| Term | Definition |
|---|
| blunder | error; stupid mistake |
| n blurt | utter impulsively from nervousness or excitement |
| n bluster | blow in heavy gusts; threaten emptily; bully; speak in a noisy or bullying manner; CF. breeze, gust, gale |
| s bully | one who is habitually cruel to weaker people; V. |
| bode | foreshadow; portend |
| bogus | counterfeit; not authentic; intentionally false; Ex. bogus interview |
| n bohemian | unconventional (in an artistic way) |
| boisterous | violent; rough; noisy |
| n bolster | support; reinforce |
| n bolt | door bar; fastening pin or screw; length of fabric; large roll of cloth; V: dash or dart off; fasten (a door); gobble down |
| s dart | move or throw suddenly and quickly |
| s gobble | eat very quickly |
| n bombardment | attack (as with missiles or bombs); V. bombard |
| n bombastic | pompous; using inflated language |
| s bombast | grandiloquent, pompous speech |
| n boon | blessing; benefit; something very helpful |
| n boorish | rude; insensitive; churlish |
| s boor | rude, insensitive person |
| n bouillon | clear beef (or meat) soup |
| n bountiful | generous; graciously generous; showing bounty |
| s gracious | kind in a generous way (to someone less important) |
| bourgeois | middle class; selfishly materialistic; too interested in material possessions |
| bovine | cowlike; placid and dull; slow-thinking; calm |
| n bowdlerize | expurgate; CF. Thomas Bowdler |
| n brackish | somewhat saline |
| n braggadocio | boasting |
| s brag | boast |
| n braggart | boaster; bragger |
| n brandish | wave around (a weapon); flourish |
| n bravado | swagger; assumed air of defiance; false show of bravery |
| s swagger | walk or behave with an over-confident manner |
| n brawn | human muscle; muscular strength; sturdiness |
| s brawny | muscular; having well-developed muscles |
| s sturdy | strong and firm (in the body) |
| n brazen | insolent; without shame; bold; Ex. brazen lie; V: face with bold self-assurance or with unshamed confidence |
| s brawl | noisy quarrel |
| n breach | breaking of contract or duty; fissure or gap; opening; V. |
| breadth | width; extent |
| brevity | conciseness; shortness of duration |
| n brindled | tawny=brown or grayish with streaks or spots (of animals) |
| s tawny | brownish yellow |
| n bristling | rising like bristles; showing irritation; anger |
| s bristle | short stiff hair; V: (hair or fur) stand up stiffly |
| n brittle | hard but easily broken; difficult; unstable; Ex. brittle situation |
| n broach | introduce as a subject; moot=o bring up as a subject for discussion or debate; open up |
| n brocade | rich, figured(patterned) fabric |
| brochure | pamphlet |
| n brooch | ornamental clasp; pin |
| s clasp | hold firmly within arms |
| n brook | tolerate; endure; Ex. brook no interference; N: small stream |
| n browbeat | bully; intimidate |
| n browse | graze; feed on growing grass; skim or glance at casually |
| s graze | (of an animal) feed on growing grass; cause (an animal) to feed on grass; scrape (esp. the skin) or touch lightly in passing; brush; Ex. We can't graze the cattle till summer; N: surface wound |
| s skim | read or glance through quickly; touch lightly in passing; brush; remove from the surface of a liquid |
| n brunt | main impact or shock (of an attack or blow); Ex. brunt of the argument |
| n brusque | blunt; abrupt; curt; not wanting to waste time being nice |
| n buccaneer | pirate; corsair |
| n bucolic | rustic; pastoral |
| n buffet | strike forcefully; slap; batter; knock out; N: table with food set out for people to server themselves; meal at which people help themselves to food that's been set |
| s slap | hit quickly with the flat part of the hand; N. CF. smack |
| n buffoonery | clowning |
| s buffoon | stupid person; clown |
| s clown | act stupidly; play the fool; N. |
| n bugaboo | bugbear; object of baseless terror |
| n bullion | gold and silver in the form of bars |
| n bulwark | strong wall built for defense; earthwork or other strong defense; person who defends |
| n bungle | mismanage; blunder; botch; blow; spoil by clumsy behavior |
| s botch | mismanage; blow |
| buoyant | able to float; cheerful and optimistic; N. buoyancy; Ex. buoyancy of wood/water/American market |
| bureaucracy | overregulated administrative system marked by red tape; ADJ. bureaucratic; rigmarole |
| n burgeon | grow rapidly; grow forth; send out buds; Ex. burgeoning computer industry; CF. bludgeon |
| n burlesque | give an imitation that ridicules; imitate mockingly |
| n burnish | make shiny by rubbing; polish |
| n buttress | support; prop up; N. stationary structure to support wall; Ex. flying buttress |
| s prop | support placed under or against something; V. |
| n buxom | full-bosomed; plump; jolly |
| s plump | pleasantly fat; nicely rounded |
| n cabal | small group of persons secretly united to promote their own interests |
| cache | hiding place; V. |
| cacophonous | discordant; inharmonious; N. cacophony: unpleasant mixture of loud sounds |
| cadaver | corpse; dead human body |
| cadaverous | like a corpse; pale |
| n cadence | rhythmic rise and fall (of words or sounds); beat; regular beat of sound; rhythm |
| n cajole | persuade by praise or false promise; coax; wheedle |
| s coax | persuade by flattery |
| calamity | disaster; misery |
| calculated | deliberately planned; likely |
| n caldron(cauldron) | large kettle |
| n caliber | ability; quality; diameter of the inside of a round cylinder; Ex. work of very high caliber |
| calligraphy | beautiful writing; excellent penmanship |
| n callous | hardened; unfeeling; without sympathy for the sufferings of others; unkind; inured;indurated; apathetic. OP-passionate; |
| s callus | area of thick hard skin |
| n callow | youthful; immature; inexperienced |
| n calorific | heat-producing; N. calorie |
| calumny | malicious misrepresentation; slander |
| n camaraderie | good-fellowship; team spirit CF. comrade; syn-bonhomie |
| n cameo | shell or jewel carved in relief= mild carving; star's special appearance in a minor role in a film |
| n canard | unfounded false rumor; exaggerated false report; bruit |
| n candor | frankness; open honesty; ADJ. candid |
| n canine | related to dogs; doglike |
| n canker | any ulcerous sore; ulcer; any evil; CF. cancer |
| s ulcer | sore place appearing on the skin inside or outside the body; Ex. stomach ulcer; ADJ. ulcerous; V. ulcerate |
| n canny | shrewd in money matters; thrifty; uncanny-mysterious-not an opposite |
| n cant | insincere speech or expression of piety; jargon of thieves; special words used by a particular group of people |
| cantankerous | ill-humored; irritable |
| n cantata | story set to music to be sung by a chorus (shorter than an oratorio) |
| n canter | slow gallop; V. CF. trot |
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