| 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 or projecting known information |
| incoherent | lacking cohesion or connection |
| insinuate | to imply or communicate stealthily |
| lucid | easily understood; clear |
| rhetoric | the art of using language effectively and persuasively |
| acumen | quickness, accuracy, and keenness of judgement or insight |
| adroit | dexterous; deft |
| ascertain | to find out, as through investigation or experimentation |
| astute | shrewd; clever |
| circumspect | careful; prudent; discreet |
| reticent | inclined to keep silent; reserved |
| staid | unemotional; serious |
| arcane | known or understood by only a few |
| assimilate | to absorb or become absorbed; to make or become similar |
| autonomy | independence; self-determination |
| cosmopolitan | worldly; widely sophisticated |
| derivative (n) | something that comes from another source |
| entourage | a group of attendants or associates; a retinue |
| esoteric | intended for or understood by only a small group or people |
| gaffe | a clumsy social error; a faux pas |
| idiosyncrasy | characteristic peculiar to an individual or group |
| insular | isolated; narrow or provincial |
| orthodox | adhering to the traditional and established, especially in religion |
| 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 seclusion or isolation |
| relinquish | to retire from; give up or abandon |
| renounce | to give up (a title, for example), especially by formal announcement |
| wituperative | marked by harshly abusive condemnation |
| circumscribe | to draw a circle around; to restrict |
| contiguous | sharing an edge or boundary; touching |
| conciliatory | appeasing; soothing; showing willingness to reconcile |
| credible | capable of being believed; plausible |
| exonerate | to free from blame |
| controvertible | indisputable; not open to question |
| indict | to officially charge with wrongdoing or a crime |
| litigious | prone to engage in lawsuits |
| partisan (adj.) | devoted to or biased in support of a party, group, or cause |
| parity | equality, as in amount, status, or value (antonym: disparity) |
| rectitude | moral uprightness; righteous |
| remiss | lax in attending to duty; negligent |
| repudiate | to reject the validity or authority of sanctimonious |
| sanctimonious | feigning piety or righteousness |
| scrupulous | principled, having a strong sense of right and wrong; conscientious and exacting |
| solicitous | concerned |
| sophistry | plausible but misleading or fallacious 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, obsequious flatterer |
| altruism | unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness |
| 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; relating to monetary generosity |
| reciprocate | to mutually take or give; to respond in kind |
| defunct | no longer existing or functioning |
| eradicate | to get rid of as if by tearing it up by the roots; abolish |
| expurgate | to remove objectionable content before publication or release |
| extirpate | to destroy |
| quell | to put down forcibly; suppress |
| raze | to level to the ground; demolish |
| squelch | to crush as if by trampling; squash |
| supplant | to usurp the place of, especially through intrigue or underhand tactics |
| stymie | to thwart or stump |
| abase | to lower in rank, prestige, or esteem |
| deride | to mock contemptuously |
| derogatory | insulting or intended to insult |
| disparage | to speak of negatively; to belittle |
| effrontery | brazen boldness; presumptuousness |
| ignominy | great personal dishonor or humiliation; disgraceful conduct |
| impugn | to attack as false or questionable |
| mar | to damage, espeically in a disfiguring way |
| pejorative (adj) | disparaging, belittling, insulting |
| vex | to annoy or bother; to perplex |
| vindictive | disposed to seek revenge; revengeful; spiteful |
| 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 or decorate; to exaggerate |
| flagrant | extremely or deliberately shocking or noticeable |
| gratuitous | given freely; unearned; unnecessary |
| lavish (adj) | extravagant |
| lugubrious | mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially to an exaggerated or ludicrous degree |
| opulent | displaying great wealth |
| ornate | elaborately decorated |
| penchant | a strong inclination or liking |
| redundant | needlessly repetitive |
| ubiquitous | being or seeing to be everywhere at the same time; omnipresent |
| vicarious | felt or undergone as if one was 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 | to ease a pain or burden |
| ameliorate | to make something better; improve |
| beneficial | producing or promoting a favorable result; helpful |
| curative | able to heal or cure |
| palliative | relieveing or soothing the symptoms of a disease or disorder without effecting a cure |
| therapeutic | having or exhibiting healing powers |
| complement (n) | something that completes, goes with, or brings to perfection |
| epitome | a representative or example of a type |
| felicitous | admirably suited; apt |
| belie | to misrepresent or disguise |
| debunk | to expose untruths, shams, or exaggerated claims |
| dubious | doubtful; of unlikely authenticity |
| duplicitous | deliberately deceptive |
| fabricate | to make up the order; to deceive |
| fallacy | a false notion |
| mendacious | lying; untruthful |
| specious | having the ring of truth or plausibility but actually false |
| ambiguous | open to more than one interpretation |
| ambivalent | simultaneously feeling opposing feelings; uncertain |
| apathetic | feeling or showing little emotion |
| capricious | impulsive and unpredictable |
| equivocal | open to two or more interpretations and often intended to mislead; ambiguous (antonym: unequivocal) |
| erratic | markedly; inconsistent |
| impetuous | suddenly and forcefully energetic or emotional; impulsive and passionate |
| impetus | an impelling force or stimulus |
| sporadic | occurring at irregular intervals; having no pattern or order in time |
| vacillate | to sway from one side to the other; oscillate |
| whimsical | characterized by whim; unpredictable |
| flag (v.) | to decline in vigor or strength; to tire; to droop |
| jaded | worn out; wearied |
| ingenous | lacking in cunning, guile, or worldiness (antonym: disingenuous) |
| 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 (antonym: intemperate) |
| tenuous | having little substance or strength; shaky |
| diligent | marked by painstaking effort; 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 | on the alert; watchful |
| extraneous | irrevelant; inessential |
| juxtapose | to place side by side, especially for comparison or contrast |
| superfluous | extra; unneccessary |
| synergy | combined action or operation |
| tangential | merely touching or slightly connected; only superficially relevant |
| aesthetic | having to do with the appreciation of beauty |
| aural | of or related to the ear or the sense of hearing |
| cacophony | discordant, unpleasant noise |
| dirge | a funeral hymn or lament |
| eclectic | made up of a variety of sources or styles |
| incongruous | lacking in harmony; incompatible |
| sonorous | producing a deep or full sound |
| strident | loud, harsh, grating, or shrill |
| debacle | disastrous or ludicrous defeat or failure; fiasco |
| debilitate | impair the strength of; weaken |
| tumultuous | noisy and disorderly |
| anachronistic | the representation of something as existing or happening in the wrong time period |
| archaic | characteristic of an earlier time; antiquated; old |
| dilatory | habitually late |
| ephemeral | lasting for only a brief time |
| redolent | fragrant; aromatic; suggestive |
| temporal | of, relating to, or limited by time |
| onerous | troublesome or oppressive; burdensome |
| portent | indication of something important or calamitous about to occur; omen |
| prescience | knowledge of actions or events before they occur; foreknowledge; foresight |
| austere | without decoration; strict |
| banal | drearily commonplace; predictable; trite |
| hackneyed | worn out through overuse; trite |
| insipid | uninteresting; unchallenging; lacking taste or savor |
| prosaic | unimaginative; dull (antonym: poetic) |
| soporific | inducing or tending to induce sleep |
| vapid | lacking liveliness, animation, or interest; dull |
| brevity | the quality or state of being brief in duration |
| expedient | appropriate to a purpose; convenient; speedy |
| transient | passing quickly in time or space |
| augment | to make greater, as in size, extent, or quantity; to supplement |
| bolster | to hearten, support or prop up |
| burgeon | to grow and flourish |
| copious | plentiful; having a large quantity |
| distend | to swell out or expand from internal pressure, as when overly full |
| grandiose | great in scope or intent; grand |
| prodigious | enormous |
| profundity | great depth of intellect, feeling, or meaning |
| redouble | to make twice as great; to double |
| scintillating | brilliant |
| averse | strongly disinclined |
| conspicuous | easy to notice; obvious (antonym:inconspicuous) |
| demure | modest and reserved |
| diffidence | timidity or shyness |
| docile | submissive to instruction; willing to be taught |
| innocuous | having no adverse effect; harmless |
| placid | calm or quiet; undisturbed |
| quiescent | quiet, still, or at rest; inactive |
| concord | agreement (antonym: discord) |
| concur | to agree |
| 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 | easy-going; friendly |
| alacrity | promptness in response; cheerful readiness; eagerness |
| amiable | friendly; agreeable; good-natured |
| benign | kind and gentle |
| sanguine | cheerfully confident; optimistic |
| belligerent | eager to fight; hostile or aggressive |
| byzantine | extremely complicated or devious |
| cantankerous | ill-tempered and quarrelsome; disagreeable |
| contentious | quarrelsome |
| deleterious | having a harmful effect |
| exacerbate | to increase the severity, violence, or bitterness of; aggravate |
| flippant | disrespectfully humorous or casual |
| insolent | insulting in manner or speech |
| nefarious | flagrantly wicked; vicious |
| pernicious | extremely or irrevocable harmful; deadly |
| rancorous | marked by bitter, deep-seated ill-will |
| repugnant | arousing disgust or aversion; offensive or repulsive |
| tawdry | gawdy and cheap |
| arboreal | relating or or resembling a tree or trees |
| invocation (n) | a call (usually upon a higher power) for assistance, support, or inspiration |
| stratify | to layer or separate into layers |
| variegated | having streaks, marks, o patches of a different color or colors; varicolored |
| verdant | green with vegetation |
Combine with other sets
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace