| Term | Definition |
|---|
| abjure | 1) to recant solemnly; renounce ore repudiate, 2) to renounce under oath; forswear |
| abrogate | 1) to abolish, do away with, or annul, especially by authority |
| abstemious | 1) eating and drinking in moderation, 2) characterized by abstinence or moderation |
| acumen | 1) quickness, accuracy, and keenness of judgment or insight |
| antebellum | 1) belonging to the period before a war, especially the American Civil War |
| auspicious | 1) attended by faborable circumstances; propitious, 2) marked by success; prosperous |
| arcane | 1) known or understood by only a few |
| attenuate | 1) to make slender, fine, or small, 2) to reduce in force, valve, amount, or degree; weaken, 3) to lessen the density of; rarefy - 1) reduced or weakened, as in strength, value, or virulence |
| axiomatic | 1) of, relating to, or resembling an axiom; self-evident |
| antediluvian | 1) extremely old and antiquated |
| alacrity | 1) cheerful willingness; eagerness, 2) speed or quickness; celebrity |
| autodidact | 1) self-taught person |
| aphorism | 1) tersely phrased statement of truth/opinion, 2) brief statement of principle |
| addle | 1) to muddle; confuse, 2) to become rotten, as an egg |
| asperity | 1) a roughness or harshness, as of surface, sound, or climate; severity, rigor, 2) harshness of manner; ill tempre or irritability |
| ameliorate | 1) to make or become better; improve |
| acrimonious | 1) bitter and sharp in language or tone; rancorous |
| allegory | 1) representation of abstract ideas/principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form, 2) symbolic representation |
| anachronism | 1) one that is out of its proper order, especially a person/practice that belongs to an earlier time |
| aesthetic | 1) of or concerning the appreciation of beauty/good taste, 2) characterized by heightened sensitivity to beauty - 1) building principle in matters of artistic beauty and taste; artistic sensibility |
| belie | 1) to give a false representation to; misrepresent, 2) to show to be false; contradict |
| bellicose | 1) warlike or hostile in manner or temperament |
| bowdlerize | 1) to remove material that is considered offensive or objectionable from (a book, ie) |
| bilious | 1) of, relating to, or containing bile; biliary, 2) resembling bile, esp. in color, 3) having a peevish disposition; ill-humored |
| chicanery | 1) deception by trickery or sophistry |
| churlish | 1) boorish or bulgar, 2) evasion in speech or writing, 3) difficult to work with; intractable |
| circumlocution | 1) the use of unnecessarily wordy and indirect language, 2) evasion in speech or writing, 3) a roundabout expression |
| confabulate | 1) to talk casually; chat, 2) to fill in gaps in one's memory with fabrications that one believes to be facts |
| caveat | 1) a warning or caution; qualification/explanation, 2) to qualify with a warning or clarification |
| cant | *n1* 1) inclination or slope, 2) tilt caused by a motion, 3) an outer corner, as of a building, 4) to tilt, 5) to change the direction of suddenly; *n2* 1) monotonous talk, 2) hypocritically pious language, 3) special vocabulary peculiar to the members of an underworld group; argot, 4) whining speech, 5) to speak tediously or sententiously; moralize, 7) to speak in argot or jargon, 8) to speak in a whining, pleading tone |
| cogent | 1) appealing to the intellect or powers of reasoning; convincing |
| capacious | 1) capable of containing a large quantity; spacious or roomy |
| deleterious | 1) having a harmful effect; injurious |
| diffident | 1) lacking or marked by lack of self-confidence; shy and timid, 2) reserved in manner |
| disapprobation | 1) moral disapproval; condemnation |
| desultory | 1) having no set plan; haphazard or random, 2) moving or jumping from one thing to another; disconnected |
| enervate | 1) to weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of, 2) deprived of strength, debilitated |
| enfranchise | 1) to endow with the rights of citizenship, esp. the right to vote, 3) to free, as from bondage |
| epiphany | 1) a Christian feast celebrating the manisfestation of the divine nature of Jesus to the Gentiles as represented by the magi (Jan. 6), 2) a revelatory manifestation of a divine being, 3) a sudden manisfestation of the essence or meaning of something; a comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitative realization |
| evanescent | 1) vanishing or likely to vanish like vapor |
| expurgate | 1) to remove erroneous, vulgar, obscene, or otherwise objectionable material from (ie, a book) before publication |
| expiate | 1) to make amends or reparation for; atone |
| equivocate | 1) to avoid making an explicit statement |
| erudite | 1) characterized by erudition; learned |
| ersatz | 1) being an imitation or a substitute, usually an inferior one; artificial |
| eruct | 1) to belch |
| epigrammatic | 1) of or having the nature of an epigram, 2) containing or given to the use of epigrams; *epigram: 1) short, witty pom expressing a single thought or observation, 2) concise, clever, often paradoxical statement* |
| efficacy | 1) power of capacity to produce a desired effect |
| ecdysiast | 1) a striptease dancer |
| excoriate | 1) to tear or wear off the skin of; abrade, 2) to censure strongly; denounce |
| excogitate | 1) to consider or think (something) out carefully and thoroughly |
| facetious | 1) joking or jesting, often inappropriately, 2) meant to be humorous or funny; not serious |
| factious | 1) of, relating to, produced by, or characterized by internal dissension |
| factitious | 1) produced artificially rather than by a natural process |
| fatuous | 1) foolish or silly, esp. in a smug or self-satisfied way |
| feckless | 1) lacking purpose or vitality; feeble or ineffective, 2) careless or irresponsible |
| fiduciary | 1) of or relating to a holding of something in trust for another; of or being a trustee or trusteeship; held in trust, 2) of or consisting of fiat money, 3) one, such as an agent of a principal or a company director, that stands in a special relation of trust, confidence, or responsibility in certain obligations to others |
| filibuster | 1) an instance of the use of this delaying tactive (against legislative action), 2) an adventurer who engages in a private military action in a foreign country, 3) to use a filibuster against (ie: a legislative measure) |
| forensic | 1) of, relating to, used in...courts of law or public discussion or argument; science or technology in the investigation and establishment of facts or evidence in a court of law |
| fractious | 1) inclined to make trouble, unruly, 2) having a peevish nature; cranky |
| fusty | 1) smelling of mildew or decay, 2) old-fashioned; antique |
| fecundity | 1) the quality or power of producing abundantly; fruitfulness or fertility, 2) productive or creative power |
| gauche | 1) lacking social polish; [tactless] |
| gossamer | 1) a soft sheer gauzy fabric, 2) sheer, light, delicate, or tenuous; airy |
| gerrymander | 1) to divide (a geographic area) into voting districts so as to give unfair advantage to one party in elections |
| guile | 1) treacherous cunning; skillful deceit, 2) to beguile; deceive |
| glossolalia | 1) fabricated and nonmeaningful speech, esp. such speech associated with a trance state or certain schizophrenic syndromes, 2) gift of tongues - ability to speak a language unknown to the speaker |
| hegemony | 1) the predominant influence, as of a state, region, or group, over another or others |
| hiatus | 1) a gap or interruption in space, time, or continuity; a break, 2) linguistic: slight pause between two adjacent vowels in consecutive syllables, 3) anatomy: separation, aperture, fissure, or short passage in an organ or body part |
| homogeneous | 1) of the same or similar nature or kind, 2) uniform in structure or composition throughout, 3) math: consisting of terms of the same degree or elements of the same dimension |
| halcyon | 1) a kingfisher; fabled bird (kingfisher) that had power to calm wind and waves, 2) calm and peaceful; tranquill, 3) prosperous; golden |
| hubris | 1) overbearing pride or presumption; arrogance |
| iconoclast | 1) one who attacks and seeks to overthrow traditional or popular ideas or institutions, 2) one who destroys sacred religious images |
| insouciant | 1) marked by blithe unconcern; nonchalent |
| incognito | 1) with one's identity disguised or concealed, 2) one who's identity is disguised or concealed, 3) condition of having a disguised or concealed identity |
| incontrovertible | 1) impossible to dispute; unquestionable |
| inculcate | 1) to impress (something) upon the mind of another by frequent instruction or replication; instill, 2) to teach (others) by frequent instruction or repetition; indoctrinate |
| interpolate | 1) to make insertions of addictions, 2) to change or falsify (a text) by introducing new or incorrect material, 3) math: to estimate a value of (a function or series) between two known values |
| invidious | 1) tending to rouse ill will, animosity, or resentment, 2) containing or implying slight; discriminatory, 3) envious |
| inveigle | 1) to win over by coaxing, flattery, or artful talk, 2) to obtain by cajolery |
| inchoate | 1) in an initial or early stage; incipient, 2) imperfectly formed or developed |
| interloper | 1) one that interferes with the affairs of others, often for selfish reasons; a meddler, 2) one that intrudes in a place, situation, or activity |
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