| Term | Definition |
|---|
| compendium | brief, comprehensive summary |
| censure | harsh criticism or disapproval |
| corroborate | give evidence for |
| commensurate | equal; proportionate |
| cabal | a clique (often secret) that seeks power usually through intrigue |
| coterie | an intimate group of persons with a similar purpose |
| cosset | treat with excessive indulgence |
| coffer | a chest especially for storing valuables |
| calumny | an abusive attack on a person's character or good name |
| cloying | causing disgust or aversion through excess |
| canard | a misleading fabrication |
| dissolution | the act or process of resolving or dissolving into parts or elements. |
| divest | strip, deprive, to rid or free from |
| disparate | fundamentally different or distinct in quality or kind |
| dilatory | inclined to waste time and lag behind |
| disseminate | distribute; spread; scatter |
| droll | comical in an odd or whimsical manner |
| demur | to object |
| dissemble | to disguise or conceal, deliberately give a false impression |
| demagogue | an orator who appeals to the passions and prejudices of his audience |
| dirge | a funeral hymn or lament |
| disabuse | to free somebody (from an erroneous belief) |
| diffidence | lack of self-confidence, shy |
| desultory | lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order |
| denigrate | blacken; defame |
| deride | to ridicule, laugh at with contempt |
| dilate | to make or become larger or wider; to expand upon |
| deference | respectful yielding to other's opinions |
| hermetic | completely/tightly sealed |
| forestall | prevent by taking action in advance |
| gouge | to groove a hole, to swindle |
| florid | elaborately or excessively ornamented |
| fatuous | silly, foolish |
| fetid | malodorous |
| nuance | a slight or subtle degree of difference |
| fecund | fertile |
| fledgling | an inexperienced person, beginner |
| gainsay | to deny, contradict, controvert; to dispute, oppose |
| foment | promote development of feelings/actions |
| allay | lessen the intensity of or calm |
| abject | most unfortunate or miserable |
| antediluvian | a very old (or old fashioned) person |
| anodyne | capable of relieving pain |
| antipathy | the object of a feeling of intense aversion |
| adjunct | something attached to but holding an inferior position |
| abjure | to reject, renounce |
| affected | Phony; artificial |
| assiduous | persistent, attentive |
| augury | prophecy; prediction of events |
| aspersion | slander |
| amortize | to diminish by installment payments |
| apothegm | a short pithy instructive saying |
| apostate | one who renounces religious beliefs |
| apocryphal | of doubtful authorship or authenticity |
| apposite | appropriate; fitting |
| banal | hackneyed, trite, commonplace |
| bawdy | lewd or obscene talk or writing |
| bedizen | dress up garishly and tastelessly |
| belie | to give a false impression of; to contradict |
| blithe | carefree and happy and lighthearted |
| exponent | someone who expounds and interprets or explains |
| ostensible | represented or appearing as such |
| indigence | a state of extreme poverty or destitution |
| impetuous | rash, impulsive |
| obsequious | Overly submissive and eager to please |
| insularity | the state of being isolated or detached |
| imbue | spread or diffuse through |
| impugn | attack as false or wrong |
| opine | speak one's opinion without fear or hesitation |
| opprobrium | state of disgrace resulting from public abuse |
| iniquity | absence of moral or spiritual values |
| inundate | fill or cover completely, usually with water |
| inculcate | to impress on the mind by repetition, teach persistently and earnestly |
| intransigence | refusal to compromise; stubborn |
| officious | intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner |
| indolent | lazy |
| malediction | A curse; a wish of evil upon another |
| lissome | easily flexed; limber; agile |
| mendicant | practicing beggary |
| missive | a written message, letter |
| malingerer | one who feigns illness to escape duty |
| militate | have force or influence |
| mores | moral standards, conventions, customs |
| machination | an evil design or plan |
| martinet | A strict disciplinarian |
| lugubrious | excessively mournful |
| potentate | monarch or ruler with great power |
| prevaricate | to deliberately avoid the truth; to mislead |
| peccadillo | minor sin or offense |
| palatial | suitable for or like a palace |
| paucity | an inadequate quantity, scarcity, dearth |
| penchant | a strong liking |
| peregrinate | to travel from place to place on foot |
| pejorative | disparaging, belittling, insulting |
| prodigal | recklessly wasteful |
| propitiate | to conciliate; to appease |
| pariah | outcast |
| pastiche | a work of art that imitates the style of some previous work |
| proscribe | prohibit; ostracize; banish; outlaw |
| precarious | Not safe or secure; dangerously uncertain |
| panache | a grand or flamboyant manner |
| prudence | wisdom, caution, or restraint |
| plucky | showing courage |
| parry | to ward off, fend off, evade, avoid |
| platitude | a trite or obvious remark |
| panoply | a wide-ranging and impressive array or display |
| polemic | controversy; argument; verbal attack |
| perfidious | faithless, disloyal, untrustworthy |
| refractory | stubbornly resistant to authority or control |
| refulgent | radiant, shiny |
| recalcitrant | refractory, stubborn resistance |
| repast | a meal |
| reproach | to find fault with; blame; censure |
| rejoinder | a reply to a reply |
| quiescent | being quiet or still or inactive |
| recondite | abstruse; not easily understood; profound; secret information |
| repudiate | to reject or cast down |
| repose | to rest; lie; place; relaxation, peace of mind, calmness |
| reprobate | a person without moral scruples |
| renege | to go back on one's word |
| resolution | a resolve or determination |
| redress | act of correcting an error or a fault |
| quail | lose courage |
| relegate | to send to an inferior position |
| solicitous | anxious, concerned, eager |
| seraphic | having a sweet nature befitting an angel |
| striated | marked with parallel bands; striped; grooved |
| specious | deceptive, apparently good or valid but lacking real merit |
| sully | To soil, stain, tarnish, defile |
| slake | to allay |
| solecism | a substandard or ungrammatical usage; any impropriety or mistake |
| sentient | a able to perceive by the senses, conscious |
| sobriquet | nickname |
| sinecure | a position requiring little or no work |
| sardonic | Grimly or scornfully mocking, bitterly sarcastic |
| stolid | not easily moved mentally or emotionally; dull, unresponsive |
| sedition | behavior that promotes rebellion or disorder against the state |
| stentorian | very loud of powerful in voice |
| sanguine | optimistic and cheerful |
| salient | prominent; of notable significance |
| tenuous | thin, slender, lacking clarity, of slight significance; poorly supported |
| tome | a large book |
| vernal | Related to spring; fresh |
| vestige | A visible trace, mark, or impression, of something absent, lost, or gone. |
| usury | the act of lending money at an exorbitant rate of interest |
| venerate | revere |
| umbrage | offense, resentment |
| tractable | easily managed or controlled |
| tacit | unspoken, silent; implied, inferred |
| torpor | lethargic, apathy |
| transgression | violation of a law; sin |
| toady | one who flatters in the hope of gaining favors |
| verdant | Green with vegetation; immature in experience or judgement |
| welter | a confused mass or jumble |
| truculence | aggressiveness; ferocity |
| fractious | refractory, unruly to authority |
| arrogate | take control without authority and possibly with force |
| gambol | gay or light-hearted recreational activity for diversion or amusement |
| improvidence | an absence of foresight; a failure to provide for future needs or events |
| gossamer | characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy |
| voluble | marked by a ready flow of speech |
| vicissitude | a change or variation occurring in the course of something |
| vim | energy; enthusiasm |
| pusillanimous | lacking in courage and manly strength and resolution |
| rapacious | excessively greedy and grasping |
| contumacious | rebellious, disobedient |
| inveterate | settled or confirmed in a habit, practice, feeling |
| imprecation | cursing, malediction |
| expatiate | to expound/dilate; to move without restraint |
| tyro | a beginner |
| verisimilitude | the appearance of truth |
| meretricious | gaudy, falsely attractive |
| undergird | to strengthen, secure, give base support |
| prolixity | long and wordy, of tedious length |
| abrogate | to abolish, put aside, to end |
| minatory | threatening, menacing |
| adventitious | accidental; casual; happening by chance |
| affront | insult; offense; intentional act of disrespect; |
| alcove | a small recess opening off a larger room |
| altercation | noisy quarrel |
| agog | highly excited by eagerness, curiosity, anticipation |
| suppliant | one who asks humbly and earnestly |
| kismet | fate, destiny |
| sinuous | winding, having many curves |
| munificent | extremely generous, unstinting |
| anathema | a cursed, detested person |
| riposte | swift retort |
| strident | loud, harsh, grating, or shrill |
| cavil | raise trivial objections |
| auspice | support, help |
| fulsome | offensively excessive; disgusting, sickening |
| fealty | obligated loyalty or faithfulness |
| simper | to smile in a silly way |
| enjoin | give instructions to or direct with authority |
| esurient | extremely hungry |
| unctuous | excessively suave or smug in manner or speech |
| recreant | cowardly, unfaithful |
| sententious | given to excessive moralizing |
| vitriolic | bitterly sarcastic, caustic |
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