Eel
Sternutator
Something That Makes You Sneese
Infandous
Something Unspeakable
Incorrigible
Stubborn
Dry humor
Subtle or understated humor
disdain
a feeling that something is bad, worthless, or low
can split polygons (ex: pentagons) into...
TRIANGLES
Laconic
Talk using few words
Abomasum
The Fourth Stomach Of A Cow
hypocrisy
The act of claiming to have a belief that one does not really have, like a hypocrite
light-year
The astronomical measurement of the distance light travels in a year
renaissance
The time period from the 14th or 16th century where there was a revival of the arts
Tenuous
Thin or shaky
Cantillate
To Chant And Repeat A Line Of Bible Text
Deterge
To Cleaning Something Extremely
Degust
To Eat Or Drink Slowly To Admire It More
Constellate
To Gather In A Group
Obnubilate
To Hide Something
Previse
To Predict An Event
Divaricate
To Split Something Apart
Coprolalia
To Use Rude Words
Montivagant
To Wonder Over Mountains
embargo
To refuse trade with a country
Metaphor
a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them
polygon
a flat close shape with 3 or more sides
fundamentalism
a form of a religion, especially Islam or Protestant Christianity, that upholds belief in the strict, literal interpretation of scripture. • strict adherence to the basic principles of any subject or discipline: free-market fundamentalism.
bellicose
aggressive
Cerulean
When The Sky Is Deep Blue
contingency
a future event or circumstance that is possible but cannot be predicted with certainty
Indecisive
With doubt
Decisive
Without doubt
stereotype
a generalized belief about a group of people
spectrum
a band of colors(rainbow), broad range of related values or qualities or ideas or activities. Also a band of colors
tandem
a bicycle with seats and pedals for two riders, one behind the other. • a carriage driven by two animals harnessed one in front of the other. • a group of two people or machines working together.
arboretum
a botanical garden devoted to trees
dalliance
a casual romantic or sexual relationship. • brief or casual involvement with something: Berkeley was my last dalliance with the education system.
Concatenation
a chain; a succession
menagerie
a collection of wild animals kept in captivity for exhibition
cataloged
a complete list of items, typically one in alphabetical or other systematic order, in particular
Cadre
a core or nucleus of trained or otherwise qualified personnel around which an organization is formed
compassion
a deep awareness of and sympathy for another's suffering
filial
a display of filial affection: dutiful, devoted, compliant, respectful, affectionate, loving
dichotomies
a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different
jubilation
a feeling of extreme joy
contortion
a sharp twist or bend in something
Asylum
a shelter from danger or hardship
fanfare
a short ceremonial tune
knoll
a small, rounded hill
quota
a specified amount of something
eulogy
a speech or piece of writing that praises someone or something highly, typically someone who has just died
imprecation
a spoken curse
exasperation
a state of anger, impatience, or great irritation
Adversity
a state of misfortune or affliction
Aberration
a state or condition markedly different from the norm
gargoyle
a statue some people use to "scare bad sprits away"
Lexicon
a stock of terms used in a particular profession, subject or style; a vocabulary
barricade
a structure to block the passage of an enemy or opponent
intransigence
a stubborn refusal to change your views
fragrance
a sweet or pleasant odor;a scent
anachronistic
a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists, esp. a thing that is conspicuously old-fashioned: everything was as it would have appeared in centuries past apart from one anachronism, a bright yellow construction crane. • an act of attributing a custom, event, or object to a period to which it does not belong. DERIVATIVES
deterrent
a thing that discourages or is intended to discourage someone from doing something
infelicity
a thing that is inappropriate, esp. a remark or expression: she winced at their infelicities and at the clumsy way they talked.
sanctioned
a threatened penalty for disobeying a law or rule
totalitarian
a totalitarian regime: autocratic, undemocratic, one-party, dictatorial, tyrannical, despotic, fascist, oppressive, repressive, illiberal
treatise
a treatise on the principles of democracy: disquisition, essay, paper, work, exposition, discourse, dissertation, thesis, monograph, opus, oeuvre, study, critique; tract, pamphlet, account.
conspicuous
a tropical vine with conspicuous blossoms: easily seen, clear, visible, noticeable, discernible, perceptible, detectable; obvious, manifest, evident, apparent, marked
digression
a turning aside of your course or attention or concern
sabotage
a usually secret act, done or purpose that causes damage or hinders an activity
multitude
a very large number
precipice
a very steep or overhanging piece of rock, such as the face of a cliff
insurrectionists
a violent uprising against an authority or government: the insurrection was savagely put down | opposition to the new regime led to armed insurrection.
Caveat
a warning or caution
dowager
a widow with a title or property derived from her late husband dignified elderly woman
consort
a wife, husband, or companion, in particular the spouse of a reigning monarch.
Simile
a word or phrase by which anything is likened to something else; it's often introduced by "like" or "as"
statute
a written law passed by a legislative body
misnomer
a wrong or inaccurate name or designation
defected
abandon one's country or cause in favor of an opposing one
receptivity
able or willing to receive something, esp. signals or stimuli.
Tenable
able to be maintained or defended against attack or objection"such a simplistic approach is no longer tenable" (of an office, position, scholarship, etc.) able to be held or used"the post is tenable for three years"
caustic (adj)
able to burn/ corrosive, sarcastic in a bitter way
impetuousness
acting or done quickly and without thought or care: her friend was headstrong and impetuous
impetuosity
acting or done quickly and without thought or care: her friend was headstrong and impetuous. moving forcefully or rapidly: an impetuous but controlled flow of water
impetuous
acting or done quickly and without thought or care: her friend was headstrong and impetuous. • moving forcefully or rapidly: an impetuous but controlled flow of water.
annotate
add notes to (a text or diagram) giving explanation or comment
reproach
address (someone) in such a way as to express disapproval or disappointment
Logomachy
argument over the definition of words
insolvent
bankrupt, ruined
resolute
admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering
precociously
advanced
proponents
advocate, champion, supporter, backer, promoter, protagonist, campaigner, booster, cheerleader.
vacillate
alternate or waver between different opinions or actions; be indecisive
vacillated
alternate or waver between different opinions or actions; be indecisive
dilettante
amateur, nonprofessional, nonspecialist, layman, layperson
invectives
an abusive expression or speech
compromise
an accommodation in which both sides make concessions
Fait accompli
an accomplished and presumably irreversible deed or fact
appraisals
an act of assessing something or someone: treatment begins with a thorough appraisal of the patient's condition | the report has been subject to appraisal. • an expert estimate of the value of something: the final figure is just a little more than triple the appraisal.
tactic
an action that is planned to achieve a goal
Codicil
an amendment to an existing will
vertebrate
an animal that has a backbone
acquisition
an asset or object bought or obtained, typically by a library or museum
aspersion
an attack on the reputation or integrity of someone or something: I don't think anyone is casting aspersions on you
autonomous
an autonomous republic: self-governing, self-ruling, self-determining, independent, sovereign, free, unmonitored.
eclectic
an eclectic mix of party music: wide-ranging, broad-based, extensive, comprehensive, encyclopedic; varied, diverse, catholic, all-embracing, multifaceted, multifarious, heterogeneous, miscellaneous, assorted.
plateau
an elevated piece of land
nuisance
annoying
apprehensive
anxious or fearful; uneasy
Specious
apparently right; superficiallly fair, just, or correct, but not so in reality; appearing well at first view; plausible
ardor
approaching the project with ardor: passion, fervor, zeal, vehemence, intensity, verve, fire, emotion; enthusiasm, eagerness, avidity, gusto, keenness, dedication.
ratification
approval
assailed
assault
officious
assertive of authority in an annoyingly domineering way, esp. with regard to petty or trivial matters
acolytes
assistant or follower
insipid
asteless, flavorless, bland, weak, wishy-washy; unappetizing, unpalatable. ANTONYMS tasty. 2 insipid pictures: unimaginative, uninspired, uninspiring, characterless, flat, uninteresting, lackluster, dull, drab, boring, dry, humdrum, ho-hum, monochrome, tedious, uneventful, run-of
acumen
astuteness, shrewdness, acuity, sharpness, sharp-wittedness, cleverness, smartness, brains; judgment, understanding, awareness, sense, common sense, canniness
irreconcilable
at odds, at variance, conflicting, clashing, antagonistic, mutually exclusive
abaft
at or near or toward the stern of a ship or tail of an airplane
obsequious
attentive in an ingratiating or servile manner
impute
attribute or credit to
brusque
marked by rude or peremptory shortness
surly
bad-tempered and unfriendly: he left with a surly expression
cantankerous
bad-tempered, argumentative, and uncooperative: a crusty, cantankerous old man
cantankerous
bad-tempered, argumentative, and uncooperative: a crusty, cantankerous old man.
constitute
be (a part) of a whole: single parents constitute a great proportion of the poor. • (of people or things) combine to form (a whole): there were enough members present to constitute a quorum. • be or be equivalent to (something): his failure to act constituted a breach of duty.
bereavement
be deprived of a loved one through a profound absence, esp. due to the loved one's death
equivocated
be evasive, be noncommittal, be vague, be ambiguous, dodge the question, beat around the bush
teem
be full of or swarming with
engender
be the cause of
tempo
beat of music
ossified
become inflexible, become rigid, fossilize, calcify, rigidify, stagnate
Abate
become less in amount or intensity
burgeoned
begin to grow or increase rapidly; flourish
ominous
being a sign of trouble, danger, or disaster
Ubiquitous
being everywhere
ubiquitous
being present everywhere at once
Acrimony
bitter, harsh, or biting sharpness
rancorously
bitterly
rancorous
bitterly hated
Sardonic
bitterly sarcastic
rancor
bitterness, spite
yacht
boat, an expensive vessel propelled by sail or power and used for cruising or racing
convocation
calling pple for a formal ceremony, meeting
sedate
calm
sedate
calm, dignified, and unhurried
quash
cancel, put an end to
vulnerable
capable of being harmed, damaged, or injured
malleable
capable of being shaped or formed by pressing, hammering, or another forceful action
mutation
change in gene or chromosome
condescending
characteristic of those who treat others with condescension
Pedantic
characterized by a narrow, often ostentatious concern for book learning and formal rules
Erudite
characterized by extensive reading or knowledge; well instructed; learned
Amicable
characterized by friendship and good will
cagey
characterized by great cautious and wariness
ethereal
characterized by lightness and insubstantiality
Ethereal
characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; intangible
morbidity
characterized by or appealing to an abnormal and unhealthy interest in disturbing and unpleasant subjects, esp. death and disease
precocious
characterized by or characteristic of exceptionally early development or maturity
Binary
characterized by or consisting of two parts or components
Collegial
characterized by or having authority vested equally among colleagues
wretched
characterized by physical misery
decorous
characterized by propriety and dignity and good taste in manners and conduct
recursive
characterized by recurrence or repetition
impetuous
characterized by undue haste and lack of thought or deliberation
ostentatious
characterized by vulgar or pretentious display; designed to impress or attract notice
tawdry
cheap and shoddy
charlatan
cheat
joviality
cheerful and friendly: she was in a jovial mood
ebullient
cheerful, joyful, bubbly
Abstain
choose no to consume
Anachronistic
chronologically misplaced
vindication
clear (someone) of blame or suspicion
vindicate
clear (someone) of blame or suspicion: hospital staff were vindicated by the inquest verdict. • show or prove to be right, reasonable, or justified: more sober views were vindicated by events.
vindicate
clear (someone) of blame or suspicion: hospital staff were vindicated by the inquest verdict; exonerate
Unequivocal
clear and without a doubt
adroit
clever or skillful in using the hands or mind: he was adroit at tax avoidance.
adroitness
cleverness or skill: he lacks political adroitness.
Raiment
clothing"ladies clothed in raiment bedecked with jewels"
nebula
cloud of gas or dust in space
happenstance
coincidence
miscreants
criminal
detractor
critic
polemical
critical, hostile, bitter, polemic, virulent, vitriolic, venomous, caustic, trenchant
elliptical
cryptic, abstruse, ambiguous, obscure, oblique
Retrenchment
cutting back on expenses
despondent
depression
bereft of
deprived of
naturalistic
derived from real life or nature, or imitating it very closely
coveted
desire, yearn for, crave
resolute
determined
capricious
determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason
anomalous
deviating from what is standard, normal, or expected
vacuous
devoid of significance or point; complacently or inanely foolish
euphemisms
different way of saying something, indirect, circumlocution
formidable
difficult to defeat
recondite
difficult to penetrate
obscure
difficult to understand
abstruse (adj)
difficult to understand, complicated
assiduousness (n)
diligently working
antipodes
direct opposites
dissension
disagreement
calamitous
disastrous
divulge
disclose, make known
fraudulent
dishonest, corrupt
infidelity
disloyalty
ruffled
disorder or disarrange (someone's hair), typically by running one's hands through it
vilified
disparage, denigrate, defame, run down, revile, abuse
Pejorative
disparaging, belittling
Puerile
displaying a lack of maturity
tangential
diverging from a previous course or line; erratic: tangential thoughts hardly touching a matter; peripheral
divergent
diverging from another or from a standard
multifarious
diverse, many, numerous, various, varied, diversified, multiple, multitudinous
polarized
divide or cause to divide into two sharply contrasting groups or sets of opinions or beliefs
doctrinaire
dogmatic, rigid, inflexible, uncompromising; authoritarian, intolerant, fanatical, zealous, extreme
indiscriminate
done at random or without careful judgment
adhoc
done for a specific purpose, without regard for larger or future issues
furtive
done or acting in a way that is intended not to be noticed
quiescent (adj)
dormant, quiet, inactive, motionless
parched
dried up
impelled
drive, force, or urge (someone) to do something: financial difficulties impelled him to desperate measures
monotonous
dull because of always being the same
perfidy
duplicity, deceit, deceitfulness, disloyalty, infidelity, faithlessness, unfaithfulness, betrayal
ebb
dying out
contemporaneous
existing or occurring in the same period of time: Pythagoras was contemporaneous with Buddha
vertex
each angular point of a polygon, polyhedron, or other figure
pugnacious
eager or quick to argue, quarrel, or fight
conspicuous
easily seen; obvious
sinecure
easy job
streamlined
efficient, smooth-running, well run, slick; time-saving, labor-saving
florid
elaborately or excessively ornamented
circumlocution (n)
evasive speech, speaking around a subject
conscientious
even Douglas, the most conscientious worker in our department, was laid off: diligent, industrious, punctilious, painstaking, sedulous, assiduous, dedicated
placid
even-tempered, calm, tranquil, equable, unexcitable
rain forest
evergreen trees with regular rainfall
perennial
everlasting, perpetual
unanimous
everybody agrees
axiomatic
evident without proof or argument
redolent
evocative, suggestive, reminiscent
poignant
evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret: a poignant reminder of the passing of time
outrageous
exceeding all bounds of what is right
quixotic
exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic
hubris
excessive pride or self-confidence
garrulous
excessive talking, verbose, loquacious
superfluous
excessive, unnecessary
voracious
excessively greedy and grasping
acquisitive
excessively interested in acquiring money or material things
garrulous
excessively talkative in a rambling, roundabout manner, especially about trivial matters
parsimonious
excessively unwilling to spend
E.g.
exempli gratia (for example)
impunity
exemption from punishment or freedom from the injurious consequences of an action: the impunity enjoyed by military officers implicated in civilian killings | protesters burned flags on the streets with impunity
abounding
existing in abundance
sycophantic
fawning, flattering
trepidation
fear
trepidation
fear, apprehension, dread, fearfulness, fright, agitation, anxiety, worry, nervousness
penitent
feeling guilty
compunction
feeling of guilt after doing something bad
abashed
feeling or caused to feel uneasy and self-conscious
chauvinistic
feeling or displaying aggressive or exaggerated patriotism. • displaying excessive or prejudiced support for one's own cause, group, or sex.
penitent
feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds
penitent
feeling or showing sorrow and regret for having done wrong; repentant: a penitent expression
misgivings
feelings of doubt or concern
fecund
fertile, fruitful, productive
vitriolic
filled with bitter criticism or malice: vitriolic attacks on the politicians | vitriolic outbursts.
exonerate
find innocent
ascertain
find out, discover, get to know, work out, make out
fitful
fitful night's sleep: intermittent, sporadic, spasmodic, broken, disturbed, disrupted, patchy, irregular, uneven, unsettled; informal herky-jerky.
stratified
form or arrange into strata: socially stratified cities | [ no obj. ] : the residues have begun to stratify.
concordance
formal agreement
affability (n)
friendliness; the quality of being affable; geniality
genially
friendly and cheerful
genial
friendly, affable
Levity
frivolity (not serious or sensible)
Plenary
full; entire; complete
lichen
fungi
munificent
generous, philanthropic
debonair
gentle, courteous
benign
gentle, kind, warm
invigorate
give strength or energy to: the shower had invigorated her
relinquish
give up
Abdicate
give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations
attentive
giving attention to something; paying careful attention to the comfort or concerns of others
luminous
giving off light; shining
propitious
giving or indicating a good chance of success; favorable
gusto
great enjoyment
zeal
great enthusiasm for or devotion to cause, ideal, or goal
reverential
great respect
opulence
great wealth or luxuriousness
avaricious
greed
avaricious
greedy
verdant
green with vegetation; covered with growing plants or grass
squalid
gross, dirty
proliferated
grow, spread
querulous
habitually complaining
fortuitous
happening by accident or chance rather than design unanticipated, random
Fortuitous
happening by chance
halcyon (adj)
happy, perfect, idyllic, prosperous, carefree
esoteric (adj)
hard to understand
ultraviolet
harmful rays from sun, one kind of electromagnetic radiation produced by the Sun.
deleterious
harmful to living things
acrid
harsh or corrosive in tone
cursory
hasty and therefore not thorough or detailed
cursory
hasty and therefore not thorough or detailed: a cursory glance at the figures.
predisposed
have hunches, prepared, ready, of a mind, inclined
adjoining
having a common boundary or edge
pernicious
having a harmful effect, esp. in a gradual or subtle way
voracious
having a huge appetite, greedy, ravenous; excessively eager
Finite
having bounds
tenuous
having little substance or significance
sinuously
having many curves & turns
ambivalent
having mixed feelings
ambivalent
having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone: some loved her, some hated her, few were ambivalent about her | an ambivalent attitude to technology
ambiguous
having more than one possible meaning
Unilateral
having only one side
odoriferous
having or giving off a smell, esp. an unpleasant or distinctive one: spicily concocted with odoriferous herbs
intemperate
having or showing a lack of self-control; immoderate
tactful
having or showing a sense of what is fitting and considerate in dealing with others
irascibility
having or showing a tendency to be easily angered
haughty
having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy
prescient
having or showing knowledge of events before they take place: a prescient warning.
feverish
having or showing the symptoms of a fever: he suffered from feverish colds. • displaying a frenetic excitement or energy: the next couple of weeks were spent in a whirl of feverish activity.
Bi-polar
having two opposite or contradictory ideas
versatile
having varied uses or functions
reclusive
seeking or preferring seclusion or isolation
vacuous
inane, unintelligent, insipid, foolish, stupid, fatuous, idiotic, brainless, witless, vapid, vacant
inevitable
incapable of being avoided or prevented
seditious
inciting or causing people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch: the letter was declared seditious.
Submissive
inclined or willing to submit to orders or wishes of others or showing such inclination
Reticent
inclined to keep quiet
dogmatic
inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true: he gives his opinion without trying to be dogmatic.
Dilatory
inclined to put off what ought to be done at once
aggrandize
increase the power, status, or wealth of: an action intended to aggrandize the Frankish dynasty. • enhance the reputation of (someone) beyond what is justified by the facts: he hoped to aggrandize himself by dying a hero's death.
irresolute
indecisive, uncertain
ineffable
indescribable
incontrovertible
indisputable, undeniable
idiosyncratic
individual
avenger
inflict harm on behalf of (oneself or someone else previously wronged or harmed): we must avenge our dead
quadratic function
is a parabola
quarantine
isolation for a amount of time for an animal or person
jovial
jolly
exultant
joyful and proud especially because of triumph or success
dislodge
knock or force out of position: the hoofs of their horses dislodged loose stones. • remove from a position of power or authority: government opponents failed to dislodge the prime minister
saliently
obvious or prominent
Myopic
lack of discernment or long-range perspective in thinking or planning
dissonance
lack of harmony among musical notes
disdain
lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
nebulous
lacking definition or definite content
nondescript
lacking distinct or individual characteristics
jaded
lacking enthusiasm
craven
lacking even the rudiments of courage
Pusillanimous
lacking in courage and resolution
languid
lacking spirit or liveliness
Arid
lacking vitality or spirit
prosaic
lacking wit or imagination
inconsequential
lacking worth or importance
capacious
large in capacity
ephemeral
last year's ephemeral fashions: transitory, transient, fleeting, passing, short-lived, momentary, brief, short; temporary, impermanent, short-term; fly-by-night
protracted
lasting for a long time or longer than expected or usual: a protracted and bitter dispute.
unequivocal
leaving no doubt; unambiguous: an unequivocal answer
lassitude
lethargy, listlessness, weariness, languor, sluggishness, tiredness, fatigue
epistles
letter
erratic
liable to sudden unpredictable change
levity
lightheartedness, high spirits, vivacity, liveliness, cheerfulness, cheeriness, humor, gaiety, fun, jocularity, hilarity, frivolity
revelry
lively and noisy festivities, esp. when these involve drinking a large amount of alcohol
Supercilious
lofty with pride
Syllogism
logic: a form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion
longevity
long life, long duration, length of life
resigned
long-suffering, uncomplaining, forbearing
lugubrious
looking or sounding sad and dismal
retroactive
looking to the past
tumultuous
loud
strident
loud and harsh
staunchly
loyal and committed in attitude: a staunch supporter of the antinuclear lobby
Eclectic
made up of or combining elements from varying sources
protagonist
main character in play
exacerbated
make (a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling) worse
politicized
make (someone) politically aware, esp. by persuading them of the truth of views considered radical
elucidates
make (something) clear; explain
remonstrate
make a forcefully reproachful protest
bureaucratization
make a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives
ameliorate
make better, better, make improvements to
exploit
make full use of and derive benefit from (a resource)
whet
make keen or more acute
profiteer
make or seek to make an excessive or unfair profit, esp. illegally or in a black market: (as noun profiteering) : the profiteering of tabloid journalists.
inference
making a guess. hypothesis.
Vociferous
making a loud outcry
sophistry
making false arguments
raucous
making or constituting a disturbingly harsh and loud noise: raucous youths.
tractable
malleable, manageable, amenable, pliable, governable, yielding, complaisant, compliant, game, persuadable, accommodating, docile
marsupial
mammal with a pouch
Rancorous
marked by bitter, deep-seated ill-will
Surreptitious
marked by quiet and caution and secrecy
furtive
marked by quiet and caution and secrecy
slovenly
messy or dirty
technique
method, way of doing something
guerrilla
military force that is not a part of a regular army and operates in small bands
Reconnaissance
military observation of a region to locate an enemy or ascertain strategic features"an excellent aircraft for low-level reconnaissance" preliminary surveying or research"conducting client reconnaissance"
satirical
mocking, ironic, ironical, satiric, sarcastic, sardonic
paradigms
model, pattern, example
tempered
moderated
diffident
modest or shy because of a lack of self-confidence
mercenary
money-oriented, grasping, greedy, acquisitive, avaricious, covetous, bribable, venal, materialistic
preachy
moralistic
rectitude
morally correct behavior or thinking; righteousness: Maddie is a model of rectitude.
squalid
morally degraded
sordid
morally ignoble or base; vile
dissolute
morally loose, licentious
Superfluous
more than is needed, desired, or required
Superfluous
more than is wanted or is sufficient
abject
most unfortunate or miserable
becalmed
motionless
maneuver
move around
bent
natural talent
vertiginous
nauseating, lightheadedness
Requisite
necessary; indispensable
Tautological
needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy
negative slope
negative infinity
defunct
no longer existing, discontinued
random
no pattern
commotion
noisy activity or confusion
obstreperous
noisy and difficult to control
tumult
noisy loud, opposite of tranquility
cacophonous
noisy, loud, ear-splitting, raucous, discordant, dissonant, jarring, grating, inharmonious
boisterous
noisy, violent
neither
nor
wistful
nostalgic, pensive
opaque
not able to be seen through; not transparent: the windows were opaque with steam. • (esp. of language) hard or impossible to understand; unfathomable: technical jargon that was opaque to her.
inconspicuous
not clearly visible or attracting attention; not conspicuous: an inconspicuous red-brick building.
onerous
not easily borne
innate
not established by conditioning or learning
spurious
not genuine, authentic, or true
innocuous
not harmful or offensive: it was an innocuous question
unencumbered (adj)
not having burden or impediment
unmarred
not impaired
incongruity
not in harmony or keeping with the surroundings or other aspects of something
incongruous
not in harmony or keeping with the surroundings or other aspects of something
apolitical
not interested or involved in politics: a former apolitical housewife.
unsightly
not pleasant to look at; unattractive
reticent
not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily
reticent
not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily: she was extremely reticent about her personal affairs.
quixotic
not sensible about practical matters
obsequious
obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree
ambiguous
obscure, unclear
adulation
obsequious flattery; excessive admiration or praise: he found it difficult to cope with the adulation of the fans.
compulsive
obsessive
grueling
physically or mentally exhausting
hieroglyphic
picture writing.
interposed
place or insert between one thing and another
strategy
plan
phloem
plant tissue that conducts food
placid
pleasantly calm or peaceful
prolific
plentiful
prolific
plentiful, abundant
ruse
ploy, cunning scheme
cavalcade
procession
salutary
producing good effects, beneficial
efficacious
producing or capable of producing an intended result or having a striking effect
reverence
profound respect
headway
progress toward a destination or goal
dictum
pronouncement, proclamation, direction, injunction, dictate, command, commandment, order, decree
decorum
proper behavior or conduct
decorous
proper, seemly, decent, becoming, befitting, tasteful; correct, appropriate, suitable, fitting; tactful
immune
protected from getting a disease.
refutation
prove (a statement or theory) to be wrong or false; disprove
substantiated
provide evidence to support or prove the truth of
foster
providing or receiving nurture or parental care though not related by blood or legal ties
cloistered
providing privacy or seclusion
cathartic
providing psychological relief through the open expression of strong emotions
auxiliaries
providing supplementary or additional help and support
clairvoyant
psychic
denunciation
public condemnation of someone or something
manifesto
public declaration of goals
ignominy
public shame or disgrace
decried
publicly denounce
figurehead
puppet w/ authority
consecrated
sanctify, bless, make holy, make sacred; dedicate to God
sardonic
satirical, sarcastic, ironical, ironic; cynical, scornful, contemptuous
aphorisms
saying, proverb
licentious
scandalous
pedantic
scrupulous, precise, exact, perfectionist, punctilious, meticulous, fussy, fastidious
ossified
set in a rigidly conventional pattern of behavior, habits, or beliefs, changed into bone
starkness
severe or bare in appearance or outline
austerity
severity, strictness, seriousness, solemnity, gravity; frugality, thrift, economy, asceticism; self-discipline, abstinence, sobriety, restraint, chastity; starkness.
abash (n)
shame
Acerbic
sharp, biting, or acid in temper, expression, or tone
abrasive
sharply disagreeable
doctrinaire
she is by no means a doctrinaire conservative: dogmatic, rigid, inflexible, uncompromising; authoritarian, intolerant, fanatical, zealous, extreme.
racked
she was racked with guilt: torment, afflict, torture, agonize, harrow; plague, bedevil, persecute, wrack, trouble, worry
byzantine
situation) excessively complicated, typically involving a great deal of administrative detail: Byzantine insurance regulations. • characterized by deviousness or underhanded procedure: Byzantine intrigues | he has the most Byzantine mind in politics.
deftly
skillful
virtuosity
skillful
nocturnal
sleep in day, play at night
somnolent
sleepy; drowsy. • causing or suggestive of drowsiness: a somnolent summer day. • Medicine abnormally drowsy.
marginal
slight, small, tiny, minute, insignificant
brackish
slightly salty
dilatory
slow
torpid
slow and apathetic
astute
smart
complacent
smug
complacent
smug, self-satisfied
just as
so (to)
inimitably
so good or unusual as to be impossible to copy; unique
hedonist
someone motivated by desires for sensual pleasures
conformist
someone who conforms to established standards of conduct (especially in religious matters)
clairvoyant
someone who has the power of clairvoyance
impasse
stoppage, blockage
outlandish
strange
fortitude
strength of mind that enables one to endure adversity with courage
bolstered
strengthen, reinforce
stringent
strict, firm
denuded
strip (something) of its covering, possessions, or assets; make bare: almost overnight the Arctic was denuded of animals.
emulate
strive to equal or match, especially by imitating
exhort
strongly encourage or urge
obstinate
stubborn
tenacious
stubborn
obdurate
stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or course of action
tenacious
stubbornly unyielding
obstinacy
stubbornness, inflexibility
jaunty
stylish.
recapitulate
summarize
supplanted
supersede and replace
buttress
support
subsidize
support (an organization or activity) financially: it was beyond the power of a state to subsidize a business.
capitulate
surrender
capitulate
surrender under agreed conditions
capitulated
surrender, give in/ up
mellifluous
sweet-sounding, dulcet, honeyed, mellow, soft, liquid, silvery, soothing
distension
swell or cause to swell by pressure from inside
commiseration
sympathy, pity, compassion
abstracted
taken out of or separated from
voluble
talkative, loquacious, garrulous
ephemeral
temporary, transitory
perfidious
tending to betray
auspicious
tending to favor or bring good luck
soporific
tending to induce drowsiness or sleep: the motion of the train had a somewhat soporific effect. • sleepy or drowsy: some medicine made her soporific. • tediously boring or monotonous: a libel trial is in large parts intensely soporific.
divergent
tending to move apart in different directions
evanescent
tending to vanish like vapor
quandary
terrible situation
more
than
no sooner
than
NOT the "most" number
the "largest" number
aptitude
the ability of learn or understand something quickly
potential
the ability to grow, develop, or improve
foresight
the ability to imagine what is likely to happen in the future.
absolutist
the acceptance of or belief in absolute principles in political, philosophical, ethical, or theological matters
occlusion
the act of blocking something or a specific blockage
convergence
the act of coming closer
restitution
the act of doing something or paying money to make up for some damage, loss, or injury that you have caused
sacrifice
the act of giving up something valued
renovation
the act of improving by renewing and restoring
dissemination
the act of spreading something, esp. information, widely; circulation
altruism
the belief in or practice of disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others
fatalistic
the belief that all events are predetermined and therefore inevitable
circumference
the boundary of an area, an object, or a geometric figure, especially a circle
zoology
the branch of biology that studies animals
metropolis
the capital or chief city of a country or region
Diction
the choice and use of words in speech or writing
prosperity
the condition of prospering
abridge
to condense, to shorten
bifurcations
the division of something into two branches or parts
estrangement
the estrangement between Vita and her family: alienation, antagonism, antipathy, disaffection, hostility, unfriendliness
juxtaposition
the fact of two things being seen or placed close together with contrasting effect
impetus
the force or energy with which a body moves
deriding
the kid I used to deride in junior high is now my boss: ridicule, mock, scoff at, jibe at, make fun of, poke fun at, laugh at
"whereby"
the meaning of which ("by which")
pedagogy
the method and practice of teaching, esp. as an academic subject or theoretical concept
serendipity
the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way; chance, luck
destination
the place to which a person or thing is going or sent
stamina
the power to resist getting tired or sick while working hard
camaraderie
the quality of affording easy familiarity and sociability
serenity
the quality of being calm, peaceful, or untroubled
novelty
the quality of being new, original, or unusual; originality
acquiescence
the reluctant acceptance of something without protest
Allegory
the representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form
galvanized
the reverend's words galvanized our group into action: jolt, shock, startle, impel, stir, spur, prod, urge, motivate, stimulate
suffrage
the right to vote
debris
the scattered remains of something broken, destroyed, or discarded
jargon
the specialized language of a trade, profession, or group of people
discredit
the state of being held in low esteem
transience
the state or fact of lasting only for a short time; transitory nature: the transience of life and happiness
degeneration
the state or process of being or becoming degenerate; decline or deterioration: overgrazing has caused serious degeneration of grassland.
prefer
to
from
to (until)
abet
to aid; to act as an accomplice
materialize
to appear out of nowhere
Equivocate
to be deliberately ambiguous or unclear
vacillation
to be indecisive
deign
to be willing to do something that one considers beneath one's dignity
subside
to become less active or intense
emerge
to become visible or known
muster
to bring forth a group of soldiers together; to bring forth a feeling or ability from within oneself
accentuate
to bring out the best in
kindle
to build and start a fire; to arouse or excite a feeling
jostle
to bump roughly against another person or thing
quell
to calm or settle
Abrogate
to cancel, destroy, revoke, or void
exhilarate
to cause someone to feel very happy
ignite
to cause something to start burning; to begin to burn
dispel
to cause to disappear; drive away
brazen
unrestrained by convention or propriety
mendacity
untruthfulness
officious
unwanted help, self-important, bumptious, self-assertive, overbearing, overzealous, domineering, opinionated, interfering, intrusive, meddlesome
intransigence
unwilling or refusing to change one's views or to agree about something.
imprudent
unwise, injudicious, incautious, indiscreet, misguided
feckless (adj)
useless, lacking skill, incompetent, futile, indifferent, lazy
emphatic
vehement, firm, wholehearted, forceful
vociferous
vehement, passionate
vindicat
vengeful
punctilious
very careful w/ small details
havoc
very great destruction or disorder
archaic
very old or old-fashioned
somber
very serious or sad
bizarre
very strange or odd
guru
very talented at one thing.
Loquacious
very talkative
tenuous
very weak or slight
tenuous(ly)
very weak or slight
vivacious
vigorous and active
sacrilege
violation or misuse of what is regarded as sacred
cataclysmic
violent natural event
boisterous
violently agitated and turbulent
conspicuous
visible
immaterial
w/out relevance
itinerant
wanderer, traveler
voracious
wanting or devouring great quantities of food
wary
watchful, alert
vigilant
watching out for danger or something that might go wrong
debilitate
weaken
debilitated
weakened
yen
yearning, desire
hackneyed
your hackneyed arguments fail to persuade anyone: overused, overdone, overworked, worn out, timeworn, platitudinous, vapid, stale
fissure
• a state of incompatibility or disagreement: the fissure between private sector business and the newly expanding public sector. verb [ with obj. ] (usu. as adj. fissured) split or crack (something) to form a long narrow opening: the skin becomes dry, fissured, and cracked.