| Term | Definition |
|---|
| abate | to lessen in violence or intensity |
| abet | to assist or encourage, especially in wrongdoing |
| abhor | to detest, loathe, hate strongly |
| acquit | to find not guilty of a fault or crime |
| acrimony | harsh temper or bitter feeling |
| adamant | unyielding; firm in opinion |
| adulation | excessive praise or admiration |
| affable | friendly; courteous; agreeable in manner;easy to talk to |
| agnostic | one who believes that the existence of God is unknown and unknowable |
| agrarian | having to do with farms, farmers, or the use of land |
| altercation | a heated argument |
| ambivalent | being uncertain; unable to decide between two opposing points of view |
| amicable | friendly; peaceable |
| anathema | a greatly disliked, heated person or thing; a curse, or a person cursed |
| apathy | lack of interest |
| appease | to make calm or quiet ; to give in to the demands of |
| arduous | difficult; requiring much effort; strenuous |
| audacity | insolence; rude boldness |
| augment | to enlarge; to increase in amount or intensity |
| austere | stern, severe, plain |
| avarice | excessive greed desire for wealth |
| avid | eager; extremely interested |
| bacchanalian | wild with drunkenness |
| balk | to stop short and refuse to continue; to obstruct |
| banter | teasing; good-natured joking |
| barrister | lawyer |
| bask | to lie in or be exposed to warmth |
| bastion | a strong defense; a fort |
| bawdy | indecent; humorously obscene |
| befuddle | to confuse; to perplex |
| bigot | one who is intolerant of another's beliefs, opinions, or values |
| cajole | to persuade with false promises and flattery |
| candid | outspoken, blunt; informal, unposed |
| canine | having to do with dogs; a dog |
| capricious | guided by whim rather than reason; changing one's mind suddenly |
| castigate | to criticize or punish for the purpose of correction |
| caustic | biting, burning, severe; sharp or sarcastic |
| chaos | complete disorder |
| charlatan | one who pretends to have more knowledge or skill than or she really has, especially in the field of medicine |
| chastise | to punish severely |
| Circumspect | careful, watchful; attentive to all points |
| circumvent | to get around; to beat or defeat by trickery;to prevent an occurence |
| clement | merciful; lenient 2 mild, as weather |
| clandestine | secret |
| cliche | a worn-out idea or overused expression |
| coerce | to compel by force; to force a person to do something against his/her will |
| collaborate | to work with another toward a goal; to cooperate with an enemy invader |
| comely | attractive or handsome; pleasing to the sight |
| complacent | pleased with oneself or one's deeds (negative connotation) |
| concur | to be of the same opinion; to agree with |
| condone | to forgive or overlook an offense by treating the wrongdoer as if he had done nothing wrong |
| connive | to cooperate secretly in wrongdoing |
| connoisseur | an expert; a critical judge in matters of culture, food, or wine |
| contrite | showing deep regret and sorrow, usually for having committed some wrongdoing |
| copious | abundant; large in number or quantity |
| crass | coarse, stupid, tasteless |
| credence | belief or truth |
| culinary | having to do with the kitchen or cooking |
| culmination | attainment by anything of its highest point or degree |
| cult | a fad-like devotion to a person, thing, or idea; a group of people with such a devotion |
| cynical | inclined to distrust or deny the goodness or sincerity of human motive |
| decorum | conformity to accepted standards of conduct; proper behavior |
| demagogue | a leader who appeals to the emotions and prejudices of people; especially to advance his own power |
| demure | quiet and modest |
| deprecate | to express disapproval of; to depreciate one's effort |
| destitute | extremely poor; lacking necessities like food and shelter |
| diffident | lacking in self-confidence; shy |
| dilemma | a difficult choice; especially a choice between two equally undesirable alternatives |
| dilettante | one who studies an art or science for mere amusement |
| disparity | inequality; difference |
| divulge | to tell; to reveal (as a secret) |
| docile | easy to teach or manage |
| dogmatic | stating an opinion in an authoritative or arrogant manner |
| dolorous | mournful, sad |
| dole | to distribute; to give sparingly |
| dour | gloomy, sullen |
| droll | amusing in an odd way |
| duplicity | intentional deceit in speech or conduct |
| effigy | an image of a person or thing; usually a crude image of a hated person |
| emaciated | extremely thin, wasted away |
| emulate | to try to be equal to or better than; to imitate |
| enamored | to be in love with |
| enhance | to increase the value or beauty of something |
| enigma | a puzzling or seemingly inexplicable situation, person, etc. |
| enraptured | to be delighted beyond measure |
| enunciate | to pronounce words clearly and distinctly |
| erudite | scholarly; having or showing a wide knowledge gained from reading |
| ethnic | of or having to do with races or classes of people and their language |
| evince | to show clearly |
| evoke | to call forth; to draw forth |
| exhort | to use words or arguments to incite one to good deeds |
| exodus | a departure |
| expatriate | one who chooses to leave his or her native countr |
| expedient | the best means to do something under given circumstances, especialy if it will bring about personal gain |
| explicit | clearly stated |
| expound | to explain; to set forth point by point; to interpret |
| expunge | to erase |
| extol | to praise highly |
| extradite | to turn a prisoner over to the jurisditionof another country or state where the crime was allegedly committed |
| extraneous | not belonging; foreign; nonessential |
| extrovert | one who is outgoing, friendly; one who is more interested in what is going on around him or her than in his or her inner being or thoughts |
| exult | to rejoice over a success or victory |
| fallacy | a false or mistaken idea |
| feasible | reasonable, likely; capable of being carried out |
| fiasco | a complete, ridiculous failure |
| Fickle | likely to change without reason |
| fluctuate | to move; to vary irregularly |
| formidable | hard to overcome or deal with; causing fear or awe |
| frowzy | dirty, unkempt |
| frugal | not wasteful; thrifty |
| frustrate | to bring to nothing; to thwart, to baffle |
| furtive | done in a stealthy or secretive manner |
| gadfly | a person who annoys others, esp. by rousing them from complacency |
| galvanize | to startle into sudden activity |
| gamut | the whole range or extent |
| gargantuan | of huge or extraordinary size and power |
| gauche | lacking social grace |
| genial | warm, friendly |
| grandiloquent | speaking in a pompous style |
| gregarious | fond of company of others; belonging to a flock |
| grimace | noun: a facial exprission or fear, disapproval, or pain; Verb: to make such an expression |
| harangue | noun: a long, noisy speech or lecture; verb: to make such a speech |
| Harry | to torment another |
| hearth | a fireplace |
| heinous | hatefully or shockingly evil |
| heresy | a religious belief opposed to the established doctrine |
| hoax | a practical joke |
| hue | the quality which makes one color differ from other colors;a particular shade or tint of a given color |
| humility | absence of vanity |
| hurtle | to dash; to move swiftly and with great source |
| hyperbole | extreme exaggeration for effect and not meant to be taken literally |
| hypercritical | overly critical; too severe in judgement |
| ignominy | public shame; disgrace, or dishonor |
| impeccable | faultless; without sin or blemish |
| implacable | cannot be appeased or pacified |
| inane | without sense or meaning; silly; empty |
| incarcerate | to put into prison; to confine |
| incisive | sharp; keen; penetrating |
| incognito | hiding one's name, rank, position; disguised |
| indiscreet | not wise or judicious; imprudent, as in speech or action |
| inert | having no power to act or move; inactive |
| inexorable | cannot be moved or influenced by persuasion or entreat; unrelenting |
| inscrutable | cannot be easily understood; mysterious |
| insipid | without flavor; tasteless; dull; lifeless |
| intrepid | without fear; brave |
| irascible | easily angered |
| jaundiced | prejudiced; cynical |
| jaunty | fashionable, stylish; carefree |
| jettison | to throws goods overboard |
| jingoism | extreme patriotism; favoring an aggressive, warlike foreign policy |
| jocose | joking, humorous |
| juggernaut | a terrible destructive or irresistible force |
| latent | present, but not active; hidden |
| laudable | worthy of praise; commendable |
| lethargy | lack of energy; drowsiness, disinterest |
| levity | lightness or gaiety of disposition; lack of seriousness |
| lexicon | a dictionary; a special vocabulary |
| libation | an alcoholic drink |
| liege | a lord, master, or sovereign |
| magnanimous | noble; generous in forgiving; free from petty feeling or acts |
| marital | having to do with marriage |
| mercenary | one who works only for money, esp a hired soldier |
| meticulous | extremely careful about small details |
| motley | made up of different, dissimilar parts; being of many colors |
| mundane | of this world and not of heaven; common, worldly; not spiritual |
| murky | gloomy, dark, cloudy |
| myriad | a very large number; of a highly varied nature |
| naive | simple in nature; not affected; innocent simplicity; childlike |
| nocturnal | having to do with the night; occurring at night |
| novice | a beginner; one whom is new or inexperienced |
| noxious | harmful to the health |
| nuance | a delicate variation in tione, color, meaning, expression |
| obese | extremely fat |
| obstreperous | boisterous; unruly |
| odium | hatred; the state of being hated |
| officious | offering unnecessary and unwanted advice or service |
| ominous | threatening; predicting evil |
| omniscient | having unlimited knowledge; knowing everything |
| ostensible | apparent; pretended; professed |
| ostracize | to banish; to shut out from a group or society by common consent |
| pandemonium | a wild disorder, noise or confusion |
| parsimonious | too economical; stingy |
| penitent | expressing sorrow for having sinned or done wrong |
| pernicious | causing injury; evil or wicked |
| pertinent | having to do with what is being considered |
| plebeian | one of the common people; common or vulgar |
| precocious | developed earlier than usual |
| prowess | unusual skill or ability; heroism in battle |
| pugnacious | eager and ready to fight; quarrelsome |
| purloin | to steal |
| quixotic | extremely idealistic; not practical |
| rabid | intense; furious or raging, mad |
| raconteur | a person skilled at telling stories or anecdotes |
| mal | bad; evil |
| bene | good |
| dict | to speak |
| anthro | man |
| ology | study of |
| theo | god; religion |
| aud | hear |
| to see | vis or vid |
| cis/cide | cut or kill |
| ible/able | able |
| alter | change/other |
| ego | I |
| mega | large |
| polis | city/state |
| circum | around, on all sides |
| intro | in, within, inside of |
| spec/spect | to see, look at |
| vert/vers | to turn |
| arch | rule, govern, to be first |
| dem, demos | people |
| mit/mis | send |
| ist | one who practices or believes |
| crat | rule by |
| fid | faith, trust |
| form | shape |
| tion | the act of |
| re | back, again |
| frag/fract | break |
| chrono | time |
| ment | the result of, product of the action |
| cogn | know, think |
| carn | flesh |
| agr | field |
| bell | war |
| ous/ose | full of |
| ante | before |
| cosm | world, universe |
| cred | believe |
| ic/id | of, like |
| dorm | sleep |
| fin | end |
| ory | a place for |
| nomen | name |
| ee | one who is |
| fac/fact/fect/fic | make, do |
| grat | please |
| tude | the state of |
| mot/mov | to move |
| hydr | water |
| junct | join |
| de | down, away from, about |
| dis/di/dif | apart, not |
| loqu | speak, talk |
| gest | carry, bring |
| pend/pens | hang |
| cy | the state or position of |
| man | hand |
| nat/nas | born |
| escent | becoming |
| phil | love, loving |
| mar | sea |
| ocul | eye |
| rancor | extremely hatred or ill will |
| sanction | permission, support; to give approval to |
| scourge | a person or thing which causes great trouble or misfortune; to inflict severe punishment or pain |
| taciturn | not fond of talking; usually silent |
| temerity | reckless boldness |
| terse | brief, to the point |
| uncanny | weird, strange; mysterious; acute |
| verbose | using more words than needed; wordy |
| vindicate | to clear of guilt or blame |
| vindictive | seeking revenge; bearing a grudge |
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