 | Term | Definition |
| |
abate |
lessen |
| |
acrimonious |
bitterness |
| |
adept |
highly skilled |
| |
adorn |
ornament |
| |
advocate |
to urge |
| |
aesthetic |
sensitive to art and beauty |
| |
affable |
pleasant |
| |
alienate |
make unfriendly |
| |
allele |
varying form of a gene |
| |
alliance |
association |
| |
alpha |
first letter in Greek alphabet |
| |
altruism |
unselfish concern for others |
| |
amalgamate |
unite |
| |
ambiguous |
vague |
| |
anarchy |
absence of government and law |
| |
antonym |
word opposite in meaning to another |
| |
apt |
quick to learn |
| |
arbitrate |
settle by using or being an arbiter |
| |
artifact |
any object made by human work |
| |
assimilate |
merge |
| |
attest |
declare to be true |
| |
auspicious |
favorable |
| |
benefactor |
one who has given money or aid |
| |
bisect |
divide into two equal parts |
| |
caprice |
whim |
| |
cessation |
stop |
| |
clamber |
climb clumsily |
| |
coagulate |
thicken;clot |
| |
concord |
agreement |
| |
conflict |
a fight |
| |
congruent |
agreeing |
| |
constrain |
force or restrain |
| |
contentious |
agreement |
| |
cunning |
skilled in deception |
| |
decadent |
decaying or decayed, especially in terms of morals |
| |
deft |
quick and skillful |
| |
deign |
condescend |
| |
demagogue |
one who appeals to prejudices |
| |
demure |
modest |
| |
derive |
to trace the origins of |
| |
devoid |
empty |
| |
dichotomous |
Divided into two parts or classifications. |
| |
dichotomy |
division into two parts, split; branching into two parts |
| |
dour |
gloomy |
| |
dupe |
person easily tricked |
| |
effervescent |
be lively |
| |
embryology |
the branch of biology that studies the formation and early development of living organisms |
| |
enigma |
something that baffles understanding and cannot be explained |
| |
euphoria |
a feeling of great (usually exaggerated) elation |
| |
evolution |
a process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage) |
| |
exalt |
raise in rank, character, or status |
| |
exemplary |
serving to warn |
| |
expedient |
a means to an end |
| |
extort |
get or cause to become in a difficult or laborious manner |
| |
fallacy |
a misconception resulting from incorrect reasoning |
| |
farce |
a comedy characterized by broad satire and improbable situations |
| |
franchise |
a statutory right or privilege granted to a person or group by a government (especially the rights of citizenship and the right to vote) |
| |
glib |
artfully persuasive in speech |
| |
guile |
the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them) |
| |
guise |
an artful or simulated semblance |
| |
gullible |
easily tricked because of being too trusting |
| |
hackneyed |
repeated too often |
| |
haphazard |
marked by great carelessness |
| |
haughty |
having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy |
| |
hecatomb |
a great sacrifice |
| |
heretical |
characterized by departure from accepted beliefs or standards |
| |
homage |
respectful deference |
| |
hoodwink |
conceal one's true motives from especially by elaborately feigning good intentions so as to gain an end |
| |
hyberbole |
exaggeration of words |
| |
idle |
run disconnected or idle |
| |
immutable |
not subject or susceptible to change or variation in form or quality or nature |
| |
impartial |
free from undue bias or preconceived opinions |
| |
implicit |
being without doubt or reserve |
| |
impoverish |
take away |
| |
incredulous |
not disposed or willing to believe |
| |
incumbent |
the official who holds an office |
| |
indict |
accuse formally of a crime |
| |
interim |
the time between one event, process, or period and another |
| |
inviolable |
not capable of being violated or infringed |
| |
jeopardize |
put at risk |
| |
laconic |
brief and to the point |
| |
latent |
not presently active |
| |
listless |
lacking zest or vivacity |
| |
literacy |
the ability to read and write |
| |
literary |
appropriate to literature rather than everyday speech or writing |
| |
memoir |
an essay on a scientific or scholarly topic |
| |
mercenary |
a person hired to fight for another country than their own |
| |
metamorphosis |
a complete change of physical form or substance especially as by magic or witchcraft |
| |
mitosis |
cell division in which the nucleus divides into nuclei containing the same number of chromosomes |
| |
ode |
a lyric poem with complex stanza forms |
| |
omniscient |
infinitely wise |
| |
onerous |
not easily borne |
| |
ordination |
the act of ordaining |
| |
paltry |
not worth considering |
| |
panacea |
hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases |
| |
pander |
someone who procures customers for whores (in England they call a pimp a ponce) |
| |
paramount |
having superior power and influence |
| |
parody |
humorous or satirical mimicry |
| |
peevish |
easily irritated or annoyed |
| |
penitent |
(Roman Catholic Church) a person who repents for wrongdoing (a Roman Catholic may be admitted to penance under the direction of a confessor) |
| |
pillage |
the act of stealing valuable things from a place |
| |
pliant |
capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out |
| |
poach |
cook in a simmering liquid |
| |
pretension |
a false or unsupportable quality |
| |
procurement |
the act of getting possession of something |
| |
protract |
lengthen in time |
| |
pugnacious |
ready and able to resort to force or violence |
| |
purloin |
make off with belongings of others |
| |
quandary |
state of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavorable options |
| |
reactionary |
an extreme conservative |
| |
reflexive |
a personal pronoun compounded with -self to show the agent's action affects the agent |
| |
rejuvenate |
become young again |
| |
repugnant |
offensive to the mind |
| |
resilient |
rebounds readily |
| |
ruse |
a deceptive maneuver (especially to avoid capture) |
| |
salient |
having a quality that thrusts itself into attention |
| |
sanctimonious |
excessively or hypocritically pious |
| |
schism |
division of a group into opposing factions |
| |
shrew |
small mouselike mammal with a long snout |
| |
similar |
resembling or similar |
| |
strident |
unpleasantly loud and harsh |
| |
subsidiary |
a company that is completely controlled by another company |
| |
succumb |
consent reluctantly |
| |
supplant |
take the place or move into the position of |
| |
surly |
inclined to anger or bad feelings with overtones of menace |
| |
surplice |
a loose-fitting white ecclesiastical vestment with wide sleeves |
| |
surveillance |
close observation of a person or group (usually by the police) |
| |
symmetric |
having similarity in size, shape, and relative position of corresponding parts |
| |
tenure |
the right to hold property |
| |
thesis |
a treatise advancing a new point of view resulting from research |
| |
trivial |
not large enough to consider or notice |
| |
usurp |
take the place of |
| |
veracity |
unwillingness to tell lies |
| |
vertex |
the point of intersection of lines or the point opposite the base of a figure |
| |
vestment |
gown (especially ceremonial garments) worn by the clergy |
| |
virulent |
infectious |
| |
vitality |
an energetic style |
| |
vocation |
the particular occupation for which you are trained |
| |
vortex |
a powerful circular current of water (usually the resulting of conflicting tides) |
| |
vouch |
give supporting evidence |
