Fenwick English Cumulative Vocab
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96 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Abominate | to have an intense dislike or hatred for |
| Absolve | to clear from blame, responsibility, or guilt |
| Acculturation | the modification of the social patterns, traits, or structures of one group or society by contact with those of another; the resultant blend |
| Acrimonious | stinging, bitter in temper or tone |
| Affable | courteous and pleasant, sociable, easy to speak to |
| Anomalous | Abnormal, irregular, departing from the usual |
| Aspersion | a damaging or derogatory statement; the act of slandering or defaming |
| Assuage | to make easier or milder, relieve; to quiet, calm; to put an end to, appease, satisfy, quench |
| Austere | severe or stern in manner; without adornment or luxury, simple, plain; harsh or sour in flavor |
| Autonomy | self-government, political control |
| Beneficent | performing acts of kindness or charity; conferring benefits, doing good |
| Bizarre | Extremely strange, unusual, atypical |
| Buttress | (v.) to support, prop up, strengthen; (n.) a supporting structure |
| Caricature | (n.) a representation (especially in drawing) in which the subject's characteristic features are deliberately exaggerated; (v.) to present someone or something in a deliberately distorted way |
| Circuitous | roundabout, not direct |
| Cloy | to spoil or destroy an appetite by too much indulgence, especially in sweet or rich things; to glut, satiate, surfeit |
| Coalition | a combination, union, or merger for some specific purpose |
| Connoisseur | (n.) an expert; one who is well qualified to pass critical judgments, especially in one of the fine arts |
| Contiguous | side by side, touching; near; adjacent in time |
| Contingent | (adj.) likely but not certain to happen, possible; dependent on uncertain events or conditions; happening by chance; (n.) a representative group forming part of a larger body |
| Contrive | (v.) to plan with ingenuity, invent; to bring about as the result of a scheme or plan |
| Criterion | a rule, test; a standard for judgment or evaluation |
| Culpable | deserving blame, worthy of condemnation |
| Debase | to lower in character, quality, or value; to degrade, adulterate; to cause to deteriorate |
| Demeanor | the way a person behaves, overall impression made by comportment, manner, etc.; facial appearance, mien |
| Denizen | an inhabitant, resident; one who frequents a place |
| Deplete | to use up as a result of spending or consumption; to diminish greatly |
| Dilatory | Tending to delay or procrastinate, not prompt; intended to delay or postpone |
| Disabuse | (v.) to free from deception or error, set right in ideas or thinking |
| Disseminate | to scatter or spread widely |
| Drivel | (n.) saliva or mucus flowing from the mouth or nose; foolish, aimless talk or thinking; nonsense; (v.) to let saliva flow from the mouth; to utter nonsense or childish twaddle; to waste or fritter away foolishly |
| Egregious | conspicuous, standing out from the mass (used in a particularly unfavorable sense) |
| Elicit | to draw forth, bring out from some source (such as another person) |
| Encumber | (v.) to weigh down or burden (with difficulties, cares, debt, etc.); to fill up, block up, hinder |
| Equitable | fair, just, embodying principles of justice |
| Erudite | (adj.) scholarly, learned, bookish, pedantic |
| Expedite | (v.) to make easy, cause to progress faster |
| Fractious | Tending to be troublesome; unruly, quarrelsome, contrary; unpredictable |
| Gauntlet | (n.) an armored or protective glove; a challenge; two lines of men armed with weapons with which to beat a person forced to run between them; an ordeal |
| Gist | the essential part, main point, or essence |
| Heresy | an opinion different from accepted belief; the denial of an idea that is generally held sacred |
| Impassive | (adj.) showing no feeling or emotion; inanimate; motionless |
| Implicit | implied or understood though unexpressed; without doubts or reservations, unquestioning; potentially contained in |
| Impugn | (v.) to call into question; to attack as false |
| Inception | the beginning, start, earliest stage of some process, institution, etc. |
| Incontrovertible | unquestionable, beyond dispute |
| Infraction | (n.) a breaking of a law or obligation |
| Intemperate | Immoderate, lacking in self-control; inclement |
| Interloper | (n.) one who moves in where he or she in not wanted or has no right to be, an intruder |
| Invective | (n.) a strong denunciation or condemnation; abusive language; (adj.) abusive, vituperative |
| Jejune | lacking in nutritive value; lacking in interest or substance; immature, juvenile |
| Mawkish | excessively and objectionably sentimental; having a mildly sickening flavor |
| Megalomania | a delusion marked by a feeling of power, wealth, talent, etc., far in excess of reality |
| Motley | (adj.) showing great variety; composed of different elements or many colors; (n.) a jester's costume; a jester |
| Obdurate | stubborn, unyielding |
| Occult | (adj.) mysterious, magical, supernatural; secret, hidden from view; not detectable by ordinary means; (v.) to hide, conceal; eclipse; (n.) matters involving the supernatural |
| Palpable | capable of being touched or felt; easily seen, heard, or recognized |
| Paragon | a model of excellence or perfection |
| Paraphrase | to restate in other words; a statement that presents a given idea in new language |
| Penury | extreme poverty; barrenness, insufficiency |
| Perceptive | having sympathetic insight or understanding, capable of keen appreciation |
| Permeate | (v.) to spread through, penetrate, soak through |
| Politic | prudent, shrewdly conceived and developed; artful, expedient |
| Precept | (n.) a rule of conduct or action |
| Precipitate | (v.) to fall as moisture; to cause or bring about suddenly; to hurl down from a great height, to give distinct form to; (adj.) characterized by excessive haste; (n.) moisture; the product of an action or process |
| Precocious | showing unusually early development (especially in talents and mental capacity) |
| Prolific | (adj.) abundantly productive; abundant, profuse |
| Propensity | a natural inclination or predilection toward |
| Provincial | (adj.) pertaining to an outlying area; local; narrow in mind or outlook, countrified in the sense of being limited and backward; of a simple, plain design that originated in the countryside; (n.) a person with a narrow point of view; a person from an outlying area; a soldier from a province or colony |
| Punctilious | very careful and exact, attentive to fine points of etiquette or propriety |
| Querulous | (adj.) peevish, complaining, fretful |
| Recondite | exceeding ordinary knowledge and understanding |
| Redundent | (adj.) extra, excess, more than is needed; wordy, repetitive; profuse, lush |
| Remonstrate | To argue or plead with someone against something, protest against, object to |
| Repudiate | (v.) to disown, reject, or deny the validity of |
| Requisite | needed, necessary, regarded as essential or indispensable |
| Resilient | able to return to an original shape or form; able to recover quickly |
| Restitution | the act of restoring someone or something to the rightful owner or to a former state or position; making good on a loss or damage |
| Reverberate | To re-echo, resound; to reflect or be reflected repeatedly |
| Salient | (adj.) leaping, jumping, or springing forth; prominent, standing out conspicuous; (n.) a projection or buldge, a land form that projects upward or outward. |
| Salutary | (adj.) beneficial, helpful; healthful, wholesome |
| Sartorial | (adj.) of or pertaining to a tailor or his work; having to do with clothes or dress (especially men's) |
| Scintillating | sparkling, twinkling, exceptionally brilliant (applied to mental or personal qualities) |
| Scurrilous | (adj.) coarsely abusive, vulgar or low (especially in language), foul-mouthed |
| Sedentary | (adj.) characterized by or calling for continued sitting; remaining in one place |
| Sepulchral | (adj.) funereal, typical of the tomb; extremely gloomy or dismal |
| Subservient | subordinate in capacity or role; submissively obedient; serving to promote some end |
| Supplicate | to beg earnestly and humbly |
| Surmise | (v.) to think or believe without certain supporting evidence; to conjecture or guess; (n.) likely idea that lacks definite proof |
| Torpid | Inactive, sluggish, dull |
| Tortuous | (adj.) winding, twisted, crooked; highly involved, complex; devious |
| Turgid | swollen, bloated, filled to excess; overdecorated or excessive in language |
| Unwieldy | not easily carried, handled, or managed because of size or complexity |
| Vapid | dull, uninteresting, tiresome; lacking in sharpness, flavor, liveliness, or force |
| Vicarious | (adj.) performed, suffered, or otherwise experienced by one person in place of another |
| Vulnerable | open to attack; capable of being wounded or damaged; unprotected |
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