- ABATE: (v) to lessen in in intensity or degree
- ACCOLADE: (n) an expression of praise
- ADULATION: (n) excessive praise; intense adoration
- AESTHETIC: (adj) dealing with, appreciative of, or responsive to art or the beautiful
- AMELIORATE: (v) to make better or more tolerable
- ASCETIC: (n) one wo practices rigid self-denial, esp. as an act of religious devotion
- AVARICE: (n) greed, esp. for wealth
- AXIOM: (n) a universally recognized principle
- BUCOLIC: (adj) rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants
- BURGEON: (v) to grow rapidly or flourish
- CACOPHONY: (n) harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance
- CANON: (n) an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature
- CASTIGATION: (n) severe criticism or punishment
- CATALYST: (n) a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction witout itself changing; a person or thing that causes change
- CAUSTIC: (adj) burning or stinging; causing corrosion
- CHARY: (adj) wary; cautious; sparing
- COGENT: (adj) appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing
- COMPLAISANCE: (n) the willingness to comply with the wishes of others
- CONTENTIOUS: (adj) argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement
- CONTRITE: (adj) regretful; penitent; seeking forgiveness
- CULPABLE: (adj) deserving blame
- DEARTH: (n) smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; a lack
- DEMUR: (v) to question or oppose
- DIDACTIC: (adj) intended to teach or instruct
- DISCRETION: (n) cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible decisions
- DISINTERESTED: (adj) free of bias or self-interest; impartial
- DOGMATIC: (adj) expressing a rigid opinion based on unproved or improvable principles
- EBULLIENCE: (n) the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings
- ECLECTIC: (adj) composed of elements drawn from various sources
- ELEGY: (n) a mournful poem, esp. one lamenting the dead
- EMOLLIENT: (adj/n) soothing, esp. to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying; an agent that softens or smoothes the skin
- EMPIRICAL: (adj) based on observation or experiment
- ENIGMATIC: (adj) mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand
- EPHEMERAL: (adj) brief; fleeting
- ESOTERIC: (adj) intended for or understood by a small, specific group
- EULOGY: (n) a speech honoring the dead
- EXONERATE: (v) to remove blame
- FACETIOUS: (adj) playful; humorous
- FALLACY: (n) an invalid or incorrect notion; a mistaken belief
- FURTIVE: (adj) marked by stealth; covert; surreptitious
- GREGARIOUS: (adj) sociable; outgoing; enjoying the company of other people
- HARANGUE: (v/n) to deliver a pompous speech or tirade; a long, pompous speech
- HERETICAL: (adj) violating accepted dogma or convention
- HYPERBOLE: (n) an exaggerated statement, often used as a figure of speech
- IMPECUNIOUS: (adj) lacking funds; without money
- INCIPIENT: (adj) beginning to come into being or to become apparent
- INERT: (adj) unmoving; lethargic; sluggish
- INNOCUOUS: (adj) harmless; causing no damage
- INTRANSIGENT: (adj) refusing to compromise
- INVEIGLE: (v) to obtain by deception or flattery
- MOROSE: (adj) sad; sullen; melancholy
- ODIOUS: (adj) evoking intense aversion or dislike
- OPAQUE: (adj) impenetrable by light; not reflecting light
- OSCILLATION: (n) the act or state of swinging back and forth with a steady, uninterrupted rhythm
- PENURIOUS: (adj) penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous
- PERNICIOUS: (adj) extremely harmful; potentially causing death
- PERUSE: (v) to examine with great care
- PIOUS: (adj) extremely reverent or devout; showing strong religious devotion
- PRECURSOR: (n) one that precedes and indicates or announces another
- PREEN: (v) to dress up; to primp; to groom oneself with elaborate care
- PRODIGIOUS: (adj) abundant in size, force or extent; extraordinary
- PROLIFIC: (adj) producing large volumes or amounts; productive
- PUTREFY: (v) to rot; to decay and give off a foul odor
- QUAFF: (v) to drink deeply
- QUIESCENCE: (n) stillness; motionlessness; quality of being at rest
- REDOUBTABLE: (adj) awe-inspiring; worthy of honor
- SANCTION: (n/v) authoritative permission or approval; a penalty intended to enforce complience; to give permission or authority to
- SATIRE: (n) a literary work that ridicules or criticizes a human vice through humor or derision
- SQUALID: (adj) sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect
- STOIC: (adj) indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; steadfast
- SUPPLANT: (v) to take the place of; supercede
- TORPID: (adj) lethargic; sluggish; dormant
- UBIQUITOUS: (adj) existing everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered; widespread
- URBANE: (adj) sophisticated; refined; elegant
- VILIFY: (v) to defame; to characterize harshly
- VISCOUS: (adj) thick; sticky