 | Term | Definition |
| |
Aberrant |
Markedly different from an accepted form |
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Aberration |
Deviation from a right, customary, or prescribed course |
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Abet |
To adi, promote, or encourage |
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Abeyance |
State of suspension or temporary inaction |
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Abjure |
To recant, renounce, repudiate under oath |
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Ablution |
A washing or cleansing, especially of the body |
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Abrogate |
To abolish, repeat |
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Abscond |
To depart suddenly and secretly, as for the purpose of escaping arrest |
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Abstemious |
Characterized by self-denial or abstinence, as in the use of drink or food |
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Abstruse |
Dealing with matters difficult to understand |
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Abut |
To touch at the end or boundary line |
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Accede |
To agree |
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Acquiesce |
To comply or submit |
| |
Acrid |
Harshly pungent or bitter |
| |
Acumen |
Quickness of intellectual insight, or discernment; keenness of discrimination |
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Adage |
An old saying |
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Adamant |
Any substance of exceeding hardness or impenetrability |
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Admonition |
Gentle reproof |
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Adumbrate |
To represent beforehand in outline or by emblem |
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Affable |
Easy to approach |
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Aggrandize |
To cause to appear great |
| |
Aggravate |
To make heavier, worse, or more burdensome |
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Agile |
Able to move or act quickly , physically, or mentally |
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Agog |
In eager desire |
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Alacrity |
Cheerful willingness |
| |
Alcove |
A covered recess connected with or at the side of a larger room |
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Alleviate |
To make less burdensome or less hard to bear |
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Aloof |
Not in sympathy with or desiring to associate with others |
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Amalgamate |
To mix or blend together in a homogenous body |
| |
Ambidextrous |
Having the ability of using both hands in equal skill or ease |
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Ambiguous |
Having double meaning |
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Ameliorate |
To relieve, as from pain or hardship |
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Anathema |
Anything forbidden, as by social usage |
| |
Animadversion |
The utterance of criticism or censure |
| |
Animosity |
Hatred |
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Antediluvian |
Of or pertaining to the times, things, or events before the great flood in the days of the biblical Noah |
| |
Antidote |
Anything that will counteract or remove the effects of poison, disease, or the like |
| |
Aplomb |
Confidence, coolness |
| |
Apocryphal |
Of doubtful authority or authenticity |
| |
Apogee |
The climax |
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Apostate |
False |
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Apotheosis |
Deification |
| |
Apparition |
Ghost |
| |
Appease |
To soothe by quieting anger or indignation |
| |
Apposite |
Appropriate |
| |
Apprise |
To give notice to; to inform |
| |
Approbation |
Sanction |
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Arboreal |
Of or pertaining to a tree or trees |
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Ardor |
Intensity of passion or affection |
| |
Argot |
A specialized vocabulary peculiar to a particular group |
| |
Arrant |
Notoriously bad |
| |
Ascetic |
Given to severe self-denial and practicing excessive abstinence and devotion |
| |
Ascribe |
To assign as a quality or attribute |
| |
Asperity |
Harshness or roughness of temper |
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Assiduous |
Unceasing, persistent |
| |
Assuage |
To cause to be less harsh, violent, or severe as excitement, appetite, pain, or distress |
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Astringent |
Harsh in disposition of character |
| |
Astute |
Keen in discernment |
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Atonement |
Amends, reparation, or expiation made from wrong or injury |
| |
Audacious |
Fearless |
| |
Augury |
Omen |
| |
Auspicious |
Favorable, fortunate, boding well |
| |
Austere |
Severely simple; unadorned |
| |
Autocrat |
Any one who claims or wields unrestricted or undisputed authority or influence |
| |
Auxiliary |
One who or that which aids or helps, especially when regarded as subsidiary or accessory |
| |
Avarice |
Passion for getting and keeping riches |
| |
Aver |
To avouch, justify or prove |
| |
Aversion |
A mental condition of fixed opposition to or dislike of some particular thing |
| |
Avow |
To declare openly |
| |
Baleful |
Malignant |
| |
Banal |
Commonplace |
| |
Bask |
To make warm by genial heat |
| |
Beatify |
To make supremely happy |
| |
Bedaub |
To smear over, as with something oily or sticky |
| |
Bellicose |
Warlike |
| |
Belligerent |
Manifesting a warlike spirit |
| |
Benefactor |
Doer of kindly and charitable acts |
| |
Benevolence |
Any act of kindness or well-doing |
| |
Benign |
Good and kind of heart |
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Berate |
To scold severely |
| |
Bewilder |
To confuse the perceptions or judgments of |
| |
Blandishment |
Flattery intended to persuade |
| |
Blatant |
Noisily or offensively loud or clamorous |
| |
Blithe |
Joyous |
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Boisterous |
Unchecked merriment or animal spirits |
| |
Bolster |
To support, as something wrong |
| |
Bombast |
Inflated or extravagant language, especially on unimportant subjects |
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Boorish |
Rude |
| |
Breach |
The violation of official duty, lawful right, or legal obligation |
| |
Brittle |
Fragile |
| |
Broach |
To mention for the first time |
| |
Bumptious |
Full of offensive and aggressive self-conceit |
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Buoyant |
Having hte power or tendency to float or keep afloat |
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Burnish |
To make brilliant or shining |
| |
Cabal |
A number of persons secretly united for effecting by intrigue some private purpose |
| |
Cacophony |
A disagreeable, harsh, or discordant sound or combination of sounds or tones |
| |
Cajole |
To impose on or dupe by flattering speech |
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Callow |
Without experience of the world |
| |
Calumny |
Slander |
| |
Candid |
Straightforward |
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Cant |
To talk in a singsong, preaching tone with affected solemnity |
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Capacious |
Roomy |
| |
Capitulate |
To surrender or stipulate terms |
| |
Captious |
Hypercritical |
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Castigate |
To punish |
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Cataract |
Opacity of the lens of the eye resulting in complete or partial blindness |
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Caustic |
Sarcastic and severe |
| |
Censure |
To criticize severely; also, an expression of disappointment |
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Centurion |
Captain of a compnay of one hundred infantry in the ancient Roman army |
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Chagrin |
Keen vexation, annoyance, or mortification, as at one's failures or errors |
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Chary |
Careful, wary, cautious |
| |
Chicanery |
Use of trickery to deceive |
| |
Circumlocution |
Indirection or roundabout expression |
| |
Coddle |
To treat as a baby or invalid |
| |
Coerce |
To force |
| |
Coeval |
Existing during the same period of time; also, a contemporary |
| |
Cogent |
Appealing strongly to the reason or conscience |
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Cogitate |
To consider deeply and carefully; to ponder |
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Cognizant |
Taking notice |
| |
Colloquial |
Pertaining or peculair to common speech as distinguished from literary speech |
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Collusion |
A secret agreement for a wrongful purpose |
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Comestible |
Fit to be eaten |
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Commemorate |
To serve as a remembrance of |
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Complaisance |
Politeness |
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Complement |
To make complete |
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Comport |
To conduct or behave oneself |
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Compunction |
Remorseful feeling |
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Conceit |
Self-flattering opinion |
| |
Conciliatory |
Tending to reconcile |
| |
Concord |
Harmony |
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Concur |
To agree |
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Condense |
To abridge |
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Conflagration |
A great fire, as of many buildings, a forest or the like |
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Confluence |
The place where streams meet |
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Congeal |
To coagulate |
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Conjoin |
To unite |
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Connoisseur |
A critical judge of art, especially one with knowledge and sound judgment of art |
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Console |
To comfort |
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Conspicuous |
Clearly visible |
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Consternation |
Panic |
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Constrict |
To bind |
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Consummate |
To bring completion |
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Contiguous |
Touching or joining at the edge or boundary |
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Contrite |
Broken spirit because of a sense of sin |
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Contumacious |
Rebellious |
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Copious |
Plentiful |
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Cornucopia |
The horn of plenty, symbolizing peace and prosperity |
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Corporeal |
Of a material nature; physical |
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Correlate |
To put in some relation of connection or correspondence |
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Corroboration |
Confirmation |
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Counterfeit |
Made to resemble something else |
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Countervail |
To offset |
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Covert |
Concealed, especially for an evil purpose |
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Cower |
To crouch down tremblingly, as though through fear or shame |
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Crass |
Coarse or thick in nature or structure, as opposed to thin or fine |
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Credulous |
Easily deceived |
| |
Cupidity |
Avarice |
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Cursory |
Rapid and superficial |
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Curtail |
To cut off or cut short |
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Cynosure |
That to which general attention or attention is directed |
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Dearth |
Scarcity, as of something customary, essential or desirable |
| |
Defer |
To delay or put off to some other time |
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Deign |
To deem worthy of notice or account |
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Deleterious |
Hurtful, morally or physically |
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Delineate |
To represent by sketch or diagram |
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Deluge |
To overwhelm with a flood of water |
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Demagogoue |
An unprincipled politician |
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Denizen |
Inhabitant |
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Denouement |
That part of a play or story in which the mystery is explained |
| |
Deplete |
To reduce or lessen, as by use, exhaustion or waste |
| |
Deposition |
Testimony legally taken on interrogatories and reduced to writing, for use as evidence in a court |
| |
Deprave |
To render bad, especially morally bad |
| |
Deprecate |
To express disapproval of or regret for, with hope for the opposite |
| |
Deride |
To ridicule |
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Derision |
Ridicule |
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Derivative |
Coming or acquired from some origin |
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Descry |
To discern |
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Desiccant |
Any remedy which, when applied externally, dries up or absorbs moisture, as that from wounds |
| |
Desuetude |
A state of disuse or inactivity |
| |
Desultory |
Not connected to what precedes |
| |
Deter |
To frighten away |
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Dexterity |
Readiness, precision, efficiency, and ease in any physical activity or in any mechanical work |
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Diaphanous |
Transparent |
| |
Diatribe |
A bitter or malicious criticism |
| |
Didactic |
Pertaining to teaching |
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Diffidence |
Self-distrust |
| |
Diffident |
Affected or possessed with self-distrust |
| |
Dilate |
To enarge in all directions |
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Dilatory |
Tending to cause delay |
| |
Disallow |
To withold permission or sanction |
| |
Discomfit |
To put to confusion |
| |
Disconcert |
To disturb the composure of |
| |
Disconsolate |
Hopelessly said; also, saddening, cheerless |
| |
Discountenance |
To look upon with disfavor |
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Discredit |
To injure the reputation of |
| |
Discreet |
Judicious |
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Disheveled |
Disordered, disorderly or untidy |
| |
Dissemble |
To hide by pretending to be something different |
| |
Disseminate |
To sow or scatter abroad, as seed is sown |
| |
Dissent |
Disagreement |
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Dissolution |
A breaking up of a union of persons |
| |
Distraught |
Bewildered |
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Divulge |
To tell or make known as something previously private or secret |
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Dogmatic |
Making statements without argument or evidence |
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Dormant |
Being in a state of or resembling sleep |
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Dubious |
Doubtful |
| |
Duplicity |
Double-dealing |
| |
Earthenware |
Anything made of clay and baked in a kiln or dried in the sun |
| |
Ebullient |
Showing enthusiasm or exhiliration of feeling |
| |
Edacious |
Given to eating |
| |
Edible |
Suitable to be eaten |
| |
Educe |
To draw out |
| |
Effete |
Exhausted, as having performed its functions |
| |
Efficacy |
The power to produce an intended effect a shown in the production of it |
| |
Effrontery |
Unblushing impudence |
| |
Effulgence |
Splendor |
| |
Egregious |
Extreme |
| |
Egress |
Any place of exit |
| |
Elegy |
Lyric poem lamenting the dead |
| |
Elicit |
To educe or extract gradually or without violence |
| |
Elucidate |
To bring out more clearly the facts concerning |
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Emaciate |
To waste away in flesh |
| |
Embellish |
To make beautiful or elegant by adding attractive or ornamental features |
| |
Embezzle |
To misappropriate secretly |
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Emblazon |
To set forth publicly or in glowing terms |
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Encomium |
A formal or discriminating expression of praise |
| |
Encumbrance |
A burdensome and troublesome load |
| |
Endemic |
Peculiar to some specified country or people |
| |
Enervate |
To render ineffective or inoperative |
| |
Engender |
To produce |
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Engrave |
To cut or carve in or upon some surface |
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Enigma |
A riddle or puzzle |
| |
Enmity |
Hatred |
| |
Entangle |
To involve in difficulties, confusion or complications |
| |
Entreat |
To ask for or request earnestly |
| |
Epicurean |
Indulging, ministering or pertaining to daintiness of appetite |
| |
Epithet |
Word as used as an adjective to describe some quality or attribute of the object |
| |
Epitome |
A simplified representation |
| |
Equable |
Equal and uniform; also, serene |
| |
Equanimity |
Evenness of mind or temper; calmness; composure |
| |
Equilibrium |
A state of balance |
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Equivocal |
Ambiguous |
| |
Equivocate |
To use words of double meaning |
| |
Eradicate |
To destroy thoroughly |
| |
Errant |
Roving or wandering, as in search of adventure or opportunity for gallant deeds |
| |
Erratic |
Irregular |
| |
Erroneous |
Incorrect |
| |
Erudite |
Very-learned |
| |
Eschew |
To keep clear of |
| |
Espy |
To keep close watch |
| |
Eulogy |
A spoken or witten laudation of a person's life or character |
| |
Euphonious |
Characterized by agreeableness of sound |
| |
Evanescent |
Fleeting |
| |
Evince |
To make manifest or evident |
| |
Evoke |
To call or summon forth |
| |
Exacerbate |
To make more sharp, severe, or virulent |
| |
Exculpate |
To relieve of blame |
| |
Exhaustive |
Thorough and complete in execution |
| |
Exigency |
A critical period or condition; state requiring immediate action; an urent situation; that which is required in an emergency situation |
| |
Exorbitant |
Going beyond what is usual and proper limits |
| |
Expatiate |
To speak or write at some length |
| |
Expedient |
Contributing to personal advantage |
| |
Expiate |
To make satisfaction or amends for |
| |
Expostulate |
To discuss |
| |
Expropriate |
To deprive of possession; to transfer (another's property) to onself |
| |
Extant |
Still existing and known |
| |
Extempore |
Without studied or special perparation |
| |
Extenuate |
To diminish the gravity or importance of |
| |
Extinct |
Being no longer in existence |
| |
Extinguish |
To render extinct |
| |
Extirpate |
To root out; to eradicate |
| |
Extol |
To praise in the highest terms |
| |
Extort |
To obtain by violence, threates, compulsion, or the subjection of another to some necessity |
| |
Extraneous |
Having no essential relation to a subject |
| |
Extuberance |
Rich supply |
| |
Facetious |
Amusing |
| |
Facile |
Not difficult to do |
| |
Factious |
Turbulent |
| |
Fallacious |
Illogical |
| |
Fatuous |
Idiotic |
| |
Fawn |
A young deer |
| |
Feint |
Any sham, pretense or deceptive movement |
| |
Felon |
A criminal or depraved person |
| |
Ferocity |
Savageness |
| |
Fervid |
Intense |
| |
Fervor |
Ardor or intensity of feeling |
| |
Fidelity |
Loyalty |
| |
Finesse |
Subtle contrivance used to gain a point |
| |
Flamboyant |
Characterized by extravagance and in general by want of good taste |
| |
Flippant |
Having a light, pert, trifling disposition |
| |
Florid |
Flushed with red |
| |
Flout |
To treat with contempt |
| |
Foible |
A personal weakness or failing |
| |
Foment |
To nurse to life or activity, to encourage |
| |
Foppish |
Characteristic of one who is unduly devoted tod ress and the niceties of manners |
| |
Forbearance |
Patient endurance or toleration of offenses |
| |
Forfeit |
To lose possession of through failure to fulfill some obligation |
| |
Forgery |
Counterfeiting |
| |
Forswear |
To reounce upon oath |
| |
Fragile |
Easily broken |
| |
Frantic |
Frenzied |
| |
Frugal |
Economical |
| |
Fugacious |
Fleeting |
| |
Fulminate |
To cause to explode |
| |
Fulsome |
Offensive from excess of praise or commendation |
| |
Gainsay |
To contradict; to deny |
| |
Gamut |
The whole or sequence |
| |
Garrulous |
Given to constant trivial talking |
| |
Germane |
Relevant |
| |
Gesticulate |
To make gestures or motions, as in speaking, or in place of speech |
| |
Glimmer |
A faint, wavering, unsteady light |
| |
Gossamer |
Flimsy |
| |
Gourmand |
A connoisseur in the delicacies of the table |
| |
Grandiloquent |
Speaking in or characterized by a pompous or bombastic style |
| |
Gregarious |
Socialable, outgoing |
| |
Grievous |
Creating affliction |
| |
Guile |
Duplicity |
| |
Gullible |
Credulous |
| |
Halcyon |
Calm |
| |
Harangue |
A tirade |
| |
Harbinger |
One who or that which foreruns and annonces the coming of any person or thing |
| |
Head |
As an adverb, precipitately, as in diving |
| |
Heinous |
Odiously sinful |
| |
Heresy |
An opinion or doctrine subversive of settled beliefs or accepted principles |
| |
Heterogeneous |
Consisting of dissimilar elements or ingredients of different kinds |
| |
Hirsute |
Having a hairy covering |
| |
Hoodwink |
To deceive |
| |
Hospitable |
Disposed to treat strangers or guests with generous kindess |
| |
Hypocrisy |
Extreme insincerity |
| |
Iconoclast |
An image-breaker |
| |
Idiosyncrasy |
A mental quality or habit peculiar to an individual |
| |
Ignoble |
Low in character or purpose |
| |
Ignominious |
Shameful |
| |
Illicit |
Unlawful |
| |
Imbroglio |
A misunderstanding attended by ill feeling, perplexity or strife |
| |
Imbue |
To dye, to instill profoundly |
| |
Immaculate |
Without spot or blemish |
| |
Imminent |
Dangerous and close at hand |
| |
Immutable |
Unchangeable |
| |
Impair |
To cause to become less or worse |
| |
Impassive |
Unmoved by or not exhibiting feeling |
| |
Impecunious |
Having no money |
| |
Impede |
To be an obstacle or to place obstacles in the way of |
| |
Imperative |
Obligatory |
| |
Imperious |
Insisting on obedience |
| |
Imperturbable |
Calm |
| |
Impervious |
Impenetrable |
| |
Impetuous |
Impulsive |
| |
Impiety |
Irreverence toward a god |
| |
Implacable |
Incapable of being pacified |
| |
Implicate |
To show or prove to be involved in or concerned |
| |
Implicit |
Implied |
| |
Importunate |
Urgent in character, request or demand |
| |
Importune |
To harass with persistent demands or entreaties |
| |
Impromptu |
Anything done or said on the impulse of the moment |
| |
Improvident |
Lacking foresight or thrift |
| |
Impugn |
To assail with arguments, insinuations, or accusations |
| |
Impute |
To attribute |
| |
Inadvertent |
Accidental |
| |
Inane |
Silly |
| |
Incessant |
Unceasing |
| |
Inchoate |
Incipient |
| |
Incipient |
Initial |
| |
Incite |
To rouse to a particular action |
| |
Incongruous |
Unsuitable for the time, place or occasion |
| |
Inculcate |
To teach by frequent repititions |
| |
Indelible |
Can not be blotted out, effaced, destroyed or removed |
| |
Indigence |
Poverty |
| |
Indigenous |
Native |
| |
Indistinct |
Vague |
| |
Indolence |
Laziness |
| |
Indolent |
Habitually inactive or idle |
| |
Indomitable |
Unconquerable |
| |
Indulgent |
Yielding to the desires or humor of oneself or those under one's care |
| |
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