| Term | Definition |
|---|
| adulation | flattery; admiration that is more than is necessary or deserved |
| adulterate | make impure or of poorer quality by adding inferior or tainted(contaminated) substances |
| advent | arrival |
| adventitious | accidental; casual; happening by chance |
| adversary | opponent; enemy |
| adverse | going against; opposing; unfavorable; hostile |
| adversity | great hardship or affliction; misfortune; calamitous event |
| n advert | refer |
| advocacy | support; active pleading on behalf of someone or something |
| advocate | speak in favor of; support (an idea or plan); urge; plead for |
| n aegis | shield; protection; defense |
| n aerie(aery,eyrie,eyry) | nest of a large bird of prey |
| aesthetic | artistic; dealing with or capable of appreciating the beautiful (of a person or building); CF. aesthete; CF. aesthetics |
| affable | easily approachable; easy to talk to; warmly friendly |
| affected | artificial; pretended |
| affidavit | written statement made under oath (for use as proof in a court of law) |
| affiliation | joining; associating with |
| affinity | feeling of kinship; similarity; Ex. strong affinity for her; Ex. many affinities between two languages |
| affirmation | positive assertion; confirmation; solemn pledge by one who refuses to take an oath; V. affirm; ADJ. affirmative; CF. affirmative action: positive discrimination |
| affliction | state of distress; trial; cause of distress or suffering; V. afflict: inflict grievous suffering on |
| affluence | abundance; wealth |
| affront | insult; offense; intentional act of disrespect; V: insult or hurt the feelings of intentionally |
| n agape | openmouthed |
| n agenda | items of business at a meeting |
| n agglomeration | collection; heap; V. agglomerate: gather into a rounded mass; N. aggolmeate: jumbled mass; heap |
| aggrandize | make greater; increase in power, wealth, rank, or honor; N. aggrandizement |
| aggregate | sum; total; ADJ. V: gather into a mass or whole; accumulate; add up to; Ex. aggregate 100 dollars |
| aghast | filled with great surprise or fear; horrified |
| agility | nimbleness; ability to move quickly |
| agitate | stir up; disturb |
| agnostic | one who is skeptical of the existence or knowability of a god or any ultimate reality |
| n agog | highly excited; intensely curious |
| agrarian | pertaining to land or its cultivation; Ex. agrarian reform |
| alacrity | cheerful promptness without reluctance |
| alchemy | medieval chemistry |
| n alcove | nook; recess |
| alias | an assumed name esp. by a criminal (usually to mislead people); ADV. alias |
| alienate | make unfriendly or hostile; estrange; separate; change the ownership of |
| alimentary | supplying nourishment |
| n alimony | payments made regularly to an ex-spouse after divorce |
| allay | calm; pacify |
| allege | state without proof |
| allegiance | loyalty |
| n allegory | story, play, or picture in which characters are used as symbols; fable |
| alleviate | relieve (pain) |
| alliteration | repetition of beginning sound in poetry |
| allocate | assign; set apart for a particular purpose |
| alloy | mixture as of metals; something added that lowers in value or purity; V: mix; make less pure; lower in value or quality; spoil; CF. unalloyed: not in mixture with other maetals; pure; complete; unqualified; Ex. unalloyed happiness |
| allude | refer indirectly; N. allusion: indirect reference |
| allure | entice; attract; tempt |
| s siren | apparatus for making sounds; womanlike creature |
| alluvial | pertaining to soil deposits left by running water |
| n aloof | apart; not open in one's relationship with other people; reserved; ADV. |
| n aloft | upward; high up in the air |
| altercation | noisy quarrel |
| altruistic | unselfishly generous; concerned for others; N. altiruism: unselfish concern for the welfare of others; unselfishness; OP. egoism |
| n amalgamate | (of societies or groups) combine; unite in one body |
| n amalgam | combination of different things; mixture of metals (containing mercury) used for filling holes in teeth |
| n amass | collect (gradually, in a very large amount) |
| amazon | female warrior |
| ambidextrous | capable of using either hand with equal ease |
| ambience | environment; atmosphere; Ex. restraurant with a pleasant ambience; ADJ. ambient: completely surrounding; Ex. ambient temperature |
| ambiguous | unclear or doubtful in meaning; having more than one possible interpretation |
| ambivalence | the state of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes or opinions |
| amble | walking at an easy unhurried pace; V: walk slowly and aimlessly |
| n ambrosia | food of the gods |
| s nectar | drink of the gods; sweet liquid collected by bees |
| ambulatory | able to walk |
| ameliorate | improve; Latin meliōrāre, meliōrāt-, from melior, better. |
| amenable | obedient; compliant; readily managed; responsive; willing to be led; answerable or accountable legally; responsible; able to be tested by; Ex. amenable to sensible suggestions; Ex. He is very amenable; Ex. amenable to the usual tests |
| amend | correct; change ; generally for the better |
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