Barrons Wordlist 1-10
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298 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 amenities | convenient features; courtesies |
| amiss | wrong; faulty |
| amity | friendship |
| amnesty | pardon |
| amok (also amuck) | in a state of rage |
| amorous | moved by sexual love; loving |
| analgesic | causing insensitivity to pain |
| anathema | solemn curse; someone or something regarded as a curse |
| ancillary | serving as an aid or accessory; auxiliary |
| anecdote | short account of an amusing or interesting event |
| angular | sharp-cornered; stiff in manner |
| animadversion | critical remark |
| animus | hostile feeling or intent |
| anneal | reduce brittleness and improve toughness by heating and cooling |
| annex | attach; take possession of |
| annuity | yearly allowance |
| annul | make void; cancel |
| anodyne | drug that relieves pain; opiate |
| anoint | apply ointment or oil esp as religious ceremony; consecrate |
| antecedent | precede |
| antediluvian | antiquated; extremely ancient |
| anthropoid | manlike |
| anthropomorphic | having human form or characteristics |
| anticlimax | letdown in thought or emotion |
| antiquated | obsolete; outdated |
| antithesis | contrast; direct opposite of or to |
| ape | imitate or mimic |
| aphasia | loss of speech due to injury or illness |
| aphorism | pithy maxim or saying |
| apiary | a place where bees are kept |
| apocalyptic | prophetic; pertaining to revelations |
| aplomb | self-possession; assurance; poise |
| apocryphal | untrue; made up |
| apogee | highest point |
| apolitical | having an aversion or lack of concern for political affairs |
| apologist | one who writes in defense of a cause or institution |
| apostate | one who abandons his religious faith or political beliefs |
| apothecary | A health professional trained in the art of preparing and dispensing drugs |
| apothegm | pithy, compact saying |
| apotheosis | elevation to godhood; an ideal example of something |
| appellation | name; title |
| append | attach |
| application | diligent attention |
| apposite | appropriate; fitting |
| appreciate | be thankful for; increase in worth; be thoroughly concious about |
| apprehend | 1) arrest (a criminal); 2) dread (<- to anticipate with anxiety) ; 3) perceive |
| apprehensive | 1) fearful; 2) discerning |
| discerning | detect with the senses, quick to understand, keen insight and good judgement. |
| apprise | inform |
| approbation | approval |
| appropriate | acquire; take possession of for one's own use |
| appurtenances | subordinate possessions/add ons supplements |
| apropos (prep) | with reference to; regarding 2) at the right time |
| aquiline | curved, hooked |
| arable | fit for growing crops |
| arbitrary | unreasonable or capricious; tyrannical |
| arcade | a covered passageway, usually lined with shops |
| archetype | prototype; primitive pattern |
| argot | slang |
| aria | operatic solo |
| arraign | charge in court; indict |
| array | 1) marshal; draw up in order 2) clothe; adorn |
| arrears | being in debt |
| arroyo | a dry gully; a rivulet or stream |
| arsenal | storage place for military equipment |
| articulate | effective; distinct |
| artifice | deception; trickery |
| artless | without guile; open and honest |
| ascendancy | controlling influence |
| ascribe | refer; attribute; assign |
| askance | with a sideways or indirect look |
| asperity | sharpness (of temper) |
| aspersion | slanderous remark |
| aspirant | seeker after position or status |
| assail | assault |
| assay | analyze; evaluate |
| asteroid | small planet |
| astringent | binding; causing contraction; harsh or severe |
| astute | wise; shrewd; keen |
| atavism | resemblance to remote ancestors rather than to parents; reversion to an earlier type; throwback |
| atone | make amends for; pay for |
| attenuate | make thin; weaken |
| augment | increase; add to |
| augury | omen; prophecy |
| august | impressive; majestic |
| aureole | sun's corona; halo |
| auroral | pertaining to the aurora borealis |
| autocratic | having absolute, unchecked power; dictatorial |
| automaton | mechanism that imitates actions of humans |
| avarice | greediness for wealth |
| aver | state confidently |
| avert | prevent; turn away |
| avid | greedy; eager for |
| avow | declare openly |
| avuncular | like an uncle |
| awl | pointed tool used for piercing |
| awry | distorted; crooked |
| axiom | self-evident truth requiring no proof |
| azure | sky blue |
| bacchanalian | drunken |
| badinage | teasing conversation |
| bait | harass; tease |
| baleful | deadly; having a malign influence; ominous |
| ballast | heavy substance used to add stability or weight |
| balk | 1) stop short, as if faced with an obstacle, and refuse to continue 2) foil |
| balm | something that relieves pain |
| bandy | discuss lightly or glibly; exchange (words) heatedly |
| bane | cause of ruin; curse |
| bantering | good-naturedly ridiculing |
| bard | poet |
| barefaced | shameless; bold; unconcealed |
| baroque | highly ornate |
| barrister | counselor-at-law |
| bask | luxuriate; take pleasure in warmth |
| bastion | stronghold; something seen as a source of protection |
| bate | let down; restrain |
| bauble | trinket; trifle |
| bawdy | indecent; obscene |
| beatific | giving bliss; blissful |
| beatitude | blessedness; state of bliss |
| bedizen | dress with vulgar finery |
| bedraggle | wet thoroughly |
| beeline | direct, quick route |
| befuddle | confuse thoroughly |
| beget | father; produce; give rise to |
| begrudge | resent |
| beholden | obligated; indebted |
| behoove | be suited to; be incumbent upon |
| belabor | explain or go over excessively or to a ridiculous degree; assail verbally |
| belated | delayed |
| beleaguer | besiege or attack; harass |
| belie | contradict; give a false impression |
| bellicose | warlike |
| bemoan | 1. lament; 2. express disapproval of |
| bemused | confused; lost in thought; preoccupied |
| benediction | blessing |
| benison | blessing |
| bent | determined; natural talent or inclination |
| bereavement | state of being deprived of something valuable or beloved |
| bereft | deprived of; lacking |
| beseech | beg; plead with |
| beset | harass or trouble; to surround or hem in |
| besmirch | soil, defile |
| bestial | beastlike; brutal; inhuman |
| betoken | signify; indicate |
| betroth | become engaged to marry |
| bevy | large group |
| bicameral | two-chambered, as a legislative body |
| biennial | every two years |
| bifurcated | divided into two branches; forked |
| bilious | suffering from indigestion; irritable |
| bilk | swindle; cheat |
| billowing | swelling out in waves; surging |
| bivouac | temporary encampment |
| bland | soothing or mild; agreeable |
| blasé | bored with pleasure or dissipation |
| blare | loud, harsh roar or screech; dazzling blaze of light |
| blighted | suffering from a disease; destroyed |
| blowhard | talkative boaster |
| bluster | blow in heavy gusts; threaten emptily; bully |
| bode | foreshadow; portend |
| boon | blessing; benefit |
| boorish | rude; insensitive; awkward; illmannered |
| bouillon | clear beef soup |
| bovine | cowlike; placid and dull |
| bowdlerize | expurgate :: Edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate |
| braggadocio | boasting |
| braggart | boaster |
| brazen | insolent; shameless |
| brindled | tawny or grayish with streaks or spots |
| broach | introduce; open up |
| brooch | ornamental clasp |
| brook | tolerate; endure 2) a small stream |
| browbeat | bully; intimidate |
| brusque | blunt; abrupt |
| bucolic | rustic; pastoral |
| buffet (v) | slap; batter; knock about |
| bullion | gold and silver in the form of bars |
| bulwark | earthwork or other strong defense; person who defends |
| bungle | mismanage; blunder |
| buoyant | able to float; cheerful and optimistic |
| burgeon | grow forth; send out buds |
| burlesque | give an imitation that ridicules |
| burnish | make shiny by rubbing; polish |
| buttress | support; prop up |
| buxom | full-bosomed; plump; jolly |
| cabal | small group of persons secretly united to promote their own interests |
| cache | hiding place |
| cacophonous | discordant; inharmonious |
| cadence | rhythmic rise and fall (of words or sounds); beat |
| cajole | coax; wheedle |
| calamity | disaster; misery |
| callow | youthful; immature; inexperienced |
| calumny | malicious misrepresentation; slander |
| canard | unfounded rumor; exaggerated report |
| candor | frankness; open honesty |
| canny | shrewd; thrifty |
| cantankerous | ill-humored; irritable |
| cantata | story set to music, to be sung by a chorus |
| canter | slow gallop |
| canto | division of a long poem |
| canvass | determine or seek opinions, votes, etc. |
| capacious | spacious |
| capitulate | surrender |
| caprice | whim |
| captious | faultfinding |
| carafe | glass water bottle; decanter |
| carapace | shell covering the back (of a turtle, crab, etc.) |
| careen | lurch; sway from side to side |
| carillon | a set of bells capable of being played |
| carrion | rotting flesh of a dead body |
| cascade | small waterfall |
| casualty | serious or fatal accident |
| cataract | great waterfall; eye abnormality |
| catechism | book for religious instruction; instruction by question and answer |
| catharsis | purging or cleansing of any passage of the body |
| cathartic | purgative i.e. tending to purify |
| catholic | universal; wide-ranging liberal |
| caucus | private meeting of members of a party to select officers or determine policy |
| caulk | to make watertight |
| cavalcade | procession; parade |
| cavalier | casual and offhand; arrogant |
| cavil | make frivolous objections |
| celerity | speed; rapidity |
| censorious | critical |
| centaur | mythical figure, half man and half horse |
| centripetal | tending toward the center |
| centurion | Roman army officer |
| cerebration | thought |
| certitude | certainty |
| cession | yielding to another; ceding |
| chaff | worthless product of endeavor |
| chaffing | bantering; joking |
| chafe | warm by rubbing; make sore (by rubbing) |
| champion | support militantly |
| charlatan | quack; pretender to knowledge |
| chary | cautious; sparing or restrained about giving |
| chasm | abyss |
| chaste | pure; virginal; modest |
| chasten | discipline; punish in order to correct |
| check | stop motion; curb or restrain |
| cherubic | angelic; innocent-looking |
| chide | scold |
| chimerical | fantastically improbable; highly unrealistic; imaginative |
| chisel (v) | swindle or cheat; cut with a chisel |
| churlish | boorish; rude |
| ciliated | having minute hairs |
| cipher | 1) nonentity; worthless person or thing 2) secret code |
| circumspect | prudent; cautious |
| circumvent | outwit; baffle |
| cistern | reservoir or water tank |
| citadel | fortress |
| clandestine | secret |
| clangor | loud, resounding noise |
| clapper | striker (tongue) of a bell |
| clarion | shrill, trumpet like sound |
| clime | region; climate |
| clout | great influence (especially political or social) |
| cloying (v) cloy | distasteful (because excessive); excessively sweet or sentimental |
| coda | concluding section of a musical or literary composition |
| codicil | A supplement to a will; a testamentary instrument intended to alter an already executed will |
| codify | to arrange (laws, rules, etc.) systematically; classify |
| coeval | living at the same time as; contemporary |
| cogent | convincing |
| cognate | related linguistically; allied by blood; similar or akin in nature |
| cohere | stick together |
| coiffure | hairstyle |
| collate | examine in order to verify authenticity; arrange in order |
| collation | a light meal |
| colloquial | pertaining to conversational or common speech; informal |
| colloquy | informal discussion |
| comely | attractive; agreeable |
| comestible | something fit to be eaten |
| comeuppance | deserved punishment; retribution |
| comity | courtesy; civility |
| commensurate | equal in extent |
| commiserate | feel or express pity or sympathy for |
| commodious | spacious and comfortable |
| compact (n) | agreement; contract |
| compendium | brief, comprehensive summary |
| complacency | self-satisfaction; smugness |
| complicity | participation; involvement |
| comport | bear one's self; behave |
| compunction | remorse |
| concentric | having a common center |
| conception | beginning; forming of an idea |
| concerted | mutually agreed on; done together |
| concession | an act of yielding |
| conciliatory | reconciling; soothing |
| conclave | private meeting |
| concomitant | that which accompanies |
| condign | adequate; deservedly severe |
| condescend | bestow courtesies with a superior air |
| conduit | aqueduct passageway for fluids |
| confluence | flowing together; crowd |
| congeal | freeze; coagulate |
| congenial | pleasant; friendly; kindred [ - - tastes] |
| congenital | existing at birth |
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