| Term | Definition |
|---|
| quay | n. dock; landing place |
| queasy | adj. easily nauseated; squeamish |
| quell | v. extinguish; put down; quiet |
| quench | v. douse or extinguish; assuage or satisfy |
| querulous | adj. fretful; whining |
| query | n. inquiry; question |
| quibble | n. minor objection or complaint |
| quiescent | adj. at rest; dormant; temporarily inactive |
| quietude | n. tranquility |
| quintessence | n. purest and highest embodiment |
| quip | n. taunt |
| quirk | n. startling twist; caprice |
| quiver | v. tremble; shake |
| quiver | n. case for arrows |
| quixotic | adj. idealistic but impractical |
| quizzical | adj. teasing; bantering; mocking; curious |
| quorum | n. number of members necessary to conduct a meeting |
| rabid | adj. like a fanatic; furious |
| raconteur | n. storyteller |
| rail | v. scold; rant |
| raiment | n. clothing |
| rally | v. call up or summon; revive or recuperate |
| ramble | v. wander aimlessly |
| ramification | n. branching out; subdivision |
| ramify | v. divide into branches or subdivisions |
| ramp | n. slope; inclined plane |
| rampant | adj. growing in profusion; unrestrained |
| ramshackle | adj. rickety; falling apart |
| rancid | adj. having the odor of stale fat |
| rancor | n. bitterness; hatred |
| random | adj. without definite purpose, plan, or aim; haphazard |
| rankle | v. irritate; fester |
| rant | v. rave; talk excitedly; scold; make a grandiloquent speech |
| rapacious | adj. excessively greedy; predatory |
| rapport | n. emotional closeness; harmony |
| rapt | adj. absorbed; enchanted |
| rarefied | adj. made less dense |
| raspy | adj. grating; harsh |
| ratify | v. approve formally; confirm; verify |
| ratiocination | n. reasoning; act of drawing conclusions from premises |
| rationale | n. fundamental reason or justification grounds for an action |
| rationalize | v. give a plausible reason for an action in place of a true, less admirable one; offer an excuse |
| raucous | adj. harsh and shrill; disorderly and boisterous |
| rave | n. overwhelmingly favorable review |
| ravel | v. fall apart into tangles; unravel or untwist; entangle |
| ravenous | adj. extremely hungry |
| raze | v. destroy completely |
| reactionary | adj. recoiling from profess; political; ultraconservative |
| realm | n. kingdom; field or sphere |
| reaper | n. one who harvests grain |
| rebuff | v. snub; beat back |
| rebuke | v. scold harshly; criticize severely |
| rebuttal | n. refutation; response with contrary evidence |
| recalcitrant | adj. obstinately stubborn; determined to resist authority; unruly |
| recant | v. disclaim or disavow; retract a previous statement; openly confess error |
| recapitulate | v. summarize |
| recast | v. reconstruct; fashion again |
| receptive | adj. quick or willing to receive ideas, suggestions |
| recession | n. withdrawal; retreat; time of low economic activity |
| recidivism | n. habitual return to crime |
| recipient | n. receiver |
| reciprocal | adj. mutual; exchangeable; interacting |
| reciprocate | v. repay in kind |
| recluse | n. hermit; loner |
| reconcile | v. correct inconsistencies; become friendly after a quarrel |
| reconnaissance | n. survey of enemy by soldiers; reconnoitering |
| recount | v. narrate or tell; count over again |
| recourse | n. resorting to help when in trouble |
| rectify | v. set right; correct |
| rectitude | n. uprightness; moral virtue; correctness of judgment |
| recumbent | adj. reclining; lying down completely or in part |
| recuperate | v. recover |
| recurrent | adj. occurring again and again |
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