| labile | likely to change; unstable; Ex. emotionally labile; N. lability |
| laborious | demanding much work or care; tedious |
| labyrinth | maze |
| laceration | torn ragged wound; V. lacerate: tear ; wound |
| lachrymose | producing tears; tearful |
| lackadaisical | lacking interest or effort; lacking purpose or zest; lazy; halfhearted; languid |
| lackluster | lacking luster; dull |
| laconic | brief and to the point; using few words; terse |
| laggard | slow; sluggish; N: one who lags; straggler |
| lagoon | shallow body of water or lake near a sea; lake separated from a sea by sandbars or coral reefs |
| laity | laypersons; laymen; persons not connected with the clergy |
| lament | grieve; express sorrow; N. lamentation |
| lampoon | ridicule; N: written attack ridiculing or satirizing a person, group, or institution |
| lancet | small surgical tool for making incisions |
| languid | lacking energy or vitality; weary; sluggish; listless |
| languish | lose animation or strength |
| languor | lack of physical or mental energy; lassitude; depression |
| lank | long and thin; Ex. Lank, gaunt, Abraham Lincoln |
| lap | take in food or drink with one's tongue; splash gently; Ex. waves lapping the shore; N: front area from the waist to the knees of a seated person |
| larceny | theft; Ex. petit larceny |
| larder | pantry; place where food is kept |
| largess | generous gift |
| lascivious | lustful |
| lassitude | languor; weariness; listlessness |
| latent | present but not yet noticeable or active; dormant; hidden; N. latency; CF. potential |
| lateral | of or coming from the side |
| latitude | freedom from narrow limitations |
| laud | praise; N. ADJ. laudable: praiseworthy; ADJ. laudatory: expressing praise |
| lavish | liberal; wasteful; generous or wasteful in giving or using; abundant; profuse; great; Ex. decorated lavishly; V. give in abundance |
| lax | careless; negligent; not paying enough attention; Ex. lax service |
| leaven | add leaven to; cause to rise or grow lighter; enliven; N: agent, such as yeast, that causes dough to rise ; element that lightens or enlivens |
| lechery | gross lewdness; lustfulness; ADJ. lecherous; N. lecher: lecherous man |
| lectern | reading desk or stand for a public speaker |
| leery | suspicious; wary; cautious |
| leeway | room to move; margin; latitude; Ex. leeway for the deadline |
| legacy | gift made by a will; something handed down from an ancestor |
| legend | explanatory list of symbols on a map |
| legerdemain | sleight of hand; CF. light of hand |
| leniency | mildness; permissiveness; ADJ. lenient: not severe in judgment or punishment |
| leonine | like a lion |
| lethal | deadly |
| lethargic | drowsy; dull; N. lethargy: state of sluggishness and inactivity |
| levee | earthen or stone embankment to prevent flooding; CF. raise |
| levitate | rise and float in the air ; CF. light |
| levity | lack of seriousness or steadiness; frivolity; lightness of manner |
| levy | impose ; collect ; impose or collect ; Ex. levy a tax on tobacco |
| lewd | lustful |
| lexicographer | compiler of a dictionary; CF. lexicography: work of compiling a dictionary |
| lexicon | dictionary |
| liability | drawback; handicap; debts; obligation; responsibility; condition of being liable; ADJ. liable: likely; responsible |
| liaison | contact that keeps parties in communication; communication between groups; one that maintains communication; go-between; secret love affair; V. liaise: keep a connection |
| libel | defamatory written statement; act of writing something that smears a person"s character; V. ADJ. libelous |
| libertine | debauched person; dissolute or licentious person; roue; CF. free |
| libidinous | lustful |
| libido | psychic and emotional energy or urges behind human activity; sexual desire |
| libretto | text of an opera or oratorio; CF. book |
| licentious | amoral; lewd and lascivious; unrestrained |
| lien | legal claim or right on a property |
| ligneous | like wood |
| lilliputian | extremely small; CF. Lilliput in Gulliver"s Travels |
| limber | flexible; supple; pliable; V. |
| limbo | region near heaven or hell where certain souls are kept; prison ; Ex. Purgatory and Limbo |
| limn | draw; outline; describe; CF. line ? |
| limpid | crystal clear |
| lineage | descent; ancestry |
| lineaments | features especially of the face; distinctive shape or contour of the face; CF. line |
| linguistic | pertaining to language |
| listless | lacking in spirit or energy; languid |
| litany | supplicatory prayer; prayer in which the priest calls out and the people replies in the same words |
| lithe | flexible; supple; CF. limber |
| litigation | lawsuit; N. litigant: one party in a lawsuit; V. litigate |
| litotes | understatement for emphasis; Ex. ``not bad"" |
| livid | lead-colored; black and blue ; ashen; enraged; extremely angry |
| loath | reluctant; unwilling; disinclined; Ex. Romeo and Juliet were both loath for him to go. |
| loathe | detest; ADJ. loathsome: arousing loathing; offensive; Ex. loathsome smell |
| lode | metal-bearing vein |
| lofty | very high |
| log | record of a voyage or flight; record of day-to-day activities; section of a trunk; V. |
| loiter | hang about/around; stand idly about; linger |
| loll | lounge about |
| longevity | long life; long duration |
| loom | appear or take shape ; Ex. The shadow of the gallows loomed threateningly. N: apparatus for making thread into cloth |
| lope | gallop slowly |
| loquacious | talkative; N. loquacity |
| lout | clumsy person; ADJ. loutish; CF. from countrysides ? |
| low | moo; make the sound of a cow |
| lucid | easily understood; clear; intelligible; N. lucidity |
| lucrative | profitable; producing wealth |
| lucre | money; profit; Ex. filthy lucre |
| ludicrous | laughable; ridiculous; trifling |
| lugubrious | mournful; sorrowful |
| lull | moment of calm; period of reduced activity; Ex. a lull in the rain; V: cause to become less active; cause to sleep or rest; Ex. lull the opponents into a false sense of security; CF. lullaby |
| lumber | move heavily or clumsily; Ex. The bear lumbered through the woods; N: timber |
| lumen | unit of light energy |
| luminary | celebrity ; dignitary; object that gives light |
| luminous | shining ; issuing light; Ex. luminous paint/road signs |
| lunar | pertaining to the moon |
| lurid | wild; sensational; graphic; gruesome; horrible; Ex. lurid details of the murder |
| lurk | stealthily lie in waiting; slink; exist unperceived |
| luscious | pleasing to taste or smell; delicious |
| luster | shine; gloss |
| lustrous | shining; brilliant; Ex. lustrous hair |
| luxuriant | abundant; growing healthily and in large amounts; excessively ornate; rich and splendid; fertile; Ex. luxuriant forests/prose; CF. luxurious, luxuriate |