| Term | Definition |
|---|
| overwrought | agitated; hysterical; extremely nervous or excited |
| ovoid | egg-shaped |
| pachyderm | thick-skinned animal |
| pacifist | one opposed to force; antimilitarist |
| pacify | soothe; make calm or quiet; subdue |
| paean | song of praise or joy |
| painstaking | showing hard work; taking great care |
| palatable | agreeable; pleasing to the taste |
| palate | roof of the mouth; sense of taste |
| palatial | magnificent |
| paleontology | study of prehistoric life |
| palette | board on which painters mixes pigments |
| palimpsest | parchment used for second time after original writing has been erased |
| pall | grow tiresome |
| pallet | small, poor bed |
| palliate | ease pain; make less severe or offensive |
| pallid | pale; wan |
| palpable | tangible; easily perceptible |
| palpitate | beat at a rapid pace, like heart; throb; flutter |
| paltry | insignificant; petty; trifling |
| pan | criticize harshly |
| panacea | cure all; remedy for all diseases |
| panache | flair; flamboyance |
| pandemic | widespread; affecting the majority of the people |
| pandemonium | wild tumult |
| pander | cater to the low desires of others or exploit their weaknesses |
| panegyric | formal praise |
| panoramic | denoting an unobstructed and comprehensive view |
| pantomime | acting without dialogue |
| papyrus | ancient paper made from stems of papyrus plant |
| parable | short, simple story teaching a moral |
| paradigm | model; example; pattern |
| paradox | something apparently contradictory in nature; statement that looks false but is actually correct |
| paragon | model of perfection |
| parallelism | state of being parallel; similarity |
| parameter | limit; independent variable |
| paramount | foremost in importance; supreme |
| paramour | illicit lover; A lover, especially one in an adulterous relationship |
| paranoia | psychosis marked by delusions of grandeur or persecution |
| paraphernalia | equipment; odds and ends |
| paraphrase | restate a passage in one's own words, while retaining thought of the author |
| parasite | animal or plant living on another; toady; sycophant |
| parched | extremely dry; very thirsty |
| pariah | social outcast |
| parity | equality; close resemblance |
| parlance | language; idiom |
| parley | conference |
| parochial | narrow in outlook; provincial; related to parishes |
| parody | humorous imitation; spoof; takeoff; travesty |
| paroxysm | A sudden outburst of emotion or action: fit or attack of pain, laughter, rage |
| parquet | floor made of wood strips inlaid in a mosaic-like pattern |
| parry | ward off a blow; deflect |
| parsimony | stinginess; excessive frugality |
| partial | incomplete; having a liking for something |
| partiality | inclination; bias |
| partisan | one-sided; prejudiced; committed to a party |
| partition | divide into parts |
| passe | old fashioned; past the prime |
| pastiche | imitation of another's style in musical composition or writing |
| pastoral | rural |
| patent | obvious; open to the public to read |
| pathetic | causing sadness, compassion, pity; touching |
| pathological | pertaining to disease |
| pathos | tender sorrow; pity; quality in art or literature that produces these feelings |
| patina | green crust on old bronze works; tone slowly taken by vanished paintings |
| patois | local or provincial dialect; A regional dialect, especially one without a literary tradition. |
| patriarch | father and ruler of a family or tribe |
| patrician | noble; aristocratic |
| patronize | support; act superior toward; be a customer of |
| paucity | scarcity |
| pauper | very poor person |
| peccadillo | slight offense |
Combine with other sets
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