 | Term | Definition |
| |
adroit |
skillful; clever |
| |
adulterate |
to make impure; to contaminate |
| |
adventitious |
accidental syn.- incidental |
| |
aegis |
a shield; protection; sponsorship |
| |
aesthetic |
pertaining to beauty |
| |
affectation |
a phony attitude; pose |
| |
affinity |
an attraction to |
| |
affluence |
wealth |
| |
agape |
open-mouthed; surprised; agog |
| |
aggrandize |
to enlarge; to expand |
| |
altruism |
a concern for others; generosity |
| |
ambiguous |
open to more than one interpretation |
| |
amoral |
lacking a sense of right and wrong |
| |
amorphous |
shapeless; formless; vague |
| |
animosity |
hatred |
| |
magnanimous |
forgiving to others |
| |
pecuniary |
pertaining to money |
| |
bland |
mild; tasteless; dull |
| |
blandishment |
flattery |
| |
blanch |
to whiten; to make pale |
| |
bilious |
bad tempered; cross |
| |
cantankerous |
bad tempered; cross; bilious |
| |
bestial |
savage; brutal |
| |
besmirch |
to make dirty; to stain |
| |
besiege |
to overwhelm; to surround and attack |
| |
bedlam |
a noisy uproar; a scene of wild confusion |
| |
beguile |
to deceive; to charm; to enchant |
| |
bauble |
a showy but useless thing |
| |
baroque |
overly decorated |
| |
insipid |
common, ordinary, banal |
| |
banal |
common, ordinary |
| |
badinage |
playful, teasing talk |
| |
antithesis |
an exact opposite; an opposite extreme |
| |
antipathy |
an intense dislike |
| |
carnal |
sensual; sexual (of the flesh) |
| |
carcinogen |
causing cancer (noun) |
| |
callow |
young and inexperienced |
| |
cajole |
to coax; to persuade; to wheedle |
| |
bucolic |
pertaining to the countryside; rural; rustic |
| |
brevity |
briefness; short duration |
| |
bowdlerize |
to remove offensive passages of a play, novel, etc. |
| |
bovine |
pertaining to cows or cattle |
| |
boor |
a rude or impolite (country) person |
| |
bona fide |
in good faith |
| |
bombast |
impressive but meaningless language |
| |
carrion |
decaying flesh |
| |
cataclysm |
violent change |
| |
cataract |
large waterfall; abnormality of the eye |
| |
caveat |
a warning |
| |
celibate |
unmarried; abstaining from sex |
| |
censure |
to criticize sharply |
| |
cessation |
a stopping; a discontinuance |
| |
chaff |
worthless matter |
| |
chagrin |
embarassment; a complete loss of courage |
| |
chimerical |
imaginary; fantastic |
| |
coalesce |
to blend; to merge |
| |
debacle |
a complete failure; a total collapse |
| |
debauchery |
corruption; self-indulgence |
| |
deference |
respect; consideration |
| |
defile |
to pollute; to corrupt |
| |
deign |
to lower oneself before an inferior |
| |
delineate |
to describe; to depict |
| |
demeanor |
behavior; manner of conducting oneself; mien |
| |
denouement |
an outcome; result |
| |
deride |
to ridicule; to mock |
| |
dessicated |
dried up |
| |
despicable |
contemptible; hateful |
| |
desultory |
wandering from subject to subject |
| |
deviate |
to turn aside; to change (figurative) directions |
| |
diadem |
a crown/male tiara |
| |
diaphanous |
very sheer and light |
| |
gossamer |
very sheer and light; gossamer |
| |
dichotomy |
a division into two parts |
| |
ebullient |
enthusiastic |
| |
eclectic |
containing the best from various sources |
| |
edify |
to improve someone morally |
| |
effete |
worn out; barren |
| |
egregious |
remarkably bad; outrageous |
| |
elegy |
a sad or mornful poem |
| |
elicit |
to draw forth; to call forth |
| |
solicit |
to beg forth |
| |
elixir |
a supposed remedy for all ailments |
| |
elucidate |
to make clear |
| |
emanate |
to come forth; to send forth |
| |
emendation |
a correction |
| |
empathy |
an understanding of another's feelings (from having had same experience) |
| |
empirical |
based on practical experience rather than theory |
| |
pragmatic |
focused on action rather than theory (pra.) |
| |
endemic |
confined to a particular country or area |
| |
enervate |
to weaken |
| |
ennui |
boredom; a weariness resulting from a lack of interest |
| |
ephemeral |
lasting only a brief time; short-lived |
| |
epitome |
a typical example; a condensed account |
| |
ergo |
therefore |
| |
erotic |
sexually arousing |
| |
eschew |
to keep away from; to avoid; to shun |
| |
facetious |
comical; jocular; flippant |
