| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Abdicate | (of a monarch) renounce one's throne |
| Aberration | A departure from what is normal usual,or expected, typically one that is unwelcome |
| Abide | Accept or act in accordance with |
| Abomination | hate coupled with disgust |
| Acquiescence | Accept something reluctantly but without protest |
| Acrimonious | (Typically of speech or debate) angry and bitter |
| Adroit | Clever or skillful in using the hands or mind |
| Aesthetic | Concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty |
| Allegory | A story, poem, or picture that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one |
| Alliteration | The occurrence of the same letter or sound at the begi9nning of adjacent or closely connected words |
| Allusion | An expression designed to call something to mind without mentioning it explicity, an indirect or passing reference |
| Antagonist | A person who actively opposes or is hostile to someone or something, an adversary |
| Antebellum | Occurring or existing before a particular war |
| Appease | To pacify or placate(someone) by acceding to their demands. Relieve or satisfy |
| Apt | Appropriate or suitable in the circumstances. Having a tendency to do something. Quick to learn |
| Arbiter | A person who settles a dispute or has ultimate authority in a matter |
| Ascribe | Attribute something to a cause |
| Assail | Make a concerted or violent attack on |
| Assonance | In poetry the repetition of the sound of a vowel or diphthong in nonrhyming stressed syllables near enoug to each other for the echo to be discernible |
| Audacious | Showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks. Showing an impudent lack of respect. |
| Ballad | A poem or song narrating a story in short stanzas |
| Barbaric | Savagely Cruel, Brutal |
| Bedlam | A scene of uproar and confusion |
| Bellicose | Demonstrating aggression and willingness to fight |
| Belligerent | Hostile and aggressive |
| Betroth | Enter into a formal agreement to marry |
| Bicameral | Having two branches or chambers |
| Biennial | Taking place every other year (every 2 years) |
| Bile | A bitter greenish-brown alkaline fluid that aids digestion and is secreted by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. Anger, Irritability |
| Bipartisan | Of or involving the agreement or cooperation of two political parties what usually oppose each other's policies |
| Blank verse | verse without rhyme, but uses iambic pentameter |
| Blasphemy | The act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things, profane talk |
| Boisterous | Noisy, energetic, and cheerful. Rowdy |
| Braggart | A preson who boasts about achievements or possessions |
| Calumny | The making of false and defamatory statements in order to damage |
| Cantankerous | Bad-tempered, argumentative and uncooperative |
| Caste | The system of dividing society into classes |
| Catharsis | The process of releasing and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions |
| Catholic | Including a wide variety of things, all embracing |
| Chronic | Persisting for a long time or constantly recurring |
| Circum | Around |
| Circumlocution | The use of many words where fewer would do |
| Circumspect | Wary and unwilling to take risks |
| Circumvent | Find a way around an obstacle |
| Coalesce | Come together and form one mass or whole |
| Cogent | (Of an argument or case) clear, logical, and convincing |
| Cognizance | Knowledge, awareness, or notice |
| Collusion | Secret or illegal cooperation for conspiracy |
| Con | Together/With Other includes Col, Co, Cor |
| Col | Together/ With Other includes Con, Co, Cor |
| Co | Together/With Other includes Con, Col, Cor |
| Cor | Together/With Other includes Con, Col, Co |
| Concord | Agreement or harmony |
| Condemn | Express complete disapproval of, typically in public;censure |
| Congenital | Present from birth; inherent |
| Congeries | Disorderly collection, a jumble |
| Connotation | An idea or feeling that a word invokes person in addition to its literal or primary meaning |
| Conspicuous | Standing out so asto be clearly visible |
| Contrite | Feeling or expressing remorse or penitence; affected by guilt |
| Contrive | Create or bring about (an object or a situation) by deliberate use of skill and artifice |
| Copiously | Abundantly |
| Couplet | Two lines of verse, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme, that form a unit |
| Creed | A system of Christian or other religious belief, a faith |
| Crucible | A place or occasion of sever test or trial |
| Cynical | Believing that people are motivated by self-interest; distrustful of human sincerity or integrity |
| Dally | Act or move slowly |
| De | Down |
| Demented | Driven to behave irrationally due to anger, distress, or excitement |
| Demote | Give (someone) a lower rank or less senior position, usually as punishment |
| Denotation | The literal or primary meaning of a word, in contrast to the feelings or ideas what the word suggests |
| Denoumount | The final part of the play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved |
| Diction | The choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing |
| Diffident | Modest of shy due to lack of self-confidence |
| Dissemble | Conceal one's true motives, feelings, or beliefs, disguise or conceal |
| Dissonant | Lacking harmony, unsuitable or unusual in combination; crashing |
| Doggerel | Comic verse composed in irregular rhythm |
| Duress | threats, violence, constrains, or other action brought to bear on someone to do something against their will or better judgement |
| Ebb | Move away from the land, recede, gradually lessen or reduce |
| Ecclesiastical | of or relating to the Christian Church or its clergy |
| Elegy | A poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead |
| Empathetic | Able to unde5rstand and share the feelings of another |
| Emulate | Matter of surpass (a person or achievement) typically by imiation |
| End Rhyme | The words or final syllables at the end of a line of poetry rhyme in a set pattern. |
| End Stopped Lines | Having a pause at the end of each line |
| Enjambment | The continuation of a sentence without a pause beyond the end of a line, couplet, or stanza |
| Entail | A settlement of the inheritance of propery over a number of generations so that it remains without a family or other group |
| Ephemeral | Lasting for a very short time |
| Epic | A long poem, typically one derived from ancient oral tradition, narrating the deeds and adventures of heroic or legendary figures of the history iof a nation |
| Epigram | A short poem, especially a satirical one having a witty or ingenious ending |
| Epiphany | A moment of sudden reveltation or insight |
| Equanimity | Mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation |
| Eschew | Deliberately avoid using; abstain from |
| Euphemism | A mild or indirect word or expression substituted for one considered to be too harash or blunt when referring to someone unpleasant or embarrassing |
| Evanescent | Soon passing out of sight, memo0ry, or existence; quickly fading or disappearing |
| Feral | Wild |
| Fetish | A course of action to which one has an excessive and irrational commitment |
| Fiat | A formal authorization or proposition; a degree |
| Flay | Peel the skin off |
| Formidable | Inspiring fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful, intense, or capable |
| Futility | Incapable of producing any useful result; pointless |
| Gaff | A stick with a hook, or a barbed spear, for landing large fish |
| Gainsay | Deny or contradict (a fact or statement) |
| Gall | Bold, impudent behavior two the contents of the gallbladder; bile |
| Giddy | Having a sensation of whirling and a tendency to fall or stagger; dizzy. Excitable and frivolous |
| Glib | (Of words or the person speaking them) fluent and voluble but insincere and shallow |
| Glutton | An excessively greedy eater |
| Gratuitous | Uncalled for; lacking a good reason. |
| Gripe | Express a complaint or grumble something. Clutch |
| Guise | An external form, appearance, or manner of presentation, typically concealing the true nature of something |
| Haiku | A Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world |
| Halcyon | Denoting and a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful instruction |
| Indignation | Anger or annoyance provoked by what is perceived as unfair treatment |
| Inept | Having or showing no skill; clumsy |
| Infamy | Notoriety |
| Internal Rhyme | A rhyme involving a world in the middle of a line and another at theend of the line or the middle of the next |
| Intimate | Closely acquainted; familiarly close |
| Intrinsic | Belonging naturally; essential |
| Introspection | The examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes |
| Jargon | Special words or expressions that are used by a particular profession or group that are difficult for others to understand |
| Jaunty | Having or expressing a lively, cheerful, and self-confident manner |
| Jetty | A landing stage or small pier at which boats an dock or be moored |
| Junta | A miliary or political group thjat rules a country after taking power by force |
| Lascivious | Feeling or revealing an overt and often offensive sexual desire |
| Licentious | Promiscuous and unprincipled in sexual matters |
| Listless | Lacking energy or enthusiasm |
| Loath | Reluctant; Unwilling |
| Lobotomy | A surgical operation involving incision into the pre-frontal lobe of the brain, formerly used to treat mental illness |
| Lyric Poetry | A kind of poetry that expresses emotion |
| Malign | Evil in nature or effect; malevolent. Speak about someone in a critical manner |
| Mammon | Walth regarded as an evil influence or false object of worship and devotion |
| Manifest | Clear or obvious to the eye/ D. Display or show (a quality or feeling) by one's acts or appearance |
| Maraud | Raom in search of things to steal or people to attack; raid and plunder |
| Matriarchy | A system of society or government ruled by women |
| Maudlin | Self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental, often through drrunkenness |
| Maven | An expert or connoisseur |
| Metaphor | A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable; a thing regarded as a representative of symbolic of something else. |
| Metonymy | The substitution of the name of an attribute or adjunct for that of the thing meant. |
| Mollify | Appease the anger or anxiety of someone |
| Mongers | Trader: Someone who purchases and maintains an inventory of goods to be sold |
| Mores | The essential or characteristic customs and conventions of a community |
| Myriad | A countless of extremely great number |
| Narrative Poetry | A poem that tells a story. Two types: Ballad & Epics |
| Notoriety | The state of being known for some unfavorable act or quality |
| Notorious | Famous or well known, typically for some bad quality or deed |
| Nuance | A subtle difference in or shade of meaning, expression, or sound |
| Ode | A lyric poem in the form of an address to a particular subject often elevated in style or manner and written in varied or irregular meter; a poem meant to be sung |
| Oligarchy | A small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution |
| Ominous | Giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen; threatening; inauspicious |
| Onomatopoeia | The formation of word from a sound associated with what it is named |
| Open Form | Verse that has neither regular rhyme nor regular meter. Free verse often uses cadences rather than uniform metrical feet |
| Ornery | Bad tempered and combative. Stubborn |
| Overt | Done or shown openly; plainly or readily apparent, not secret or hidden |
| Palliate | Make (a disease or its symptoms) less sever or unpleasant without moving the cause. |
| Parochial | Of or relating to a church parish. having a limited or narrow outlook or scope |
| Pecuniary | Of, relating to, or consisting of money |
| Peevish | Easily irritated |
| Pejorative | Expression contempt or disapproval. A word expressing contempt or disapproval. |
| Heathen | A person who does not belong to a widely held religion as regarded by those who do |
| Hegemony | Leadership or dominance |
| Hierarchical | Arranged in order of rank |
| Hovel | Small squalid, unpleasant, or simply constructed dwelling |
| Hybris | Excessive pride or self-confidence |
| Hyperbole | Exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally |
| Iamb | a metrical foot in poetry that has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, as in the word protect |
| Icon | A person or thing regarded as a representative symbol of something |
| Idiosyncratic | Peculiar to the individual |
| Implacable | Not being able of pacified or quiet |
| Implicit | Implied through not plainly expressed. With no qualification or question; absolute. |
| Impromptu | Done without being planned, organized or rehearsed in |
| Inculcate | Teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions |
| Personification | The attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman, or the representation of an abstract quality in human form. |
| Perspicacious | Having a ready insight into and understanding of things. |
| Pervasive | Having the quality or tendency to pervade or permeate |
| Platitude | A remark or statement. The quality of being dull, ordinary, or trite |
| Plausible | Having an appearance of truth or reason; seemingly worthy of approval or acceptance; credible |
| Plutocrat | A person whose power derives from their wealth |
| Posterity | All future generations of people |
| Pre | Before |
| Precarious | Not securely held or in position; dangerously likely to fall or collapse. Dependent on chance; uncertain. |
| Precede | Come before (something) in time, position |
| Preclude | Prevent from happening; make impossible |
| Precocious | (Of a child) having developed certain abilities or proclivities at an earlier age than usual |
| Predilection | A preference or special liking for something; a bias in favor of something |
| premise | A previous statement or proposition from which another is inferred or follows as a conclusion |
| Prerogative | A right or privilege exclusive to a particular individual or class |
| Prescient | Knowledge of things before they exist or happen; foreknowledge; foresight |
| Prototype | A first or preliminary model of something. |
| Pundit | WISE MAN OR TEACHER |
| Quotidian | Daily |
| Ramshackle | In a state of severe disrepair |
| Rankle | Cause annoyance or resentment that persists |
| Rebarbative | Annoyance, irritation |
| Reconnaissance | Military observation of a region to locate an enemy or ascertain strategic features |
| Relent | Abandon or mitigate a harsh intention or cruel treatment |
| Resonance | The quality in a sound of being deep, full, and reverberating |
| Sacrosanct | Regarded as too important or valuable to be interfered with |
| Sadism | The tendency to derive pleasure from inflicting pain, suffering, or from deliberate cruelty on others |
| Salient | Most noticeable or important |
| Sanguine | Cheerfully optimistic |
| Scrutinize | Examine or inspect closely and thoroughly |
| Sepia | A reddish-brown color associated particularly with monochrome photographs of the 18th and early 20th centuries |
| Shadenfreude | Pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune |
| Shaman | A person regarded as having access to, and influence in the world of spirits |
| Sidle | Walk in a furtive, unobtrusive, or timid manner, |
| Simile | A figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing using like or as |
| Skulk | Keep out of sight, typically with a sinister or cowardly motive |
| Smirch | Make something dirty; soil; taint |
| Sonnet | A poem of fourteen lines using any of a number of formal rhyme schemes, in English typically having ten syllables per line |
| Stanza | A group of lines forming the basic recurring metrical unit in a poem |
| Symbol | A thing that represents or stands for something else |
| Synecdoche | A figure of speech in which a part is made to represent the whole or vice versa |
| Syntax | The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language |
| Temerity | Excessive confidence of boldness, audacity |
| Tepid | Lukewarm; unenthusiastic |
| Tether | Tie (an animal) with a rope or chain so as to restrict its movement. |
| Umbrage | A feeling of anger caused by being offended |
| Uncouth | lacking good manners, refinement, or grace; rude |
| Understatement | The presentation of something as being smaller, worse, or less important than it actually is |
| Unilateral | Involving only one part or side |
| Unmitigated | Absolute, unqualified |
| Undulate | Move with a smooth wavelike motion |
| Vagary | An unexpected an inexplicable change in a situation or in someone's behavior |
| Vernerable | Respectable |
| Venue | The place where something happens (like a concert, conference, or sports event) |
| Vernacular | Dialect |
| Villanelle | A 19 line form using only two rhymes and repeating two of the lines according to a set pattern |
| Wanton | Deliberate and unprovoked |
| Xenophobe | Fear of foreigners |
Combine with other sets
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