| Term | Definition |
|---|
| candid | completely honest, straightforward |
| conjecture | inference; guesswork |
| didactic | instructive |
| euphemism | a mild, indirect, or vague term substituting for a harsh, blunt, or offensive term |
| extrapolate | to infer or estimate by extending known information |
| incoherent | lacking cohesion or connection |
| insinuate | to imply or communicate stealtily |
| lucid | clear |
| rhetoric | the art of using language effectively and persuasively |
| acumen | quickness, accuracy, and keenness of judgment or insight |
| adroit | dexterous; deft |
| ascertain | to find out through investigation or experimentation |
| astute | shrewd; clever |
| circumspect | careful; prudent; discreet |
| disseminate | to scatter widely, as in sowing seed |
| erudition | deep, extensive learning |
| husbandry | the application of scientific principles to agriculture, animal breeding |
| pedantic | excessively concerned with book learning and formal rules |
| perspicacious | shrewd; clear-sighted |
| pragmatic | practical |
| precocious | exhibiting unusually early intellectual aptitude or maturity |
| prospectus | formal proposal |
| rudimentary | basic; elementary; earliest stage of development |
| abstruse | difficult to understand |
| callous | emotionally hardened; unfeeling |
| convoluted | intricate; complex |
| enigma | a puzzle, mystery, or riddle |
| inscrutable | difficult to understand |
| reticent | inclined to keep silent; reserved |
| staid | unemotional; serious |
| arcane | known or understood by only a few |
| assimilate | to absorb or make similar |
| autonomy | independence; self-determination |
| cosmopolitan | worldly; widely sophisticated |
| derivative | something that comes from another source |
| entourage | a group of attendants or associates |
| esoteric | intended for or understood by only a small group |
| gaffe | a clumsy social error |
| idiosyncrasy | characteristic peculiar to an individual or group |
| insular | isolated; narrow or provincial |
| orthodox | adhering to the traditional and established |
| potentate | one who has the power and position to rule over others; monarch |
| castigate | to scold, rebuke, or harshly criticize |
| censure | to issue official blame |
| denounce | to condemn openly |
| reclusive | seeking or preferring isolation |
| relinquish | to retire from; give up |
| renounce | to give up (eg. a title) by formal announcement |
| vituperative | marked by harshly abusive condemnation |
| circumscribe | to draw a circle around; to restrict |
| contiguous | sharing an edge or boundary; touching |
| conciliatory | appeasing; smoothing; showing willingness to reconcile |
| credible | capable of being believed |
| exonerate | to free from blame |
| incontrovertible | indisputable; not open to question |
| indict | to officially charge with wrongdoing or a crime |
| litigious | prone to engage in lawsuits |
| partisan | devoted to of biased in support of a party, group, or cause |
| parity | equality |
| rectitude | moral uprightness; righteousness |
| remiss | negligent |
| repudiate | to reject the validity or authority of |
| sanctimonious | feigning piety or righteousness |
| scrupulous | principled, having a strong sense of right and wrong |
| solicitous | concerned |
| sophistry | plausible but misleading argument |
| substantiate | to support with proof or evidence; verify |
| veracity | adherence to the truth; truthfulness |
| vindicate | to free from blame |
| cajole | to urge with repeated appeals, teasing, or flattery |
| chicanery | trickery |
| obsequious | fawning and servile |
| sycophant | insincere |
| altruism | unselfish concern for the welfare of others |
| eminent | distinguished; prominent |
| empathy | identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives |
| extol | to praise highly |
| laudatory | full of praise |
| magnanimous | courageously or generously noble in mind and heart |
| philanthropic | humanitarian; benevolent |
| reciprocate | to mutually take or give; to respond in kind |
| defunct | no longer existing or functioning |
| eradicate | to get rid of as if tearing it up by the roots; abolish |
| expurgate | to remove objectionable content before release |
| extirpate | to destroy |
| quell | suppress |
| raze | to level to the ground; demolish |
| squelch | to crush as if by trampling; squash |
| supplant | to usurp the place of, especially though intricate or underhanded tactics |
| stymie | to thwart or stump |
| abase | to lower in rank |
| deride | to mock contemptuously |
| derogatory | insulting or intended to insulte |
| disparage | to speak of negatively |
| effrontery | brazen boldness |
| ignominy | great personal dishonor or humiliation |
| impugn | to attack as false or questionable |
| mar | to damage |
| pejorative | disparaging, insulting |
| vex | to annoy or bother |
| vindictive | disposed to seek revenge |
| bombastic | given to pompous speech or writing |
| ebullience | intense enthusiasm |
| exorbitant | exceeding all bounds, as of custom or fairness |
| exuberant | full of unrestrained enthusiasm or joy |
| embellish | to ornament of decorate; to exaggerate |
| flagrant | extremely or deliberately shocking or noticeable |
| gratuitous | given freely; unearned; unnecessary |
| lavish | extravagant |
| lugubrious | mournful, dismal |
| opulent | displaying great wealth |
| ornate | elaborately decorated |
| penchant | a strong inclination or liking |
| redundant | needlessly repetitive |
| ubiquitous | being or seeming to be everywhere at the same time |
| vicarious | felt or undergone as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another |
| vignette | a short scene or story |
| amalgam | a combination of diverse elements; a mixture |
| inundate | to overwhelm as if with a flood; to swamp |
| multifarious | diverse; various |
| multiplicity | state of being various or manifold; a great number |
| alleviate | a ease a pain or burden |
| ameliorate | to make something better; improve |
| beneficial | helpful |
| curative | able to heal or cure |
| palliative | relieving or soothing the symptoms of a disease or disorder without effecting a cure |
| therapeutic | having or exhibiting healing powers |
| complement | something that completes, goes with, or brings to perfection |
| epitome | a representative or example of a type |
| felicitous | admirably suited |
| belie | to misrepresent or disguise |
| debunk | to expose untruths, shams, or exaggerated claims |
| dubious | doubtful; of unlikely authenticity |
| deplicitous | deliberately deceptive |
| fabricate | to make up in order to deceive |
| fallacy | a false motion |
| mendacious | lying; untruthful |
| specious | having the ring of truth but actually false |
| ambiguous | open to more than one interpretation |
| ambivalent | simultaneously feeling opposing feelings; uncertain |
| apathetic | feeling or showing little concern |
| capricious | impulsive and unpredictable |
| equivocal | open to two or more interpretations and often intended to mislead |
| erratic | markedly inconsistent |
| impetuous | suddenly and forcefully energetic or emotional |
| impetus | an impelling force or stimulus |
| sporadic | occurring at irregular intervals |
| vacillate | to sway from one side to the other |
| whimsical | unpredictable |
| flag (v) | to decline in vigor or strength; to tire |
| jaded | worn out |
| ingenuous | lacking in cunning |
| subterfuge | a deceptive stratagem or device |
| surreptitious | secretive; sneaky |
| dearth | scarce supply; lack |
| modicum | a small, moderate, or token amount |
| paucity | smallness in number; scarcity |
| squander | to spend wastefully |
| temperate | moderate; restrained |
| tenuous | having little substance or strength; shaky |
| diligent | hardworking |
| maverick | one who is independent and resists adherence to a group |
| mercenary | motivated solely by a desire for money or material gain |
| obstinate | stubbornly attached to an opinion or a course of action |
| proliferate | to grow or increase rapidly |
| tenacity | persistence |
| vigilant | watchful |
| extraneous | irrelevant |
| juxtapose | to place side by side, especially for comparison |
| superfluous | unnecessary |
| synergy | combined action or operation |
| tangential | merely touching or slightly connected |
| aesthetic | appreciation of beauty |
| aural | related to the ear or the sense of hearing |
| cacophony | discordant, unpleasant noise |
| dirge | a funeral hymn |
| eclectic | made up of a variety or sources or style |
| incongruous | lacking in harmony |
| sonorous | producing a deep or full sound |
| strident | loud, harsh, grating, or shrill |
| debacle | disastrous |
| tumultuous | noisy and disorderly |
| debilitate | weaken |
| anachronistic | the representation of something as existing in the wrong time period |
| archaic | old |
| dilatory | habitually late |
| ephemeral | lasting for only a brief time |
| redolent | fragrant |
| temporal | limited by time |
| onerous | burdensome |
| portent | omen |
| prescience | foresight |
| austere | strict |
| banal | predictable |
| hackneyed | worn out through overuse |
| insipid | uninteresting |
| prosaic | dull |
| soporific | tending to induce sleep |
| vapid | dull |
| brevity | briefness |
| expedient | convenient, speedy |
| transient | passing quickly in time or space |
| augment | to supplement |
| bolster | to hearten |
| burgeon | to grow and flourish |
| copious | plentiful |
| distend | to swell out or expand from internal pressure, as when overly full |
| grandiose | grand |
| prodigious | enormous |
| profundity | great depth of intellect, feeling, or meaning |
| redouble | to double |
| scintillating | brilliant |
| averse | strongly disinclined |
| conspicuous | obvious |
| demure | modest and reserved |
| diffidence | shyness |
| docile | submissive to instruction |
| innocuous | harmless |
| placid | calm or quiet |
| quiescent | inactive |
| concord | agreement |
| dogmatic | stubbornly attached to insufficiently proven beliefs |
| fastidious | carefully attentive to detail, difficult to please |
| intransigence | refusal to moderate a position or to compromise |
| jocular | characterized by or given to joking |
| meticulous | extremely careful and precise |
| affable | friendly |
| alacrity | cheerful readiness, eagerness |
| amiable | agreeable |
| benign | kind and gentle |
| sanguine | optimistic |
| belligerent | eager to fight |
| byzantine | extremely complicated or devious |
| cantankerous | ill-tempered and quarrelsome |
| contentious | quarrelsome |
| deleterious | having a harmful effect |
| exacerbate | aggravate |
| flippant | disrespectfully humorous or casual |
| insolent | insulting in manner or speech |
| nefarious | vicious |
| pernicious | deadly |
| rancorous | bitter, deep-seated ill-will |
| repugnant | arousing disgust; offensive |
| tawdry | gaudy and cheap |
| arboreal | relating to or resembling trees |
| invocation (n) | a call for assistance, support, or inspiration |
| stratify | to separate into layers |
| variegated | varicoloured |
| verdent | green with vegetation |
Combine with other sets
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