| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Aberrant | departing from the right, normal, or usual course; deviating from the ordinary, usual, or normal type; exceptional; abnormal |
| Abridge | to reduce in scope : diminish; to shorten by omission of words without sacrifice of sense |
| Abscond | to leave quickly and secretly, especially to avoid legal action |
| Acumen | keen insight; shrewdness; expertise |
| Altruism | unselfish regard for the welfare of others |
| Amiable | having or showing pleasant, good-natured personal qualities; affable; friendly; sociable; agreeable; willing to accept the wishes, decisions, or suggestions of another or others |
| Apodictic | incontestable because of having been demonstrated or proved to be demonstrable; necessarily true or logically certain |
| Appease | to calm or soothe, as by granting concessions; to satisfy or please |
| Astute | having or showing shrewdness and perspicacity; crafty, wily |
| Banal | commonplace; trite |
| Belie | to give a false impression of; to show (something) to be false or wrong |
| Bemuse | to bewilder or confuse (someone) |
| Bolster | to prop us; to reinforce; or, a long pillow |
| Brink | the edge, especially of a precipice |
| Cerebral | of the brain or the intellect |
| Chide | to scold quietly |
| Circumspect | careful to consider all consequences and possible consequences; prudent |
| Cloister | to seclude from the world in or as if in a cloister (a place or state of seclusion) |
| Confounded | bewildered; confused; perplexed |
| Copacetic | fine; completely satisfactory; OK |
| Curtail | to cut short; to reduce; to lessen |
| Deft | skillful; dexterous |
| Defunct | no longer existing; dead |
| Deign | to condescend reluctantly and with a strong sense of the affront to one's superiority that is involved; stoop |
| Deluge | a great flood of water; inundation; flood; a drenching rain; downpour; anything that overwhelms like a flood |
| Diadem | a crown; Royal dignity or authority |
| Diffident | lacking confidence; shy; insecure |
| Discern | to detect; to recognize or identify as separate and distinct : discriminate |
| Dulcet | sweet to the taste; pleasing to the ear; generally pleasing or agreeable |
| Ebb | to flow back or away, as the water of a tide; to decline or decay; fade away |
| Effusive | unduly demonstrative; lacking reserve; pouring out; overflowing |
| Elation | a feeling or state of great joy or pride; exultant gladness; high spirits |
| Emulate | to try to equal or excel; imitate with effort to equal or surpass |
| Encroach | to intrude on the possession or rights of another |
| Euphemism | a word or phrase substituted for one that may be offensive |
| Gratuitous | given freely; without cause |
| Gregarious | fond of the company of others; sociable; living in flocks or herds, as animals |
| Guile | craftiness; cunning |
| Immutable | unchangeable; changeless |
| Impede | to slow the progress of; to obstruct |
| Incite | to provoke to action; to instigate |
| Inconceivable | unimaginable; unthinkable; unbelievable; incredible |
| Insipid | uninteresting; dull; lacking flavor |
| Lament | to express grief, sorrow, or remorse; or an expression of sorrow or affliction |
| Laudable | worthy of praise |
| Lethargic | sluggish; listless; apathetic |
| Lissome | lithe; easily flexed; nimble |
| Mitigate | to become or make less intense or severe |
| Odious | deserving or causing hatred; hateful; detestable; highly offensive; repugnant; disgusting |
| Panacea | a remedy for all ills or difficulties; cure-all |
| Peruse | to study thoroughly; to scrutinize |
| Piety | devotion or reverence |
| Placate | to appease or pacify |
| Placid | pleasantly calm or peaceful; unruffled; tranquil; serenely quiet or undisturbed |
| Preamble | an introductory statement; preface; introduction; the introductory part of a statute, deed, or the like, stating the reasons and intent of what follows; a preliminary or introductory fact or circumstance |
| Prodigious | extraordinary or impressive |
| Pule | to whine or whimper |
| Rebuttal | argument or proof that contradicts or opposes |
| Reiterate | to say or do again or repeatedly; repeat, often excessively |
| Reproach | a condemnation; disgrace; or, to criticize or rebuke |
| Rigorous | characterized by strictness, severity, or harshness, as in dealing with people, rules, or discipline; severely exact or accurate; precise |
| Rudimentary | consisting in first principles; fundamental; of a primitive kind |
| Stoic | impassive; characterized by a calm, austere fortitude; unmoved by joy or grief |
| Superable | capable of being overcome; surmountable |
| Tactile | relating to the sense of touch; that may be touched or perceived by touch |
| Tepid | moderately warm, lukewarm; lacking in passion, force, or zest; marked by an absence of enthusiasm or conviction |
| Terse | short and to the point |
| Toilsome | involving hard work; difficult |
| Transgression | infringement or violation of a law, command, or duty |
| Transmogrify | to change in appearance or form, especially strangely or grotesquely; transform |
| Transpose | to change the relative position, order, or sequence of; cause to change places; interchange |
| Umbrage | a feeling of pique or resentment at some often fancied slight or insult |
| Venerate | to regard with reverential respect or with admiring deference; to honor |
| Veracity | devotion to the truth, truthfulness; conformity with truth or fact, accuracy; something true |
| Vilify | to speak of abusively; to defame |
| Wane | to diminish; to decline or decrease gradually; or a decreasing; a period of decline |
| Whodunit | a narrative dealing with a murder or a series of murders and the detection of the criminal; detective story |
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