 | Term | Definition |
| |
abate |
to lessen; to subside |
| |
abdication |
giving up control, authority |
| |
aberration |
straying away from what is normal |
| |
abeyance |
suspended action |
| |
abhor |
to hate; to detest |
| |
abide |
be faithful; to endure |
| |
abjure |
promise or swear to give up |
| |
ablution |
washing |
| |
abnegation |
self-denial |
| |
abrogate |
repeal or annul by authority |
| |
abscond |
to go away suddenly (to avoid arrest) |
| |
abstemious |
restraint, especially of food and alcohol |
| |
abstruse |
difficult to comprehend; obscure |
| |
abut |
border on |
| |
abysmal |
bottomless; extreme |
| |
acarpous |
effete; no longer fertile; worn out |
| |
acclaimed |
welcomed with shouts and approval |
| |
accolade |
praise; approval |
| |
accretion |
the growing of separate things into one |
| |
adamant |
kind of stone; inflexible |
| |
addle |
to become rotten; to become confused |
| |
adduce |
to offer as example, reason or proof |
| |
adjudicate |
to settle judicially |
| |
adjunct |
something added; assistant |
| |
adjure |
to beg |
| |
admonitory |
containing warning |
| |
adorn |
add beauty; decorate |
| |
adulteration |
making unpure, poorer in quality |
| |
adumbrate |
to suggest or hint; overshadow |
| |
adventitious |
coming from another source and not innate |
| |
affable |
polite and friendly |
| |
affinity |
close connection relationship |
| |
aggravate |
make worse; irritate |
| |
agile |
active; quick-moving |
| |
agnostic |
non-committal |
| |
agog |
eager; excited |
| |
ail |
trouble; be ill |
| |
alacrity |
eager and cheerful readiness |
| |
alcove |
recess; partially enclosed place |
| |
allegiance |
duty; support; loyalty |
| |
alleviate |
make (pain) easier to bear |
| |
alloy |
to debase by mixing with something inferior |
| |
aloof |
reserved; indifferent |
| |
altercate |
to dispute angrily or noisily |
| |
amalgamate |
mix, combine, unite societies |
| |
ambidextrous |
able to use the left hand or the right equally well |
| |
ambiguous |
doubtful; uncertain |
| |
ambivalent |
having both of two contrary meanings |
| |
amble |
leisurely walk |
| |
ameliorate |
improve; make better |
| |
amorphous |
shapeless |
| |
amortize |
end (a debt) by setting aside money |
| |
anathema |
something loathed; curse |
| |
anguish |
severe suffering |
| |
animosity |
strong dislike |
| |
antebellum |
existing before a war |
| |
antediluvian |
made a long time ago |
| |
anthropomorphic |
having human characteristics |
| |
antidote |
medicine used against a poison or a disease |
| |
antithetical |
direct opposing |
| |
apartheid |
brutal racial discrimination |
| |
aphasia |
loss of the power to use or comprehend words |
| |
aphorism |
concise statement of a principle |
| |
aplomb |
self-confidence |
| |
apostasy |
renunciation of a religion |
| |
apostate |
one who abandons long-held religious or political convictions |
| |
apotheosis |
deification; glorification to godliness |
| |
appease |
make quiet or calm |
| |
appellation |
identifying name or title |
| |
apprehensive |
grasping; understanding; unhappy feeling about future |
| |
apprise |
give notice; to inform |
| |
approbation |
approval |
| |
apropos |
appropriate to the situation; apt |
| |
apt |
well-suited; quick-witted |
| |
arabesque |
a complex ornate design |
| |
arboreal |
of connected with trees |
| |
ardor |
enthusiasm |
| |
arduous |
steep; difficult; ascent; laborious |
| |
argot |
jargon; slang |
| |
arrant |
in the highest degree |
| |
arrogance |
proud superior manner of behaviour |
| |
articulate |
speak distinctly; connect by joints |
| |
ascend |
go or come up |
| |
ascendancy |
dominance |
| |
ascertain |
get to know |
| |
ascribe |
consider to be the origin of or belonging to |
| |
aseptic |
surgically clean |
| |
ashen |
deadly pale |
| |
asperity |
roughness; harshness; ill temper; irritability |
| |
aspersion |
slander |
| |
assiduous |
diligent; hard-working; sedulous |
| |
assuage |
make smth (pain, desire) less |
| |
asterisk |
the mark * (e.g.. omitted letters) |
| |
astringent |
substance that shrinks |
| |
astute |
clever, quick at seeing to get an advantage |
| |
atelier |
artist's workroom |
| |
atonement |
repayment death of Jesus |
| |
attenuate |
make thin; weaken; enervate |
| |
attune |
bring into harmony |
| |
audacious |
daring; foolishly bold; impudent |
| |
augury |
omen; sign |
| |
august |
majestic; venerable |
| |
auspicious |
favorable; successful; prosperous |
| |
austere |
severely moral and strict; simple and plain |
| |
auxiliary |
helping; supporting |
| |
aver |
affirm; assert; prove; justify |
| |
aversion |
strong; dislike |
| |
avid |
eager; greedy |
| |
avow |
admit; declare openly |
| |
bacchanalian |
orgy |
| |
bait |
to persecute |
| |
baleful |
harmful; ominous; causing evil |
| |
balk |
obstacle; purposely to get on the way of |
| |
baneful |
causing harm or ruin; pernicious; destructive |
| |
barrage |
artificial; obstacle built across a river |
| |
barren |
not good enough; unable to have young ones without value |
| |
bask |
enjoy warmth and light |
| |
beatify |
to bless; make happy or ascribe a virtue to |
| |
bedizen |
to adorn, especially in a cheap showy manner |
| |
belabor |
beat hard |
| |
bellicose |
belligerent; pugnacious; warlike |
| |
belligerent |
(person, nation) waging war |
| |
benediction |
something that promotes goodness or well-being |
| |
benefactor |
person who has given help |
| |
benevolence |
wish or activity in doing good |
| |
benign |
kind and gentle; mild (climate) |
| |
bequest |
arrangement to give smth at death |
| |
berate |
scold sharply |
| |
bereft |
rob or dispossess of smth (material) |
| |
bewilder |
puzzle; confuse |
| |
bigot |
stubborn; narrow-minded person |
| |
bilge |
bulge the protuberance of a cask |
| |
bilk |
to cheat |
| |
blandishment |
flattery coaxing |
| |
blandness |
polite manner; comforting uninteresting |
| |
blatant |
noisy and rough |
| |
blithe |
cheerful; casual; carefree |
| |
bluster |
to talk or act with noisy swaggering threats |
| |
bogus |
sham; counterfeit; not genuine |
| |
boisterous |
loud; noisy; rough; lacking restraint |
| |
bolster |
give greatly needed support |
| |
boorish |
crude; offensive; rude |
| |
brash |
hasty; rush; cheeky; saucy |
| |
brass |
yellow metal (mixing copper and zinc) |
| |
brazen |
made of brass |
| |
breach |
opening; broken place; breaking |
| |
brittle |
easily broken |
| |
broach |
bring up; announce; begin to talk about |
| |
brook |
to tolerate, endure |
| |
buoyant |
able to float light-hearted |
| |
burgeon |
grow forth; send out buds |
| |
burnish |
to polish, rub to a shine |
| |
cabal |
a scheme or plot; a group of plotters |
| |
cacophony |
harsh sound |
| |
cadence |
rhythmic modulation of sound |
| |
cadge |
to beg; to get by begging |
| |
cajole |
use flattery or deceit; to persuade |
| |
calumny |
slander; aspersion |
| |
candid |
frank; straight-forward |
| |
cant |
insincere talk |
| |
cantankerous |
bad-tempered; quarrelsome |
| |
canvass |
discuss thoroughly; sort of touting |
| |
captious |
critical |
| |
carouse |
to drink alcohol freely |
| |
carp |
to find fault or complain querulously |
| |
carte blanche |
full discretionary power |
| |
castigation |
severe punishment |
| |
catalyst |
substance that causes speeding up |
| |
catatonic |
immobile |
| |
catholic |
comprehensive; universal |
| |
caustic |
biting; sarcastic |
| |
cavil |
to raise trivial and frivolous objection |
| |
cede/cession |
to surrender possession of, especially by treaty |
| |
celerity |
rapidity of motion or action |
| |
censure |
expression of blame or disapproval a rebuke |
| |
centurion |
leader of a unit of 100 soldiers |
| |
chaff |
to tease good-naturedly |
| |
charlatan |
quack or fraud |
| |
chary |
cautious; wary |
| |
chastisement |
punishment |
| |
chauvinist |
a blindly devoted patriot |
| |
chicanery |
legal trickery; false argument |
| |
chimera |
illusion or fabrication of the mind |
| |
chisel |
steel tool for shaping materials |
| |
chivy |
to tease or annoy with persistent petty attacks |
| |
choleric |
irritable; bad-tempered |
| |
chromatic |
of color |
| |
churl |
bad-tempered person |
| |
chutzpah |
nerve; gall |
| |
circumscribe |
to draw line around; to limit |
| |
clamor |
shout; complain with a lot of noise |
| |
clerical |
of the clergy or clerk |
| |
clientele |
customers |
| |
clinch |
come to grips; settle conclusively |
| |
cling |
to resist separation |
| |
clot |
half-solid lump formed from liquid |
| |
cloture |
closing device (in Parliament) to end a debate by voting |
| |
coagulation |
change to a thick and solid state |
| |
coalescing |
coming together and uniting into one substance |
| |
coax |
get smb to do smth by kindness |
| |
coda |
passage that completes a piece of music |
| |
coddle |
treat with care and tenderness |
| |
coerce |
compel to force to make obedient |
| |
coeval |
of the same period; coexisting |
| |
cogent |
strong; convincing |
| |
cogitate |
think deeply; mediate |
| |
cognizant |
being fully aware of |
| |
collusion |
secret agreement for a deceitful purpose |
| |
combustion |
process of burning |
| |
comely |
attractive |
| |
commemorate |
keep the memory of |
| |
commodious |
having plenty of space for what is needed |
| |
commuter |
person who travels regularly |
| |
complaisance |
tending to comply; obliging willingness to please |
| |
compunction |
feeling of regret for one's action |
| |
conceal |
hide; keep secret |
| |
conceited |
having an excessively high opinion of oneself |
| |
conciliatory |
reconciling; soothing; comforting; mollifying |
| |
concomitant |
accompanying |
| |
concord |
agreement or harmony |
| |
concur |
agree in opinion; happen together |
| |
condense |
increase in density, strength; make laconic |
| |
condone |
forgive |
| |
congeal |
make or become stiff and solid |
| |
congenital |
existing from birth; inherent |
| |
conjoin |
to join together |
| |
connoisseur |
a person with good judgement (e.g., in art) |
| |
connotation |
suggestion in addition to |
| |
console |
give comfort or sympathy to |
| |
conspicuous |
easily seen; remarkable |
| |
consternation |
surprise and fear; dismay |
| |
constrain |
compel |
| |
constrict |
make tight or smaller |
| |
consume |
get to the end of |
| |
consummate |
perfect; make perfec, complete |
| |
contemn |
to scorn or despise |
| |
contentious |
argumentative; pugnacious; combative; quarrelsome |
| |
contiguous |
touching; neighboring |
| |
contrite |
filled with deep sorrow for wrongdoing |
| |
contumacious |
insubordinate; rebellious |
| |
conundrum |
a riddle; dilemma; enigma |
| |
convalesce |
to recover health gradually after sickness |
| |
conviction |
firm belief |
| |
convivial |
fond of feasting, drinking, and good company |
| |
convoke |
call together; summon |
| |
convoluted |
complicated; coiled; twisted |
| |
cordial |
warm and sincere |
| |
cordon |
line (of police acting as a guard) |
| |
cornucopia |
abundant supply |
| |
corporeal |
physical of or for the body |
| |
corpulent |
having a large bulky body |
| |
correlate |
have a mutual relation |
| |
corroboration |
additional strengthening evidence |
| |
countenance |
to favor or approve of |
| |
counterfeit |
forgery |
| |
countervail |
counterbalance |
| |
covert |
disguised |
| |
covetous |
eagerly desirous |
| |
cower |
crouch; shrink back |
| |
coy |
shy, modest (esp of a girl) |
| |
cozen |
to cheat |
| |
crass |
very great (esp. stupidity) |
| |
cravat |
piece of linen worn as a necktie |
| |
craven |
cowardly |
| |
crease |
line made by crushing white line on the ground in cricket |
| |
credulous |
ready to believe things |
| |
cringe |
to behave in an excessively servile way |
| |
crotchet |
highly individual and usually eccentric opinion |
| |
cryptic |
secret; with a hidden meaning |
| |
cumbersome |
burdensome; heavy and awkward to carry |
| |
cupidity |
greed; lust |
| |
curmudgeon |
bad-tempered person |
| |
curriculum |
course of study |
| |
cursory |
quick hurried |
| |
curtail |
make shorter then was planned |
| |
dainty |
pretty, delicate (food); difficult to please |
| |
dastard |
coward |
| |
daunt |
intimidate; make fearful |
| |
dawdler |
person who is slow; waste of time |
| |
dearth |
shortage |
| |
debacle |
a breakup; overthrow; sudden disaster |
| |
deciduous |
ephemeral |
| |
declaim/declamation |
to speak pompously or bombastically |
| |
declivity |
downward inclination |
| |
decorum |
propriety; properness |
| |
decree |
order given by authority |
| |
decry |
disapprove of |
| |
deferential |
showing respect |
| |
defiance |
open disobedience or resistance |
| |
deign |
to condescend; to give |
| |
deleterious |
harmful |
| |
delineate |
to portray, depict, sketch out |
| |
deluge |
great flood; heavy rush of water |
| |
demagogue |
person appealing not to reasons |
| |
demur |
to hesitate; raise objections |
| |
denigrate |
blacken; belittle; defame |
| |
denouement |
an outcome or solution; the unraveling of a plot |
| |
deplete |
use until none remains |
| |
deposition |
dethronement; depositing |
| |
deprave |
make morally bad, corrupt |
| |
deprecate |
protest against; express disapproval of |
| |
dereliction |
deserting and leaving; to fall into ruins |
| |
derision |
ridicule; mockery; deriding |
| |
derivative |
unoriginal; obtained from another source |
| |
derogatory |
insulting; tending to damage |
| |
descry |
catch sight of; see smth in the distance |
| |
desiccant |
substance used to absorb moisture |
| |
desuetude |
cessation of use; disuse |
| |
desultory |
aimless; haphazard; digressing at random |
| |
deter |
discourage; hinder |
| |
detraction |
slandering; verbal attack; aspersion |
| |
detumescence |
diminishing or lessening of swelling |
| |
deviance |
being different in moral standards (from normal) |
| |
dexterity |
skill (esp. in handling) |
| |
diaphanous |
transparent; gauzy |
| |
diatribe |
bitter and violent attack in words |
| |
didactic |
intended to teach; preachy |
| |
diffidence |
shyness |
| |
dilate |
speak comprehensively; become wider, large |
| |
dilatory |
intended to delay |
| |
disabuse |
to free from error |
| |
disallow |
refuse to allow or accept as a correct |
| |
discern |
see with an effort but clearly |
| |
discomfit |
confuse; embarrass |
| |
discompose |
to destroy the composure of |
| |
disconcert |
upset the self-possession of |
| |
disconsolate |
cheerless; dejected |
| |
discountenance |
refuse to approve of |
| |
discourse |
speech lecture |
| |
discredit |
refuse to believe |
| |
discreet |
careful, prudent |
| |
discrete |
individually distinct |
| |
disdain |
look on with contempt |
| |
disencumber |
free from encumbrance |
| |
disheveled |
untidy |
| |
disingenuous |
sophisticated; artful; trying to deceive; cunning |
| |
disinter |
dig up from the earth |
| |
dislodge |
move force from the place occupied |
| |
dismal |
sad; gloomy; miserable |
| |
disparate |
essentially different |
| |
disproof |
proof to the contrary |
| |
disquiet |
to take away the peace or tranquility |
| |
dissemble |
speak or behave so as to hide smth (in mind) |
| |
disseminate |
distribute (esp. ideas) |
| |
dissent |
have a different opinion refuse to assent |
| |
dissipate |
to be dissolute |
| |
dissolute |
marked by indulgence in vices |
| |
dissolution |
disintegration; looseness in morals |
| |
distraught |
distracted violently; upset in mind |
| |
divergence |
getting farther apart from a point |
| |
divestiture |
taking off; getting rid of; giving up |
| |
divulge |
make known smth secret |
| |
doggerel |
trivial, poorly constructed verse |
| |
dogmatic |
positive; certain; arbitrary without room for discussion |
| |
dolorous |
marked by misery or grief |
| |
dolt |
stupid fellow |
| |
dormant |
in a state of inactivity but awaiting development |
| |
dote |
show much fondness; center one's attention |
| |
drawl |
slow way of speaking |
| |
droll |
jesting |
| |
drone |
male bee; person who isn't self-employed |
| |
drowsiness |
feeling sleepy; half asleep |
| |
drudge |
to do hard, menial or monotonous work |
| |
dubious |
feeling doubt |
| |
dud |
no use person; smth that fails |
| |
dulcet |
melodious; harmonious |
| |
dupe |
cheat; make a fool of |
| |
duplicity |
deliberate deception |
| |
duress |
threats to compel smb |
| |
dwarf |
person or smb much below the usual size |
| |
dynamo |
a generator; something that produces electric current |
| |
earthenware |
dishes made of baked clay |
| |
ebullience |
exuberance; outburst of feeling |
| |
ebullient |
overflowing with enthusiasm; showing excitement |
| |
ecumenical |
representing the whole Christian world |
| |
edacious |
voracious; devouring |
| |
eddy |
circular or spiral movement (e.g., of wind) |
| |
edible |
fit to be eaten; not poisonous |
| |
efface |
to make indistinct |
| |
effete |
infertile; worn out; weak |
| |
efficacy |
production of a desired result |
| |
effluvia |
outflow in a stream of particles; a noxious odor or vapor |
| |
effrontery |
boldness; impudence; arrogance |
| |
egregious |
flagrant |
| |
egress |
way out; exit |
| |
elaborate |
worked out with much care, in great detail |
| |
elegy |
a lament; a melancholy composition |
| |
elicit |
draw out |
| |
eloquence |
fluent speaking; skillful use of language |
| |
emaciate |
make thin and weak |
| |
embellish |
make beautiful |
| |
embezzle |
use in a wrong way for one's own benefit |
| |
emollient |
soothing to the skin; mollifying |
| |
emote |
stir up; excite |
| |
empirical |
relying on experiment |
| |
encapsulate |
enclose in capsule |
| |
encomium |
warm or glowing praise; eulogy; panegyric |
| |
encumbrance |
burden things that get on the way of |
| |
endearing |
making dear or liked |
|
