| Term | Definition |
|---|
| paradox | n. something apparently contradictory in nature; statement that looks false butis actually correct |
| paragon | n. model of perfection |
| parallelism | n. state of being parallel; similarity |
| parochial | adj. narrow in outlook; provincial; related to parishes |
| pastoral | adj. rural |
| patent | adj. open for the public to read; obvious |
| pecuniary | adj. pertaining to money |
| pedagogy | n. teaching; art of education |
| pedantic | adj. showing off learning; bookish |
| pejorative | adj. negative in connotation; having a belittling effect |
| penitent | adj. repentant |
| pensive | adj. dreamily thoughtful; thoughtful with a hint of sadness; contemplative |
| persona | n. public personality or façade |
| pertinent | adj. to the point; relevant |
| peruse | v. read with care |
| petulant | adj. touchy; peevish |
| phlegmatic | adj. calm; not easily disturbed |
| physiological | adj. pertaining to the science of the function of living organisms |
| pillage | v. plunder |
| pinnacle | n. peak |
| pious | adj. devout; religious |
| placebo | n. harmless substance prescribed as a dummy pill |
| plethora | n. excess; overabundance |
| polarize | v. split into opposite extremes or camps |
| posthumous | adj. after death |
| potentate | n. monarch; soverign |
| precipitate | v. to throw headlong; hasten |
| prelate | n. church dignitary |
| prevaricate | v. lie |
| pristine | adj. characteristic of earlier times; primitive; unspoiled |
| probe | v. explore with tools |
| procrastinate | v. postpone; delay or put off |
| prod | v. poke; stir up; urge |
| progeny | n. children; offspring |
| prominent | adj. conspicuous; notable; sticking out |
| propensity | n. natural inclination |
| propitious | adj. favorable; fortunate; advantageous |
| propriety | n. fitness; correct conduct |
| prosaic | adj. dull and unimaginative; matter-of-fact; factual |
| prostrate | v. stretch out full on ground |
| protégé | n. person receiving protection and support from a patron |
| protrude | v. stick out |
| prowess | n. extraordinary ability; military bravery |
| prune | v. cut away; trim |
| punitive | adj. punishing |
| purveyor | n. furnisher of foodstuffs; caterer |
| query | n. inquiry; question |
| quintessence | n. purest and highest embodiment |
| rabid | adj. like a fanatic; furious |
| rampant | adj. growing in profusion; unrestrained |
| rapport | n. emotional closeness; harmony |
| rave | n. overwhelmingly favorable review |
| recalcitrant | adj. obstinately stubborn; determined to resist authority; unruly |
| receptive | adj. quick or willing to receive ideas, sugestions, etc |
| recourse | n. resorting to help when in trouble |
| recurrent | adj. occurring again and again |
| redolent | adj. fragrant; odorous; suggestive of an odor |
| refurbish | v. renovate; make bright by polishing |
| reiterate | v. repeat |
| relic | n. surviving remnant; memento |
| remiss | adj. negligent |
| render | v. deliver; provide; represent |
| rendition | n. translation; artistic interpretation of a song, etc. |
| replica | n. copy |
| reprieve | n. temporary stay |
| reprisal | n. retaliation |
| requiem | n. mass for the dead; dirge |
| resilient | adj. elastic; having the power of springing back |
| resonant | adj. echoing; resounding; deep and full in sound |
| retentive | adj. holding; having a good memory |
| retroactive | adj. of a law that dates back to a period before its enactment |
| retrospective | adj. looking back on the past |
| revelry | n. boisterous merrymaking |
| rhetoric | n. art of effective communication; insincere language |
| rift | n. opening; break |
| ruddy | adj. reddish; healthy-looking |
| ruffian | n. bully; scoundrel |
| sacrosanct | adj. most sacred; inviolable |
| sadistic | adj. inclined to cruelty |
| salutary | adj. tending to improve; beneficial; wholesome |
| salvage | v. rescue from loss |
| sardonic | adj. disdainful; sarcastic; cynical |
| saturnine | adj. gloomy |
| scapegoat | n. someone who bears the blame for others |
| schism | n. division; split |
| secular | adj. worldly; not pertaining to church matters; temporal |
| sedition | n. resistance to authority; insubordination |
| sensual | adj. devoted to the pleasures of the senses; carnal; voluptuous |
| sequester | v. isolate; retire from public life; segregate; seclude |
| serendipity | n. gift for finding valuable or desirable things by accident; accidental good fortune by luck |
| serenity | n. calmness; placidity |
| sever | v. cut; separate |
| sham | v. pretend |
| shard | n. fragment; generality of pottery |
| shrewd | adj. clever; astute |
| shroud | v. hide from view; wrap for burial |
| shun | v. keep away from |
| simulate | v. feign |
| slander | n. defamation; utterance of false and malicious statements |
| sluggard | n. lazy person |
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