| Term | Definition |
|---|
| bon mot | witty remark or saying |
| peon | various laborers who are generally landless |
| plutocrat | a member of the controlling upper class |
| plenary | complete in every way or full |
| digress | to deviate from the original subject or course |
| furlough | a leave of absence |
| misogyny | a hatred toward females |
| stolid | showing or having little or no emotion |
| succor | something that gives relief or aid |
| travesty | poor representation or imitation; distortion |
| xeric | adapted to a dry habitat |
| clandestine | marked by secrecy |
| potboiler | a poorly done artistic work for quick profits |
| redoubtable | arousing fear |
| vignette | a short descriptive literary sketch |
| augur | someone who predicts future events according to omens |
| androgynous | having features of both sexes; unisex |
| maladroit | not resourceful or cunning;inept |
| beatitude | a state of happiness or joy |
| acerbic | sarcastic in mood, tone, or temper; harsh |
| traduce | to slander someone's reputation |
| requiem | a religious service or song for the deceased |
| diaspora | a dispersion of people from their homeland |
| discursive | jumping from one topic to another without reason or any order |
| extemporaneous | done without planning, spur of the moment; unexpected;makeshift |
| politic | prudent or shredly tactful |
| tendentious | biased in perspective; preferring one view over another |
| sinecure | a job that provides income, but requires little or no work. |
| disseminate | to disperse or scatter |
| intractable | hard to govern or manipulate |
| insuperable | not able to be overcome |
| apex | the highest point of something |
| acrid | marked by a sharp taste or smell; bitter |
| fulminate | to voice dissaproval or protest |
| jejune | without interest; dull |
| hegemony | influence or domination over |
| truculent | marked by ferocity |
| credulity | willingness to believe too readily |
| dross | refuse or waste |
| verismilitude | the appearance of truth |
| viscous | having a thick or sticky consistency |
| psychosomatic | of or rleating to symptoms caused by mental or emotional problems |
| abnegation | unwillingness to admit reality or truth; denial |
| polyglot | someone with knowledge of two or more languages |
| gravitas | seriousness |
| incendiary | causing to excite or inflame |
| apotheosis | the finest example |
| contiguous | making contact or touching at some point; side by side |
| auspicious | signaling favorable or promising results |
| vociferous | marked by noise; loud |
| avuncular | similar to an uncle |
| proletariat | working class or lower class; blue collar |
| tenacious | strongly held; not easy to seperate |
| specious | deceptive or misleading |
| refractory | unmanageable or difficult to control; willful |
| inimitable | can't be imitated |
| malfeasance | poor conduct or wrongdoing, especially on the part of a public official |
| platonic | marked by the absence of romance or physical attraction |
| pontificate | speak in a pretentiously dignifed or dogmatic way |
| prurient | given to lustful or lewd thoughts |
| sibilant | a hissing sound |
| pecuniary | pertaining to money; financial |
| hubris | excessive pride or self confidence |
| ergo | therefore |
| lambent | softly bright or radiant; moving lightly over a surface |
| hiatus | a pause or gap |
| ennui | boredrom; a weariness resulting from a lack of interest |
| beguile | to deceive; to charm; to enchant |
| coalesce | to blend, to merge |
| pandemic | general; widespread |
| hector | to bully; to pester |
| desultory | wandering from subject to subject |
| sang-froid | calmness; composure or cool self possession |
| nonentity | a person or thing of little importance |
| rebuke | to scold; to blame |
| salacious | obscene; lustful |
| flout | to ridicule; to show contempt for |
| lascivious | lustful or lewd |
| flagellate | to whip; to lash |
| miscreant | a vicious person |
| regale | to delight with something pleasing or amusing |
| fiscal | pertaining to finances |
| impalpable | unable to be felt; intangible |
| affinity | an attraction to |
| recreant | a coward; a trator |
| malleable | capable of being changed; easily shaped |
| palliate | to ease; to lessen; to soothe |
| jocular | humorous; lighthearted |
| recant | to withdraw of disavow a statement or opinion |
| salient | significant; conspicuous; standing out from the rest |
| foment | to stir up; to incite |
| ratiocinate | to reason; to think |
| egregious | remarkably bad; outrageous |
| hospice | a shelter for travelers, orphans, or the ill or destitute |
| flaccid | flabby |
| querulous | complaining; grumbling |
| meretricious | attractive in a cheap, flashy way |
| hermetic | tightly sealed |
| germane | relevant; fitting |
| empirical | based on practical experience rather than theory |
| aesthetic | pertaining to beauty |
| chaff | worthless matter |
| perdition | damnation; ruin; hell |
| hallow | to make holy |
| orifice | mouth; opening |
| elicit | to draw forth; to call forth |
| shibboleth | a word or pronunciation that distinguishes someone as of a particular group |
| flaunt | to show off |
| deign | to lower oneself before an inferior |
| aggrandize | to increase the range of; to expand; to make appear larger |
| paroxysm | a sudden outburst; a fit |
| obviate | to prevent; to get around |
| mendacious | lying; false; deceitful |
| endemic | confined to a particular country or area |
| saturnine | gloomy; sluggish |
| panache | self confidence; a showy manner |
| recoil | to retreat; to draw back |
| paleontology | a science dealing with prehistoric life through the study of fossils |
| othography | correct spelling |
| bombast | impressive but meaningless language |
| animosity | hatred |
| cataract | a large waterfall |
| impinge | to enroach; to respass |
| sentient | conscious; capable of feeling or perceiving |
| hoi polloi | the common people; the masses |
| offal | garbage; waste parts |
| redundant | repetitious; using more words than needed |
| obsequious | excessively submissive or overly attentive |
| savant | a person of extensive learning; an eminent scholar |
| brevity | briefness; short duartion |
| empathy | an understanding of another's feelings |
| harlequin | a clown |
| despicable | contempible; hateful |
| salutary | healthful; wholesome |
| nirvana | a condition of great peace or happiness |
| blandishment | flattery |
| gumption | courage and initative; common sense |
| necromancy | magic, especially that practiced by a witch |
| bilious | bad tempered; crossed |
| halcyon | calm; pleasant |
| fastidious | hard to please; fussy |
| badinage | playful; teasing talk |
| malapropism | a word humorously misused |
| garner | to gather; to acquire |
| kismet | destiny; fate; fortune (one's lot in life) |
| hegira | flight; escape |
| paradigm | a model an example |
| debauchery | corruption; self indulgence |
| milieu | enviroment; setting |
| regress | to move backward |
| libertine | one who leads an immoral life |
| legerdemain | sleight of hand; deception |
| delineate | to describe, to depict |
| languid | sluggish; drooping from weakness |
| epitome | a typical example |
| fissure | an opening; a groove; a split |
| lachrymose | tearful, weepy |
| scintillate | to sparkle; to twinkle; to sparkle intellectually |
| fetish | an object that receives respect or devotion |
| garrulous | talkative |
| kinetic | pertaining to motion |
| juxtapose | to place side by side for comparison |
| cessation | a stopping a discontinuance |
| dessicated | dried up |
| elixir | a supposed remedy for all ailments |
| caveat | a warning |
| impious | disrespectful toward God |
| onerous | a burden, a responsibility, obligation |
| gratuitous | unnecessary or uncalled for |
| defile | to pollute; to corrupt |
| sedition | rebellion or resistance against the government |
| imprecunious | without money; penniless |
| redolent | having a pleasant odor; suggsetive or evocative |
| bucolic | pertaining to the countryside; rural; rustic |
| diadem | a crown |
| immutable | unchangeable; fixed |
| garish | tastelessly gaudy |
| emanate | to come forth; to send forth |
| adulterate | to make impure; to contaminate |
| idolatry | excessive or blind adoration; worship of an object |
| grandiose | impressive; showy; magnificent |
| raiment | clothing; garments |
| blance | to whiten; to make pale |
| hybrid | anything of mixed origin |
| idiosyncrasy | a peculiar personality trait |
| eclectic | choosing from various sources |
| heterogeneous | different; dissimilar |
| finesse | diplomacy; tact; artful management |
| masochist | one who enjoys his or her own pain and suffering |
| chimerical | imaginary; fantastic |
| sapient | wise; full of knowledge |
| nubile | suitable for marriage in age and physical development, referring to a female |
| harbinger | an omen or sign |
| pejorative | having a negative effect; insulting |
| machination | an evil design or plan |
| hackneyed | commonplace; overused |
| neolgism | a new word or expression |
| grotesque | absurd; distorted |
| imperious | domineering ; haughty |
| olfactory | pertaining to smell |
| carcinogen | causing cancer |
| agape | open mouthed; surprised; agog |
| gibe | to scoff; to ridicule |
| quagmire | a swamp; a diffuclt or inextricable situation |
| martinet | a strict disciplinarian; a taskmaster |
| recondite | difficult to understand; profound |
| immolate | to kill someone as a sacrificial victim, usually by fire |
| gambol | to frolic; to romp about playfully |
| censure | to criticize sharply |
| deride | to riddicule; to mock |
| rationalize | to make an exscuse for |
| sagacious | wise having keen perception and sound |
| peccadillo | a minor offense; a misdeed |
| patent | evident or obvious |
| quiddity | an essential quality |
| laconic | using few words; short; concise |
| callow | young and inexperienced |
| dichotomy | a division of two parts |
| knell | a sound made by a bell, often rung slowly or a death or funeral |
| affectation | a phony attitude; pose |
| ferret | to search or drive out |
| bovine | pertaining to cows or cattle |
| fatuous | foolish; insane |
| macroscopic | visible to the naked eye |
| adroit | skillful; clever |
| denouement | an outcome; result |
| eschew | to keep away from; to avoid; to shun |
| amoral | lacking a sense of right and wrong |
| onerous | burdernsome; heavy; hard to endure |
| sedulous | hard working; diligent |
| parody | a work which imitates another in a ridiculous manner |
| scurrilous | coarsely abusive; vulgar |
| affluence | wealth; richness |
| bedlam | a noisy uproar; a scene of wild confusion |
| peruse | to read carefully; scrutinize |
| obdurate | stubborn; hardhearted |
| banal | common, ordinary |
| imminent | likely to happen, threatening |
| elucidate | to make clear |
| antipathy | an intense dislike |
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