| obstreperous | noisy, loud |
| contumacious | insubordinate, rebellious |
| mettlesome | courageous, high-spirited. Don't confuse with "meddlesome," meaning inclined to interfere. |
| cadge | to beg, to get by begging |
| pith | heart of the matter, basic trait. Also force, strength, or vigor |
| supine | lying on the back. Also slow to act, passive. |
| remonstrate | to protest, object |
| inveigh | to attack verbally, denounce, deprecate |
| precepts | rules establishing standards of conduct |
| impute | to attribute to a cause or source, ascribe |
| feckless | lacking purpose or vitality; ineffective; careless |
| decorum | propriety, properness. |
| penchant | strong inclination, a liking. |
| appropriate (verb) | take for one's own use, acquire, set aside. Don't confuse with "appropriate (adjective)," which means fitting or suitable. |
| truculence | aggressiveness, ferocity |
| garrulity | talkativeness. Adjective is garrulous--talkative |
| arabesque | a complex, ornate design. Also a dance position. |
| beatify | to bless, make happy, or ascribe a virtue to. Regard as saintly. Don't confuse with "beautify," which means to make beautiful. |
| forbearance | patience, willingness to wait. |
| veritable | unquestionable, true. |
| pragmatic | practical, favoring utility. |
| arrant | in every way, being completely such. |
| consequential | pompous, self important. Also having consequence, important. Also following as a result, or being an effect of some cause. |
| malinger | to fake illness or injury, in order to shirk a duty. |
| paucity | scarcity, a lacking of |
| striated | striped, grooved, or banded. Having stripes. |
| seminal | like a seed; constituting a source, originative. |
| attenuate | make thin. weaken, enervate. |
| precarious | uncertain, risky, dangerous. |
| enervate | weaken, deprive of strength, attenuate. |
| partisan | one-sided, committed to a party, biased or prejudiced. |
| equivocate | lie, mislead, conceal the truth. |
| assiduous | diligent, hard-working, sedulous. |
| anachronism | something out of place for its time |
| lassitude | weariness, tiredness |
| phlegmatic | calm, sluggish temperament; unemotional |
| sycophant | flatterer, parasite; a suck-up |
| perfunctory | superficial, listless, not thorough |
| impair | worsen, diminish in value |
| transient | temporary, fleeting |
| qualify | to limit |
| nascent | coming into existence, emerging |
| Quixotic | extravagantly chivalrous, romantically idealistic, impractical |
| reprobate | person hardened in sin; one devoid of decency |
| libertine | immoral person |
| tractable | easily influenced, obedient, docile |
| craven | cowardly |
| picaresque | involving clever rogues or adventurers. Don't confuse with "picturesque," which means picture-like, charming, or quaint. |
| sedulous | diligent, assiduous, devoted to a task |
| aver | affirm, assert, prove, justify |
| intrepid | fearless, brave, undaunted |
| impassive | without feeling, not affected by pain |
| salient | conspicuous, highly relevant, prominent |
| morose | gloomy, sullen |
| raffish | low, vulgar, base, tawdry |
| loquacious | talkative, garrulous |
| piquant | agreeably pungent, stimulating |
| demur | to hesitate, raise objections |
| equipoise | equal distribution of weight; equilibrium |
| abysmal | extreme; low, like an abyss |
| tawdry | cheap, gaudy, showy, tacky |
| dross | waste product, sludge; something worthless, common, or trivial |
| ardor | warm interest, passion, enthusiasm, zeal |
| insouciant | unconcerned, carefree |
| volubility | fluency, verbosity, easy use of spoken language |
| dulcet | melodious, harmonious |
| mellifluous | sweetly flowing; usually used to describe use of words (sweetly flowing words, as when the speech is characterized by high volubility. |
| desiccate | to dry up, dehydrate |
| harrow | to distress, create stress or torment |
| pellucid | transparent, easy to understand |
| pariah | an outcast, a rejected and despised person |
| taciturn | untalkative, silent |
| pique | resentment at being slighted |
| turgid | excessively ornate; swollen or bloated |
| ]pillory | to punish, hold up to public scorn |
| adamant | hard and inflexible; unyielding |
| multifarious | varied, motley, greatly diversified |
| torpor | lethargy, sluggishness, dormancy |
| imprecation | an invocation of evil; a curse |
| audacious | daring; bold |
| hirsute | hairy, shaggy |
| tenacity | firmness, persistency, adhesiveness, tending to hang on |
| apostate | one who abandons long-held religious or political convictions |
| lachrymose | causing tears, tearful |
| welter | turmoil; a bewildering jumble |
| discomfit | to defeat, put down |
| laconic | brief, to the point, terse |
| venal | corruptible, bribable, unprincipled |
| ossify | to turn to bone; to settle rigidly into an idea or practice, become closed-minded |
| disingenuous | sophisticated, artful, trying to deceive, cunning |
| insensible | unconscious, unresponsive, unaffected |
| turbid | muddy, having the sediment stirred up |
| erudite | learned, scholarly |
| saturnine | gloomy, dark, sullen, morose |
| abeyance | suspended action |
| diaphanous | transparent, gauzy |
| epitome | representative, a summary or abstract, a typical example |
| squalid | foul, filthy |
| quiescent | at rest, dormant, torpid |
| recreancy | cowardice, a cowardly giving up |
| misanthrope | one who hates mankind |
| misogynist | one who hates women/females |
| castigate | to chastise, correct by punishing |
| apprehension | misgiving, dread. Also a stopping or arrest. Also an understandingprosaic--dull, tedious, commonplace |
| gainsay | deny |
| pungency | sharpness; stinging quality |
| approbation | approval |
| refractory | stubborn, unmanageable, intractable |
| contentious | quarrelsome, competitive, quick to fight, pugnacious |
| antipathy | aversion, dislike |
| hapless | unlucky, unfortunate |
| prevaricate | stray from or avoid the truth; equivocate |
| countenance | (n) mien, face (v) approve of |
| dogmatic | positive, certain, arbitrary, without room for discussion |
| strut | a supporting bar |
| felicitous | apt; suitably expressed, well chosen, apropos |
| apropos | appropriate to the situation; apt |
| implacable | incapable of being placated, unpleasable |
| raffish | disreputable; tawdry |
| guileless | without deceit, honest |
| resigned | unresisting, submissive |
| vituperate | berate, rail against, attack verbally |
| render | deliver, provide, represent |
| diffidence | shyness |
| sophistry | fallacious reasoning, faulty logic |
| fulminate | berate, vituperate, to thunder out, to explode, |
| dynamo | a generator, something that produces electric current; an energetic person |
| assay | an analysis, examination, test. To put to a test |
| hallow | to make holy; consecrate |
| disabuse | to undeceive, correct a false impression |
| boisterous | loud, noisy, rough, lacking restraint |
| inveigle | wheedle, led astray |
| sodden | soaked, saturated |
| perfidious | violating good faith, treacherous, dishonest |
| conundrum | a riddle, dilemma, enigma |
| denouement | an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot |
| stolid | showing no emotion; impassive |
| dissemble | present false appearance; deceive |
| desuetude | cessation of use; disuse |
| indefatigability | not easily exhaustible; tirelessness |
| dilatory | causing delay, procrastinating |
| garner | to gather and save; to store up |
| intractable | unruly, refractory, stubborn |
| delineate | to portray, depict, sketch out |
| ascetic | practicing self-denial, austere, stark |
| fervid | intense, zealous |
| daunt | intimidate, make fearful |
| burgeon | grow forth, send out buds |
| anomalous | unexpected, not normal, odd |
| nice | precise, sensitive to subtleness |
| prodigal | wasteful, reckless with money |
| lugubrious | mournful, excessively sad |
| baleful | harmful, ominous, causing evil |
| credulous | gullible, too willing to believe |
| incredulous | skeptical, unwilling to believe (NOT "incredible," as many think) |
| blithe | cheerful, casual, carefree |
| verisimilitude | appearing true or real |
| provident | frugal; looking to the future |
| edacious | voracious, devouring |
| expostulate | argue earnestly to dissuade, correct, or protest |
| auspice | protection or support, patronage |
| auspicious | favorable, successful, prosperous |
| punctilious | precise, paying attention to trivialities, especially in regard to etiquette |
| salutary | remedial, wholesome, causing improvement |
| imbroglio | difficult or embarrassing situation |
| wend | to go, proceed |
| nostrum | a quack remedy, an untested cure |
| personable | pleasing in appearance, attractive |
| salacious | obscene |
| exscind | to cut out, cut away |
| sublime | lofty, noble |
| quail | lose courage, turn frightened |
| urbane | elegant, refined in manners |
| tyro | novice, amateur |
| boorish | crude, offensive, rude |
| upbraid | reprove, reproach |
| effete | infertile, worn out, weak |
| obdurate | stubborn, inflexible, adamant |
| mince | pronounce or speak affectedly, euphemize, speak too carefully. Also to take tiny steps, tiptoe |
| inimitable | defying imitation, unmatchable |
| inveterate | deep rooted, ingrained, habitual |
| umbrage | offense, resentment |
| extirpate | to destroy, exterminate, cut out, exscind |
| forswear | renounce, disallow, repudiate |
| ignoble | dishonorable, common, undignified |
| ostensible | seeming, appearing as such, professed |
| illusory | deceptive; an illusion |
| overweening | presumptuously arrogant, overbearing, immoderate, being a jerk |
| wag | to be incessantly active, to waddle; also a mischievous person |
| lucubrate | write in scholarly fashion |
| impetuous | impulsive, forceful, with energy |
| bellicose | belligerent, pugnacious, warlike |
| cabal | a scheme or plot, a group of plotters |
| irresolute | unresolved, indecisive |
| complaisance | tending to comply, obliging, willingness to please |
| apprise | give notice to, inform |
| pusillanimous | cowardly, craven |
| polemical | controversial, argued |
| luculent | easily understood, lucid, clear |
| poignant | physically painful, distressing, pertinent, touching, stimulating, emotional |
| engender | cause, produce, give rise to |
| dissemble | to hide, conceal, disguise |
| equanimity | calmness of temperament |
| ingenuous | naive, young, artless, frank, honest, sincere. Don't confuse with "ingenious"--very clever |
| epicure | food lover, a connoisseur of food |
| salient | prominent, protruding, conspicuous, highly relevant |
| inchoate | not yet fully formed, rudimentary, elementary |
| pugnacious | contentious, quarrelsome, contumacious, given to fighting, belligerent |
| peremptory | urgent, imperative, unchallengeable, ending debate |
| exigency | emergency, an urgent situation |
| ameliorate | improve, make better |
| august | majestic, venerable. Don't confuse with the month, "August," which is always capitalized. |
| minatory | menacing, threatening |
| froward | intractable, not willing to yield or comply, stubborn (NOT "forward") |
| fetter | to shackle, put in chains |
| pundit | a learned scholar, an authority on a subject |
| venal | corruptible, open to bribery |
| belie | contradict, give a false impression |
| epitome | brief summary or abstract; representative example; a typical model |
| prosaic | everyday, mundane, commonplace, trite, pedestrian |
| hermetic | sealed by fusion |
| fervor | zeal, ardor, intense emotion |
| endemic | prevailing in a specific area |
| reticent | reserved, untalkative, silent, taciturn |
| rapacious | voracious, greedy, plundering |
| coeval | of the same period, coexisting |
| austere | forbiddingly stern, simple, unadorned, very plain |
| indolence | laziness |
| pristine | primitive, unspoiled, pure, as in earlier times, unadulterated |
| capricious | fickle, whimsical, given to change, unpredictable |
| edifying | enlightening |
| philistine | a smug ignorant person; one who lacks knowledge |
| maladroit | clumsy, bungling |
| detumescence | diminishing or lessening of swelling |
| stygian | gloomy, dark |
| calumniate | to slander, present false accusal |
| baneful | causing harm or ruin, pernicious, destructive |
| forestall | prevent by taking action in advance, preempt |
| occult | hidden, concealed, beyond comprehension |
| irascible | irritable, easily angered |
| facetious | humorous, funny, jocular |
| trenchant | forceful, effective, vigorous; extremely perceptive, incisive |
| stymie | to hinder, obstruct, or block |
| intransigence | unwillingness to compromise, stubbornness, intractability |
| mundane | worldly as opposed to spiritual; commonplace, everyday |
| mitigate | appease, lessen, propitiate |
| abstruse | difficult to comprehend; obscure |
| expatiate | to roam, wander freely |
| propitiate | appease, mitigate |
| slake | to assuage, to satisfy, allay |
| contentious | argumentative, pugnacious, combative, quarrelsome |
| inscrutable | incapable of being discovered or understood |
| elegy | a lament, a melancholy composition |
| derivative | unoriginal, obtained from another source |
| supercilious | disdainful; characterized by haughty scorn |
| sundry | various, miscellaneous, separate |
| mercurial | quick, changeable in character, fleeting |
| desultory | aimless, haphazard, digressing at random |
| sanctimony | self-righteousness, hypocritical, with false piety |
| indomitable | not easily discouraged or subdued |
| foment | to stir up, arouse, incite |
| splenetic | bad-tempered, irritable |
| flout | reject, mock, to go against (as in going against tradition or conventions) |
| obfuscate | to darken, make obscure, muddle |
| noisome | unwholesomely bad-smelling, putrid; (NOT "noisy") |
| incursion | a raid, a sudden attack |
| paean | a song of praise or triumph |
| turpitude | wickedness, shamefulness |
| detraction | slandering, verbal attack, aspersion |
| chastened | corrected, punished |
| brook | to tolerate, endure |
| ignominious | shameful, dishonorable, undignified, disgraceful |
| prolix | long and wordy |
| bane | cause of injury, poison, source of harm |
| abrogate | abolish or annul by authority; put down |
| conciliatory | reconciling, soothing, comforting, mollifying |
| insularity | narrow-mindedness, isolated |
| untoward | perverse, unruly, unseemly |
| perverted | twisted, corrupted, turned from normal course |
| odium | contempt, dislike, aversion |
| dissolution | disintegration, looseness in morals |
| sophomoric | self-assured though immature, affected, bombastic, overblown, lacking maturity |
| enormity | excessive wickedness; evilness. Don't confuse with "enormousness," which means great size. ENORMITY DOES NOT MEAN "BIGNESS" OR "GREAT SIZE" |
| obdurate | hardened and unrepentant; stubborn, inflexible |
| fatuous | complacently stupid |
| burnish | to polish, rub to a shine |
| tenuous | unsubstantial, flimsy, weak |
| repudiate | disown, disavow, reject as untrue |
| denigrate | blacken, belittle, sully, defame |
| maverick | rebel, nonconformist |
| effluvia | outflow in a stream of particles; a noxious odor or vapor |
| alacrity | cheerful promptness |
| salubrious | healthful |
| paradigm | a model, example, or pattern |
| apotheosis | deification, glorification to godliness |
| officious | meddlesome, pushy in one's services |
| cogent | convincing |
| spurious | false, counterfeit |
| panegyric | formal praise, eulogy |
| mollify | to soothe |
| peregrination | traveling about, wandering |
| acarpous | effete, no longer fertile, worn out |
| bedizen | to adorn, especially in a cheap, showy manner |
| alloy | to debase by mixing with something inferior |
| fecund | fertile |
| doggerel | trivial, poorly constructed verse |
| peripatetic | walking |
| mendicant | a beggar |
| propitiatory | conciliatory, appeasing, mitigating |
| pedantic | bookish, showing off learning |
| nadir | bottom, the lowest point |
| zenith | top, the highest point |
| broach | bring up, announce, begin to talk about |
| obtrusive | projecting, prominent, undesirably noticeable |
| ramify | to be divided or subdivided; to branch out |
| exculpate | to clear from a charge of guilt |
| ineluctable | certain, inevitable |
| gainsay | to deny, declare false, to oppose |
| episodic | loosely connected, not flowing logically |
| iconoclastic | attacking cherished beliefs |
| recidivism | relapse into antisocial or criminal behavior |
| profligate | wasteful, prodigal, licentious, extravagant |
| inherent | ingrained within one's nature; firmly established; a natural part of; definitionally so |
| torpid | sleeping, sluggish, lethargic, dormant |
| gregarious | sociable, outgoing |
| recondite | profound, abstruse, obscure |
| judicious | sound in judgment; wise |
| sinuous | winding, undulating, serpentine |
| undulate | to move in wavelike fashion, fluctuate |
| probity | uprightness, incorruptibility, principle |
| rubric | heading, title, or category |
| interdict | prohibit, forbid |
| harangue | a long, passionate speech |
| calumny | slander, aspersion |
| petrous | like a rock, hard, stony |
| petrify | to make hard, rocklike |
| conjoin | to join together |
| nexus | a connection, tie, or link |
| penury | extreme poverty |
| idyll | a carefree episode or experience; a short poem describing a picturesque episode |
| countenance | to favor or approve of |
| fulsome | disgusting, offensive due to excessiveness |
| chauvinist | a blindly devoted patriot |
| veritably | unquestionably, certainly |
| itinerate | to travel from place to place, to peregrinate |
| eulogy | formal praise; panegyric |
| malleable | yielding; easily shaped; moldable; adapting |
| bilge | bulge, the protuberance of a cask |
| lubricious | lewd, wanton, greasy, slippery |
| sagacious | having sound judgment; perceptive, wise; like a sage |
| impecunious | poor, penniless |
| recondite | not easily understood, abstruse, inscrutable |
| querulous | complaining, peevish, discontented |
| virago | a loud, domineering woman; a scold or nag |
| rarefy | to make thin, to make less dense, to purify or refine |
| expurgate | to remove obscenity, purify, censor |
| propinquity | nearness in time or place, affinity of nature |
| extenuate | reduce the strength of, lessen seriousness, partially excuse |
| deprecate | protest against, express disapproval of |
| excoriate | to flay, strip off the skin; to denounce sharply |
| obviate | to make unnecessary, get rid of |
| opprobrious | shameful, expressing disgrace |
| succor | assistance, relief in time of distress |
| censure | expression of blame or disapproval; a rebuke |
| proscribe | ostracize, banish, outlaw |
| platitude | a trite or banal statement; unoriginality |
| impetuous | having sudden energy, impulsive, thrusting ahead, forceful |
| obloquy | abusively detractive language, sharp criticism, vituperation |
| plaintive | mournful, melancholy, sorrowful |
| timorous | fearful, timid, afraid |
| debacle | a breakup, overthrow, sudden disaster |
| effrontery | boldness, impudence, arrogance |
| specious | illogical, of questionable truth or merit |
| redoubtable | formidable, causing fear |
| regale | to delight or entertain; to feast |
| volatile | changeable, inconstant, fickle, unstable, explosive |
| inured | accustomed to, adapted |
| blandishment | flattery, enticement |
| pernicious | deadly, very destructive |
| accretion | growth, increase by successive addition, building up |
| deposition | accretion, depositing, building up layer by layer |
| quotidian | daily; commonplace, pedestrian |
| pedestrian | commonplace, trite, unremarkable |
| sanguine | cheerful, confident, optimistic |
| consternation | sudden confusion or amazement |
| exsert | thrust out, push forth |
| petulant | impatient, irritable |
| scurvy | mean, contemptible |
| surfeit | satiate, feed to fullness or to excess |
| prevaricate | to equivocate, to stray from the truth |
| temerity | boldness, brashness, intrepidness |
| stint | to be thrifty, to set limits |
| obtain | to be established, accepted, or customary |
| propitious | auspicious, presenting favorable circumstances |
| ebullient | overflowing with enthusiasm; showing excitement |
| abjure | recant solemnly, repudiate, renounce |
| encomium | warm or glowing praise; eulogy, panegyric |
| arduous | steep, difficult ascent; laborious |
| tautology | a repetition, a redundancy |
| suppliant | asking humbly, beseeching |
| imperiousness | arrogance, commanding presence, overbearingness |
| evince | to show clearly, to indicate |
| stanch | to stop the flow of a fluid |
| vitiate | to pervert, debase, make ineffective |
| contemn | to scorn or despise |
| stentorian | extremely loud and powerful |
| poseur | someone taking on airs to impress others; a phony |
| grievous | causing grief or pain; serious, dire, grave |
| precipitate | (v) to hurl down, to fall headlong (adj) speeding, acting recklessly |
| sententious | short and pithy, full of maxims/proverbs |
| palliate | to make something appear less serious, to alleviate, to gloss over, put a positive spin on |
| floridness | ruddiness; heavily decorated; ornateness |
| asperity | roughness, harshness, ill temper, irritability (Don't confuse with "aspersion," which means slander |
| mendacity | dishonesty |
| involute | intricate, complex |
| importune | ask incessantly, to beg, to nag |
| precipitous | rash, foolhardy; dropping sharply, dangerous |
| aba | garment of camel or goat hair; camel or goat-hair fabric |
| abacinate | to blind by putting red-hot copper basin near the eyes |
| abactor | cattle thief |
| abaculus | small tile for mosaic |
| abaft | toward or at the stern of a ship; further aft |
| abampere | unit equivalent to 10 amperes |
| abapical | at the lowest point |
| abarticular | not connected with the joint |
| abasement | action of humbling or degrading |
| abasia | inability to walk due to lack of muscular coordination |
| abask | in genial warmth |
| abatis | rampart of felled trees and branches |
| abatjour | skylight or device to direct light into a room |
| abattoir | public slaughterhouse |
| abature | trail through wood beaten down by a stag |
| abb | yarn used for warp |
| abba | Syriac or Coptic bishop |
| abbatial | of, like or pertaining to abbots or an abbey |
| abbozzo | preliminary sketch |
| abditive | remote; secret; hidden |
| abdominous | having a paunch or big belly |
| abducent | turning away; bearing away from |
| abeam | in a line at right angles to the length of a vessel, on the beam |
| abear | to bear; to comport; to behave |
| abecedarian | of, like or pertaining to the order of the alphabet; rudimentary |
| abecedism | word created from the initials of words in a phrase |
| abele | white poplar tree |
| aberdevine | alternate name for the siskin |
| aberuncators | long tool for pruning tall branches |
| abessive | indicating absence or lack |
| abiectic | of, like or pertaining to fir trees or fir sap |
| abigail | a lady's maid |
| abigeus | cattle rustler |
| abiogenesis | spontaneous generation of living matter |
| abiotrophy | degeneration; loss of physical vitality or ability |
| abirritate | to alleviate irritation; to reduce sensitivity |
| abiturient | pupil leaving school for university |
| abject | humble; miserable; craven |
| ablactation | weaning of a child from its mother's milk |
| ablative | indicating direction from or time when |
| ablator | thermal protection on outside of spacecraft |
| ablaut | variation in root vowel of words to change meaning |
| ablegate | papal envoy or legate |
| ablepsia | blindness |
| ablow | in a blowing state |
| abluent | cleanser or cleansing product |
| ablutomania | mania for washing oneself |
| abnegate | to renounce or repudiate |
| abodement | an omen; a foretelling |
| aboideau | tide gate |
| abolla | Roman military cloak |
| abomasum | ruminant's fourth stomach |
| aboral | away from the mouth |
| abord | to accost; to approach |
| aborning | during birth; while being born |
| aborticide | killing of a fetus; abortion |
| abortuary | anti-abortion term for an abortion clinic |
| aboulia | loss of ability to make decisions |
| aboulomania | pathological indecisiveness |
| aboutsledge | largest blacksmith's hammer |
| abra | narrow mountain pass |
| abradant | a substance that abrades |
| abraid | to awaken or rouse |
| abraxas | gem engraved with mystical word and bearing human-animal figure |
| abreuvoir | joint or gap between two stones in masonry |
| abroach | in a condition to allow liquor to run out |
| abrosia | fasting |
| abscind | to pare, reduce, cut off or away |
| abscissa | horizontal distance from a fixed line to a point |
| abscission | cutting off; cutting away |
| absconce | lantern used in monasteries and night offices |
| abseil | to descend a rock face using a double rope |
| absentaneous | done in absence; pertaining to absence |
| absinthial | of, like or pertaining to wormwood; bitter |
| absinthism | disease resembling alcoholism |
| absit | leave to pass one night away from college |
| absolutism | doctrine of government by a single absolute ruler; autocracy |
| absolutive | indicating subject or object of intransitive verb |
| absolutory | forgiving or absolving |
| absonant | discordant; abhorrent |
| absorbefacient | causing or promoting absorption |
| absorptiometer | instrument for measuring solubility of gases in liquids |
| absquatulate | to decamp; to leave quickly; to flee |
| absterge | wipe clean; expunge; purge; purify |
| absurdism | doctrine that we live in an irrational universe |
| abterminal | going from the end inwards |
| abthane | monastic region of the old Irish church |
| abulia | lack of ability to make decisions; aboulia |
| abuna | Ethiopian patriarch |
| abusion | misuse; outrage; deception |
| abutment | masonry on a wall that supports an arch |
| abvolt | unit of electrical potential equal to one hundred millionth of a volt |
| aby | to make amends; atone; pay a penalty |
| abyssopelagic | of, like or pertaining to the depths of the ocean |
| academicism | doctrine that nothing can be known |
| acanaceous | bearing prickles or thistles; prickly |
| acantha | prickle |
| acanthous | spiny; prickly |
| acapnia | lack or deficiency of carbon dioxide |
| acapnotic | non-smoker; non-smoking |
| acariasis | irritating itching insect infestation |
| acaricide | killer of mites and ticks |
| acarine | of, like or pertaining to ticks or mites |
| acarology | study of mites |
| acarophobia | fear of itching or of insects causing itching |
| acarpous | sterile; not bearing fruit |
| acatalectic | having complete or full number of syllables in a poetic line |
| acatalepsy | the unknowableness of all things to a certainty |
| acatamathesia | inability to understand data presented to the senses |
| acates | provisions that have been purchased |
| acatour | provisioner; quartermaster |
| acaudate | tailless |
| acaulescent | having a very short stem |
| accelerometer | instrument for measuring acceleration or vibrations |
| accend | to kindle |
| accensor | acolyte |
| accentor | songbird |
| acceptilation | remission of debt or liability through fictitious repayment |
| accessit | prize for students in second place; honourable mention |
| acciaccatura | very short note played before a longer one |
| accidence | grammar book; science of inflections in grammar |
| accidentalism | theory that events do not have causes |
| accidie | sloth; physical torpor |
| accinge | to gird |
| accipiter | bandage worn around the nose |
| accipitral | like a bird of prey; rapacious |
| accipitrine | of, like or pertaining to falcons and hawks |
| accismus | in rhetoric, pretending to refuse something |
| accite | to cite; to summon |
| acclinate | sloping upwards |
| acclivity | upward slope |
| accloy | to hobble with a horseshoe nail |
| accolade | curved architectural moulding; vertical line joining two musical staves |
| accolent | neighbouring |
| accosted | in heraldry, two figures placed side by side |
| accoucheur | male midwife |
| accoucheuse | female midwife |
| accourage | to encourage |
| accourt | to entertain |
| accoy | to subdue; to pacify; to soothe |
| accrementition | increase or growth by adding similar material |
| accretion | accumulation; addition of parts to form a whole |
| accubation | reclining as on a couch |
| accubitum | crescent-shaped couch |
| accusative | indicating direct object of a verb |
| acedia | listlessness; sloth |
| aceldama | site or scene of violence or bloodshed |
| aceology | therapeutics |
| acequia | irrigation ditch |
| acerate | of, like or resembling a needle |
| acerbate | to embitter; to irritate |
| acerous | lacking horns or antennae |
| acersecomic | one whose hair has never been cut |
| acervate | heaped; clustered |
| acervuline | like or in small mounds or heaps |
| acescence | becoming sour; souring; turning of milk |
| acetabulum | small anatomical cup or hollow, such as a sucker |
| acetarious | referring to plants that are used in salads |
| acetimeter | instrument for measuring strength of vinegar |
| achaenocarp | any dry indehiscent fruit |
| acharné | furious or desperate (of a battle) |
| achene | small one-seeded fruit or naked seed of plant |
| achloropsia | colour-blindness with respect to green |
| achor | eruption or scab on the head |
| achromatopsia | colour-blindness |
| achroous | colourless |
| acicular | needle-shaped |
| acidaemia | undue acidity of blood |
| acidimeter | instrument for measuring concentration of acids |
| acidulous | sharp or bitter-tasting |
| acierate | to turn into steel |
| acinaceous | full of kernels |
| acinaciform | scimitar-shaped |
| aciniform | shaped like a berry |
| acinus | berry which grows in clusters |
| acipenser | sturgeon |
| aclinic | having no inclination or magnetic dip |
| acock | defiantly |
| acoemeti | ancient monastic order who maintained eternal choir service |
| acology | study of medical remedies |
| acolous | limbless |
| acolouthic | of, like or pertaining to an after-image or other after-sensation |
| acopic | curing or relieving fatigue |
| acoria | pathologically great appetite |
| acosmism | disbelief in existence of eternal universe distinct from God |
| acouasm | ringing noise in head |
| acquest | object which is acquired |
| acracy | government by none; anarchy |
| acratia | impotence |
| acre-breadth | old unit of length of 22 yards |
| acritochromacy | colour-blindness |
| acroamatic | esoteric |
| acrocephalous | having a pointed or peaked skull |
| acrography | the art of making wood blocks in relief |
| acrolith | wooden statue with stone extremities |
| acrologic | of, like or pertaining to initials |
| acromegaly | glandular disorder causing gigantism of extremities |
| acronical | occurring at nightfall or sunset |
| acronym | word formed from initial letters of another word |
| acronyx | ingrown nail |
| acropathy | disease or illness of the extremities |
| acrophobia | fear of heights |
| acrophonic | using a symbol for the initial sound of a thing |
| acropodium | pedestal upon which a statue rests |
| acroscopic | looking or moving towards the apex |
| acroteleutic | phrase or words at the end of a psalm |
| acroterion | pedestal or ornament at the angle of a pediment |
| acrotism | absence of pulsing |
| actinism | action of solar radiation causing chemical change |
| actinograph | instrument used to calculate time of photographic exposure |
| actinometer | instrument for measuring incident radiation |
| actinotherapy | use of ultraviolet rays as medical therapy |
| actuate | communicate motion to; cause |
| aculeate | prickly; pointed; stinging; a stinging insect |
| aculeiform | shaped like a thorn |
| acultomancy | divination using needles |
| acuminate | tapered; pointed; to sharpen |
| acutiator | sharpener of weapons |
| acutorsion | twisting artery with needle to stop bleeding |
| acyanopsia | colour-blindness with respect to blue |
| acyesis | female sterility |
| acyrology | incorrect diction or pronunciation |
| adactylous | lacking fingers or claws |
| adamantine | unbreakable; impenetrable |
| adamitism | nakedness for religious reasons |
| adaxial | next to or towards the axis |
| addax | large African antelope |
| additament | thing added or appended; heraldic ornament |
| addititious | of, pertaining to or resulting from addition |
| addle | putrid; barren; muddled |
| addorsed | turned back to back in heraldry |
| adduce | cite as proof or instance |
| adeciduate | evergreen; coniferous |
| adeem | to cancel a bequest by destruction of the object |
| adelaster | provisional name for a plant whose flowers are unknown |
| adelphogamy | sharing of a wife by two or more brothers |
| ademption | revocation of donation by donor |
| adenalgia | painful swelling of a gland |
| adenia | glandular swelling |
| adeniform | shaped like a gland |
| adenography | descriptive work on the glandular system |
| adenoid | of, like or pertaining to or like a gland |
| adenology | study of glands |
| adenotomy | removal or excision of gland |
| adespota | anonymous works |
| adessive | indicating place where or proximity to |
| adevism | denial of gods of mythology and legend |
| adharma | unrighteousness |
| adhibit | to attach; to admit; to administer |
| adhocracy | government in an unstructured fashion; an unstructured organization |
| adiabatic | without transference of heat |
| adiaphoresis | absence of perspiration; inability to perspire |
| adiaphorism | doctrine of theological indifference or latitudinarianism |
| adiaphoron | tenet or belief on which a theological system is indifferent |
| adiapneustia | defective perspiration |
| adiathermancy | impermeability to radiant energy |
| adipescent | becoming fat or fatty |
| adipic | of, like or pertaining to fatty substances |
| adipocere | fatty substance occurring in corpses left in moist areas |
| adipsia | absence or lack of thirst |
| adit | opening or passage into a mine |
| adjudge | to decide; to award |
| adjutage | nozzle |
| adjutor | helper; assistant |
| adjuvant | substance added to make vaccine more effective |
| admanuensis | one who takes an oath on a religious book |
| admaxillary | connected to or near the jaw |
| admeasurement | the act of measuring or apportioning |
| adminicle | that which supports or aids, especially evidence |
| adnascent | growing on some other thing |
| adnominal | indicating adjective used as a noun |
| adnomination | punning |
| adnoun | adjective serving or used as a noun |
| adonise | to adorn oneself |
| adoptionism | belief that Christ was the adopted and not natural son of God |
| adoral | near the mouth |
| adosculation | impregnation by contact alone or by wind |
| adoxography | good writing on a trivial subject |
| adoxy | beliefs that are neither orthodox nor heterodox |
| adpress | to press together |
| adrogation | adoption of a boy or girl before adolescence |
| adscititious | added; additional |
| adscript | attached or feudally bound to the soil or earth |
| adsorb | to attract and stick to the surface |
| adumbrate | indicate faintly; foreshadow |
| adunc | hooked |
| aduncate | shaped like a hook or crook |
| adust | burnt; scorched |
| advection | horizontal movement of air |
| advehent | bringing inwards |
| advenient | due to outside causes |
| adventitious | accidental; casual |
| adventive | a thing or person coming from outside |
| adversaria | miscellaneous notes; commonplace books |
| adversative | word or phrase expressing opposition |
| advert | refer to in speech or writing |
| advertorial | advertisement presented as if it were editorial material |
| advesperate | darken; become late |
| advocaat | liqueur containing rum and raw eggs |
| advowson | right of presentation to church living |
| adynamia | helplessness; lack of strength |
| adytum | sacred part of a temple or church; church chancel |
| aedile | magistrate in charge of games, markets or buildings |
| aedoeology | science of generative organs |
| aegilops | stye in inner corner of eye |
| aegis | protection; support |
| aegrotat | medical certificate of illness excusing student's sickness |
| aeneous | shining bronze colour |
| aeolian | giving forth a tone as if produced by the wind |
| aeolipyle | hollow ball that turns through steam escaping through valves |
| aeolistic | long-winded |
| aeolotropy | variation in physical properties on basis of position |
| aeonian | lasting for an immeasurably long period of time |
| aerenchyma | respiratory tissue |
| aeriform | of the form or shape of gas; gaseous |
| aerious | of the nature of air; airy |
| aerobe | organism requiring oxygen to survive |
| aerobiology | study of airborne organisms |
| aerodonetics | science or study of gliding |
| aerogenesis | forming or generating gas or air |
| aerography | descriptive work on the atmosphere |
| aerolite | meteorite |
| aerolith | stone that falls from the sky; meteorite |
| aerolithology | study of aerolites; meteorites |
| aerology | study of the atmosphere |
| aeromancy | divination by means of the weather |
| aerometer | instrument for measuring weight or density of gas |
| aerophane | thin crinkled semi-transparent fabric |
| aerophilately | collecting of air-mail stamps |
| aerophobia | fear of flying or draughts |
| aerophore | instrument used to inflate stillborn child's lungs |
| aeropleustic | of, like or pertaining to aerial navigation |
| aerostat | any lighter-than air craft; balloon |
| aerostatics | science of air pressure; art of ballooning |
| aeruginous | of, like or pertaining to copper-rust or verdigris |
| aerugo | rust of any metal |
| aesc | letter used in Old English for 'ae' |
| aesopian | conveying meaning only to those in a secret movement |
| aesthesia | sensibility |
| aesthesiogenic | producing or causing a sensation |
| aestheticism | doctrine that beauty is central to other moral principles |
| aestival | of, like or pertaining to summer |
| aethrioscope | instrument for measuring temperature variations due to sky conditions |
| aeviternal | everlasting; endless |
| aeviternity | eternal existence |
| afebrile | not suffering from fever |
| affabulation | moral of a fable |
| affeer | to assess; to reduce to a fixed sum |
| afferent | bearing, bringing or carrying towards |
| affiance | to trust; to betroth |
| affine | a relation by marriage |
| afflated | inspired |
| afflatus | inspiration; divine impetus |
| afforce | to strengthen a jury by adding skilled people |
| afforest | to cover with forest; to convert into hunting grounds |
| affranchise | to free from slavery or similar obligation |
| affray | an attack or assault; an alarm or fright |
| affrayer | disturber of the peace |
| affreightment | hiring of a vessel |
| affreux | frightening |
| affricate | consonant that begins as a plosive and ends as a fricative |
| affronté | of two heraldic animals, facing one another |
| affusion | pouring on; as of baptismal water |
| afore | before |
| afterclap | unexpected damaging or unsettling after-effect |
| afterdeck | deck behind a ship's bridge |
| aftergame | rematch; means employed after first turn of affairs |
| afterguard | men who work the aft sails on the quarterdeck and poop deck |
| afterings | last milk drawn when milking a cow |
| afterpiece | minor piece after a play |
| aftershaft | second shaft coming out of the quill of a feather |
| afterwil | locking of the barn after the cows have been let out |
| agacerie | allurement; coquetry |
| agalactia | failure or inability to produce milk |
| agalloch | eaglewood |
| agamist | one who opposes marriage |
| agamogenesis | reproduction by non-sexual means |
| agape | selfless Christian love; a feast in celebration of such love |
| agapeistic | characterized by Christian love |
| agapet | lover of women |
| agapetae | churchwomen who live platonically with celibate men |
| agapism | ethics of love |
| agastopia | admiration of part of another's body |
| agatewear | type of ceramic resembling agate stone |
| agathism | belief in ultimate triumph of good despite evil means |
| agathodaimon | one's good genius; the good part of one's conscience |
| agelast | one who never laughs |
| agennesic | sterile; impotent |
| agenocratia | opposition to birth control |
| agentive | indicating agent performing an action |
| ageotropic | moving or turning away from the earth |
| agersia | quality of not growing old |
| ageusia | damage to the sense of taste |
| agger | artificial mound or elevation for military use |
| aggerose | in heaps; piled up |
| aggiornamento | modernization of ideas of the Catholic church |
| aggrade | to raise level of a surface through depositing detritus |
| aggrandize | increase power or rank of; make greater |
| aggrate | to gratify or please |
| aggry | type of West African glass beads |
| agio | premium paid on foreign currency exchange |
| agiotage | playing the stock market; speculation |
| agist | to charge with a public burden; to take in to graze for payment |
| agistment | land tax assessed for cattle pasturing |
| aglet | metal point attached to a lace or string |
| agma | symbol or sound for a velar nasal consonant "ng" |
| agminate | grouped |
| agnail | sore, corn or hangnail on the toe or foot |
| agname | name over and above the ordinary name and surname |
| agnation | kinship |
| agnize | to acknowledge or confess |
| agnomen | additional name; surname; nickname |
| agnosic | unable to recognize familiar objects due to brain damage |
| agnosticism | doctrine that we can know nothing beyond material phenomena |
| agnosy | ignorance |
| agoge | tempo or sequence in melody in ancient Greek music |
| agogic | accenting a musical note by slightly dwelling on it |
| agomphosis | looseness in the teeth |
| agone | ago |
| agonic | making no angle |
| agonism | competition; effort; striving |
| agonistes | someone in the grip of inner conflict |
| agonistic | of, like or pertaining to or being aggressive or argumentative |
| agonistics | art and theory of prize-fighting |
| agoraphobia | fear of open spaces |
| agowilt | sudden sickening and unnecessary fear |
| agraffe | hooked clasp used by masons to hold blocks together |
| agrapha | sayings of Jesus not found in the canonical gospels |
| agraphia | inability to write |
| agravic | having no gravity; pertaining to the condition of zero-gravity |
| agrestic | of the fields; rural; unpolished |
| agriology | the comparative study of primitive peoples |
| agrize | to horrify; to disfigure |
| agrizoiatry | medicine specializing in wild animals |
| agrobiology | study of plant nutrition; soil yields |
| agrology | study of agricultural soils |
| agromania | intense desire to be in open spaces |
| agronomics | study of productivity of land |
| agrostography | writing about grasses |
| agrostology | science or study of grasses |
| agrypnia | insomnia |
| agrypnotic | anything taken to aid wakefulness |
| aguardiente | Spanish or Portuguese brandy |
| agyiophobia | fear of crossing busy streets |
| agynary | lacking female genitals |
| ahimsa | the duty of sparing animal life; non-violence |
| ahull | with sails furled and helm lashed to the lee-side |
| ai | three-toed sloth |
| aichmophobia | fear of sharp or pointed objects |
| aiger | tidal wave occurring in rivers |
| aigrette | a spray of jewels; ornamental feather plume; an egret |
| aiguille | sharp; needle-like peak of rock |
| aileron | flap on airplane wing for lateral balance |
| ailette | plate of armour worn on shoulder |
| ailuromancy | divination by watching cats' movements |
| ailurophilia | love of cats |
| ailurophobia | fear of cats |
| aioli | garlic-flavoured mayonnaise |
| airscrew | aircraft propeller |
| aischrolatry | worship of filth, dirt, or smut |
| aisling | a vision or dream |
| ait | small island in lake or river |
| aitchbone | rump bone of cattle; rump cut of beef |
| aiué | elderly; senior |
| akeratophorous | not horned |
| akinesia | loss of ability to move |
| ala | membranous outgrowth on a plant or animal |
| alabamine | alternate name for the element astatine |
| alack | expression of sorrow or regret |
| alalia | loss of ability to speak |
| alameda | public walkway between rows of poplar trees |
| alamort | half-dead; dejected |
| alannah | term of endearment used with one's child |
| alar | of, like or pertaining to the wing or shoulder |
| alastrim | mild form of smallpox |
| alate | lately |
| alation | state of having wings; position of wings on a creature |
| alaudine | of, like or pertaining to skylarks |
| alb | long white robe worn by priests |
| albarello | cylindrical jar used to hold drugs |
| albata | variety of German silver |
| albedo | whiteness, as of a celestial object |
| albescent | becoming white; whiteness |
| albicant | whitish; becoming white |
| albificative | able to whiten or be whitened |
| albion | medieval astronomical device for finding positions of planets |
| albocracy | government by white people |
| albolith | white cement formed from magnesia and silica |
| albugineous | like the white of an eye or an egg; white-coloured |
| alcahest | alchemical universal solvent |
| alcatote | silly elf |
| alcine | of, like or pertaining to elks; of, like or pertaining to auks |
| alcoholometer | instrument for measuring proportion of alcohol in solutions |
| alcovinometer | instrument to measure strength of wine |
| aleatoric | depending on contingencies or chance |
| aleberry | beverage made from ale, spices, and dried bread |
| alecost | costmary, an herb used in flavouring ale |
| alectormancy | divination by sacrificing a rooster |
| alectryomachy | cock-fighting |