| Term | Definition |
|---|
| exodus | a departure, usually of a great number of people |
| exonerate | to free from blame; to prove or declare blameless |
| expatriate | to banish from one's native country; exiled from native land |
| expletive | an oath or exclamation, usually profane; a word with no meaning of its own, used to complete the pattern of a phrase or a sentence |
| expound | to explain; to interpret |
| expunge | to remove completely; to blot out; to erase |
| extant | still in existence; not extinct or destroyed |
| extenuate | to make the magnitude of guilt, fault, or offense seem less; to excuse in part |
| extirpate | to destroy totally; to exterminate; to tear our by the roots |
| extraneous | coming from outside;p foreign; not necessary; irrelevant |
| exude | to come out or discharge gradually; to give forth or show |
| faction | a group of ppl within a larger group, usually causing conflict or disagreement; selfish or quarrelsome group |
| factious | causing disunity, dissension, or disputes; quarrelsome |
| fallible | capable of erring or making a mistake |
| fatuous | stupid in a self-satisfied way; foolish |
| felicitous | well chosen for the occasion; unusually appropriate; having an agreeable manner of writing or of speaking; happy |
| festoon | a string of flowers hung as a decoration; to decorate with such an adornment |
| fetid | having an offensive odor, as of rot or decay |
| filch | to steal in small quantities; to pilfer |
| finesse | delicate skill; subtlety |
| fiord | a long narrow inlet of the sea, with steep cliffs rising alongside |
| flay | to strip off the skin, as by whipping; to scold or criticize severely |
| foible | a minor weakness or fault; a minor but persistent personal failing; a shortcoming |
| foment | to foster trouble, rebellion, or strife, to stir up; to incite |
| foreshadow | to indicate or suggest beforehand; to give a warning of |
| forte | something which a person does very well; a strong point; adv. in music, loudly, forcefully |
| fortuitous | happening by chance; accidental |
| fresco | the art of painting with water colors on damp, fresh plaster; a picture so painted |
| fulminate | to talk or argue violently and loudly; to denounce; to explode suddenly and violently |
| fulsome | offensively insincere; so much or so false as to be disgusting |
| gainsay | to deny; to contradict; to oppose |
| gambol | frolic |
| germane | closely related to the matter at hand; pertinent |
| gibe | to make mocking remarks; to taunt; a derisive remark |
| goad | a prod for driving cattle; anything that drives or urges |
| gratuitous | freely given or granted; without obligation or cost; unnecessary; uncalled for |
| haphazard | willingly left to chance; not planned; random |
| hardihood | boldness; daring |
| herculean | extremely demanding or difficult; requiring or having great courage or strength |
| hiatus | a space where something is missing; any break in continuity |
| homily | a sermon, especially on something in the Bible; a long moralizing talk |
| hyperbole | exaggeration |
| hypochondriac | a person suffering from anxiety about their health; one who imagines that he has symptoms of diseases |
| iconoclast | a person who destroys sacred images; one who attacks established of popular beliefs |
| idiosyncrasy | a personal peculiarity that is an identifying trait; quirk |
| ignominy | public disgrace; public dishonor |
| immemorial | reaching back beyond the bounds of memory; extremely old |
| immutable | that which cannot be changed; unalterable |
| imperious | domineering; overbearing; arrogant |
| implacable | not capable of being pacified or appeased; relentless |
| impotent | powerless; unable to act effectively; lacking vigor or physical strength |
| impregnable | not capable of being conquered or overcome; able to resist attack or capture; unable to be shaken (as in a belief) |
| impromptu | without previous thought or preparation; spontaneous |
| impunity | freedom from punishment, penalty, or other harm |
| incalculable | not to be reckoned beforehand; uncertain; too great in number to be counted |
| incendiary | capable of causing fire; stirring up rebellion; a person who sets fire to property |
| inception | a beginning; the start of something |
| inchoate | just coming into existence; incipient; not completely formed; disordered |
| inconsequential | unimportant; petty |
| incredulous | showing disbelief of doubt; skeptical; disbelieving |
| indigenous | native to an area; origination in the region or country where found |
| inexorable | unalterable; relentless; inevitable |
| inexplicable | impossible to explain or understand |
| inflexible | not capable of being changed; unyielding; obstinate; rigid |
| influx | a flowing in; a steady flow, as of people or things |
| ingratiate | to bring oneself into someone's good graces or favor |
| inhibition | the act of holding back; an inner belief, feeling , of force that checks one's actions, thoughts, or feelings; restraint |
| innocuous | harmless; having no injurious or adverse effects; without impact |
| inordinate | much too great; excessive; immoderate |
| insatiable | incapable of being satisfied; greedy; unquenchable |
| insidious | sly; treacherous; working in a hidden but dangerous way |
| insoluble | not able to be dissolved; not able to be solved |
| intangible | not capable of being touched; not material; vague |
| interminable | endless; occurring over and over again, indefinitely |
| intermittent | stopping and starting with pauses between; occurring at irregular intervals |
| interpose | to put between; to insert between parts; to interject during a convo; to intervene |
| intimidate | to frighten; to make afraid; to frighten into doing or not doing something |
| inundate | to cover by overflowing; to flood; to overwhelm (as if by a flood) |
| inure | to accustom or habituate, usually to something undesirable |
| invariable | not changing; constant; without exception |
| inveigle | to win over with trickery or flattery; to entice; to coax w/deceitful talk; to dupe |
| irascible | easily angered; given to outbursts of temper; irritable |
| iridescent | showing the colors of the rainbow in a changing pattern |
| irreducible | not capable of being made smaller or simpler |
| irrevocable | not capable of being retracted, recalled, or withdrawn; irreversible |
| jeopardize | to imperil; to risk injury or loss |
| laconic | using few words; brief in speech or expression; concise |
| legerdemain | sleight of hand; deception or trickery; conjuring tricks |
| litigation | legal action; the carrying on of a lawsuit |
| longevity | long life; length of life |
| lucrative | profitable; producing money or wealth |
| lugubrious | sad or mournful, often to an exaggerated degree; doleful |
| machination | evil or harmful plotting; a hostile or cunning scheme |
| malevolent | wishing harm or evil to others; showing or having ill will toward others |
| mellifluous | sweetly and smoothly flowing (used especially of sounds); harmonious |
| mercurial | unpredictably changeable; quick and changeable in character |
| mesmerism | hypnotism; hypnotic appeal; intense fascination |
| mete | to give according to measure or one's judgment; to allot or distribute |
| moot | debatable; arguable; unresolved |
| munificent | extremely generous; very liberal in giving |
| nadir | the point in the skies directly opposite the zenith; the lowest possible point |
| nebulous | hazy; vague; unclearly defined |
| noncommittal | not committing one to any position or course of action; not revealing one's purpose or position |
| nostalgic | a longing for things past |
| nostrum | a quack remedy; a pet plan to solve some problem |
| obnoxious | very disagreeable; highly offensive |
| obsequious | too ready to please, praise, or obey; servile; fawning |
| obtrude | to intrude; to force upon another without request |
| omnivorous | eating every kind of food, both animal and vegetable; |
| onerous | burdensome; troublesome; oppressive |
| oracular | wise and prophetic; brief and mysterious (remarks); pertaining t o an oracle |
| oscillate | to move back and forth like a pendulum; to vary between two or more opinions, thoughts, or actions; to vacillate |
| ostensible | outwardly professed; apparent; seeming |
| palliate | to ease without curing; to alleviate; to make ( a crime or offense) appear less serious; to lessen the intensity of |
| panacea | a supposed remedy for all diseases or problems; a cure-all |
| patrimony | an inheritance from one's father or ancestors; any heritage or legacy |
| penury | extreme poverty or want |
| perfunctory | done routinely and without interest; mechanical; indifferent and careless |
| pernicious | very harmful; highly injurious; evil; causing moral harm |
| philistine | a person who is insensitive or indifferent to the arts, or to ideas; lacking in culture; boorish |
| precipitate | to cause something to happen; to bring about quickly or suddenly; reckless; rash; acting hastily or impulsively |
| predecessor | a person who precedes another in an office or a position; an ancestor; a forefather |
| prerogative | a right or privilege belonging to a particular person or class; any exclusive privilege |
| profligate | shamelessly extravagant; recklessly wasteful; immoral |
| progeny | children; offspring; descendants |
| propagate | to produce offspring, to reproduce, to spread (an idea of belief) |
| propensity | a natural inclination or bent; a tendency |
| protagonist | the main character in a story or play; a person who plays a leading or active part in something |
| purport | to claim or profess (to do something); to mean; an apparent purpose or meaning; significance |
| rapacious | greedy; plundering |
| rationalize | to explain in a manner that is false but seems reasonable; to devise self -serving but false reasons; to explain away |
| recondite | hard to understand; having to do with little known matters |
| rectitude | uprightness of conduct; moral rightness |
| relegate | to assign, usually to a less important position; to hand over for action or decision |
| reprisal | retaliation for an injury, especially by one nation to another; any retaliation made with force or violence |
| reticent | disposed to keep silent or say little; reserved |
| rudiment | a fundamental principle, rule or step |
| sanctimonious | making a show of piety or holiness; pompously upright and high minded |
| sartorial | relating to tailors or their work; pertaining to men's clothing or dress |
| scathing | harsh or caustic; extremely severe or bitter |
| scrutinize | to examine closely or critically |
| secular | worldly or temporal rather than religious or sacred; not belonging to a religious order (not ppl) |
| sequester | to remove or withdraw from public use or view; to hide or set apart; to confiscate or seize |
| shibboleth | a slogan that distinguishes a group, party, or class; any use of language, habit, or custom that distinguishes a group |
| sluice | an artificial channel for conducting water, with a gate regulating the flow; a floodgate; to wash off with a rush of water |
| solicitous | showing concern or worry; anxiously concerned; eager |
| specious | apparently true, desirable, or reasonable, but not really so |
| spurious | counterfeit; fraudulent; not authentic; false |
| stigmatize | to describe or brand as bad or disgraceful |
| stoic | a person who appears to be unaffected by pain or pleasure; impassive |
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