 | Term | Definition |
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adventitious |
accidental; casual; happening by chance |
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adversary |
opponent; enemy |
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adverse |
going against; opposing; unfavorable; hostile |
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adversity |
great hardship or affliction; misfortune; calamitous event |
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advert |
refer |
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advocacy |
support; active pleading on behalf of someone or something |
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advocate |
speak in favor of; support (an idea or plan); urge; plead for |
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aegis |
shield; protection; defense |
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aerie(aery,eyrie,eyry) |
nest of a large bird of prey |
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aesthetic |
artistic; dealing with or capable of appreciating the beautiful (of a person or building); CF. aesthete; CF. aesthetics |
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affable |
easily approachable; easy to talk to; warmly friendly |
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affected |
artificial; pretended |
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affidavit |
written statement made under oath (for use as proof in a court of law) |
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affiliation |
joining; associating with |
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affinity |
feeling of kinship; similarity; Ex. strong affinity for her; Ex. many affinities between two languages |
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affirmation |
positive assertion; confirmation; solemn pledge by one who refuses to take an oath; V. affirm; ADJ. affirmative; CF. affirmative action: positive discrimination |
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affliction |
state of distress; trial; cause of distress or suffering; V. afflict: inflict grievous suffering on |
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affluence |
abundance; wealth |
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affront |
insult; offense; intentional act of disrespect; V: insult or hurt the feelings of intentionally |
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agape |
openmouthed |
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agenda |
items of business at a meeting |
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agglomeration |
collection; heap; V. agglomerate: gather into a rounded mass; N. aggolmeate: jumbled mass; heap |
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aggrandize |
make greater; increase in power, wealth, rank, or honor; N. aggrandizement |
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aggregate |
sum; total; ADJ. V: gather into a mass or whole; accumulate; add up to; Ex. aggregate 100 dollars |
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aghast |
filled with great surprise or fear; horrified |
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agility |
nimbleness; ability to move quickly |
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agitate |
stir up; disturb |
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agnostic |
one who is skeptical of the existence or knowability of a god or any ultimate reality |
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agog |
highly excited; intensely curious |
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agrarian |
pertaining to land or its cultivation; Ex. agrarian reform |
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alacrity |
cheerful promptness without reluctance |
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alchemy |
medieval chemistry |
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alcove |
nook; recess |
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alias |
an assumed name esp. by a criminal (usually to mislead people); ADV. alias |
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alienate |
make unfriendly or hostile; estrange; separate; change the ownership of |
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alimentary |
supplying nourishment |
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alimony |
payments made regularly to an ex-spouse after divorce |
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allay |
calm; pacify |
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allege |
state without proof |
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allegiance |
loyalty |
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allegory |
story, play, or picture in which characters are used as symbols; fable |
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alleviate |
relieve (pain) |
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alliteration |
repetition of beginning sound in poetry |
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allocate |
assign; set apart for a particular purpose |
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alloy |
mixture as of metals; something added that lowers in value or purity; V: mix; make less pure; lower in value or quality; spoil; CF. unalloyed: not in mixture with other maetals; pure; complete; unqualified; Ex. unalloyed happiness |
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allude |
refer indirectly; N. allusion: indirect reference |
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allure |
entice; attract; tempt |
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siren |
apparatus for making sounds; womanlike creature |
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alluvial |
pertaining to soil deposits left by running water |
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aloof |
apart; not open in one's relationship with other people; reserved; ADV. |
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aloft |
upward; high up in the air |
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altercation |
noisy quarrel |
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altruistic |
unselfishly generous; concerned for others; N. altiruism: unselfish concern for the welfare of others; unselfishness; OP. egoism |
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amalgamate |
(of societies or groups) combine; unite in one body |
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amalgam |
combination of different things; mixture of metals (containing mercury) used for filling holes in teeth |
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amass |
collect (gradually, in a very large amount) |
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amazon |
female warrior |
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ambidextrous |
capable of using either hand with equal ease |
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ambience |
environment; atmosphere; Ex. restraurant with a pleasant ambience; ADJ. ambient: completely surrounding; Ex. ambient temperature |
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ambiguous |
unclear or doubtful in meaning; having more than one possible interpretation |
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ambivalence |
the state of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes or opinions |
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amble |
walking at an easy unhurried pace; V: walk slowly and aimlessly |
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ambrosia |
food of the gods |
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s nectar |
drink of the gods; sweet liquid collected by bees |
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ambulatory |
able to walk |
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ameliorate |
improve |
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amenable |
obedient; compliant; readily managed; responsive; willing to be led; answerable or accountable legally; responsible; able to be tested by; Ex. amenable to sensible suggestions; Ex. He is very amenable; Ex. amenable to the usual tests |
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amend |
correct; change ; generally for the better |
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amenities |
convenient features that helps to make life pleasant; social courtesies |
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amiable |
agreeable; lovable; warmly friendly |
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amicable |
peaceful; politely friendly; not quarrelsome; Ex. amicable settlement |
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amiss |
wrong; faulty; Ex. something amiss; ADV. |
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amity |
friendship; peaceful relationship as between nations |
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amnesia |
loss of memory |
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amnesty |
pardon (allowed by government to political criminals) |
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amoral |
nonmoral; having no understanding of right and wrong |
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amorous |
moved by sexual love; loving; of sexual love; Ex. amorous advances |
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amorphous |
formless; lacking shape or definition |
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amphibian |
able to live both on land and in water; N. |
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amphitheater |
oval building with tiers of seats; CF. arena |
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ample |
enough; abundant; spacious; large in size; Ex. ample opportunity/garden; N. amplitude: quality of being ample; abundance; largeness of space |
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amplify |
increase in size or effect; expand; broaden or clarify by expanding; intensify; make stronger; Ex. amplify one's remarks with a graph |
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amputate |
cut off part of body; prune (a limb) |
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amok(amuck) |
in a state of rage; Ex. run amok |
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amulet |
charm; talisman; an object worn believed to protect against evil, bad luck |
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anachronism |
an error involving time in a story; something or someone misplaced in time; ADJ. anachronistic |
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analgesic |
causing insensitivity to pain; N. |
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analgesia |
condition of being unable to feel pain |
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analogous |
comparable; similar |
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analogy |
similarity; parallelism; comparing two similar things |
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anarchist |
person who seeks to overturn the established government; advocate of abolishing authority |
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anarchy |
absence of governing body; state of disorder |
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anathema |
solemn curse; someone or something regarded as a curse; V. anathematize |
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ancestry |
family descent; ADJ. ancestral |
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anchor |
secure or fasten firmly; be fixed in place; N. anchorage |
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ancillary |
serving as an aid or accessory; auxiliary; N. |
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anecdote |
short story of an amusing or interesting event |
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anemia |
condition in which blood lacks red corpuscles; ADJ. anemic |
