| Term | Definition |
|---|
| abacus | an instrument for performing calculations by sliding counters along rods or in grooves |
| abandon | to give (oneself) over unrestrainedly |
| abase | To lower in rank, prestige, or esteem |
| abash | to destroy the self-possession or self-confidence of:disconcert |
| abate | to reduce in degree or intensity:MODERATE:to reduce in value or amount |
| abbreviate | to make briefer; especially :to reduce to a shorter form intended to stand for the whole |
| abdicate | to relinquish (as sovereign power) formally |
| aberrant | deviating from the usual or natural type:ATYPICAL |
| abet | to assist or support in the achievement of a purpose |
| abeyance | temporary inactivity:SUSPENSION |
| abhor | to regard with extreme repugnance |
| abiding | to remain stable or fixed in a state |
| abject | cast down in spirit |
| abjure | to renounce upon oath |
| abnegate | SURRENDER, RELINQUISH |
| abolish | To do away with; annul |
| abolitionism | principles or measures fostering abolition especially of slavery |
| aboveboard | be in a straightforward manner |
| abrasion | a wearing, grinding, or rubbing away by friction |
| abridge | to shorten by omission of words without sacrifice of sense:CONDENSE |
| abrogate | to abolish by authoritative action:ANNUL |
| abscond | to depart secretly and hide oneself |
| absolve | to set free from an obligation or the consequences of guilt |
| abstain | to refrain deliberately and often with an effort of self-denial from an action or practice |
| abstemious | marked by restraint especially in the consumption of food or alcohol |
| abstinent | voluntary forbearance especially from indulgence of an appetite or craving or from eating some foods:ABSTENTION |
| abstract | having only intrinsic form with little or no attempt at pictorial representation or narrative content |
| abstruse | difficult to comprehend:RECONDITE |
| abuse | to attack in words:REVILE |
| abysmal | immeasurably low or wretched |
| accede | to express approval or give consent:give in to a request or demand |
| accelerate | to move faster:gain speed |
| accessible | capable of being understood or appreciated |
| accessory | present in a minor amount and not essential as a constituent |
| accidental | occurring unexpectedly or by chance |
| acclimate | to adapt to a new temperature, altitude, climate, environment, or situation |
| accolade | an expression of praise |
| accommodate | to provide with something desired, needed, or suited (as a helpful service, a loan, or lodgings) |
| accomplice | one associated with another especially in wrongdoing |
| accost | to approach and speak to often in a challenging or aggressive way |
| accrete | ACCUMULATE |
| accumulate | to gather or pile up especially little by little:AMASS |
| accuse | to charge with a fault or offense:BLAME |
| acerbity | Sourness of taste, character, or tone. |
| achromatic | designating color perceived to have zero saturation and therefore no hue, such as neutral grays, white, or black |
| acme | the highest point or stage |
| acquiesce | to accept, comply, or submit tacitly or passively |
| acquisition | the act of acquiring |
| acquit | to discharge completely |
| acre | A unit of area in the U.S. Customary System, used in land and sea floor measurement |
| acrid | sharp and harsh or unpleasantly pungent in taste or odor:IRRITATING |
| acrimonious | caustic , biting , or rancorous especially in feeling, language, or manner |
| acumen | mental keenness |
| ad lib | without restraint or limit , to speak, sing, or act without a script, saying whatever words come into one's mind |
| adamant | unshakable or immovable especially in opposition:UNYIELDING |
| adapt | to make fit (as for a specific or new use or situation) often by modification |
| addendum | textual matter that is added onto a publication; usually at the end |
| addict | to devote or surrender (oneself) to something habitually or obsessively |
| addicted | be addicted to |
| adherent | one that adheres:as a follower of a leader, party, or profession |
| adhesive | Tending to adhere; sticky. |
| adjacent | having a common endpoint or border also immediately preceding or following |
| adjourn | to suspend a session indefinitely or to another time or place |
| adjunct | something joined or added to another thing but not essentially a part of it |
| ad-lib | with little or no preparation or forethought |
| admission | the act or process of admitting |
| admonish | to express warning or disapproval to especially in a gentle, earnest, or solicitous manner |
| adore | to regard with loving admiration and devotion |
| adroit | having or showing skill, cleverness, or resourcefulness in handling situations |
| adulate | to flatter or admire excessively or slavishly |
| adulterate | to corrupt, debase, or make impure by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance or element stickler |
| adumbrate | to suggest or disclose partially |
| adversary | one that contends with, opposes, or resists:ENEMY |
| advert | to turn the mind or attention |
| advertise | to announce publicly especially by a printed notice or a broadcast |
| advocate | to plead in favor of |
| aerate | to supply (the blood) with oxygen by respiration |
| aerial | of, relating to, or occurring in the air or atmosphere |
| aesthetic | adj. a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste and with the creation and appreciation of beauty |
| aesthetics | The branch of philosophy that deals with the nature and expression of beauty |
| affable | characterized by ease and friendliness |
| affected | assumed artificially or falsely:PRETENDED |
| affection | tender attachment:FONDNESS |
| affidavit | a sworn statement in writing made especially under oath or on affirmation before an authorized magistrateor officer |
| affiliate | to bring or receive into close connection as a member or branch |
| affiliation | joining; associating with |
| affinity | likeness based on relationship or causal connection |
| afflict | a:to distress so severely as to cause persistent suffering or anguish b:TROUBLE, INJURE |
| affliction | n. |
| affluent | having a generously sufficient and typically increasing supply of material possessions |
| agenda | a list or outline of things to be considered or done |
| aggrandize | to make appear great or greater:praise highly |
| aggravate | to make worse, more serious, or more severe:intensify unpleasantly |
| aggregate | to collect or gather into a mass or whole |
| aggressive | Inclined to behave in a hostile fashion. |
| aggrieve | to give pain or trouble to:DISTRESS |
| agonized | suffered extreme pain or great anguish. |
| agony | intense pain of mind or body:ANGUISH, TORTURE |
| airtight | impermeable to air or nearly so |
| alacrity | promptness in response:cheerful readiness |
| albino | an organism exhibiting deficient pigmentation |
| alchemy | a medieval chemical science and speculative philosophy aiming to achieve the transmutation of the base metals into gold, the discovery of a universal cure for disease, and the discovery of a means of indefinitely prolonging life |
| alibi | an excuse usually intended to avert blame or punishment |
| align | to bring into line or alignment |
| allay | to subdue or reduce in intensity or severity:ALLEVIATE |
| allegiance | devotion or loyalty to a person, group, or cause |
| allegory | the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations abouthuman existence |
| alleviate | RELIEVE, LESSEN |
| alliterate | the repetition of usually initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words or syllables |
| allowance | a share or portion allotted or granted |
| allude | to make indirect reference; broadly:REFER |
| aloft | at or toward the upper rigging. |
| aloof | removed or distant either physically or emotionally |
| alphabetical | arranged in the order of the letters of the alphabet |
| altitude | Vertical distance or elevation above any point or base-level, as the sea. |
| altruism | unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others |
| amalgamate | to merge into a single body |
| amass | to collect for oneself:ACCUMULATE |
| ambiguous | doubtful or uncertain especially from obscurity or indistinctness |
| ambivalent | continual fluctuation (as between one thing and its opposite) |
| amble | to walk slowly or leisurely; stroll |
| ambrosial | suggestive of ambrosia; fragrant or delicious |
| ameliorate | to make better or more tolerable |
| amenable | readily managed; willing to be led |
| amenity | something that conduces to comfort, convenience, or enjoyment |
| amiable | being friendly, sociable, and congenial |
| amicable | characterized by friendly goodwill:PEACEABLE |
| amiss | in a faulty way:IMPERFECTLY |
| amorphous | having no definite form:SHAPELESS |
| amphibian | any of a class (Amphibia) of cold-blooded vertebrates (as frogs, toads, or salamanders) intermediate in many characters between fishes and reptiles and having gilled aquatic larvae and air-breathing adults |
| amplify | to make larger or greater (as in amount, importance, or intensity):INCREASE |
| amplitude | the quality or state of being ample:FULLNESS |
| amulet | a charm (as an ornament) often inscribed with a magic incantation or symbol to protect the wearer against evil (as disease or witchcraft) or to aid him |
| anaerobic | living, active, occurring, or existing in the absence of free oxygen |
| analgesic | insensibility to pain without loss of consciousness |
| analogy | a:resemblance in some particulars between things otherwise unlike:SIMILARITY b:comparison based on such resemblance |
| analysis | separation of a whole into its component parts |
| anarchist | one who rebels against any authority, established order, or ruling power |
| anathema | the denunciation of something as accursed |
| ancestor | one from whom a person is descended and who is usually more remote in the line of descent than a grandparent |
| ancillary | serving as an aid or accessory; auxiliary |
| anecdote | a usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing, or biographical incident |
| anemic | lacking force, vitality, or spirit |
| anesthetic | lacking awareness or sensitivity |
| anhydrous | free from water and especially water of crystallization |
| animation | possessing or characterized by life:ALIVE |
| animus | a usually prejudiced and often spiteful or malevolent ill will |
| annals | a record of events arranged in yearly sequence |
| annotate | comment; make explanatory notes |
| annoy | to disturb or irritate especially by repeated acts |
| annul | to declare or make legally invalid or void |
| anodyne | something that soothes, calms, or comforts |
| anomalous | inconsistent with or deviating from what is usual, normal, or expected:IRREGULAR, UNUSUAL |
| anonymous | not named or identified |
| antagonize | to incur or provoke the hostility of |
| antediluvian | made, evolved, or developed a long time ago |
| anterior | coming before in time or development |
| anthology | a collection of selected literary pieces or passages or works of art or music |
| antic | characterized by clownish extravagance or absurdity |
| anticipatory | to give advance thought, discussion, or treatment to |
| antidote | a remedy to counteract the effects of poison |
| antipathy | settled aversion or dislike:DISTASTE |
| antiquate | To make old or out of date. |
| antiquated | existing since or belonging to earlier times:ANCIENT |
| antiseptic | opposing sepsis, putrefaction, or decay; |
| anvil | a heavy usually steel-faced iron block on which metal is shaped |
| apathy | lack of feeling or emotion:IMPASSIVENESS |
| apex | the highest or culminating point |
| aphorism | a terse formulation of a truth or sentiment:ADAGE |
| apiary | a place where bees are kept; especially :a collection of hives or colonies of bees kept for their honey |
| aplomb | poise |
| apocalyptic | forecasting the ultimate destiny of the world:PROPHETIC |
| apocrypha | writings or statements of dubious authenticity |
| apologist | one who speaks or writes in defense of someone or something |
| apophasis | Allusion to something by denying that it will be mentioned, as in I will not bring up my opponent's questionable financial dealings |
| apoplectic | greatly agitated |
| apostasy | renunciation of a religious faith |
| apostrophe | a mark ' used to indicate the omission of letters or figures, the possessive case, or the plural of letters or figures |
| apothecary | one who prepares and sells drugs or compounds for medicinal purposes |
| appall | to overcome with consternation, shock, or dismay |
| apparel | to put clothes on:DRESS |
| appeal | to make an earnest request |
| appealing | having appeal:PLEASING |
| appease | to bring to a state of peace or quiet:CALM |
| appellation | A name, title, or designation. |
| appetite | an inherent craving |
| applause | approval publicly expressed |
| applicant | one who applies |
| appoint | to name officially |
| apposite | highly pertinent or appropriate:APT |
| appreciable | capable of being perceived or measured |
| apprehension | suspicion or fear especially of future evil:FOREBODING |
| apprentice | an inexperienced person:NOVICE |
| approbation | COMMENDATION, PRAISE |
| appropriate | 1. to take or make use of without authority or right 2. especially suitable or compatible:FITTING |
| approval | The act of approving |
| approve | to have or express a favorable opinion of |
| approximate | nearly correct or exact |
| apropos | being both relevant and opportune |
| apt | unusually fitted or qualified:READY |
| aquatic | growing or living in or frequenting water |
| aqueduct | a conduit for water |
| aquifer | a water-bearing stratum of permeable rock, sand, or gravel |
| arachnid | any of a class (Arachnida) of arthropods comprising chiefly terrestrial invertebrates, including the spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks, and having a segmented body divided into two regions of which the anterior bears four pairs of legs but no antennae |
| arbor | a shelter of vines or branches or of latticework covered with climbing shrubs or vines |
| arboreal | of, relating to, or resembling a tree |
| archaic | of, relating to, or characteristic of an earlier or more primitive time:ANTIQUATED |
| archetype | the original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies:PROTOTYPE; also :a perfect example |
| archipelago | an expanse of water with many scattered islands |
| architect | a person who designs buildings and advises in their construction |
| archive | a place in which public records or historical documents are preserved |
| arctic | bitter cold:FRIGID |
| ardor | extreme vigor or energy:INTENSITY |
| arduous | hard to accomplish or achieve:DIFFICULT |
| argot | an often more or less secret vocabulary and idiom peculiar to a particular group |
| arid | excessively dry |
| armory | a place where arms and military equipment are stored |
| arrest | to make inactive |
| arresting | catching the attention:STRIKING, IMPRESSIVE |
| arrhythmic | lacking rhythm or regularity |
| arrogance | a feeling or an impression of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or presumptuous claims |
| arroyo | a brook; a creek ;a water-carved gully or channel |
| arsenal | a:an establishment for the manufacture or storage of arms and military equipmentb:a collection of weapons |
| articulate | to give clear and effective utterance to:put into wordsratiocination:thinking:articulation:talking |
| artifacts | something created by humans usually for a practical purpose; especially :an object remaining from a particular period |
| artifice | false or insincere behavior |
| artless | free from guile or craft:sincerely simple |
| ascendant | governing or controlling influence:DOMINATION |
| ascent | an upward slope or rising grade:ACCLIVITY |
| ascetic | austere in appearance, manner, or attitude |
| aseptic | preventing infection |
| askew | out of line:AWRY |
| aspect | a position facing a particular direction:EXPOSURE |
| asperity | roughness of manner or of temper:HARSHNESS |
| aspersion | slanderous remark |
| aspirant | One who aspires, as to advancement, honors, or a high position. |
| aspiration | a strong desire to achieve something high or great |
| assert | to state or declare positively and often forcefully or aggressively |
| assess | to determine the importance, size, or value of |
| asset | the entire property of a person, association, corporation, or estate applicable or subject to the payment of debts |
| assiduous | marked by careful unremitting attention or persistent application |
| assuage | to lessen the intensity of (something that pains or distresses):EASE |
| assume | to take to or upon oneself:UNDERTAKE |
| astounding | causing astonishment or amazement |
| astute | having or showing shrewdness and perspicacity |
| asylum | an inviolable place of refuge and protection giving shelter to criminals and debtors:SANCTUARY |
| asymmetrical | not of equal size or similar shape: |
| atone | to supply satisfaction for:EXPIATE |
| atrocious | extremely wicked, brutal, or cruel:BARBARIC |
| attenuate | to lessen the amount, force, magnitude, or value of:WEAKEN |
| attorney | A person legally appointed by another to act as his or her agent in the transaction of business, specifically one qualified and licensed to act for plaintiffs and defendants in legal proceedings |
| audacious | intrepidly daring:ADVENTUROUS |
| audible | heard or capable of being heard |
| augur | to foretell especially from omens |
| auspicious | affording a favorable auspice:PROPITIOUS |
| austere | markedly simple or unadorned |
| authenticity | not false or imitation:REAL, ACTUAL |
| authoritative | having the weight of authority; dictatorial |
| authority | power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior |
| autocracy | government in which one person possesses unlimited power |
| avarice | excessive or insatiable desire for wealth or gain:GREEDINESS, CUPIDITY |
| aversion | a feeling of repugnance toward something with a desire to avoid or turn from |
| avid | characterized by enthusiasm and vigorous pursuit |
| avulse | to separate, cut, or tear off by avulsion |
| awash | covered with water:FLOODED |
| awe | an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder that is inspired by authority or by the sacred or sublime |
| awkward | lacking dexterity or skill |
| awl | a pointed tool for marking surfaces or piercing small holes (as in leather or wood) |
| awning | a rooflike cover extending over or in front of a place (as over the deck or in front of a door or window) as a shelter |
| awry | in a turned or twisted position or direction:ASKEW |
| babble | to utter meaningless or unintelligible sounds |
| backhanded | INDIRECT, DEVIOUS; especially:SARCASTIC |
| backset | SETBACK |
| badge | a device or token especially of membership in a society or group |
| badger | to harass or annoy persistently |
| badinage | playful repartee:BANTER |
| baffle | to check or break the force or flow of by or as if by a baffle |
| bait | ENTICE, LUREto attack in speech or writing as by derision or insult; to gall or exasperate by repeated wanton attacks |
| baleful | deadly or pernicious in influence |
| balk | to check or stop by or as if by an obstacle:BLOCK |
| balky | refusing or likely to refuse to proceed, act, or function as directed or expected |
| ballad | a narrative composition in rhythmic verse suitable for singing |
| ballast | Heavy material that is placed in the hold of a ship or the gondola of a balloon to enhance stability. |
| ballet | a theatrical art form using dancing, music, and scenery to convey a story, theme, or atmosphere |
| balm | a balsamic resin, especially:one from small tropical evergreen trees |
| balmy | having the qualities of balm:SOOTHING |
| bamboozle | to deceive by underhanded methods:DUPE, HOODWINK |
| ban | to prohibit especially by legal means ban:protect |
| banal | lacking originality, freshness, or novelty:TRITE |
| baneful | productive of destruction or woe:seriously harmful |
| banish | to drive out or remove from a home or place of usual resort or continuance, especially compulsory removal from a country not necessarily one's own |
| banister | a handrail with its supporting posts |
| banquet | a sumptuous feast; especially :an elaborate and often ceremonious meal for numerous people often in honor of a person |
| barb | a biting or pointedly critical remark or comment |
| barbarous | mercilessly harsh or cruel |
| bareface | Having no covering over the face. |
| barefaced | OPEN, UNCONCEALED |
| bargain | to negotiate over the terms of a purchase, agreement, or contract:HAGGLE |
| baroque | characterized by grotesqueness, extravagance, complexity, or flamboyance |
| barren | lacking vegetation, especially useful vegetation |
| barter | to trade by exchanging one commodity for another |
| base | being of comparatively low value and having relatively inferior properties |
| baseboard | a molding covering the joint of a wall and the adjoining floor |
| bathetic | exceptional commonplaceness:TRITENESS |
| bedeck | to clothe with finery:DECK |
| bedlam | a place, scene, or state of uproar and confusion |
| belabor | to explain or insist on excessively |
| beleaguer | TROUBLE, HARASS |
| belie | to show (something) to be false or wrong |
| belittle | to speak slightingly of:DISPARAGE |
| bellicose | favoring or inclined to start quarrels or wars |
| belligerence | an aggressive or truculent attitude, atmosphere, or disposition |
| bellwether | One that serves as a leader or as a leading indicator of future trends |
| bemoan | to express deep grief or distress over |
| bend | to make submissive:SUBDUE,COMPROMISE |
| benediction | the invocation of a blessing |
| beneficent | doing or producing good; especially :performing acts of kindness and charity |
| benign | a:showing kindness and gentleness b:FAVORABLE, WHOLESOME |
| bent | a strong inclination or interest:BIAS |
| bequest | something bequeathed:LEGACY |
| berate | to scold or condemn vehemently and at length |
| beseech | to request earnestly:IMPLORE |
| besmirch | SULLY, SOIL |
| betray | to deliver to an enemy by treachery |
| bibliography | a list of writings with time and place of publication (such as the writings of a single author or the works referred to in preparing a document etc.) |
| bibliophile | a lover of books especially for qualities of format; also :a book collector |
| bigot | a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices |
| bit | the jaws of tongs or pincers |
| bland | not irritating, stimulating, or invigorating:SOOTHING |
| blandishment | something that tends to coax or cajole:ALLUREMENT |
| blase | bored with pleasure or dissipation |
| blaspheme | to speak of or address with irreverence |
| blast | a violent gust of wind |
| blatant | completely obvious, conspicuous, or obtrusive especially in a crass or offensive manner:BRAZEN |
| blazon | to publish widely:PROCLAIM |
| bleach | to remove color or stains from |
| blemish | to spoil by a flaw |
| blight | a disease or injury of plants resulting in withering, cessation of growth, and death of parts without rotting |
| bliss | complete happiness |
| blunder | a gross error or mistake resulting usually from stupidity, ignorance, or carelessness |
| blunt | to make less sharp or definite |
| blur | to make indistinct and hazy in outline or appearance;obscure |
| blurb | A brief publicity notice, as on a book jacket. |
| blurt | to utter abruptly and impulsively ? usually used with out |
| bluster | to talk or act with noisy swaggering threats |
| boding | an omen, prediction, or presentiment especially of coming evil:PORTENT ,FOREBODING |
| boggle | to hesitate because of doubt, fear, or scruples |
| boisterous | noisily turbulent:ROWDY |
| bolster | a structural part designed to eliminate friction or provide support or bearing |
| bombast | pretentious inflated speech or writing |
| bonhomie | good-natured easy friendliness |
| bonus | something in addition to what is expected or strictly due |
| boo | to deride especially by uttering boo |
| boon | BENEFIT, FAVOR |
| boor | a rude or insensitive person |
| bootless | USELESS, UNPROFITABLE |
| bore | to make a hole by or as if by boring |
| bottleneck | NARROW {bottleneck:indefinite} ?????? |
| bough | a branch of a tree; especially :a main branch |
| bound | a:to make secure by tying b:to confine, restrain, or restrict as if with bonds c:to put under an obligation d:to constrain with legal authority |
| box | to fight with the fists:engage in boxing box:fight:debate:argue |
| bracing | giving strength, vigor, or freshness |
| bracket | an overhanging member that projects from a structure (as a wall) and is usually designed to support a vertical load or to strengthen an angle |
| brackish | REPULSIVE |
| braggadocio | a:empty boasting b:arrogant pretension:COCKINESS |
| braid | made by intertwining three or more strands |
| brake | to retard or stop by a brake |
| brash | done in haste without regard for consequences |
| brassy | being shamelessly bold |
| brattish | an ill-mannered annoying child |
| bravura | marked by an ostentatious display of skill |
| bray | to emit (an utterance or a sound) loudly and harshly |
| brazen | marked by contemptuous boldness |
| breach | to make a breach in |
| breezeway | a roofed often open passage connecting two buildings (as a house and garage) or halves of a building |
| brevity | shortness or conciseness of expression |
| bribe | to induce or influence by or as if by bribery |
| bridle | to restrain, check, or control with or as if with a bridle |
| brisk | keenly alert:LIVELY |
| bristle | to take on an aggressive attitude or appearance (as in response to a slight) |
| brittle | easily broken, cracked, or snapped |
| broach | to open for the first time |
| bromide | a commonplace or hackneyed statement or notion |
| browbeat | to intimidate by a stern manner or arrogant speech |
| bruit | to noise abroad:REPORT |
| buck | to refuse assent:BALK |
| bucolic | relating to or typical of rural life |
| budge | to give way:YIELD |
| buffer | to lessen the shock of:CUSHION |
| buffoon | a ludicrous figure:CLOWN |
| bulge | a protuberant or swollen part or place |
| bully | one habitually cruel to others who are weaker |
| bumper | a device for absorbing shock or preventing damage |
| bumptious | presumptuously, obtusely, and often noisily self-assertive:OBTRUSIVE |
| bungle | to act or work clumsily and awkwardly |
| buoy | support;uplift |
| buoyant | a:capable of floating b:CHEERFUL, GAY |
| burgeon | to grow and expand rapidly:FLOURISH |
| burial | the act or process of burying |
| burlesque | mockery usually by caricature |
| burnish | to make shiny or lustrous especially by rubbing numb:insensible:burnish:lustrous |
| burrow | to construct by tunneling |
| busybody | an officious or inquisitive person |
| butt | to thrust or push head foremost:strike with the head or horns |
| buttress | 1. to furnish or shore up with a buttress; also :SUPPORT, STRENGTHEN 2. a projecting structure of masonry or wood for supporting or giving stability to a wall or building |
| bygone | gone by:PAST; especially:OUTMODED |
| byline | a line at the beginning of a news story, magazine article, or book giving the writer's name |
| cabal | the artifices and intrigues of a group of persons secretly united to bring about an overturn or usurpation especially in public affairs |
| cache | hiding place |
| cacophony | harsh or discordant sound:DISSONANCE |
| cadet | one in training for a military or naval commission; especially :a student in a service academy |
| cadge | BEG, SPONGE |
| caisson | a usually 2-wheeled vehicle for artillery ammunition attachable to a horse-drawn limber |
| cajole | to persuade with flattery or gentle urging especially in the face of reluctance:COAX |
| calamity | An event that brings terrible loss, lasting distress, or severe affliction; a disaster: |
| calcify | to make inflexible or unchangeable |
| calibrate | to determine, rectify, or mark the graduations of |
| calligrapher | one who writes a beautiful |
| callous | a:feeling no emotion b:feeling no sympathy for others |
| callow | lacking adult sophistication:IMMATURE |
| callus | a thickening of or a hard thickened area on skin or bark |
| calorie | the amount of heat required at a pressure of one atmosphere to raise the temperature of one gram of water one degree Celsius that is equal to about 4.19 joules |
| calumniate | to utter maliciously false statements, charges, or imputations about |
| camaraderie | a spirit of friendly good-fellowship |
| cameo | a:a small piece of sculpture on a stone or shell cut in relief in one layer with another contrasting layer serving as backgroundb:A brief but dramatic appearance of a prominent actor, as in a single scene of a motion picture. |
| camouflage | behavior or artifice designed to deceive or hide |
| candidate | one that aspires to or is nominated or qualified for an office, membership, or award |
| candor | unreserved, honest, or sincere expression:FORTHRIGHTNESS |
| cane | A stick used as an aid in walking or carried as an accessory |
| canon | a regulation or dogma decreed by a church council |
| canonical | appearing in a biblical canon ; of or relating to or required by canon law |
| canopy | a cover (as of cloth) fixed or carried above a person of high rank or a sacred object:BALDACHIN |
| cantankerous | difficult or irritating to deal with |
| canvas | a piece of cloth backed or framed as a surface for a painting |
| canvass | to seek orders or votes:SOLICIT |
| canyon | a deep narrow valley with steep sides and often with a stream flowing through it |
| capitulate | to cease resisting:ACQUIESCE |
| caprice | a sudden, impulsive, and seemingly unmotivated notion or action |
| caption | the part of a legal document that shows where, when, and by what authority it was taken, found, or executed |
| captivate | to influence and dominate by some special charm, art, or trait and with an irresistible appeal |
| carefree | Free of worries and responsibilities. |
| careworn | showing the effect of grief or anxiety |
| caricature | exaggeration by means of often ludicrous distortion of parts or characteristics |
| carnal | fleshly |
| carouse | to drink liquor deeply or freely |
| carp | to find fault or complain querulously |
| cartographer | one that makes maps |
| cast | the set of actors in a dramatic production; to assign a certain role to (an actor) |
| castigate | to subject to severe punishment, reproof, or criticism |
| castigation | severe punishment |
| catalyze | BRING ABOUT, INSPIRE supervisor:oversight,catalysis:initiate |
| cataract | WATERFALL; especially:a large one over a precipice |
| catastrophe | a momentous tragic event ranging from extreme misfortune to utter overthrow or ruin |
| categorical | ABSOLUTE, UNQUALIFIED |
| cater | to supply what is required or desired |
| catholic | COMPREHENSIVE, UNIVERSAL; especially :broad in sympathies, tastes, or interests |
| caustic | marked by incisive sarcasm |
| cavalier | A gallant or chivalrous man, especially one serving as escort to a woman of high social position; a gentleman |
| caveat | a warning enjoining one from certain acts or practices |
| cavern | CAVE; especially:one of large or indefinite extent |
| cavil | to raise trivial and frivolous objection |
| cavort | to walk or move in a spirited manner:PRANCE |
| cede | to yield or grant typically by treaty |
| celebrity | the state of being celebrated |
| cement | a binding element or agency:as a substance to make objects adhere to each other |
| censor | to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable |
| censorious | marked by or given to censure |
| censure | to find fault with and criticize as blameworthy |
| census | a count of the population |
| centrifuge | a machine using centrifugal force for separating substances of different densities, for removing moisture, or for simulating gravitational effects |
| ceramic | of or relating to the manufacture of any product (as earthenware, porcelain, or brick) made essentially from a nonmetallic mineral (as clay) by firing at a high temperature |
| ceremony | a formal act or series of acts prescribed by ritual, protocol, or convention |
| certitude | the state of being or feeling certain |
| cessation | a temporary or final ceasing (as of action):STOP |
| chaff | the seed coverings and other debris separated from the seed in threshing grain |
| chagrin | disquietude or distress of mind caused by humiliation, disappointment, or failure |
| chameleon | any of a family (Chamaeleontidae) of chiefly arboreal Old World lizards with prehensile tail, independently movable eyeballs, and unusual ability to change the color of the skin |
| champion | to act as militant supporter of:UPHOLD, ADVOCATE |
| chaotic | a:a state of utter confusion b:a confused mass or mixture |
| charade | a word represented in riddling verse or by picture, tableau, or dramatic action |
| charlatan | one making usually showy pretenses to knowledge or ability:FRAUD, FAKER |
| chary | discreetly cautious:as a:hesitant and vigilant about dangers and risks b:slow to grant, accept, or expend |
| chasm | a deep cleft in the surface of a planet (as the earth):GORGE |
| check | to block the progress of |
| chef | a skilled cook who manages the kitchen (as of a restaurant) |
| cherubic | innocent-looking usually chubby and rosy |
| chevron | a sleeve badge that usually consists of one or more chevron-shaped stripes that indicates the wearer's rank and service (as in the armed forces) |
| chiaroscuro | the interplay or contrast of dissimilar qualities, pictorial representation in terms of light and shade without regard to color |
| chic | smart elegance and sophistication especially of dress or manner:STYLE |
| chicanery | deception by artful subterfuge or sophistry:TRICKERY |
| chide | to voice disapproval to:reproach in a usually mild and constructive manner:SCOLD |
| chip | a small usually thin and flat piece (as of wood or stone) cut, struck, or flaked off |
| choke | to check normal breathing of by compressing or obstructing the trachea or by poisoning or adulterating available air |
| choleric | easily moved to often unreasonable or excessive anger:hot-tempered |
| chord | three or more musical tones sounded simultaneously |
| choreography | the composition and arrangement of dances especially for ballet |
| chorus | a body of singers who perform choral compositions |
| chronic | always present or encountered; especially :constantly vexing, weakening, or troubling |
| chronicle | a usually continuous historical account of events arranged in order of time without analysis or interpretation |
| chronological | of, relating to, or arranged in or according to the order of time |
| churlish | marked by a lack of civility or graciousness:SURLY |
| cineast | a film or movie enthusiast |
| cipher | a method of transforming a text in order to conceal its meaning |
| circuitous | not being forthright or direct in language or action |
| circumference | the perimeter of a circle |
| circumlocutory | the use of an unnecessarily large number of words to express an idea |
| circumscribe | to construct or be constructed around (a geometrical figure) so as to touch as many points as possible |
| circumspect | careful to consider all circumstances and possible consequences:PRUDENT |
| circumvent | to manage to get around especially by ingenuity or stratagem |
| cistern | an artificial reservoir (as an underground tank) for storing liquids and especially water (as rainwater) |
| citation | an official summons to appear (as before a court) |
| civility | COURTESY, POLITENESS |
| clairvoyant | unusually perceptive:DISCERNING |
| clandestine | marked by, held in, or conducted with secrecy:SURREPTITIOUS |
| clarion | loud and clear |
| clarity | the quality or state of being clear:LUCIDITY |
| clasp | a device (as a hook) for holding objects or parts together |
| claustrophobia | abnormal dread of being in closed or narrow spaces |
| cleft | a usually V-shaped indented formation:a hollow between ridges or protuberances |
| clement | inclined to be merciful:LENIENT |
| cliche | a trite phrase or expression |
| clique | a narrow exclusive circle or group of persons; especially one held together by common interests, views, or purposes |
| clog | something that shackles or impedes:ENCUMBRANCE |
| closed-minded | not easily subdued, remedied, or removed |
| closet | a cabinet or recess for especially china, household utensils, or clothing |
| clot | a coagulated mass produced by clotting of blood |
| cloture | closing, device (in Parliament) to end a debate by voting |
| cloudburst | a sudden copious rainfall |
| clout | PULL, INFLUENCE |
| cloying | excessively sweet or sentimental |
| clumsy | lacking dexterity, nimbleness, or grace |
| coagulant | something that produces coagulation |
| coalesce | to unite into a whole:FUSE |
| coarse | not precise or detailed with respect to adjustment or discrimination |
| coax | to manipulate with great perseverance and usually with considerable effort toward a desired state or activity |
| coda | a concluding musical section that is formally distinct from the main structure |
| coerce | to bring about by force or threat |
| coeval | of the same or equal age, antiquity, or duration |
| cogent | appealing forcibly to the mind or reason:CONVINCING |
| cognizant | knowledgeable of something especially through personal experience |
| colander | a perforated utensil for washing or draining food |
| collapse | to fall or shrink together abruptly and completely |
| collude | CONSPIRE, PLOT |
| colonnade | a series of columns set at regular intervals and usually supporting the base of a roof structure |
| colossal | of a bulk, extent, power, or effect approaching or suggesting the stupendous or incredible |
| coma | a state of profound unconsciousness caused by disease, injury, or poison |
| combustible | capable of combustion |
| comely | having a pleasing appearance:not homely or plain |
| comity | friendly social atmosphere:social harmony |
| commencement | 1. the ceremonies or the day for conferring degrees or diplomas 2. an act, instance, or time of beginning |
| commend | to mention with approbation:PRAISE |
| commensurate | equal in measure or extent:COEXTENSIVE |
| commercial | an advertisement broadcast on radio or television |
| commingle | mingle together |
| commitment | an engagement to assume a financial obligation at a future date |
| committed | OBLIGATE, BIND |
| commodious | comfortably or conveniently spacious:ROOMY |
| commonsense | sound and prudent but often unsophisticated judgment |
| commotion | an agitated disturbance:TO-DO |
| compendium | a brief summary of a larger work or of a field of knowledge:ABSTRACT |
| compensate | to offset an error, defect, or undesired effect |
| complacency | COMPLACENCE; especially :self-satisfaction accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies |
| complaisance | disposition to please or comply:AFFABILITY |
| compliant | ready or disposed to comply:SUBMISSIVE |
| compliment | expressing or containing a compliment |
| comply | to conform or adapt one's actions to another's wishes, to a rule, or to necessity |
| composed | free from agitation:CALM; especially :SELF-POSSESSED |
| compress | to reduce in size or volume as if by squeezing |
| compromise | 1. to come to agreement by mutual concession 2. to cause the impairment of |
| compunction | anxiety arising from awareness of guilt |
| concatenate | to link together in a series or chain |
| concede | to grant as a right or privilege |
| concentrate | to bring or direct toward a common center or objective:FOCUS |
| concerted | mutually contrived or agreed on |
| concerto | a piece for one or more soloists and orchestra with three contrasting movements |
| concession | an act of yielding |
| conciliate | APPEASE:to cause to subside:ALLAY especially :to buy off (an aggressor) by concessions usually at the sacrifice of principles |
| concise | marked by brevity of expression or statement:free from all elaboration and superfluous detail |
| concomitant | that which accompanies |
| concord | a state of agreement:HARMONY |
| concur | to act together to a common end or single effect |
| condemn | to declare to be reprehensible, wrong, or evil usually after weighing evidence and without reservation |
| condescending | showing or characterized by condescension:PATRONIZING |
| condign | deserved, appropriate |
| condole | to express sympathetic sorrow |
| condone | to pardon or overlook voluntarily; especially :to treat as if trivial, harmless, or of no importance |
| conducive | tending to promote or assist |
| confess | to disclose one's faults; specifically :to unburden one's sins or the state of one's conscience to God or to a priest |
| confidant | one to whom secrets are entrusted |
| confident | characterized by assurance; especially :SELF-RELIANT |
| confine | something that restrains |
| confluence | a coming or flowing together, meeting, or gathering at one point |
| conform | to be similar or identical; also :to be in agreement or harmony |
| confront | to face especially in challenge:OPPOSE |
| congeal | to make viscid or curdled:COAGULATE |
| congenial | OCIABLE, GENIAL congenial:bonhomie ???:?? 9????: |
| congruent | superposable so as to be coincident throughout |
| conjecture | inference from defective or presumptive evidence |
| connive | to cooperate secretly or have a secret understanding |
| connoisseur | EXPERT; especially :one who understands the details, technique, or principles of an art and is competent to act as a critical judge |
| conquest | the act or process of conquering |
| conscientious | Thorough and assiduous |
| consensus | group solidarity in sentiment and belief |
| conservative | tending or disposed to maintain existing views, conditions, or institutions:TRADITIONAL |
| conservatory | a school specializing in one of the fine arts |
| conserve | to keep in a safe or sound state |
| considerable | worth consideration:SIGNIFICANT |
| consign | to give, transfer, or deliver into the hands or control of another; also :to commit especially to a final destination or fate |
| console | to alleviate the grief, sense of loss, or trouble of:COMFORT |
| consolidate | to join together into one whole:UNITE |
| consonance | harmony or agreement among components |
| conspicuous | obvious to the eye or mind |
| conspiracy | An agreement to perform together an illegal, wrongful, or subversive act. |
| constellation | the configuration of stars. |
| constitute | to appoint to an office, function, or dignity |
| constrained | to appoint to an office, function, or dignity |
| constringe | to cause to contract; constrict. |
| consult | COUNCIL, CONFERENCE; specifically :a deliberation between physicians on a case or its treatment |
| consummate | Complete in every detail; of the highest degree; extremely skilled and accomplished. |
| contagious | communicable by contact:CATCHING |
| contaminate | to soil, stain, corrupt, or infect by contact or association |
| contemplate | to view or consider with continued attention:meditate on consider |
| contempt | the act of despising:the state of mind of one who despises:DISDAIN |
| content | feeling or manifesting satisfaction with one's possessions, status, or situation |
| contentious | exhibiting an often perverse and wearisome tendency to quarrels and disputes |
| contingent | likely but not certain to happen:POSSIBLE |
| contort | to twist into or as if into a strained shape or expression |
| contradictory | involving, causing, or constituting a contradiction |
| contravene | to oppose in argument:CONTRADICT |
| contrite | grieving and penitent for sin or shortcoming |
| contrived | ARTIFICIAL, LABORED |
| control | an individual or group used as a standard of comparison in a control experiment |
| contumacious | stubbornly disobedient:REBELLIOUS |
| conundrum | a:a question or problem having only a conjectural answer b:an intricate and difficult problem |
| convalesce | to recover health and strength gradually after sickness or weakness |
| convenience | something (as an appliance, device, or service) conducive to comfort or ease |
| convention | usage or custom especially in social matters |
| conventional | lacking originality or individuality:TRITE |
| convergent | tending to move toward one point or to approach each other:CONVERGING |
| conversant | having frequent or familiar association |
| convert | to bring over from one belief, view, or party to another |
| convex | curved or rounded like the exterior of a sphere |
| convey | to transfer or deliver to another |
| conviction | 1. a strong persuasion or belief 2. the act or process of convicting of a crime especially in a court of law |
| convivial | relating to, occupied with, or fond of feasting, drinking, and good company |
| convoke | to call together to a meeting |
| convoluted | INVOLVED, INTRICATE |
| convulsion | an abnormal violent and involuntary contraction or series of contractions of the muscles |
| coop | a cage or small enclosure (as for poultry) |
| copious | present in large quantity:taking place on a large scale |
| coquette | a woman who endeavors without sincere affection to gain the attention and admiration of men |
| cord | a unit of wood cut for fuel equal to a stack 4 x 4 x 8 feet or 128 cubic feet |
| cordon | a line of persons or objects around a person or place |
| cornucopia | an inexhaustible store:ABUNDANCE |
| coronation | the act or occasion of crowning; also :accession to the highest office |
| corporeal | having, consisting of, or relating to a physical material body:as a:not spiritual b:not immaterial or intangible:SUBSTANTIAL |
| corral | a pen or enclosure for confining or capturing livestock |
| corroborate | to support with evidence or authority:make more certain |
| corrosive | tending or having the power to corrode |
| cosmopolitan | having worldwide rather than limited or provincial scope or bearing |
| cosset | to treat as a pet:PAMPER |
| coterie | an intimate and often exclusive group of persons with a unifying common interest or purpose |
| countenance | to extend approval or toleration to:SANCTION |
| counterfeit | made in imitation of something else with intent to deceive:FORGED |
| counterpart | one of two corresponding copies of a legal instrument:DUPLICATE |
| court | to seek the affections of; especially :to seek to win a pledge of marriage from |
| courtesy | a courteous act or expression |
| coven | an assembly or band of usually 13 witches |
| covetous | marked by inordinate desire for wealth or possessions or for another's possessions |
| cow | to destroy the resolve or courage of |
| cowardice | lack of courage or resolution |
| cower | to shrink away or crouch especially for shelter from something that menaces, domineers, or dismays |
| cozen | cheat; hoodwink; swindle |
| craft | skill in planning, making, or executing:DEXTERITY |
| cramp | restricted; narrowed |
| crass | having or indicating such grossness of mind as precludes delicacy and discrimination |
| craven | lacking the least bit of courage:contemptibly fainthearted |
| craving | an intense, urgent, or abnormal desire or longing |
| credence | acceptance as true or valid; belief |
| credulous | ready to believe especially on slight or uncertain evidence |
| creek | a natural stream of water normally smaller than and often tributary to a river |
| creep | to move slowly,quietly and carefully, esp so as not to attract attention |
| crescendo | a gradual increase; specifically :a gradual increase in volume of a musical passage |
| crest | the top of a wave |
| crestfallen | feeling shame or humiliation:DEJECTED |
| criterion | a standard on which a judgment or decision may be based |
| crockery | EARTHENWARE |
| cronyism | partiality to cronies especially as evidenced in the appointment of political hangers-on to office without regard to their qualifications |
| croon | to sing or speak in a gentle murmuring manner; especially :to sing in a soft intimate manner adapted to amplifying systems |
| crouch | to bend or bow servilely:CRINGE |
| crown | to place a crown or wreath on the head of; specifically :to invest with regal dignity and power |
| crucial | important or essential as resolving acrisis:DECISIVE |
| crude | marked by the primitive, gross, or elemental or by uncultivated simplicity or vulgarity |
| crutch | a support typically fitting under the armpit for use by the disabled in walking |
| crux | an essential point requiring resolution or resolving an outcome |
| cryptic | having or seeming to have a hidden or ambiguous meaning:MYSTERIOUS |
| cuisine | manner of preparing food:style of cooking; also:the food prepared |
| culpable | meriting condemnation or blame especially as wrong or harmful |
| cultivated | REFINED, EDUCATED |
| cumbersome | unwieldy because of heaviness and bulk |
| cunning | characterized by wiliness and trickery |
| curator | one that has the care and superintendence of something; especially:one in charge of a museum, zoo, or other place of exhibit |
| curmudgeon | a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man |
| curriculum | A group of related courses, often in a special field of study: |
| cursory | rapidly and often superficially performed or produced:HASTY |
| curt | sparing of words:TERSE |
| curtail | to make less by or as if by cutting off or away some part |
| cyclone | a storm or system of winds that rotates about a center of low atmospheric pressure, and often brings heavy rain |
| cynical | having or showing the attitude or temper of a cynic; especially :contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives |
| dabble | to work or involve oneself superficially or intermittently especially in a secondary activity or interest |
| daft | SILLY, FOOLISH |
| dally | a:to act playfully; especially :to play amorously b:to deal lightly:TOY |
| damp | MOISTURE,HUMIDITY, DAMPNESS |
| damper | a dulling or deadening influence |
| dandy | a man who gives exaggerated attention to personal appearance |
| dank | unpleasantly moist or wet |
| dapper | neat and trim in appearance |
| dappled | marked with small spots or patches contrasting with the background |
| daredevil | a recklessly bold person |
| dart | to move suddenly or rapidly fall |
| dastard | a person who acts treacherously or underhandedly |
| daunt | to lessen the courage of:COW, SUBDUE |
| dawdle | to move lackadaisically |
| deactivate | to make inactive or ineffective |
| deaden | to impair in vigor or sensation:BLUNT |
| deadpan | marked by an impassive matter-of-fact manner, style, or expression |
| dearth | an inadequate supply:LACK |
| debark | To unload, as from a ship or an airplane. |
| debase | to lower in status, esteem, quality, or character |
| debilitate | to impair the strength of:ENFEEBLE |
| debonair | LIGHTHEARTED, NONCHALANT |
| debris | the remains of something broken down or destroyed |
| debunk | to expose the sham or falseness of |
| debut | a first appearance |
| decadence | the process of becoming decadent:the quality or state of being decadent |
| decant | to pour out, transfer, or unload as if by pouring |
| decelerate | to reduce the speed of:slow down |
| decibel | a unit for expressing the relative intensity of sounds on a scale from zero for the average least perceptible sound to about 130 for the average pain level |
| decipher | a:to make out the meaning of despite indistinctness or obscurity b:to interpret the meaning of |
| decode | to convert (as a coded message) into intelligible form |
| decorum | propriety and good taste in conduct or appearance |
| decrepit | wasted and weakened by or as if by the infirmities of old age |
| dedication | a devoting or setting aside for a particular purpose |
| default | a failure to pay financial debts |
| deference | respect and esteem due a superior or an elder; also:affected or ingratiating regard for another's wishes |
| deficiency | an amount that is lacking or inadequate:SHORTAGE |
| defile | a narrow passage or gorge |
| definitive | serving to provide a final solution or to end a situation |
| defoliate | to deprive of leaves especially prematurely |
| deforest | the action or process of clearing of forests; also :the state of having been cleared of |
| defraud | to deprive of something by deception or fraud |
| deft | characterized by facility and skill |
| defuse | to make less harmful, potent, or tense |
| defy | to challenge to do something considered impossible:DARE |
| dehydrate | to remove bound water or hydrogen and oxygen from (a chemical compound) in the proportion in which they form water |
| deify | To worship or revere as a god |
| deject | to make gloomy |
| deleterious | harmful often in a subtle or unexpected way |
| deliberate | to think about or discuss issues and decisions carefully |
| delicacy | the quality or state of being dainty:FINENESS |
| delinquent | offending by neglect or violation of duty or of law |
| deliquesce | To dissolve gradually and become liquid by absorption of moisture from the air. |
| delirium | a mental disturbance characterized by confusion, disordered speech, and hallucinations |
| delude | to mislead the mind or judgment of:DECEIVE, TRICK |
| deluge | adj. an overflowing of the land by water b:a drenching rain |
| delve | to make a careful or detailed search for information |
| demagogue | a leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power |
| demanding | requiring much time, effort, or attention:EXACTING |
| demise | DIE, DECEASE |
| demography | the statistical study of human populations especially with reference to size and density, distribution, and vital statistics |
| demolition | the act of demolishing; especially :destruction in war by means of explosives |
| demoralize | a:to weaken the morale of:DISCOURAGE, DISPIRIT b:to upset or destroy the normal functioning of c:to throw into disorder |
| demotic | Of or relating to the common people; popular |
| demur | to take exception:OBJECT |
| denigrate | to cast aspersions on:DEFAME |
| denouement | the final outcome of the main dramatic complication in a literary work |
| denounce | to pronounce especially publicly to be blameworthy or evil |
| dent | a depression or hollow made by a blow or by pressure |
| denude | to strip of all covering or surface layers |
| denunciate | to pronounce especially publicly to be blameworthy or evil |
| depart | to go away:LEAVE |
| depict | to represent by or as if by a picture |
| deplete | to lessen markedly in quantity, content, power, or value |
| deplore | to feel or express strong disapproval of; condemn. |
| deploy | to extend (a military unit) especially in width |
| deportation | the removal from a country of an alien whose presence is unlawful or prejudicial |
| depose | to testify to under oath or by affidavit |
| deposit | to lay down or leave behind by a natural process |
| depravity | a corrupt act or practice |
| deprecate | BELITTLE, DISPARAGE |
| depreciate | to lower the price or estimated value of |
| depress | to press down |
| deprivation | the state of being deprived:PRIVATION; especially :removal from an office, dignity, or benefice |
| deracinate | UPROOT |
| derelict | a destitute homeless social misfit:VAGRANT, BUM |
| deride | to subject to usually bitter or contemptuous ridicule |
| derivative | lacking originality:BANAL |
| derogatory | expressive of a low opinion:DISPARAGING |
| descendant | one deriving directly from a precursor or prototype |
| descent | an inclination downward:SLOPE |
| desecrate | to violate the sanctity of:PROFANE |
| desert | to withdraw from or leave usually without intent to return |
| desiccate | to preserve (a food) by drying:DEHYDRATE |
| despair | to lose all hope or confidence |
| despicable | deserving to be despised:so worthless or obnoxious as to rouse moral indignation |
| despise | to look down on with contempt or aversion |
| despondent | feeling or showing extreme discouragement, dejection, or depression |
| dessert | a usually sweet course or dish (as of pastry or ice cream) served at the end of a meal |
| desultory | disappointing in progress or performance:SLUGGISH |
| detach | to separate especially from a larger mass and usually without violence or damage |
| detain | to hold or keep in or as if in custody |
| deter | to turn aside, discourage, or prevent from acting |
| detestable | arousing or meriting intense dislike:ABOMINABLE |
| detour | to send by a circuitous route |
| detract | to diminish the importance, value, or effectiveness of something |
| detritus | a product of disintegration, destruction, or wearing away |
| deviation | noticeable or marked departure from accepted norms of behavior |
| devise | to form in the mind by new combinations or application of and ideas or principles |
| devolve | deputize; pass to others |
| devoted | devote:to give over or direct (as time, money, or effort) to a cause, enterprise, or activity |
| devout | devoted to religion or to religious duties or exercises |
| dew | moisture condensed upon the surfaces of cool bodies especially at night |
| dexterous | mentally adroit and skillful:CLEVER |
| diabolic | of, relating to, or characteristic of the devil:DEVILIS |
| diagnose | to recognize (as a disease) by signs and symptoms |
| diaphanous | characterized by such fineness of texture as to permit seeing through |
| diatribe | a bitter and abusive speech or writing |
| didactic | designed or intended to teach |
| die | any of various tools or devices for imparting a desired shape, form, or finish to a material or for impressing an object or material |
| diehard | strongly or fanatically determined or devoted |
| diffident | hesitant in acting or speaking through lack of self-confidence |
| diffuse | being at once verbose and ill-organized |
| digit | A human finger or toe. |
| dignity | quality or state of being worthy, honored, or esteemed |
| digress | to turn aside especially from the main subject of attention or course of argument |
| dilapidate | to bring into a condition of decay or partial ruin |
| dilate | to enlarge or expand in bulk or extent:DISTEND, WIDEN |
| dilatory | characterized by procrastination:TARDY |
| dilettante | a person having a superficial interest in an art or a branch of knowledge:DABBLER |
| diligent | characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort:PAINSTAKING |
| dilute | to diminish the strength, flavor, or brilliance of by admixture |
| diminish | to make or become smaller ,less, or less important |
| din | a loud continued noise; especially :a welter of discordant sounds |
| dingus | an ornamental attachment or decoration:DOODAD |
| dingy | SHABBY, SQUALID |
| diocesan | a bishop having jurisdiction over a diocese |
| diplomatic | of or engaged in diplomacy; tactful or suave |
| dire | DISMAL, OPPRESSIVE |
| dirge | a song or hymn of grief or lamentation; especially :one intended to accompany funeral or memorial rites |
| disabuse | to free from error, fallacy, or misconception |
| disaffected | discontented and resentful especially against authority REBELLIOUS |
| disagreeable | causing discomfort:UNPLEASANT, OFFENSIVE |
| disarm | to deprive of means, reason, or disposition to be hostile |
| disarray | (n.) (state of) disorder |
| disavow | to deny responsibility for:REPUDIATE |
| discard | to get rid of especially as useless or unpleasant |
| discerning | showing insight and understanding:DISCRIMINATING |
| discharge | to dismiss from employment |
| disciple | one who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another |
| discipline | a rule or system of rules governing conduct or activity |
| disclaim | to renounce a legal claim to |
| discography | a descriptive list of phonograph records by category, composer, performer, or date of release |
| discombobulate | to confuse or disconcert |
| discomfit | to put into a state of perplexity and embarrassment:DISCONCERT |
| discommode | to cause inconvenience to:TROUBLE |
| discompose | to destroy the composure of |
| disconcert | to throw into confusion |
| discord | lack of agreement or harmony (as between persons, things, or ideas) |
| discourse | formal and orderly and usually extended expression of thought on a subject |
| discredit | to deprive of good repute:DISGRACE |
| discrepancy | Divergence or disagreement, as between facts or claims; difference. |
| discrete | (adj.) separate; individually distinct; composed of distinct parts |
| discretion | the quality of being discreet:CIRCUMSPECTION; especially :cautious reserve in speech frivolous |
| discretionary | left to discretion:exercised at one's own discretion |
| discriminate | to mark or perceive the distinguishing or peculiar features of |
| discursive | moving from topic to topic without order:RAMBLING |
| disdain | a feeling of contempt for what is beneath one:SCORN |
| disengage | to release from something that engages or involves |
| disentangle | (v.) to free from confusion |
| disgorge | to discharge by the throat and mouth:VOMIT |
| disgruntle | to make ill-humored or discontented , usually used as a participial adjective |
| disguise | to furnish with a false appearance or an assumed identity |
| disgust | marked aversion aroused by something highly distasteful:REPUGNANCE |
| dishevel | to throw into disorder or disarray |
| disinclination | a preference for avoiding something:slight aversion |
| disinfect | to free from infection especially by destroying harmful microorganisms |
| disinterested | free from selfish motive or interest:UNBIASED |
| disjunctive | marked by breaks or disunity |
| dismantle | to take to pieces; also :to destroy the integrity or functioning of |
| disparage | to depreciate by indirect means (as invidious comparison):speak slightingly about |
| disparate | containing or made up of fundamentally different and often incongruous elements |
| dispassionate | not influenced by strong feeling; especially :not affected by personal or emotional involvement |
| dispatch | promptness and efficiency in performance or transmission |
| disposal | systematic destruction; especially :destruction or transformation of garbage |
| disquiet | to take away the peace or tranquillity of:DISTURB, ALARM |
| disrupt | to throw into disorder |
| dissect | to analyze and interpret minutely |
| dissemble | to put on a false appearance:conceal facts, intentions, or feelings under some pretense |
| disseminate | to spread abroad as though sowing seed |
| dissension | DISAGREEMENT; especially:partisan and contentious quarreling |
| dissent | to withhold assent |
| dissertation | an extended usually written treatment of a subject; specifically :one submitted for a doctorate |
| dissipate | dispel; squander |
| dissociate | to separate from association or union with another |
| dissolute | lacking restraint; especially :marked by indulgence in things |
| dissolve | to cause to pass into solution to separate into component parts:DISINTEGRATE |
| dissonance | lack of agreement; especially :inconsistency between the beliefs one holds or between one's actions and one's beliefs |
| dissuade | to advise (a person) against something |
| distention | the act of distending or the state of being distended especially unduly or abnormally |
| distillation | the process of purifying a liquid by successive evaporation and condensation |
| distinction | the quality or state of being distinguishable |
| distinguished | marked by eminence, distinction, or excellence |
| distort | to twist out of the true meaning or proportion |
| distract | to draw or direct (as one's attention) to a different object or in different directions at the same time |
| distraught | agitated with doubt or mental conflict |
| distress | great pain/cause discomfort |
| ditch | a long narrow excavation dug in the earth |
| ditty | an especially simple and unaffected song |
| diurnal | of, relating to, or occurring in the daytime |
| diverge | to move or extend in different directions from a common point:draw apart |
| divert | to turn from one course or use to another:DEFLECT |
| divestiture | the act of divesting |
| divulge | to make known (as a confidence or secret) |
| doctrine | a principle or position or the body of principles in a branch of knowledge or system of belief:DOGMA |
| dodder | to progress feebly and unsteadily |
| doff | to remove (an article of wear) from the body |
| dogged | marked by stubborn determination |
| doggerel | loosely styled and irregular in measure especially for burlesque or comic effect; also:marked by triviality or inferiority |
| doggo | in hiding |
| dogma | something held as an established opinion;especially:a definite authoritative tenet |
| doldrums | state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or slump |
| dolorous | causing, marked by, or expressing misery or grief |
| dolt | a stupid person |
| domicile | a dwelling place:place of residence:HOME |
| domination | supremacy or preeminence over another |
| don | to put on (an article of clothing) |
| donor | one that gives, donates, or presents something |
| doodle | an aimless or casual scribble, design, or sketch |
| dour | STERN, HARSH |
| downpour | a pouring or streaming downward; especially:a heavy rain |
| doyen | a:the senior member of a body or group b:a person considered to be knowledgeable or uniquely skilled as a result of long experience in some field of endeavor |
| doze | to fall into a light sleep |
| draconian | CRUEL; also:SEVERE |
| drain | to exhaust physically or emotionally |
| drawl | to utter in a slow lengthened tone |
| dreary | having nothing likely to provide cheer, comfort, or interest:GLOOMY, DISMAL |
| drench | to wet thoroughly (as by soaking or immersing in liquid) |
| drivel | to utter in an infantile or imbecilic way |
| drizzle | a fine misty rain |
| droll | having a humorous, whimsical, or odd quality |
| drone | to speak in a monotonous tone: |
| droplet | a tiny drop (as of a liquid) |
| drudgery | dull, irksome, and fatiguing work:uninspiring or menial labor |
| dubious | questionable or suspect as to true nature or quality |
| dulcet | pleasing to the ear |
| dull | lacking brilliance or luster |
| dullard | a stupid or unimaginative person |
| dune | a hill or ridge of sand piled up by the wind |
| dupe | one that is easily deceived or cheated:FOOL |
| dwelling | a shelter (as a house) in which people live |
| dyspeptic | INDIGESTION |
| eaglet | a young eagle |
| earnest | characterized by or proceeding from an intense and serious state of mind |
| earplug | device of pliable material for insertion into the outer opening of the ear (as to keep out water or deaden sound) |
| earshot | the range within which the unaided voice may be heard |
| earsplitting | distressingly loud or shrill |
| easel | An upright frame for supporting something, such as an artist's canvas |
| eavesdrop | to listen secretly to the private conversation of others |
| ebb | recede; lessen |
| ebullience | the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts or feelings:EXUBERANCE |
| eccentric | deviating from conventional or accepted usage or conduct especially in odd or whimsical ways |
| echelon | an arrangement of a body of troops with its units each somewhat to the left or right of the one in the rear like a series of steps |
| eclat | brilliant or conspicuous success |
| eclectic | selecting what appears to be best in various doctrines, methods, or styles |
| eclipse | a falling into obscurity or decline; also :the state of being eclipsed |
| ecstasy | a state of overwhelming emotion; especially :rapturous delight |
| ecstatic | feeling great rapture or delight |
| ecumenical | worldwide or general in extent, influence, or application |
| eddy | circular or spiral movement (e.g. of wind) |
| edifice | BUILDING; especially :a large or massive structure |
| efface | to make (oneself) modestly or shyly inconspicuous |
| effervesce | to show liveliness or exhilaration |
| effete | having lost character, vitality, or strength |
| effluvia | a by-product especially in the form of waste |
| effulgent | radiant splendor:BRILLIANCE |
| effusive | characterized or formed by a nonexplosive outpouring of lava |
| egalitarian | a belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic rights and privileges |
| egocentric | concerned with the individual rather than society |
| elaborate | marked by complexity, fullness of detail, or ornateness |
| elastic | capable of being easily stretched or expanded and resuming former shape:FLEXIBLE |
| elated | marked by high spirits:EXULTANT |
| eleemosynary | of, relating to, or supported by charity |
| elegant | of a high grade or quality:SPLENDID |
| elegy | a song or poem expressing sorrow or lamentation especially for one who is dead |
| elephantine | having enormous size or strength:MASSIVE |
| elevate | to raise in rank or status:EXALT |
| elf | a small lively creature; also :a usually lively mischievous or malicious person |
| elicit | to draw forth or bring out |
| elitism | leadership or rule by an elite |
| ellipse | a closed plane curve resulting from the intersection of a circular cone and a plane cutting completely through it |
| ellipsis | the omission of one or more words that are obviously understood but that must be supplied to make a construction grammatically complete |
| elliptical | of or relating to deliberate obscurity (as of literary or conversational style) |
| elongate | to extend the length of |
| elucidate | to give a clarifying explanation |
| emaciate | to cause to lose f unaffectlesh so as to become very thin |
| emanate | to come out from a source |
| emancipate | to free from restraint, control, or the power of another; especially :to free from bondage |
| embargo | a legal prohibition on commerce |
| embark | to make a start |
| embarrass | to place in doubt, perplexity, or difficulties |
| embed | to enclose closely in or as if in a matrix |
| embezzle | to appropriate (as property entrusted to one's care) fraudulently to one's own use |
| embolden | to instill with boldness or courage |
| embrace | close encircling with the arms and pressure to the bosom especially as a sign of affection:HUG |
| emigrate | to leave one's place of residence or country to live elsewhere |
| eminence | one that is eminent, prominent, or lofty:as a person of high rank or attainments |
| emphasis | special consideration of or stress or insistence on something |
| emulate | strive to equal or excel |
| enact | to establish by legal and authoritative act; specifically:to make (as a bill) into law |
| enamel | a hard calcareous substance that forms a thin layer capping the teeth |
| enclosure | something that encloses |
| encomium | glowing and warmly enthusiastic praise; |
| encompass | 1. to form a circle about:ENCLOSE obsolete :to go completely around 2. to form a circle about:ENCLOSE |
| encounter | to come upon face-to-face |
| encumber | to impede or hamper the function or activity of:HINDER |
| encyclopedia | a work that contains information on all branches of knowledge or treats comprehensively a particular branch of knowledge usually in articles arranged alphabetically often by subject |
| endorse | to approve openly especially:to express support or approval of publicly and definitely |
| enduring | LASTING, DURABLE |
| enervate | to lessen the vitality or strength of |
| enfeeble | to make feeble:deprive of strength |
| enfranchise | to endow with a franchise:as to admit to the privileges of a citizen and especially to the right of suffrage |
| engender | to cause to exist or to develop:PRODUCE |
| engross | to take or engage the whole attention of:occupy completely |
| enigmatic | of, relating to, or resembling an enigma:MYSTERIOUS |
| enlighten | to furnish knowledge to:INSTRUCT |
| enmity | positive, active, and typically mutual hatred or ill will |
| ennoble | to make noble:ELEVATE |
| ennui | a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction:BOREDOM |
| enrapture | to fill with delight |
| ensconce | settle comfortably |
| enslave | to reduce to or as if to slavery:SUBJUGATE |
| ensue | to take place afterward or as a result |
| entangle | to wrap or twist together:INTERWEAVE |
| enthusiasm | strong excitement of feeling:ARDOR |
| entice | to attract artfully or adroitly or by arousing hope or desire:TEMPT |
| entrance | to carry away with delight, wonder, or rapture |
| entrap | to catch in or as if in a trap |
| entreaty | an act of entreating:PLEA |
| entry | a descriptive record (as in a card catalog or an index) |
| enumerate | to specify one after another:LIST |
| enunciate | a:to make a definite or systematic statement of b:ANNOUNCE, PROCLAIM |
| envision | to picture to oneself |
| ephemeral | lasting a very short time |
| epic | extending beyond the usual or ordinary especially in size or scope |
| epicure | one with sensitive and discriminating tastes especially in food or wine |
| epigram | a concise poem dealing pointedly and often satirically with a single thought or event and often ending with an ingenious turn of thought |
| epilogue | a concluding section that rounds out the design of a literary work; the final scene of a play that comments on or summarizes the main action; the concluding section of a musical composition:CODA |
| episode | An incident or story in a literary work, separable from yet growing out of it. |
| epistemology | the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity |
| epitomize | to serve as the typical or ideal example of |
| equable | marked by lack of noticeable, unpleasant, or extreme variation or inequality |
| equipoise | a state of equilibrium |
| equity | justice according to natural law or right; specifically :freedom from bias or favoritism |
| equivocal | subject to two or more interpretations and usually used to mislead or confuse |
| erect | 1. characterized by firm or rigid straightness in bodily posture 2. SET UP, ESTABLISH |
| erode | to diminish or destroy by degrees |
| errant | traveling or given to traveling |
| erratic | having no fixed course:WANDERING |
| erudite | possessing or displaying erudition:LEARNED |
| escalate | to increase in extent, volume, number, amount, intensity, or scope |
| eschew | to avoid habitually especially on moral or practical grounds:SHUN |
| esoteric | designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone |
| espouse | to take up and support as a cause:become attached to |
| esteem | to set a high value on:regard highly and prize accordingly |
| estimable | worthy of esteem |
| estrange | to arouse especially mutual enmity or indifference in where there had formerly been love, affection, or friendliness:ALIENATE |
| etch | a chemical agent used in etching |
| eternal | a:continued without intermission:PERPETUAL b:seemingly endless |
| ethereal | a:lacking material substance:IMMATERIAL, INTANGIBLE b:marked by unusual delicacy or refinement |
| ethics | the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation |
| eulogize | to speak or write in high praise of:EXTOL |
| euphemism | the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive expression for one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant |
| euphonious | pleasing to the ear |
| euphoria | a feeling of well-being or elation |
| evacuate | a:to remove especially from a military zone or dangerous area b:to withdraw from military occupation of c:VACATE |
| evade | to avoid answering directly:turn aside |
| evanescent | tending to vanish like vapor |
| evasive | tending or intended to evade:EQUIVOCAL |
| everlasting | lasting or enduring through all time:ETERNAL |
| evict | to force out:EXPEL |
| evoke | to call forth or up |
| ewe | the female of the sheep especially when mature; also :the female of various related animals |
| exacerbate | to make more violent, bitter, or severe |
| exacting | tryingly or unremittingly severe in making demands |
| exaggerate | to enlarge or increase especially beyond the normal:OVEREMPHASIZE |
| exalt | to elevate by praise or in estimation:GLORIFY |
| exasperate | a:to excite the anger of:ENRAGE b:to cause irritation or annoyance to |
| excavate | find by digging in the ground ; remove the inner part or the core of |
| exceptional | deviating from the norm |
| excerpt | to select (a passage) for quoting:EXTRACT |
| exclamation | a sharp or sudden utterance |
| excoriate | to censure scathingly |
| excrete | to separate and eliminate or discharge (waste) from the blood or tissues or from the active protoplasm |
| excruciate | to subject to intense mental distress |
| exculpate | to clear from alleged fault or guilt |
| excursive | constituting a digression:characterized by digression |
| execrate | to declare to be evil or detestable:DENOUNCE |
| execute | to carry out fully:put completely into effect |
| exemplary | serving as a pattern |
| exempt | free or released from some liability or requirement to which others are subjectexempt:liability:pardon:penalty |
| exert | to bring to bear especially with sustained effort or lasting effect |
| exhaust | to consume entirely:USE UP |
| exhilarate | to make cheerful |
| exhortation | language intended to incite and encourage |
| exodus | a mass departure:EMIGRATION |
| exonerate | to relieve of a responsibility, obligation, or hardship |
| exorbitant | exceeding in intensity, quality, amount, or size the customary or appropriate limits |
| exotic | introduced from another country:not native to the place where found |
| expansive | characterized by high spirits, generosity, or readiness to talk:OPEN |
| expedite | to accelerate the process or progress of:speed up |
| expedition | efficient promptness:SPEED |
| expiation | the act of making atonement |
| explicit | fully revealed or expressed without vagueness, implication, or ambiguity:leaving no question as to meaning or intent |
| exponent | one that expounds or interprets |
| expurgate | to cleanse of something morally harmful, offensive, or erroneous; especially :to expunge objectionable parts from before publication or presentation |
| exquisite | marked by flawless craftsmanship or by beautiful, ingenious, delicate, or elaborate execution |
| extant | currently or actually existing |
| extemporize | to do something extemporaneously:IMPROVISE; especially :to speak extemporaneously |
| extenuate | to lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of by making partial excuses:MITIGATE |
| exterminate | to get rid of completely usually by killing off |
| extinct | no longer existing |
| extinguish | to cause to cease burning:QUENCH |
| extol | to praise highly:GLORIFY |
| extort | to obtain from a person by force, intimidation, or undue or illegal power:WRING |
| extraneous | a:not forming an essential or vital part b:having no relevance |
| extravagant | a:spending much more than necessary b:PROFUSE, LAVISH |
| extricate | to free or remove from an entanglement or difficulty |
| extrinsic | not forming an essential or inherent part of a thing; extraneous. |
| extrovert | a gregarious and unreserved person |
| exuberant | joyously unrestrained and enthusiastic |
| exude | to undergo diffusion |
| exultant | filled with or expressing great joy or triumph:JUBILANT |
| fabricate | CONSTRUCT, MANUFACTURE; specifically :to construct from diverse and usually standardized parts |
| facetious | joking or jesting often inappropriately:WAGGISH |
| facilitate | to make easier:help bring about |
| faction | a party or group (as within a government) that is often contentious or self-seeking:CLIQUE |
| fade | to change gradually in loudness, strength, or visibility |
| fail-safe | incorporating some feature for automatically counteracting the effect of an anticipated possible source of failure |
| faint | lacking strength or vigor:performed, offered, or accomplished weakly or languidly |
| fainthearted | lacking courage or resolution:TIMID |
| fallacy | a:a false or mistaken idea b:erroneous character:ERRONEOUSNESS |
| falsehood | absence of truth or accuracy |
| falter | a:to hesitate in purpose or action:WAVER b:to lose drive or effectiveness |
| fantasy | imaginative fiction featuring especially strange settings and grotesque characters |
| farce | ridiculous or empty show |
| fascinate | to be irresistibly attractive |
| fast | 1. in a firm or fixed manner 2. the act to eat sparingly or abstain from some foods |
| fasten | to attach especially by pinning, tying, or nailing |
| fastidious | showing or demanding excessive delicacy or care |
| fathom | to penetrate and come to understand |
| fatigue | weariness or exhaustion from labor, exertion, or stress |
| fatuous | complacently or inanely foolish:SILLY |
| fawn | to court favor by a cringing or flattering manner |
| faze | to disturb the composure of:DISCONCERT, DAUNT |
| feckless | WEAK, INEFFECTIVE |
| fecund | fruitful in offspring or vegetation:PROLIFIC |
| feeble | markedly lacking in strength |
| fender | a device in front of locomotives and streetcars to lessen injury to animals or pedestrians in case of collision |
| feral | not domesticated or cultivated:WILD |
| fertilize | to make fertile |
| fervid | marked by often extreme fervor |
| fervor | intensity of feeling or expression |
| fetid | having a heavy offensive smell |
| fetter | to restrain from motion, action, or progress |
| fiasco | a complete failure |
| fictitious | of, relating to, or characteristic of fiction:IMAGINARY |
| fidelity | the quality or state of being faithful |
| figurative | representing by a figure or resemblance:EMBLEMATIC |
| figurine | a small carved or molded figure |
| filibuster | the use of extreme dilatory tactics in an attempt to delay or prevent action especially in a legislative assembly |
| filigree | ornamental openwork of delicate or intricate design |
| filly | a young female horse usually of less than four years |
| filter | a porous article or mass (as of paper or sand) through which a gas or liquid is passed to separate out matter in suspension |
| finch | any of numerous songbirds (especially families Fringillidae, Estrildidae, and Emberizidae) having a short stout usually conical bill adapted for crushing seeds |
| finesse | skillful handling of a situation:adroit maneuvering |
| finicky | extremely or excessively nice, exacting, or meticulous in taste or standards |
| flaccid | not firm or stiff; also :lacking normal or youthful firmness |
| flagging | LANGUID, WEAK |
| flamboyant | marked by or given to strikingly elaborate or colorful display or behavior |
| flange | a projecting edge of cloth used for decoration on clothing |
| flannel | outer garments of flannel; especially:men's trousers |
| flatter | to praise excessively especially from motives of self-interest |
| flaw | a defect in physical structure or form |
| flax | any of a genus (Linum of the family Linaceae, the flax family) of herbs; especially:a slender erect annual (L. usitatissimum) with blue flowers commonly cultivated for its bast fiber and seed |
| fledge | to acquire the feathers necessary for flight or independent activity |
| flexible | capable of being flexed:PLIANT |
| flinch | to withdraw or shrink from or as if from pain:WINCE; also :to tense the muscles involuntarily in anticipation of discomfort |
| flint | a massive hard quartz that produces a spark when struck by steel |
| flippancy | unbecoming levity or pertness especially in respect to grave or sacred matters |
| flirt | to behave amorously without serious intent |
| flit | to move about rapidly and nimbly. |
| flock | a group of birds or mammals assembled or herded togetherto gather or move in a flock |
| florid | flowery; ruddy |
| flounder | to proceed or act clumsily or ineffectually |
| flourish | to grow luxuriantly:THRIVE |
| flout | to treat with contemptuous disregard:SCORN |
| fluctuate | to shift back and forth uncertainly |
| fluent | a:ready or facile in speechb:effortlessly smooth and rapid:POLISHED |
| flush | to pour liquid over or through; especially:to cleanse or wash out with or as if with a rush of liquid |
| fluster | to put into a state of agitated confusion:UPSET |
| fluvial | of, relating to, or living in a stream or river |
| foible | a minor flaw or shortcoming in character or behavior:WEAKNESS |
| foil | a thin piece of material (as metal) put under an inferior or paste stone to add color or brilliance |
| foliage | the aggregate of leaves of one or more plants |
| folly | a foolish act or idea |
| foment | to promote the growth or development of:ROUSE, INCITE |
| fondness | tender affection |
| foolhardy | foolishly adventurous and bold:RASH |
| footloose | having no ties:free to move about |
| ford | A shallow place in a body of water, such as a river, where one can cross by walking or riding on an animal or in a vehicle |
| forestry | the management of growing timber |
| foreword | prefatory comments (as for a book) especially when written by someone other than the author |
| forgery | an act of forging; especially:the crime of falsely and fraudulently making or altering a document (as a check) |
| forgo | do without ; lose or lose the right to by some error, offense, or crime |
| formidable | causing fear, dread, or apprehension |
| forthright | free from ambiguity or evasiveness:going straight to the point |
| fortify | to make strong:as to give physical strength, courage, or endurance to |
| foster | to promote the growth or development of:ENCOURAGE |
| founder | 1. to become submerged:SINK 2. one that founds or establishes |
| fracture | RUPTURE, TEAR |
| fragile | a:easily broken or destroyedb:constitutionally delicate:lacking in physical vigor |
| fraudulent | characterized by, based on, or done by fraud:DECEITFUL |
| freelancer | a person who pursues a profession without a long-term commitment to any one employer |
| freewheel | to move, live, or play freely or irresponsibly |
| frenzy | a violent mental or emotional agitation |
| frequent | to associate with, be in, or resort to often or habitually |
| fresco | the art of painting on freshly spread moist lime plaster with water-based pigments |
| fret | an agitation of mind:IRRITATION |
| friable | easily crumbled or pulverized |
| friction | the rubbing of one body against another |
| frieze | a heavy durable coarse wool and shoddy fabric with a rough surface |
| frivolous | intensely cold |
| frothy | gaily frivolous or light in content or treatment:INSUBSTANTIAL |
| frowzy | having a slovenly or uncared-for appearance |
| frugal | characterized by or reflecting economy in the use of resources |
| frustrate | a:to balk or defeat in an endeavorb:to induce feelings of discouragement in |
| full-bodied | imparting to the palate the general impression of substantial weight and rich texture |
| fulminate | to send forth censures or invectives |
| fungi | any of a major group (Fungi) of saprophytic and parasitic spore-producing organisms usually classified as plants that lack chlorophyll and include molds, rusts, mildews, smuts, mushrooms, and yeasts |
| furnace | an enclosed structure in which heat is produced |
| furor | A general commotion; public disorder or uproar. |
| furtive | done by stealth:SURREPTITIOUS |
| fury | intense, disordered, and often destructive rage |
| fussy | Calling for or requiring great attention to sometimes trivial details |
| fusty | saturated with dust and stale odors:MUSTY |
| futility | the quality or state of being futile:USELESSNESS |
| gab | to talk in a rapid or thoughtless manner:CHATTER |
| gadfly | a person who stimulates or annoys especially by persistent criticism |
| gaffe | a social or diplomatic blunder |
| gainsay | to declare to be untrue or invalid |
| gait | a manner of walking or moving on foot |
| galaxy | an assemblage of brilliant or notable persons or things |
| gall | to fret and wear away by friction:CHAFE |
| gallant | Possessing a brave or chivalrous spirit. |
| galvanize | to stimulate or excite as if by an electric shock |
| gamble | to stake something on a contingency:take a chance |
| gangling | loosely and awkwardly built:LANKY |
| garble | to so alter or distort as to create a wrong impression or change the meaning |
| gargantuan | of immense size, volume, or capacity; gigantic |
| garish | clothed in vivid colors |
| garment | an article of clothing |
| garner | a:GRANARY b:a grain bin |
| garrulous | given to prosy, rambling, or tedious loquacity:pointlessly or annoyingly talkative |
| gash | a deep long cut in flesh |
| gasification | conversion into gas; especially:conversion of coal into natural gas |
| gauche | lacking social experience or grace; also:not tactful:CRUDE |
| gaudy | ostentatiously or tastelessly ornamented |
| gauge | a measurement (as of linear dimension) according to some standard or system |
| gear | a toothed wheel |
| genealogy | an account of the descent of a person, family, or group from an ancestor or from older forms |
| generality | the quality or state of being general |
| genial | marked by or diffusing sympathy or friendliness |
| genteel | free from vulgarity or rudeness:POLITE |
| genuine | ACTUAL, TRUE |
| germane | being at once relevant and appropriate:FITTING |
| gesture | a movement usually of the body or limbs that expresses or emphasizes an idea, sentiment, or attitude |
| ghastly | intensely unpleasant, disagreeable, or objectionable |
| gibe | to deride or tease with taunting words |
| giddy | lightheartedly silly:FRIVOLOUS |
| ginger | a thickened pungent aromatic rhizome that is used as a spice and sometimes medicinally |
| glacier | a large body of ice moving slowly down a slope or valley or spreading outward on a land surface |
| glade | an open space surrounded by woods |
| glance | a quick or cursory look |
| glaze | to give a smooth glossy surface to |
| glib | marked by ease and fluency in speaking or writing often to the point of being insincere or deceitful |
| glimmer | a:to shine faintly or unsteadily b:to give off a subdued unsteady reflection |
| glisten | to give off a sparkling or lustrous reflection of or as if of a moist or polished surface |
| glitch | a usually minor malfunction |
| gloat | express evil satisfaction; view malevolently |
| gloomy | low in spirits:MELANCHOLY |
| glorify | to make glorious by bestowing honor, praise, or admiration |
| gloss | a brief explanation (as in the margin or between the lines of a text) of a difficult or obscure word or expression |
| glossary | a collection of textual glosses or of specialized terms with their meanings |
| glossy | having a surface luster or brightness |
| glut | an excessive quantity:OVERSUPPLY |
| glutinous | having the quality of glue:GUMMY |
| glutton | one given habitually to greedy and voracious eating and drinking |
| goad | something that urges or stimulates into action:SPUR |
| gobble | to swallow or eat greedily |
| goggle | to stare with wide or protuberant eyes |
| goldbrick | to shirk duty or responsibility |
| gorge | to eat greedily or to repletion |
| gossamer | something light, delicate, or insubstantial |
| gourmet | a connoisseur of food and drink; broadly :CONNOISSEUR |
| grandeur | the quality or state of being grand:MAGNIFICENCE |
| grandiloquent | be of a lofty, extravagantly colorful, pompous, or bombastic style, manner, or quality especially in language |
| grandiose | characterized by affectation of grandeur or splendor or by absurd exaggeration |
| grandstand | to play or act so as to impress onlookers |
| grant | to bestow or transfer formally specifically :to give the possession or title of by a deed |
| gratify | to be a source of or give pleasure or satisfaction to |
| grating | noisily,rasping,harsh |
| gratis | free |
| gratuitous | not involving a return benefit, compensation, or consideration |
| grave | having a serious and dignified quality or demeanor |
| green | a:deficient in training, knowledge, or experience b:deficient in sophistication and savoir faire:NAIVE c:not fully qualified for or experienced in a particular function |
| gregarious | tending to associate with others of one's kind:SOCIAL |
| grievous | causing or characterized by severe pain, suffering, or sorrow |
| grimace | a facial expression usually of disgust or disapproval |
| grin | to draw back the lips so as to show the teeth especially in amusement or laughter; broadly :SMILE |
| gripe | to complain with grumbling |
| grisly | inspiring horror or intense fear |
| groove | a long narrow channel or depression |
| grotesque | FANCIFUL, BIZARRE |
| grotto | A small cave or cavern |
| grove | a planting of fruit or nut trees |
| grovel | to lie or creep with the body prostrate in token of subservience or abasement |
| grumble | to mutter in discontent |
| guarantee | to engage for the existence, permanence, or nature of:undertake to do or secure |
| guffaw | a loud or boisterous burst of laughter |
| guile | deceitful cunning:DUPLICITY |
| guilt | feelings of culpability especially for imagined offenses or from a sense of inadequacy:SELF-REPROACH |
| gullible | easily duped or cheated |
| gully | a trench which was orig. worn in the earth by running water and through which water often runs after rains |
| gum | any of numerous colloidal polysaccharide substances of plant origin that are gelatinous when moist but harden on drying and are salts of complex organic acids |
| gush | a sudden outpouring |
| gust | a sudden brief rush of wind |
| guzzle | to drink especially liquor greedily, continually, or habitually |
| habitable | capable of being lived in:suitable for habitation |
| hack | a writer who aims solely for commercial success |
| hackneyed | lacking in freshness or originality |
| halcyon | CALM, PEACEFUL |
| hale | free from defect, disease, or infirmity:SOUND; also :retaining exceptional health and vigor |
| half-baked | a:lacking adequate planning or forethought b:lacking in judgment, intelligence, or common sense |
| hallow | to make holy or set apart for holy use |
| hallucination | perception of objects with no reality usually arising from disorder of the nervous system or in response to drugs (as LSD) |
| halting | marked by a lack of sureness or effectiveness |
| ham-handed | lacking dexterity or grace:HEAVY-HANDED |
| hamper | to restrict the movement of by bonds or obstacles:IMPEDE |
| hamstring | to make ineffective or powerless:CRIPPLE |
| handle | to act, behave, or feel in a certain way when handled or directed |
| hangdog | SAD, DEJECTED |
| hankering | to have a strong or persistent desire:YEARN |
| haphazard | marked by lack of plan, order, or direction |
| hapless | having no luck:UNFORTUNATE |
| harangue | to address in a ranting way |
| harass | to annoy persistently |
| harbinger | one that presages or foreshadows what is to come |
| harbor | to give shelter or refuge to |
| hard-bitten | seasoned or steeled by difficult experience:TOUGH |
| hardheaded | STUBBORN, WILLFUL |
| harebrained | FOOLISH |
| harmonious | marked by accord in sentiment or action |
| harness | UTILIZE |
| harp | a plucked stringed instrument consisting of a resonator, an arched or angled neck that may be supported by a post, and strings of graded length that are perpendicular to the soundboard |
| harrow | break up ground after plowing; torture |
| harry | to make a pillaging or destructive raid on:ASSAULT |
| harsh | a:causing a disagreeable or painful sensory reaction:IRRITATING b:physically discomforting:PAINFUL |
| hasten | to move or act quickly |
| hasty | done or made in a hurry |
| haunt | to visit often:FREQUENT |
| hauteur | ARROGANCE, HAUGHTINESS |
| haven | harbour, safety place |
| havoc | great confusion and disorder |
| headlong | Impetuous; rash. |
| hearken | to give respectful attention |
| heart | to give heart to:CHEER:HEARTEN |
| hearten | to give heart to |
| heartrending | causing intense sorrow or distress |
| hedge | a means of protection or defense (as against financial loss) |
| hedonic | of, relating to, or characterized by pleasure |
| heinous | hatefully or shockingly evil:ABOMINABLE |
| heirloom | something of special value handed on from one generation to another |
| helmet | any of various protective head coverings usually made of a hard material to resist impact |
| hem | a border of a cloth article doubled back and stitched down |
| herald | to give notice of:ANNOUNCE |
| herbicide | an agent used to destroy or inhibit plant growth |
| hereditary | characteristic of or fostered by one's predecessors |
| heresy | an opinion or doctrine contrary to church dogma |
| heretical | of, relating to, or characterized by departure from accepted beliefs or standards:UNORTHODOX |
| hermit | one that retires from society and lives in solitude especially for religious reasons:RECLUSE |
| herpetologist | one that a branch of zoology dealing with reptiles and amphibians |
| hesitance | the quality or state of being hesitant:as a:INDECISION b:RELUCTANCE |
| heterodox | Not in agreement with accepted beliefs, especially in church doctrine or dogma |
| hidebound | having an inflexible or ultraconservative character |
| hideous | offensive to the senses and especially to sight:exceedingly ugly |
| hie | to go quickly:HASTEN |
| hierarchy | the classification of a group of people according to ability or to economic, social, or professional standing |
| hieroglyph | a character used in a system of hieroglyphic writing |
| hike | to rise up; especially :to work upward out of place |
| hilarity | high spirits that may be carried to the point of boisterous conviviality or merriment |
| hint | a slight indication of the existence, approach, or nature of something:CLUE |
| histrionic | of or relating to actors, acting, or the theater |
| hive | a place swarming with activity |
| hoard | to keep (as one's thoughts) to oneself |
| hoary | extremely old:ANCIENT |
| hoax | an act intended to deceive or trick |
| hodgepodge | a heterogeneous mixture:JUMBLE |
| homage | expression of high regard:RESPECT |
| homely | Not attractive or good-looking |
| homily | a lecture or discourse on or of a moral theme |
| homogenize | to blend (diverse elements) into a uniform mixture |
| hone | to make more acute, intense, or effective:WHET |
| honorarium | a payment for a service (as making a speech) on which custom or propriety forbids a |
| horn | a wind instrument used in a jazz band; especially :TRUMPET |
| hortative | giving exhortation:ADVISORY |
| horticulture | the science and art of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, or ornamental plants |
| hospitable | liking to give hospitality |
| hovel | a small, wretched, and often dirty house:HUT |
| hub | the central part of a circular object (as a wheel or propeller) |
| hubris | exaggerated pride or self-confidencehubristic |
| humanitarian | a person promoting human welfare and social reform:PHILANTHROPIST |
| humble | ranking low in a hierarchy or scale:INSIGNIFICANT, UNPRETENTIOUS |
| humor | to soothe or content by indulgence |
| hurdle | to leap over especially while running (as in a sporting competition |
| hurricane | a tropical cyclone with winds of 74 miles (118 kilometers) per hour or greater that occurs especially in the western Atlantic, that is usually accompanied by rain, thunder, and lightning, and that sometimes moves into temperate latitudes |
| husbandry | the control or judicious use of resources:CONSERVATION |
| husk | a usually dry or membranous outer covering (as a pod or hull or one composed of bracts) of various seeds and fruits; also :one of the constituent parts |
| husky | hoarse with or as if with emotion |
| hybrid | something heterogeneous in origin or composition:COMPOSITE |
| hymn | a song of praise or joy |
| hyperbole | extravagant exaggeration |
| hypercritical | meticulously or excessively critical??:hypocritical9adj.???: |
| hypnotic | tending to produce sleep:SOPORIFIC |
| hypocritical | characterized by hypocrisy; also :being a hypocrite |
| ichthyologist | one that study a branch of zoology that deals with fishes |
| idiosyncratic | a peculiarity of constitution or temperament:an individualizingcharacteristic or quality |
| idolatrize | admires intensely and often blindly |
| ignite | to set afire; also :KINDLE |
| ignominy | deep personal humiliation and disgrace |
| ignorant | destitute of knowledge or education also lacking knowledge or comprehension of the thing specified |
| ignore | to reject (a bill of indictment) as ungrounded |
| illegible | Undecipherable. |
| illiteracy | the quality or state of being illiterate; especially :inability to read or write |
| illuminati | persons who are or who claim to be unusually enlightened |
| illumination | one of the decorative features used in the art of illuminating or in decorative lighting |
| illusory | based on or producing illusion:DECEPTIVE |
| illustrate | to provide with visual features intended to explain or decorate |
| imbibe | to absorb or take in as if by drinking |
| imbroglio | a violently confused or bitterly complicated altercation:EMBROILMENT |
| imitation | the quality of an object in possessing some of the nature or attributes of a transcendent idea |
| immaculate | having no stain or blemish:PURE |
| immanent | remaining or operating within a domain of reality or realm of discourse:INHERENT; specifically :having existence or effect only within the mind or consciousness |
| immaterial | of no substantial consequence:UNIMPORTANT |
| immemorial | extending or existing since beyond the reach of memory, record, or tradition |
| imminent | ready to take place; especially :hanging threateningly over one's head |
| immune | not susceptible or responsive; especially :having a high degree of resistance to a disease |
| immure | to enclose within or as if within walls b:IMPRISON |
| immutable | not capable of or susceptible to change |
| imp | a mischievous child:URCHIN |
| impair | to damage or make worse by or as if by diminishing in some material respect |
| impassive | unsusceptible to or destitute of emotion |
| impecunious | having very little or no money usually habitually:PENNILESS |
| impede | to interfere with or slow the progress of |
| impend | to be about to occur |
| impenetrable | incapable of being penetrated or pierced or incapable of being comprehended:INSCRUTABLE |
| impenitent | not feeling or expressing humble or regretful pain or sorrow for sins or offenses |
| imperative | expressive of a command, entreaty, or exhortation |
| imperial | of, relating to, befitting, or suggestive of an empire or an emperor ;of superior or unusual size or excellence |
| imperious | marked by arrogant assurance:DOMINEERING |
| impertinent | given to or characterized by insolent rudeness |
| imperturbable | marked by extreme calm, impassivity, and steadiness:SERENE |
| impervious | not allowing entrance or passage:IMPENETRABLE also not capable of being damaged or harmed |
| impetuosity | Rashness. |
| impetuous | marked by impulsive vehemence or passion |
| impiety | the quality or state of being impious:IRREVERENCE |
| implacable | not placable:not capable of being appeased, significantly changed, or mitigated |
| implement | CARRY OUT, ACCOMPLISH; especially:to give practical effect to and ensure of actual fulfillment by concrete measures |
| implicate | to involve as a consequence, corollary, or natural inference:IMPLY |
| implode | to collapse inward as if from external pressure; also:to become greatly reduced as if from collapsing |
| importune | beg earnestly |
| imposing | impressive in size, bearing, dignity, or grandeur |
| impostor | one that assumes false identity or title for the purpose of deception |
| impotent | not potent:lacking in power, strength, or vigor:HELPLESS |
| impromptu | composed or uttered without previous preparation:EXTEMPORANEOUS |
| improvident | not provident:not foreseeing and providing for the future |
| improvised | to compose, recite, play, or sing extemporaneously |
| imprudent | not prudent:lacking discretion |
| impudent | marked by contemptuous or cocky boldness or disregard of others:INSOLENT |
| impugn | to assail by words or arguments:oppose or attack as false or lacking integrity |
| impuissance | WEAKNESS, POWERLESSNESS |
| impute | to lay the responsibility or blame for often falsely or unjustly imputable:nettle |
| inadvertent | not focusing the mind on a matter: INATTENTIVE |
| inalienable | incapable of being alienated, surrendered, or transferred |
| inane | lacking significance, meaning, or point: SILLY |
| inanimate | not animated or lively:DULL |
| inaugurate | to induct into an office with suitable ceremonies |
| incandescent | strikingly bright, radiant, or clear |
| incantation | singing or chanting of magic spells; magical formula |
| incarnate | invested with bodily and especially human nature and form |
| incendiary | of, relating to, or involving a deliberate burning of property |
| incense | to arouse the extreme anger or indignation of |
| inception | an act, process, or instance of beginning:COMMENCEMENT |
| incessant | continuing or following without interruption:UNCEASING |
| inch | to move by small degrees:progress slowly |
| inchoate | being only partly in existence or operation; especially :imperfectly formed or formulated:FORMLESS |
| incinerate | to cause to burn to ashes |
| incipient | beginning to come into being or to become apparent |
| incisive | impressively direct and decisive (as in manner or presentation) |
| incite | to move to action:stir up:spur on:urge on |
| inclement | lacking mildness:as severe in temper or action:UNMERCIFUL |
| incogitant | THOUGHTLESS, INCONSIDERATE |
| incongruent | not superposable so as to be coincident throughout,not congruent |
| incorrigible | incapable of being corrected or amended UNALTERABLE, INVETERATE |
| incriminate | to charge with or show evidence or proof of involvement in a crime or fault |
| inculcate | to teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions |
| inculpate | INCRIMINATE |
| incursion | a hostile entrance into a territory:RAID |
| indefatigable | incapable of being fatigued:UNTIRING |
| indelible | UNFORGETTABLE, MEMORABLE |
| indemnity | security against hurt, loss, or damage |
| indict | to charge with a crime by the finding or presentment of a jury (as a grand jury) in due form of law |
| indifferent | marked by a lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern for something:APATHETIC |
| indigenous | having originated in and being produced, growing, living, or occurring naturally in a particular region or environment |
| indigent | suffering from indigence:IMPOVERISHED |
| indoctrinate | to instruct especially in fundamentals or rudiments:TEACH |
| indolent | averse to activity, effort, or movement:habitually lazy |
| inducement | a motive or consideration that leads one to action or to additional or more effective actions |
| indulgent | indulging or characterized by indulgence; especially:LENIENT |
| indurate | to make hard |
| ineffable | incapable of being expressed in words : INDESCRIBABLE |
| ineluctable | not to be avoided, changed, or resisted:INEVITABLE |
| inept | generally incompetent:BUNGLING |
| inert | deficient in active properties; especially:lacking a usual or anticipated chemical or biological action |
| inestimable | Above price. |
| inevitable | incapable of being avoided or evaded |
| inexorable | not to be persuaded or moved by entreaty:RELENTLESS |
| infamy | evil reputation brought about by something grossly criminal, shocking, or brutal |
| infatuate | to cause to be foolish:deprive of sound judgment |
| infelicitous | not appropriate in application or expression |
| infer | GUESS, SURMISE |
| inferno | a place or a state that resembles or suggests hell |
| infiltrate | to pass (troops, for example) surreptitiously into enemy-held territory |
| infinite | immeasurably or inconceivably great or extensive: INEXHAUSTIBLE |
| infirm | of poor or deteriorated vitality; especially:feeble from age |
| inflame | to excite to excessive or uncontrollable action or feeling |
| influx | a coming in |
| infuriate | To make furious; enrage |
| infuse | INSPIRE, ANIMATE |
| ingenious | marked by originality, resourcefulness, and cleverness in conception or execution |
| ingenuous | showing innocent or childlike simplicity and candidness |
| ingrained | to work indelibly into the natural texture or mental or moral constitution |
| ingratiating | capable of winning favor:PLEASING |
| inherent | involved in the constitution or essential character of something:belonging by nature or habit:INTRINSIC |
| inimical | a:having the disposition of an enemy:HOSTILEb:reflecting or indicating hostility:UNFRIENDLY |
| inimitable | not capable of being imitated: MATCHLESS |
| iniquity | gross injustice:WICKEDNESS |
| initial | placed at the beginning:FIRST |
| inkling | a slight knowledge or vague notion |
| innocent | free from guilt or sin especially through lack of knowledge of evil:BLAMELESS |
| innocuous | not likely to give offense or to arouse strong feelings or hostility:INOFFENSIVE, INSIPID |
| innovation | the introduction of something new |
| inquiry | examination into facts or principles:RESEARCH |
| insatiable | incapable of being satisfied:QUENCHLESS |
| insipid | lacking in qualities that interest, stimulate, or challenge:DULL, FLAT |
| insolent | exhibiting boldness or effrontery:IMPUDENT |
| insouciant | lighthearted unconcern:NONCHALANCE |
| inspired | outstanding or brilliant in a way or to a degree suggestive of divine inspiration |
| instate | to set or establish in a rank or office:INSTALL |
| instigate | to goad or urge forward:PROVOKE |
| instill | to impart gradually |
| institute | to originate and get established:ORGANIZE |
| insubordinate | disobedient to authority |
| insular | characteristic of an isolated people; especially:being, having, or reflecting a narrow provincial viewpoint |
| insularity | narrow-mindedness/isolated |
| insulate | to place in a detached situation:ISOLATE; especially:to separate from conducting bodies by means of nonconductors so as to prevent transfer of electricity, heat, or sound |
| insurgent | a person who revolts against civil authority or an established government; especially:a rebel not recognized as a belligerent |
| intangible | not tangible:IMPALPABLE |
| integral | essential to completeness:CONSTITUENT |
| integrity | the quality or state of being complete or undivided:COMPLETENESS |
| intelligible | capable of being understood or comprehended |
| intemperate | not temperate especially:given to excessive use of intoxicating liquors |
| intensify | to make intense or more intensive:STRENGTHEN |
| inter | to deposit (a dead body) in the earth or in a tomb |
| intercede | to intervene between parties with a view to reconciling differences:MEDIATE |
| interdict | to forbid in a usually formal or authoritative manner |
| interim | an intervening time:INTERVAL |
| interlock | to become locked together or interconnected |
| interlope | one that intrudes in a place or sphere of activity |
| interminable | having or seeming to have no end; especially:wearisomely protracted |
| intermittent | coming and going at intervals:not continuous |
| interrogate | to question formally and systematically:probe |
| intervene | to interfere usually by force or threat of force in another nation's internal affairs especially to compel or prevent an action |
| intimate | 1. to make known especially publicly or formally:ANNOUNCE 2. a friend or confidant marked by very close association, contact, or familiarity |
| intimidate | to make timid or fearful:FRIGHTEN; especially:to compel or deter by or as if by threats |
| intransigent | refusing to compromise or to abandon an extreme position or attitude:UNCOMPROMISING |
| intrepid | characterized by resolute fearlessness, fortitude, and endurance |
| intricacy | the quality or state of being intricate |
| intrigue | to arouse the interest, desire, or curiosity of |
| intrinsic | belonging to the essential nature or constitution of a thing |
| intuition | The act or faculty of knowing or sensing without the use of rational processes; immediate cognition. |
| inure | to accustom to accept something undesirable |
| invective | of, relating to, or characterized by insult or abuse |
| inveigh | to protest or complain bitterly or vehemently:RAIL |
| inveigle | to win over by wiles:ENTICE |
| inventory | an itemized list of current assets:as a catalog of the property of an individual or estate |
| investigate | to make a systematic examination; especially:to conduct an official inquiry |
| inveterate | firmly established by long persistence |
| invidious | tending to cause discontent, animosity, or envy |
| invigorate | to give life and energy to:ANIMATE; also:STIMULATE |
| invincible | Incapable of being overcome or defeated; unconquerable. |
| inviolate | not violated or profaned; especially :PURE |
| invoice | a consignment of merchandise |
| invoke | to put into effect or operation:IMPLEMENT |
| invulnerable | incapable of being wounded, injured, or harmed |
| irascible | marked by hot temper and easily provoked anger |
| irate | arising from anger |
| iridescence | a lustrous rainbowlike play of color caused by differential refraction of light waves (as from an oil slick, soap bubble, or fish scales) that tends to change as the angle of view changes |
| irk | to make weary, irritated, or bored |
| ironclad | so firm or secure as to be unbreakable:as a:BINDING |
| irony | a pretense of ignorance and of willingness to learn from another assumed in order to make the other's false conceptions conspicuous by adroit questioning |
| irradicable | impossible to eradicate : DEEP-ROOTED |
| irreducible | impossible to transform into or restore to a desired or simpler condition |
| irrelevant | not relevant:INAPPLICABLE |
| irresolute | uncertain how to act or proceed:VACILLATING |
| irreverent | lacking proper respect or seriousness; also :SATIRIC |
| irritate | to provoke impatience, anger, or displeasure in:ANNOY |
| issue | 1. the act of publishing or officially giving out or making available 2. a matter that is in dispute between two or more parties |
| isthmus | a narrow strip of land connecting two larger land areas |
| itinerant | wandering; traveling |
| jabber | to talk rapidly, indistinctly, or unintelligibly |
| jaded | fatigued by overwork:EXHAUSTED |
| jam | fatigued by overwork:EXHAUSTED |
| jape | to make mocking fun of |
| jar | to make a harsh or discordant sound |
| jargon | The specialized or technical language of a trade, profession, or similar group. |
| jaundice | a state or attitude characterized by satiety, distaste, or hostility |
| jaunty | sprightly in manner or appearance:LIVELY |
| jazz | American music developed especially from ragtime and blues and characterized by propulsive syncopated rhythms, polyphonic ensemble playing, varying degrees of improvisation, and often deliberate distortions of pitch and timbre |
| jealous | having to do with or arising from feelings of envy, apprehension, or bitterness |
| jejune | devoid of significance or interest:DULL |
| jest | an utterance (as a jeer or quip) intended to be taken as mockery or humor |
| jettison | to get rid of as superfluous or encumbering : DISCARD |
| jibe | to be in accord: AGREE |
| jingoist | extreme chauvinism or nationalism marked especially by a belligerent foreign policy |
| jitter | to be nervous or act in a nervous way |
| jocund | marked by or suggestive of high spirits and lively mirthfulness |
| jog | a movement, pace, or instance of jogging (as for exercise) |
| joke | something said or done to provoke laughter; especially :a brief oral narrative with a climactic humorous twist |
| jolt | to cause to move with a sudden jerky motion |
| jot | to write briefly or hurriedly:set down in the form of a note |
| jovial | markedly good-humored especially as evidenced by jollity and conviviality |
| jubilant | EXULTANT |
| judicious | having, exercising, or characterized by sound judgment:DISCREET |
| juggernaut | a massive inexorable force, campaign, movement, or object that crushes whatever is in its path |
| jumble | to mix into a confused or disordered mass |
| justify | to prove or show to be just, right, or reasonable |
| juxtapose | to place side by side |
| kangaroo | any of various herbivorous leaping marsupial mammals of Australia, New Guinea, and adjacent islands with a small head, large ears, long powerful hind legs, a long thick tail used as a support and in balancing, and rather small foreleg |
| ken | the range of vision |
| kindle | to stir up:AROUSE |
| kindred | of a similar nature or character:LIKE |
| kink | a short tight twist or curl caused by a doubling or winding of something upon itself |
| knack | a clever trick or stratagem |
| knave | a tricky deceitful fellow |
| knead | to work and press into a mass with or as if with the hands |
| knit | to form by interlacing yarn or thread in a series of connected loops with needles |
| knotty | marked by or full of knots; especially :so full of difficulties and complications as to be likely to defy solution |
| kudos | fame and renown resulting from an act or achievement:PRESTIGE |
| labile | readily or continually undergoing chemical, physical, or biological change or breakdown:UNSTABLE |
| labored | lacking ease of expression |
| labyrinth | something extremely complex or tortuous in structure, arrangement, or character:INTRICACY, PERPLEXITY |
| laconic | using or involving the use of a minimum of words:concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious |
| lambaste | to attack verbally:CENSURE |
| lamentable | expressing grief:MOURNFUL |
| lampoon | a harsh satire usually directed against an individual |
| landfill | a system of trash and garbage disposal in which the waste is buried between layers of earth to build up low-lying land |
| landlord | the owner of property (as land, houses, or apartments) that is leased or rented to another |
| landslide | the usually rapid downward movement of a mass of rock, earth, or artificial fill on a slope; also :the mass that moves down |
| languid | drooping or flagging from or as if from exhaustion:WEAK |
| languish | to be or become feeble, weak, or enervated |
| languor | listless indolence or inertia |
| lank | not well filled out:SLENDER, THIN |
| lapse | a slight error typically due to forgetfulness or inattention |
| larder | a place where food is stored:PANTRY |
| largesse | liberal giving (as of money) to or as if to an inferior; also :something so given |
| lariat | a long light rope (as of hemp or leather) used with a running noose to catch livestock or with or without the noose to tether grazing animals:LASSO |
| lash | to bind with or as if with a line |
| lassitude | a condition of weariness or debility:FATIGUE |
| latent | present and capable of becoming though not now visible, obvious, or active |
| latitude | Freedom from normal restraints, limitations, or regulations. |
| laudatory | of, relating to, or expressing praise |
| lavish | expended or produced in abundance |
| leaven | to raise (as bread) with a leaven |
| lectern | a stand used to support a book in a convenient position for a standing reader; especially :one from which scripture lessons are read in a church service |
| leer | to cast a sidelong glance |
| leery | Suspicious or distrustful; wary |
| legacy | something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past |
| legend | an explanatory list of the symbols on a map or chart |
| legible | capable of being read or deciphered:PLAIN |
| legion | MANY, NUMEROUS |
| lenient | exerting a soothing or easing influence:relieving pain or stress |
| lethal | gravely damaging or destructive:DEVASTATING |
| lethargy | the quality or state of being lazy, sluggish, or indifferent |
| levee | an embankment for preventing flooding |
| levelheaded | having sound judgment:SENSIBLE |
| leverage | positional advantage; power to act effectively: |
| levity | excessive or unseemly frivolity |
| lexicographer | an author or editor of a dictionary |
| liability | something for which one is liable; especially :pecuniary obligation |
| liaison | a close bond or connection:INTERRELATIONSHIP |
| liberal | marked by generosity:OPENHANDED |
| libertine | a person who is unrestrained by convention or morality; specifically :one leading a dissolute life |
| liberty | an action going beyond normal limits:as a:a breach of etiquette or propriety:FAMILIARITY |
| libretto | the text of a work (as an opera) for the musical theater |
| licentious | lacking legal or moral restraints; especially :disregarding sexual restraints |
| lien | a charge upon real or personal property for the satisfaction of some debt or duty ordinarily arising by operation of law |
| liken | compare |
| limber | capable of being shaped:FLEXIBLE |
| limerick | a light or humorous verse form of 5 chiefly anapestic verses of which lines 1, 2, and 5 are of 3 feet and lines 3 and 4 are of 2 feet with a rhyme scheme of aabba |
| limousine | a large luxurious often chauffeur-driven sedan that sometimes has a glass partition separating the driver's seat from the passenger compartment |
| limp | lacking firm texture, substance, or structure |
| limpid | marked by transparency:PELLUCID |
| linen | cloth made of flax and noted for its strength, coolness, and luster |
| linger | tarry;saunter; to be slow to act:procrastinate |
| linoleum | a floor covering made by laying on a burlap or canvas backing a mixture of solidified linseed oil with gums, cork dust or wood flour or both, and usually pigments |
| lint | fuzz consisting especially of fine ravelings and short fibers of yarn and fabric |
| lissome | NIMBLE |
| list | a deviation from the vertical:TILT; also :the extent of such a deviation |
| listless | characterized by lack of interest, energy, or spirit:LANGUID |
| lithe | characterized by easy flexibility and grace |
| livid | lead-colored; black and blue; enraged |
| loath | unwilling to do something contrary to one's ways of thinking:RELUCTANT |
| loathe | To dislike (someone or something) greatly; abhor. |
| lode | an ore deposit |
| lofty | elevated in status:SUPERIOR |
| loll | to act or move in a lax, lazy, or indolent manner:LOUNGE |
| loophole | a similar opening to admit light and air or to permit observation |
| lopsided | lacking in balance, symmetry, or proportion:disproportionately heavy on one side |
| loquacious | given to fluent or excessive talk:GARRULOUS |
| lottery | a drawing of lots in which prizes are distributed to the winners among persons buying a chance |
| lounge | to act or move idly or lazily:LOAF |
| loutish | resembling or befitting a lout |
| loyal | unswerving in allegiance:as faithful in allegiance to one's lawful sovereign or government |
| lubricate | to make smooth or slippery |
| lucid | clear to the understanding:INTELLIGIBLE |
| ludicrous | meriting derisive laughter or scorn as absurdly inept, false, or foolish |
| lug | to carry laboriously |
| lugubrious | MOURNFUL; especially :exaggeratedly or affectedly mournful |
| lull | to cause to sleep or rest:SOOTHE |
| lullaby | a soothing refrain; specifically :a song to quiet children or lull them to sleep |
| lumen | a unit of luminous flux equal to the light emitted in a unit solid angle by a uniform point source of one candle intensity |
| luminary | a person of prominence or brilliant achievement |
| lurk | to lie in wait in a place of concealment especially for an evil purpose |
| lush | growing vigorously especially with luxuriant foliage |
| lustrous | reflecting light evenly and efficiently without glitter or sparkle numb:insensible:burnish:lustrous |
| luxurious | marked by or given to self-indulgence |
| lyric | the words of a song |
| maelstrom | a powerful often violent whirlpool sucking in objects within a given radius |
| magnificent | Grand or noble in thought or deed; exalted. |
| maladroit | lacking adroitness:INEPT |
| malaise | uneasiness; distress |
| malcontent | dissatisfied with the existing state of affairs:DISCONTENTED |
| malicious | given to, marked by, or arising from malice |
| malign | having or showing intense often vicious ill will:MALEVOLENT |
| malinger | to pretend incapacity (as illness) so as to avoid duty or work |
| malleable | capable of being altered or controlled by outside forces or influences |
| malodor | an offensive odor |
| mandatory | containing or constituting a command:OBLIGATORY |
| mangle | to spoil, injure, or make incoherent especially through ineptitude |
| mangy | having many worn or bare spots:SEEDY, SHABBY |
| mania | excessive or unreasonable enthusiasm |
| manifest | 1. a list of passengers or an invoice of cargo for a vehicle (as a ship or plane) 2. easily understood or recognized by the mind:OBVIOUS |
| manipulate | to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one's own advantage |
| mansion | a large imposing residence |
| manumit | to release from slavery |
| manuscript | a written or typewritten composition or document as distinguished from a printed copy; also :a document submitted for publication |
| mar | To impair the soundness, perfection, or integrity of; spoil |
| marsh | a tract of soft wet land usually characterized by monocotyledons (as grasses or cattails) |
| marsupial | any of an order of mammals comprising kangaroos, wombats, bandicoots, opossums, and related animals that do not develop a true placenta and that usually have a pouch on the abdomen of the female which covers the teats and serves to carry the |
| martinet | a strict disciplinarian |
| marvel | something that causes wonder or astonishment |
| masquerade | to assume the appearance of something one is not |
| masticate | to grind or crush (food) with or as if with the teeth in preparation for swallowing:CHEW |
| matriculate | to enroll as a member of a body and especially of a college or university |
| mattress | a fabric case filled with resilient material (as cotton, hair, feathers, foam rubber, or an arrangement of coiled springs) used either alone as a bed or on a bedstead |
| maudlin | weakly and effusively sentimental |
| maven | one who is experienced or knowledgeable:EXPERT |
| maverick | an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party |
| mawkish | sickly or puerilely sentimental m |
| meager | deficient in quality or quantity |
| mean | PENURIOUS, STINGY |
| meander | to wind or turn in its course |
| measly | contemptibly small |
| measured | marked by due proportion |
| mechanical | Performed or performing in an impersonal or machinelike manner; automatic |
| meddle | to interest oneself in what is not one's concern:interfere without right or propriety |
| media | a nutrient system for the artificial cultivation of cells or organisms and especially bacteria |
| mediate | to interpose between parties in order to reconcile them |
| mediocre | of moderate or low quality, value, ability, or performance:ORDINARY, SO-SO |
| meditate | to engage in contemplation or reflection |
| medley | a musical composition made up of a series of songs or short pieces |
| meet | precisely adapted to a particular situation, need, or circumstance:very proper |
| meliorism | The belief that society has an innate tendency toward improvement and that this tendency may be furthered through conscious human effort. |
| mellifluous | having a smooth rich flow |
| melody | a sweet or agreeable succession or arrangement of sounds:TUNEFULNESS |
| membrane | a thin soft pliable sheet or layer especially of animal or plant origin |
| menace | to make a show of intention to harm |
| mend | to put into good shape or working order again:patch up:REPAIR |
| mendacious | given to or characterized by deception or falsehood or divergence from absolutetruth |
| mentor | a trusted counselor or guide:TUTOR, COACH |
| mercenary | one that serves merely for wages; especially :a soldier hired into foreign service |
| mercurial | characterized by rapid and unpredictable changeableness of mood |
| merited | deserved, be worthy of or entitled or liable to |
| mesh | to cause (as gears) to engage |
| mesmerism | hypnotic induction held to involve animal magnetism; broadly :HYPNOTISM |
| messy | marked by confusion, disorder, or dirt:UNTIDY |
| 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 (as in drowning in money); broadly :figurative language |
| meteoric | resembling a meteor in speed or in sudden and temporary brilliance |
| meteorology | a science that deals with the atmosphere and its phenomena and especially with weather and weather forecasting |
| meticulous | marked by extreme or excessive care in the consideration or treatment of details |
| metrical | of, relating to, or composed in meter |
| mettle | courage; spirit |
| miff | a trivial quarrel |
| migratory | WANDERING, ROVING |
| mill | a building provided with machinery for grinding grain into flour |
| mime | to act a part with mimic gesture and action usually without words |
| minaret | a tall slender tower of a mosque having one or more balconies from which the summons to prayer is cried by the muezzin |
| minatory | having a menacing quality:THREATENING |
| mince | to walk with short steps in a prim affected manner |
| mingle | to bring or mix together or with something else usually without fundamental loss of identity:INTERMIX |
| minion | a servile dependent, follower, or underling |
| mint | 1. to make (as coins) out of metal:COIN 2. a vast sum or amount |
| minuscule | very small |
| minutia | a minute or minor detail |
| miracle | an extremely outstanding or unusual event, thing, or accomplishment |
| mirage | something illusory and unattainable |
| mire | to cause to stick fast in or as if in mire |
| mirth | gladness or gaiety as shown by or accompanied with laughter |
| misanthrope | a person who hates or distrusts mankind |
| misbehave | to behave badly |
| mischievous | able or tending to cause annoyance, trouble, or minor injury |
| miscreant | one who behaves criminally or viciously |
| misdemeanor | a crime less serious than a felony |
| miser | a mean grasping person; especially :one who is extremely stingy with money |
| misfortune | a distressing or unfortunate incident or event |
| misgiving | a feeling of doubt or suspicion especially concerning a future event |
| mishap | an unfortunate accident |
| misnomer | a name wrongly or unsuitably applied to a person or an object |
| misrepresent | to give a false or misleading representation of usually with an intent to deceive or be unfair |
| mite | any of numerous small acarid arachnids that often infest animals, plants, and stored foods and include important disease vectors |
| mitigate | to make less severe or painful:ALLEVIATE |
| mnemonics | a technique of improving the memory |
| mobility | capable of moving or being moved:MOVABLE |
| mockery | a subject of laughter, derision, or sport |
| moderate | to lessen the intensity or extremeness of |
| modicum | a small portion:a limited quantity |
| molar | A tooth with a broad crown used to grind food, located behind the premolars. |
| molding | a decorative plane or curved strip used for ornamentation or finishing |
| mollify | to soothe in temper or disposition:APPEASE |
| mollycoddle | a pampered or effeminate man or boy |
| molt | the act or process of sheding hair, feathers, shell, horns, or an outer layer periodically; specifically :ECDYSIS |
| momentous | IMPORTANT, CONSEQUENTIAL |
| momentum | a property of a moving body that the body has by virtue of its mass and motion and that is equal to the product of the body's mass and velocity |
| monochromatic | having or consisting of one color or hue |
| monocle | an eyeglass for one eye |
| monopolize | to get a monopoly of:assume complete possession or control of |
| monotone | having the property either of never increasing or of never decreasing as the values of the independent variable or the subscripts of the terms increase :MONOTONIC |
| montage | the production of a rapid succession of images in a motion picture to illustrate an association of ideas |
| morass | something that traps, confuses, or impedes |
| moratorium | a suspension of an ongoing or planned activity |
| morbid | abnormally susceptible to or characterized by gloomy or unwholesome feelings |
| mordant | biting and caustic in thought, manner, or style:INCISIVE |
| moribund | being in the state of dying:approaching death |
| morose | having a sullen and gloomy disposition |
| mortar | a strong vessel in which material is pounded or rubbed with a pestle |
| mosque | a building used for public worship by Muslims |
| mosquito | any of a family (Culicidae) of dipteran flies with females that have a set of slender organs in the proboscis adapted to puncture the skin of animals and to suck their blood and that are in some cases vectors of serious diseases |
| motile | exhibiting or capable of movement |
| motivate | to provide with a motive:IMPEL |
| motley | variegated in colorcomposed of diverse often incongruous elements |
| mottle | to mark with spots or blotches of different color or shades of color as if stained |
| mournful | causing sorrow or melancholy:GLOOMY |
| movement | a distinct structural unit or division having its own key, rhythmic structure, and themes and forming part of an extended musical composition |
| muddy | lacking in clarity or brightness:CLOUDY, DULL |
| muffle | to wrap or pad with something to dull the sound |
| mulish | unreasonably and inflexibly obstinate |
| mumble | to utter with a low inarticulate voice |
| mundane | characterized by the practical, transitory, and ordinary:COMMONPLACE |
| municipality | a primarily urban political unit having corporate status and usually powers of self-government |
| munificent | characterized by great liberality or generosity miser:munificent:zealot:blase ?>M:???:???:?????9????????: |
| mural | a mural work of art (as a painting) |
| murky | characterized by a heavy dimness or obscurity caused by or like that caused by overhanging fog or smoke |
| murmur | a low indistinct but often continuous sound |
| mute | to muffle, reduce, or eliminate the sound of |
| myopic | a lack of foresight or discernment:a narrow view of something |
| myriad | having innumerable aspects or elements |
| nadir | the lowest point |
| nag | to irritate by constant scolding or urging |
| naive | deficient in worldly wisdom or informed judgment; especially :CREDULOUS |
| narcissism | love of or sexual desire for one's own body |
| nascent | coming or having recently come into existence |
| natty | trimly neat and tidy:SMART |
| nauseate | to feel disgust |
| naysayer | one who denies, refuses, opposes, or is skeptical or cynical about something |
| nebulous | INDISTINCT, VAGUE |
| needy | being in want:POVERTY-STRICKEN |
| nefarious | flagrantly wicked or impious:EVIL |
| negotiate | to confer with another so as to arrive at the settlement of some matter |
| neophyte | a new convert:PROSELYTE |
| nepotism | favoritism (as in appointment to a job) based on kinship |
| nerve | to give strength or courage to:supply with physical or moral force |
| nettle | to arouse to sharp but transitory annoyance or anger imputable:nettle ????,????,????:?> |
| neutralize | to counteract the activity or effect of:make ineffective |
| nibble | to eat or chew in small bits |
| nip | to take liquor in nips:TIPPLE |
| nitpicking | minute and usually unjustified criticism |
| nocturnal | of, relating to, or occurring in the night |
| noisome | offensive to the senses and especially to the sense of smell |
| nomad | a member of a people who have no fixed residence but move from place to place usually seasonally and within a well-defined territory |
| nominal | TRIFLING, INSIGNIFICANT |
| nonchalant | having an air of easy unconcern or indifference |
| nondescript | lacking distinctive or interesting qualities:DULL, DRAB |
| nonentity | a person of little consequence or significance |
| nonflammable | not flammable; specifically :not easily ignited and not burning rapidly if ignited |
| nonplus | a state of bafflement or perplexity:QUANDARY |
| nonsense | words or language having no meaning or conveying no intelligible ideas |
| notch | to cut or make a notch in |
| novelty | something new or unusual |
| noxious | physically harmful or destructive to living beings |
| nuance | a subtle distinction or variation |
| nucleate | to form into a nucleus:CLUSTER |
| nudge | to touch or push gently; especially :to seek the attention of by a push of the elbow |
| nurture | to supply with nourishment EDUCATE |
| oafish | a stupid person:BOOB |
| oasis | a fertile or green area in an arid region (as a desert) |
| obdurate | resistant to persuasion or softening influences |
| obedient | submissive to the restraint or command of authority:willing to obey |
| obeisance | 1. a movement of the body made in token of respect or submission:BOW 2. a movement of the body made in token of respect or submission:BOW |
| obfuscate | to make obscure |
| obituary | a notice of a person's death usually with a short biographical account |
| obligatory | binding in law or conscience |
| oblige | to do a favor for |
| obliging | willing to do favors:ACCOMMODATING |
| oblique | not straightforward:INDIRECT; also :OBSCURE |
| obliterate | to remove from existence:destroy utterly all trace, indication, or significance of |
| oblivious | lacking remembrance, memory, or mindful attention |
| obloquy | Abusively detractive language or utterance; calumny |
| obscure | not clearly seen or easily distinguished:FAINT |
| obsequious | marked by or exhibiting a fawning attentiveness |
| observatory | a building or place given over to or equipped for observation of natural phenomena (as in astronomy); |
| obsess | to haunt or excessively preoccupy the mind of |
| obsolete | of a kind or style no longer current |
| obstacle | something that impedes progress or achievement |
| obstinate | adj. perversely adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course in spite of reason, arguments, or persuasion |
| obstreperous | marked by unruly or aggressive noisiness:CLAMOROUS |
| obstruct | to hinder from passage, action, or operation |
| obtuse | lacking sharpness or quickness of sensibility or intellect |
| obviate | to anticipate and prevent (as a situation) or make unnecessary (as an action) |
| occlude | to close up or block off:OBSTRUCT |
| occult | not easily apprehended or understood:ABSTRUSE, MYSTERIOUS |
| occurrence | something that occurs |
| ode | a lyric poem usually marked by exaltation of feeling and style, varying length of line, and complexity of stanza forms |
| odious | exciting or deserving hatred or repugnance |
| offbeat | eccentric, unconventional |
| offend | to cause dislike, anger, or vexation |
| offhand | without premeditation or preparation:EXTEMPORE |
| officious | volunteering one's services where they are neither asked nor needed:MEDDLESOME |
| offish | somewhat cold and reserved:STANDOFFISH |
| ominous | being or exhibiting an omen : PORTENTOUS; especially : foreboding or foreshowing evil : INAUSPICIOUS |
| omniscient | having infinite awareness, understanding, and insight |
| opaque | exhibiting opacity:blocking the passage of radiant energy and especially light |
| opera | a drama set to music and made up of vocal pieces with orchestral accompaniment and orchestral overtures and interludes; specifically :GRAND OPERA |
| opine | to express opinions |
| opportune | suitable or convenient for a particular occurrence |
| oppose | to place over against something so as to provide resistance, counterbalance, or contrast |
| oppression | unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power |
| opprobrious | expressive of opprobrium:SCURRILOUS |
| optimization | an act, process, or methodology of making something (as a design, system, or decision) as fully perfect, functional, or effective as possible; |
| opulent | amply or plentifully provided or fashioned often to the point of ostentation |
| oracle | a person (as a priestess of ancient Greece) through whom a deity is believed to speak |
| oration | an elaborate discourse delivered in a formal and dignified manner |
| orchestra | a group of musicians including especially string players organized to perform ensemble music |
| orient | get one's bearings; adjust |
| original | not secondary, derivative, or imitative |
| ornithology | a branch of zoology dealing with birds |
| orthodoxy | the quality or state of being conforming to established doctrine especially in religion |
| oscillate | to swing backward and forward like a pendulum |
| ossify | to become hardened or conventional and opposed to change |
| ostentatious | marked by or fond of conspicuous or vainglorious and sometimes pretentious display |
| ostracism | exclusion by general consent from common privileges or social acceptance |
| oust | to remove from or dispossess of property or position by legal action, by force, or by the compulsion of necessity |
| outgoing | openly friendly and responsive:EXTROVERTED |
| outmaneuver | to maneuver with better effect than; outwit |
| outmoded | no longer acceptable, current, or usable |
| outwit | to get the better of by superior cleverness:OUTSMART |
| overbearing | harshly and haughtily arrogant |
| overdose | too great a dose (as of a therapeutic agent) |
| overexposure | to expose excessively; especially:to expose (as film) to excessive radiation (as light) |
| overlap | to occupy the same area in part:lap over |
| oversee | INSPECT, EXAMINE |
| overt | open to view:MANIFEST |
| overture | something introductory:PRELUDE |
| overwhelm | to make helpless, as with greater force or deep emotion; overcome; crush; overpower |
| overwrought | extremely excited:AGITATED |
| oxymoron | a combination of contradictory or incongruous words |
| pachyderm | any of various nonruminant hoofed mammals (as an elephant, a rhinoceros, or a pig) most of which have a thick skin |
| pacify | to allay the anger or agitation of:SOOTHE |
| pack | a group of often predatory animals of the same kind |
| pact | COMPACT; especially:an international treaty |
| padding | material with which something is padded |
| paean | a joyous song or hymn of praise, tribute, thanksgiving, or triumph; broadly |
| painstaking | taking pains:expending, showing, or involving diligent care and effort |
| palatable | agreeable to the palate or taste |
| palatial | of, relating to, or being a palace |
| palette | a particular range, quality, or use of color |
| pall | to lose in interest or attraction |
| palliate | to reduce the violence of (a disease) |
| pallid | Having an abnormally pale or wan complexion |
| pallor | (n.) lack of facial color |
| palmy | marked by prosperity |
| palpable | easily perceived by the senses; audible, recognizable, perceptible, noticeable, etc. |
| palter | to act insincerely or deceitfully |
| paltry | practically worthless; trifling; insignificant; contemptible; petty |
| pan | to criticize unfavorably, as in reviewing |
| panache | dash or flamboyance in style and action |
| Pandemonium | Wild uproar or noise |
| pander | to act as a pander; especially:to provide gratification for others' desires |
| panegyric | a eulogistic oration or writing; also:formal or elaborate praise |
| panorama | comprehensive view; unobstructed view in all directions |
| panoramic | an unobstructed or complete view of an area in every direction |
| pantechnicon | a furniture van |
| pantry | a room (as in a hotel or hospital) for preparation of foods on order |
| parable | EXAMPLE; specifically:a usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle |
| paradigm | EXAMPLE, PATTERN; especially :an outstandingly clear or typical example or archetype |
| paradise | a place or state of bliss, felicity, or delight |
| paradox | a statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true |
| paragon | a model of excellence or perfection |
| parallel | extending in the same direction, everywhere equidistant, and not meeting |
| paramount | superior to all others |
| paranoia | a tendency on the part of an individual or group toward excessive or irrational suspiciousness and distrustfulness of others |
| paraphrase | to make a restatement of a text, passage, or work giving the meaning in another form |
| parch | to dry or shrivel with cold |
| pariah | a member of a low caste of southern India |
| parity | the quality or state of being equal or equivalent |
| parlance | manner or mode of speech |
| parochial | restricted to a small area or scope; narrow; limited; provincial |
| parody | a literary or musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule; a poor or weak imitation |
| paroxysm | a sudden violent emotion or action : OUTBURST |
| parquetry | inlaid woodwork in geometric forms, usually of contrasting woods, used esp. in flooring |
| parrot | to repeat by rote |
| parry | to evade especially by an adroit answer |
| parse | to resolve (as a sentence) into component parts of speech and describe them grammatically |
| parsimony | a tendency to be over-careful in spending; unreasonable economy; stinginess |
| partial | inclined to favor one party more than the other:BIASED |
| partiality | inclination; bias |
| particularize | to state in detail |
| partisan | a firm adherent to a party, faction, cause, or person; especially:one exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance |
| passionate | capable of, affected by, or expressing intense feeling |
| pastiche | a literary, artistic, musical, or architectural work that imitates the style of previous work; |
| patent | readily visible or intelligible:OBVIOUS |
| pathology | something abnormal,deviation from propriety or from an assumed normal state of something nonliving or nonmaterial |
| patina | a superficial covering or exterior |
| patrician | a person of high birth:ARISTOCRAT |
| patriot | one who loves his or her country and supports its authority and interests |
| patronize | to be kind or helpful to, but in a haughty or snobbish way, as if dealing with an inferior |
| paucity | smallness of number:FEWNESS |
| paunchy | having an enlarged, swollen, or protruding abdomen |
| pauper | a person destitute of means except such as are derived from charity; specifically :one who receives aid from funds designated for the poor |
| pebble | a small usually rounded stone especially when worn by the action of water |
| peccadillo | a slight offense |
| pedagogue | TEACHER, SCHOOLMASTER; especially :a dull, formal, or pedantic teacher |
| pedant | one who makes a show of knowledge |
| pedestrian | COMMONPLACE, UNIMAGINATIVE |
| peep | to utter the slightest sound |
| peerless | MATCHLESS, INCOMPARABLE |
| peeve | to make peevish or resentful:ANNOY |
| pejorative | having negative connotations; especially :tending to disparage or belittle:DEPRECIATORY |
| pelf | Wealth or riches, especially when dishonestly acquired |
| pellucid | easy to understand |
| pen | a female swan |
| penalty | the suffering in person, rights, or property that is annexed by law or judicial decision to the commission of a crime or public offense |
| penchant | a strong and continued inclination; broadly :LIKING |
| penetrate | to enter by overcoming resistance:PIERCE |
| penitent | feeling or expressing humble or regretful pain or sorrow for sins or offenses:REPENTANT |
| pensive | musingly or dreamily thoughtful |
| penury | a cramping and oppressive lack of resources (as money); especially :severe poverty |
| perceptible | capable of being perceived especially by the senses |
| peremptory | characterized by often imperious or arrogant self-assurance |
| perfervid | marked by overwrought or exaggerated emotion : excessively fervent |
| perfidy | the quality or state of being faithless or disloyal:TREACHERY |
| perforate | to make a hole through; especially :to make a line of holes in to facilitate separation |
| perfunctorily | lacking in interest or enthusiasm |
| perimeter | the boundary of a closed plane figure |
| peripatetic | moving or traveling from place to place:ITINERANT |
| peripheral | of, relating to, involving, or forming a periphery or surface part |
| perjury | the voluntary violation of an oath or vow either by swearing to what is untrue or by omission to do what has been promised under oath:false swearing perjury:deposition |
| permanence | the quality or state of being permanent:DURABILITY |
| permeable | capable of being permeated:PENETRABLE; especially :having pores or openings that permit liquids or gases to pass through |
| pernicious | highly injurious or destructive:DEADLY |
| perpetual | continuing forever:EVERLASTING |
| persecute | to come to mind continually; obsess: |
| persevere | to persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement |
| persiflage | to provide with an incentive; move to action; impel |
| personable | pleasant or amiable in person:ATTRACTIVE |
| perspective | an optical glass (as a telescope) |
| perspicacious | of acute mental vision or discernment:KEEN |
| perspicuity | plain to the understanding especially because of clarity and precision of presentation |
| pertinacious | stubbornly unyielding or tenacious |
| pertinent | having a clear decisive relevance to the matter in hand |
| perturb | to disturb greatly in mind:DISQUIET |
| peruse | to examine or consider with attention and in detail:STUDY |
| pervade | to become diffused throughout every part of suffuse |
| pessimism | an inclination to emphasize adverse aspects, conditions, and possibilities or to expect the worst possible outcome |
| pesticide | an agent used to destroy pests |
| pestle | a usually club-shaped implement for pounding or grinding substances in a mortar |
| petition | to make a request to:SOLICIT |
| petrography | the description and systematic classification of rocks |
| petty | having secondary rank or importance : MINOR, SUBORDINATE |
| petulance | the quality or state of being petulant:PEEVISHNESS |
| phenomenal | EXTRAORDINARY, REMARKABLE |
| philanthropic | of, relating to, or characterized by philanthropy:HUMANITARIAN |
| Philistine | a person who is guided by materialism and is usually disdainful of intellectual or artistic values |
| phlegmatic | having or showing a slow and stolid temperament |
| piddling | TRIVIAL, PALTRY |
| piebald | of different colors; especially : spotted or blotched with black and white |
| pigment | a coloring matter in animals and plants especially in a cell or tissue; |
| pilfer | STEAL; especially :to steal stealthily in small amounts and often again and again |
| pillar | a firm upright support for a superstructure:POST |
| pillory | to expose to public contempt, ridicule, or scorn |
| pilot | one employed to steer a ship:HELMSMAN |
| pine | to yearn intensely and persistently especially for something unattainable |
| pinnacle | an upright architectural member generally ending in a small spire and used especially in Gothic construction to give weight especially to a buttress |
| pinpoint | to locate or aim with great precision |
| piquant | agreeably stimulating to the palate; especially :SPICY |
| pithy | having substance and point:tersely cogent |
| pitiless | devoid of pity:MERCILESS |
| pittance | a small portion, amount, or allowance; also :a meager wage or remuneration |
| placate | to soothe or mollify especially by concessions:APPEASE |
| placebo | an inert or innocuous substance used especially in controlled experiments testing the efficacy of another substance (as a drug) |
| plagiarize | to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own:use (another's production) without crediting the source |
| plangent | having a loud reverberating sound |
| plantation | a usually large group of plants and especially trees under cultivation |
| plateau | a region of little or no change in a graphic representation |
| platitude | a banal, trite, or stale remark |
| platonic | purely spiritual; theoretical; without sensual desire |
| plaudit | An expression of applause. |
| plausible | superficially fair, reasonable, or valuable but often specious |
| pleat | FOLD; especially :to arrange in pleats |
| plethora | EXCESS, SUPERFLUITY; also :PROFUSION, ABUNDANCE |
| pliable | a. supple enough to bend freely or repeatedly without breaking b. Easily influenced, persuaded, or swayed; tractable. |
| pliant | easily influenced:YIELDING |
| plight | to put or give in pledge:ENGAGE |
| plodding | working laboriously and monotonously:DRUDGE |
| plot | 1. a secret plan for accomplishing a usually evil or unlawful end:INTRIGUE 2. the plan or main story of a literary work |
| pluck | 1. to play by sounding the strings with the fingers or a pick 2. courageous readiness to fight or continue against odds:dogged resolution |
| plumage | the feathers of a bird |
| plumb | to measure the depth of with a plumb |
| plummet | to drop sharply and abruptly |
| plump | having a full rounded usually pleasing form a plump woman |
| plurality | A majority. |
| polarize | to break up into opposing factions or groupings |
| polemic | the art or practice of disputation or controversy |
| polished | highly developed, finished, or refined PERFECT |
| politic | characterized by shrewdness in managing, contriving, or dealing |
| pollster | one that conducts a poll or compiles data obtained by a poll |
| pompous | having or exhibiting self-importance:ARROGANT |
| ponderable | significant enough to be worth considering:APPRECIABLE |
| ponderous | of very great weight |
| pontificate | to speak or express opinions in a pompous or dogmatic way |
| porcelain | a hard, fine-grained, sonorous, nonporous, and usually translucent and white ceramic ware that consists essentially of kaolin, quartz, and feldspar and is fired at high temperatures |
| pore | a minute opening especially in an animal or plant; especially :one by which matter passes through a membrane |
| porous | capable of being penetrated |
| portentous | eliciting amazement or wonder:PRODIGIOUS |
| portrait | PICTURE; especially :a pictorial representation (as a painting) of a person usually showing the face |
| poseur | a person who pretends to be what he or she is not:an affected or insincere person |
| posit | to assume or affirm the existence of:POSTULATE |
| posterity | the offspring of one progenitor to the furthest generation |
| postscript | a note or series of notes appended to a completed letter, article, or book |
| postulate | to assume or claim as true, existent, or necessary:depend upon or start from the postulate of |
| posture | to assume an artificial or pretended attitude:ATTITUDINIZE |
| pot | an enclosed framework of wire, wood, or wicker for catching fish or lobsters |
| potable | suitable for drinking |
| potboiler | a literary or artistic work of poor quality, producedquickly for profit |
| potentate | RULER, SOVEREIGN; broadly:one who wields great power or sway |
| potentiate | to make effective or active or more effective or more active; also:to augment the activity of (as a drug) synergistically |
| pout | to show displeasure by thrusting out the lips or wearing a sullen expression |
| prairie | a large area of level or rolling land in the Mississippi valley that in its natural uncultivated state usually has deep fertile soil, a cover of tall coarse grasses, and few trees |
| prate | to talk long and idly:CHATTER |
| preach | to deliver a sermon |
| precarious | characterized by a lack of security or stability that threatens with danger |
| precedent | prior in time, order, arrangement, or significance |
| precipice | a very steep or overhanging place; dangerous position:CLIFF |
| precipitate | to bring about especially abruptly |
| precipitation | something precipitated:as a deposit on the earth of hail, mist, rain, sleet, or snow |
| precipitous | very steep, perpendicular, or overhanging in rise or fall |
| preclude | To make impossible, as by action taken in advance; prevent |
| precursor | one that precedes and indicates the approach of another |
| predecessor | one that precedes; especially:a person who has previously occupied a position or office to which another has succeeded |
| preeminent | having paramount rank, dignity, or importance:OUTSTANDING |
| preempt | to replace with something considered to be of greater value or priority:take precedence over |
| preen | to dress or smooth (oneself) up:PRIMP |
| preface | the introductory remarks of a speaker or author |
| pregnant | abounding in fancy, wit, or resourcefulness:INVENTIVE |
| prejudice | an adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts. |
| preliminary | coming before and usually forming a necessary prelude to something else |
| premeditated | characterized by fully conscious willful intent and a measure of forethought and planning |
| preponderant | having superior weight, force, or influence |
| prepossessing | tending to create a favorable impression:ATTRACTIVE |
| preposterous | contrary to nature, reason, or common sense:ABSURD |
| presage | FORETELL, PREDICT |
| prescience | foreknowledge of events:a:divine omniscience b:human anticipation of the course of events:FORESIGHT |
| prescription | a written direction for a therapeutic or corrective agent; specifically:one for the preparation and use of a medicine |
| presentiment | a feeling that something will or is about to happen:PREMONITION |
| preservative | something that preserves or has the power of preserving; specifically:an additive used to protect against decay, discoloration, or spoilage |
| prestige | standing or estimation in the eyes of people:weight or credit in general opinion |
| presumptuous | overstepping due bounds (as of propriety or courtesy):taking liberties |
| pretense | an inadequate or insincere attempt to attain a certain condition or quality |
| prevail | to gain ascendancy through strength or superiority:TRIUMPH |
| prevalent | generally or widely accepted, practiced, or favored:WIDESPREAD |
| prevaricate | to deviate from the truth:EQUIVOCATE |
| prime | the earliest stage |
| primordial | existing in or persisting from the beginning |
| primp | to dress, adorn, or arrange in a careful or finicky manner |
| principal | most important, consequential, or influential:CHIEF |
| prissy | being prim and precise:FINICKY |
| pristine | not spoiled, corrupted, or polluted (as by civilization):PURE |
| privation | the state of being deprived; especially : lack of what is needed for existence |
| privilege | a right or immunity granted as a peculiar benefit, advantage, or favor:PREROGATIVE; especially :such a right or immunity attached specifically to a position or an office |
| probe | to make a searching exploratory investigation |
| probity | adherence to the highest principles and ideals:UPRIGHTNESS |
| proclivity | A natural propensity or inclination; predisposition |
| procrastinate | to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done |
| procure | to get possession of:obtain by particular care and effort |
| prod | to incite to action:STIR |
| prodigal | characterized by wasteful expenditure:LAVISH |
| prodigy | an extraordinary, marvelous, or unusual accomplishment, deed, or event |
| profane | to treat (something sacred) with abuse, irreverence, or contempt:DESECRATE |
| proffer | to present for acceptance:TENDER, OFFER |
| proficient | having or marked by an advanced degree of competence, as in an art, vocation, profession, or branch of learning |
| profligate | wildly extravagant:PRODIGAL |
| profusion | great quantity:lavish display or supply |
| proliferate | to increase in number as if by proliferating:MULTIPLY |
| prolix | marked by or using an excess of words |
| prolong | to lengthen in extent, scope, or range |
| prominent | readily noticeable:CONSPICUOUS |
| promote | to contribute to the growth or prosperity of:FURTHER |
| propagate | to cause to spread out and affect a greater number or greater area:EXTEND |
| propensity | an often intense natural inclination or preference |
| prophetic | foretelling events:PREDICTIVE |
| propitiate | to gain or regain the favor or goodwill of:APPEASE, CONCILIATE |
| propitious | favorably disposed:BENEVOLENT |
| proposal | an act of putting forward or stating something for consideration |
| prosaic | DULL, UNIMAGINATIVE,EVERYDAY, ORDINARY |
| proscribe | to condemn or forbid as harmful or unlawful:PROHIBIT |
| prosecution | the act or process of prosecuting; specifically:the institution and continuance of a criminal suit involving the process of pursuing formal charges against an offender to final judgment |
| proselytize | to recruit or convert especially to a new faith, institution, or cause |
| prospect | to search for or explore (a region) for mineral deposits or oil. |
| prosperous | enjoying vigorous and healthy growth:FLOURISHING |
| prostrate | stretched out with face on the ground in adoration or submission; also:lying flat |
| protean | displaying great diversity or variety:VERSATILE |
| protest | to execute or have executed a formal protest against (as a bill or note) |
| protocol | a code prescribing strict adherence to correct etiquette and precedence |
| protract | to prolong in time or space:CONTINUE |
| protuberant | thrusting out from a surrounding or adjacent surface often as a rounded mass:PROMINENT |
| provident | FRUGAL, SAVING |
| providential | Happening as if through divine intervention; opportune. |
| provincial | limited in outlook:NARROW |
| provisional | serving for the time being:TEMPORARY |
| provisory | containing or subject to a proviso:CONDITIONAL |
| provoke | to call forth (as a feeling or action):EVOKE |
| prowess | distinguished bravery; especially:military valor and skill |
| prowl | to move about or wander stealthily in or as if in search of prey |
| prude | a person who is excessively or priggishly attentive to propriety or decorum; especially :a woman who shows or affects extreme modesty |
| prudent | marked by circumspection:DISCREET |
| prudish | marked by prudery:PRIGGISH |
| prune | a plum dried or capable of drying without fermentation |
| pry | to look closely or inquisitively; also:to make a nosy or presumptuous inquiry |
| psychology | the study of mind and behavior in relation to a particular field of knowledge or activity |
| pucker | to contract into folds or wrinkles |
| puckish | IMPISH, WHIMSICAL |
| puerile | CHILDISH, SILLY |
| puissance | Power; might |
| pulchritude | physical comeliness |
| pullet | a young hen; specifically:a hen of the domestic chicken less than a year old |
| pulverize | to reduce (as by crushing, beating, or grinding) to very small particles:ATOMIZE |
| pun | a joke using words with similar sounds or two different meanings: |
| punch | the sentence, statement, or phrase (as in a joke) that makes the point |
| punctilious | marked by or concerned about precise accordance with the details of codes or conventions |
| pundit | one who gives opinions in an authoritative manner:PANDIT, CRITIC |
| pungent | causing a sharp or irritating sensation; especially:ACRID |
| puny | slight or inferior in power, size, or importance:WEAK |
| purgatory | an intermediate state after death for expiatory purification; spec.:a place or state of punishment wherein according to Roman Catholic doctrine the souls of those who die in God's grace may make satisfaction for past sins and so become fit for heave |
| purity | the quality or state of being pure |
| purlieu | a frequently visited place:HAUNT |
| purloin | to appropriate wrongfully and often by a breach of trust |
| pursue | to follow in order to overtake, capture, kill, or defeat |
| purvey | to supply (as provisions) usually as a matter of business |
| pusillanimous | lacking courage and resolution:marked by contemptible timidity |
| quaff | to drink (a beverage) deeply |
| quail | to recoil in dread or terror:COWER |
| quaint | unusual or different in character or appearance:ODD |
| qualified | limited or modified in some way |
| quandary | a state of perplexity or doubt |
| quarantine | to isolate from normal relations or communication |
| quarry | 1. one that is sought or pursued:PREY 2. an open excavation usually for obtaining building stone, slate, or limestone |
| quash | to suppress or extinguish summarily and completely |
| quell | to thoroughly overwhelm and reduce to submission or passivity |
| quench | to cool (as heated metal) suddenly by immersion (as in oil or water) |
| querulous | habitually complaining |
| queue | a waiting line especially of persons or vehicles |
| quibble | to evade the point of an argument by caviling about words |
| quiescent | marked by inactivity or repose:tranquilly at rest |
| quip | a witty or funny observation or response usually made on the spur of the moment |
| quixotic | foolishly impractical especially in the pursuit of ideals; especially :marked by rash lofty romantic ideas or extravagantly chivalrous action |
| quota | a proportional part or share; especially :the share or proportion assigned to each in a division or to each member of a body |
| quotidian | COMMONPLACE, ORDINARY |
| rabble | a disorganized or disorderly crowd of people:MOB |
| rabid | extremely violent:FURIOUS |
| racketeer | one who obtains money by an illegal enterprise usually involving intimidation |
| raconteur | a person who excels in telling anecdotes |
| racy | having a strongly marked quality:PIQUANT |
| raffish | marked by or suggestive of flashy vulgarity or crudeness |
| raffle | a lottery in which the prize is won by one of numerous persons buying chances |
| rafter | any of the parallel beams that support a roof |
| rage | violent and uncontrolled anger |
| ragged | torn or worn to tatters |
| ragtime | rhythm characterized by strong syncopation in the melody with a regularly accented accompaniment |
| rail | to revile or scold in harsh, insolent, or abusive language |
| raisin | a grape of any of several varieties that has been dried in the sun or by artificial heat |
| rakish | of, relating to, or characteristic of a rake : DISSOLUTE |
| ramble | to move aimlessly from place to place |
| rambunctious | marked by uncontrollable exuberance:UNRULY |
| rampart | a protective barrier:BULWARK |
| ramshackle | appearing ready to collapse:RICKETY |
| rancid | offensive in odor or flavor:RANK |
| rancor | bitter deep-seated ill will |
| range | a series of mountains |
| ranger | the keeper of a British royal park or forest |
| rank | offensive in odor or flavor; especially :RANCID |
| rankle | to cause anger, irritation, or deep bitterness |
| rant | to scold vehemently |
| rapacious | excessively grasping or covetous |
| rapport | RELATION; especially :relation marked by harmony, conformity, accord, or affinity |
| rapprochement | establishment of or state of having cordial relations |
| rapscallion | RASCAL, NE'ER-DO-WELL |
| rapt | wholly absorbed: ENGROSSED |
| rash | marked by or proceeding from undue haste or lack of deliberation or caution |
| raspy | HARSH, GRATING |
| ratify | to approve and sanction formally:CONFIRM |
| ratiocination | the process of exact thinking:REASONING |
| ration | a food allowance for one day |
| rationalize | to provide plausible but untrue reasons for conduct |
| raucous | disagreeably harsh or strident:HOARSE |
| rave | an extravagantly favorable criticism |
| ravel | to separate or undo the texture of:UNRAVEL |
| ravenous | very eager or greedy for food, satisfaction, or gratification |
| raze | to destroy to the ground:DEMOLISH |
| reactant | a substance that enters into and is altered in the course of a chemical reaction |
| reactionary | relating to, marked by, or favoring reaction; especially :ultraconservative in politics |
| ream | a quantity of paper being 20 quires or variously 480, 500, or 516 sheets |
| reap | to gather by reaping:HARVEST |
| reaper | one who harvests grain |
| reassure | to restore to confidence |
| rebuff | to reject or criticize sharply:SNUB |
| rebus | a representation of words or syllables by pictures of objects or by symbols whose names resemble the intended words or syllables in sound; also :a riddle made up of such pictures or symbols |
| recalcitrant | obstinately defiant of authority or restraint |
| recant | to withdraw or repudiate (a statement or belief) formally and publicly:RENOUNCE |
| recapitulate | to repeat the principal points or stages of : SUMMARIZE |
| recessive | producing little or no phenotypic effect when occurring in heterozygous condition with a contrasting allele |
| recidivism | a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior; especially :relapse into criminal behavior |
| reciprocate | to move forward and backward alternately |
| reckless | marked by lack of proper caution:careless of consequences |
| recluse | a person who leads a secluded or solitary life |
| recoil | to fall back under pressure |
| reconcile | to make consistent or congruous |
| recondite | difficult or impossible for one of ordinary understanding or knowledge to comprehend:DEEP |
| reconnaissance | a preliminary survey to gain information; especially :an exploratory military survey of enemy territory |
| reconnoiter | To make a preliminary examination of for military, surveying, or geological purposes. |
| reconstitute | to constitute again or anew; especially :to restore to a former condition by adding water |
| rectify | to correct by removing errors:ADJUST |
| rectitude | moral integrity:RIGHTEOUSNESS |
| recuperate | to regain a former state or condition; especially :to recover health or strength |
| redolent | exuding fragrance:AROMATIC |
| redoubtable | ILLUSTRIOUS, EMINENT; broadly :worthy of respect |
| redress | to set right:REMEDY |
| redundant | exceeding what is necessary or normal:SUPERFLUOUS |
| reel | a revolvable device on which something flexible is wound |
| refinery | a building and equipment for refining or processing (as oil or sugar) |
| reflective | marked by reflection:THOUGHTFUL, DELIBERATIVE |
| refractory | resisting control or authority:STUBBORN, UNMANAGEABLE |
| refresh | to restore strength and animation to:REVIVE |
| refugee | one that flees; especially :a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution |
| refulgent | a radiant or resplendent quality or state:BRILLIANCE |
| refute | to prove wrong by argument or evidence:show to be false or erroneous |
| regard | a feeling of respect and affection:ESTEEM |
| regenerate | restored to a better, higher, or more worthy state |
| regime | a government in power |
| regimen | a systematic plan (as of diet, therapy, or medication) especially when designed to improve and maintain the health of a patient |
| regress | to tend to approach or revert to a mean |
| regression | A going back; a withdrawing or returning; (opposite of progression) |
| rehabilitate | to restore to a former state (as of efficiency, good management, or solvency) |
| rehearsal | a private performance or practice session preparatory to a public appearance |
| reign | royal authority:SOVEREIGNTY |
| rein | to check or stop by or as if by a pull at the reins |
| reiterate | to state or do over again or repeatedly sometimes with wearying effect |
| rejoice | to feel joy or great delight |
| relapse | to slip or fall back into a former worse state |
| release | to set free from restraint, confinement, or servitude |
| relentless | showing or promising no abatement of severity, intensity, strength, or pace:UNRELENTING |
| relevant | having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand |
| religion | a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor and faith |
| relinquish | to give over possession or control of:YIELD |
| relish | characteristic flavor; especially :pleasing or zestful flavor |
| reluctant | Unwilling; disinclined: |
| remiss | showing neglect or inattention:LAX |
| remnant | a usually small part, member, or trace remaining |
| remodel | to alter the structure of:REMAKE |
| remonstrance | an earnest presentation of reasons for opposition or grievance; especially :a document formally stating such points |
| remorse | a gnawing distress arising from a sense of guilt for past wrongs:SELF-REPROACH |
| remunerate | to pay an equivalent to for a service, loss, or expense:RECOMPENSE |
| rend | to split or tear apart or in pieces by violence |
| renounce | to give up, refuse, or resign usually by formal declaration |
| renovate | to restore to a former better state (as by cleaning, repairing, or rebuilding) |
| repartee | a succession or interchange of clever retorts:amusing and usually light sparring with words |
| repatriate | to restore or return to the country of origin, allegiance, or citizenship |
| repeal | to rescind or annul by authoritative act; especially :to revoke or abrogate by legislative enactment |
| repel | to drive back:REPULSE |
| repertoire | the complete list or supply of dramas, operas, or musical works available for performance |
| replete | fully or abundantly provided or filled |
| reportage | the act or process of reporting news |
| repose | to take a rest |
| reprehensible | worthy of or deserving reprehension:CULPABLE |
| repressed | characterized by restraint |
| reprieve | to delay the punishment of (as a condemned prisoner) |
| reprimand | to reprove sharply or censure formally usually from a position of authority |
| reprisal | the act or practice in international law of resorting to force short of war in retaliation for damage or loss suffered |
| reproach | an expression of rebuke or disapproval |
| reprobate | 1. to condemn strongly as unworthy, unacceptable, or evil 2. A morally unprincipled person. |
| reproof | criticism for a fault:REBUKE |
| reprove | to scold or correct usually gently or with kindly intent |
| reptile | Any of various cold-blooded, usually egg-laying vertebrates of the class Reptilia, such as a snake, lizard, crocodile, turtle, or dinosaur, having an external covering of scales or horny plates and breathing by means of lungs. |
| repudiate | to refuse to accept; especially :to reject as unauthorized or as having no binding force |
| repugnant | exciting distaste or aversion;inconsistent. |
| repulse | to drive or beat back:REPEL |
| rescind | to make void (as an act) by action of the enacting authority or a superior authority:REPEAL |
| resentment | a feeling of indignant displeasure or persistent ill will at something regarded as a wrong, insult, or injury |
| reserved | restrained in words and actions |
| resign | to give up one's office or position:QUIT |
| resilience | the capability of a strained body to recover its size and shape after deformation caused especially by compressive stress |
| resin | a sticky substance found in some plants |
| resolute | marked by firm determination:RESOLVED |
| resonant | (adj.) resounding; re-echoing |
| resourceful | able to meet situations:capable of devising ways and means |
| respire | BREATHE; specifically :to inhale and exhale air successively |
| respite | A usually short interval of rest or relief. |
| resplendent | shining brilliantly:characterized by a glowing splendor |
| responsive | quick to respond or react appropriately or sympathetically: SENSITIVE |
| restive | marked by impatience:FIDGETY |
| restless | marked by a lack of quiet, repose, or rest |
| restore | to put or bring back into existence or use |
| restrain | to limit, restrict, or keep under control |
| resurgence | a rising again into life, activity, or prominence:RENASCENCE |
| resuscitate | to revive from apparent death or from unconsciousness; also :REVITALIZE |
| retainer | a person attached or owing service to a household; especially :SERVANT |
| retaliate | to repay (as an injury) in kind |
| retard | to slow up especially by preventing or hindering advance or accomplishment:IMPEDE |
| reticent | restrained in expression, presentation, or appearance |
| retinue | a group of retainers or attendants |
| retort | to pay or hurl back:RETURN |
| retouch | to alter (as a photographic negative) to produce a more desirable appearance |
| retract | TAKE BACK, WITHDRAW |
| retreat | the usually forced withdrawal of troops from an enemy or from an advanced position |
| retrench | to cut out:EXCISE |
| retrieve | recover; find and bring in |
| retrograde | going backward; degenerating |
| retrospective | affecting things past:RETROACTIVE |
| revelry | noisy partying or merrymaking |
| revenge | to inflict injury in return for |
| revere | to show devoted deferential honor to:regard as worthy of great honor |
| revise | to make a new, amended, improved, or up-to-date version of |
| revive | to return to consciousness or life:become active or flourishing again |
| revoke | to annul by recalling or taking back:RESCIND |
| revue | a theatrical production consisting typically of brief loosely connected often satirical skits, songs, and dances |
| rewarding | yielding or likely to yield a reward:VALUABLE, SATISFYING |
| ribald | CRUDE, OFFENSIVE |
| rickety | lacking stability or firmness:SHAKY |
| rider | a clause appended to a legislative bill to secure a usually distinct object |
| ridicule | the act of exposing to laughter:DERISION, MOCKERY |
| rife | copiously supplied:ABOUNDING |
| rift | BREACH, ESTRANGEMENT |
| rigid | inflexibly set in opinioncircular:asymmetrical::protean:rigid |
| rigmarole | a set of confused and meaningless statements ; a long and complicated and confusing procedure |
| rile | to make agitated and angry:UPSET |
| riot | to indulge in revelry or wantonness |
| risible | arousing or provoking laughter; especially :LAUGHABLE |
| rite | a prescribed form or manner governing the words or actions for a ceremony |
| rival | one of two or more striving to reach or obtain something that only one can possess |
| rive | to wrench open or tear apart or to pieces:REND |
| riveting | having the power to fix the attention : ENGROSSING, FASCINATING |
| rivulet | a small stream |
| robust | having or exhibiting strength or vigorous health |
| rodent | any of an order (Rodentia) of relatively small gnawing mammals (as a mouse, a squirrel, or a beaver) that have in both jaws a single pair of incisors with a chisel-shaped edge |
| roil | to stir up:DISTURB, DISORDER |
| roister | to engage in noisy revelry:CAROUSE |
| roster | a roll or list of personnel |
| rostrum | a stage for public speaking |
| rosy | characterized by or tending to promote optimism |
| rouse | to stir up:EXCITE |
| rubicund | having a healthy reddish color |
| rudimentary | Being in the earliest stages of development; incipient. |
| rue | to feel penitence, remorse, or regret for |
| ruffian | a brutal person:BULLY |
| ruffle | a strip of fabric gathered or pleated on one edge |
| ruminate | to go over in the mind repeatedly and often casually or slowly ruminate:decidemuseful ;ruminative ;lamentable ;plaintive |
| rumple | FOLD, WRINKLE |
| run | an unbroken course of performances or showings,to be presented or performed for a continuous period of time |
| rupture | breach of peace or concord; specifically :open hostility or war between nations |
| ruse | a crafty stratagem; a subterfuge. |
| rustic | of, relating to, or suitable for the country:RURAL |
| sabbatical | of or relating to the break or change from a normal routine |
| saccharine | overly or sickishly sweet |
| sacrifice | an act of offering to a deity something precious; especially :the killing of a victim on an altar |
| sacrilege | a technical and not necessarily intrinsically outrageous violation (as improper reception of a sacrament) of what is sacred because consecrated to God |
| saddle | to place (an onerous responsibility) on a person or group |
| safeguard | a technical contrivance to prevent accident |
| sagacious | of keen and farsighted penetration and judgment:DISCERNING |
| salient | standing out conspicuously:PROMINENT; especially :of notable significance |
| salmon | a large anadromous salmonid fish (Salmo salar) of the No. Atlantic noted as a game and food fish |
| salubrious | favorable to or promoting health or well-being |
| salutary | producing a beneficial effect:REMEDIAL |
| salutation | an expression of greeting, goodwill, or courtesy by word, gesture, or ceremony |
| salvage | to rescue or save especially from wreckage or ruin |
| salve | an unctuous adhesive substance for application to wounds or sores |
| salvo | a simultaneous discharge of two or more guns in military action or as a salute |
| sanctify | to set apart to a sacred purpose or to religious use:CONSECRATE |
| sanctimonious | affecting piousness:hypocritically devout; also :indicative of affected piousness |
| sanction | to give effective or authoritative approval or consent to |
| sanctuary | a place of refuge and protection |
| sand | to smooth or dress by grinding or rubbing with an abrasive (as sandpaper) |
| sanguine | CONFIDENT, OPTIMISTIC |
| sanitation | the promotion of hygiene and prevention of disease by maintenance of sanitary conditions |
| sap | to weaken or exhaust the energy or vitality of |
| sapient | possessing or expressing great sagacity |
| sapling | a young tree; specifically:one not over four inches in diameter at breast height |
| sarcastic | given to the use of sarcasm:CAUSTIC |
| sartorial | of or relating to a tailor or tailored clothes; broadly :of or relating to clothes |
| satiated | to satisfy (as a need or desire) fully or to excess |
| satire | a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn |
| saturated | full of moisture:made thoroughly wet |
| saturnine | of a gloomy or surly disposition |
| saunter | to walk about in an idle or leisurely manner:STROLL |
| savanna | A flat grassland of tropical or subtropical regions. |
| savory | pleasing to the sense of taste especially by reason of effective seasoning |
| savvy | practical know-how |
| scale | a.an instrument or machine for weighing b.an estimate of the amount of sound lumber in logs or standing timber |
| scalpel | a small straight thin-bladed knife used especially in surgery |
| scan | to read or mark so as to show metrical structure |
| scanty | limited or less than sufficient in degree, quantity, or extent |
| scarce | deficient in quantity or number compared with the demand : not plentiful or abundant |
| scare | to frighten especially suddenly:ALARM |
| scathing | bitterly severe |
| schism | a separation or division into factionsschism:consensus::interruption:continuity |
| scintillating | brilliantly lively, stimulating, or witty |
| scion | DESCENDANT, CHILD |
| scission | a division or split in a group or union:schism |
| scissor | a cutting implement consisting of two blades joined by a swivel pin that allows the cutting edges to be opened and closed |
| scoff | to show contempt by derisive acts or language |
| scooter | child's foot-operated vehicle consisting of a narrow footboard mounted between two wheels tandem with an upright steering handle attached to the front wheel |
| scorch | to dry or shrivel with or as if with intense heat:PARCH |
| score | the copy of a musical composition in written or printed notation |
| scorn | to treat with scorn:reject or dismiss as contemptible or unworthy |
| scour | to rub hard especially with a rough material for cleansing |
| scowl | to contract the brow in an expression of displeasure |
| scrap | discard;to abandon as no longer of enough worth to retain |
| scrappy | quarrelsome;having an aggressive and determined spirit |
| scrawl | to write or draw awkwardly, hastily, or carelessly |
| screw | a nail-shaped or rod-shaped piece with a spiral groove and a slotted or recessed head designed to be inserted into material by rotating |
| scribble | to write hastily or carelessly without regard to legibility or form |
| script | the written text of a stage play, screenplay, or broadcast; specifically :the one used in production or performance |
| scrupulous | having moral integrity:acting in strict regard for what is considered right or proper |
| scrutable | capable of being deciphered:COMPREHENSIBLE |
| scrutiny | a searching study, inquiry, or inspection:EXAMINATION |
| scuff | to scratch, gouge, or wear away the surface of |
| sculptor | an artist who makes sculptures |
| scurrilous | using or given to coarse language |
| scurvy | disgustingly mean or contemptible:DESPICABLE |
| scutter | to move with a clattering, scurrying sound |
| scythe | an implement used for mowing (as grass) and composed of a long curving blade fastened at an angle to a long handle |
| secluded | Removed or remote from others; solitary |
| secrete | to form and give off (a secretion) |
| sedate | to dose with sedatives |
| sedentary | not migratory:SETTLED |
| seduce | to persuade to disobedience or disloyalty |
| sedulous | involving or accomplished with careful perseverance |
| seemly | conventionally proper:DECOROUS |
| seminal | containing or contributing the seeds of later development |
| seminary | A school, especially a theological school for the training of priests, ministers, or rabbis |
| sensation | a mental process (as seeing, hearing, or smelling) due to immediate bodily stimulation often as distinguished from awareness of the |
| sensitive | highly responsive or susceptible |
| sentinel | SENTRY:GUARD, WATCH; especially :a soldier standing guard at a point of passage (as a gate) |
| sepulchral | suited to or suggestive of a sepulchre:FUNEREAL, MORTUARY |
| sequela | A secondary consequence or result |
| sequester | to place (property) in custody especially in sequestration |
| seraph | one of the 6-winged angels standing in the presence of God |
| sere | being dried and withered |
| serendipity | the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for |
| serenity | the quality or state of being shining bright and steady |
| serfdom | a member of a servile feudal class bound to the soil and subject to the will of his lord |
| sermon | a religious discourse delivered in public usually by a clergyman as a part of a worship service |
| serpentine | Of or resembling a serpent, as in form or movement; sinuousserpentine:directness::?? |
| serrate | notched or toothed on the edge; specifically having marginal teeth pointing forward or toward the apex |
| serried | crowded or pressed together:COMPACT |
| servile | meanly or cravenly submissive:ABJECT |
| severe | rigorous in restraint, punishment, or requirement:STRINGENT, RESTRICTIVE |
| shackle | to deprive of freedom especially of action by means of restrictions or handicaps:IMPEDE |
| shadow | to follow especially secretly:TRAIL |
| shaft | arrow or spear/smth long and narrow |
| shale | a fissile rock that is formed by the consolidation of clay, mud, or silt, has a finely stratified or laminated structure, and is composed of minerals essentially unaltered since deposition |
| sham | an imitation or counterfeit purporting to be genuine |
| shard | fragments of pottery vessels found on sites and in refuse deposits where pottery-making peoples have lived |
| shelter | to constitute or provide a shelter for:PROTECT |
| shiftless | lacking in ambition or incentive:LAZY |
| shirk | to evade the performance of an obligation |
| shopworn | stale from excessive use or familiarity |
| shrewd | marked by clever discerning awareness and hardheaded acumen |
| shrink | to recoil instinctively |
| shrug | to raise or draw in the shoulders especially to express aloofness, indifference, or uncertainty |
| shun | to avoid deliberately and especially habitually |
| shunt | to switch (as a train) from one track to another |
| shuttle | to cause to move or travel back and forth frequently |
| sidereal | of, relating to, or expressed in relation to stars or constellations:ASTRAL |
| signal | distinguished from the ordinary |
| simpleton | a person lacking in common sense |
| simulate | to give or assume the appearance or effect of often with the intent to deceive:IMITATE |
| sin | an offense against religious or moral law |
| sincere | free of dissimulation:HONEST |
| sinecure | an office or position that requires little or no work and that usually provides an income |
| sinew | solid resilient strength:POWER |
| singe | to burn superficially or lightly:SCORCH; especially :to remove the hair, down, or fuzz from usually by passing rapidly over a flame |
| singular | distinguished by superiority:EXCEPTIONAL |
| sinister | singularly evil or productive of evil |
| sinuous | of a serpentine or wavy form:WINDING |
| sip | to drink in small quantities |
| siren | One of a group of sea nymphs who by their sweet singing lured mariners to destruction on the rocks surrounding their island. |
| skeptic | a person disposed to skepticism especially regarding religion or religious principles |
| sketchy | wanting in completeness, clearness, or substance:SLIGHT, SUPERFICIAL |
| skimpy | deficient in supply or execution especially through skimping:SCANTY |
| skirt | to avoid especially because of difficulty or fear of controversy |
| skit | a brief burlesque or comic sketch included in a dramatic performance (as a revue) |
| skittish | easily frightened:RESTIVE |
| slake | SATISFY, QUENCH |
| slant | to present so as to conform to a particular bias or appeal to a certain audience |
| slate | a list of candidates for nomination or election |
| slew | a large number |
| slight | 1. to treat with disdain or indifference 2. small of its kind or in amount:SCANTY, MEAGER |
| slink | to go or move stealthily or furtively (as in fear or shame):STEAL |
| slippery | causing or tending to cause something to slide or fall |
| slipshod | wearing loose shoes or slippers |
| sloppy | wet so as to spatter easily:SLUSHY |
| sloth | disinclination to action or labor:INDOLENCE |
| slouch | to walk, stand, or sit with a gait or posture characterized by an ungainly stooping of the head and shoulders or excessive relaxation of body muscles:DROOP |
| sloven | untidy especially in personal appearance:slovenly |
| sluggard | an habitually lazy person |
| sluggish | averse to activity or exertion:INDOLENT; also :TORPID |
| slumber | to be in a torpid, slothful, or negligent state |
| slur | an insulting or disparaging remark or innuendo:ASPERSION |
| sly | lacking in straightforwardness and candor:DISSEMBLING |
| smarmy | Hypocritically, complacently, or effusively earnest; unctuous |
| smart | 1. stylish or elegant in dress or appearance 2. a smarting pain; especially :a stinging local pain |
| smattering | superficial piecemeal knowledge |
| smirk | to smile in an affected or smug manner:SIMPER |
| smother | to be overcome or killed through or as if through lack of air |
| smug | highly self-satisfied |
| smuggle | to convey or introduce surreptitiously |
| snare | to capture by or as if by use of a snare |
| snarl | to cause to become knotted and intertwined:TANGLE To growl viciously while baring the teeth |
| sneer | to smile or laugh with facial contortions that express scorn or contempt |
| snob | one who has an offensive air of superiority in matters of knowledge or taste |
| snub | to treat with contempt or neglect |
| soak | to lie immersed in liquid (as water):become saturated by or as if by immersion |
| sober | marked by sedate or gravely or earnestly thoughtful character or demeanor |
| sodden | heavy with or as if with moisture or water |
| solace | alleviation of grief or anxiety |
| solder | to unite or make whole by solder |
| solemn | marked by grave sedateness and earnest sobriety |
| solicitous | full of concern or fears:APPREHENSIVE |
| solidify | to make solid, compact, or hard |
| solitude | the quality or state of being alone or remote from society : SECLUSION |
| solvent | able to pay all legal debts |
| somber | of a dismal or depressing character:MELANCHOLY |
| somnolence | the quality or state of being drowsy:SLEEPINESS |
| sonata | an instrumental musical composition typically of three or four movements in contrasting forms and keys |
| sonnet | a fixed verse form of Italian origin consisting of fourteen lines that are typically five-foot iambics rhyming according to a prescribed scheme; also :a poem in this pattern |
| soothe | to please by or as if by attention or concern:PLACATE,RELIEVE, ALLEVIATE |
| sop | a conciliatory or propitiatory bribe, gift, or gesture |
| sophism | an argument apparently correct in form but actually invalid; especially :such an argument used to deceive |
| sophistication | the process or result of becoming cultured, knowledgeable, or disillusioned; especially :CULTIVATION, URBANITY |
| sophomoric | conceited and overconfident of knowledge but poorly informed and immature |
| soporific | tending to dull awareness or alertness |
| sordid | marked by baseness or grossness:VILE |
| sound | SOLID, FIRM; also :STABLE |
| sparse | of few and scattered elements; especially :not thickly grown or settled |
| Spartan | marked by simplicity, frugality, or avoidance of luxury and comfort |
| spat | a brief petty quarrel or angry outburst |
| spate | a large number or amount |
| specious | having a false look of truth or genuineness:SOPHISTIC |
| speck | a very small amount:BIT |
| spectator | one who looks on or watches |
| spectrum | a continuum of color formed when a beam of white light is dispersed (as by passage through a prism) so that its component wavelengths are arranged in order |
| speculate | to meditate on or ponder a subject:REFLECT |
| spendthrift | a person who spends improvidently or wastefully |
| spent | drained of energy or effectiveness:EXHAUSTED |
| spindly | of a disproportionately tall or long and thin appearance that often suggests physical weakness |
| spiny | abounding with difficulties, obstacles, or annoyances:THORNY |
| spire | a tapering roof or analogous pyramidal construction surmounting a tower |
| spleen | feelings of anger or ill will often suppressed |
| splint | material or a device used to protect and immobilize a body part (as a broken arm) |
| spoil | to pamper excessively:CODDLE |
| spoke | any of the small radiating bars inserted in the hub of a wheel to support the rim |
| spontaneous | arising from a momentary impulse |
| spoof | A gentle satirical imitation; a light parody. |
| sporadic | occurring occasionally, singly, or in scattered instances |
| sprain | a sudden or violent twist or wrench of a joint with stretching or tearing of ligaments |
| sprightly | marked by a gay lightness and vivacity:SPIRITED |
| spur | to incite to action or accelerated growth or development:STIMULATE |
| spurious | outwardly similar or corresponding to something without having its genuine qualities:FALSE |
| spurn | to reject with disdain or contempt:SCORN |
| squabble | a noisy altercation or quarrel usually over trifles |
| squalid | marked by filthiness and degradation from neglect or poverty |
| squall | a short-lived commotion |
| squander | to spend extravagantly or foolishly:DISSIPATE |
| squelch | to completely suppress:QUELL |
| squint | looking or tending to look obliquely or askance (as with envy or disdain) |
| stagnant | not advancing or developing |
| staid | marked by settled sedateness and often prim self-restraint: SOBER, GRAVE |
| stalemate | a drawn contest:DEADLOCK |
| stalk | to pursue by tracking stealthily |
| stalwart | marked by outstanding strength and vigor of body, mind, or spirit |
| stamina | strength; staying power |
| stammer | to make involuntary stops and repetitions in speaking:HALT |
| stanza | a division of a poem consisting of a series of lines arranged together in a usually recurring pattern of meter and rhyme:STROPHE |
| stark | rigid in or as if in death |
| startle | to frighten or surprise suddenly and usually not seriously |
| static | characterized by a lack of movement, animation, or progression |
| stature | natural height (as of a person) in an upright position |
| status | relative rank in a hierarchy of prestige; especially :high prestige |
| steadfast | firmly fixed in place:IMMOVABLE |
| stealth | the act or action of proceeding furtively, secretly, or imperceptibly |
| steep | to saturate with or subject thoroughly to |
| stench | to emit a strong offensive odor:STINK |
| stentorian | extremely loud |
| sterile | free from living organisms and especially microorganisms |
| stickler | one who insists on exactness or completeness in the observance of something |
| stiff | lacking in suppleness or responsiveness |
| stifle | to withhold from circulation or expression:REPRESS |
| stigma | a mark of shame or discredit:STAIN |
| stilted | POMPOUS, LOFTY |
| stingy | not generous or liberal:sparing or scant in giving or spending |
| stint | to be sparing or frugal |
| stipple | to engrave by means of dots and flicks |
| stipulate | To lay down as a condition of an agreement; require by contract. |
| stock | a store or supply accumulated; especially :the inventory of goods of a merchant or manufacturer |
| stockade | an enclosure or pen made with posts and stakes |
| stodgy | BORING, DULL |
| stoic | not affected by or showing passion or feeling; especially :firmly restraining response to pain or distress |
| stolid | having or expressing little or no sensibility:UNEMOTIONAL |
| stouthearted | having a stout heart or spirit:STUBBORN |
| straggle | to wander from the direct course or way:ROVE, STRAY |
| strait | a comparatively narrow passageway connecting two large bodies of water b:a situation of perplexity or distress |
| stratify | to divide or arrange into classes, castes, or social strata |
| stray | to wander accidentally from a fixed or chosen route |
| strength | degree of potency of effect or of concentration |
| striate | to mark with striations or striae |
| stricture | an adverse criticism:CENSURE |
| stride | to move with or as if with long steps |
| strident | characterized by harsh, insistent, and discordant sound |
| strike | To form by stamping, printing, or punching: |
| stringent | marked by rigor, strictness, or severity especially with regard to rule or standard |
| strip | to remove clothing, covering, or surface matter from |
| strut | 1. to walk with a pompous and affected air 2. a structural piece designed to resist pressure in the direction of its length |
| stubborn | unreasonably or perversely unyielding:MULISH |
| studio | the working place of a painter, sculptor, or photographer |
| stultify | to have a dulling or inhibiting effect on |
| stun | to make senseless, groggy, or dizzy by or as if by a blow:DAZE |
| stunt | to hinder the normal growth, development, or progress of |
| sturdy | marked by or reflecting physical strength or vigor |
| stygian | extremely dark, gloomy, or forbidding |
| stylus | an instrument for writing, marking, or incising |
| stymie | to present an obstacle to:stand in the way of |
| subdue | to conquer and bring into subjection:VANQUISH |
| subject | one that is placed under authority or control |
| subjugate | to bring under control and governance as a subject:CONQUER |
| sublime | lofty, grand, or exalted in thought, expression, or manner |
| submerge | to put under water |
| submissive | submitting to others |
| subordinate | placed in or occupying a lower class, rank, or position:INFERIOR |
| subpoena | a writ commanding a person designated in it to appear in court under a penalty for failure |
| subside | to tend downward:DESCEND; especially :to flatten out so as to form a depression |
| subsidiary | furnishing aid or support:AUXILIARY |
| subsidy | a grant by a government to a private person or company to assist an enterprise deemed advantageous to the public |
| substantial | IMPORTANT, ESSENTIAL |
| substantiate | verify; support |
| subterfuge | deception by artifice or stratagem in order to conceal, escape, or evade |
| subtle | difficult to understand or perceive:OBSCURE |
| subvert | to overturn or overthrow from the foundation:RUIN |
| succinct | marked by compact precise expression without wasted words |
| succor | to go to the aid of:RELIEVE |
| suffuse | to spread over or through in the manner of fluid or light:FLUSH, FILL |
| suite | RETINUE; especially :the personal staff accompanying a ruler, diplomat, or dignitary on official business |
| sulk | To be sullenly aloof or withdrawn, as in silent resentment or protest |
| sullen | Gloomy or somber in tone, color, or portent |
| summary | an abstract, abridgment, or compendium especially of a preceding discourse |
| summit | TOP, APEX; especially :the highest point:PEAK |
| summon | to command by service of a summons to appear in court |
| sumptuous | extremely costly, rich, luxurious, or magnificent |
| sunder | to break apart or in two:separate by or as if by violence or by intervening time or space |
| supercilious | coolly and patronizingly haughty |
| superficial | of or relating to a surface |
| superfluous | exceeding what is sufficient or necessary:EXTRA |
| supine | exhibiting indolent or apathetic inertia or passivity; especially :mentally or morally slack |
| supple | easy and fluent without stiffness or awkwardness |
| supplement | something that completes or makes an addition |
| supplicate | to make a humble entreaty; especially :to pray to God |
| suppress | to put down by authority or force:SUBDUE |
| surfeit | an overabundant supply:EXCESS |
| surgeon | a medical specialist who practices surgery |
| surrender | to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand |
| surreptitious | done, made, or acquired by stealth:CLANDESTINE |
| surrogate | to put in the place of another:to appoint as successor, deputy, or substitute for oneself |
| suspend | to cause to stop temporarily |
| suspicion | a state of mental uneasiness and uncertainty:DOUBT |
| suture | to unite, close, or secure with sutures |
| svelte | SLENDER, LITHE |
| swagger | to conduct oneself in an arrogant or superciliously pompous manner; especially :to walk with an air of overbearing |
| swamp | a wetland often partially or intermittently covered with water; especially :one dominated by woody vegetation |
| sway | to fluctuate or veer between one point, position, or opinion and another |
| swear | to use profane or obscene language:CURSE |
| sweltering | oppressively hot |
| swerve | to turn aside abruptly from a straight line or course:DEVIATE |
| swill | to drink great drafts of:GUZZLE |
| swindle | to obtain money or property by fraud or deceit |
| swing | something that swings freely from or on a support; especially :a seat suspended by a rope or chains for swinging to and fro on for pleasure |
| sybarite | VOLUPTUARY, SENSUALIST |
| sycophant | a servile self-seeking flatterer |
| syllabus | Outline of a subject, course, lecture, or treatise. |
| syllogism | a deductive scheme of a formal argument consisting of a major and a minor premise and a conclusion |
| sympathetic | given to, marked by, or arising from sympathy, compassion, friendliness, and sensitivity to others' emotions |
| symphony | a symphony orchestra concert |
| synergic | working together:COOPERATING |
| synopsis | a condensed statement or outline (as of a narrative or treatise):ABSTRACT |
| synthesis | the composition or combination of parts or elements so as to form a whole |
| tacit | expressed or carried on without words or speech |
| taciturn | temperamentally disinclined to talk |
| tackle | an assemblage of ropes and pulleys arranged to gain mechanical advantage for hoisting and pulling |
| tactile | perceptible by touch:TANGIBLE |
| tactless | marked by lack of a keen sense of what to do or say in order to maintain good relations with others or avoid offense |
| tag | a cardboard, plastic, or metal marker used for identification or classification |
| taint | to contaminate morally:CORRUPT |
| talisman | charm |
| tame | lacking spirit, zest, interest, or the capacity to excite:INSIPID |
| tamper | to interfere so as to weaken or change for the worse |
| tangent | diverging from an original purpose of course:IRRELEVANT |
| tangible | capable of being perceived especially by the sense of touch:PALPABLE |
| tangy | having or suggestive of a tang |
| tantalize | to tease or torment by or as if by presenting something desirable to the view but continually keeping it out of reach |
| tantamount | equivalent in value, significance, or effect |
| tantrum | a fit of bad temper |
| taper | progressively narrowed toward one end |
| tapestry | a heavy handwoven reversible textile used for hangings, curtains, and upholstery and characterized by complicated pictorial designs |
| tardy | delayed beyond the expected or proper time:late |
| tarnish | something that tarnishes; especially a film of chemically altered material on the surface of a metal (as silver) |
| tarpaulin | a piece of material (as durable plastic) used for protecting exposed objects or areas |
| tasty | strikingly attractive or interesting |
| tatty | rather worn, frayed, or dilapidated:SHABBY |
| taunt | to reproach or challenge in a mocking or insulting manner:jeer at |
| taut | having no give or slack:tightly drawn |
| tawdry | cheap and gaudy in appearance or quality; also :IGNOBLE |
| taxing | onerous, wearing |
| tear | to move or act with violence, haste, or force |
| tease | to tantalize especially by arousing desire or curiosity without intending to satisfy it |
| tedious | tiresome because of length or dullness:boring |
| teeter | to move unsteadily:wobble |
| telling | carrying great weight and producing a marked effect:effective, expressive |
| temerity | unreasonable or foolhardy contempt of danger or opposition:rashness, recklessness |
| temperate | marked by moderation |
| tempestuous | of, relating to, or resembling a tempest |
| temporize | avoid committing oneself; gain time |
| tenable | capable of being held, maintained, or defended:defensible, reasonable |
| tenacious | persistent in maintaining or adhering to something valued or habitual |
| tendentious | marked by a tendency in favor of a particular point of view:biased |
| tender | offer; extend |
| tendinous | consisting of tendons:sinewy |
| tepid | moderately warm, lukewarm |
| terminus | either end of a transportation line or travel route; also :the station, town, or city at such a place:terminal |
| terror | a state of intense fear |
| testator | a person who dies leaving a will or testament in force |
| testimony | a solemn declaration usually made orally by a witness under oath in response to interrogation by a lawyer or authorized public official |
| testy | easily annoyed:irritable |
| tether | to fasten or restrain by |
| theatrical | marked by pretense or artificiality of emotion |
| theology | the study of religious faith, practice, and experience; especially : the study of God and of God's relation to the world |
| therapeutic | of or relating to the treatment of disease or disorders by remedial agents or methods |
| thorny | full of difficulties or controversial points:ticklish |
| threadbare | exhausted of interest or freshness |
| thrive | to grow vigorously:flourish |
| throng | to crowd together in great numbers |
| thwart | to oppose successfully:defeat the hopes or aspirations of |
| ticklish | touchy, oversensitive |
| tidy | neat and orderly in appearance or habits:well ordered and cared for |
| tiff | a petty quarrel |
| tightfisted | reluctant to part with money |
| timeworn | hackneyed, stale |
| timid | lacking in courage or self-confidence |
| timorous | of a timid disposition:fearful |
| tinge | to color with a slight shade or stain:tint |
| tinker | to repair, adjust, or work with something in an unskilled or experimental manner:fiddle |
| tint | a variation of a color produced by adding white to it and characterized by a low saturation with relatively high lightness |
| tirade | a protracted speech usually marked by intemperate, vituperative, or harshly censorious language |
| toady | one who flatters in the hope of gaining favors:SYCOPHANT |
| tolerance | sympathy or indulgence for beliefs or practices differing from or conflicting with one's own |
| tong | a secret society or fraternal organization especially of Chinese in the U.S. formerly notorious for gang warfare |
| tonic | increasing or restoring physical or mental tone:refreshing |
| tonsorial | of or relating to a barber or the work of a barber |
| topsy-turvy | being in utter confusion or disorder |
| torpid | sluggish in functioning or acting |
| torpor | a state of mental and motor inactivity with partial or total insensibility:extreme sluggishness or stagnation of function |
| torrential | caused by or resulting from action of rapid streams |
| torrid | giving off intense heat:scorching |
| tortuous | marked by repeated twists, bends, or turns:winding |
| tourniquet | a device (as a bandage twisted tight with a stick) to check bleeding or blood flow |
| tractable | capable of being easily led, taught, or controlled:docile |
| trait | a distinguishing quality (as of personal character): peculiarity |
| transcend | to rise above or go beyond the limits of , to triumph over the negative or restrictive aspects of:overcome |
| transfigure | to give a new and typically exalted or spiritual appearance to:transform outwardly and usually for the better |
| transgress | to go beyond limits set or prescribed by:violate |
| transient | passing especially quickly into and out of existence: transitory |
| transitory | tending to pass away:not persistent |
| translucent | permitting the passage of light:clear, transparent |
| transparent | easily detected or seen through:obvious |
| travail | painful labor |
| traverse | to go or travel across or over |
| travesty | a debased, distorted, or grossly inferior imitation |
| treacherous | characterized by or manifesting treachery:perfidious |
| treasurer | an officer entrusted with the receipt, care, and disbursement of funds |
| treaty | an agreement or arrangement made by negotiation |
| tremendous | notable by reason of extreme size, power, greatness, orexcellence |
| tremulous | such as is or might be caused by nervousness or shakiness |
| trenchant | vigorously effective and articulate |
| trepidation | timorous uncertain agitation:apprehension |
| trespass | to enter unlawfully upon the land of another |
| tribute | a payment by one ruler or nation to another in acknowledgment of submission or as the price of protection; also :the tax levied for such a payment |
| trickle | to issue or fall in drops |
| trite | hackneyed or boring from much use:not fresh or original |
| triumph | a victory or conquest by or as if by military force |
| trivial | of little worth or importance |
| trophy | something gained or given in victory or conquest especially when preserved or mounted as a memorial |
| troupe | a company or group, especially of touring actors, singers, or dancers |
| truant | adj. ???,???,??? one who shirks duty; especially :one who stays out of school without permission |
| truculent | feeling or displaying ferocity:cruel, savage |
| trudge | to walk or march steadily and usually laboriously |
| truncate | to shorten by or as if by cutting off |
| truss | A rigid framework, as of wooden beams or metal bars, designed to support a structure, such as a roof. |
| tumult | disorderly agitation or milling about of a crowd usually with uproar and confusion of voices:commotion |
| turbid | deficient in clarity or purity:foul, muddy |
| turbulent | causing unrest, violence, or disturbance |
| turgid | excessively embellished in style or language:bombastic, pompous |
| turmoil | a state or condition of extreme confusion, agitation, or commotion |
| turncoat | one who switches to an opposing side or party; specifically :traitor |
| turret | a little tower; specifically :an ornamental structure at an angle of a larger structure |
| tutor | a person charged with the instruction and guidance of another |
| typo | an error (as of spelling) in typed or typeset material |
| ugly | offensive to the sight:HIDEOUS |
| unavailing | not availing:FUTILE, USELESS |
| uncanny | seeming to have a supernatural character or origin:EERIE, MYSTERIOUS |
| uncouth | awkward and uncultivated in appearance, manner, or behavior |
| unctuous | smooth and greasy in texture or appearance |
| underdog | a loser or predicted loser in a struggle or contest |
| undermine | to weaken or ruin by degrees |
| underscore | line drawn under a word or line especially for emphasis or to indicate intent to italicize |
| unexceptional | not out of the ordinary:COMMONPLACE |
| unflappable | marked by assurance and self-control |
| ungainly | lacking in smoothness or dexterity:CLUMSY |
| unimpeachable | not impeachable:not to be called in question:not liable to accusation:IRREPROACHABLE, BLAMELESS |
| unkempt | deficient in order or neatness |
| unlettered | lacking facility in reading and writing and ignorant of the knowledge to be gained from books |
| unpretentious | free from ostentation, elegance, or affectation:MODEST |
| unrequited | not requited:not reciprocated or returned in kind |
| unruly | not readily ruled, disciplined, or managed presumptuous : unruly |
| untenable | not able to be defended |
| untold | too great or numerous to count:INCALCULABLE, VAST |
| untoward | not favorable:ADVERSE, UNPROPITIOUS |
| unwitting | not knowing:UNAWARE |
| unwonted | not accustomed by experience |
| upbraid | to reproach severely:scold vehemently |
| uphold | to support against an opponent |
| uproar | a state of commotion, excitement, or violent disturbance |
| upset | to trouble mentally or emotionally:disturb the poise of |
| urbane | notably polite or finished in manner:POLISHED |
| urge | to present, advocate, or demand earnestly or pressingly |
| usurp | to take the place of by or as if by force:SUPPLANT |
| utter | to give public expression to:express in words |
| vaccinate | to inoculate (a person) with cowpox virus in order to produce immunity to smallpox |
| vacillate | to sway through lack of equilibrium:FLUCTUATE, OSCILLATE |
| vacuous | marked by lack of ideas or intelligence:STUPID, INANE |
| vagary | an erratic, unpredictable, or extravagant manifestation, action, or notion |
| vagrant | one who has no established residence and wanders idly from place to place without lawful or visible means of support |
| vague | not thinking or expressing one's thoughts clearly or precisely |
| valediction | an act of bidding farewell |
| valiant | possessing or acting with bravery or boldness:COURAGEOUS |
| valid | logically correct |
| vanquish | to defeat in a conflict or contest |
| vapid | lacking liveliness, tang, briskness, or force:FLAT, DULL |
| vaporize | to convert (as by the application of heat or by spraying) into vapor |
| variance | the fact, quality, or state of being variable or variant: DIFFERENCE, VARIATION |
| varnish | to apply varnish to |
| vault | a room or compartment for the safekeeping of valuables |
| vaunt | to make a vain display of one's own worth or attainments:BRAG |
| veer | to change direction or course |
| vehement | marked by forceful energy:POWERFUL |
| venal | capable of being bought or obtained for money or other valuable consideration:PURCHASABLE; especially :open to corrupt influence and especially bribery:MERCENARY |
| vendor | one that sell especially as a hawker or peddler |
| veneer | a layer of wood of superior value or excellent grain to be glued to an inferior wood |
| venerate | to regard with reverential respect or with admiring deference |
| vengeful | serving to gain vengeance |
| venial | of a kind that can be remitted:FORGIVABLE, PARDONABLE; also :meriting no particular censure or notice:EXCUSABLE |
| venom | poisonous matter normally secreted by some animals (as snakes, scorpions, or bees) and transmitted to prey or an enemy chiefly by biting or stinging |
| ventilate | to examine, discuss, or investigate freely and openly:EXPOSE |
| veracious | TRUTHFUL, HONEST |
| verbatim | being in or following the exact words:WORD-FOR-WORD |
| verbose | containing more words than necessary:WORDY |
| verdant | green with growing plants |
| verdict | the finding or decision of a jury on the matter submitted to it in trial |
| verify | to establish the truth, accuracy, or reality of |
| vernacular | The standard native language of a country or locality |
| versatile | having many uses or applications |
| versed | acquainted through study or experience; knowledgeable or skilled |
| vertigo | a disordered state in which the individual or the individual's surroundings seem to whirl dizzily |
| verve | the spirit and enthusiasm animating artistic composition or performance:VIVACITY |
| vessel | a tube or canal (as an artery) in which a body fluid is contained and conveyed or circulated |
| vestigial | a bodily part or organ that is small and degenerate or imperfectly developed in comparison to one more fully developed in an earlier stage of the individual, in a past generation, or in closely related forms |
| veteran | an old soldier of long service |
| veto | an authoritative prohibition:INTERDICTION |
| vex | to bring trouble, distress, or agitation to |
| viable | capable of living; especially :capable of surviving outside the mother's womb without artificial support |
| vibrant | oscillating or pulsating rapidly |
| vicarious | performed or suffered by one person as a substitute for another or to the benefit or advantage of another:SUBSTITUTIONARY |
| vicious | having the nature or quality of vice or immorality:DEPRAVED |
| victimize | to subject to deception or fraud:CHEAT |
| vigilant | alertly watchful especially to avoid danger |
| vignette | a brief incident or scene (as in a play or movie) |
| vigor | active bodily or mental strength or force |
| vilify | to utter slanderous and abusive statements against:DEFAME |
| vim | robust energy and enthusiasm |
| vindicate | to free from allegation or blame |
| vindictive | disposed to seek revenge:VENGEFUL |
| violate | to do harm to the person or especially the chastity of; specifically :RAPE |
| virility | the quality or state of being virile:a:MANHOOD b:manly vigor:MASCULINITY |
| virtuoso | an experimenter or investigator especially in the arts and sciences:SAVANT |
| virtuous | morally excellent:RIGHTEOUS |
| virulent | marked by a rapid, severe, and malignant course |
| viscous | having a glutinous consistency:VISCID |
| visionary | incapable of being realized or achieved:UTOPIAN |
| vista | a distant view through or along an avenue or opening:PROSPECT |
| vitality | capacity to live and develop; also :physical or mental vigor especially when highly developed |
| vitiate | to make faulty or defective:IMPAIR |
| vitrify | to convert into glass or a glassy substance by heat and fusion |
| vitriolic | bitterly scathing; caustic |
| vituperative | uttering or given to censure:containing or characterized by verbal abuse |
| vivacious | lively in temper, conduct, or spirit:SPRIGHTLY |
| vivid | having the appearance of vigorous life or freshness:LIVELY |
| vociferous | marked by or given to vehement insistent outcry |
| vogue | popular acceptation or favor:POPULARITY |
| volatile | characterized by or subject to rapid or unexpected change |
| volition | an act of making a choice or decision; also :a choice or decision made |
| voluble | characterized by ready or rapid speech:GLIB, FLUENT |
| voluminous | having or marked by great volume or bulk:LARGE also :FULL |
| voluptuous | given to or spent in enjoyments of luxury, pleasure, or sensual gratifications |
| vomit | an act or instance of disgorging the contents of the stomach through the mouth; also :the disgorged matter |
| voracious | excessively eager:INSATIABLE |
| votary | a devout or zealous worshiper |
| vouch | to summon into court to warrant or defend a title |
| vulgar | lacking in cultivation, perception, or taste:COARSE |
| waffle | to talk or write foolishly:BLATHER |
| wag | WIT, JOKER |
| wan | suggestive of poor health:SICKLY, PALLID |
| wane | to fall gradually from power, prosperity, or influence |
| want | grave and extreme poverty that deprives one of the necessities of life |
| wanton | playfully mean or cruel:MISCHIEVOUS |
| wardrobe | a room or closet where clothes are kept:CLOTHESPRESS |
| warmonger | one who urges or attempts to stir up war:JINGO |
| warp | to turn or twist out of or as if out of shape; especially :to twist or bend out of a plane |
| warrant | to guarantee to a person good title to and undisturbed possession of (as an estate) |
| wary | marked by keen caution, cunning, and watchful prudence especially in detecting and escaping danger |
| wastrel | one who dissipates resources foolishly and self-indulgently:PROFLIGATE |
| waterproof | impervious to water; especially :covered or treated with a material |
| watershed | a crucial dividing point, line, or factor:TURNING POINT |
| wax | 1. to treat or rub with wax usually for polishing or stiffening 2. to increase in phase or intensity ,used chiefly of the moon, other satellites, and inferior planets |
| waylay | to lie in wait for or attack from ambush |
| weld | to unite (metallic parts) by heating and allowing the metals to flow together or by hammering or compressing with or without previous heating |
| welter | to be in turmoil |
| wheedle | to influence or entice by soft words or flattery |
| whet | to make keen or more acute:EXCITE, STIMULATE |
| whiff | a quick puff or slight gust especially of air, odor, gas, smoke, or spray |
| whimsical | resulting from or characterized by whim or caprice; especially :lightly fanciful |
| wholesome | promoting health or well-being of mind or spirit |
| wicked | morally very bad:EVIL |
| wily | full of wiles:CRAFTY |
| wince | to shrink back involuntarily (as from pain):FLINCH |
| windbag | an exhaustively talkative person |
| windy | VERBOSE, BOMBASTIC |
| winnow | to remove (as chaff) by a current of air |
| winsome | generally pleasing and engaging often because of a childlike charm and innocence |
| wit | mental capability and resourcefulness:INGENUITY |
| witch | one that is credited with usually malignant supernatural powers; especially :a woman practicing usually black witchcraft often with the aid of a devil or familiar:SORCERESS |
| withdraw | to remove (money) from a place of deposit;to become socially or emotionally detached |
| wither | to become dry and sapless; especially :to shrivel from or as if from loss of bodily moisture |
| wizen | to become dry, shrunken, and wrinkled often as a result of aging or of failing vitality |
| wobble | to move or proceed with an irregular rocking or staggering motion or unsteadily and clumsily from side to side TREMBLE, QUAVER |
| woo | to sue for the affection of and usually marriage with:COURT |
| wordsmith | a person who works with words; especially :a skillful writer |
| worldly | of, relating to, or devoted to this world and its pursuits rather than to religion or spiritual affairs |
| worship | extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem |
| wrangler | a ranch hand who takes care of the saddle horses; broadly :COWBOY |
| wretched | (adj.) miserable or unhappy; causing distress |
| wry | cleverly and often ironically or grimly humorous also having a bent or twisted shape or condition |
| yawn | to open the mouth wide usually as an involuntary reaction to fatigue or boredom |
| yield | to surrender or relinquish to the physical control of another:hand over possession of |
| yoke | to join as if by a yoke |
| zeal | eagerness and ardent interest in pursuit of something:FERVOR |
| zest | keen enjoyment:RELISH, GUSTO |
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