| Term | Definition |
|---|
| deleterious | harmful |
| myopic | nearsighted; lacking foresight; N. myopia |
| xenophobia | fear or hatred of foreigners; N. xenophobe |
| blemish | mar; spoil the beauty or perfection of; N: flaw or defect (that spoils perfection); Ex. blemishes in the crystal; CF. unblemished |
| significant | expressing a meaning; important; Ex. significant smile; N. significance: importance; meaning; V. signify: denote; mean; signal; make known; matter; be significant |
| deliberate | consider; ponder; ADJ: done on purpose; slow |
| phalanx | formation of infantry carrying overlapping shields and long spears; group of men packed together (for attack or defense) |
| maelstrom | violent whirlpool; violent or tublent situation; CF. stream |
| whorl | ring of leaves around stem; ring; circular arrangement; Ex. whorls on the fingers |
| feebleminded | deficient in intelligence; very stupid |
| qualms | uneasy feelings; misgivings; uneasy fears especially about matters of conscience; Ex. I have no qualms about giving this assignment to Helen. |
| impasse | predicament(dangerous condition) from which there is no escape; situation allowing for no further progress |
| bequeath | leave to someone by means of a will; hand down in his will; N. bequest |
| momentous | very important; N. moment; CF. momentary |
| reverend | deserving reverence; N: priest |
| condiments | seasonings; spices |
| inamorata | woman whom a man loves |
| resignation | patiently submissiveness; statement that one is quitting a job; ADJ. resigned: acquiescent |
| equitable | fair; impartial; OP. inequitable |
| congruent | in agreement; harmonious; corresponding; coinciding exactly; CF. congruous |
| opalescent | iridescent; lustrous; like an opal; N. opalescence |
| panegyric | formal praise; encomium; Ex. I don't deserve such panegyrics. |
| anthem | song of praise or patriotism; Ex. national anthem |
| yen | strong desire; longing; urge; Ex. yen for travel |
| dowdy | untidy (of a woman or clothes); slovenly; dressed in an unattractive way; shabby; CF. unattractive woman |
| flail | beat with or as if with a flail; move wildly; thresh grain by hand; strike or slap; toss about; N: threshing tool consisting of a stick swinging from the end of a long handle |
| apparent | evident; easily seen or understood; appearing as such; Ex. apparent improvement |
| frisk | move about playfully; froric; ADJ. frisky: playful |
| immolate | offer or kill as a sacrifice (by fire) |
| skiff | small light sailboat or rowboat |
| fray | brawl; fight; V: wear away or unravel by rubbing; have loose threads developing; cause to become worn out (a person's temper or nerves); CF. rub |
| hiatus | gap; pause; gap or interruption in space or time; break |
| stump | base of a tree trunk left after the rest has been cut down; V: walk in a heavy manner; baffle; puzzle |
| provender | dry food for livestock; fodder |
| pestilential(pestilent) | causing plague; tending to cause death; baneful; N. pestilence: fatal epidemic disease (esp. bubonic plague) |
| gracious | kind in a generous way (to someone less important) |
| sloth | slow moving tree-dwelling mammal; laziness; ADJ. slothful: lazy; indolent |
| striated | marked with parallel bands; striped; grooved; Ex. striated rocks; V. striate; N. stria: thin groove or line |
| gravity | seriousness; ADJ. grave |
| torrent | rushing stream; flood; Ex. The rain fell in torrents. |
| deciduous | falling off at a specific season or stage of growth as of leaves; Ex. deciduous tree/teeth |
| resentment | indignation; bitterness; displeasure; V. resent: feel anger about |
| sycophant | servile flatterer; bootlicker; yes man; ADJ. sycophantic |
| formidable | menacing; arousing fear; threatening; difficult to defeat; Ex. formidable foe/question |
| recrimination | countercharges; V. recriminate |
| antipathy | aversion; dislike or opposition |
| moodiness | fits of depression or gloom; ADJ. moody: given to changeable moods; subject to periods of depression; gloomy CF. mood: | state of mind or emotion |
| quibble | minor objection or complaint; V: raise minor objections; carp; cavil |
| ideology | system of ideas characteristic of a group or culture |
| rudimentary | elementary; not developed; crude; N. rudiment: fundamental element or principle; Ex. rudiments of the language |
| dysentery | inflammatory disorder of the lower intestinal tract |
| penumbra | partial shadow (in an eclipse); CF. almost shadow |
| pigment | coloring matter (usually powder to be mixed with water or oil) |
| expatriate | exile; someone who has withdrawn from his native land; V: exile; banish; leave one's country |
| revulsion | sudden strong feeling of disgust; sudden violent change of feeling; negative reaction; Ex. revulsion from the scenes of torture |
| citadel | fortress |
| cantata | story set to music to be sung by a chorus (shorter than an oratorio) |
| treasure | keep as precious; cherish |
| verbiage | pompous array of words; too many unnecessary words; wordiness |
| polarize | split into opposite extremes or camps |
| nubile | marriageable; of marriageable age; CF. connubial |
| brawn | human muscle; muscular strength; sturdiness |
| promulgate | announce; proclaim a doctrine or law; make known by official publication |
| daunt | intimidate; frighten; discourage; dishearten |
| incarnation | act of assuming a human body and human nature; one who personifies something; personification; Ex. previous incarnation/reincarnation |
| flout | reject; mock; show contempt for; scorn; Ex. flout the rules |
| falsify | make (something written) false by changing |
| renounce | abandon; give up (by formal announcement); disown; repudiate; Ex. renounce one's claim to the property/one's religion; N. renunciation |
| histrionic | theatrical; excessively dramatic or emotional; affected; of actors or acting; N. histrionics: histrionic behavior |
| commodious | spacious and comfortable |
| actuary | someone who advises insurance companies |
| expeditious | done with speed; quick; N. expedition |
| distinction | honor; excellence; difference; contrast; discrimination; Ex. graduated with distinction; Ex. a writer of real distinction |
| erroneous | mistaken; wrong; incorrect |
| wistful | sadly thoughtful (because of desires or memories); sadly pensive; vaguely longing |
| defect | shortcoming; V: desert (in order to join the opposite one) |
| incongruity | lack of harmony; absurdity; ADJ. incongruous: lacking in harmony; inappropriate |
| tanner | person who turns animal hides into leather |
| archipelago | group of closely located islands |
| denotation | meaning; distinguishing by name; V. denote: indicate; refer to directly; mean; CF. connotation |
| dubious | questionable; (of something) causing doubt; (of someone) filled with doubt; N. dubiety |
| tactile | pertaining to the organs or sense of touch |
| sublimate | refine; purify; replace (natural urges) with socially acceptable activities; change between a solid state and a gaseous state |
| recession | withdrawal; retreat; time of low economic activity |
| fructify | bear fruit; produce fruit |
| prepossessing | attractive; CF. preoccupying ? |
| heterogeneous | dissimilar; mixed; not homogeneous; consisting of dissimilar elements or plants |
| gaudy | flashy; showy |
| copious | plentiful |
| obese | excessively fat; N. obesity |
| bandy | discuss lightly or glibly; discuss in a frivolous manner; exchange (words) heatedly; quarrel; Ex. bandy words with |
| wallow | roll in mud; indulge in; (of a ship) roll in a rough sea; become helpless; Ex. wallow in the mud/luxury |
| beatific | giving or showing bliss; blissful |
| homogeneous | of the same kind; uniform in composition throughout |
| fetish(fetich) | object believed to have spiritual powers; object of excessive attention or reverence; CF. fetishism |
| worldly | engrossed in matters of this earth; not spiritual; of the material world |
| pore | study industriously; ponder; scrutinize; Ex. pore over the book; N. |
| constitution | constituting; system of laws; composition of something; physical makeup or structure of a person; Ex. men with strong constitutions |
| stipulate | state as a necessary condition (of an agreement); make express conditions; specify; Ex. He stipulated payment in advance |
| palatial | of or suitable for a palace; magnificent |
| groove | long narrow channel made in a surface to guide the movement of something; Ex. groove of the record |
| dainty | delicate; delicately beautiful; fastidious; not easy to please; Ex. dainty movement/dress |
| venerable | deserving high respect; commanding respect; CF. command: deserve and get |
| pestle | tool for mashing or grinding substances in a hard bowl or mortar |
| devotee | enthusiastic follower; enthusiast; Ex. devotee of Bach |
| monastic | related to monks or monasteries; removed from worldly concerns |
| plane | carpenter's tool for smoothing and leveling wood; V. CF. flat |
| irrelevant | not applicable; unrelated |
| assay | analyze (to discover what materials are present); evaluate (soil or ore) |
| subliminal | below the threshold of conscious perception; Ex. subliminal advertisement |
| bantering | joking talk; good-naturedly ridiculing; N.V. banter |
| unwonted | unaccustomed; unusual; Ex. He arrived with unwonted punctuality. |
| engulf | surround and swallow up |
| sojourn | temporary stay; V: stay for a time |
| potpourri | heterogeneous mixture; medley; mixture of dried flower petals a pot (to give a pleasant smell to a room) |
| gouge | overcharge (with high price); extort from; Ex. gouge the public; CF. usury |
| extant | (of something written or painted) still in existence |
| incredulous | withholding belief; skeptical; showing disbelief |
| humor | indulge; comply with the wishes of; N. quality that makes something amusing; state of mind; mood; Ex. in a bad humor; Ex. out of humor |
| self-righteous | sure of one's own righteousness; moralistic |
| entomology | study of insects |
| procrastinate | postpone; delay or put off |
| trivia | trifles; unimportant matters |
| orient | get one's bearings; adjust; make familiar with a situation; orientate |
| florescence | condition or period of flowering |
| adjuration | solemn urging; V. adjure: entreat earnestly; enjoin solemnly |
| polarity | state of having two opposite qualities |
| havoc | widespread damage; disorder; chaos |
| induct | place formally in office; install; admit as a member; initiate; N. induction: inducting; process of deriving general principles from particular facts |
| epistemologist | philosopher who studies the nature of knowledge; N. epistemology |
| distinct | clearly different; clearly noticed |
| threadbare | worn through till the threads show; shabby and poor; hackneyed; Ex. threadbare excuses |
| avow | declare openly; N. avowal |
| impugn | dispute or contradict (often in an insulting way); attack as false or questionable; challenge; gainsay; CF. fight |
| trickle | flow in drops or in a thin stream; N. |
| besiege | surround with armed forces; harass (with requests); annoy continually |
| harangue | long, passionate, and vehement speech; V. |
| unregenerate | making no attempt to change one's bad practices |
| wily | crafty; cunning; artful; N. wile: deceitful stratagem |
| caucus | private meeting of a group of people in a political party to select officers or determine policy; CF. the Caucus club of Boston |
| magnanimity | generosity; ADJ. magnanimous: generous |
| somnambulist | sleepwalker; V. somnambulate; N. somnambulism |
| mural | wall painting |
| parable | short simple story teaching a moral |
| disingenuous | not naive; not candid; sophisticated; worldly wise; OP. ingenuous |
| inasmuch_as | since; owing to the fact that |
| nebulous | vague; hazy; cloudy; of a nebula; Ex. nebulous proposal |
| dys- | abnormal; impaired |
| prehensile | capable of grasping or holding (esp. by wrapping around); Ex. prehensile tails |
| deadlock | standstill resulting from the opposition of two unrelenting forces; stalemate |
| pulverize | crush or grind into very small particles |
| fluke | unlikely occurrence; stroke of fortune; accidental stroke of good luck; ADJ. fluky |
| clap | strike the palms of the hands together with a sudden explosive sound; come together suddenly with a sharp sound; put or send promptly; Ex. clap the thief in jail; N: clapping; loud or explosive sound; CF. applause |
| renege | break a promise; deny; go back on; Ex. renege on the contract/paying off the debt |
| hygiene | science and practice of the promotion and preservation of health; ADJ. hygienic: showing careful attention to cleanness (to prevent disease); Ex. hygienic condition |
| junket | trip especially one taken for pleasure by an official at public expense |
| jargon | language used by special group; technical terminology; gibberish; nonsensical or incoherent talk |
| abrogate | abolish |
| blackball | vote against (an applicant); ostracize; N: negative vote |
| plump | pleasantly fat; nicely rounded |
| chaste | morally pure; virginal; abstaining from illicit sexual acts; modest; simple (of a style of writing); not highly decorated; austere |
| doctrine | teachings in general; particular principle (religious, legal, etc.) taught; dogma; tenet; ADJ. doctrinal |
| urgent | compelling immediate action; pressing; persistent; importunate; Ex. urgent in his demands |
| expedient | suitable (for a particular purpose although not necessarily morally correct); practical; politic(prudent); N: something expedient |
| aver | state confidently; declare as true |
| urge | drive or force forward (by causing impulses); drive to take action; impel; entreat earnestly; Ex. urge horses; N: impulse that prompts action |
| affidavit | written statement made under oath (for use as proof in a court of law) |
| accoutre | equip; N. accoutrement |
| wince | move back suddenly; shrink back; flinch; Ex. She winced as she touched the cold body. |
| euphony | sweet sound; ADJ. euphonious |
| travesty | copy or example of something that completely misrepresents the true nature of the real thing; comical parody or imitation; treatment aimed at making something appear ridiculous; Ex. travesty of justice; OP. paragon |
| expound | explain |
| cemetery | place for burying the dead |
| prurient | having or causing lustful desires and thoughts; arousing immoderate sexual desire |
| indiscriminate | choosing at random; confused; not based on careful distinctions |
| retroactive | taking effect before its enactment (as a law) or imposition (as a tax); (of a law) having effect on the past as well as the future |
| mass | Christian religious ceremony; CF. Mass: ceremony of the Eucharist |
| marred | damaged; disfigured; V. mar: spoil; disfigure |
| codify | arrange (laws or rules) as a code; classify; N. code: system of words used instead of ordinary writing; collection of laws, rules, established social customs |
| largess | generous gift (given to people who do not have enough) |
| paleontology | study of prehistoric life or fossils; CF. paleo-: ancient or prehistoric; Ex. paleography: study of ancient written documents |
| anthropologist | student of the history and science of humankind |
| bacchanal | noisy party with a lot of drinking |
| sparse | not thick; thinly scattered; scanty |
| palliate | ease pain (without curing); make less severe or offensive (a crime or illness) |
| nonchalance | indifference; lack of concern; composure; ADJ. nonchalant: unconcerned; cool; indifferent; Ex. nonchalant attitude to his debts |
| noose | loop formed in a rope |
| pass\'e | old-fashioned; past the prime |
| ossify | change or harden into bone; become hard and unchanging in one's ideas |
| apostate | one who abandons his religious faith or political beliefs; N. apostasy |
| desperado | reckless, desperate outlaw |
| inanimate | lifeless; not animate |
| craft | skill (esp. with one's hands); skill in deceiving people; guile; ADJ. crafty: cleverly deceitful; cunning |
| duration | length of time something lasts |
| malcontent | person dissatisfied with existing state of affairs; discontented person; ADJ: discontented |
| exonerate | acquit; exculpate; free from blame or guilt |
| loiter | hang about/around; stand idly about; linger |
| attest | testify; bear witness |
| illuminate | brighten; clear up or make understandable; enlighten; enable to understand; Ex. illuminating remarks |
| nova | star that suddenly becomes much brighter and then returns to its original brightness |
| castrate | remove the sex organs (of a male animal or person) |
| rou\'e | lecherous man |
| forte | strong point or special talent in a person's character |
| wanton | unrestrained; gratuitously cruel; willfully malicious; unchaste; sexually improper; promiscuous; Ex. wanton spending/killing; CF. having no just cause |
| extrapolation | projection; conjecture; V. extrapolate: infer (unknown information) from known information |
| torque | twisting force; force producing rotation |
| monolithic | solidly uniform; unchangeable; unyielding; N. monolith: large block of stone |
| resilient | elastic; having the power of springing back; able to recover quickly (as from misfortune) |
| herd | group of animals; crowd; one who looks after a herd; Ex. shepherd/goatherd; Ex. herd instinct; Ex. herdsman; V: come together in a herd; look after a herd; Ex. herd cattle |
| delirium | mental disorder marked by confusion; uncontrolled excitement; ADJ. delirious |
| degenerate | become worse in quality; deteriorate; ADJ: having become worse; Ex. a degenerate species; N: depraved or corrupt person |
| exotic | not native; from another part of the world; strange; intriguingly unusual; Ex. exotic flower/dress |
| brisk | quick and active; marked by liveliness and vigor |
| inundate | flood; overflow; submerge; cover completely; Ex. inundated with work |
| disbar | make (a lawyer) leave the bar or the legal profession |
| prescience | ability to foretell the future; knowledge of actions before they occur; ADJ. prescient |
| archaeology | study of artifacts and relics of early mankind |
| astringent | binding; causing contraction (stopping bleeding); harsh or severe; stringent; Ex. astringent criticism |
| gerontocracy | government ruled by old people |
| reprobate | morally disapproved person; person hardened in sin, devoid of a sense of decency; CF. disapproved by God ? |
| benison | blessing |
| narrative | related to telling a story; N: narrated account; story; V. narrate: tell (a story); CF. narration |
| promiscuous | mixed indiscriminately; indiscriminate; not choosing carefully; indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners; irregular, particularly sexually; Ex. promiscuous life/girl; N. promiscuity |
| hone | sharpen (a tool); N: whetstone for sharpening a tool |
| ecstasy | rapture; very strong feeling of joy and happiness; any overpowering emotion; ADJ. ecstatic: causing or experiencing ecstasy |
| catapult | slingshot; hurling machine; V: fire from catapult |
| stilted | bombastic; stiffly pompous; Ex. stilted rhetoric; CF. stiff: formal |
| lionize | treat (a person) as a celebrity |
| delusion | false belief; hallucination; deluding; Ex. delusions of grandeur; Ex. under the delusion that |
| cognate | having a common origin; related linguistically; allied by blood; similar or akin in nature; Ex. cognate languages; N. |
| rile | irritate; vex; muddy |
| paranoia | psychosis marked by delusions of grandeur or persecution; N: ADJ: paranoid, paranoiac |
| irrevocable | unalterable; irreversible; impossible to revoke |
| malodorous | foul-smelling |
| recumbent | reclining; lying down completely or in part |
| retaliate | repay in kind (usually for bad treatment); V. retaliate |
| fetid(foetid) | malodorous; foul |
| rant | speak violently or excitedly; rave; talk excitedly showing anger; scold; make a grandiloquent speech; Ex. The priest ranted about the devil. |
| laggard | slow; sluggish; N: one who lags; straggler |
| admonish | warn or speak to with gentle disapproval; reprove |
| bauble | trinket; cheap jewel; trifle |
| quaint | odd in an old-fashioned way; odd; old-fashioned; picturesque |
| mawkish | mushy(sentimental) and gushy; icky-sticky sentimental; excessively and objectionably sentimental |
| denouement | final outcome; final development of the plot of a play or other literary work; the end of a story when everything is explained |
| intelligentsia | intellectuals; members of the educated elite (often used derogatorily) |
| violate | break (a law); defile; desecrate; assault sexually; Ex. violate graves |
| congruence | correspondence of parts; harmonious relationship; CF. congruity |
| career | rush wildly; go at full speed |
| rumble | make or move with a deep rolling sound (as thunder or stomach) |
| disembark | debark; go ashore (from a ship); unload cargo from a ship; CF. embark |
| halting | hesitant; faltering; not fluent; Ex. halting steps/voice; V. halt: proceed or act with uncertainty; falter; hesitate; waver; stop |
| regicide | murder of a king or queen |
| recount | narrate or tell (a story); count over again |
| bacchanalian | drunken |
| recourse | resorting to help when in trouble; Ex. without recourse to |
| enterprising | full of initiative; showing enterprise |
| dichotomy | division into two opposite parts; split; branching into two parts (especially contradictory ones) |
| proliferate | grow rapidly (in numbers); spread; multiply; N. proliferation |
| annex | attach; add to a large thing; take possession of; incorporate (territory) into a larger existing political unit (by force); N: building added to a large one |
| stench | strong foul odor; reek; stink |
| meander | wind or turn in its course; follow a winding or turning course; move aimlessly and idly |
| rare | (of air) thin in density; rarefied; Ex. rare air of the mountains |
| kleptomaniac | person who has a compulsive desire to steal |
| vie | contend; compete |
| palette | board on which painter mixes pigments(coloring matters) |
| ordain | decree or command; grant holy orders; predestine; install as a minister, priest, or rabbi; N. ordainment; CF. ordination |
| amok(amuck) | in a state of rage; Ex. run amok |
| tenuous | thin; slim; rare |
| podiatrist | doctor who treats ailments of the feet; chiropodist; N. podiatrics |
| distort | twist out of shape; give a false account of; misrepresent; N. distortion |
| countermand | cancel; revoke (an order) |
| jaundice | medical condition in which the skin, the white part of the eyes, etc. turn yellow; V: affect with jaundice; affect with prejudice, envy, or hostility; bias |
| disgorge | surrender something (stolen); eject; vomit; OP. gorge |
| console | lessen sadness or disappointment; give comfort; allay the sorrow of; N. consolation |
| apiarist | person who keeps bees |
| grudging | unwilling; reluctant; stingy(giving reluctantly) |
| casualty | serious or fatal accident; person killed or wounded in an accident or battle |
| supposititious | assumed; counterfeit; hypothetical |
| embargo | ban on commerce or other activity |
| meter | arrangement of words in the form of poetry (by accentual rhythm) |
| contrivance | something contrived; machine or apparatus; clever deceitful plan; scheme |
| exquisite | delicate; very finely made; extremely beautiful; Ex. exquisite piece of jewelry |
| embezzlement | taking for one's own use in violation of trust; stealing (of money placed in one's care) |
| metaphor | implied comparison; CF. simile |
| sequester | isolate; segregate; seclude; retire from public life |
| corpulent | very fat; N. corpulence |
| bestial | beastlike; brutal; inhuman; very cruel |
| gild | cover with a thin layer of gold |
| vouch | give a personal guarantee; Ex. I can vouch for his integrity; N. voucher |
| expedite | hasten; make go faster |
| grimace | facial distortion to show feeling such as pain, disgust, etc; V. |
| solicitor | lawyer in the lower court of law |
| colloquial | pertaining to conversational or common speech; informal; N. colloquialism: colloquial expression |
| compilation | listing of information in tabular or book form; compiling |
| indolent | lazy |
| invoke | call and bring into use (a right or law); call on/upon (a higher power or god) for help; ask for; beg for; conjure (a spirit); Ex. invoke the veto power; Ex. invoke one's advisor/God |
| fiend | evil spirit; devil |
| abbreviate | shorten |
| indissoluble | permanent; impossible to dissolve or disintegrate |
| vibrant | full of vigor or energy; vibrating |
| cache | hiding place; V. |
| forsake | desert; abandon; renounce |
| comeuppance | deserts; well-deserved punishment or misfortune; rebuke |
| distill | refine (a liquid by evaporating and subsequent condensation); concentrate; separate the most important parts from; Ex. distill fresh water from sea water; CF. brew |
| beneficiary | person entitled to benefits or proceeds of an insurance policy or will |
| ravage | devastate; plunder; despoil; Ex. crops ravaged by storms |
| impeach | charge (a public official) with crime in office; raise doubts about; indict; Ex. impeach a witness's credibility |
| forward | presumptuous or bold |
| prate | talk idly; speak foolishly; boast idly |
| fit | sudden outburst of an illness or feeling; convulsion caused by epilepsy |
| patronize | support; act superior toward; treat in a condescending manner; be a customer of; N. patron: one that supports; regular customer; N. patronage; CF. boycott |
| forthright | straightforward; direct; frank |
| precipitate | hurl downward; throw headlong; hasten; cause to happen sooner; condense and fall as rain or snow; cause (a solid substance) to be separated from a solution; ADJ. hasty; rash; premature; sudden |
| sophist | teacher of philosophy; quibbler; employer of fallacious reasoning; N. sophism: plausible but fallacious argument |
| distend | expand; swell out |
| rickety | (of buildings) likely to break or fall apart; of rickets; CF. rickets; CF. vitamin D |
| endearment | fond word or act; expression of affection |
| commemorative | remembering; honoring the memory of; Ex. commemorative stamp |
| incarcerate | imprison |
| outfit | clothing or equipment for a special purpose; Ex. cowboy outfit |
| fritter | waste (time or money on unimportant things) |
| resplendent | brilliant; splendid in appearance; dazzling; glorious |
| descry | catch sight of (something distant) |
| animadversion | critical remark; V. animadvert: comment critically with disapproval |
| sporadic | occurring irregularly; intermittent |
| deterrent | something that discourages or deters |
| forum | public square of an ancient Roman city; public place for open discussion; court of law |
| exigency | urgent situation; ADJ. exigent |
| sherbet | flavored dessert ice |
| brook | tolerate; endure; Ex. brook no interference; N: small stream |
| proselytize | (induce someone to) convert to a religion or belief; N. proselyte: new convert to a doctrine or religion |
| acidulous | slightly sour (in taste or manner); sharp; caustic |
| viscid | adhesive; gluey |
| requisition | formal demand or request; Ex. requisition for more computing equipment; V. |
| voluminous | having great volume (as of a garment or container); bulky; large |
| infernal | pertaining to hell; devilish; N. inferno: place of fiery heat or destruction |
| metallurgical | pertaining to the art of removing metals from ores; N. metallurgy: science that deals with extracting metals from ores |
| leash | restraining rope fastened to the collar of an animal (to control it); Ex. a dog on a leash |
| implicate | incriminate; involve incriminatingly; show to be involved (in a crime); Ex. implicate someone in the crime |
| servile | slavish; cringing; N. servility |
| jaunty | cheerful and pleased with life; lighthearted; animated; easy and carefree; dapper in appearance; Ex. jaunty person/hat |
| aegis | shield; protection; defense |
| torrid | (of weather) hot or scorching; passionate; Ex. torrid love affairs |
| emolument | salary; payment for an office; compensation |
| saturate | soak thoroughly; imbue; impregnate; charge; fill to capacity |
| communal | held in common; public; of a group of people; of a commune |
| serpentine | winding; twisting; of or like a serpent; Ex. serpentine course of the river; N. serpent: snake |
| tentative | not fully worked out or developed; provisional; experimental; uncertain; hesitant; not definite or positive; Ex. tentative agreement/reply |
| judiciary | judicial branch of government |
| legato | (of music) played smoothly |
| verisimilitude | appearance of truth; quality of appearing to be true or real; likelihood; Ex. verisimilitude of her performance as Lady Macbeth |
| shirk | avoid (responsibility, work, etc.); malinger |
| bewitch | cast a spell over; captivate completely |
| betray | be unfaithful; reveal (unconsciously or unwillingly); Ex. Her trembling hands betray her anxiety. |
| stalwart | physically strong; brawny; steadfast; strong in mind or determination; Ex. stalwart supporter; N: stalwart follower |
| mercantile | concerning trade or merchants |
| stentorian | (of the voice) extremely loud; CF. Stentor: a loud herald in the Iliad |
| alliteration | repetition of beginning sound in poetry |
| aromatic | fragrant; having a sweet smell; N. aroma: strong pleasant smell |
| digression | wandering away from the subject; V. digress |
| ordeal | severe trial or affliction; difficult experience; trial(test of patience or endurance); affliction |
| malapropism | comic misuse of a word; CF. Mrs. Malaprop |
| aphorism | pithy maxim or saying; ADJ. aphoristic |
| filth | dirty matter; ADJ. filthy |
| warranted | justified; authorized |
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