| Term | Definition |
|---|
| lucubratory | ; to write learnedly |
| non sequitur | a conclusion that does not follow from the facts stated |
| welter | a confused mass; a jumble or muddle |
| tumbrel | a farm tipcart |
| parquet | a floor made of wood strips that are laid out in a specific pattern |
| disquisition | a formal systematic inquiry |
| verdigris | a green coating on copper which has been exposed to the weather |
| collation | a light meal |
| harangue | a long passionate speech |
| junket | a merry feast or picnic |
| neologism | a new word; a newly created term or phrase; a new way of using a specific word |
| solecism | a nonstandard or outdated grammatical construction |
| sybarite | a person devoted to luxury and pleasure |
| connoisseur | a person who is especially competent to pass critical judgements in an art; a discerning judge of the best in any field |
| nostrum | a quack medicine or remedy; an untested cure; a questionable medicine |
| carillon | a set of bells capable of being played |
| ostium | a small opening or orifice |
| breviloquence | a style of speaking quickly |
| access | A sudden outburst, often emotional in nature. |
| ventral | abdominal |
| rescission | abrogation; annulment |
| distrait | absentminded |
| recondite | abstruse; profound; secret |
| vituperative | abusive; scolding |
| fortuitous | accidental; by chance |
| athwart | across; in opposition |
| excision | act of cutting away |
| auscultation | act of listening to the heart or lungs to discover abnormalities |
| palliation | act of making less severe or violent |
| amortization | act of reducing debt through partial payments |
| deglutination | act of swallowing |
| condign | adequate; deservedly severe |
| gustatory | affecting the sense of taste |
| avouch | affirm; proclaim |
| griot | African storyteller |
| postprandial | after dinner |
| truculent | aggressive; savage |
| lissom | agile; lithe |
| desultory | aimless; jumping around |
| tocsin | alarm bell |
| cognate | allied by blood; of the same or kindred nature |
| terrapin | American marsh tortoise |
| disport | amuse |
| serendipity | an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident; good fortune or luck |
| canon | an established principle; group of literary works |
| sinecure | an office or position requiring little or no work, esp. one yielding profitable returns |
| assay | analyze; evaluate |
| ziggurat | ancient temple |
| wroth | angry |
| nettle | annoy; vex |
| cipher | any of the Arabic numerals or figures |
| phillipic | any speech or discourse of bitter denunciation |
| propitiate | appease |
| apposite | appropriate; fitting |
| felicitous | apt; suitably expressed; well chosen |
| dialectic | art of debate |
| chiromancy | art of telling fortunes by reading the hand; palmistry |
| sluice | artificial channel for directing or controlling the flow of water |
| culvert | artificial channel for water |
| factitious | artificial; sham |
| coadjutor | assistant or colleague |
| supposititious | assumed; counterfeit; hypothetical |
| quiescent | at rest; dormant |
| duenna | attendant of young female; chaperone |
| prepossessing | attractive; something that is engaging |
| impute | attribute; ascribe |
| gimlet | auger |
| dictum | authoritative and weighty statement |
| bete noiree | aversion; person or thing strongly disliked or avoided |
| pibroch | bagpipe music |
| equipoise | balance; balancing force; equilibrium |
| pas | ballet step |
| quizzical | bantering; comical; humorously serious |
| chaffing | bantering; joking |
| prurient | based on lascivious thoughts |
| chiropteran | bat |
| oriel | bay window |
| nib | beak; pen point |
| fulgent | beaming; radiant |
| fructify | bear fruit |
| primiparous | Bearing a first offspring; a woman who has borne but one child or who is pregnant for the first time. |
| belabor | beat soundly; assail verbally |
| importune | beg earnestly |
| tyro | beginner; novice |
| credence | belief |
| credulity | belief on slight evidence |
| teleology | belief that a final purpose or design exists for the presence of individual beings or of the universe itself |
| campanile | bell tower |
| campanulate | bell-shaped |
| genuflect | bend the knee as in worship |
| refraction | bending of a ray of light |
| astringent | binding; causing contraction |
| mordant | biting; sarcastic |
| benison | blessing |
| occlusion | block |
| sanguinary | bloody |
| gasconade | bluster; boastfulness |
| somite | body segment |
| decoct | boil down |
| hoyden | boisterous girl |
| debenture | bond issued to secure a loan |
| breviary | book containing the daily prayers |
| churlish | boorish; rude |
| blasé | bored because of frequent indulgence |
| obeisance | bow |
| epistemology | branch of philosophy that examines the nature of knowledge |
| grappa | brandy |
| harrow | break up ground after plowing; torture |
| plastron | breastplate |
| hod | brick holder |
| laconic | brief and to the point |
| eclat | brilliance; glory |
| nonplus | bring to a halt by confusion |
| catholic | broadly sympathetic; liberal |
| falchion | broadsword |
| roan | brown mixed with gray or white |
| effervesce | bubble over; show excitement |
| freebooter | buccaneer |
| ex officio | by virtue of one's office |
| wheedle | cajole; coax; deceive by flattery |
| convoke | call together |
| dispassionate | calm; impartial |
| phlegmatic | calm; not easily disturbed |
| girandole | candelstick |
| deliquescent | capable of absorbing moisture from the air and becoming liquid |
| venal | capable of being bribed |
| prehensile | capable of holding or grasping |
| vagary | caprice; whim |
| droshky | carriage |
| afferent | carrying toward the center |
| descry | catch sight of |
| stultify | cause to appear foolish or inconsistent |
| etiology | causes or origins |
| chary | cautiously watchful |
| empyreal | celestial; fiery |
| cnidoblast | cell type |
| surcease | cessation |
| hap | chance; luck |
| vicissitude | change of fortune |
| protean | changeable in shape or form |
| generic | characteristic of a class or species |
| mountebank | charlatan |
| cozen | cheat; hoodwink; swindle |
| stanch | check flow of blood |
| champ | chew noisily |
| interstices | chinks; crevices |
| recherche | choice, sought after; rare |
| curmudgeon | churlish, miserly individual |
| arrogate | claim without reasonable grounds |
| vociferous | clamorous; noisy |
| gens | clan |
| geophagy | clay eating |
| expurgate | clean; remove offensive parts of a book |
| exculpate | clear from blame |
| perspicuity | clearness of expression; freedom from ambiguity |
| repartee | clever reply |
| clamber | climb by crawling |
| raiment | clothing |
| surfeit | cloy; overfeed |
| treacly | cloying |
| gauche | clumsy; boorish |
| offertory | collection of money at religious ceremony |
| enjoin | command; order; forbid |
| quotidian | common and occuring on a daily basis |
| prosaic | commonplace; dull |
| hackneyed | commonplace; trite |
| remuneration | compesation; reward |
| lexicographer | compiler of a dictionary |
| plenary | complete; full |
| egotism | conceit; vanity |
| coda | concluding part of a literary or musical composition; something that summarizes or concludes |
| peroration | conclusion of an oration |
| satiety | condition of being crammed full; glutted state; repletion |
| bemused | confused |
| felicitate | congratulate |
| epicure | connoisseur of food and drink; related or devoted to pleasure; pertaining to sensuous enjoyment. |
| pestiferous | contaminated |
| ruminant | contemplative; marked with deep thoughts; meditative |
| contravene | contradict; infringe on |
| belie | contradict; misrepresent |
| interlocutory | conversational; intermediate, not final |
| sangfroid | coolness in a trying situation |
| orthography | correct spelling |
| emend | correct; correct by a critic |
| emendation | correction of errors; improvement |
| congruence | corresponding of parts |
| debauch | corrupt; make intemperate |
| antitussive | cough reliever |
| recrimination | countercharges |
| comity | courtesy; civility |
| arcade | covered passageway, usually with shops |
| reticulated | covered with a network; having the appearance of a mesh |
| poltroon | coward |
| recreant | coward; betrayer of faith |
| pusillanimous | cowardly |
| recreant | cowardly or craven |
| suppurate | create pus; to form or give out; to deteriorate; to break |
| animadversion | critical remark |
| diadem | crown |
| fell | cruel; deadly |
| truckle | curry favor |
| imprecation | curse |
| scrim | curtain fabric |
| concave | curving inward |
| convex | curving outward |
| wont | custom; habitual procedure |
| hew | cut to pieces with ax or sword |
| diurnal | daily |
| mincing | dainty |
| parlous | dangerous; perilous |
| venturous | daring |
| tenebrous | dark; gloomy |
| baleful | deadly; destructive |
| libertine | debauched person |
| artifice | deception; trickery |
| stratagem | deceptive scheme |
| delusive | deceptive; raising vain hopes |
| cockade | decoration worn on hat |
| tureen | deep table dish for holding soup |
| inveterate | deep-rooted; habitual |
| mugwump | defector from a party |
| parturition | delivery; childbirth |
| larkspur | delphinium flower |
| peremptory | demanding and leaving no choice |
| mien | demeanor; bearing |
| gainsay | deny |
| obliquity | departure from right principles; perversity |
| turpitude | depravity |
| morganatic | describing a marriage between a member of a royal family and a commoner in which it is agreed that any children will not inherit the title, etc. |
| epithet | descriptive word or phrase |
| sleight | dexterity |
| fastidious | difficult to please |
| discursive | digressing; rambling |
| assiduous | diligent |
| sedulous | diligent |
| purblind | dim-sighted; obtuse |
| scrappy | disconnected; fragmented |
| descant | discuss fully |
| palaver | discussion; misleading speech; chatter |
| opprobrious | disgraceful |
| fulsome | disgustingly excessive |
| prorogue | dismiss parliament; end officially |
| froward | disobedient; perverse; stubborn |
| contumacious | disobedient; resisting authority |
| provident | displaying foresight; thrifty; preparing for emergencies |
| profligate | dissipated; wasteful; licentious |
| diacritical | distinguishing |
| tribulation | distress; suffering |
| desuetude | disused condition |
| ramify | divide into branches or subdivisions |
| canto | division of a long poem |
| tractable | docile; when applied to building materials, it means flexible |
| quay | dock; landing place |
| pertinacity | doggedness |
| demesne | domain; land over which a person has full sovereignty |
| torpid | dormant; dull; lethargic |
| oratorio | dramatic poem set to music |
| educe | draw forth; elicit |
| imbrue | drench; stain; especially with blood |
| bedizen | dress with vulgar finery |
| curry | dress; treat leather; seek favor |
| copra | dried coconut meat |
| tipple | drink (alcholical beverages) frequently |
| provender | dry food; fodder |
| jejune | dry; uninteresting; juvenile; uninformed |
| stolid | dull; impassive |
| palliate | ease pain; make less guilty or offensive |
| facile | easily accomplished; effortless |
| crotchety | eccentric; whimsical |
| variorum | edition with notes |
| acarpous | effete; no longer fertile; producing no fruit |
| triolet | eight-line stanza with rhyme scheme a b aaa b a b |
| wapiti | elk |
| manumit | emanicipate; free from bondage |
| peculation | embezzlement; theft |
| abettor | encourager |
| hortatory | encouraging; exhortive |
| suppliant | entreating; beseeching |
| gourmand | epicure; person who takes excessive pleasure in food and drink |
| expunction | erasure |
| misapprehension | error; misunderstanding |
| tergiversation | evasion; fickleness |
| jink | evasive turn |
| gestate | evolve, as in prenatal growth |
| collate | examine in order to verify authenticity |
| uxorious | excessively devoted to one's wife |
| hypercritical | excessively exacting |
| feral | existing in a wild or untamed state |
| distend | expand; swell out |
| traduce | expose to slander |
| condole | express sympathetic sorrow |
| bowdlerize | expurgate |
| stentorian | extremely loud |
| supercillium | eyebrow |
| visage | face; appearance |
| countenance | face; calm facial expression; composure |
| deciduous | falling off as of leaves |
| jactitation | false boasting |
| kith | familiar friends |
| cognomen | family name |
| chimerical | fantastic; highly imaginative |
| wain | farm wagon |
| modish | fashionable |
| nobby | fashionable or elegant |
| captious | fault-finding |
| propitious | favorable; kindly |
| timorous | fearful; demonstrating fear |
| epulation | feast or feasting |
| distaff | female |
| fecundity | fertility; fruitfulness |
| convivial | festive; gay; characterized by joviality |
| febrile | feverish |
| mercurial | fickle; changing |
| capricious | fickle; incalculable |
| trope | figure of speech |
| girasol | fire opal |
| paroxysm | fit or attack of pain, laughter, rage |
| meretricious | flashy; tawdry |
| bannock | flat bread |
| lambent | flickering; softly radiant |
| hegira | flight, especially Mohammed's flight from Mecca to Medina |
| blench | flinch |
| persiflage | flippant conversation; banter |
| coquette | flirt |
| efflorescent | flowering |
| cursive | flowing, running |
| glib | fluent |
| voluble | fluent; glib |
| votary | follower of a cult |
| viand | food |
| fatuous | foolish; inane |
| extrude | force or push out |
| birr | force; energy; vigor |
| prosencephalon | forebrain |
| adumbration | foreshadowing; outlining |
| venial | forgivable; trivial |
| granulate | form into grains |
| enconium | formal expression of praise |
| noisome | foul smelling; unwholesome |
| nosegay | fragrant bouquet |
| redolent | fragrant; odorous |
| chassis | framework and working parts of an automobile |
| gratis | free |
| querulous | fretful; whining |
| debonair | friendly; aiming to please |
| spume | froth; foam |
| husbandry | frugality; thrift; agriculture |
| hindmost | furthest behind |
| nugatory | futile; worthless |
| carrack | galleon |
| gibbet | gallows |
| gamester | gambler |
| habiliments | garb; clothing |
| glean | gather leavings |
| blithe | gay; joyous |
| gerenuk | gazelle |
| zephyr | gentle breeze; west wind |
| vertiginous | giddy; causing dizziness |
| gratuitous | given freely; unwarranted |
| beatific | giving bliss; blissful |
| fain | gladly |
| carafe | glass water bottle; decanter |
| vitreous | glassy |
| stygian | gloomy |
| retrogade | going backwards; degenerating |
| trencherman | good eater |
| vouchsafe | grant condescendingly; guarantee |
| llano | grassy plain |
| demure | grave; serious; coy |
| cupidity | greed |
| avarice | greediness for wealth |
| lickerish | greedy |
| cormorant | greedy, rapacious bird |
| verdant | green; fresh |
| scurrilous | grossly or obscenely abusive |
| mews | group of stables built around a courtyard |
| batten | grow fat; thrive upon others |
| arroyo | gully |
| hackles | hairs on back and neck of a dog |
| hirsute | hairy |
| moiety | half; part |
| pendant | hanging down from something |
| pendulous | hanging; suspended |
| deleterious | harmful |
| cembalo | harpsichord |
| jangling | harsh; cacophonous |
| headlong | Hasty; rash; unscrupulously bold |
| rubicund | having a healthy reddish color |
| decollete | having a low-necked dress |
| orotund | having a round, resonant quality; inflated speech |
| stertorous | having a snoring sound |
| capillary | having a very fine bore |
| perspicacious | having insight; penetrating; astute |
| ciliated | having minute hairs |
| tendentious | having or showing a definite tendency, bias, or purpose |
| prognathous | having projecting jaws |
| fluted | having vertical parallel grooves (as in a pillar) |
| pennate | having wings or feathers |
| promontory | headland |
| salubrious | healthful |
| calorific | heat-producing |
| plumose | heaving feathers or plumes |
| supernal | heavnly; celestial |
| bludgeon | heavy-headed weapon |
| casque | helmet |
| seraph | high-ranking, six-winged angel |
| gallimaufry | hodgepodge |
| fete | honor at a festival |
| capote | hooded coat |
| gaff | hook; barbed fishing spear |
| hamate | hooked |
| equipage | horse-drawn carriage |
| choleric | hot-tempered |
| horary | hourly |
| pluton | igneous rock |
| porphyry | igneous rock containing feldspar or quartz crystals |
| mischance | ill luck |
| pastiche | imitation of another's style in musical composition or writing |
| immure | imprison; shut up in confinement |
| dishabille | in a state of undress |
| sub rosa | in strict confidence; privately |
| ineluctable | incapable of being evaded |
| factious | inclined to form factions |
| risible | inclined to laugh; ludicrous |
| insouciant | indifferent; without concern or care |
| opprobrium | infamy; vilification |
| colloquy | informal discussion |
| patrimony | inheritance from father |
| tesselated | inlaid; mosaic |
| epitaph | inscription in memory of a dead person |
| foist | insert improperly; palm off |
| brazen | insolent |
| afflatus | inspiration |
| trice | instant |
| edify | instruct; correct morally |
| contumely | insulting display of contempt in words or actions |
| insuperable | insurmountable |
| interregnum | interval between reigns; gap in continuity |
| prefatory | introductory |
| valetudinarian | invalid |
| artificer | inventor |
| opalescent | iridescent |
| ineluctable | irresistable; not to be escaped |
| turnkey | jailer |
| cant | jargon of thieves; pious phraseology |
| peregrination | journey |
| sagacious | keen; shrewd |
| consanguinity | kinship |
| jabot | lace ruffle |
| anoxia | lack of air |
| feckless | Lacking purpose; not capable of having responsibility; irresponsible. |
| incontinent | lacking self-restraint; licentious |
| jeremiad | lament; complaint |
| plaint | lamentation |
| lassitude | languor; weariness |
| hogshead | large barrel |
| geoduck | large clam |
| hawser | large rope |
| languor | lassitude; depression |
| terminus | last stop of railroad |
| profusion | lavish expenditure |
| inveigle | lead astray; wheedle |
| gambol | leap playfully; skip |
| jambeau | leg armor |
| bate | let down; restrain |
| labile | likely to change |
| circumscribe | limit; confine |
| sumptuary | limiting or regulating expenditures |
| concatenate | link as in a chain |
| vegetate | live in a monotonous way |
| coeval | living at the same time as; contemporary |
| vicinal | local |
| patois | local or provincial dialect |
| syllogism | logical formula utilizing a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion |
| screed | long, tiresome language |
| dissolute | loose in morals |
| aphasia | loss of speech due to injury |
| parapet | low wall at edge of roof or balcony |
| abase | lower;humiliate |
| neap | lowest |
| libidinous | lustful |
| salacious | lustful or lecherous |
| supine | lying on back |
| rarefied | made less dense (of a gas) |
| nave | main body of a church |
| asseverate | make a positive statement or solemn declaration |
| cavil | make frivolous objections |
| vitrify | make into glass |
| philander | make love lightly; flirt |
| burnish | make shiny by rubbing |
| scarify | make sleight incisions in; scratch |
| attenuate | make thin; weaken |
| testator | maker of a will |
| maquillage | makeup |
| calumny | malicious represenation; slander |
| virile | manly |
| variegated | many-colored |
| striated | marked with parallel bands |
| nubile | marriageable; sexually attractive |
| requiem | mass for the dead |
| floe | mass of floating ice |
| lea | meadow |
| dint | means; effort |
| officious | meddlesome; excessively trying to please |
| paregoric | medicine that eases pain |
| sallet | medieval helmet |
| melange | medley; miscellany |
| atribulous | melancholy; sad |
| enumerate | mention separately as if in counting; name one by one |
| jocund | merry |
| hustings | metings particularly to choose candidates |
| balmy | mild; fragnant |
| thaumaturgist | miracle worker; magician |
| waggish | mischievous; humorous; tricky |
| doxy | mistress |
| defalcate | misuse money held in trust; to embezzle funds |
| miscellany | mixture of writings on various subjects |
| gibe | mock |
| cloister | monestary or convent |
| lucre | money |
| hypothecate | mortgage; pledge as security |
| actuate | motivate |
| lugubrious | mournful |
| undulate | move with a wavelike motion |
| motile | moving or capable of moving spontatenously |
| appellation | name; title |
| acicular | needle-shaped |
| tautological | needlessly repetitious |
| nidicolous | nesting |
| seine | net for catching fish |
| mat | Not shiny; having a dull finish; lacking contrast or gloss |
| incommodious | not spacious |
| irrefragable | not to be disproved; indisputable |
| impolitic | not wise |
| arrant | notorious; thorough |
| effluvium | noxious smell |
| necrology | obituary notice; list of the dead |
| bugaboo | object of baseless terror; bugbear |
| trumpery | objects that are showy, valueless, deceptive |
| bawdy | obscene |
| secular | occuring onece in an age or century |
| perforce | of necessity |
| anile | Of or resembling a foolish, old woman |
| corporeality | of the nature of the physical body; bodily |
| ukase | official decree, usually Russian |
| unctuous | oily; bland; insincerely suave |
| unguent | ointment |
| augury | omen; prophecy |
| portentous | ominous; serious |
| dipsomaniac | one who has a strong craving for intoxicating liquor |
| ascetic | one who practices self-denial |
| chiropodist | one who treats disorders of the feet |
| brazier | open pan in which live coals are burned |
| gambit | opening chess move in which a piece is sacrificed |
| interstice | opening or fissure |
| controvert | oppose with arguments |
| saffron | orange-colored; colored like the autumn crocus |
| provenance | origin or source of something |
| exogenous | originating externally; arising from a source outside the organism or the cell |
| cornice | ornamental molding that sits atop a column or pillar |
| arabesque | ornate design featuring intertwining curves; a ballet position |
| denouement | outcome; final development of the plot of a play |
| integument | outer covering or skin |
| circumvent | outwit; baffle |
| surtout | overcoat |
| benighted | overcome by darkness |
| bathetic | overly sentimental |
| inadvertence | oversight; carelessness |
| travail | painful labor |
| mauve | pale bluish purple |
| vellum | parchment |
| palimpset | parchment used for second time after original writing has been erased |
| proscenium | part of stage in front of curtain |
| translucent | partly transparent |
| imprimatur | permission to print or publish a book |
| reprobate | person hardened in sin, devoid of a sense of decency |
| supernumerary | person or thing in excess of what is necessary |
| numismatist | person who collects coins |
| raconteur | person who is skilled in relating stories or anecdotes interestingly |
| parricide | person who murders his own father; murder of a father |
| recusant | person who refuses to comply |
| chattel | personal property |
| rheumy | pertaining to a discharge from nose and eyes |
| germinal | pertaining to a germ; creative |
| fiduciary | pertaining to a position of trust |
| vermicular | pertaining to a worm |
| natal | pertaining to birth |
| valedictory | pertaining to farewell |
| piscatorial | pertaining to fishing |
| inductive | pertaining to induction or proceeding from the specific to the general |
| connubial | pertaining to marriage or the matrimonial state |
| pecuniary | pertaining to money |
| vitreous | pertaining to or resembling glass |
| sudorific | pertaining to perspiration |
| vernal | pertaining to spring |
| auroral | pertaining to the aurora borealis |
| somatic | pertaining to the body; physical |
| tactile | pertaining to the organs or sense of touch |
| demotic | pertaining to the people |
| sylvan | pertaining to the woods; rustic |
| crepuscular | pertaining to twilight |
| demoniac | pertaining to, or like, a demon |
| nudnik | pest |
| satrap | petty ruler working for a superior despot |
| shoat | piglet |
| spoliation | pillaging; depredation |
| dottle | pipe tobacco residue |
| corsair | pirate; pirate ship |
| murrain | plague; cattle disease |
| perspicuous | plainly expressed |
| plangent | plaintive; resounding sadly |
| piquant | pleasantly tart-tasting; stimulating |
| troth | pledge of good faith especially in betrothal |
| fallow | plowed but not sowed |
| despoil | plunder |
| depredation | plundering |
| perigee | point of moon's orbit when it is nearest the earth |
| apiculate | pointed |
| entomophilous | pollinated by insects |
| fustian | pompous; bombastic |
| grandiloquent | pompous; bombastic |
| doggerel | poor verse |
| limn | portray; describe vividly in words or art |
| decant | pour off gently |
| effusion | pouring forth; gushing |
| puissant | powerful; strong; potent |
| precept | practical rule guiding conduct |
| encomiastic | praising; eulogistic |
| orison | prayer |
| nicety | precision; minute distinction |
| proem | preface |
| adduce | present as evidence |
| overweening | presumtuous; arrogant |
| dissimulate | pretend; conceal by feigning |
| chichi | pretentious; trendy or popular |
| aseptic | preventing putrefaction or blood poisoning by killing bacteria |
| sacerdotal | priestly |
| conclave | private meeting |
| cortege | procession |
| lachrymose | producing tears |
| wastrel | profligate |
| docket | program as for trial; book where such entries are made |
| decorous | proper |
| decorum | proper behavior |
| sibylline | prophetic; oracular |
| tutelary | protective; pertaining to a guardianship |
| remonstrate | protest |
| endue | provide with some quality; endow |
| synoptic | providing an overview or summary |
| circumspect | prudent; cautious |
| oroide | pseudo gold |
| affray | public brawl |
| pillory | punish by placing in wood frame and subjecting to ridicule |
| fantoccini | puppets |
| quintessence | purest and highest embodiment |
| sciolism | quackery; superficial information |
| slake | quench; sate |
| refulgent | radiant |
| centrifugal | radiating; departing from the center |
| tatterdemalion | ragged fellow |
| harry | raid |
| dais | raised platform for guests of honor |
| ken | range of knowledge |
| ravening | rapacious; seeking prey |
| temerarious | rash |
| arboreal | realted to trees |
| ratiocination | reasoning; act of drawing conclusions from premises |
| carom | rebound |
| anneal | reduce brittleness and improve toughness by heating and cooling |
| debase | reduce to lower state |
| advert | refer to |
| contemn | regard with contempt; to scorn; to censure; to defy |
| saltatory | relating to leaping |
| compunction | remorse |
| depilate | remove hair |
| recrudescence | reopening of a wound or sore |
| remediable | reparable |
| requite | repay; revenge |
| abnegation | repudiation; self-sacrifice |
| adjure | request solemnly |
| exigent | requiring immediate action or aid; urgent; pressing |
| sedentary | requiring sitting |
| atavism | resemblance to remote ancestors rather than to parents |
| pinion | restrain |
| durance | restraint; imprisonment |
| superannuated | retired on pension because of age |
| carmine | rich red |
| bechamel | rich white sauce |
| brocade | rich, figured fabric |
| whorl | ring of leaves around stem; ring |
| circincate | ring-shaped |
| extirpate | root up |
| carrion | rotting flesh of a dead body |
| oculus | round window |
| efface | rub out |
| baneful | ruinous; poisonous |
| paddock | saddling enclosure at race track; lot for exercising horses |
| emolument | salary; compensation |
| chigoe | sand flea |
| sapid | savory; tasty |
| dispel | scatter |
| savant | scholar |
| gastronomy | science of preparing and serving good food |
| aves | scientific classification for birds |
| objurgate | scold; rebuke severely |
| caryatid | sculptured column of a female figure |
| howdah | seat on an elephant |
| surreptitious | secret |
| dregs | sediment; worthless residue |
| aril | seed cover |
| specious | seemingly reasonable but incorrect |
| bumptious | self-assertive |
| truism | self-evident truth |
| axiom | self-evident truth requiring no proof |
| continence | self-restraint; sexual chastity |
| primogeniture | seniority by birth |
| peristyle | series of columns surrounding a building or yard |
| denticulate | serrated |
| premonitory | serving to warn |
| divers | several; differing |
| objurgation | severe rebuke; scolding |
| asperity | severity; harshness; irritability |
| shoal | shallow place |
| effrontery | shameless boldness |
| apserity | sharpness (of temper) |
| tonsure | shaving of the head, especially by a person entering a religious order |
| diaphanous | sheer; transparent |
| cameo | shell or jewel carved in relief |
| escutcheon | shield-shaped surface on which coat of arms is placed |
| lucent | shining |
| curtal | short |
| valance | short drapery hanging above window frame |
| ebullient | showing excitement |
| caparison | showy harness or ornamentation for a horse |
| virago | shrew |
| termagant | shrew; scolding, brawling woman |
| canny | shrewd; thrifty |
| clarion | shrill trumpetlike sound |
| mawkish | sickening; insipid |
| portent | sign; omen; forewarning |
| congenial | similar in tastes and habits; friendly |
| synchronous | similarly timed; simultaneous with |
| hyperborean | situated in extreme north; arctic; cold |
| welkin | sky |
| azure | sky blue |
| calumniate | slander |
| detraction | slandering; aspersion |
| aspersion | slanderous remark |
| thrall | slave; bondage |
| tenuity | slenderness |
| glissade | sliding step |
| acidulous | slightly sour; sharp; caustic |
| frowzy | slovenly; unkempt |
| canter | slow gallop |
| laggard | slow; sluggish |
| phial | small bottle |
| grotto | small cavern |
| asterism | small constellation |
| lagniappe | small gift |
| cruet | small glass bottle for vinegar |
| hummock | small hill |
| spangle | small metallic piece sewn into clothing for ornamentation |
| tarn | small mountain lake |
| facet | small plane surface (of a gem); a side |
| circlet | small ring; band |
| pallet | small, poor bed |
| exiguous | small; minute |
| white | smallest peck |
| cairngorm | smoky quartz |
| fulsome | so excessive as to be disgusting |
| surah | soft twilled silk |
| adjuration | solemn urging |
| luthier | someone who fixes stringed intstruments |
| comestible | something fit to be eaten |
| brackish | somewhat saline |
| threnody | song of lamentation; dirge |
| paean | song of praise or joy |
| poultice | soothing application applied to sore and inflamed portions of the body |
| emollient | soothing or softening remedy |
| dolorous | sorrowful |
| crabbed | sour; peevish |
| capacious | spacious |
| commodious | spacious and comfortable |
| prate | speak foolishly |
| endive | species of leafy plant used in salads |
| prefigure | speech |
| celerity | speed; rapidity |
| betimes | speedily |
| splenetic | spiteful; irritable; peevish |
| clef | split |
| cleave | split asunder |
| rend | split; tear apart |
| fissile | splittable |
| vitiate | spoil the effect of; make inoperative |
| macula | spot |
| suffuse | spread over |
| incarnadine | stain crimson or blood-color |
| rampant | standing on the hind legs |
| serried | standing shoulder to shoulder; crowded |
| aver | state confidentially |
| impropriety | state of being inappropriate |
| senescence | state of growing old |
| caducity | state of old age; senility |
| peculate | steal; embezzle |
| viscid | sticky; adhesive |
| viscous | sticky; gluey |
| penurious | stingy; parsimonious |
| pelf | stolen property |
| touchstone | stone used to test the fineness of gold alloys; criterion |
| martinet | strict disciplinarian |
| conformation | structure |
| pertinacious | stubborn; persistent |
| refractory | stubborn; unmanageable |
| philology | study of language |
| ethnology | study of man |
| cosmology | study of the universe as a totality |
| appurtenances | subordinate possessions |
| emetic | substance causing vomiting |
| humus | substance formed by decaying vegetable matter |
| casuistry | subtle or sophisticated reasoning resulting in minute distinctions |
| freshet | sudden flood |
| bilious | suffering from indigestion; irritable |
| soupcon | suggestion; hint; taste |
| estival | summery |
| codicil | supplement to the body of a will |
| alimentary | supplying nourishment |
| fulcrum | support on which a lever rests |
| putative | supposed; reputed |
| pendent | suspended; jutting; pending |
| alimentation | sustenance |
| dulcinea | sweetheart |
| natation | swimming |
| tumid | swollen; pompous; bombastic |
| treacle | syrup obtained in refined sugar |
| axiomatic | taken for granted |
| expatiate | talk at length |
| maunder | talk incoherently; utter drivel |
| garrulity | talkativeness |
| brindled | tawny or grayish with streaks or spots |
| didactic | teaching; instructional |
| elusory | tending to deceive expectations; elusive |
| salutary | tending to improve; beneficial; wholesome |
| centripetal | tending toward the center |
| sententious | terse; concise; aphoristic; self-rightous |
| expediency | that which is advisable or practical |
| desideratum | that which is desired |
| unction | the act of anoining with oil |
| prosody | the art of versification |
| bigamy | the crime of marrying while one has a wife or husband still living, from whom no valid divorce has been effected |
| bailment | the delivery of personal property returnable to the bailor after being held for some purpose |
| oblation | the Eucharist; pious donation |
| cynosure | the object of general attention |
| horripilation | the process by which hair bristles in response to cold weather or fear, often referred to as having goose flesh |
| fecundity | the quality of being fecund; capacity, esp. in female animals, of producing young in great numbers |
| usufruct | the right to use something that usually belongs to somebody else; the legal right of enjoying the profits of something that belongs to somebody else |
| pachyderm | thick-skinned animal |
| buskin | thick-soled half boot worn by actors of Greek tragedy |
| cogitate | think over |
| tertiary | third |
| acanthoid | thorny |
| cerebration | thought |
| minatory | threatening |
| flail | thresh grain by hand; strike or slap |
| improvident | thriftless |
| fulminate | thunder; explode |
| hermetic | tightly sealed; magical |
| harping | tiresome dwelling on a subject |
| execrate | to abhor or detest utterly |
| inured | to accustom to hardship, difficulty, pain; to come into use OR to become beneficial or advantageous |
| wangle | to acquire by cleverness or deception; to trick |
| expostulate | to argue earnestly; to reason; to discuss with an intent to direct towards the correct answer |
| expiate | to atone for |
| confound | to baffle |
| habituate | to become accustomed to or familiarized with; to be come addicted; to require |
| cadge | to beg; sponge |
| scour | to clean by hard rubbing; to clean using a detergent or other harsh agent |
| chastened | to correct by punishment or reproof |
| niggle | to criticize, esp repeatedly; to work ineffectively; to spend too much time and effort on inconsequential details |
| bedizen | to dress in a vulgar, showy manner |
| stipple | to engrave, draw or paint by small dots or small motions |
| explicate | to explain; interpret; clarify |
| hoise | to hoist |
| tenon | to join; fasten securely |
| essayed | to make an attempt; subject to a test |
| birr | to move with or make a whirring sound |
| countenance | to permit or tolerate; to approve or support |
| abjur | to reject; abandon formally |
| hurtle | to rush violently; move with great speed |
| coruscate | to sparkle; flash; scintillate |
| diffuse | to spread out |
| throttle | to strangle; to choke; to suffocate |
| derogate | To stray from a normal course of action; to act contrary to what is expected; to deviate from normal modes of conduct. |
| equable | tranquil; steady; uniform |
| pellucid | transparent; limpid; easy to understand |
| salver | tray |
| fisc | treasury |
| pediment | triangular part above columns in Greek buildings |
| bauble | trinket; trifle |
| verity | truth; reality |
| complaisant | trying to please; obliging |
| assignation | tryst |
| kirtle | tunic |
| gloaming | twilight |
| unwonted | unaccustomed |
| callow | unfledged; youthful |
| iniquitous | unjust; wicked |
| carte blanche | unlimited authority or freedom |
| tautology | unnecessary repetition |
| heterodox | unorthodox; not widely accepted |
| earthy | unrefined; course |
| intractable | unruly; refractory |
| ineffable | unutterable; cannot be expressed in speech |
| suavity | urbanity; polish |
| exigency | urgent situation |
| importunate | urging; demanding |
| bootless | useless |
| inutile | useless |
| otioise | useless |
| iterate | utter a second time; repeat |
| foppish | vain about dress and appearance |
| sundry | various |
| conveyance | vehicle; transfer |
| prolix | verbose; drawn out |
| mite | very small object or creature; small coin |
| unbridled | violent |
| billingsgate | vituperation; abusive language |
| welter | wallow |
| parry | ward off a blow |
| chafe | warm by rubbing |
| sirocco | warm, sultry wind blown from Africa to southern Europe |
| verucca | wart |
| verrucose | warty |
| lave | wash |
| macerate | waste away |
| dross | waste matter; worthless impurities |
| offal | waste; garbage |
| shibboleth | watchword; slogan |
| ewer | water pitcher |
| cateract | waterfall |
| extenuate | weakn; mitigate |
| abrade | wear away by friction; erode |
| chock | wedge |
| hebdomadally | weekly |
| sinecure | well-paid position with little responsibility |
| wheal | welt |
| spelt | wheat |
| caprice | whim |
| nicker | whinny |
| susurrus | whisper |
| susurration | whispher |
| rime | white frost |
| hoary | white with age |
| enormity | wickedness |
| qui vive | wide awake; expectant |
| caracal | wildcat |
| margay | wildcat |
| sinuous | winding; bending in and out; not morally honest |
| tortuous | winding; full of curves |
| serpentine | winding; twisting |
| hibernal | wintry |
| sapient | wise; shrewd |
| askance | with a sidways or indirect look |
| apropos | with reference to; properly |
| sere | withered |
| insensate | without feeling |
| impecunious | without money |
| diffusion | wordiness |
| collier | worker in coal mine; ship carrying coal |
| lapidary | worker in precious stones |
| atelier | workshop; studio |
| effete | worn out; exhausted; barren |
| solicitous | worried; concerned |
| swathe | wrap around; bandage |
| spanner | wrench |
| rugose | wrinkled |
| indite | write; compose |
| escritoire | writing table |
| fluoroscope | x-ray machine |
| xanthous | yellow |
| luteous | yellowish |
| cession | yielding to another |
| squab | young fledgling pigeon |
| acuminate | pointed; to make sharp or keen |
| ataxia | loss of muscular coordination; confusion or disorder |
| baize | green fabric covering billiard table |
| bunco | to swindle; a confidence game or swindle |
| crenate | having the margin notched or scalloped so as to form rounded teeth, as a leaf |
| cyclopean | huge or vast |
| desquamate | to shed or peel skin |
| divagate | to wander or stray; to digress in speech |
| edentulous | lacking teeth; toothless |
| equitation | the act or art of riding on horseback |
| petcock | a small valve or faucet, as for draining off excess or waste material from the cylinder of a steam engine or an internal-combustion engine |
| senescent | growing old |
| tussock | a tuft of growing grass or the like |
Combine with other sets
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