| Term | Definition |
|
rabid |
adj. Affected with rabies or hydrophobia. |
|
racy |
adj. Exciting or exhilarating to the mind. |
|
radiance |
n. Brilliant or sparkling luster. |
|
radiate |
v. To extend in all directions, as from a source or focus. |
|
radical |
n. One who holds extreme views or advocates extreme measures. |
|
radix |
n. That from or on which something is developed. |
|
raillery |
n. Good-humored satire. |
|
ramify |
v. To divide or subdivide into branches or subdivisions. |
|
ramose |
adj. Branch-like. |
|
rampant |
adj. Growing, climbing, or running without check or restraint. |
|
rampart |
n. A bulwark or construction to oppose assault or hostile entry. |
|
rancor |
n. Malice. |
|
rankle |
v. To produce irritation or festering. |
|
rapacious |
adj. Disposed to seize by violence or by unlawful or greedy methods. |
|
rapid |
adj. Having great speed. |
|
rapine |
n. The act of seizing and carrying off property by superior force, as in war. |
|
rapt |
adj. Enraptured. |
|
raptorial |
adj. Seizing and devouring living prey. |
|
ration |
v. To provide with a fixed allowance or portion, especially of food. |
|
rationalism |
n. The formation of opinions by relying upon reason alone, independently of authority. |
|
raucous |
adj. Harsh. |
|
ravage |
v. To lay waste by pillage, rapine, devouring, or other destructive methods. |
|
ravenous |
adj. Furiously voracious or hungry. |
|
ravine |
n. A deep gorge or hollow, especially one worn by a stream or flow of water. |
|
reaction |
n. Tendency towards a former, or opposite state of things, as after reform, revolution, or inflation. |
|
reactionary |
adj. Pertaining to, of the nature of, causing, or favoring reaction. |
|
readily |
adv. Without objection or reluctance. |
|
readjust |
v. To put in order after disarrangement. |
|
ready |
adj. In a state of preparedness for any given purpose or occasion. |
|
realism |
n. The principle and practice of depicting persons and scenes as they are believed really to exist. |
|
rearrange |
v. To arrange again or in a different order. |
|
reassure |
v. To give new confidence. |
|
rebellious |
adj. Insubordinate. |
|
rebuff |
n. A peremptory or unexpected rejection of advances or approaches. |
|
rebuild |
v. To build again or anew. |
|
rebut |
v. To oppose by argument or a sufficient answer. |
|
recant |
v. To withdraw formally one's belief (in something previously believed or maintained). |
|
recapitulate |
v. To repeat again the principal points of. |
|
recapture |
v. To capture again. |
|
recede |
v. To move back or away. |
|
receivable |
adj. Capable of being or fit to be received - often money. |
|
receptive |
adj. Having the capacity, quality, or ability of receiving, as truths or impressions. |
|
recessive |
adj. Having a tendency to go back. |
|
recidivist |
n. A confirmed criminal. |
|
reciprocal |
adj. Mutually interchangeable or convertible. |
|
reciprocate |
v. To give and take mutually. |
|
reciprocity |
n. Equal mutual rights and benefits granted and enjoyed. |
|
recitation |
n. The act of reciting or repeating, especially in public and from memory. |
|
reck |
v. To have a care or thought for. |
|
reckless |
adj. Foolishly headless of danger. |
|
reclaim |
v. To demand or to obtain the return or restoration of. |
|
recline |
v. To cause to assume a leaning or recumbent attitude or position. |
|
recluse |
n. One who lives in retirement or seclusion. |
|
reclusory |
n. A hermitage. |
|
recognizance |
n. An acknowledgment entered into before a court with condition to do some particular act. |
|
recognize |
v. To recall the identity of (a person or thing). |
|
recoil |
v. To start back as in dismay, loathing, or dread. |
|
recollect |
v. To recall the knowledge of. |
|
reconcilable |
adj. Capable of being adjusted or harmonized. |
|
reconnoiter |
v. To make a preliminary examination of for military, surveying, or geological purposes. |
|
reconsider |
v. To review with care, especially with a view to a reversal of previous action. |
|
reconstruct |
v. To rebuild. |
|
recourse |
n. Resort to or application for help in exigency or trouble. |
|
recover |
v. To regain. |
|
recreant |
n. A cowardly or faithless person. |
|
recreate |
v. To refresh after labor. |
|
recrudescence |
n. The state of becoming raw or sore again. |
|
recrudescent |
adj. Becoming raw or sore again. |
|
recruit |
v. To enlist men for military or naval service. |
|
rectify |
v. To correct. |
|
rectitude |
n. The quality of being upright in principles and conduct. |
|
recuperate |
v. To recover. |
|
recur |
v. To happen again or repeatedly, especially at regular intervals. |
|
recure |
v. To cure again. |
|
recurrent |
adj. Returning from time to time, especially at regular or stated intervals. |
|
redemption |
n. The recovery of what is mortgaged or pledged, by paying the debt. |
|
redolent |
adj. Smelling sweet and agreeable. |
|
redolence |
n. Smelling sweet and agreeable. |
|
redoubtable |
adj. Formidable. |
|
redound |
n. Rebound. |
|
redress |
v. To set right, as a wrong by compensation or the punishment of the wrong-doer. |
|
reducible |
adj. That may be reduced. |
|
redundance |
n. Excess. |
|
redundant |
adj. Constituting an excess. |
|
reestablish |
v. To restore. |
|
refer |
v. To direct or send for information or other purpose. |
|
referrer |
n. One who refers. |
|
referable |
adj. Ascribable. |
|
referee |
n. An umpire. |
|
refinery |
n. A place where some crude material, as sugar or petroleum, is purified. |
|
reflectible |
adj. Capable of being turned back. |
|
reflection |
n. The throwing off or back of light, heat, sound, or any form of energy that travels in waves. |
|
reflector |
n. A mirror, as of metal, for reflecting light, heat, or sound in a particular direction. |
|
reflexible |
adj. Capable of being reflected. |
|
reform |
n. Change for the better. |
|
reformer |
n. One who carries out a reform. |
|
refract |
v. To bend or turn from a direct course. |
|
refractory |
adj. Not amenable to control. |
|
refragable |
adj. Capable of being refuted. |
|
refringency |
n. Power to refract. |
|
refringent |
adj. Having the power to refract. |
|
refusal |
n. Denial of what is asked. |
|
refute |
v. To prove to be wrong. |
|
regale |
v. To give unusual pleasure. |
|
regalia |
n. pl. The emblems of royalty. |
|
regality |
n. Royalty. |
|
regenerate |
v. To reproduce. |
|
regent |
n. One who is lawfully deputized to administer the government for the time being in the name of the ruler. |
|
regicide |
n. The killing of a king or sovereign. |
|
regime |
n. Particular conduct or administration of affairs. |
|
regimen |
n. A systematized order or course of living with reference to food, clothing and personal habits. |
|
regiment |
n. A body of soldiers. |
|
regnant |
adj. Exercising royal authority in one's own right. |
|
regress |
v. To return to a former place or condition. |
|
regretful |
adj. Feeling, expressive of, or full of regret. |
|
rehabilitate |
v. To restore to a former status, capacity, right rank, or privilege. |
|
reign |
v. To hold and exercise sovereign power. |
|
reimburse |
v. To pay back as an equivalent of what has been expended. |
|
rein |
n. A step attached to the bit for controlling a horse or other draft-animal. |
|
reinstate |
v. To restore to a former state, station, or authority. |
|
reiterate |
v. To say or do again and again. |
|
rejoin |
v. To reunite after separation. |
|
rejuvenate |
v. To restore to youth. |
|
rejuvenescence |
n. A renewal of youth. |
|
relapse |
v. To suffer a return of a disease after partial recovery. |
|
relegate |
v. To send off or consign, as to an obscure position or remote destination. |
|
relent |
v. To yield. |
|
relevant |
adj. Bearing upon the matter in hand. |
|
reliance |
n. Dependence. |
|
reliant |
adj. Having confidence. |
|
relinquish |
v. To give up using or having. |
|
reliquary |
n. A casket, coffer, or repository in which relics are kept. |
|
relish |
v. To like the taste or savor of. |
|
reluctance |
n. Unwillingness. |
|
reluctant |
adj. Unwilling. |
|
remembrance |
n. Recollection. |
|
reminiscence |
n. The calling to mind of incidents within the range of personal knowledge or experience. |
|
reminiscent |
adj. Pertaining to the recollection of matters of personal interest. |
|
remiss |
adj. Negligent. |
|
remission |
n. Temporary diminution of a disease. |
|
remodel |
v. Reconstruct. |
|
remonstrance |
n. Reproof. |
|
remonstrant |
adj. Having the character of a reproof. |
|
remonstrate |
v. To present a verbal or written protest to those who have power to right or prevent a wrong. |
|
remunerate |
v. To pay or pay for. |
|
remuneration |
n. Compensation. |
|
Renaissance |
n. The revival of letters, and then of art, which marks the transition from medieval to modern time. |
|
rendezvous |
n. A prearranged place of meeting. |
|
rendition |
n. Interpretation. |
|
renovate |
v. To restore after deterioration, as a building. |
|
renunciation |
n. An explicit disclaimer of a right or privilege. |
|
reorganize |
v. To change to a more satisfactory form of organization. |
|
reparable |
adj. Capable of repair. |
|
reparation |
n. The act of making amends, as for an injury, loss, or wrong. |
|
repartee |
n. A ready, witty, or apt reply. |
|
repeal |
v. To render of no further effect. |
|
repel |
v. To force or keep back in a manner, physically or mentally. |
|
repellent |
adj. Having power to force back in a manner, physically or mentally. |
|
repentance |
n. Sorrow for something done or left undone, with desire to make things right by undoing the wrong. |
|
repertory |
n. A place where things are stored or gathered together. |
|
repetition |
n. The act of repeating. |
|
repine |
v. To indulge in fretfulness and faultfinding. |
|
replenish |
v. To fill again, as something that has been emptied. |
|
replete |
adj. Full to the uttermost. |
|
replica |
n. A duplicate executed by the artist himself, and regarded, equally with the first, as an original. |
|
repository |
n. A place in which goods are stored. |
|
reprehend |
v. To find fault with. |
|
reprehensible |
adj. Censurable. |
|
reprehension |
n. Expression of blame. |
|
repress |
v. To keep under restraint or control. |
|
repressible |
adj. Able to be kept under restraint or control. |
|
reprieve |
v. To grant a respite from punishment to. |
|
reprimand |
v. To chide or rebuke for a fault. |
|
reprisal |
n. Any infliction or act by way of retaliation on an enemy. |
|
reprobate |
n. One abandoned to depravity and sin. |
|
reproduce |
v. To make a copy of. |
|
reproduction |
n. The process by which an animal or plant gives rise to another of its kind. |
|
reproof |
n. An expression of disapproval or blame personally addressed to one censured. |
|
repudiate |
v. To refuse to have anything to do with. |
|
repugnance |
n. Thorough dislike. |
|
repugnant |
adj. Offensive to taste and feeling. |
|
repulse |
n. The act of beating or driving back, as an attacking or advancing enemy. |
|
repulsive |
adj. Grossly offensive. |
|
repute |
v. To hold in general opinion. |
|
requiem |
n. A solemn mass sung for the repose of the souls of the dead. |
|
requisite |
adj. Necessary. |
|
requital |
n. Adequate return for good or ill. |
|
requite |
v. To repay either good or evil to, as to a person. |
|
rescind |
v. To make void, as an act, by the enacting authority or a superior authority. |
|
reseat |
v. To place in position of office again. |
|
resemblance |
n. Similarity in quality or form. |
|
resent |
v. To be indignant at, as an injury or insult. |
|
reservoir |
n. A receptacle where a quantity of some material, especially of a liquid or gas, may be kept. |
|
residue |
n. A remainder or surplus after a part has been separated or otherwise treated. |
|
resilience |
n. The power of springing back to a former position |
|
resilient |
adj. Having the quality of springing back to a former position. |
|
resistance |
n. The exertion of opposite effort or effect. |
|
resistant |
adj. Offering or tending to produce resistance. |
|
resistive |
adj. Having or exercising the power of resistance. |
|
resistless |
adj. Powerless. |
|
resonance |
n. The quality of being able to reinforce sound by sympathetic vibrations. |
|
resonance |
adj. Able to reinforce sound by sympathetic vibrations. |
|
resonate |
v. To have or produce resonance. |
|
resource |
n. That which is restored to, relied upon, or made available for aid or support. |
|
respite |
n. Interval of rest. |
|
resplendent |
adj. Very bright. |
|
respondent |
adj. Answering. |
|
restitution |
n. Restoration of anything to the one to whom it properly belongs. |
|
resumption |
n. The act of taking back, or taking again. |
|
resurgent |
adj. Surging back or again. |
|
resurrection |
n. A return from death to life |
|
resuscitate |
v. To restore from apparent death. |
|
retaliate |
v. To repay evil with a similar evil. |
|
retch |
v. To make an effort to vomit. |
|
retention |
n. The keeping of a thing within one's power or possession. |
|
reticence |
n. The quality of habitually keeping silent or being reserved in utterance. |
|
reticent |
adj. Habitually keeping silent or being reserved in utterance. |
|
retinue |
n. The body of persons who attend a person of importance in travel or public appearance. |
|
retort |
n. A retaliatory speech. |
|
retouch |
v. To modify the details of. |
|
retrace |
v. To follow backward or toward the place of beginning, as a track or marking. |
|
retract |
v. To recall or take back (something that one has said). |
|
retrench |
v. To cut down or reduce in extent or quantity. |
|
retrieve |
v. To recover something by searching. |
|
retroactive |
adj. Operative on, affecting, or having reference to past events, transactions, responsibilities. |
|
retrograde |
v. To cause to deteriorate or to move backward. |
|
retrogression |
n. A going or moving backward or in a reverse direction. |
|
retrospect |
n. A view or contemplation of something past. |
|
retrospective |
adj. Looking back on the past. |
|
reunite |
v. To unite or join again, as after separation. |
|
revelation |
n. A disclosing, discovering, or making known of what was before secret, private, or unknown. |
|
revere |
v. To regard with worshipful veneration. |
|
reverent |
adj. Humble. |
|
reversion |
n. A return to or toward some former state or condition. |
|
revert |
v. To return, or turn or look back, as toward a former position or the like. |
|
revile |
v. To heap approach or abuse upon. |
|
revisal |
n. Revision. |
|
revise |
v. To examine for the correction of errors, or for the purpose of making changes. |
|
revocation |
n. Repeal. |
|
revoke |
v. To rescind. |
|
rhapsody |
n. Rapt or rapturous utterance. |
|
rhetoric |
n. The art of discourse. |
|
rhetorician |
n. A showy writer or speaker. |
|
ribald |
adj. Indulging in or manifesting coarse indecency or obscenity. |
|
riddance |
n. The act or ridding or delivering from something undesirable. |
|
ridicule |
n. Looks or acts expressing amused contempt. |
|
ridiculous |
adj. Laughable and contemptible. |
|
rife |
adj. Abundant. |
|
righteousness |
n. Rectitude. |
|
rightful |
adj. Conformed to a just claim according to established laws or usage. |
|
rigmarole |
n. Nonsense. |
|
rigor |
n. Inflexibility. |
|
rigorous |
adj. Uncompromising. |
|
ripplet |
n. A small ripple, as of water. |
|
risible |
adj. capable of exciting laughter. |
|
rivulet |
n. A small stream or brook. |
|
robust |
adj. Characterized by great strength or power of endurance. |
|
rondo |
n. A musical composition during which the first part or subject is repeated several times. |
|
rookery |
n. A place where crows congregate to breed. |
|
rotary |
adj. Turning around its axis, like a wheel, or so constructed as to turn thus. |
|
rotate |
v. To cause to turn on or as on its axis, as a wheel. |
|
rote |
n. Repetition of words or sounds as a means of learning them, with slight attention. |
|
rotund |
adj. Round from fullness or plumpness. |
|
rudimentary |
adj. Being in an initial, early, or incomplete stage of development. |
|
rue |
v. To regret extremely. |
|
ruffian |
adj. A lawless or recklessly brutal fellow. |
|
ruminant |
adj. Chewing the cud. |
|
ruminate |
v. To chew over again, as food previously swallowed and regurgitated. |
|
rupture |
v. To separate the parts of by violence. |
|
rustic |
adj. Characteristic of dwelling in the country. |
|
ruth |
n. Sorrow for another's misery. |