| Term | Definition |
|---|
| aberrant | deviating from the norm |
| alacrity | eager and enthusiastic willingness |
| anomaly | deviation from the normal order, form, or rule; abnormality |
| approbation | an expression of approval or praise |
| assuage | to ease or lessen; to appease or pacify |
| audacious | daring and fearless; recklessly bold |
| capricious | inclined to change one's mind impulsively; erratic; unpredictable |
| censure | to criticize severely; to officially rebuke |
| chicanery | trickery or subterfuge |
| connoisseur | an informed and astute judge in matters of taste; expert |
| discordant | conflicting; dissonant or harsh in sound |
| disparate | fundamentally distinct or dissimilar |
| eloquent | well-spoken; expressive; articulate |
| enervate | to weaken; to reduce in vitality |
| ennui | dissatisfaction and restlessness resulting from boredom or apathy |
| equivocate | to use ambiguous language with a deceptive intent |
| exculpate | exonerate; to clear of blame |
| exigent | urgent; pressing; requiring immediate action or attention |
| filibuster | intentional obstruction, esp. using prolonged speechmaking to delay legislative action |
| ingenuous | artless; frank and candid; lacking in sophistication |
| inured | accustomed to accepting something undesirable |
| irascible | easily angered; prone to temperamental outbursts |
| laud | to praise highly |
| magnanimity | the quality of being generously noble in mind and heart, esp. in forgiving |
| martial | associated with war and the armed forces |
| mundane | of the world; typical of or concerned with the ordinary |
| nascent | coming into being; in early developmental stages |
| nebulous | vague; cloudy; lacking clearly defined form |
| neologism | a new word, expression, or usage; the creation or use of new words or senses |
| noxious | harmful; injurious |
| obtuse | lacking sharpness of intellect; not clear or precise in thought or expression |
| obviate | to anticipate and make unnecessary |
| onerous | troubling; burdensome |
| parody | a humorous imitation intended for ridicule or comic effect, esp. in literature and art |
| perennial | recurrent through the year or many years; happening repeatedly |
| perfunctory | cursory; done without care or interest |
| prattle | to babble meaninglessly; to talk in an empty and idle manner |
| prescience | foreknowledge of events; knowing of events prior to their occurring |
| prevaricate | to lie; to deliberately avoid the truth; to mislead |
| refute | to disprove; to successfully argue against |
| relegate | to forcibly assign, esp. to a lower place or position |
| solicitous | concerned and attentive; eager |
| sporadic | occurring only occasionally, or in scattered instances |
| static | not moving, active, or in motion; at rest |
| stupefy | to stun, baffle, or amaze |
| tortuous | winding; twisting; excessively complicated |
| truculent | fierce and cruel; eager to fight |
| voracious | having an insatiable appetite for an activity or pursuit; ravenous |
| waver | to move to and fro; to sway; to be unsettled in opinion |
| abscond | to depart clandestinely; to steal off and hide |
| ameliorate | to make better or more tolerable |
| arduous | strenuous; taxing; requiring significant effort |
| ascetic | one who practices rigid self-denial, esp. as an act of religious devotion |
| austere | without adornment; bare; severely simple; ascetic |
| axiom | a universally recognized principle |
| axiomatic | taken as a given; possessing self-evident truth |
| bucolic | rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants |
| canonical | following or in agreement with accepted, traditional standards |
| contentious | argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement |
| convoluted | complex or complicated |
| culpable | deserving blame |
| disabuse | to undeceive; to set right |
| eclectic | composed of elements drawn from various sources |
| effrontery | extreme boldness; presumptuousness |
| ephemeral | brief; fleeting |
| erudite | very learned; scholarly |
| eulogy | a speech honoring the dead |
| extemporaneous | improvised; done without preparation |
| facetious | playful; humorous |
| fulminate | to loudly attack or denounce |
| hyperbole | an exaggerated statement, often used as a figure of speech |
| lucid | clear; easily understood |
| oscillation | the act or state of swinging back and forth with a steady, uninterrupted rhythm |
| paean | a song or hymn of praise and thanksgiving |
| penurious | penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous |
| perfidy | intentional breach of faith; treachery |
| pernicious | extremely harmful; potentially causing death |
| perspicacious | acutely perceptive; having keen discernment |
| pious | extremely reverent or devout; showing strong religious devotion |
| precipitate | acting with excessive haste or impulse |
| precipitate | to cause or happen before anticipated or required |
| precursor | one that precedes and indicates or announces another |
| predilection | a disposition in favor of something; preference |
| prolific | producing large volumes or amounts; productive |
| qualms | misgivings; reservations; causes for hesitancy |
| quiescence | stillness; motionlessness; quality of being at rest |
| recant | to retract, esp. a previously held belief |
| redoubtable | awe-inspiring; worthy of honor |
| reticent | quiet; reserved; reluctant to express thoughts and feelings |
| satire | a literary work that ridicules or criticizes a human vice through humor or derision |
| sordid | characterized by filth, grime, or squalor; foul |
| squalid | sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect |
| squander | to waste by spending or using irresponsibly |
| stoic | indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; steadfast |
| stymie | to block; thwart |
| supplant | to take the place of; supersede |
| synthesis | the combination of parts to make a whole |
| torpid | lethargic; sluggish; dormant |
| torque | a force that causes rotation |
| ubiquitous | existing everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered; widespread |
| veracity | truthfulness; honesty |
| vilify | to defame; to characterize harshly |
| virulent | extremely harmful or poisonous; bitterly hostile or antagonistic |
| abate | to lessen in intensity or degree |
| accolade | an expression of praise |
| adulation | excessive praise; intense adoration |
| aesthetic | dealing with, appreciative of, or responsive to art or the beautiful |
| avarice | greed, esp. for wealth |
| burgeon | to grow rapidly or flourish |
| cacophony | harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance |
| canon | an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature |
| castigation | severe criticism or punishment |
| catalyst | a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction without itself changing |
| catalyst | a person or thing that causes change |
| caustic | burning or stinging; causing corrosion |
| chary | wary; cautious; sparing |
| cogent | appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing |
| complaisance | the willingness to comply with the wishes of others |
| contrite | regretful; penitent; seeking forgiveness |
| dearth | smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; a lack |
| demur | to question or oppose |
| didactic | intended to teach or instruct |
| discretion | cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible decisions |
| disinterested | indifferent; free from self-interest |
| dogmatic | stubbornly opinionated |
| ebullience | the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings |
| elegy | a mournful poem, esp. one lamenting the dead |
| emollient | soothing, esp. to the skin; making less harsh |
| empirical | based on observation or experiment |
| enigmatic | mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand |
| esoteric | intended for or understood by a small, specific group |
| exonerate | to remove blame |
| fallacy | an invalid or incorrect notion; a mistaken belief |
| furtive | marked by stealth; covert; surreptitious |
| gregarious | sociable; outgoing; enjoying the company of other people |
| harangue | to deliver a pompous speech or tirade |
| heretical | violating accepted dogma or convention |
| impecunious | lacking funds; without money |
| incipient | beginning to come into being or to become apparent |
| inert | unmoving; lethargic; sluggish |
| innocuous | harmless; causing no damage |
| intransigent | refusing to compromise |
| inveigle | to obtain by deception or flattery |
| morose | sad; sullen; melancholy |
| odious | evoking intense aversion or dislike |
| opaque | impenetrable by light; not reflecting light |
| peruse | to examine with great care |
| preen | to dress up; to primp; to groom oneself with elaborate care |
| prodigious | abundant in size, force, or extent; extraordinary |
| putrefy | to rot; to decay and give off a foul odor |
| quaff | to drink deeply |
| sanction | authoritative permission or approval; a penalty intended to enforce compliance |
| urbane | sophisticated; refined; elegant |
| viscous | thick; sticky |
| acerbic | having a sour or bitter taste or character |
| amalgamate | to combine several elements into a whole |
| amenable | agreeable; responsive to suggestion |
| bolster | to provide support or reinforcement |
| bombast | self-important or pompous writing or speech |
| bombastic | pompous; grandiloquent |
| credulous | tending to believe too readily; gullible |
| diatribe | a harsh denunciation |
| fawn | to flatter or praise excessively |
| fervent | greatly emotional or zealous |
| flout | to demonstrate contempt for, as in a rule or convention |
| fortuitous | happening by fortunate accident or chance |
| garrulous | pointlessly talkative; talking too much |
| germane | relevant to the subject at hand; appropriate in subject matter |
| glib | marked by ease or informality; nonchalant; lacking in depth; superficial |
| halcyon | calm and peaceful |
| hubris | arrogant presumption or pride |
| idolatrous | given to intense or excessive devotion to something |
| imminent | about to happen; impending |
| imperturbable | marked by extreme calm, impassivity and steadiness |
| impetuous | hastily or rashly energetic; impulsive and vehement |
| implacable | not capable of being appeased or significantly changed |
| indifferent | having no interest or concern; showing no bias or prejudice |
| intrepid | steadfast and courageous |
| laconic | using few words; terse |
| malleable | capable of being shaped or formed; tractable; pliable |
| maverick | an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party |
| mendacity | the condition of being untruthful; dishonesty |
| mercurial | characterized by rapid and unpredictable change in mood |
| meticulous | characterized by extreme care and precision; attentive to detail |
| mollify | to calm or soothe; to reduce in emotional intensity |
| obdurate | unyielding; hardhearted; intractable |
| obfuscate | to deliberately obscure; to make confusing |
| obsequious | exhibiting a fawning attentiveness |
| obstinate | stubborn; hardheaded; uncompromising |
| opprobrium | disgrace; contempt; scorn |
| ostentatious | characterized by or given to pretentiousness |
| pedantic | the parading of learning; excessive attention to minutiae and formal rules |
| pervade | to permeate throughout |
| pervasive | having the tendency to permeate or spread throughout |
| phlegmatic | calm; sluggish; unemotional |
| pirate | to illegally use or reproduce |
| plethora | an overabundance; a surplus |
| polemical | controversial; argumentative |
| pragmatic | practical rather than idealistic |
| rancorous | characterized by bitter, long-lasting resentment |
| rhetoric | the art or study of effective use of language for communication and persuasion |
| salubrious | promoting health or well-being |
| sedulous | diligent; persistent; hard-working |
| solvent | able to meet financial obligations; able to dissolve another substance |
| soporific | causing drowsiness; tending to induce sleep |
| aggrandize | to increase in intensity, power, or prestige |
| alchemy | a medieval science aimed at the transmutation of metals, esp. base metals into gold |
| anachronism | something or someone out of place in terms of historical or chronological context |
| astringent | having a tightening effect on living tissue; harsh; severe |
| contiguous | sharing a border; touching; adjacent |
| convention | a generally agreed-upon practice or attitude |
| cynicism | an attitude or quality of belief that all people are motivated by selfishness |
| decorum | polite or appropriate conduct or behavior |
| derision | scorn; ridicule; contemptuous treatment |
| desiccate | to dry out or dehydrate; to make dry or dull |
| dilettante | one with an amateurish or superficial interest in the arts or a branch of knowledge |
| disparage | to slight or belittle |
| divulge | to disclose something secret |
| immutable | not capable of change |
| inimical | damaging; harmful; injurious |
| intractable | not easily managed or directed; stubborn; obstinate |
| neophyte | a recent convert; a beginner; novice |
| presumptuous | overstepping due bounds (as of propriety or courtesy); taking liberties |
| pristine | pure; uncorrupted; clean |
| probity | adherence to highest principles; uprightness |
| proclivity | a natural predisposition or inclination |
| profligate | excessively wasteful; recklessly extravagant |
| propensity | a natural inclination or tendency; penchant |
| prosaic | dull; unimaginative |
| pungent | characterized by a strong, sharp smell or taste |
| quixotic | foolishly impractical; marked by lofty romantic ideals |
| quotidian | occurring or recurring daily; commonplace |
| rarefy | to make or become thin, less dense; to refine |
| recondite | hidden; concealed; difficult to understand; obscure |
| refulgent | radiant; shiny; brilliant |
| renege | to fail to honor a commitment; to go back on a promise |
| shard | a piece of broken pottery or glass |
| sparse | thin; not dense; arranged at widely spaced intervals |
| spendthrift | one who spends money wastefully |
| subtle | not obvious; elusive; difficult to discern |
| tacit | implied; not explicitly stated |
| terse | brief and concise in wording |
| tout | to publicly praise or promote |
| trenchant | sharply perceptive; keen; penetrating |
| unfeigned | genuine; not false or hypocritical |
| untenable | indefensible; not viable; uninhabitable |
| vacillate | to waver indecisively between one course of action or opinion and another; to waver |
| variegated | multicolored; characterized by a variety of patches of different color |
| vexation | annoyance; irritation |
| vigilant | alertly watchful |
| vituperate | to use harsh condemnatory language; to abuse or censure severely or abusively; to berate |
| volatile | readily changing to a vapor; changeable; fickle; explosive |
| acumen | quick, keen, or accurate knowledge or insight |
| adulterate | to reduce purity by combining with inferior ingredients |
| archaic | outdated; associated with an earlier, perhaps more primitive, time |
| aver | to state as a fact; to confirm or support |
| dissemble | to disguise or conceal; to mislead |
| eccentric | departing from norms or conventions |
| endemic | characteristic of or often found in a particular locality, region, or people |
| evanescent | tending to disappear like vapor; vanishing |
| exacerbate | to make worse or more severe |
| grandiloquence | pompous speech or expression |
| hackneyed | rendered trite or commonplace by frequent usage |
| hedonism | devotion to pleasurable pursuits, esp. to the pleasures of the senses |
| hegemony | the consistent dominance of one state or ideology over others |
| iconoclast | one who attacks or undermines traditional conventions or institutions |
| impassive | revealing no emotion |
| impunity | immunity from punishment or penalty |
| inchoate | in an initial stage; not fully formed |
| infelicitous | unfortunate; inappropriate |
| insipid | without taste or flavor; lacking in spirit; bland |
| loquacious | extremely talkative |
| luminous | characterized by brightness and the emission of light |
| malevolent | having or showing often vicious ill-will, spite, or hatred |
| misanthrope | one who hates all other humans |
| mitigate | to make or become less severe or intense; to moderate |
| occlude | to obstruct or block |
| pedagogy | the art or profession of training, teaching, or instructing |
| penury | poverty; destitution |
| pine | to yearn intensely; to languish; to lose vigor |
| pith | the essential or central part |
| pithy | precise and brief |
| placate | to appease; to calm by making concessions |
| platitude | a superficial remark, esp. one offered as meaningful |
| plummet | to plunge or drop straight down |
| prodigal | recklessly wasteful; extravagant; profuse; lavish |
| profuse | given or coming forth abundantly; extravagant |
| proliferate | to grow or increase swiftly and abundantly |
| queries | questions; inquiries; doubts in the mind; reservations |
| querulous | prone to complaining or grumbling; quarrelsome |
| recalcitrant | obstinately defiant of authority; difficult to manage |
| repudiate | to refuse to have anything to do with; to disown |
| rescind | to invalidate; to repeal; to retract |
| reverent | marked by, feeling, or expressing a feeling of profound awe and respect |
| specious | seeming true, but actually being fallacious; misleadingly attractive |
| spurious | lacking authenticity or validity; false; counterfeit |
| subpoena | a court order requiring appearance and/or testimony |
| succinct | brief; concise |
| superfluous | exceeding what is sufficient or necessary |
| surfeit | excess; overindulgence |
| tenacity | the quality of adherence or persistence to something valued |
| tenuous | having little substance or strength; flimsy; weak |
| tirade | a long and extremely critical speech; a harsh denunciation |
| transient | fleeting; passing quickly; brief |
| zealous | fervent; ardent; impassioned |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace