| charlatan | a quack; pretender to know knowledge |
| capricious | unpredictable; fickle |
| sycophant | servile flatterer; bootlicker; yes man |
| incite | arouse to action |
| trifling | trivial; unimportant |
| culpable | deserving blame |
| evanescent | fleeting; vanishing |
| fallow | plowed but not sowed; uncultivated |
| antediluvian | antiquated; extremely old |
| antidote | medicine to counteract a posion or disease; something that relieves a harmful effect |
| ascendancy | controlling influence; domination |
| belie | contradict; give a false impression |
| quiescence | state of being at rest; dormancy; temporary inactivity |
| coalesce | combine; fuse |
| austere | forbiddingly stern; severely simple and unornamented |
| enmity | ill will; hatred |
| elegy | poem or song expressign lamentation |
| depravity | extreme corruption; wickedness |
| mercenary | interesed in money or gain |
| mitigate | moderate; appease |
| pacifist | one opposed to force; antimilitarist |
| peripheral | outer; marginal |
| insularity | narrow-mindedness; isolation |
| intrepid | fearless |
| aggregate | total |
| soporific | sleep-causing; marked by sleepiness |
| immutable | unchangeable |
| truncate | shorten; cut the top off |
| dissent | disagree |
| divergent | varying; going in different directions from the same point |
| linger | loiter or dawdle; continue or persist |
| document | provide written evidence |
| eclectic | composed of elements drawn from diverse sources |
| egotism | excessive self-importance; conceit |
| elated | overjoyed; in high spirits |
| sporadic | occuring irregularly |
| elusive | hard to grasp |
| zealot | fanatic; preson who shows excessive enthusiasm |
| eulogy | expression of praise |
| exuberance | joyful enthusiasm; overflowing abundance |
| audacious | daring; bold |
| disputatious | argumentative; fond of arguing |
| aversion | firm dislike |
| beguile | charm; mislead or delude |
| braggart | boaster |
| calculated | deliberately planned |
| candor | frankness; open honesty |
| colloquial | pertaining to conversational or common speech |
| bombastic | pompous; using inflated language |
| bolster | support; reinforce |
| autonomous | self-governing |
| archaic | ancient; out of date |
| furtive | stealthy; sneaky |
| inconsequential | insignificant; unimportant |
| amorphous | formless; lacking shape or definition |
| ambivalence | the state of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes |
| whimsical | capricious; fanciful |
| virulent | extremely posionous; hostile; bitter |
| jocular | said or done in jest; joking |
| equivocal | ambiguous; intentionally misleading |
| conflagration | great fire |
| tirade | extended scolding; denunciation |
| tenacity | firmness; persistance |
| quagmire | soft wet boggy land; complex or dangerous situation from which it is difficult to free oneself |
| prodigal | wasteful; reckless with money |
| adulation | flattery; admiration |
| nefarious | very wicked |
| morose | ill-humored; sullen |
| disclose | reveal |
| discriminating | able to see differences |
| robust | vigorous; strong |
| raze | destroy completely |
| raucous | harsh and shrill; disorderly and boisterous |
| heresy | opinion contrary to popular belief |
| hyperbole | exaggeration; overstatement |
| hypocritical | pretending to be virtuous; deceiving |
| torpor | lethargy; sluggishness; dormancy |
| surreptitious | secret; furtive; sneaky; hidden |
| surfeit | satiate; stuff; indulge to excess in anything |
| strident | loud and harsh; insistent |
| aloof | apart; reserved |
| polemical | aggressive in verbal attack; disputatious |
| tantamount | equivalent in effect or value |
| ardent | intense; passionate; zealous |
| impudence | impertinence; insolence |
| garrulous | talkative; wordy |
| induce | persuage; bring about |
| confound | confuse; puzzle |
| dogmatic | opinionated; arbitrary |
| fastidious | difficult to please; really careful |
| avarice | greediness for wealth |
| rancor | bitterness; hatred |
| placate | pacify; conciliate |
| pithy | concise; meaningful; substantial; meaty |
| penury | severe poverty; stinginess |
| obstinate | stubborn; hard to control or treat |
| deprecate | express disapproval of; belittle |
| profusion | overabundance; lavish expenditure; excess |
| ponderous | weighty; unwieldy |
| querulous | complaining; fretful |
| affable | easily approachable; warmly friendly |
| iconoclastic | attacking cherished traditions |
| gregarious | sociable |
| stolid | dull; impassive |
| imbibe | to drink in; absorb |
| timorous | fearful of danger; timid; deficient in courage |
| decadent | declining in standards; corrupt; immoral |
| nascent | in beggining stages; recently born |
| satiated | satisfied; full |
| censorious | severely critical; apt to blame or condemn |
| nadir | the lowest point; point of greatest adversity or despair |
| misanthrope | a hater of humanity |
| diatribe | a bitter, sharply abusive denunciation, attack, or criticism; tirade |
| perspicacity | good judgement; acute understanding |
| insubordinate | not submitting to authority; disobedient |
| eddy | a current of water or air moving in a circular direction |
| pastiche | a composition made up of bits from various sources |
| cogent | having the power to compel conviction or move the will |
| boorish | improper or lacking manners; rude; disagreeable |