| Term | Definition |
|---|
| acquisitive | strongly desirous of acquiring and possessing |
| avaricious | greedy of gain : excessively acquisitive especially in seeking to hoard riches |
| avaricious (syn) | covetous, greedy, acquisitive, grasping |
| acrid | sharp and harsh or unpleasantly pungent or bitter in taste or odor or tone; |
| caustic | 1) chemically corrosive; 2) marked by a biting wit, or incisive sarcasm |
| mordant | biting and incisively sarcastic; burning, pungent |
| scathing | bitterly severe |
| bucolic | 2 a : relating to or typical of rural life b : idyllic; 1: pastoral, of or relating to shepherds |
| rustic | of, relating to, or suitable for the country : rural |
| cautious (syn) | cautious, circumspect, wary, chary |
| chary | wary; cautious; sparing <a person very _____of compliments>; hesitant and vigilant about dangers and risks |
| circumspect | cautious; careful to consider all circumstances and possible consequences |
| contentious | argumentative; causing controversy or disagreement |
| contentious (syn) | belligerent, bellicose, pugnacious, quarrelsome |
| pugnacious | having a quarrelsome or combative nature |
| contrite | regretful; penitent; seeking forgivneness |
| contrition | the state of being regretful or penitent; repentance |
| penitence | regret for sin or wrongdoing |
| penitence (syn) | penitence, repentance, contrition, compunction, remorse |
| repentance | regret for sin or wrongdoing, esp. with resolve to change |
| ephemeral | brief; fleeting |
| ephemeral (syn) | transient, transitory, momentary, fugitive, fleeting, evanescent |
| evanescent | tending to vanish like vapor |
| facetious | playful; humorous |
| facetious (syn) | jocular, jocose, witty |
| jocose | given to joking; merry |
| jocular | given to jesting : habitually jolly or merry |
| morose | sad, sullen, melancholy |
| sullen | gloomily or resentfully silent or repressed |
| sullen (syn) | glum, morose, gloomy |
| niggardly | 1) grudgingly mean about spending or granting 2) providing in stingily small amount |
| parsimonious | frugal to the point of stinginess |
| penurious | penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous |
| stingy (syn) | close, niggardly, penurious, miserly, parsimonious |
| harbinger | 1) one that pioneers in or initiates a major change 2) precursor |
| herald (n) | 1) precursor - one that precedes or foreshadows; 2) one that conveys or proclaims the coming of something |
| precursor (syn) | forerunner, harbinger, herald, |
| dormant | 1) marked by a suspension of activity 2) asleep, inactive |
| latent | present and capable of becoming though not now visible, obvious, or active |
| latent (syn) | dormant, quiescent |
| quiescent | temporarily inactive |
| supersede | to displace, replace; to force out of use as inferior |
| supplant | to take the place of; supersede |
| supplant (syn) | supersede; displace; replace |
| asperse | to attack with evil reports or false or injurious charges |
| calumniate | 1 : to utter maliciously false statements or charges; 2 : to injure the reputation of by misleading |
| defame | to harm the reputation of by misleading |
| malign | to injure by speaking ill of, often misleadingly so |
| malign (syn) | traduce, asperse, vilify, calumniate, defame, slander |
| traduce | 1 : to malign by means of falsehood and misrepresentation; 2) violate, betray |
| vilify | to defame; to characterize harshly |
| calumny | 1 : a misrepresentation intended to harm another's reputation, or the act of uttering such a statemtn |
| abate | (1) to lessen in intensity or degree; (2) to put an end to; deduct, omit; make less especially by way of relief |
| abate (iv) (syn) | subside, wane, ebb |
| accolade | an expression of praise or approval; an award of merit |
| adulation | excessive praise; intense adoration |
| ameliorate | to make better or more tolerable |
| avarice | greed, esp. for wealth |
| axiom | a universally recognized principle |
| burgeon | to grow rapidly or flourish |
| cacophony | harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance |
| canon | an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature |
| castigation | punishment, severe criticsm |
| cogent | appealing strongly to the mind or reason; covincing |
| complaisant | eager to please or oblige; |
| dearth | scarcity; lack; small amount |
| demur (v) | to question or oppose; to take exception; object |
| didactic | designed or intended to teach |
| discreet | having or showing discernment or good judgment in conduct and especially in speech; 2)unpretentious or modest; 3) unobtrusive |
| discretion | 1) discernment or good judgment; 2) ability to make responsible decisions; 3) cautious reserve in speech |
| disinterested | free of bias or self-interest; impartial |
| disinterested (syn) | fair, just, equitable, impartial, unbiased, dispassionate, objective |
| dogmatic | expressing a rigid opinion based on unproved or unprovable principles |
| ebullience | lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings |
| eclectic | composed of elements drawn from various sources |
| elegy | a mournful poem, esp. one lamenting the dead |
| emollient (adj) | soothing or softening, esp. to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying |
| emollient (n) | something that smooths or softens |
| enigmatic | mysterious, obscure, difficult to understand |
| esoteric | intended for or understood by a small, specific group |
| eulogy | a speech honoring the dead |
| exuberant | joyously enthusiastic; extreme in degree, size, or extent; plentiful |
| gregarious | sociable; outgoing; enjoying the company of people |
| harangue | to deliver a long pompous or demeaning speech or tirade |
| heretical | violating accepted dogma or convention |
| hyperbole | an exaggerated statement, often used as a figure of speech |
| impecunious | lacking funds; without money |
| incipient | beginning to come into being or to become apparent |
| inert | 1) lacking the power to move, lethargic, sluggish; 2) inactive chemically |
| intransigent | refusing to compromise |
| inveigle | to obtain by deception or flattery |
| parsimony | 1) the quality of being careful with money - thrifty; 2) quality or state of being stingy |
| penury | 1) poverty 2) frugality |
| peruse | 1) to examine in detail 2) to look over in a cursory manner |
| pious | extremely reverent or devout; religious |
| preen | to dress up; primp; groom oneself with elaborate care |
| prodigious | enormous - great in size, force or extent; exciting amazement or wonder |
| putrefy | to rot, decay |
| quaff | to drink deeply |
| quiescence | stillness; motionlessness; quality of being at rest |
| redoubtable | causing fear or alarm; awe-inspiring, worthy of honor |
| satire | a literary work that ridicules or criticizes a human vice through humor or derision |
| squalid | sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect |
| stoic | indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; steadfast |
| torpid | lethargic; sluggish; dormant; having lost motion or the power of exertion |
| torpor | a : a state of mental and motor inactivity with partial or total insensibility |
| urbane | sophisticated; refined; elegant; notably polite or polished in manner |
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