| Term | Definition |
|---|
| aesthete (n) | An enemy or opponent. When the formet Soviet Union became an American ally, the United States lost its last major international adversary. adverse (adj) |
| aesthete (n) | Someone devoted to beauty and to beautiful things. A renowned aesthete, Oscar Wilde was the center of a group that glorified beauty and adopted the slogan "art for art's sake". aesthetic (adj) |
| affability (n) | The quality of being easy to talk to and gracious. Affability is a much-desired trait in any profession that involves dealing with many people on a daily basis. affable (adj) |
| affected (adj) | False, artificial. At one time, Japanese women are taught to speak in an affected high-pitched voice, which was thought girlishly attractive. affect (v), affection (noun) |
| affinity (n) | A feeling of shared attraction, kinship; a similarity. When they first fell in love, Ansdrew and Tanya marveled over their affinity for bluegrass music, obscure French poetry, and beer taken with a squirt of lemon juice. People often say there is a striking affinity between dogs and their owners (but please dont tell Clara that she and her bassett hound are starting to resemble each other) |
| aggrandize (v) | To make bigger or greater; to inflate. When he was mayor of New York City, Ed Koch was renowned for aggrandizing his accomplishments and strolling through city events shouting, "How'm I doing?" aggrandizement (n) |
| agitation (n) | A disturbance; a disturbing feeling of upheaval and excitement. After the CEO announced the coming layoffs, the employees' agitation was evident as they remained in the auditorium talking excitedly among themselves. agitated (adj), agitate (v) |
| alias (n) | An assumed name. Determined not to reveal his upper-class roots, Harold Steerforth Hetherington III went under the alias of "Hound Dog" when playing trumpet in his blues band |
| allegiance (n) | Loyalty or devotion shown to one's government or to a person, group, or cause. At the moving naturalization ceremony, forty-three new Americans from twenty-five lands swore allegiance to the United States |
| allocate (v) | To apportion for a specific purpose; to distribute. The president talked about the importance of educaiton and health care in his State of the Union address, but, in the end, the administration did not allocate enough resources for these pressing concerns. allocation(n) |
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