| Term | Definition |
|---|
| overwrought | ADJ. extremely agitated; hysterical |
| ovoid | ADJ. egg-shaped |
| pachyderm | N. thick-skineed animal |
| pacifist | N. one opposed to force; antimilitarist |
| paean | N. song of praise or joy |
| painstaking | ADJ. showing hard work; taking great care |
| palatable | ADJ. agreeable; pleasing to the taste |
| palate | N. roof of the mouth; sense of taste |
| palatial | ADJ. magnificent |
| paleontology | N. study of prehistoric life |
| palette | N. board on which a painter mixes pigments |
| palimpsest | N. parchment used for second time after original writing has been erased |
| pall | V. grow tiresome |
| pallet | N. small, poor bed |
| palliate | V. ease pain; make less severe or offensive |
| pallid | ADJ. pale; wan |
| palpable | ADJ. tangible; easily perceptible |
| palpitate | V. throb; flutter |
| paltry | ADJ. insignificant; petty; trifling |
| pan | V. criticize harshly |
| panacea | N. cure-all; remedy for all diseases |
| panache | N. flair; flamboyance |
| pandemic | ADJ. widespread; affecting the majority of people |
| pandemonium | N. wild tumult |
| pander | V. cater to the low desires of others |
| panegyric | N. formal praise |
| panoramic | ADJ. denoting an unobstructed and comprehensive view |
| pantomime | N. acting without dialogue |
| parable | N. short, simple story teaching a moral |
| paradigm | N. model; example; pattern |
| paradox | N. something apparently contradictory in nature; statement that looks false but is actually correct |
| paragon | *N. model of perfection |
| parallelism | N. state of being parallel; similarity |
| parameter | N. limit; independent variable |
| paramount | ADJ. foremost in importance; supreme |
| paramour | N. illicit lover |
| paranoia | N. psychosis marked by delusions of grandeur or persecution |
| paraphernalia | N. equipment; odds and ends |
| paraphrase | V. restate a passage in one's own words while retaining thought of author |
| parasite | N. animal or plant living on another; toady; sycophant |
| parched | ADJ. extremely dry; very thirsty |
| pariah | N. social outcast |
| parity | N. equality; close resemblance |
| parlance | N. language; idiom |
| parley | N. conference |
| parochial | ADJ. narrow in outlook; provincial; related to parishes |
| parody | N. humorous imitation; spoof; takeoff; travesty |
| paroxysm | N. fit or attack of pain, laughter, rage |
| parquet | N. floor made of wood strips inlaid in a mosaic-like pattern |
| parry | V. ward off a blow; deflect |
| parsimony | N. stinginess; excessive frugality |
| partiality | N. inclination; bias |
| partisan | ADJ. one-sided; prejudiced; committed to a party |
| partition | V. divide into parts |
| passe | ADJ. old-fashioned; past the prime |
| passive | ADJ. not active; acted upon |
| pastiche | N. imitation of another's style in musical composition or writing |
| patent | ADJ. open for the public to read; obvious |
| pathological | *ADJ. pertaining to disease |
| pathos | N. tender sorrow; pity; quality in art or literature that produces these feelings |
| patina | N. green crust on old bronze works; tone slowly taken by varnished painting |
| patois | N. local or provincial dialect |
| patriarch | N. father and ruler of a family or tribe |
| patrician | ADJ. noble; aristocratic |
| patronize | V. support; act superior toward; be a customer of |
| paucity | *N. scarcity |
| pauper | N. very poor person |
| peccadillo | N. slight offense |
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