 | Term | Definition |
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Abjure |
(v) to renounce under oath, to shun |
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abrogate |
(v) to repeal or abolish |
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abstemious |
(adj) abstaining from wine, sparing in diet, temperate |
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acumen |
(n) quickness of perception or discernment |
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antebellum |
(adj) a period prior to a war; in US, before Civil War |
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auspicious |
(adj) a good omen, fortunate |
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belie |
(v) to give a false representation of something |
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Bellicose |
(adj) warlike in nature, aggressive, hostile |
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bowdlerize |
(v) to remove parts considered offensive |
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chicanery |
(n) deception by use of trickery |
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chromosome |
part of cell that contains DNA |
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churlish |
(adj) rude, vulgar, difficult to work with |
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Circumlocution |
(n) a roundabout way of speaking, using more words than necessary |
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circumnavigate |
(v) to travel completely around something |
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Deciduous |
(adj) trees that lose their leaves in winter |
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deleterious |
(adj) harmful, noxious |
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diffident |
(adj) lacking confidence, timid, bashful, modest |
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enervate |
(v) to reduce strength, debilitate |
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enfranchise |
(v) to give the right to vote, to set free |
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epiphany |
(n) an illuminating discovery resulting in personal feeling of elation |
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equinox |
(n) when the Sun is over the equator |
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euro |
(n) monetary unit of the European Union |
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evanescent |
(adj) tending to vanish like vapor |
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expurgate |
(v) to edit out offensive, incorrect, or useless information, to cleanse, to purge |
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facetious |
(adj) treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor |
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fatuous |
(adj) obnoxiously stupid, vacantly silly |
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feckless |
(adj) lacking purpose, without skill, ineffective |
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fiduciary |
(n) one who holds a thing in trust for another, a trustee |
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filibuster |
(n) long, irrelevant speeches to delay the making of a decision |
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gamete |
(n) a reproductive cell that has only half the usual number of chromosomes (egg or sperm) |
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gauche |
(adj) awkward or lacking in social graces, bumbling |
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gerrymander |
(v) to divide a geographic area into voting districts to give unfair advantage to one party in an election |
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hegemony |
(n) domination or authority over another, especially over a society or nation |
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hemoglobin |
(n) substance in red blood cells that transports oxygen |
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homogeneous |
(adj) uniform composition throughout |
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hubris |
(n) excessive pride or arrogance |
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hypotenuse |
(n) the side of a right triangle opposite the right angle |
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impeach |
(v) to hinder, to bring legal proceeding against a public official, saying they should be removed from office |
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incognito |
(adj) in disguise |
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incontrovertible |
(adj) cannot be denied or disputed |
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inculcate |
(v) to teach by repeated instruction, to induce understanding or a particular sentiment in people |
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infrastructure |
(n) underlying base or foundation in an organization or system |
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interpolate |
(v) to estimate value of a function between two points |
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irony |
(n) a statement that means the opposite of what it says |
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jejune |
(adj) empty or void of substance |
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kinetic |
(adj) relating to motion |
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kowtow |
(v) to kneel and bow low enough to touch one’s forehead to the ground |
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laissez faire |
(adj) economic term which refers to an economy in which the government allows the free markets to make the decisions |
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lexicon |
(n) a dictionary |
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loquacious |
(adj) talkative or chatty |
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Lugubrious |
(adj) overly gloomy, mournful, or dismal |
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metamorphosis |
(n) a transformation |
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mitosis |
(n) the division of a cell nucleus into two identical halves |
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moiety |
(n) half, a share or portion |
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nanotechnology |
(n) the science of machines that are very small |
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nihilism |
(n) extreme skepticism, maintaining that nothing has a real existence, the rejection of all moral principles |
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nomenclature |
(n) a system or arrangement of names |
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nonsectarian |
(adj) not restricted to one sect or school or party |
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notarize |
(v) to attest something as genuine |
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obsequious |
(adj) fawning or subservient, excessively eager to please or to obey all instructions |
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oligarchy |
(n) government controlled by a few, usually the wealthy |
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omnipotent |
(adj) all-powerful |
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orthography |
(n) the study of correct spelling |
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oxidize |
(v) to combine with oxygen |
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parabola |
(n) the locus of a point equidistant from a point and a line |
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paradigm |
(n) an example serving as a model or pattern |
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parameter |
(n) an arbitrary constant whose value characterized a member of a system |
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pecuniary |
(adj) relating to money |
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photosynthesis |
(n) the process by which plants generate carbohydrates and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water using light as a source of energy |
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plagiarize |
(v) to use and pass off as one’s own someone else’s writing or speech |
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plasma |
(n) a component of blood that assists in clotting and injury repair |
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polymer |
a long molecule consisting of a chain of identical parts |
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precipitous |
(adj) steep |
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quasar |
(n) starlike objects thought to be the most distant and most luminous objects in the universe |
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quotidian |
(adj) daily, common, ordinary, or trivial |
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recapitulate |
(v) to summarize or repeat in concise form |
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reciprocal |
(adj) an action or feeling done or felt by two people toward each other |
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reparation |
(n) a payment of time, effort, or money to undue past transgressions |
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respiration |
(n) the process of inhaling and exhaling |
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sanguine |
(adj) cheerfully optimistic, hopeful, or confident, blood-red |
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soliloquy |
(n) a speech by a character to himself to reveal his thoughts to the audience |
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subjugate |
(v) to forcibly impose obedience or servitude |
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suffragist |
(n) a person who promotes the right to vote |
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supercilious |
(adj) arrogantly superior, showing contemptuous indifference |
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tautology |
(n) redundant use of words |
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taxonomy |
(n) the science of finding, describing, classifying, and naming organisms |
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tectonic |
(adj) having a strong and widespread impact |
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tempestuous |
(adj) relating to a tempest, stormy |
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thermodynamics |
(n) the science of the conversions between heat and other forms of energy |
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totalitarian |
(adj) a system of government where the people have virtually no authority and the state wields absolute control |
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unctuous |
(adj) oily, greasy, profusely and unpleasantly polite and insincerely earnest |
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usurp |
(v) to seize power from another, usually by illegitimate means |
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vacuous |
(adj) showing a lack of thought or intelligence, vacant |
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vehement |
(adj) showing strong feeling, passionate, forceful, or intense |
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vortex |
(n) a whirlwind or whirlpool in the form of a spiral or column |
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winnow |
(v) to free or separate grain or the like from chaff or refuse matter, usually using the air, to free of unwanted or inferior elements |
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wrought |
(adj) to bring to pass, having been worked or prepared somehow |
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xenophobe |
(n) one who fears that which is unknown, one who fears people who are different from oneself, especially in the case of foreign people |
| |
yeoman |
(n) an official providing honorable service in a royal household, one that performs great and loyal service |
| |
ziggurat |
(n) a temple tower of the ancient Mesopotamian valley |
