Quizlet APE Vocabulary

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  1. abate: to diminish, lessen in intensity
  2. abeyance: temporary break, or stopping
  3. abject: brought low in condition or status; wretched
  4. abrade: to erode
  5. abscond: to depart in secrecy, usually for evil purposes
  6. abstruse: hard to understand, hidden
  7. accede: to give one's consent, usually yielding to the insistence of others
  8. accord: agreement
  9. accost: to approach and speak to in an openly aggressive or hostile manner
  10. accoutrements: equipment, clothing
  11. acquiesce: to accept passively without inplying assent or argument
  12. acriminous: bitter in behavior, feeling, speech, or disposition; stinging; sharp; biting
  13. acumen: great skill or intellectual ability
  14. adamant: unyielding
  15. adapt: to get used to
  16. adjacent: near to; next to, adjoining
  17. adulate: to praise too much
  18. adulterate: to make impure
  19. advent: arrival
  20. aesthetic: artistic; of, relating to, or dealing with the beautiful
  21. affect: to influence, the verb
  22. agglomeration: collection
  23. aggrandize: to make great or greater; to praise highly
  24. aghast: horrified
  25. agile: nimble, flexible
  26. agoraphobia: fear of open spaces
  27. ala carte: individual food item
  28. alacrity: cheerful willingness; readiness; liveliness
  29. allay: to calm; to diminish in strength; to subdue or reduce the intensity of; alleviate
  30. altercation: a noisy, heated, angry dispute; noisy fight
  31. ambidextrous: skilled in using both hands
  32. ambiguous: indicating the presence of two or more possible meanings; unclear
  33. ambivalent: having 2 conflicting emotions, vacillating
  34. amenable: submissive, agreeable, responsive; responsible
  35. amity: friendship; peaceful relations
  36. amorphous: shapeless
  37. anachronism: anything that is out of place in time
  38. anarchy: absence of rule
  39. anathema: a curse or excommunication; one that is cursed or damned; one that is greatly reviled, loathed, or shunned
  40. anglophile: lover of england
  41. anglophobia: dislike of england
  42. annex: to add on
  43. annuity: yearly remittance or payment of money
  44. anomaly: an aberration; deviation; irregularity
  45. anthrophomorphic: attributing human form and characteristics to non-humans, especially gods
  46. anthropoid: resembling man or the highest developed apes
  47. antipodes: opposite parts of the globe
  48. antithesis: the exact opposite
  49. apartheid: district racial segregation and discrimination against native Negroes in South Africa
  50. aplomb: great poise; imperturbable self-possession
  51. apocalypse: a revelation
  52. appellation: a name
  53. append: to add on
  54. appropriate: to take, set aside for a purpose
  55. arbitrary: selected at random and without reason
  56. arcane: beyond comprehension; mysterious; secret
  57. archaic: no longer current or applicable; antiquated; outdated
  58. armageddon: final great battle
  59. ascetic: shunning pleasures
  60. askew: leaning to the side, tilted
  61. assiduous: diligent or constant in carrying out a task or doing one's duty;
  62. assuage: to ease, soothe
  63. astringent: drawing tissues together
  64. atheism: state of having no belief in God
  65. atrocity: savage cruelty, brutality
  66. atrophy: to waste away due to malnourishment or lack of use
  67. atypical: not typical
  68. audacious: recklessly daring; blatantly bold
  69. audacity: arrogant boldness, recklessness; insolence
  70. augment: to make greater, increase
  71. augur: foretell the future with omens
  72. austere: severe or stern; strict or severe in discipline; having no adornment; bare
  73. autonomy: independence or self-rule; self-government
  74. avarice: greed
  75. averise: opposed, against
  76. avert: turn away from
  77. axiomatic: universally accepted as true
  78. badinage: small talk, palaver
  79. baffled: puzzled
  80. baleful: foreshadowing evil
  81. banal: drearily commonplace and often predictable; trite
  82. baneful: deadly, poisonous
  83. baroque: over decorated
  84. barrister: lawyer
  85. bawdy: obscene; showy and flashy in an indecent manner
  86. beatific: saintly; bestowing happiness
  87. bellicose: having a natural disposition to fight; warlike; pugnacious
  88. bemoan: to moan about, to regret
  89. benediction: a blessing
  90. benefaction: an act of doing good
  91. benefactor: person who does good
  92. beneficial: good
  93. beneficiary: a person who receives the good
  94. benevolent: wishing others well; kind, giving
  95. bereft: lacking, sadly experiencing loss
  96. betroth: to engage for marriage
  97. bias: a prejudice
  98. bibliophile: a lover of books
  99. biennial: occuring every 2 years
  100. bigoted: intolerant, prejudiced
  101. blight: to ruin
  102. blithe: merry, joyful; heedless
  103. boisterous: rowdy
  104. bona fide: made in good faith, true or real
  105. bow: the front of the ship
  106. brazen: having no shame; rudely bold
  107. brine: salty water
  108. broach: to open up a topic for discussion; break a surface
  109. brusque: curt
  110. bucolic: pastoral, rural
  111. bumptious: pushy and offensive
  112. burnish: to polish
  113. cajole: to try to persuade with flattery and insincere talk
  114. callous: unfeeling
  115. callow: young and inexperienced; immature
  116. calumniate: to slander
  117. calumny: a false accusation of crime or offense; maliciously reported to slander another; slander
  118. candor: honesty
  119. cantankerous: quarrelsome
  120. capacious: spacious, roomy
  121. capitiulate: to surrender under specified conditions; to give up under pressure or inevitability; to acquiesce
  122. capricious: apt to change suddenly; unpredictable
  123. carmine: rich red
  124. carnivore: a flesh-eating animal
  125. carrion: carcass of a dead animal
  126. carte blanche: freedom to use one's own judgement
  127. cassandra: one who prophesies doom or disaster; pessimist; one who utters unheeded prophecies
  128. caste: a rigid social class
  129. castigate: to punish
  130. cataclysm: a flood, deluge; any violent change involving sudden and extensive alterations of the earth's surface; an upheaval of any kind
  131. catharsis: a cleansing, usually emotional; a purging
  132. caustic: corrosive; cutting; causing a burning or stinging sensation as from intense emotion; sarcastic
  133. cauterize: to burn tissue
  134. cavil: to raise trivial questions; to voice petty objections
  135. celerity: speed; readiness
  136. celibate: unmarried; refraining from sexual relations
  137. cerebral: relating to the brain
  138. cerebration: a thought
  139. chagrin: embarassment
  140. chaste: pure in morals; sexually pure
  141. chattel: personal property
  142. cheeky: saucy, witty
  143. choleric: bad-tempered; irascible; irritable or touchy
  144. churlish: rude
  145. cilia: tiny hairs
  146. circumlocution: roundabout speaking
  147. circumspect: cautious; prudent; careful to consider all circumstances and possible consequesnces
  148. claustrophobia: fear of enclosed spaces
  149. cogent: clear, well thought out
  150. cogitate: to think about carefully
  151. cohesion: force that keeps parts together; unity
  152. colloquy: talking together, a conversation
  153. commensurate: equal
  154. commiserate: to sympathize; to be miserable together
  155. complacency: contented self-satisfaction; total lack of concern
  156. complacent: self-satisfied
  157. complement: to complete; bring to perfection
  158. complicity: assistance in crime; being an accomplice in a wrongdoing
  159. comport: to behave in a certain way
  160. comprehensive: anxiety arising over awareness of guilt; distress of mind over anticipated action or result; a twinge of misgiving
  161. concubine: mistress
  162. condescend: to stoop to a lower level
  163. confidant: one whom secrets are entrusted
  164. conflagration: fire or widespread destruction
  165. coniferous: bearing cones
  166. conjugal: relating to marriage
  167. consecrate: to dedicate, to bless
  168. constrict: to draw together, bind
  169. contemplative: slowly thinking, pondering or considering something
  170. contigent: dependant upon something else
  171. contradict: to speak against
  172. contrite: deeply corry; penitent
  173. contrived: planned, devised (sometimes negatively)
  174. contumacious: disobedient; rebellious
  175. contumely: haughty and contemptuous rudeness; humiliating and insulting treatement or language
  176. conundrum: a paradoxical, unsolvable, or difficult problem; a dilema, riddle
  177. convalesce: to recuperate
  178. converge: to come together
  179. convivial: fond of socializing with friends; outgoing, friendly
  180. copious: plentiful; abundant; ample
  181. corroborate: to confirm; to back up with evidence
  182. coterie: set or circle of acquaintences; clique
  183. couth: refined in behavior, polite
  184. covert: secret; hidden from sight
  185. covet: to want enviously
  186. covetous: desirous; envious
  187. credence: belief or trust
  188. credible: believable
  189. credulous: gulluible, overly trusting; inclinged to believe
  190. creed: principles held, often part of a religous doctrine
  191. crestfallen: dejected, sad
  192. crux: the most important point
  193. cryptic: suggests a puzzling terseness that is often intended to discourage
  194. cuisine: style of cooking
  195. culpable: worty of blame
  196. cupidity: greed
  197. curative: curing, healing
  198. curt: terse
  199. daunt: to discourage, dismay, intimidate
  200. daunting: discouraging
  201. dearth: a scarcity; shortage; paucity
  202. debacle: a total overthrow; devastation
  203. debase: to sink to lower status; to put down
  204. decimate: to kill, destroy, eradicate
  205. defer: to delay, postpone
  206. deferantial: very respectful
  207. deflect: to turn away, avert
  208. defunct: dead, no longer in use
  209. degenerate: to deteriorate
  210. deign: to condescend
  211. demise: a death
  212. demur: to object, refuse
  213. denigrate: to defame, ridicule
  214. denoument: the final outcome of a plot
  215. deplore: to regard as unfortunate, to hate or reject
  216. depraved: perverted, morally corrupt
  217. depredation: a great loss; state of being deprived of something
  218. derisive: mocking, ridiculing, scoffing
  219. desecrate: to destroy the beauty or sanctity of a special place
  220. desiccate: to dry out completely
  221. desist: to stop an action
  222. desultory: random, often aimless
  223. detriment: injury; damage; a cause of injury or damage.
  224. devoid: void, empty
  225. diaphanous: translucent, sheer