| Term | Definition |
|---|
| abdabs | (n) extreme anxiety or nervousness |
| abject | (adj) utterly hopeless, miserable |
| abnegate | (v) to give up, surrender |
| absolution | (n) freeing from blame/guilt |
| abstruse | (adj) hard to understand |
| acerbic | (adj) harsh or severe temper/expression |
| acrimony | (n) sharpness, bitterness |
| adduce | (v) to bring forward in argument or as evidence |
| aesthete | a person who affects great love of art, poetry, etc. |
| aglet | metal tag or sheath at the end of a lace used for tying |
| alacrity | readiness, cheerfulness |
| ameliorate | to make or become better, more bearable |
| amphigory | a meaningless or nonsensical piece of writing |
| anachronism | an error in chronology in which a person, object, or event is assigned a date/period other than the correct one |
| anomaly | a deviation from common rule, type, arrangement or form. |
| bailiwick | a person's area of skill, knowledge, authority, or work. |
| baleful | deadly, harmful |
| bavardage | much talking, chatter |
| beaugeste | seeming generous act |
| bel-esprit | a person of great wit or intellect |
| bellwether | an indication of trend |
| benighted | ignorant |
| bibelot | a trinket or small object of curiosity, beauty, or rarity |
| biggin | the basket that holds the coffee grounds |
| billet-doux | a love letter |
| bivouac | temporary encampment |
| blandish | to use flattery |
| blowzy | unkempt or messy |
| bootless | useless |
| bumptious | abnoxious |
| cache | a hiding place, esp. one in the ground, for ammunition, food, treasures, etc. |
| cachinnate | to laugh loudly or immoderately |
| cadence | rhythmic flow of a sequence of sounds or words |
| cadre | key group of officers necessary to establish and train a new military unit or to plot schemes |
| cajole | to persuade |
| calumny | a false statement designed to injure the reputation of someone |
| canorous | melodious; musical |
| captious | difficult to please |
| catharsis | the purging of emotions or relieving of emotional tensions |
| celerity | swiftness, speed |
| chad | little paper from puncher |
| charlatan | a person who pretends to know more than they actually do |
| chary | cautious or careful; wary |
| circumlocution | an indirect way of speaking |
| circumscribe | to limit where you go; draw boundaries |
| clamjamfry | group of people, mob |
| clemency | forgiveness |
| cosset | to spoil |
| cozen | cheat or trick |
| craven | cowardly |
| dactyl | finger, toe |
| dearth | scarcity |
| deciduous | adj. not permanent |
| declasse | reduced or belonging to a lower or low social class, position, or rank |
| decorous | well behaved, dignified, socially proper |
| defenestration | throwing something out the window, the act of throwing someone or something out of a window |
| decry | to put down |
| degagé | without emotional involvement |
| demagogue | leader and appeals to emotion |
| demimondaine | fallen women |
| depredate | to plunder or lay waste |
| deracinate | to uproot |
| desultory | aimlessly, casual |
| détente | a relaxing tension |
| detritus | debris |
| diacritical | discrete, distinctive, easy to tell the difference between |
| dilatory | slow, late |
| dilettante | a person who takes up an art, activity, or subject merely for amusement |
| discreet | careful of what is said |
| disingenuous | insincere, pretending to be innocent |
| dissemble | to give a false r misleading appearance to; conceal the truth or real nature of |
| dithyramb | wild, enthusiastic speech |
| docent | a person who is a knowledgeable guide |
| draconian | rigorous, unusually sever or cruel |
| dulcet | pleasant to the ear, melodious |
| ectomorphic | slender in structure |
| edacious | hungry for info |
| efficacious | efficient |
| egregious | extraordinary in some bad way |
| elephantine | huge, clumsy |
| embrangle | to confuse or complicate |
| enervate | to weaken |
| enigma | mystery or puzzle (person) |
| ephemeral | lasting a very short time, short lived |
| epiphany | sudden realization |
| epigram | clever, witty response |
| ergasiophobia | a fear of work of any kind |
| esprit de corps | unification |
| exacerbate | to aggravate or annoy |
| expatatiate | expand on a subject |
| fabulist | a liar or teller of fables |
| facetious | sarcastic |
| facinorous | extremely bad or wicked |
| fastuous | arrogant or showy |
| faux pas | a mistake or slip in ettiquete |
| feral | existing in a natural, wild state |
| flout | to mock |
| flubdub | nonsense (usually about an argument |
| flump | to plop down on something heavily |
| foozle | to goof up |
| forté | strongpoint |
| fortuitous | lucky or accidental |
| fractious | unruly |
| frisson | thrill, stage of excitement |
| fulgent | shining brightly, dazzling |
| iconography | symbolic representation |
| ignoble | low grade/not noble |
| imminent | likely to occur at any moment |
| implacable | stubborn, unable to be convinced |
| impunity | excuse from punishment |
| inchoate | not fully developed |
| ineffable | inexpressible |
| infamous | bad reputation |
| ingenue | naive person (female) |
| ingenuous | innocent |
| iniquity | injustice |
| innervate | to give off nervous energy |
| inscrutable | difficult to understand |
| irascible | very irritable |
| iterate | to utter repeatedly |
| gaffe | a mistake |
| genre | a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, or technique |
| germane | related, relevant |
| genteel | polite |
| gerrymander | to divide a geographic area into voting districts so as to give an unfair advantage to one party in eletions |
| gimme cap | baseball cap |
| glean | to gather slowly or bit by bit |
| gossamer | light and delicate |
| grammalogue | a word symbolized by a sign or letter |
| gravitate | strongly attracted |
| gregarious | fond of the company of others, outgoing, friendly |
| griffin | a fabled monster, usually having the head and wings of an eagle and the body of a lion |
| grommet | ring of metal |
| gullible | easily deceived or cheated |
| halcyon | calm, tranquil, peaceful |
| hapless | unlucky |
| harbinger | omen or a person foreshadowing an event |
| havelock | flap from back of a cap for protection from the sun |
| hedonist | person whose life is devoted to finding pleasure and happiness |
| heinous | wicked, vile |
| heresy | unbelief |
| hiatus | vacation or break from a routine |
| hirsute | hairy |
| histrionic | dramatic, theatrical |
| hoary | gray or white with age |
| homily | sermon or message with a biblical reference |
| humility | selfless, modest, humble |
| hyperbole | obvious exaggeration |
| hypocorism | a pet name or nickname |
Combine with other sets
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