 | Term | Definition |
| |
cogent |
convincing, reasonable |
| |
didactic |
intended to instruct |
| |
discourse |
verbal expression or exchange, conversation |
| |
lucid |
easily understood, clear |
| |
rhetoric |
the art of using language effectively and persuasively |
| |
arbiter |
a judge who decides a diputed issue |
| |
exculpate |
to free from guilt or blame |
| |
incontrovertible |
not able to be denied or disputed |
| |
penitent |
expressing remorse for one's misdeeds |
| |
contemptuous |
feeling hatred, scornful |
| |
despotic |
exercising absolute power, tyrannical |
| |
imperious |
arrogantly domineering or overbearing |
| |
convoluted |
intricate, complex |
| |
quandary |
a state of uncertainty or perplexity |
| |
indolent |
lazy |
| |
insipid |
uninteresting, unchallenging |
| |
listless |
lacking energy |
| |
torpor |
laziness, inactivity, dullness |
| |
disparity |
inequality in age, rank, or degree, difference |
| |
servile |
submissive, like a servant |
| |
florid |
describing flowery or elaborate speech |
| |
opulent |
exhibiting a display of great wealth |
| |
ebullience |
intense enthusiasm |
| |
effusive |
emotionally unrestrained, gushy |
| |
egregious |
conspiciously bad or offensive |
| |
frenetic |
wildly excited or active |
| |
auspicious |
favorable, promising |
| |
mollify |
to calm or soothe |
| |
reclamation |
the act of making something useful again |
| |
sanction |
to give official authorization or approval |
| |
spurious |
not genuine |
| |
astute |
shrewd, clever |
| |
disingenous |
not straightforward, crafty |
| |
stratagem |
a clever trick used to deceive or outwit |
| |
capricious |
impulsive and unpredictable |
| |
equivocate |
to avoid making a definite statement |
| |
tenuous |
having little substance or strength, shaky, unsure, weak |
| |
assiduous |
hard-working |
| |
maverick |
one who is independent and resists adherence to a group |
| |
obdurate |
stubborn, inflexible |
| |
incumbent |
imposed as a duty, obligatory |
| |
inherent |
inborn, built-in |
| |
innate |
possessed from birth |
| |
inveterate |
long established, deep-rooted, habitual |
| |
transient |
passing away with time, passing from one place to another |
| |
affable |
easy-going, friendly |
| |
amenable |
responsive, agreeable |
| |
facetious |
playfully humorous |
| |
impinge |
hinder, interfere with |
| |
truncated |
shortened, cut off |
| |
anthology |
a collection of literary pieces |
| |
dilettante |
one with an amateurish or superficial understanding of a field of knowledge |
| |
decorous |
proper, marked by good taste |
| |
equanimity |
the quality of being calm and even-tempered, composure |
| |
staid |
unemotional, serious |
| |
stoic |
indifferent to pleasure or pain, impassive |
| |
pejorative |
describing words or phrases that belittle or speak negatively of someone |
| |
vilify |
to make vicious statements |
| |
brusque |
rudely abrupt |
| |
caustic |
bitingly sarcastic or witty |
| |
fractious |
quarrelsome, unruly |
| |
deleterious |
having a harmful effect, injurious |
| |
enmity |
mutual hatred or ill-will |
| |
malfeasance |
wrongdoing, misconduct |
| |
archaic |
characteristic of an earlier period, old-fashioned |
| |
hackneyed |
worn out through overuse, trite |
| |
prosaic |
unimaginative, dull |
| |
sedentary |
not migratory, settled |
| |
harbinger |
something that indicates what is to come, a forerunner |
| |
timorous |
timid, fearful about the future |
| |
trepidation |
uncertainty, apprehension |
| |
nascent |
coming into existence, emerging |
| |
novel |
strikingly new or unusual |
| |
candor |
sincerity, openness |
| |
prodigious |
enormous |
| |
replete |
abundantly supplied, filled to capacity |
| |
laudatory |
giving praise |
| |
fastidious |
possessing careful attention to detail, difficult to please |
| |
solvent |
able to pay one's debts |
| |
anachronism |
something out of place in time or sequence |
| |
anthropomorphism |
the attribution of humanlike characteristics to inanimate objects, animals, or forces of nature |
| |
apposition |
a grammar construction in which a noun is placed with another as an explanation |
| |
chiasmus |
an inversion in the second of two parallel phrases |
| |
lexicon |
a word book describing language with definitions, dictionary |
| |
metonymy |
type of figurative language in which one term is substituted for another term with which it is closely associated |
| |
panegyric |
statement of high praise |
| |
paradigm |
an example or model |
| |
pernicious |
causing great harm |
| |
propitious |
presenting favorable circumstances, auspicious |
| |
syllogism |
a form of deductive reasoning: a major premise, minor premise, and conclusion |
| |
synecdoche |
a form of metonymy that's restricted to cases where a part is used to signify the whole |
