| Term | Definition |
|---|
| arabesque | n. 1. a species of mural or surface decoration in color or low relief, composed in flowing lines of branches, leaves, and scroll-work fancily intertwined; 2. the figure described by the leading lines of the composition, in a drawing or painting; 3. a pose in which the dancer stands on one foot with one arm extended in front and the other arm and leg extended behind. |
| bulwark | n. 1a. a solid wall-like structure raised for defense; a rampart, a fortification; 1b. a breakwater, sea-wall, embankment confining the bed of a river; 2. a powerful defense or safeguard (sometimes applied to persons); 3. the raised woodwork running along the sides of a vessel above the level of the deck |
| buxom | adj. 1. vigorously and healthily plump; specifically: full-bosomed; 2. archaic: full of gaiety; blithe; 3. obsolete: obedient, tractable |
| cabal | n. 1. the artifices and intrigues of a group of persons secretly united in a plot (as to overturn the government0; 2. a group engaged in such artifices and intrigues |
| carven | adj. wrought or ornamented by carving |
| circumvent | v. 1a. to hem in; 1b. to make a circuit around; 2. to manage to get around (a thing, requirement, etc.) especially by ingenuity or stratagem |
| cowl | n. 1. a garment with a hood, worn by monks or, later, laymen or women; 2. covering, commonly shaped like a hood, placed on the top of a chimney or ventilating shaft to assist ventilation. |
| daguerreotype | n. an early photograph produced on a silver or a silver-covered copper plate; also : the process of producing such photographs (named for Daguerre of Paris who first published such photos in 1839) |
| denouement | n. 1. the final unraveling of the main dramatic complication in a plot; 2. the outcome of a complex sequence of events |
| didactic | adj. 1. having the character or manner of a teacher or instructor; 2. characterized by giving instruction; 3. having the giving of instruction as its aim or object; instructive. |
| digress | v. to deviate or wander away from the main topic or purpose in speaking or writing; depart from the principal line of argument, plot, study, etc. |
| divulge | v. 1. to make public; 2. to make known as a confidence or secret |
| doddering | adj. feeble, senile (from the verb dodder: 1. to tremble or shake from weakness or age; 2. to progress unsteadily) |
| etherize | v. 1. medical: to put under the influence of ether; to anesthetize; 2. to render groggy or numb, as if by an anesthetic |
| fatuity | n. 1a. something foolish or stupid; 1b. stupidity, foolishness; 2. archaic; imbecility, dementia |
| felicity | n. 1. the quality or state of being happy; intense happiness; 2. that which causes or promotes happiness; a source of happiness, a blessing; 3. prosperity; good fortune, success; 4. an apt expression |
| fidelity | n. 1. the quality of being faithful; 2. faithfulness, loyalty, unswerving allegiance to a person, party, bond; 3. strict conformity to truth or fact |
| fortuitous | adj. 1. occurring by chance; 2a. fortunate, lucky; 2b. coming or happening by a lucky chance |
| grail | n. 1. the object of a prolonged endeavor; 2. the cup or plate that, according to medieval legend, was used by Jesus at the Last Supper and that later became the object of many chivalrous quests. |
| grist | n. 1a. a grain or batch of grain for grinding; 1b. the product obtained from the grist of grain including the flour or meal and the grain offal; 2. a required or usual amount; 3. a matter of interest or value forming the basis of a story or analysis; 4. something turned to advantage or use, esp. used in the phrase grist for one's mill. |
| imperious | adj. 1a. befitting or characteristic of one of eminent rank or attainments; commanding, dominant; 1b. marked by arrogant assurance; domineering; 2. intensely compelling; urgent |
| impertinence | n. 1. the fact or character of not pertaining to the matter in hand; irrelevance; 2. the fact or character of being unsuitable, out of place, improper, or irrational; action or conduct of this character; inappropriateness, incongruity; triviality, trifling, folly, absurdity; 3. interference with what lies beyond one's province; unmannerly and offensive intrusion or taking of liberty; presumptuous or forward rudeness of behavior or speech, esp. to a superior; insolence |
| indiscretion | n. 1. imprudence; lack of discretion; 2. an indiscreet or imprudent act, remark, etc.; 3. a petty misdeed |
| insidious | adj. 1. intended to entrap or beguile; 2. stealthily treacherous or deceitful; 3. operating or proceeding in an inconspicuous or seemingly harmless way but actually with grave effect |
| macabre | adj. 1. having death as a subject; comprising or including a personalized representation of death; 2. dwelling on the gruesome; 3. tending to produce horror in a beholder |
| meticulous | adj. 1. taking or showing extreme care about minute details; precise; thorough; 2. finicky, fussy |
| misconstrue | v. to misunderstand the meaning of; take in a wrong sense; misinterpret |
| mote | n. a particle of dust, esp. one of the innumerable specks seen floating in a beam of light |
| niche | n. 1a. a recess in a wall especially for a statue; 1b. something that resembles a niche; 2a. a place, employment, status, or activity for which a person or thing is best suited; 2b. a habitat supplying the factors necessary for the existence of an organism or species; 2c. a specialized market |
| obtuse | adj. 1a. not sharp or pointed, blunt; 1b. of a plane or angle: greater than 90 degrees and less than 180 degrees; 2a. lacking sharpness or quickness of sensibility or intellect; 2b. difficult to comprehend; not clear or precise in thought or expression |
| patrimony | n. 1a. an estate inherited from one's father or ancestor; 1b. anything derived from one's father or ancestors; heritage; 2. an estate or endowment belong by ancient right to a church |
| pugilistic | adj. 1. of or pertaining to pugilism, the skill, practice, and sport of fighting with the fists; of or relating to boxing |
| pyre | n. a combustible heap for burning a dead body as a funeral rite; broadly : a pile of material to be burned |
| querulous | adj. 1. habitually complaining; 2. fretful, whining |
| retinue | n. the retainers or attendants accompanying a high-ranking person |
| servile | adj. 1a. of, belonging to, or proper to a salve or slaves; 1b. of arts, employments, labor: befitting a slave; unworthy of a free man. |
| sibilant | adj. having, containing, or producing the sound or a sound resembling that of an s or the sh in sash |
| somnolent | adj. 1. inclined to induce sleep; 2. inclined to or heavy with sleep; drowsy, sleepy |
| spasmodically | adv. 1. with spasms; 2. in spurts and fits; 3. jerkily |
| suffuse | v. to overspread as with fluid, light, color |
| syntax | n. 1. the study of the rules for the formation of grammatical sentences in a language; 2. the study of the patterns of formation of sentences and phrases from words; 3. a system or orderly arrangement |
| tedious | adj. tiresome because of length or dullness |
| temperament | n. 1a. constitution or habit of mind, esp. as depending upon or connected with physical constitution; 1b. natural disposition; 2a. a moderate and proportionable mixture of elements in a compound; 2b. the condition in which elements are combined in their due proportions. |
| undulating | adj. 1. moving after the manner of waves; rising and falling (or like) waves; 2. forming a series of wave-like curves |
| vignette | n. 1. decorative design placed at the beginning or end of a book or chapter of a book or along the border of a page; 2. an unbordered picture, often a portrait, that shades off into the surrounding color at the edges; 3. a short, usually descriptive literary sketch |
| vitality | n. 1a. the peculiarity distinguishing the living from the nonliving; 1bl. capacity to live and develop; also : physical or mental vigor especially when highly developed; 2a. power of enduring; 2b. lively and animated character |
| wreathed | adj. 1. twisted or coiled; 2. wound or turned about or over something; formed or adjusted as a wreath or encircling coil |
| ague | n. 1. a fever (as malaria) marked by paroxysms of chills, fever, and sweating that recur at regular intervals; 2. a fit of shivering |
| arbitrary | adj. 1. determined by chance, whim, or impulse, and not by necessity, reason or principle; 2. based on or subject to individual judgment or preference; 3. established by a court or judge rather than by a specific law or statute; 4. not limited by law; despotic. |
| bequeath | v. 1. To give or leave by will; to give by testament; -- said especially of personal property; 2. To hand down; to transmit. |
| blight | n. 1.a plant disease, esp. one caused by fungi; 2. a thing that spoils or damages something; 3. ugly or neglected urban landscape |
| chattel | n. 1. an item of tangible moveable or immoveable property except real estate, freehold, and things (like buildings) connected with real property; 2. slave, bondsman |
| compulsion | n.1a. an act of compelling: the state of being compelled [to drive or urge forcefully or irresistibly]; 1b. a force that compels; 2. an irresistible impulse to perform an irrational act |
| deference | n. 1. submission or courteous yielding to the opinion, wishes, or judgment of another; 2. courteous respect |
| descant | v. 1. to sing melodiously; 2. to comment, discourse, or write at length (on a topic). |
| evince | v. to indicate; display (a quality, feeling, etc.) |
| excoriate | v. 1. to denounce or berate severely; to flay verbally; 2. to pull off the skin or hide |
| inculcate | v. to teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions; implant |
| incur | v. to become liable or subject to as a result of one's actions; to bring upon oneself |
| loquacious | adj. 1. full of excessive talk; wordy; 2. given to fluent or excessive talk; garrulous |
| obdurate | adj. 1. hardened in wrongdoing or sin; stubbornly impenitent; resistant or insensible to moral influence; 2. physically hardened or hard. |
| odiousness | n. the quality of being offensive |
| odium | n. 1. strong dislike, aversion, or contempt: 2. state of disgrace resulting from hateful or detestable conduct. |
| pernicious | adj. 1a. tending to cause death or serious injury; deadly; 1b. causing great harm; destructive; 2. evil, wicked. |
| pious | adj. 1. having or exhibiting religious reverence; earnestly compliant in the observance of religion; devout; 2. marked by conspicuous devoutness: a pious and holy observation; 3. marked by false devoutness; solemnly hypocritical: a pious fraud; 4. professing or exhibiting a strict, traditional sense of virtue and morality; high-minded. |
| sophistry | n. plausible but fallacious argument |
| staunch | adj. firm and steadfast; true |
| unabated | adj. sustaining an original intensity or maintaining full force with no decrease. |
| vestige | n. a trace, mark, or sign of something that once existed but has passed away or disappeared |
| vindication | n. The defense, such as evidence or argument, that serves to justify a claim or deed. |
| amnesty | n. an act of an authority (as a government) by which pardon is granted to a large group of individuals |
| apex | n. 1a. the tip of anything; 1b. the top or peak of a mountain, pyramid or spire; 2. the pointed end of anything pyramidal or spiral |
| arduous | adj. 1a. hard to accomplish or achieve; 1b. marked by great labor or effort; 2. hard to climb; steep |
| ascertain | v. 1. to make subjectively certain; 2. to inform, appraise, tell |
| azure | n. 1. a bright blue pigment or dye; 2. the clear blue color of the unclouded sky |
| bayou | n. 1. the marshy offshoots and overflowing of lakes and rivers |
| bombastic | adj. pompous; speaking with inflated language or high-sounding language on a trivial or commonplace subject |
| buoyant | adj. 1. tending to float in a fluid; 2. capable of keeping a body afloat, as a liquid; 3. not easily depressed; cheerful; 4. cheerful or invigorating |
| cessation | n. a temporary or permanent stoppage or discontinuance of an action |
| cogent | adj. 1. having power to compel or constrain; 2a. appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing; 2b. pertinent, relevant |
| contrite | adj. 1. caused by or showing sincere remorse; 2. filled with a sense of guilt and the desire for atonement; penitent |
| decorous | adj. characterized by dignified propriety in conduct, manners, appearance, character, etc. |
| elegiac | adj. 1. mournful, melancholy, plaintive; 2. of the nature of an elegy (elegy [n.] = a song of lamentation, especially a funeral song or lament for the dead) |
| encumbrance | n. 1. a burden, impediment, useless addition; in strong sense: an annoyance, trouble; 2. a burden on property |
| ennui | n. listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from boredom |
| epitome | n. 1. a brief statement of the chief points in a literary work; an abridgment, abstract; 2. something that forms a condensed record or representation 'in miniature' |
| excursion | n. 1a. a going out or forth; 1b. usually a brief pleasure trip; 1c.. a trip at special reduced rates; 2. deviation from a direct, definite, or proper course; 3. a movement outward and back or from a mean position or axis. |
| exogenous | adj. 1. growing by additions on the outside; 2. formed or occurring outside some structure or mass of rock |
| exoteric | adj. 1a. suitable to be imparted to the public; 1b. belonging to the outer or less initiate circle; 2. pertaining to the outside; external, of external origin. |
| extenuation | n. 1. the action or process of making or becoming thin; a shrunken condition; leanness, emaciation; 2. the action of representing (something) as slight and trifling |
| factitious | adj. 1. made by or resulting from art; artificial; 2. arising from custom, habit, or design; not natural or spontaneous; artificial, conventional |
| firmament | n. 1a. the vault or arch of the sky; 1b. heaven, as a place where God dwells |
| grotesque | adj. 1. (in the sense of design or forms): characterized by distortion or unnatural combinations; fantastically extravagant; bizarre, quaint; 2. (of landscape): romantic, picturesquely irregular; 3. ludicrous from incongruity; fantastically absurd |
| isthmus | n. 1. a narrow strip of land, bordered on both sides by water, connecting two larger bodies of land; 2. a connecting, usually narrow, part, organ, or passage, esp. when joining structure of cavities larger than itself |
| lucid | adj. 1. suffused with light; 2. having full use of one's faculties; 3. clear to the understanding |
| myriad | adj. 1. countless numbers of people or things; legions, hosts, hordes of the persons or things specified |
| obtrude | v. 1. to proffer forcibly, unduly, or without invitation; to press, impose, or force upon (a person); to introduce forcibly into; 2. to become noticeable in an unwelcome or intrusive way; to intrude; to impose oneself; to project out from, protrude; 3. to impose oneself; to push oneself in an unwelcome manner. |
| oracle | n. 1. the instrument, agency, or medium (usually a priest or priestess) through which the gods were supposed to speak or prophesy; the mouthpiece of the gods; 2. a person or thing who expounds or interprets the will of God or a god; 3. a person of great wisdom or knowledge, whose opinions or decisions are generally accepted |
| paltry | adj. 1. of a thing: petty, trivial, insignificant; worthless; rubbishy; contemptible; of an amount: very small or meager; 2. of a person: despicable, base; weak, unimportant, not worthy of consideration |
| panoply | n. 1. a magnificent or impressive array; 2. something forming a protective covering |
| pecuniary | adj. 1. consisting of or measured in money; of or relating to money |
| perpetual | adj. 1. lasting or destined to last forever, eternal; never ending or ceasing; 2. for the duration of a person's lifetime; (of a position, office, etc.) held or occupied until death; appointed for life; permanent |
| posthumously | adv. after death |
| precept | n. 1. a general command or injunction; 2. a rule for action or conduct, especially a rule for moral conduct; a maxim; 3. a divine command |
| prosody | n. 1. the science or study of poetic meters and versification; 2. a particular or distinctive system of metrics and versification (as in "Milton's prosody"). |
| psalm | n. 1. any of the sacred songs contained in the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament an Hebrew Scriptures; a version or paraphrase of any of these; 2. a sacred song that is or may be sung in religious worship; 3. any song or poem of a sacred or serious nature |
| requiem | n. 1. a special mass said or sung for the repose of the souls of the dead |
| rudiment | n. 1. usually noun plural: rudiments; 1a. the elements or first principles of a subject; 1b. a mere beginning, the first slight appearance or undeveloped or imperfect form of something; 2. biology: an organ or part incompletely developed in size or structure, as one in the embryonic stage, or arrested in growth, or one with no functional activity |
| scansion | n. the metrical analysis of verse (in which ͝ indicates a short or unaccented syllable and ̷ indicates a long or accented syllable) |
| sojourner | n. a temporary resident |
| supernumerary | adj. 1a. beyond or in excess of the usual, proper, regular, stated or prescribed number or quantity; additional, extra, left over; 1b. not enumerated among the regular components of a group and especially a military organization; 2. beyond the number needed or desired; superfluous, unnecessary; 3. more numerous |
| swath | n. 1. track, trace; the space covered by a sweep of the mower's scythe; the width of grass or corn so cut |
| transpire | v. 1. to pass in the form of a vapor from a living body; 2. to be revealed; to come to light; to become known or apparent |
| volubility | n. ready or rapid speech |
| waive | v. 1.; to give up or forsake; 2a. to relinquish voluntarily (as a legal right); 2b.to refrain from pressing or enforcing (as a claim or rule); 3. to put off from immediate consideration; postpone |
| Analogy | n: likeness in some respects between things otherwise different; similarity; comparison |
| Arbitrary | adj: proceeding from a whim or fancy; capricious; despotic |
| Arbitrate | v: decide a dispute, acting as arbiter (judge); submit a dispute to an arbiter. |
| Axiomatic | adj: self-evident; universally accepted as true |
| Bias | n: opinion formed before there are grounds for it; prejudice; predilection; partiality |
| Bigoted | adj: intolerant; narrow-minded |
| Cogitate | v: think over; consider with care; ponder |
| Criterion | n: standard; rule or test for judging |
| Crux | n: most important point; essential part |
| Deduce | v: derive by reasoning; infer |
| Dilemma | n: situation requiring a choice between two equally bad alternatives; predicament |
| Dogmatic | adj: asserting opinions as if they were facts; opinionated; asserted without proof |
| Eclectic | adj: choosing (ideas, methods, etc.) from various sources |
| Fallacious | adj: based on a fallacy (erroneous idea); misleading deceptive |
| Fallible | adj: liable to be mistaken |
| Heterodox | adj: rejecting regularly accepted beliefs or doctrines; heretical |
| Hypothetical | adj: supposed; having the characteristics of a hypothesis, a supposition made as a basis for reasoning or research. (If supported by considerable evidence, a hypothesis becomes a theory, and eventually, if no exceptions are found, a law.) |
| Illusion | n: misleading appearance; false impression; misconception |
| Indubitable | adj: certain; incontrovertible; indisputable |
| Orthodox | adj: generally accepted, especially in religion; conventional; approved |
| Paradoxical | adj: having the characteristics of a paradox. |
| Plausible | adj: superficially true or reasonable; apparently trustworthy |
| Preposterous | adj: senseless; absurd; irrational |
| Rational | adj: able to think clearly; intelligent; sensible |
| Rational | based on reason |
| Rationalize | v: devise excuses for one's actions, desires, failures, etc. |
| Sophistry | n: clever but deceptive reasoning |
| Specious | adj: apparently reasonable, but not really so |
| Speculate | v: reflect; meditate; conjecture |
| Speculate | buy or sell with the hope of profiting by price fluctuations |
| Tenable | adj: capable of being maintained or defended. |
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