- acquiesce: to give in; to agree
- acuity: sharpness of perception or mind
- adulation: adoration
- aesthetic: concerning art or beauty
- affable: friendly; agreeable
- ambiguous: unclear; undecided
- ameliorate: to improve
- anarchy: lack of government; chaos
- anecdote: a brief, humorous story
- apathy: lack of emotion or interest
- apprehensive: fearful; worried
- ascetic: without indulgence or luxury
- assuage: to reduce pain
- astute: clever; shrewd; ready-witted
- atrophy: to waste away from lack of use
- augment: to add to; to increase
- austere: severe; strict
- autonomy: self-rule; independence
- avarice: greed
- banal: commonplace; dull, ordinary
- bastion: a stronghold; a fort
- benevolent: kindly; to wish well
- benign: kindly; good-natured
- blasphemy: irreverent talk about God
- cacophonous: harsh sounding
- candor: frankness; honesty
- capricious: whimsical; unpredictable
- censure: severely criticize; blame
- complacent: smug; self-satisfied
- compliance: conforming to a request or demand
- conciliate: to soothe anger
- contrite: thoroughly sorry
- credulous: gullible; ready to believe without proof
- deference: a show of respect
- denounce: to speak against publicly
- depravity: corruption; wickedness
- derision: comtempt; ridicule
- desecrate: to show disrespect or to deface something sacred
- didactic: intending to teach
- diffident: shy; lacking confidence
- digression: straying from a topic
- discern: to distinguish one thing from another
- disdain: contempt
- disparage: to speak poorly of
- disparity: inequality
- dissent: disagreement
- dissonance: lack of agreement or harmony
- dogmatic: stubbornly opinionated
- drone: to talk on and on in a dull way
- dubious: doubtful
- eccentric: odd; out of the ordinary; quirky
- elucidate: to explain; to make clear
- enigma: a riddle
- ephemeral: short-lived; fleeting
- euphonious: melodious; pleasant sounding
- expedient: advantageous; convenient
- expedite: to quicken
- extol: to praise
- fastidious: finicky; overly critical
- flagrant: glaringly wrong; conspicuously evil
- futile: hopeless; without effect
- guile: cunning; deceitfulness
- gullible: overly trusting
- heretic: someone who goes against accepted religious beliefs
- immutable: unchanging; permanent
- incessant: non-stop
- indifferent: having no preference
- indolence: laziness
- inevitable: unavoidable; bound to happen
- innocuous: harmless; insignificant
- innovate: to make changes; to modernize
- insipid: bland; boring
- languid: slow and listless
- laud: to praise
- listless: without energy or enthusiasm
- novel: new; interesting
- obscure: unclear; clouded; partially hidden
- parsimony: stinginess
- paucity: scarcity
- pedestrian: commonplace; ordinary
- peripheral: on the edge; unimportant
- philanthropist: someone who benefits mankind
- philistine: one who lacks culture or taste
- pious: religious; devout
- ponderous: weighty; heavy
- prodigal: extravagant; wasteful
- profuse: very abundant; flowing
- prosaic: commonplace; uninspired; dull
- protracted: drawn out; lengthy
- provincial: narrowminded; unsophisticated
- respite: a break; a rest
- reticent: restrained; uncommunicative
- revere: to worship; to honor
- scrupulous: concerned; conscientious; proper
- servile: overly submissive; cringing
- squander: to waste
- static: unchanging; not moving
- strut: a self-important walk
- surreptitious: secret
- tacitum: quiet; uncommunicative; silent
- tentative: not final; uncertain
- virulent: harmful
- zeal: enthusiasm