| Term | Definition |
|---|
| manacles | shackles; handcuffs |
| taciturn | almost always silent; not liking to talk |
| remnant | a small amount left over after the rest has been used; a surviving trace |
| demeanor | outward behavior, esp. that reveals one's personality or attitude |
| schema | an outline or model, often drawn as a diagram |
| vendetta | a bitter feud or quarrel; fight |
| verbatim | word for word |
| bigot | one who favors his own group and is intolerant of those who differ |
| masquerade | to wear a disguise; to put on a false appearance |
| pivotal | crucial |
| corroborate | to strengthen; confirm; support |
| stagnant | inactive; not moving |
| truculent | inclined to fight; expressing violence or hostility |
| dissipate | to scatter; to spend wastefully |
| maraud | to raid; to invade for plunder |
| exhort | to urge strongly |
| sententious | expressing much in few words; given to pompous moralizing |
| wheedle | to persuade or obtain through flattery or cunning |
| aloof | distant or removed in attitude or manner |
| foray | a sudden raid; an initial attempt, esp. outside one's usual field |
| ensconce | to settle or secure snugly |
| chicanery | deception by trickery |
| tenet | a belief |
| latitude | freedom from normal limitations; room for movement or action |
| genial | cheerful; friendly |
| obstinate | unreasonably stubborn |
| chronicle | a recording of events in order of time |
| innuendo | an indirect suggestion about someone or something, esp. of a negative nature |
| dowdy | lacking in neatness or style; shabby |
| garrulous | talking too much, esp. about trivial things |
| nullify | to make void or unimportant |
| colloquial | appropriate to spoken, as opposed to written, language; informal |
| eclat | great brilliance, as of performance or achievement; conspicuous success |
| stigma | a sign of disgrace; a mark that lowers a reputation |
| beguile | to deceive by charm |
| affliction | pain; suffering; anything causing pain |
| congenital | present since birth; being an essential characteristic |
| exert | to put forth or bring to bear |
| extrovert | an outgoing person |
| meticulous | extremely or excessively careful about details; finicky |
| eugenics | the study of hereditary improvement of human beings by controlled breeding |
| ingratiate | to bring oneself into another's favor or good graces by conscious effort |
| propensity | a natural inclination; a tendency |
| rummage | to search thoroughly by handling or disarranging the contents of |
| denouement | conclusion; resolution; the falling action of a story after its climax |
| posit | to assume as a fact or principle |
| derelict | abandoned; negligent |
| vociferous | loud and vehement |
| commensurate | equal in proportion; having the same size, duration, etc. |
| chimerical | created by or as if by a fanciful imagination |
| coddle | to treat indulgently |
| exodus | the departure of a large number of people |
| affinity | a natural attraction or feeling of kinship; an inherent similarity |
| caste | a rigid and hereditary social class |
| elude | to escape from, as by daring or skill; to escape the understanding of |
| unfledged | not yet grown; immature; undeveloped |
| gall | boldness; impudence |
| liability | something for which one is responsible; a debt; a disadvantage |
| leverage | strategic advantage |
| alacrity | cheerful willingness; swiftness |
| erstwhile | former; of an earlier time |
| invigorate | to give strength and energy to |
| sentinel | one who keeps watch |
| insular | narrow in outlook; provincial |
| saunter | to walk in a leisurely manner |
| reprobate | a person who lacks morals |
| fledging | a young inexperienced person; a young bird just growing feathers |
| supplicate | to request with great humility, as though by praying |
| haughty | stuck-up; arrogant; snobbish |
| qualm | a sudden feeling of sickness; an uneasy feeling about the moral rightness of an action |
| evince | to give outward evidence of; to display clearly |
| dally | to waste time; loiter |
| elicit | to draw out; to invoke |
| befuddle | to confuse |
| naive | simple; childlike; lacking worldly wisdom |
| vagary | an erratic notion or action |
| zest | hearty enjoyment; flavor or interest |
| impassioned | filled with emotion; fervent |
| forebear | a person from whom one is descended; an ancestor (usu. plural) |
| debonair | easy and carefree in manner |
| confluence | joining together of different streams |
| demagogue | a leader who obtains power by appealing to the emotions and passions of the people |
| decrepit | lacking strength because of old age |
| foible | a minor weakness of character |
| diverge | to depart from a set course or opinion |
| inevitable | not able to be avoided |
| scrutiny | close examination; minute inspection; a careful watch |
| belie | to picture falsely; to contradict |
| homage | a sign of respect |
| expedient | adj. helping one's self-interest; n. a means to an end |
| proximity | closeness |
| exculpate | to clear from blame or guilt |
| pragmatic | dealing practically with a situation or a thing; based on experience rather than theory |
| niche | a place or situation suited fro a person or thing; a recess in a wall |
| keen | having a sharp edge; perceptive |
| insolent | boldly disrespectful in speech or behavior; impertinent; impudent |
| foment | to stir up negative feelings, esp. those that lead to violent action |
| preoccupied | absorbed in thought; engrossed |
| paean | a song of joy, triumph, or praise |
| congregate | to assemble into a group |
| divert | to change the direction of; to amuse |
| behemoth | an enormous animal or person |
| mitigate | to improve by lessening the severity of |
| circumspect | showing discretion and careful judgment |
| recount | to tell in detail |
| attribute | v. to assign as the source; n. quality, characteristic |
| impute | to assign credit, often of built or blame |
| soporific | promoting sleep |
| baffle | to frustrate, as by confusing |
| inadvertent | unintentional; accidental |
| ostracize | to shun |
| enmity | the bitter attitude or feelings of an enemy or of mutual enemies |
| reckon | to calculate |
| facile | with effortless ease; without proper care; superficial |
| deduce | to reach a conclusion by reasoning |
| cede | to give or formally surrender to another |
| inundate | to flood |
| dilatory | characterized by delay; tardy |
| mainstay | a chief support |
| anthropomorphism | the attribution of human characteristics to animals or inanimate objects |
| brevity | briefness |
| torpid | inactive; sluggish; dormant |
| ravenous | very hungry |
| arraign | to bring before a court to answer a legal charge |
| ascribe | to attribute to a specific source |
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