| Term | Definition |
|---|
| abate | (verb) to lessen in intensity or degree |
| accolade | (noun) an expression of praise |
| adulation | (noun) excessive praise; intense adoration |
| aesthetic | (adj) dealing with, appreciative of, or responsive to art or the beautiful |
| ameliorate | (verb) to make better or more tolerable |
| ascetic | (noun) one who practices rigid self-denial, esp. as an act of religious devotion |
| avarice | (noun) greed, esp. for wealth |
| axiom | (noun) a universally recognized principle |
| burgeon | (verb) to grow rapidly or flourish |
| bucolic | (adj) rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants |
| cacophony | (noun) harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance |
| canon | (noun) an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature |
| castigation | (noun) severe criticism or punishment |
| catalyst | (noun) a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction without itself changing; a person or thing that causes change |
| caustic | (adj) burning or stinging; causing corrosion |
| chary | (adj) wary; cautious; sparing |
| cogent | (adj) appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing |
| complaisance | (noun) the willingness to comply with the wishes of others |
| contentious | (adj) argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement |
| contrite | (adj) regretful; penitent; seeking forgiveness |
| culpable | (adj) deserving blame |
| dearth | (noun) smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; a lack |
| demur | (verb) to question or oppose |
| didactic | (adj) intended to teach or instruct |
| discretion | (noun) cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible decisions |
| disinterested | (adj) free of bias or self-interest; impartial |
| dogmatic | (adj) expressing a rigid opinion based on unproved or improvable principles |
| ebullience | (noun) the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings |
| eclectic | (adj) composed of elements drawn from various sources |
| elegy | (noun) a mournful poem, esp. one of lamenting the dead |
| emollient | (adj) soothing, esp. to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying; an agent that softens or smoothes the skin |
| empirical | (adj) based on observation or experiment |
| enigmatic | (adj) mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand |
| ephemeral | (adj) brief; fleeting |
| esoteric | (adj) intended for or understood by a small, specific group |
| eulogy | (noun) a speech honoring the dead |
| exonerate | (verb) to remove blame |
| facetious | (adj) playful; humorous |
| fallacy | (noun) an invalid or incorrect notion; a mistaken belief |
| furtive | (adj) marked by stealth; covert; surreptitious |
| gregarious | (adj) sociable; outgoing; enjoying the company of other people |
| harangue | (verb/noun) to deliver a pompous speech or tirade; a long, pompous speech |
| heretical | (adj) violating accepted dogma or convention |
| hyperbole | (noun) an exaggerated statement, often used as a figure of speech |
| impecunious | (adj) lacking funds; without money |
| incipient | (adj) beginning to come into being or to become apparent |
| inert | (adj) unmoving; lethargic; sluggish |
| innocuous | (adj) harmless; causing no damage |
| intransigent | (adj) refusing to compromise |
| inveigle | (verb) to obtain by deception or flattery |
| morose | (adj) sad; sullen; melancholy |
| odious | (adj) evoking intense aversion or dislike |
| opaque | (adj) impenetrable by light; not reflecting light |
| oscillation | (noun) the act or state of swinging back and forth with a steady, uninterrupted rhythm |
| penurious | (adj) penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous |
| pernicious | (adj) extremely harmful; potentially causing death |
| peruse | (verb) to examine with great care |
| pious | (adj) extremely reverent or devout; showing strong religious devotion |
| precursor | (noun) one that precedes and indicates or announces another |
| preen | (verb) to dress up; to primp; to groom oneself with elaborate care |
| prodigious | (adj) abundant in size, force, or extent; extraordinary |
| prolific | (adj) producing large volumes or amounts; productive |
| putrefy | (verb) to rot; to decay and give off a foul odor |
| quaff | (verb) to drink deeply |
| quiescence | (noun) stillness; motionlessness; quality of being at rest |
| redoubtable | (adj) awe-inspiring; worthy of honor |
| sanction | (noun/verb) authoritative permission or approval; a penalty intended to enforce compliance; to give permission or authority to |
| satire | (noun) a literary work that ridicules or criticizes a human vice through humor or derision |
| squalid | (adj) sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect |
| stoic | (adj) indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; steadfast |
| supplant | (verb) to take the place of; supersede |
| torpid | (adj) lethargic, sluggish; dormant |
| ubiquitous | (adj) existing everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered; widespread |
| urbane | (adj) sophisticated; refined; elegant |
| vilify | (verb) to defame; to characterize harshly |
| viscous | (adj) thick; sticky |
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