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PowerScore GRE Vocab
PowerScore GRE Vocabulary Repeat Offenders + PrepScholars 357 Words
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| abdicate | (vb) to give up, often in a formal manner / King Edward VIII abdicated the throne in order to marry Mrs. Wallis Simpson, a divorced American. / Word Forms: abdicable, abdicative, abdicator, abdication |
| aberrant | (adj) unusual / My dog displayed aberrant behavior when he refused to greet me at the door or eat any of the treats I offered. / Word Forms: aberrance, aberrancy, aberrantly, aberrate, aberrational / PS+RO |
| abeyance | (n) temporary suspension / The council voted to place the decision in abeyance for a month while more research was conducted. / Word Forms: abeyant, abeyancy |
| abjure | (vb) to give up, often in a formal manner / King Edward VIII abjured the throne in order to marry Mrs. Wallis Simpson, a divorced American. / Word Forms: abjuratory, abjurer, abjuration / PS+RO |
| abstemious | (adj) sparing in consumption, especially of food and drink / Abby’s emaciated figure was the result of her abstemious lifestyle; she never ate breakfast or lunch, and rarely ate dinner / Word Forms: abstemiously, abstemiousness |
| abstruse | (adj) hard to understand / Mr. Abbot tried to teach us how to solve an abstruse math problem, but it was too complicated for us to understand. / Word Forms: abstrusely, abstruseness, abstrusity |
| accretion | (n) an increase / Akeem's gradual accretion of duties at work did not go unnoticed; he was given a raise for taking on the extra work. / Word Forms: accrete, accretive, accretionary |
| acerbic | (adj) sour; harsh / Sour Patch Kids candy tastes like acerbic gummy bears. / Word Forms: acerbically, acerbate, acerbity |
| acidulous | (adj) sour; sharp / Her acidulous criticism of my paper on Shakespeare was disappointing since I had invested many hours in research. / Word Forms: acidulent, acidulation |
| acme | (n) the highest point / The Roman Empire reached its acme of power around 11 AD, but a slow decline occurred over the next four centuries. / Word Forms: acmic, acmatic |
| acumen | (n) good judgment / The judge was respected for his acumen when sentencing convicted defendants. / Word Forms: acuminous, acuminate, acumination / PS+RO |
| adroit | (adj) highly skilled, especially with one’s hands / The adroit mechanic was able to fix Addy’s old car, even though six other mechanics said it couldn’t be repaired. / Word Forms: adroitly, adroitness |
| aerie | (n) a nest; a home high on a mountain / Our aerie atop Roan Mountain was a cozy escape from the hustle and bustle of city life. |
| aesthetic | (adj) relating to beauty / Alaina chose this church because of its aesthetic qualities; it was the most beautiful wedding chapel she had ever seen. / Word Forms: aesthetically, aesthetics (n.), aestheticize, aesthete, aesthetician / PS+RO |
| affable | (adj) friendly / In the fable, the affable princess was adored by all except for her three stepsisters who were angered by her friendliness. / Word Forms: affably, affability, affableness |
| affected | (adj) fake; phony / Afton had never traveled outside of the United States, but he used an affected French accent to attract attention. / Word Forms: affectedly, affectedness, affectation / PS+RO |
| aggrandize | (vb) increase in size / Agatha, an avid baseball enthusiast, used her inheritance to aggrandize her collection of baseball cards. / Word Forms: aggrandizement, aggrandizer, aggrandizable / PS+RO |
| alacrity | (n) liveliness and eagerness / Alaina impressed her new boss by accepting the task with alacrity; she was both eager and excited to get started. / PS+RO |
| alchemy | (n) magical power; process of turning base metals into gold / Al uses alchemy in the kitchen, turning simple ingredients into delicious works of art. / Word Forms : alchemic, alchemical, alchemistic, alchemistical, alchemically, alchemist, alchemistry |
| amalgamation | (n) a combination / Amy’s new dance routine is an amalgamation of styles, including ballet and jazz. / Word Forms: amalgam, amalgamate, amalgamable, amalgamative, amalgamator / PS+RO |
| ameliorate | (vb) to make better / Amelia was an outstanding caregiver; she could ameliorate a patient’s discomfort just by smiling kindly. / Word Forms: ameliorable, ameliorableness, ameliorant, ameliorative, amelioratory, ameliorator / PS+RO |
| amenable | (adj) agreeable / Amy was amenable to changing my schedule at work so that I could attend my son's baseball games. / Word Forms: amenability, amenableness, amenably / PS+RO |
| amiable | (adj) friendly / The amiable celebrity was known for his willingness to sign autographs and visit with his fans. / Word Forms: amiably, amiability, amiableness |
| amortize | (vb) to eliminate debt by making payments / For most borrowers, it takes thirty years to amortize their mortgage. / Word Forms: amortized, amortizable, amortizement, amortization |
| amulet | (n) magical charm to ward off evil / Amos placed a small amulet in his pocket, a charm that he believed helped him advance to the state tennis finals. / Word Form: amuletic |
| anachronistic | (adj) out of chronological order / Today’s announcement about the impending demolition of the stadium is anachronistic; the stadium was razed last week. / Word Forms: anachronistically, anachrony, anachronic, anachronism, anachronous / PS+RO |
| analgesic | (adj) capable of relieving pain / Although Andy was in the most painful stages of the disease, his daughter’s visit was analgesic; he was so happy to see her that his pain was significantly reduced. / Word Forms: analgesic (n.), analgetic |
| anodyne | (n) something that relieves pain / The comedy club was an anodyne to Annika's grief; while she was there, she could forget her pain and sadness. / Word Form: anodynic |
| anthropocentrism | (n) theory that regards humans as the central element of the universe / People who support the theory of anthropocentrism have difficulty believing in intelligent alien life. / Word Forms: anthropocentric, anthropocentrically, anthropocentricity |
| antipathy | (n) strong dislike / Antonio's antipathy for reporters stemmed from his childhood, when journalists hassled him about his father's trial. / Word Forms: antipathist, antipathize, antipathic / PS+RO |
| apathy | (n) an absence of emotion or enthusiasm / The teacher was disappointed in the students’ apathy toward the field trip. / Word Forms: apathetic, apathetical, apathetically, apathist / PS+RO |
| apocryphal | (adj) fake; untrue / April told an apocryphal tale about my mother; I wanted so much to believe it even though I knew it wasn't true. / Word Forms: apocryphally, apocryphalness, apocryphalist |
| apostate | (n) person who abandons their religion or cause / I had been an apostate from my religion for years, but recently had started thinking about rejoining the church. / Word Forms: apostatic, apostatical, apostatically, apostasy, apostatize |
| approbation | (n) approval / Apollo's proposal for new lighting on campus was met with approbation, as the board agreed there was a safety issue. / Word Forms: approbate, approbative, approbator, approbatory |
| archaic | (adj) so extremely old as seeming to belong to an earlier period / The college cannot have fraternity houses because of an archaic law that does not allow unmarried people to live together. / Word Forms: archaically, archaism, archaistic, / PS+RO |
| ardor | (n) intense passion / Mrs. Armstrong, my English teacher, is known for her ardor for the literature of William Faulkner; last summer she even visited his hometown in Mississippi in order to better visualize the settings of his books. |
| arrogate | (vb) to claim without rights / The government arrogated Arianna's land, so she hired a lawyer to prove it did not have any rights to her property. / Word Forms: arrogatingly, arrogation, arrogator, arrogative |
| ascertain | (vb) to make certain / The detective was able to ascertain the suspect’s whereabouts on the night of the burglary through surveillance video. / Word Forms: ascertainable, ascertainableness, ascertainably, ascertainment, ascertainer |
| ascetic | (n) a person who practices self-denial as a spiritual discipline / To prove his devotion to the religion, the ascetic did not own anything that might provide comfort or pleasure. / Word Forms: ascetic (adj.), ascetical, ascetically, asceticism / PS+RO |
| assail | (vb) to attack / Asa was determined to master the GRE Verbal Reasoning section, so she assailed vocabulary words with determination. / Word Forms: assailable, assailableness, assailer, assailment, assailant |
| assiduous | (adj) constant and attentive / Ashley is an assiduous researcher; she was able to find articles on the poet that even the librarian could not locate. / Word Forms: assiduously, assiduousness, assiduity |
| assuage | (vb) to relieve or ease / The shoplifter assuaged his guilt by confessing to the crime. / Word Forms: assuagement, assuager / PS+RO |
| attenuate | (vb) to weaken / Atticus' muscles slowly attenuated when he quit working out at the gym. / Word Forms: attenuation, attenuator, attenuatedly |
| audacious | (adj) bold and fearless / Audrey asked audacious questions that most people would be scared to ask. / Word Forms: audaciously, audaciousness, audacity / PS+RO |
| augment | (vb) to enlarge or increase / In an effort to augment her paper on William Faulkner, Aubrey added three pages about the author’s childhood. / Word Forms: augmentation, augmentable, augmentative, augmentatively, augmenter |
| augury | (n) divine prediction / Augustus believed the groundhog's shadow was an augury of a delayed springtime. / Word Forms: augural, augurate, auguration, augur |
| august | (adj) noble and dignified / The august king was admired for his good work. / Word Forms: augustly, augustness |
| auspicious | (adj) favorable; fortunate / Austin waited for an auspicious time to ask his father to borrow the car; he finally had his chance on the day that his dad received a sizable raise at work. / Word Forms: auspiciously, auspiciousness |
| austere | (adj) 1. strict; disciplined; serious 2. simple; undecorated / Mr. Aston is the most austere teacher at school; he does not tolerate any talking nor does he accept late assignments. / Word Forms: austerely, austereness, austerity / PS+RO |
| autonomy | (n) independence / The Confederate states fought to gain autonomy from the Union during the Civil War. / Word Forms: autonomous, autonomously, autonomist |
| avarice | (n) extreme greed for material wealth / Avery amassed million-dollar homes, luxury cars, and exquisite jewelry to satisfy her avarice, but still wanted more. / Word Forms: avaricious, avariciously, avariciousness / PS+RO |
| avuncular | (adj) resembling an uncle in kindness or indulgence / Mr. Avery developed an avuncular affection for his neighbor’s children after having spent so many years next door. / Word Forms: avuncularly, avuncularity |
| axiom | (n) principle or rule / The golden rule is a good axiom to live by. / Word Forms: axiomatic, axiomatical, axiomatization |
| banal | (adj) repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse / The plot of the movie is banal; everything that takes place in this film has happened in a dozen other movies. / Word Forms: banally, banalize, banality / PS+RO |
| belfry | (n) a bell tower / No one volunteered to clean out the belfry because of all the bats that live in it. |
| benevolent | (adj) charitable; kind / The benevolent nun spent her entire life working with the poor. / Word Forms: benevolently, benevolentness, benevolence |
| bevy | (n) a large group / The picnic lunch on the beach attracted a bevy of birds. |
| bifurcate | (vb) to divide into two branches / Biff's family tree bifurcated in 1946 when his grandmother remarried, thus creating a second branch of relatives. / Word Forms: bifurcately, bifurcation, bifurcous |
| bilk | (vb) to cheat or swindle / Bill was bilked out of $10,000 when he invested in the phony scheme. / Word Form: bilker |
| blight | (n) any factor that causes decay or deterioration / The blight that killed Blake's corn was responsible for the destruction of crops throughout the county. / Word Form: blightingly |
| blithe | (adj) cheerful / Blythe was know for her blithe spirit; she was always happy and cheerful. / Word Forms: blitheful, blithefullly, blithely, blitheness, blithesome |
| bombast | (n) high-sounding language with little meaning, used to impress people. / "the bombast of gung-ho militarism" / PS+RO |
| bonhomie | (n) friendliness / Bonnie had many friends who admired her kind nature and bonhomie. / Word Form: bonhomous |
| boor | (n) a person who is rude, clumsy, and lacking social manners / Boris was a boor at the dinner party. / Word Forms: boorish, boorishly, boorishness |
| bromide | (n) a common saying / As true as the old bromides are, such as “It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all,” none of them are much comfort to a newly-broken heart. / Word Forms: bromidic, bromidically |
| bucolic | (adj) relating to country life; rural / The farmer lived a bucolic lifestyle, rising with the sun to tend the farm and retiring at sundown. / Word Forms: bucolical, bucolically / PS+RO |
| burgeon | (vb) to flourish / Under the mayor's direction, the quiet town burgeoned into an active city. / PS+RO |
| burnish | (vb) to polish / In preparation for his dinner party, Bernie burnished the silverware and serving platters. / Word Forms: burnishable, burnishment, burnisher |
| byzantine | (adj) highly complex or intricate / In a home loan, the byzantine language and unfamiliar terminology can be intimidating to a first-time home buyer. |
| cabal | (n) a secret group of plotters or schemers / The cabal met in a church basement to plan the overthrow of the government. / Word Form: caballer |
| cacophony | (n) harsh, jarring sound / On the first day of school, the band’s output was a cacophony of trumpets and horns / Word Forms: cacophonic, cacophonous, cacophonously / PS+RO |
| cajole | (vb) to influence by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering / Caleb cajoled his mother into letting him borrow the car by telling her how young and pretty she looked today. / Word Forms: cajolement, cajolingly, cajolery, cajoler |
| callous | (adj) insensitive; emotionally hardened / The senator’s callous indifference to the suffering of the people in the war-torn country cost him reelection. / Word Forms: callously, callousness |
| calumny | (n) a false statement intended to harm someone’s reputation / Callie delivered the calumny about Brittany to an audience in the cafeteria. / Word Forms: calumniate, calumniation, calumnious, calumniously, calumniatory, calumniator / PS+RO |
| canard | (n) false story or rumor / The belief that Napoleon was short is a canard; he was actually 5'7", an above average height for a Frenchman in 1800. |
| canon | noun / a general law, rule, principle, or criterion by which something is judged. / "the appointment violated the canon of equal opportunity" / a collection or list of sacred books accepted as genuine. / "the formation of the biblical canon" / PS+RO |
| cantankerous | (adj) ill-tempered and unwilling to cooperate / The cantankerous old man took the little boy’s sucker and refused to give it back. / Word Forms: cantankerously, cantankerousness |
| capricious | (adj) apt to change suddenly / Cane’s capricious personality made him a fun friend but a terrible boss. / Word Forms: capriciously, capriciousness, caprice / PS+RO |
| cartographer | (n) a person who makes maps / Amerigo Vespucci was one of the first cartographers to create a map of North America. / Word Forms: cartography, cartograph, cartographic, cartographical, cartographically |
| castigate | (vb) to criticize or punish severely / Cassie was castigated by her parents and the school principal for her role in the cheating scam. / Word Forms: castigation, castigative, castigatory, castigator / PS+RO |
| cataclysm | (n) a violent upheaval / The political uprising against the dictator is a cataclysm that will hopefully result in a more democratic regime. / Word Forms: cataclysmic, cataclysmically, cataclysmal |
| cathartic | (adj) inducing a release of tense emotions / Painting was a cathartic exercise for Cathy; through her paintings she was able to release anger and fear. / Word Forms: cathartically, catharticalness |
| catholic | (adj) universal; liberal / Cathy had very catholic tastes, enjoying a wide array of food and drink. / Word Forms: catholically, catholicly, catholicalness, catholicness |
| caustic | (adj) burning or stinging / Cosette's caustic remark stung Kent; he could handle criticism about his job, but her bitter words were personal. / Word Forms: caustically, causticly, causticness, causticity / PS+RO |
| cavalier | (n) a man who is chivalrous and gallant / The young cavalier was rewarded for his gallant behavior when he was chosen to escort the princess to the ball. / Word Forms: cavalier (adj.), cavalierly, cavalierness, cavalierism |
| censure | (n) strong disapproval / High school teachers voiced their censure of the new novel due to mature themes and profanity. / Word Forms: censurer, censureless / PS+RO |
| charlatan | (n) a person who falsely claims to possess skills or knowledge; an imposter / The charlatan tricked the unsuspecting customers. / Word Forms: charlatanic, charlatanish, charlatanical, charlatanically, charlatanistic, charlatanry, charlatanism |
| chary | (adj) cautious; timid; choosy / Charlie was chary of sitting on the wobbly chair; he was afraid it would break under his weight. / Word Form: charily |
| chicanery | (n) the use of tricks to deceive someone / The con artist relied on chicanery to get his victims to reveal their Social Security numbers. / Word Forms: chicane, chicaner / PS+RO |
| churlish | (adj) rude and vulgar/ Cheryl did not think the man’s churlish jokes were appropriate, and asked that he apologize for his vulgarity. / Word Forms: churlishly, churlishness, churl |
| circumlocution | (n) an indirect way of expressing something / Sergio hoped that his circumlocution would stall the reporters long enough to think of a better answer to their question. / Word Forms: circumlocutory, circumlocutorily, circumlocutional, circumlocutionary |
| circumscribed | (adj) restricted / Her driving privileges are circumscribed by the state; she is only allowed to drive at night if she is returning from work. / Word Forms: circumscribable, circumscriber |
| circumspect | (adj) cautious; discreet / Given the recent theft of passwords, you need to be circumspect when sharing personal information on the internet. / Word Forms: circumspectly, circumspectness |
| clandestine | (adj) secret / The administrators held clandestine meetings about the new uniform policy. / Word Forms: clandestinely, clandestineness, clandestinity |
| cloying | (adj) wearying through excess / Her perfume smelled sweet at first but became cloying after sitting in the car with her for an hour. / Word Forms: cloy, cloyingly |
| coalesce | (vb) to blend into one / The two streams coalesced into a river. / Word Forms: coalescence, coalescent / PS+RO |
| coffer | (n) a box for storing valuables; funds / Keifer depleted the organizations coffers, but his plan was to replenish the funds. / Word Form: cofferlike |
| cogent | (adj) convincing; telling / Craig presents a cogent argument through sound evidence and logical conclusions. / Word Forms: cogency, cogently / PS+RO |
| collusion | a secret agreement; conspiracy / The founding fathers worked in collusion to revolt against the British government. / Word Forms: collusive, collusively, collusory |
| conciliate | (vb) to win over; to make peace / The manager was able to conciliate the angry customer by offering her a fifty dollar gift certificate. / Word Forms: conciliable, conciliation, conciliatory, conciliatorily, conciliatoriness |
| concomitant | (adj) existing or occurring at the same time / Building a home can be an exciting process, but it also has concomitant stress associated with difficult decisions. / Word Forms: concomitant (n.), concomitantly, concomitance |
| conflagration | (n) a destructive fire / The fire department determined that the conflagration in the old warehouse was a result of faulty wiring. / Word Forms: conflagrative, conflagrate, conflagrant |
| conspicuous | (adj) obvious / The realtor put the “For Sale” sign in a conspicuous spot in the front yard so that people in traffic could easily see it. / Word Forms: conspicuously, conspicuousness, conspicuity |
| consummate | (adj) perfect and complete / Constantine is the consummate host. / Word Forms: consummate (vb.), consummately, consummatory, consummation, consummator |
| contrite | (adj) feeling guilty and remorseful / The contrite criminal broke into sobs as he apologized to the victim’s family for the suffering he had caused. / Word Forms: contritely, contriteness, contrition / PS+RO |
| contumacious | (adj) willfully disobedient / The contumacious convict spat at the judge and refused to acknowledge his sentence. / Word Forms: contumaciously, contumaciousness, contumacity |
| convoluted | (adj) complicated / Connor was unable to finish the seventeenth-century novel due to the convoluted language of the period. / Word Forms: convolutedly, convolutedness / PS+RO |
| corpulent | (adj) excessively fat / The corpulent man purchased two adjacent airline seats in order to have a more comfortable flight. / Word Forms: corpulently, corpulence, corpulency |
| corroborate | (vb) to confirm or support with evidence / Coral’s thesis was corroborated by three supporting paragraphs. / Word Forms: corroborated, corroboration, corroborative, corroboratively, corroboratory, corroborant, corroborator |
| cosset | (vb) to pamper / Cossette cosseted the puppy, providing him with diamond collars, caviar dinners, and doggy massages. / Word Form: cosseted |
| coterie | (n) an exclusive group of people; a clique / The town's wealthiest socialites formed a coterie and few people were able to gain entrance to the circle. |
| craven | (adj) cowardly / Rather than face her landlord and explain the damage to the house, the craven tenant packed up and moved in the night. / Word Forms: craven (n), cravenly, cravenness / PS+RO |
| crescendo | (n) peak of growth / The cheers in the audience reached a crescendo when the concert headliner was introduced. |
| culpable | (adj) worthy of blame / The jury found the suspect culpable for the break-ins. / Word Forms: culpability, culpableness, culpably |
| cumbersome | (adj) clumsy, awkward, and heavy / The old television set was cumbersome, making it difficult to move into the other room. / Word Forms: cumbersomely, cumbersomeness |
| cupidity | (n) excessive greed / Cullen's downfall was his cupidity; he couldn't walk away with the money he had already embezzled and was caught when he went back for more. / Word Form: cupidinous |
| curmudgeon | (n) cranky, difficult person / The old curmudgeon complained about every part of his meal. / Word Form: curmudgeonly |
| cynical | (adj) distrusting and pessimistic / Cyndi’s cynical attitude made it hard for her to believe in anyone’s good intentions. / Word Forms: cynically, cynicism, cynic |
| dalliance | (n) the deliberate act of delaying and playing instead of working / Dalton’s dalliance at the basketball court kept him from working on the term paper that was due tomorrow. / Word Forms: dally, dallyingly, dallier |
| daunt | (vb) to cause to lose courage / Don had finally worked up the courage to ride the roller coaster when he was daunted by the pale faces of the riders who had just completed the ride. / Word Forms: dauntingly, dauntingness |
| dearth | (n) a lack in supply / During the Second World War, the dearth of male baseball players led to the creation of a women’s baseball league. |
| debunk | (vb) to prove untrue / The reporter debunked the urban legend about the witch in the woods by revealing wild goats as the sources of the noises. / Word Form: debunker |
| debutante | (n) a young woman making her debut into society / The debutantes were introduced at a formal ball, after which they were considered members of the aristocratic society. |
| declivity | (n) a downward slope / The backyard's declivity caused rainwater to wash down it, creating a pool of standing water at the bottom of the slope. / Word Forms: declivitous, declivous, declivent |
| decorous | (adj) proper and dignified / The decorous host made sure that she had proper table settings; each was arranged correctly for the five-course meal. / Word Forms: decorously, decorousness |
| deject | (vb) to lower someone’s spirits; make downhearted / The news of her father’s declining condition dejected Denise, as she had been sure his health was starting to improve. / Word Forms: dejected (adj.), dejectedly, dejectedness, dejectory, dejection |
| deleterious | (adj) harmful / The deleterious effects of cigarette smoking, such as lung cancer, are highlighted in the public service campaign. / Word Forms: deleteriously, deleteriousness |
| delineate | (vb) describe or portray (something) precisely. / "the law should delineate and prohibit behavior that is socially abhorrent" / Word Forms: delineable, delineative, delineation, delineament, delineatory, delineator / PS+RO |
| demagogue | (n) a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular passions and prejudices / Hitler was a demagogue who gained power by exploiting religious prejudices in Germany. / Word Forms: demagoguery, demagogism, demagogic, demagogical, demagogically |
| demarcate | (vb) to set, mark, or draw the boundaries of something / The twins demarcated the room after their fight; Demarcus was only allowed access to the right side of their room, while Demonte had to stay on the left side. / Word Forms: demarcation, demarcator |
| demur | (vb) to object / I was surprised when my father did not demur to me attending the rival college of his alma mater. / Word Forms: demurrable, demurral, demurrer / PS+RO |
| denigrate | (vb) to damage the reputation of / The candidate hoped to denigrate his opponent’s character by exposing the embezzlement scandal. / Word Forms: denigration, denigrative, denigratory, denigrator / PS+RO |
| derelict | (n) a person without a home, job, or property / The derelict spent his days begging on the street corner and his nights sleeping in the alley. / Word Forms: derelict (adj.), derelictly, derelictness, dereliction |
| deride | (vb) to ridicule / The unsupportive team captain derided Desiree’s attempts to make the volleyball squad. / Word Forms: deridingly, derision, derisive, derisible, derider / PS+RO |
| derivative | (n) something that came from an original / The Pilates exercise system is a derivative of the ancient Indian practice of yoga. / Word Forms: derivative (adj.), derivatively, derivativeness, derive, derivation / PS+RO |
| desiccate | (vb) to dry up / When the flowers in my bouquet desiccate, I can preserve them as dried flowers. / Word Forms: desiccation, desiccative, desiccated, desiccator / PS+RO |
| despoiler | (n) a person who steals goods / The despoilers from the pirate ship stripped the village members of all their possessions. / Word Forms: despoil, despoilment |
| despot | (n) a ruler with complete power / The despot was a harsh ruler who imposed outrageous taxes and unreasonable upon against his subjects. / Word Forms: despotic, despotical, despotically, despotism |
| destitute | (adj) completely wanting or lacking (usually money, food, and shelter) / The homeless man wasn’t always destitute; he once had a job, but poor money management led to bankruptcy. / Word Forms: destitutely, destituteness, destitution |
| desultory | (adj) disconnected and random / People wondered about Desiree's mental state when her conversation turned desultory; she jumped from topic to topic with seemingly no connection. / Word Forms: desultorily, desultoriness, desultorious / PS+RO |
| diaphanous | (adj) sheer; nearly translucent / Daphne would be wise to wear a slip under that diaphanous skirt. / Word Forms: diaphanously, diaphanousness, diaphaneity |
| diatribe | (n) bitter criticism; verbal attack / It was clear from Diana's diatribes against her mother that their relationship was beyond repair. / Word Form: diatribist / PS+RO |
| dictum | (n) a formal statement / The president released a dictum forbidding texting while at work. |
| didactic | (adj) educational / The children’s book is not only entertaining, but also didactic; the story teaches the dietary habits of marine animals. / Word Forms: didactical, didactically, didacticism, didact / PS+RO |
| diffident | (adj) shy; reserved / Daphne was diffident when she first made the team, but by the end of the season, she was clearly a leader on the court. / Word Forms: diffidently, diffidenness, diffidence / PS+RO |
| dilatory | (adj) intending to delay / Dillon asked nearly twenty dilatory questions at the start of class in an attempt to postpone the scheduled math test. / Word Forms: dilatorily, dilatoriness |
| dilettante | (n) a person who engages in an activity (such as art) without serious intentions or inquiry / Although Dylan started painting, he was merely a dilettante; his paintings were amateur attempts at a part-time hobby. / PS+RO |
| dirge | (n) a funeral song / As the dirge played, mournful cries could be heard throughout the funeral. / Word Forms: dirgeful / PS+RO |
| disabuse | (vb) to free someone from false ideas / Dixon believed tomatoes were vegetables but I disabused him of that idea when I revealed they are actually fruits. / Word Form: disabusal / PS+RO |
| discern | (vb) to perceive or understand with sight or other senses / The captain discerned another ship in the fog. / Word Forms: discernible, discernibly, discernment, discernibility, discernableness, discerner / PS+RO |
| disdain | (n) a lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike / The suspect was looked upon with disdain by the detectives who investigated the terrible crime. / Word Forms: disdain (vb.), disdainful, disdainfully, disdainfulness |
| disenfranchise | (vb) to deprive of voting rights / American citizens who are convicted of a felony are disenfranchised, losing their right to vote in any election. / Word Forms: disenfranchisement, disfranchise |
| disillusion | (vb) to free from false beliefs / As a young politician, Dane believed he could stop the corruption that ran through the government, but he was quickly disillusioned by its extent. / Word Forms: disillusionment, disillusive, disillusionize, disillusionist |
| disingenuous | (adj) insincere / Denise’s disingenuous apology was just an attempt to get out of her punishment; she was not truly sorry for going to the concert without permission. / Word Forms: disingenuously, disingenuousness, disingenuity |
| disparage | (vb) to belittle or criticize / My mom’s feelings were hurt when I disparaged her cooking skills. / Word Forms: disparagement, disparaging (adj.), disparagingly, disparager / PS+RO |
| disparate | (adj) different and distinct / The mixture of three disparate styles—jazz, rock, and country—created a unique sound and a diverse audience. / Word Forms: disparately, disparateness / PS+RO |
| dissemble | (v) conceal one's true motives, feelings, or beliefs. / "an honest, sincere person with no need to dissemble" / PS+RO |
| disseminate | (vb) to spread widely / The police hoped the information about the suspect would disseminate quickly; the more people who knew, the better chances of apprehending the wanted man. Word Forms: dissemination, disseminative, disseminator / PS+RO |
| dissonance | (n) 1. lack of agreement / the dissonance between the truth and what people want to believe / 2. a mingling of sounds that strike the ear harshly : a mingling of discordant sounds / PS+RO |
| distaff | (n) the female part of a family / Driving skills clearly fell on the distaff side of the family; the ladies had clean driving records but the men had sixteen traffic tickets among them. |
| dither | (vb) to be indecisive / Dillon dithered on whether to go to business school or law school. / Word Forms: ditherer, dithery |
| diurnal | (adj) daily; daytime / Humans are diurnal creatures, so working the night shift can disrupt our natural sleep rhythms. / Word Forms: diurnally, diurnalness |
| divert | (vb) to turn away from a course / Traffic was diverted through side streets in order to avoid an accident on the main road. / Word Forms: divertedly, diversion, divertible |
| divine | (vb) to predict using supernatural means / Devina asked the psychic to divine her future using the crystal ball. / Word Forms: divinable, divinely, divineness, divination, divinator |
| doctrinaire | (adj) impractical; insistent about one's own theory / The doctor believed that the lack of exercise was the single cause of high blood pressure and was doctrinaire in his inability to accept genetic factors. / Word Forms: doctrinaire (n), doctrinairism |
| dogmatic | (adj) characterized by assertion of unproved or unprovable principles / The dogmatic scientist continued to publish his theory, despite the fact that it was unproven. / Word Forms: dogmatically, dogmaticalness, dogmatize, dogmatism, dogmatist |
| draconian | (adj) harsh and severe / In the novel, the king used draconian forms of punishment—such as torture or starvation—on any one caught plotting against the monarchy. / Word Forms: draconic, draconically |
| droll | (adj) amusing; comical / The droll little man amused the children with his odd gait and his quaint way of speaking. / Word Forms: drollness, drolly, drollery |
| dubious | (adj) doubtful; questionable / The candidate’s dubious past came back to haunt her in the election. / Word Forms: dubiously, dubiousness, dubitable |
| dupe | (vb) to deceive / Dupree was duped into investing in the scam. / Word Forms: dupe (n), dupable, dupability, duper, dupery / PS+RO |
| dyspeptic | (adj) irritable and gloomy / Dyson was dyspeptic about his acceptance into business school; everyone tried to cheer him up, but he was convinced he would be rejected. / Word Forms: dyspeptically |
| earnest | (adj) serious; sincere / The earnest student took the SAT seriously; he bought several study guides, and dedicated two hours a day to practice. / Word Forms: earnestly, earnestness |
| ebullient | (adj) extremely excited or enthusiastic / The ebullient child clapped her hands and jumped up and down as she waited to ride the pony at the party. / Word Forms: ebulliently, ebullience / PS+RO |
| eclectic | (adj) made up of choices from diverse sources / Mrs. Eckert has an eclectic music collection; her albums span from classic jazz to hip hop to disco. / Word Forms: eclectically, eclecticist / PS+RO |
| edify | (vb) to benefit by instruction / The art teacher edified his students by taking them to a premier art gallery to teach about painting techniques. / Word Forms: edifier, edifyingly, edifying, reedify |
| efficacy | (n) the ability to produce a desired or intended result. / "there is little information on the efficacy of this treatment" / PS+RO |
| effigy | (n) a representation of someone / The mayor's effigy was unveiled as a sculpture in the park, erected to honor his lifelong service. / Word Form: effigial |
| effrontery | (n) shameless boldness / She had the effrontery to imply that I was pregnant when in fact I had just gained some weight. |
| effusive | (adj) excessive enthusiasm or emotion / Effie’s effusive praise was so excessive and over-the-top that it almost seemed insincere. / Word Forms: effusively, effusiveness |
| egalitarian | (adj) characterized by the belief in equal rights for all people / Edgar’s egalitarian beliefs made him an excellent husband. / Word Forms: egalitarian (n.), egalitarianism, egality |
| egregious | (adj) outrageously bad or offensive / Edie made the egregious mistake of asking the slightly overweight woman if she were expecting a baby. / Word Forms: egregiously, egregiousness |
| elegy | (n) a sad poem or song / "To An Athlete Dying Young" is a heartbreaking elegy written by A. E. Housman. / Word Forms: elegize, elegist / PS+RO |
| elicit | (vb) to call or bring out / The woman elicits sympathy from her audience by telling the story of her difficult childhood. / Word Forms: elicitation, elicitor / PS+RO |
| eloquent | (adj) expressing oneself powerfully and effectively / The minister’s eloquent sermon stirred the members of the church. / Word Forms: eloquently, eloquence / PS+RO |
| elucidate | (vb) to make clear by explanation / The story in the newspaper elucidated some of the details of the mystery that had previously raised questions. / Word Forms: elucidation, elucidative, elucidatory, elucidator |
| embroil | (vb) to bring into an argument or negative situation / Emory is embroiled in a lawsuit with his former landlord over the condition of the apartment when he moved out. / Word Forms: embroilment, embroiler |
| eminent | (adj) distinguished and prominent / The eminent professor has taught at distinguished colleges, which is why he is such a remarkable addition to the faculty. / Word Forms: eminently, eminence / PS+RO |
| emissary | (n) a person sent on a mission to represent the interests of someone else / The general sent an emissary to the enemy’s cap to inquire about the terms of surrender. / Related Words: emission, emissive, emit |
| emollient | (n) that which has a softening or soothing effect, especially to the skin / Emmaline applied an emollient lotion to the rough calluses on her hands. / Word Form: emollient (adj.), emollience |
| empirical | (adj) based on, concerned with, or verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic. / "they provided considerable empirical evidence to support their argument" / PS+RO |
| emulate | (vb) to imitate in order to match or excel / Emily hoped to emulate her older sister’s success on the tennis court. / Word Forms: emulative, emulatively, emulation, emulator / PS+RO |
| encomium | (n) high praise / The chairwoman delivered an encomium about Enzo before introducing him as the employee of the month. / Word Form: encomia |
| endemic | (adj) natural to a local area / Fire ants are endemic to the southeastern coastal plains, but they have started to migrate to the interior. / Word Forms: endemically, endemism |
| enervated | (adj) lacking strength or vigor / After an entire weekend of moving furniture, Enrico was enervated; he would need to rest to get his strength back. / Word Forms: enervate (vb.), enervation, enervative, enervator / PS+RO |
| engender | (vb) to cause or give rise to / Divorce can engender feelings of anger, loss, and powerlessness. / Word Forms: engenderer, engenderment / PS+RO |
| enigma | (n) a puzzle / The dog’s escape from the pen is an enigma; no one can figure out how she broke out of the locked enclosure. / Word Forms: enigmata (plural), enigmatic, enigmatical, enigmatically |
| ennui | (n) boredom / The monotony of my job produces utter ennui. |
| enumerate | (vb) to count; to name one by one / The blog enumerated the top five study tips for the GRE. / Word Forms: enumerative, enumerator, enumerable |
| ephemeral | (adj) lasting a very short time / Effie’s sadness over her breakup is ephemeral; she will quickly find a new boyfriend to help her forget the last. / Word Forms: ephemeral (n.), ephemerally, ephemeralness, ephemerality, ephemerous, ephemeron / PS+RO |
| epicure | (n) a person with refined tastes, particularly of food and wine / The reality show features several epicures judging the cooking skills of America's best chefs. / Word Forms: epicurean, epicureous, epicurism |
| epistolary | (adj) relating to letters / The couple has an epistolary relationship; although they have never met, they communicate regularly through letters. / Word Forms: epistle, epistolatory, epistolic, epistolical, epistolize, epistoler, epistolist |
| equanimity | (n) steadiness of mind under stress / Eva made an excellent emergency room doctor because she handled trauma with equanimity; she was clear-headed during the most stressful situations. / Word Forms: equanimous, equanimously, equanimousness |
| equivocal | (adj) uncertain; open to multiple interpretations / The politician’s equivocal statement about the environment could support either side of the issue. / Word Forms: equivocality, equivocacy, equivocally, equivocalness |
| ersatz | (adj) artificial; serving to substitute / Aspertame is an ersatz sugar that has caused a lot of controversy in recent years. |
| erudition | (n) knowledge gained from study / Erik’s erudition is sure to help him win a lot of money on the trivia-based quiz show. / Word Forms: eruditional, erudite, eruditely, eruditeness / PS+RO |
| eschew | (vb) to avoid; to shun / Attempting to follow a low carb diet, Essie eschewed all foods containing sugar. / Word Forms: eschewal, eschewer / PS+RO |
| esoteric | (adj) intended for a select group of people; secret or confidential / Esteban was a member of an esoteric club, whose membership consisted strictly of men over fifty who lived in the city. / Word Forms: esoterically, esotericism, esotericist / PS+RO |
| espouse | (vb) to adopt or marry (such as an idea or cause) / Although Esmerelda had never practiced a formal religion, she espoused her fiancé’s faith in order to join his church. / Word Forms: espousal, espouser |
| ethos | (n) the spirit or attitude of a group / The ethos of 4-H is education resulting in positive change for the community. |
| eulogy | (n) a formal expression of praise (often delivered at funerals) / The director delivered a eulogy about the center’s most helpful volunteer, praising her for helping the needy. / Word Forms: eulogize, eulogist / PS+RO |
| euphemism | (n) an inoffensive word or phrase used in place of one that is hurtful or harsh / In the hospital's yearly report, the euphemism "negative patient outcome" is used instead of "death." |
| euphony | (n) pleasant sound / When the orchestra started to play, a euphony ensued that made audience members smile. / Word Forms: euphonize, euphonious, euphoniously, euphoniousness |
| evanescent | (adj) vanishing / Many people believe that youth is evanescent, quickly vanishing before it can be truly appreciated. / Word Forms: evanescently, evanesce, evanescence |
| exacerbate | (vb) make (a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling) worse. / "the exorbitant cost of land in urban areas only exacerbated the problem" / Word Forms: exacerbatingly, exacerbation / PS+RO |
| exasperate | (vb) to intensely irritate / The airline passenger was exasperated by the last minute cancellation of his flight. / Note: exasperate is often confused with exacerbate (meaning to increase). |
| exculpate | (vb) to clear from blame / The arson suspect was exculpated when forensics revealed that the fire had been the result of faulty wiring. / Word Forms: exculpable, exculpation, exculpatory / PS+RO |
| exegesis | (n) an explanation or critical interpretation (especially of the Bible) / The minister delivered an exegesis on the first two books of the Bible. / Word Forms: exegetic, exegetical, exegetically, exegete, exegetist |
| exigent | (adj) urgent; demanding / This is an exigent matter: if you don't reach the client in time, we stand to lose millions of dollars. / Word Forms: exigently, exigence / PS+RO |
| exonerate | (vb) to clear from blame / The use of DNA helped exonerate the innocent man; twenty years after he was sent to prison, he was released. / Word Forms: exoneration, exonerative, exonerator / PS+RO |
| exorbitant | (adj) greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation / I am forced to stop shopping at that grocery store until the owners lower the exorbitant prices on meats and produce. / Word Forms: exorbitantly, exorbitance |
| expatriate | (n) a person who lives outside his own country, often to renounce allegiance / The little village in Costa Rica is filled with American expatriates who moved there for a more relaxed lifestyle. / Word Forms: expatriate (vb.), expatriation |
| explicate | (v) analyze and develop (an idea or principle) in detail. / "attempting to explicate the relationship between crime and economic forces" / PS+RO |
| explicit | (adj) clearly expressed or demonstrated / Mr. Jones left explicit directions for the substitute so he was surprised when they were not followed. / Word Forms: explicitly, explicitness |
| exponent | (n) one who explains or interprets / The teacher was an exponent of turn of the century literature, explaining the themes that populated novels at that time. / Word Forms: exponent (adj), exponential, exponentially |
| expurgate | (vb) to revise by removing offensive text; to purify by cleansing / Recent versions of Huckleberry Finn have been expurgated to remove racial slurs and references. / Word Forms: expurgated, expurgation, expurgator |
| extemporaneous | (adj) done without advance preparation / I was not expecting to be called to the stage, so I gave an extemporaneous speech. / Word Forms: extemporary, extemporaneity, extemporaneously, extemporarily, extemporaneousness, extemporariness |
| extol | (vb) to praise highly / The critic extolled the works of Shakespeare, citing them as the most important contribution to the English language. / Word Forms: extollingly, extolment, extoller |
| extraneous | (adj) not relevant or essential / When studying for the SAT, be sure to ignore the extraneous information in the book, such as the history of the test. / Word Forms: extraneously, extraneousness / PS+RO |
| exuberant | (adj) overflowing, especially with joy / The young wife was exuberant when her husband returned safely from the military after a year-long tour of duty. / Word Forms: exuberantly, exuberance, exuberate |
| facetious | (adj) treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant. / "a facetious remark" / Word Forms: facetiously, facetiousness / PS+RO |
| fallacy | (n) a false idea / Many textbooks teach the fallacy that George Washington cut down a cherry tree; it is widely believed that an author made up that story to increase the sales of his book. / Word Forms: fallacious, fallaciously, fallaciousness / PS+RO |
| fallible | (adj) capable of making a mistake / Fallon knew that her boyfriend was fallible, but she was still disappointed to learn that he had lied to her. / Word Forms: fallibly, fallibility, fallibleness |
| fallow | (adj) not in use / The fallow field had not been used for crops in over a decade so the farmer had to till and aerate the soil. / Word Forms: fallowness |
| fastidious | (adj) 1. very attentive to and concerned about accuracy and detail. / "he chooses his words with fastidious care" / 2. very concerned about matters of cleanliness. / PS+RO |
| fatuous | (adj) foolish and silly / The professor made a fatuous argument that everyone dismissed due to its extreme foolishness. / Word Forms: fatuously, fatuousness |
| fawn | (vb) to seek attention through flattery / The associate fawned over his supervisor in an attempt to receive a raise. / Word Forms: fawner, fawningly, fawningness |
| fecund | (adj) productive; fruitful / The fecund field has been producing record-setting crops for many years. / Word Forms: fecundity, fecundate, fecundator, fecundatory |
| felicity | pleasing and appropriate style; happiness / The book review highlighted both the felicities and the imperfections of the novel. / Word Forms: felicitous, felicitously, felicitousness |
| fervid | (adj) hot or passionate / The fervid senator fought passionately for victim's rights. / Word Forms: fervidity, fervidly, fervidness |
| fetid | (adj) stinky; smelling of decay / I hated turning the compost pile because of its fetid smell. / Word Forms: fetidly, fetidness, fetidity |
| flippant | (adj) disrespectful; lacking seriousness / Floyd was grounded for making flippant remarks about the new rules his father set for him. / Word Forms: flippantly, flippantness, flippancy |
| flotsam | (n) floating wreckage or useless, discarded items / In the filthy city, the gullies are filled with flotsam that finds its way into the sewer after a heavy rain. |
| foible | (n) a minor flaw or weakness of character / Foster’s only foible is his inability to make a decision. |
| fomentation | (n) a push for trouble or rebellion / The juniors would not have participated in skip day if it weren’t for the fomentation of their senior friends. / Word Forms: foment, fomenter |
| foppish | (adj) affecting extreme elegance in dress and manner / The foppish fellow wore a three piece suit and a top hat to the wedding. / Word Forms: foppishly, foppishness, foppery, fop |
| ford | (n) a shallow portion of a river used for crossing / Pioneers often would travel miles out of their way in order to find a ford that would allow them to safely cross a river. / Word Forms: ford (vb), fordable |
| formidable | (adj) causing fear due to powerful strength / Forrest is a formidable opponent on the tennis court; he has not lost a set in his last twenty games. Word Forms: formidably, formidableness, formidabilty |
| fortuitous | (adj) fortunate; by chance / Getting stuck in an elevator with a head hunter on my way to a job interview turned out to be a fortuitous event. / Word Forms: fortuitously, fortuitousness, fortuity / PS+RO |
| foster | (vb) to encourage or care for / The arts foundation hopes to foster art education in the schools by donating supplies and materials. / Word Forms: fostered (adj.), fosteringly, fosterer |
| fractious | (adj) unruly; irritable / Fido was a fractious dog who refused to cooperate even after months of obedience classes. / Word Forms: fractiously, fractiousness |
| frenetic | (adj) frantic / The castaways were frenetic in waving down the rescue plane. / Word Forms: frenetically, frenetical |
| frivolous | (adj) not serious; silly / The author’s new novel is a frivolous look at life in the city; although it lacks the serious tones of his previous novels, it’s a fun and enjoyable story. / Word Forms: frivolously, frivolousness, frivolity, frivol, frivoler |
| frugal | (adj) characterized by the avoidance of excessive spending / A frugal shopper will always wait for items to go on sale or clearance before purchasing them. / Word Forms: frugally, frugalness, frugality / PS+RO |
| fulminate | (vb) to explode loudly or to loudly pronounce / Phil was angry at his boss and fulminated his frustrations to his coworkers at lunch. / Word Forms: fulminator, fulminatory, fulmination |
| furtive | (adj) sneaky / Frank devised a furtive plan in which he would sneak onto the rival’s campus and steal their school flag. / Word Forms: furtively, furtiveness |
| gambol | (n) to skip and frolic / Grandma was a fun friend; she gamboled through the field with me, collecting flowers and chasing butterflies. |
| garner | (vb) to earn or to collect / Garrett garnered a reputation as a fierce lawyer after winning the trial amid national scrutiny. |
| garrulous | (adj) excessively talkative or wordy / The garrulous hairdresser talked the entire time he cut my hair. / Word Forms: garrulously, garrulousness, garrulity / PS+RO |
| genial | (adj) polite and friendly / It’s important for a kindergarten teacher to be genial; young children respond positively to a friendly adult. / Word Forms: genially, genialness, geniality |
| germane | (adj) related to; relevant / I have some ideas germane to the discussion that might resolve some of the issues we are having. / Word Forms: germanely, germaneness / PS+RO |
| glib | (adj) fluent and talkative, often insincerely so / The glib salesman promised me that the car had been inspected, but the transmission blew two days after I bought it. / Word Forms: glibly, glibness / PS+RO |
| glower | (vb) to stare with dislike or anger / Mr. Glover glowered at me after I walked on his flowers. / Word Form: gloweringly |
| gradation | (n) gradual or successive changes / The bumble bee can see subtle gradations in color that humans are unable to notice. / Word Forms: gradational, gradationally |
| gratuitous | (adj) free; given without reason / On Monday, our supervisor announced that all employees were receiving two gratuitous tickets to this weekend’s concert. / Word Forms: gratuitously, gratuitousness, gratuity |
| gregarious | (adj) sociable / Greg is a gregarious student who finds it difficult to avoid socializing during class. / Word Forms: gregariously, gregariousness / PS+RO |
| grievous | (adj) causing grief or very serious / During the war, families feared news from a grievous telegram indicating that their loved one had been injured or killed. / Word Forms: grievously, grievousness |
| grovel | (vb) lowering oneself as in asking forgiveness or showing respect / Grover groveled for forgiveness from his mother after he broke her favorite vase. / Word Forms: groveler, grovelingly |
| guile | (n) sly or cunning intelligence. / "he used all his guile and guts to free himself from the muddle he was in" / PS |
| gustatory | (adj) relating to the sense of taste / The restaurant provides a gustatory experience by offering skewers of beef, pork, and poultry marinated in exotic oils. / Word Forms: gustatorily, gustation, gustative, gustativeness |
| hackneyed | (adj) repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse / Instead of relying on hackneyed clichés in your essay, try to create original metaphors and similes. / Word Form: hackney (vb.) / PS+RO |
| halcyon | (adj) joyful, peaceful, or prosperous / During the company’s halcyon days, the employees were making higher than average wages and enjoying benefits unmatched by other corporations. / Word Forms: halcyonian, halcyonic |
| hapless | (adj) unlucky / The hapless fellow was in a car accident on the same day he lost the winning lottery ticket. / Word Forms: haplessly, haplessness |
| harangue | (n) 1. a speech addressed to a public assembly / listening to his capacious harangue and its immaculate delivery / 2. a ranting speech or writing / emotional and frequently violent harangues / PS+RO |
| hedonist | (n) a person dedicated to the pursuit of pleasure / After working for years as a hospice nurse, Heidi had no respect for the hedonist who lived next door. / Word Forms: hedonist (adj.), hedonistic, hedonistically, hedonism, hedonic / PS+RO |
| hegemony | (n) leadership or dominance / The country exerted its hegemony over the smaller territories. / Word Forms: hegemonic, hegemonical |
| heretical | (adj) characteristic of an opinion at odds with accepted beliefs / Many people in the church believe the heretical teaching of evolution should be banned. / Word Forms: heresy, heretic, heretically, hereticalness |
| hermetic | (adj) isolated and protected / Many of the sea islands were hermetic during the Civil War, making them a safe place for runaway slaves to hide. / Word Forms: hermetical, hermetically |
| histrionic | (adj) overly dramatic / The histrionic patient pretended to faint when he saw the needle used for the vaccination. / Word Forms: histrionic (n.), histrionics, histrionical, histrionically |
| hoary | (adj) old or stale / Harry tells the same hoary stories at every dinner party. / Word Forms: hoarily, hoariness |
| hubris | (n) pride; arrogance / If pride goes before a fall, hubris goes before a downfall. / Word Form: hubristic |
| husband | (vb) to manage wisely or thriftily / Henry husbanded his finances so that he would have plenty to live on in retirement. / Word Form: husbander |
| iconoclast | (n) a person who who attacks cherished ideas or traditional institutions / Many religious leaders accused the author of being an iconoclast. / Word Forms: iconoclastic, iconoclastically, iconoclasm / PS+RO |
| idiosyncrasy | (n) a characteristic that is peculiar to a specific person / Some people found Ida’s idiosyncrasy a source of humor, but I never made fun of her for wearing her shirt backwards. / Word Forms: idiosyncratic, idiosyncratically |
| idolatrous | (adj) great adoration / The young girl's idolatrous worship of the teen heartthrob began to worry her mother. / Word Forms: idolatry, idolatrously, idolatrousness |
| ignoble | (adj) dishonorable; common / Your ignoble behavior at the dinner party will keep you off of invitation lists in the future. / Word Forms: ignobility, ignobleness, ignobly |
| ignominious | (adj) disgraceful and shameful / Izzy’s ignominious crime brought shame and embarrassment to her entire family. / Word Forms: ignominiously, ignominiousness, ignominy |
| illusory | (adj) creating illusions; deceiving / The illusory sweepstakes isn’t really a contest at all. / Word Forms: illusorily, illusoriness, illusive |
| imbue | (vb) to inspire / After the seminar, our supervisor was imbued with the teachings of the keynote speaker, a management expert. / Word Form: imbuement |
| immutable | (adj) unchangeable / We are born with some immutable characteristics, such as race, gender, height, and eye color. / Word Forms: immutability, immutableness, immutably / PS+RO |
| impasse | (n) blocked progress; deadlock / We came to an impasse in our discussion about our wedding colors; we both refused to compromise. |
| impecunious | (adj) poor / In less than a year, Imogen had lost all of her money, going from a wealthy businesswoman to a impecunious beggar. / Word Forms: impecuniously, impecuniousness, impecuniosity |
| imperturbable | (adj) calm; incapable of agitation / Imelda had imperturbable composure, which is why she was selected to tackle the nerve-wracking feat. / Word Forms: imperturbability, imperturbableness, imperturbably / PS+RO |
| impervious | (adj) not capable of being affected / Ima was impervious to Jack’s insults; nothing he said seemed to affect her. / Word Forms: imperviously, imperviousness, imperviable |
| impetuous | (adj) impulsive / While at the airshow to see old war planes, Ivan made an impetuous decision to go skydiving. / Word Forms: impetuously, impetuousness, impetuosity |
| impious | (adj) lacking respect or devotion, usually for a god or religion / Imogene had a difficult time convincing her impious husband to attend church with the family. / Word Forms: impiously, impiousness |
| implacable | (adj) incapable of being pacified or appeased / Inez was so upset at the waiter that she became omplacable; nothing the manager offered was going to make her happy. / Word Forms: implacability, implacableness, implacably / PS+RO |
| implicit | (adj) implied though not directly expressed / Although we never mentioned the fight, there seemed to be an implicit agreement not to talk about it. / Word Forms: implicitly, implicitness, implicity / PS+RO |
| imprecation | (n) a curse / The old woman dabbled in voodoo, and was known for casting imprecations on her enemies. / Word Forms: imprecate, imprecator, imprecatory |
| impugn | (vb) to attack as false or wrong / The candidate impugned his opponent’s voting record, proving that she had voted against reform she now supports. / Word Forms: impugnable, impugnability, impugnment, impugner |
| impute | (vb) to attribute or credit to / The doctors imputed her sudden weight loss to a problem with her thyroid gland. / Word Forms: imputable, imputably, imputative, imputatively, imputativeness, imputedly, imputer |
| incarnadine | (adj) red or pink; flesh-colored / For Valentine's Day, I gave my girlfriend incarnadine carnations since red is the color of love and passion. / Word Form: incarnadine (vb) |
| inchoate | (adj) in the early stages of development / Your inchoate plan for the fund-raiser has a lot of potential, but we need to discuss some details before moving forward. / Word Forms: inchoately, inchoateness, inchoation, inchoative, inchoatively / PS+RO |
| incipient | (adj) beginning; just starting / The zinc lozenges will help an incipient cold, but do nothing for a well-established virus. / Word Forms: incipiently, incipience, incipiency |
| incontrovertible | (adj) unquestionable; impossible to deny / Protesters demanded the release of the imprisoned woman, saying there was incontrovertible proof of her innocence. / Word Forms: incontrovertibly, incontrovertibility, incontrovertibleness |
| incorrigible | (adj) incapable of being corrected or punished / The incorrigible child continued to throw his vegetables even after the mother threatened to send him to his room. / Word Forms: incorrigibly, incorrigibleness, incorrigibility |
| incredulous | (adj) skeptical; not willing to believe / The incredulous car buyer did not believe the dealer’s claim that the car was accident-free; he insisted on seeing a report on the car’s history. / Word Forms: incredulously, incredulousness, incredulity |
| inculcate | (vb) to teach through persistent repetition / Ms. Ingles inculcated her students with a love of reading; many years later, an overwhelming majority reported that they were still voracious readers. / Word Forms: inculcation, inculcative, inculcator |
| indigenous | (adj) native to / Although the flower can now be found all over the eastern United States, it is indigenous to Florida. / Word Forms: indigenously, indigenousness, indigenity, indigen, indigene |
| indignant | (adj) displaying anger due to unfairness / The seniors were indignant over their disqualification in the homecoming contest, claiming that the decision was unfair. / Word Forms: indignantly, indignation |
| indolent | (adj) lazy / India was an indolent worker, and was thus fired when it was discovered that she was lazy. / Word Forms: indolently, indolence / PS+RO |
| ineffable | (adj) incapable of being put into words / Effie’s joy at being reunited with her long-lost brother was ineffable; words could not explain her happiness. / Word Forms: ineffably, ineffableness, ineffability |
| inexorable | (adj) unyielding / Mary Ingalls was aware that she would lose her sight before she began her inexorable decline into blindness. / Word Forms: inexorability, inexorably, inexorableness |
| ingenious | (adj) clever and inventive / Jeannie invented an ingenious device for the beach that combined a cooler, radio, and portable fan. / Word Forms: ingeniously, ingeniousness, ingenuity |
| ingenuous | (adj) (of a person or action) innocent and unsuspecting. / "he eyed her with wide, ingenuous eyes" / PS+RO |
| ingrate | (n) an ungrateful person / Inga came off as an ingrate when she failed to thank her hosts for dinner. / Word Form: ingrately |
| inherent | (adj) existing as a natural and essential characteristic / The abused dog had an inherent distrust of men, so only female volunteers at the shelter could get close to him. / Word Forms: inherently, inhere, inherence |
| inimical | (adj) harmful or hostile / Oscar cast an inimical sneer at Melissa when she took credit for his idea. / Word Forms: inimically, inimicalness, inimicality, inimicable / PS+RO |
| iniquity | (n) wickedness / The wicked witch's iniquity kept Dorothy from returning to Kansas. / Word Forms: iniquitous, iniquitously, iniquitousness |
| innocuous | (adj) harmless / No one had to be evacuated after the tanker spill, as the gas released was innocuous. / Word Forms: innocuously, innocuousness, innocuity / PS+RO |
| insidious | (adj) intended to entrap, deceive, or harm / Sid devised an insidious plan to get the witness to admit he hadn’t really witnessed the crime. / Word Forms: insidiously, insidiousness |
| insipid | (adj) bland, dull, or uninteresting / When I left for college, the insipid cafeteria food made me miss my father’s home-cooked meals. / Word Forms: insipidly, insipidness, insipidity / PS+RO |
| insolence | (n) rudeness / The headmaster said that insolence would not be tolerated; rude behavior towards a teacher would result in suspension. / Word Forms: insolent (n.), insolently, insolence |
| insular | (adj) narrow-minded; isolated / The culture is criticized for its insular ideas, such as the belief that women should not be allowed to attend school. / Word Forms: insularly, insularism, insularity / PS+RO |
| insurrection | (n) a rebellion or uprising / King George ordered British troops to quash the colonist's insurrection, but the uprising led to the Revolutionary War. / Word Forms: insurrectional, insurrectionally, insurrectionism, insurrectionist |
| inter | (vb) to bury / James Garfield, the 20th President of the United States who was assassinated in 1881, was interred in Cleveland, Ohio. / Word Form: reinter |
| interlocutor | (n) a person who takes part in a conversation / At the apartment complex, the two interlocutors continued to debate the merits of television outside my bedroom window until well after midnight. / Word Forms: interlocution, interlocutory, interlocutorily |
| interregnum | (n) a period of time free from authority / When the king died, there was a two week interregnum as the prince returned from abroad for his coronation. / Word Form: interregnal |
| intractable | (adj) stubborn; difficult to manage / The intractable child refused to let the babysitter into the room. / Word Forms: intractability, intractableness, intractably / PS+RO |
| intransigent | (adj) refusing to yield or compromise / When it came to Edgar’s hunting trophies, Enid was intransigent; she refused to hang the deer heads on the wall. / Word Forms: intransigent (n.), intransigently, intransigence, intransigency / PS+RO |
| inundate | (vb) to flood / After the newspaper ran the controversial story, the editor was inundated with calls from hundreds of angry subscribers. / Word Forms: inundation, inundatory, inundator |
| inure | (vb) to become used to / People in Alaska were inured to cold weather. / Word Forms: inuredness, inurement |
| invective | (n) violent criticism / The governor was quick to issue an invective denouncing the show that portrayed her state's residents as vulgar and obscene. / Word Forms: invective (adj), invectively, invectiveness |
| inveigle | (vb) to persuade with smooth talk / Vicki inveigled Vivianne into playing checkers, even though Vivianne would have rather played chess. / Word Forms: inveiglement, inveigler |
| investiture | (n) ceremony for bestowing an official title / At the investiture, the detective was promoted to sergeant. / Word Form: investitive |
| invidious | (adj) intended to hurt, offend, or discriminate / Ivan’s invidious remarks to his wife shocked their guests; they had no idea that he could be so cruel. / Word Forms: invidiously, invidiousness |
| invoke | (vb) to summon into action or bring into existence / The psychic claimed that he could invoke the spirits in the house through an old-fashioned séance. / Word Forms: invocable, invocation, invocational, invoker |
| irascible | (adj) quickly aroused to anger / The irascible old lady caused a scene at the restaurant by yelling at the manager when her hamburger was overcooked. / Word Forms: irascibly, irascibleness, irascibility / PS+RO |
| itinerant | (adj) traveling from place to place to work / The itinerant pastor was transferred to our church from a ministry in Ohio; he will stay with us for six months before going to New Hampshire. / Word Forms: itinerant (n.), itinerantly, itinerate, itineration |
| jettison | (vb) to throw away / Jett was arrested when he jettisoned old boat fuel into the harbor. / Word Form: jettisonable |
| jingoism | (n) noisy and excessive patriotism for one's country / The candidate's jingoism cost him the election, as constituents did not believe he could tactfully handle foreign policy. / Word Forms: jingo, jingoish, jingoist, jingoistic, jingoistically |
| jocular | (adj) characterized by joking / Jack's speeches were always entertaining because they were peppered with jocular anecdotes. / Word Forms: jocularly, overjocular, jocularity |
| juncture | (n) a critical point in time / At this juncture, I think it's important to merge the Human Resources and Marketing departments. |
| juxtapose | (vb) to place side by side / When Justin’s picture was juxtaposed with his father’s picture, the resemblance between the two was remarkable. / Word Form: juxtaposition |
| keen | (adj) sharp as in a point, or sharp as in intelligence / It will take a keen mind to solve this difficult puzzle. / Word Forms: keenly, keenness |
| kindle | (vb) to light up or to excite / The novel "Jurassic Park" kindled his interest in dinosaurs. / Word Form: kindler |
| kinetic | (adj) characterized by motion / Some students are kinetic learners who learn best when they are moving around. / Word Form: kinetically |
| knell | (n) sound of a bell at a funeral or a sign of looming death or destruction / The town was quiet, with boarded up buildings and no sign of life, a knell of the impending war. / Word Form: knell (vb) |
| lachrymose | (adj) tearful; sad / Lakeisa tends to get lachrymose over animal rescue commercials depicting cats and dogs in abusive situations. / Word Forms: lachrymosely, lachrymosity |
| laconic | (adj) sing or involving the use of a minimum of words : concise to the point of seeming rude or mysterious / "his laconic reply suggested a lack of interest in the topic" / PS+RO |
| lament | (vb) to express grief; to mourn / When Lamont left for college, his little sister lamented his absence for weeks. / Word Forms: lament (n.), lamentingly, lamentable, lamentably, lamenter |
| lampoon | (vb) to mock in a satire / The actors of "Saturday Night Live" make a living by lampooning current events. / Word Forms: lampoon (n), lampooner, lampoonist, lampoonery |
| languid | (adj) lacking in energy or spirit / My boss's languid response to my proposal wasn't expected; I thought he'd be excited about my initiative and creativity. / Word Forms: languidly, languidness |
| lapidary | (adj) relating to polished stones; characterized by exactness and extreme polishing / The author's lapidary manuscript was so carefully crafted that editors could find no mistakes. / Word Forms: lapidarian, lapidarist |
| largess | (n) generous gift-giving / Larissa's largess at the twins' birthday party would not soon be forgotten; she gave them enough toys to keep them busy for a year. / Related Word: large |
| lassitude | (n) lack of energy; weariness / One symptom of the illness was lassitude; Leslie learned early on that she had no energy during an attack. |
| latent | (adj) existing but not visible or obvious / Latika clearly had latent ability in math, but she failed to put forward any effort in the subject so no one knew how bright she really was. / Word Forms: latently, latency |
| laud | (vb) to praise, glorify, or honor / Landon was lauded for his achievements at the laboratory; he had made more progress in a year than most scientists had made in a decade. / Word Forms: laudable, laudation, laudative, laudatory, laudator / PS+RO |
| lavish | (adj) very generous or extravagant / The lavish wedding reception had a steak and lobster dinner, several intricate ice sculptures, and a famous jazz band. / Word Forms: lavishly, lavishness, lavishment, lavisher |
| legerdemain | (n) trickery; sleight of hand / The magician employed legerdemain to fool the audience into believing he pulled a rabbit from his hat. / Word Form: legerdemainist |
| levity | (n) inappropriate lack of seriousness / The teenagers' levity during the assembly on drinking and driving cost them six Saturdays in detention. |
| lexicography | (n) the act of writing dictionaries / Noah Webster’s career in lexicography developed from his dissatisfaction with British school books. / Word Forms: lexicographic, lexicographical, lexicographically, lexicographer |
| liberate | (vb) free; unrestrained / When the farmer accidentally left the stall door open, the liberated horse sprinted for the woods. / Word Forms: liberated, liberative, liberatory, liberation, liberator |
| libertine | (adj) unrestrained by morals / Libby had no scruples and thus made libertine choices, never worrying about those affected or what others would think. / Word Forms: libertine (n), libertinage, libertinism |
| licentious | (adj) unrestrained by morals / Libby had no scruples and thus made licentious choices, never worrying about those affected or what others would think. / Word Forms: licentiously, licentiousness |
| limpid | (adj) clear; calm / The limpid waters provided opportunity for the anglers to sight cast directly to the fish they could see in the clear water. / Word Forms: limpidity, limpidness, limpidly |
| lissome | (adj) flexible / The lissome gymnast dazzled the audience with her tumbling routine. / Word Forms: lissomely, lissomeness |
| listless | (adj) lacking energy or spirit / My boss's listless response to my proposal wasn't expected; I thought he'd be excited about my initiative and creativity. / Word Forms: listlessly, listlessness |
| loquacious | (adj) extremely talkative / Lance was disappointed in his loquacious date; she talked so much that she never had time to listen to any of his stories. / Word Forms: loquaciously, loquaciousness, loquacity / PS+RO |
| lucid | (adj) clear; easy to understand / If your directions had been more lucid, I might have made it to the party on time. / Word Forms: lucidly, lucidness, lucidity / PS+RO |
| lugubrious | (adj) excessively mournful; sad and gloomy / Lucy’s lugubrious behavior has started to annoy her friends. / Word Forms: lugubriously, lugubriousness, lugubriosity |
| luminous | (adj) radiating light; enlightening; easily understood / The meeting was luminous because we finally figured out the reason that the mayor was backing the construction project. / Word Forms: luminously, luminousness / PS+RO |
| machination | (n) a crafty plot / The fairy tale follows the machinations of an evil stepsister who is out to steal the prince from the heroine. / Word Forms: machinate, machinator |
| maelstrom | (n) a powerful whirlpool or turbulent chaos / When the manager was fired, he left the office in a maelstrom; there was frequent infighting and little leadership. |
| magnanimous | (adj) noble and generous in spirit / The magnanimous donor has given over ten million dollars to children’s charities in the city. / Word Forms: magnanimously, magnanimousness, magnanimity / PS+RO |
| magnate | (n) an important person in a field of business / Henry Ford was an automotive magnate, manufacturing the first automobile that was affordable to the middle class. / Word Form: magnateship |
| malediction | (n) a curse / The members of the team feared that the old woman had placed a malediction upon their season because they hadn’t won a game since accidentally shattering her windshield with a foul ball. / Word Forms: maledictive, maledictory, maledict |
| malevolent | (adj) evil / The malevolent old man plotted the demise of his neighbor’s barking dog. / Word Forms: malevolently, malevolence, malevolency |
| malice | (n) a desire to make others suffer / Malika’s sharp comment was delivered with malice; she knew that her words would hurt her mother’s feelings. / Word Forms: malicious, maliciously, maliciousness |
| malinger | (vb) to fake an illness to avoid responsibility / Malinda claims to have strep throat, but since she has been known to malinger in the past make sure she brings a doctor's note when she returns to work. / Word Form: malingerer |
| malleable | (adj) capable of being shaped or influenced / Mallory worried that her malleable son would learn inappropriate behavior from the older boys he played with at school. / Word Forms: malleably, malleableness, malleability / PS+RO |
| malodorous | (adj) having an unpleasant smell / My malodorous shoe smelled so terrible that my mom threw it away. / Word Forms: malodorously, malodorousness |
| mar | (vb) to make imperfect; to disfigure / My nearly-perfect report card was marred by a low grade in speech class. / Word Forms: mar (n.), marred (adj.) |
| martial | (adj) relating to war / The mayor was in favor of taking a martial approach to the problem, preferring to send soldiers into the abandoned houses to remove the squatters and drug dealers. / Word Forms: martialism, martialist, martially, martialness |
| martinet | (n) a person who rigidly demands that rules are followed; a strict disciplinarian / Marty realized that the drill sergeant was a martinet, so his best course of action was to closely follow all the rules. / Word Forms: martinetish, martinetism |
| matriarch | (n) the female head of a family / As the matriarch of the family, Grandma sat at the head of the Thanksgiving dinner table. / Word Forms: matriarchal, matriarchic, matriarchalism, matriarchy |
| maudlin | (adj) foolishly emotional / When Maude drinks too much, she becomes maudlin, crying over silly things like her shoelaces coming untied. / Word Forms: maudlinism, maudlinly, maudlinness |
| maverick | (n) a person who chooses to be independent in behavior or thought / Even though the other ranchers were branding their cattle, Sam was a maverick who believed he did not need to follow the rules set by his associates. / PS+RO |
| melange | (n) a mixture / Melanie’s walls are decorated with a mélange of surfing posters and beach photographs. |
| mendacious | (adj) lying, false, or untrue / The mendacious girl said that she didn’t take her mother’s lipstick, but the bright red evidence was all over her face. / Word Forms: mendaciously, mendaciousness, mendacity / PS+RO |
| mendicant | (adj) begging / In the poverty-stricken country, mendicant children approach tourists to ask for food and money. / Word Forms: mendicancy, mendicity |
| mercurial | (adj) apt to change; volatile; lively / Meryl was known for her mercurial moods; she could be charming and kind one minute ad caustic and hateful the next. / Word Forms: mercurially, mercurialness / PS+RO |
| meretricious | (adj) insincere; flashily attractive / Meredith bestowed meretricious praise upon Mark on-camera, but she had nothing nice to say about him off-camera. / Word Forms: meretriciously, meretriciousness |
| meritocracy | (n) a form of social system in which power goes to those with superior abilities / Critics argue that a meritocracy cannot be fairly created, as intelligence and ability are difficult to measure accurately. / Word Form: meritocratic |
| meticulous | (adj) extremely careful and precise with details / Miss Walter demanded meticulous essays; perfect spelling and punctuation were essential for a high grade. / Word Forms: meticulously, meticulousness, meticulosity / PS+RO |
| militate | (vb) to have substantial influence / Millie's grandfather's significant donations to the university militated for her acceptance in the admissions process. / Word Form: militation |
| mirth | (n) laughter or merriment / Even the old scrooge could not resist the mirth of the holiday season, as he eventually joined in the celebration. / Word Forms: mirthful, mirthfully, mirthfulness, |
| misanthrope | (n) a person who hates and distrusts mankind / The main character is a bitter misanthrope who learns to trust again through her friendship with her neighbors. / Word Forms: misanthropist, misanthropic, misanthropical, misanthropically, misanthropy / PS+RO |
| miscreant | (n) a person who is evil or villainous / The miscreant came to town with the intention of creating strife and commotion, as he enjoyed watching others argue. / Word Forms: miscreant (adj.), miscreance, miscreancy |
| miser | (n) a stingy person who lives in miserable conditions in order to save money / The old miser lives in a rat-infested apartment even though he has more than enough money to live in a nice home. / Word Forms: miserly, miserliness |
| missive | (n) a letter / The governor sent out missives to her supportive constituents, thanking them for their contributions to her campaign. |
| mitigate | (vb) to make less intense or severe / he wanted to mitigate misery in the world / Word Forms: mitigable, mitigatedly, mitigation, mitigative, mitigatory, mitigator / PS+RO |
| mollify | (vb) to soften or soothe / Molly was able to mollify the crying child by offering him an ice cream cone. / Word Forms: mollification, mollifier, mollifyingly, mollifiable / PS+RO |
| molt | (vb) to shed feathers / The cockatoo molted every spring in preparation for new feathers. / Word Form: molter |
| monastic | (adj) relating to monasteries or relating to a dedicated way of life / Mona lived a monastic life, refraining from sensual pleasures and the accumulation of material possessions. / Word Form: monastically |
| morass | (n) 1. a swamp 2. a difficult situation / After Morgan accepted Jill’s invitation to the dance, he found himself in a morass; his friend offered him a ticket to a concert that he really wanted to see, but it happened to be on the same night as the dance. |
| moratorium | (n) suspension of an ongoing activity / When many students were late returning from lunch, the principal placed a moratorium on off-campus lunch privileges. / Word Form: moratory |
| mores | (n) important customs or beliefs of a group / The advertisements in the housekeeping magazine from 1950 reflect the social mores of the time. |
| morose | (adj) gloomy / After his girlfriend moved away, Morris became morose and depressed. / Word Forms: morosely, moroseness, morosity |
| multifarious | (adj) having many parts and much variety / The school offers multifarious activities after school; children should have no problem finding a program that matches their interests. / Word Forms: multifariously, multifariousness |
| mundane | (adj) ordinary and somewhat boring / While a trip to the beach had once been exciting, we went so often that it had become mundane. / Word Forms: mundanely, mundaneness, mundanity / PS+RO |
| munificent | (adj) very generous / The munificent donor gave the hospital enough money to build a specialized center for heart patients. / Word Forms: munificently, munificentness, munificence / PS+RO |
| myopic | (adj) lacking long-term vision / Maya has a myopic outlook when it comes to investment; she complains about the money she is investing now, rather than focusing on the money she will make in the future. / Word Forms: myopically, myopia |
| nadir | (n) the lowest point / Nadia entered the nadir of despair when she lost her job and her fiance called off the wedding. / Word Form: nadiral |
| naïve | (adj) inexperienced and gullible / Nan was naïve in thinking that no one looked at her online social page except her friends; her father looked at it daily. / Word Forms: naïvely, naïveness, naïveté / PS+RO |
| narcissist | (n) a person who has excessive love or admiration of oneself / Nancy is a narcissist who is unable to love her husband or her children as much as she loves herself. / Word Forms: narcist, narcissism, narcistic, narcissistic, narcissistically |
| nascent | (adj) (especially of a process or organization) just coming into existence and beginning to display signs of future potential. / "the nascent space industry" / PS+RO |
| nebulous | (adj) vague or cloudy / When I woke up in the hospital, I only had a nebulous memory of the accident. / Word Forms: nebulously, nebulousness |
| nefarious | (adj) extremely wicked / In the novel, the nefarious character plotted to financially destroy the hero. / Word Forms: nefariously, nefariousness |
| neologism | (n) a new word / Each year Merriam Webster decides which neologisms will be granted entry into their dictionaries. / Word Forms: neologist, neologistic, neologistical, neology |
| neophyte | (n) a beginner / Neil is a neophyte at downhill skiing, so he should stick to the smaller hills today. / Word Forms: neophytic, neophytish, neophytism |
| nettle | (vb) to irritate / I was nettled by her annoying voice. / Word Forms: nettle (n), nettler, nettly |
| nihilism | (n) belief in the rejection of rules and the destruction of social and political order / During the rebellion, the followers of nihilism were the first to break the laws in the city. / Word Forms: nihilistic, nihilistically, nihility, nihilist |
| noisome | (adj) offensive (especially odors) / My noisome shoe smelled so terrible that my mom threw it away. / Word Forms: noisomely, noisomeness |
| nominal | (adj) in name only; minimal / The president was a nominal leader; the real people making the important decisions were his advisors. / Word Form: prenominal |
| noxious | (adj) harmful / The danger of a carbon dioxide leak is that the noxious fumes are odorless. / Word Forms: noxiously, noxiousness |
| nuance | (n) a subtle difference / The nuances between the two fonts are often missed by the untrained graphic designer. / Word Form: nuanced / PS+RO |
| numismatic | (adj) pertaining to coins or medals / The archeologist found numismatic evidence of the ancient civilization, including three coins with depictions of animals. / Word Forms: numismatics, numismatical, numismatically |
| obdurate | (adj) stubborn / The obdurate child refused to eat his vegetables and sat at the dinner table with the untouched broccoli until bedtime. / Word Forms: obdurately, obdurateness, obduracy / PS+RO |
| obfuscate | (vb) to confuse or make unclear / If a solution to a math question requires units to be in inches, the test makers may obfuscate the question by using feet. / Word Forms: obfuscation, obfuscatory |
| oblique | (adj) slanting; not straight; indirect or evasive / The politician made oblique comments about his opponent, hinting at corruption but not actually saying it was an issue. / Word Forms: obliquely, obliqueness |
| obstreperous | (adj) noisily defiant or aggressive / The obstreperous students crowded the school board meeting to protest the new dress code. / Word Forms: obstreperously, obstreperousness, obstreperosity |
| obscure | (adj) not clearly understood or expressed / Most of the movie audience did not understand the obscure reference to the other movie. / Word Forms: obscure (vb.), obscurely, obscureness, obscuredly, obscurity / PS+RO |
| obsequious | (adj) overly flattering or obedient / The new employee was distrusted by his co-workers because of his obsequious behavior. / Word Forms: obsequiously, obsequiousness, obsequence / PS+RO |
| obstinate | (adj) extremely stubborn / Mr. O’Brien was obstinate about eating at the bistro; he refused to eat anywhere else. / Word Form: obstinately, obstinateness, obstinacy |
| obstructionist | (n) a person who purposely blocks progress / Alberta worried that obstructionists would interfere with her environmental bill, ending her efforts to save the eagles. / Word Forms: obstructionistic, obstructionism |
| obtuse | (adj) intellectually slow; dull / You might have to simplify your explanation of photosynthesis because Obie is a bit obtuse. / Word Forms: obtusely, obtuseness |
| obviate | (vb) remove (a need or difficulty). / "the Venetian blinds obviated the need for curtains" / PS+RO |
| occlude | (vb) to shut or block / Plaque buildup in the arteries can occlude the flow of blood resulting in heart disease. / Word Forms: occludent, occlusion, occlusal / PS+RO |
| odious | (adj) offensive; hateful / The majority of Americans view dog fighting as an odious crime. / Word Forms: odiously, odiousness |
| officious | (adj) aggressively forward / My officious neighbor insisted on helping me after my accident, but I really just wanted to be left alone. / Word Forms: officiously, officiousness, overofficious |
| ominous | (adj) threatening or foreshadowing evil / The dark clouds in the distance were ominous and threatened to ruin the picnic. / Word Forms: ominously, ominousness |
| onerous | (adj) oppressive; burdensome / Cinderella was saddled with onerous household duties while she lived with her wicked stepmother. / Word Forms: onerously, onerousness, onerosity / PS+RO |
| opaque | (adj) not clear; not allowing light to pass through / The glass on the bathroom shower has an opaque layer that prevents people from seeing through it. / Word Forms: opaquely, opaqueness / PS+RO |
| opine | (vb) to express an opinion / The editor opined about the evils of genetically modified foods in today's opinion section of the newspaper. / Antonym Form: unopined |
| opprobrium | (n) disgrace or severe criticism due to shameful behavior / The team owner faced public opprobrium when he was caught making racial remarks. / Word Forms: opprobrious, opprobriously, opprobriousness / PS+RO |
| opulent | (adj) rich and luxurious / The opulent kitchen had marble countertops and solid gold fixtures. / Word Forms: opulently, opulence, opulency |
| oration | (n) a formal speech / The political candidate delivered an oration about the benefits of her universal health care plan. / Word Forms: orate, oratorical, orator |
| ornate | (adj) highly decorated / The ornate palace had colorful paintings and intricate wood carvings in every room. / Word Forms: ornately, ornateness |
| orotund | (adj) a rich voice or pompous speech / The millionaire's orotund speech at the graduation ceremony was shocking; he was not normally known for being pompous and pretentious. / Word Form: orotundity |
| orthodox | (adj) customary; traditional / Maria and Bryan chose an orthodox ceremony with the standard wedding vows and the typical progression of events. / Word Forms: orthodoxly, orthodoxness, orthodoxal, orthodoxical, orthodoxy |
| ossify | (vb) to harden like bone; to become inflexible in habits or beliefs / Oscar was open-minded prior to college, but after graduation he began to ossify concerning politics. / Word Form: ossifier |
| ostensible | (adj) pretended / Austin’s ostensible excuse for missing school was that his grandmother was in the hospital; the real reason, however, was that he went to the beach. / Word Forms: ostensibly, ostensive |
| overt | (adj) open and observable; not secret or hidden / The candidate’s overt support of stem cell research was unusual; he made it clear that if elected, he would work to increase research efforts. / Word Forms: overtly, overtness |
| overwrought | (adj) extremely excited or disturbed / Eva became overwrought when she lost her cell phone. / Related Word: overwork |
| pacify | (vb) to calm; to bring peace / The babysitter used a teething ring to pacify the crying baby. / Word Forms: pacifiable, pacifyingly, pacific, pacifier, pacifist |
| paean | (n) a song of praise / The ancient Greeks sang paeans to Apollo and other gods. / Word Form: paeanism |
| palatial | (adj) like a palace; magnificent / Polly bought a palatial home that had eight bedrooms, two kitchens, a ballroom, and a six car garage. / Word Forms: palatially, palatialness |
| palliate | (vb) to relieve or lessen / Aloe will palliate the pain from a sunburn. / Word Forms: palliation, palliator, palliative |
| pallid | (adj) pale; lacking energy / Palmer did not look healthy; his pallid skin had lost all trace of color. / Word Forms: pallidly, pallidness |
| panacea | (n) a cure for all diseases, or a solution to all problems / The manager believed the new software was a panacea for all of the company’s computer problems, but Pam was skeptical of its ability to improve the entire system. / Word Form: panacean |
| panache | (n) dashing style, flair, or manner / Penny only dates men with panache; she prefers to be seen with flamboyant boyfriends. |
| panegyric | (n) a formal expression of praise / The director delivered a panegyric about the center’s most helpful volunteer, praising her for helping the needy. / Word Forms: panegyrical, panegyrically, panegyrist, panegyrize, self-panegyric |
| panoply | (n) complete or impressive array / Penelope has managed to attract a panoply of bird species to her backyard bird feeder. / Word Form: panoplied |
| paradox | (n) a statement that contradicts itself but nevertheless may still be true / Parker said, “I always lie,” but this is a paradox; if the statement is true, then he must be lying. / Word Forms: paradoxal, paradoxical, paradoxically, paradoxology |
| paragon | (n) a perfect example / Parmida is a paragon of professionalism; she arrives on time, treats co-workers with respect, and refrains from gossip. / Word Forms: paragon (vb.), paragoned |
| parenthetical | (adj) characterized by the use of parenthesis / A remark in parenthesis is called a parenthetical remark, which is usually used to explain the sentence. / Word Forms: parenthetic, parenthetically, parentheticalness |
| pariah | (n) a person who is rejected; an outcast / Pamela became the pariah of the company when she was caught stealing money from her co-workers. / Word Forms: pariahdom, pariahism |
| parley | (vb) to talk or confer / The two generals met to parley their demands for surrender. / Word Forms: parley (n), parleyer |
| parody | (n) a humorous imitation / The awards show opened with a parody of a movie; all of the characters were played by monkeys dressed like the actors. / Word Forms: parody (vb.), parodiable, parodic, parodist |
| parry | (vb) to ward off, avoid, or evade / The senator parried any questions about the scandal by focusing on the state of the economy. / Word Forms: parriable, parrier |
| parsimonious | (adj) extremely reluctant to spend money; frugal and stingy / The parsimonious woman told her grandchildren that the gumballs in the candy machine were too expensive. / Word Forms: parsimoniously, parsimoniousness, parsimony |
| partisan | (n) a strong supporter of a party, cause, or person. / (adj) prejudiced in favor of a particular cause. / "newspapers have become increasingly partisan" / PS+RO |
| pastiche | (n) a work that is a mixture of styles, materials, or sources / Patsy's composition was truly a pastiche, borrowing musical elements from Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. / Word Forms: pasticcio, pasticheur, pasticheuse |
| patriarch | (n) the male head of a family / As the oldest of the seven, Uncle Pat was the patriarch of the family and thus gave the toasts at all family gatherings. / Word Forms: patriarchal, patriarchic, patriarchalism, patriarchy |
| paucity | (n) an insufficient quantity or number / Pam realized there was a paucity of hamburger buns. / PS+RO |
| peccadillo | (n) a minor fault or sin / Mr. Peck brought a bottle of white wine instead of a bottle of red wine to the dinner, but was forgiven for this peccadillo when he also produced a box of luxurious European chocolates. |
| pedagogical | (adj) relating to education or teaching / The course for new teachers taught the pedagogical principal that all children could learn. / Word Forms: pedagogy, pedagogic, pedagogically, pedagogism, pedagogery, pedagogish, pedagog, pedagogue |
| pedantic | (adj) excessively concerned with minor details and rules / It was difficult to be Penny’s partner because she was pedantic about recording every single step of the scientific method. / Word Forms: pedantical, pedantically, pedanticism, pedantry / PS+RO |
| pejorative | (n) a word that is derogatory or belittling / At one time, 'imbecile' meant weak, but it has since become a pejorative to describe a person who is intellectually slow. / Word Forms: pejorative (adj), pejoratively, pejoration |
| penchant | (n) a strong liking / Penny has a penchant for poetry; she has filled two notebooks with poems and poetic lines. |
| penitent | (adj) feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds / The penitent criminal asked for forgiveness from the family he had robbed. / Word Forms: penitently, penitence |
| penurious | (adj) extremely reluctant to spend money; stingy and frugal or extremely poor / The penurious old man refused to donate his spare change to the charity. / Word Forms: penuriously, penuriousness, penury |
| peregrinate | (vb) to travel / After high school, Perry chose to peregrinate through Europe before attending college. / Word Forms: peregrinator, peregrination |
| perfidious | (adj) tending to betray / The perfidious soldier was selling classified secrets to the army’s enemies. / Word Forms: perfidiously, perfidiousness, perfidy |
| perfunctory | (adj) done only as a matter of routine, with indifference and a lack of enthusiasm / The principal gave a perfunctory speech about attendance. / Word Forms: perfunctorily, perfunctoriness |
| peripatetic | (adj) traveling about / Perry had a peripatetic nature, so after high school, he spent several years traveling Europe before attending college. / Word Forms: peripatetic (n), peripatetically, peripateticism |
| permeate | (vb) to spread throughout / The smell of sweet apples permeated the room when Grandma pulled the apple pie from the oven. / Word Forms: permeation, permeative, permeator, interpermeate / PS+RO |
| pernicious | (adj) exceedingly harmful / The pernicious rumor could ruin several lives if permitted to spread. / Word Forms: perniciously, perniciousness |
| perquisite | (n) a payment or benefit in addition to one’s regular pay While working at the marina, my perquisites included free boat storage, a discount at the tackle shop, and daily tips. |
| perspicacity | (n) intelligence manifested by being astute / My accountant’s perspicacity saved me thousands of dollars on my tax returns because he found hidden rebates. / Word Forms: perspicacious, perspicaciously, perspicaciousness |
| peruse | (vb) to read / After the lawyer perused the motion to suppress evidence, she declared it was a flimsy attempt that no judge would grant. / Word Forms: perusable, peruser, preperuse, reperuse / PS+RO |
| pervasive | (adj) (especially of an unwelcome influence or physical effect) spreading widely throughout an area or a group of people. / "ageism is pervasive and entrenched in our society" / PS+RO |
| petulant | (adj) easily irritated over small issues / The petulant actress stormed off the set when she discovered that her dressing room did not have bottled water. / Word Forms: petulantly, petulance, petulancy |
| phalanx | (n) a closely massed group / The soldiers formed a phalanx to protect the building from the protestors. |
| philanthropist | (n) a person who makes charitable donations intended to increase human well-being / As a young philanthropist, Phillip used to donate his allowance to the homeless shelter. / Word Forms: philanthropy, philanthropic, philanthropical, philanthropically |
| philistine | (n) a person who resists culture, the arts, or intellectual pursuits / Phil is such a philistine; he'd rather sit at home and watch reality shows than go see a play or visit a museum. / Word Forms: philistine (adj), philistinism |
| phlegmatic | (adj) unemotional; calm / I thought the kids would be excited about our trip to the amusement park, but their reaction was much more phlegmatic. / Word Forms: phlegmatical, phlegmatically, phlegmaticalness / PS+RO |
| picayune | (adj) small and of little importance / The man is a fool to let a picayune argument destroy his friendship with his neighbor. / Word Forms: picayunish, picayunishly, picayunishness |
| pious | (adj) religiously devoted / The pious woman attended a church service seven days a week. / Word Forms: piously, piousness |
| pith | (n) the essence of something / The pith of the argument was that Ren wanted Grayden's toy. / PS+RO |
| pithy | (adj) brief but meaningful / The pastor made a pithy remark about integrity that made me reflect on my own habits long after the short sermon. / Word Forms: pithily, pithiness |
| placid | (adj) calm / When the wind died down, the lake became placid, with hardly a ripple disturbing the surface. / Word Forms: placidly, placidness, placidity |
| platitude | (n) a remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful. / "she began uttering liberal platitudes" / PS+RO |
| plebeian | (adj) of the common people; lacking sophistication / The queen looked down upon her plebeian subjects who did not know anything about refinement or sophistication. / Word Forms: plebeianism, plebeianly, plebeianness |
| plethora | (n) overabundance / At 300 applications, there are a plethora of qualified applicants for the program, but only 100 spots to fill. / Word Forms: plethoric, plethorically / PS+RO |
| pliant | (adj) capable of being bent or capable of being influenced / The pliant plastic can be easily molded into any shape, size, or design. / Word Forms: pliantly, pliantness, pliancy |
| plucky | (adj) brave / The plucky little duck jumped right into the water without waiting for its mother to lead the way. / Word Forms: pluckily, pluckiness |
| polemical | (adj) relating to or involving strongly critical, controversial, or disputatious writing or speech. / "a polemical essay" / PS+RO |
| politic | (adj) ingenious, wise, or diplomatic / Paul made a politic manager; he kept employees happy and productive using tactful approaches and strategies. / Word Form: politicly |
| polyglot | (adj) able to speak, read, or write in many languages / The polyglot woman was an asset to the company; she could speak with customers in Japan, Germany, Spain, and Italy. / Word Forms: polyglot (n.), polyglotism |
| populist | (n) a person who supports the rights and powers of the common people / The candidate is a populist who believes in promoting the causes of the working classes. / Word Forms: populist (adj.), populistic, populism |
| posit | (vb) to assume as fact; to put in place / The teacher posited that the children had cheated without hearing their side of the story. / Word Form: posit (n) |
| potentate | (n) a powerful ruler / The potentate was born into the power of the monarchy; his family had ruled the country for over six hundred years. / Related Word: potent |
| pragmatic | (adj) dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations. / "a pragmatic approach to politics" / Word Forms: pragmatical, pragmatically, pragmatism, pragmatistic, pragmatist / PS+RO |
| prattle | (vb) to babble / The child prattled on about his love of robots. / Word Forms: prattler, prattingly |
| precipitate | 1. (v) cause (an event or situation, typically one that is bad or undesirable) to happen suddenly, unexpectedly, or prematurely. / 2. (adj) done, made, or acting suddenly or without careful consideration. / 3. (n) a substance precipitated from a solution. |
| precis | (n) a short summary / Rather than submit the entire manuscript, I sent the publishing company a precis of my novel. / Word Form: precis (vb) |
| precocious | (adj) advanced in development or maturity (especially in mental aptitude) / The precocious little boy was able to solve the algebraic equation without any help from his teacher. / Word Forms: precociously, precociousness, precocity |
| predilection | (n) a preference / Preston has a predilection for cheddar so be sure not to serve mozzarella when he visits. |
| prescience | (n) knowledge of events before they happen / Grandma had an eerie prescience about my accident before it happened but I was too foolish to listen to her warnings. / Word Forms: prescient, presciently / PS+RO |
| pretense | (n) a false act intending to deceive / He got an interview with the pretense that he had a doctorate from Yale, but the interviewer quickly discovered the lie. / Word Forms: pretenseful, pretension, pretentious, pretentiously |
| prevaricate | (vb) speak or act in an evasive way. / "he seemed to prevaricate when journalists asked pointed questions" / PS+RO |
| pristine | (adj) pure, clean, or unused / The interior of the old car was in pristine condition; the upholstery was spotless and the equipment worked perfectly. / Word Form: pristinely / PS+RO |
| probity | (n) honesty and integrity / Prudence was often selected as hall monitor because of her probity; the teacher knew he could trust her. / PS+RO |
| proclivity | (n) a natural tendency / Prescott had a proclivity to lie, so few people trusted him. |
| prodigal | (adj) recklessly wasteful or lavishly abundant / The prince was criticized when his prodigal spending was documented by the tabloid. / Word Forms: prodigal (n), prodigally / PS+RO |
| prodigy | (n) a person, often a child, who is extraordinarily gifted or talented / The musical prodigy could play the most complicated Mozart composition on a piano by the time he was five years old. / Related Word: prodigious |
| profligate | (adj) shamelessly immoral or recklessly wasteful / The profligate prince was criticized when his wasteful spending was documented by the tabloid. / Word Forms: profligate (n), profligately, profligateness / PS+RO |
| progenitor | (n) a direct ancestor or originator / Although dogs now come in all shapes, sizes, and temperaments, the progenitor of their species was the wild wolf. / Word Forms: progenitorial, progenitorship |
| proletarian | (adj) of the working class / Education is an important proletarian value; working class parents believe that a college degree will offer their children many more career choices. / Word Forms: proletarian (n.), proletarianism, proletary, proletariat |
| proliferate | (vb) to grow rapidly / The franchise has proliferated; there were just two restaurants ten years ago, but now there are more than two hundred. / Word Form: proliferative, proliferation |
| propensity | (n) a natural tendency / Mrs. Petty loved to talk to friends and neighbors, so it was no surprise that she had a propensity to gossip. |
| propitiate | (vb) win or regain the favor of (a god, spirit, or person) by doing something that pleases them. / "the pagans thought it was important to propitiate the gods with sacrifices" / PS+RO |
| propriety | (n) accepted or appropriate standards / When traveling abroad, it is important to observe the proprieties of your host country. / PS+RO |
| prosaic | (adj) dull and lacking excitement / Pam claimed the movie was predictable and prosaic, causing her to fall asleep halfway through. / Word Forms: prosaical, prosaically, prosaicness, prosaicism |
| proselytize | (vb) to convert someone to another belief, religion, party, or cause / Prewitt spent the summer proselytizing for the governor’s re-election campaign. |
| provincial | (adj) unsophisticated and limited; associated with the country / The officer judged Prescott by his provincial dress. / Word Forms: provincially, provincialism, provincialize, provincialist |
| prudent | (adj) careful and sensible / Perry made a prudent decision when he chose not to ride home with his friend who had been drinking. / Word Forms: prudently, prudence, prudency, prudential |
| puerile | (adj) childish; immature / Your puerile jokes are suitable for the playground, but they won't get many laughs in a comedy club. / Word Forms: puerilely, puerilism |
| pugilist | (n) a person who fights with his fists; a boxer / The two pugilists entered the ring for the first round of the boxing match. / Word Forms: pugilistic, pugilistically, pugilism |
| pugnacious | (adj) tending to quarrel or fight easily / Paul cannot walk his pugnacious dog in the park because she always starts fights with the other dogs. / Word Forms: pugnaciously, pugnaciousness, pugnacity |
| pulchritude | (n) beauty / The model's pulchritude earned her the coveted spot on the cover of the magazine. / Word Form: pulchritudinous |
| punctilious | (adj) marked by precise accordance with details / Mr. Putnam is punctilious about punctuation; all of his students must correctly use periods, commas, and semicolons. / Word Forms: punctiliously, punctiliousness, punctilio |
| pundit | (n) a critic or expert / The political pundits are employed by newspapers and television networks to evaluate the actions of the President. / Word Forms: punditic, punditically, punditry, punditocracy |
| pungent | (adj) sharp; biting / Cosette's pungent remark stung Kent; he could handle criticism about his job, but her bitter words were personal. / Word Forms: pungency, pungently |
| pusillanimous | (adj) timid; cowardly / The pusillanimous lion asked the wizard for courage in the old fairy tale. / Word Forms: pusillanimously, pusillanimity |
| putrefy | (vb) to decay / The forgotten vegetables putrefied in the hot sun. / Word Forms: putrefiable, putrefier |
| quaff | (vb) to drink a beverage / Quinn quaffed three sodas as if she had an unquenchable thirst. / Word Forms: quaffer, quaffable |
| quell | (vb) to put an end to / The coach quelled the rumor that he was taking another job by signing an extension of his current contract. / Word Forms: quellable, queller |
| querulous | (adj) complaining / Quentin’s querulous tone irritated Nina; he always found something about which to complain. / Word Forms: querulously, querulousness |
| quiescent | (adj) being quiet or still or inactive / When the mine closed, the once-bustling town became quiescent and forlorn. / Word Forms: quiescently, quiescence, quiescency |
| quixotic | adjective / exceedingly idealistic; unrealistic and impractical. / "a vast and perhaps quixotic project" |
| quotidian | (adj) daily or commonplace / The teacher completed a quotidian report that tracked her student's absences. / Word Forms: quotidianly, quotidianness / PS+RO |
| raconteur | (n) a skilled storyteller / Raquel was a true raconteur; by the time she finished telling the story about her vacation, everyone in the room was intently listening. / Word Form: raconteuse |
| raiment | (n) clothes / Raymond brought a change of raiment with him so that he could shower and dress after basketball practice. / Related Word: array |
| rancorous | (adj) showing deep-seated resentment / In the fairy tale, the rancorous stepmother is jealous of the young maiden’s beauty, youth, and innocence. / Word Forms: rancor, rancorously, rancorousness |
| raucous | (adj) unpleasantly loud and harsh / Rachel’s raucous laughter often drove people away. / Word Forms: raucously, raucousness, raucity |
| raze | (vb) to tear down / The old abandoned buildings were razed in preparation for the construction of the new baseball stadium. / Word Form: raze |
| rebuke | (vb) to sharply criticize or reprimand / The principal rebuked the three students who wandered away from their chaperone on the field trip. / Word Forms: rebuke (n.), rebukingly, rebukable, rebuker |
| rebut | (vb) to prove false using evidence / The lawyer rebutted the witness’s testimony by providing contrary evidence. / Word Forms: rebuttable, rebuttal, rebutter |
| recalcitrant | (adj) having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline. / "a class of recalcitrant fifteen-year-olds" / Word Forms: recalcitrant (n.), recalcitrance, recalcitrancy, recalcitrate, recalcitration |
| recondite | (adj) 1. difficult or impossible for one of ordinary understanding or knowledge to comprehend / 2. of, relating to, or dealing with something little known or obscure / PS+RO |
| redoubtable | (adj) worthy of fear and respect / Forrest is a redoubtable opponent on the tennis court; he has not lost a set in his last twenty games. / Word Forms: redoubtableness, redoubtably, redoubted |
| redress | (vb) to correct or to relieve / The newspaper redressed the issue by offering an apology and printing the correct name of the suspect. / Word Forms: redress (n), redressable, redresser |
| refulgent | (adj) radiant; shining / The movie star's refulgent dress sparkled in the lights on the red carpet. / Word Forms: refulgence, refulgency, refulgentness, refulgently |
| refute | (vb) to prove to be false; to deny as true / The senator refuted claims he was arrested for careless driving by publishing his flawless driving record in the paper. / Word Forms: refutable, refutably, refutability, refutation, refutal, refuter / PS+RO |
| rejoinder | (n) a response / Reggie's rejoinder did not sufficiently answer the question. |
| relegate | (vb) to assign to a less important position; to demote / Rae Ann was relegated to dishwashing when she was caught being rude to the restaurant customers she was serving. / Word Forms: relegable, relegation |
| remiss | (adj) careless and neglectful / Rebekkah was criticized for being remiss in her work; she had made many careless mistakes this week. / Word Forms: remissly, remissness |
| remuneration | (n) payment / Each of the workers received remuneration for helping Remy paint his house. / Word Forms: remunerate, remunerable, remunerability, remunerably, remunerative, remuneratively, remunerativeness |
| renounce | (vb) to give up; to turn away from / The king renounced the crown when he married a woman who was not accepted by the royal family. / Word Forms: renounceable, renouncement, renouncer |
| repast | (n) a meal / We sat down to a repast of fried chicken, corn on the cob, and coleslaw. / Word Form: repast (vb) |
| replete | (adj) filled; complete / My professor returned my essay replete with comments, suggestions, and criticisms. / Word Forms: repletely, repleteness, repletive, repletively |
| repose | (n) state of calmness; peace / The artist likes to paint his subjects in repose as they lounge on the couch. / Word Forms: repose (vb), reposedly, reposedness, reposer |
| reprehensible | (adj) deserving of punishment / It’s a harsh punishment, but I do not feel sorry for you; stealing from a charity is a reprehensible crime. / Word Forms: reprehensibly, reprehensibility, reprehensibleness, reprehension |
| reproach | (vb) to blame; to express criticism towards / The board of directors reproached the company president for falling profits and decreased revenue. / Word Forms: reproach (n.), reproachingly, reproachable, reproachableness, reproachably / PS+RO |
| repudiate | (vb) to reject / The celebrity repudiated claims that she had undergone plastic surgery. / Word Forms: repudiable, repudiative, repudiation, repudiatory, repudiator / PS+RO |
| repugnant | (adj) offensive / The spoiled eggs that had sat in the hot car for several weeks offered the most repugnant smell I had ever experienced. / Word Forms: repugnantly, repugnance, repugnancy |
| requite | (vb) to repay or retaliate / I made a casserole for Rebecca last week and she requited the favor by returning my casserole dish filled with cookies. / Word Forms: requitable, requitement, requiter |
| rescind | (vb) to revoke or repeal / The prospective buyers rescinded their offer on the house when they learned it had a termite infestation. / Word Forms: rescindable, rescinder, rescindment / PS+RO |
| restive | (adj) nervous; restless; impatient with authority / The restive suspect was frustrated with the booking process; he was anxious to call his lawyer and post bond. / Word Forms: restively, restiveness |
| reticent | (adj) inclined to keep quiet and private / Ironically, the actor once known for his outspoken behavior became reticent in later years, refusing to grant interviews. / Word Forms: reticently, reticence, reticency / PS+RO |
| revere | (vb) to regard with respect and awe / Paul Revere was one of many colonists who revered freedom and democracy. / Word Forms: reverable, reverent, reverently, reverence, reverential, reverer |
| reviler | (n) a person who uses abusive language / Reva’s husband was a reviler who constantly criticized her appearance and behavior. / Word Forms: revile, revilement, revilingly |
| rhapsodize | (vb) to talk with great enthusiasm / The saleswoman rhapsodized about the benefits of her company’s product. / Word Forms: rhapsody, rhapsodic, rhapsodical, rhapsodically, rhapsodist |
| rhetoric | (n) skill in using language to persuade; empty talk / The real estate agent was well-versed in the rhetoric needed to sell the broken-down house. / Word Forms: rhetorical, rhetorically, rhetoricalness / PS+RO |
| ribald | (adj) vulgar / The comedian's ribald humor was offensive to many of the audience members who walked out of the club. / Word Form: ribaldly |
| rococo | (adj) ornate style in language, music, etc. / Her first novel was too rococo for the editor, who recommended that she delete some of the flowery language. |
| sacrosanct | (adj) sacred; not to be criticized or violated / Mr. Sackett considered his baseball cards sacrosanct; they were displayed proudly in his office behind thick plexiglass so no one would disturb them. / Word Forms: sacrosanctity, sacrosanctness |
| sagacious | (adj) acutely insightful and wise / The sagacious teacher was quickly able to pinpoint Sarah’s learning disability, and thus tailor lessons to better help the child comprehend the material. / Word Forms: sagaciously, sagaciousness, sagacity |
| sage | (n) a person who is very wise / Villagers who have seemingly unsolvable problems often seek the advice of the sage. / Word Forms: sage (adj.), sagely, sageness |
| salient | (adj) easily observable; prominent / Sally's most salient trait was her nose; it was large and slender, but somehow fit with her other delicate features. / Word Forms: saliently, salience |
| salubrious | (adj) healthy; wholesome / This salubrious tea is said to help cure many ailments. / Word Forms: salubriously, salubriousness, salubrity / PS+RO |
| sanctimonious | (adj) being hypocritically religious or righteous / The principal gave me a sanctimonious lecture about my tardiness, even though he was late to our last two meetings. / Word Forms: sanctimoniously, sanctimoniousness, sanctimony, sanctimonial |
| sanguine | adjective / optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation. / "he is sanguine about prospects for the global economy" |
| sardonic | (adj) characterized by bitter mocking / Sara's sardonic reply was meant to ridicule the boy. / Word Forms: sardonically, sardonicism |
| satiate | (vb) to fill to satisfaction / After a day without anything to eat, the huge spaghetti dinner satiated my appetite. / Word Forms: satiated, satiation / PS+RO |
| schism | noun / a split or division between strongly opposed sections or parties, caused by differences in opinion or belief. / "the widening schism between Church leaders and politicians" |
| scintillating | (adj) brilliantly clever or flashy and exciting / The animated movie has been praised for its scintillating dialogue, which is intended more for adults than children. / Word Forms: scintillatingly, scintillate, scintillant, scintillantly, scintillation |
| scoff | (vb) to laugh at and show open disrespect / Scott scoffed at the skate park rules; after the park closed, he hopped the fence and continued to skate until dark. / Word Forms: scoff (n.), scoffingly, scoffer |
| scrupulous | (adj) abiding by morals or strict rules / The scrupulous executive would not let the advertisement run with the misleading information printed in it. / Word Forms: scrupulously, scrupulousness, scrupulosity |
| sedition | (n) instigation of rebellion / If the founding fathers had been caught, they would have faced charges of sedition for starting the American Revolution. / Word Forms: seditionary, seditionist, seditious, seditiously, seditiousness |
| sedulous | (adj) marked by care and persistent effort / Siera was impressed by Wayne’s sedulous pursuit of a date; every day for the last three weeks, he had sent her a flower. / Word Forms: sedulously, sedulousness, sedulity / PS+RO |
| sentient | (adj) experiencing sense perception and consciousness / In the film, the robot becomes sentient, experiencing human emotions and senses. / Word Forms: sentiently, sentience, sentiency |
| seraphic | (adj) of an angel or celestial being / The toddler looks so seraphic when he sleeps at night that it's easy to forget what a devil he is by day. / Word Forms: seraph, seraphim, seraphical, seraphically, seraphicalness |
| sibilant | (adj) having a hissing sound / The patient’s respiration was weak and sibilant, the result of smoking for so many years. / Word Forms: sibilantly, sibilance, sibilancy |
| sinecure | (n) a paid job with little work / Cindy was fortunate to find a sinecure; she simply had to show up three days a week to collect a paycheck. / Word Forms: sinecureship, sinecurism, sinecurist |
| slake | (vb) to relieve thirst, hunger, desire, etc.; to make less intense / The ice cold soda slaked my thirst. / Word Forms: slakable, slakeless |
| sobriquet | (n) a nickname / The baby's full name was long and burdensome, so his parents used the sobriquet "Peanut." / Word Form: sobriquetical |
| solecism | (n) an error, especially in grammar / The contraction "ain't" is a solecism that should be removed from your vocabulary. / Word Forms: solecist, solecistic, solecistical, solecistically |
| solicitous | (adj) characterized by or showing interest or concern. / "she was always solicitous about the welfare of her students" / PS+RO |
| solvent | (adj) able to meet financial obligations / Sully worked three jobs in order to remain solvent. / Word Forms: solventless, solvently |
| somnolent | (adj) sleepy or drowsy / The somnolent truck driver had been awake all night and was anxious to find a rest area so she could sleep. / Word Forms: somnolently, somnolence, somnolency, somnolescent |
| sonorous | (adj) full and loud and deep, as a sound / The sound from the sonorous bell echoed throughout the cathedral. / Word Forms: sonorously, sonorousness, sonority |
| sophistry | (n) a false argument meant to trick someone / The mayor used sophistry to trick most of the town residents into believing that the property tax increase was necessary. / Word Forms: sophism, sophist, sophister |
| soporific | (adj) tending to make sleepy or drowsy / Sophie sang the soporific lullaby to help her young daughter fall asleep. / Word Forms: soporifically, soporiferous, soporiferously, soporiferousness / PS+RO |
| spartan | adjective / showing the indifference to comfort or luxury traditionally associated with ancient Sparta. / "spartan but adequate rooms" |
| specious | (adj) superficially plausible, but actually wrong. / "a specious argument" / misleading in appearance, especially misleadingly attractive. / "the music trade gives Golden Oldies a specious appearance of novelty" / PS+RO |
| sportive | (adj) playful / The sportive kitten chased the ball of yarn. / Word Forms: sportively, sportiveness, sportability |
| spurious | (adj) false; not legitimate / The applicant made spurious claims about attending a prestigious private school, but when the college learned the truth, they denied his application. / Word Forms: spuriously, spuriousness / PS+RO |
| squalid | (adj) filthy and repulsive / The abandoned home was squalid; it was infested with rats and filled with trash. / Word Forms: squalidly, squalidness, squalidity |
| stasis | (n) state of inaction or lack of progress / The company fluctuated between periods of growth and periods of stasis. / Word Form: stases |
| stentorian | (adj) very loud / The best cheerleaders have stentorian voices. / Word Form: stentorianly |
| stevedore | (n) a laborer who loads and unloads vessels in a port / Before the ship left port, the stevedores loaded it with nearly four tons of food and supplies for the long voyage. / Word Form: stevedore (vb.) |
| stifle | (vb) to stop or hold back / I stifled a yawn so Grandpa wouldn’t know that I was bored by his story. / Word Forms: stiflingly, stifler |
| stigma | (n) a mark of disgrace / Steve was able to find a job despite the stigma of having served time in prison. |
| stoic | (adj) free from emotion; unmoved / Mr. Stone's face remained stoic despite the pain and anger he was experiencing. / Word Forms: stoic (n), stoical, stoically, stoicalness |
| stolid | (adj) unemotional; unmoved / Mr. Stone's face remained stolid despite the pain and anger he was experiencing. / Word Form: stolidity, stolidness, stolidly / PS+RO |
| stricture | (n) a criticism / The film critic made several strictures about the movie’s poor dialogue. / Word Form: strictured |
| stultify | (vb) to make one appear foolish, stupid, or useless / The high school student stultified herself by insisting that Pittsburgh was in Tennessee. / Word Forms: stultifyingly, stultification, stultifier |
| stymie | (vb) to stump or hinder / The warden was stymied by the escape; the prisoners' cell doors were still locked, and there were no holes in the walls. / Word Form: stymie (n.) |
| sublime | adjective / of such excellence, grandeur, or beauty as to inspire great admiration or awe. / "Mozart's sublime piano concertos" |
| subterfuge | (n) something intended to deceive / Susan used the subterfuge of homework to avoid going to her grandmother’s house with the rest of her family. / Related Word: fugitive |
| subtle | (adj) difficult to detect / The subtle irony throughout the novel is missed by most readers. / Word Forms: subtly, subtleness, subtlety |
| subversive | (adj) seeking or intending to undermine an established system or institution. / "subversive literature" / PS+RO |
| succinct | (adj) expressed in few words; concise / Your summary must be succinct, highlighting the main ideas but omitting the bulk of the text. / Word Forms: succinctly, succinctness |
| sully | (vb) to make dirty or unpure / Mrs. Sullivan’s reputation was sullied by accusations that she was embezzling money from the PTA. / Word Form: sulliable |
| supercilious | (adj) arrogantly disdainful / Sue, who always wore designer clothes, glanced at my generic shoes with a supercilious sneer. / Word Forms: superciliously, superciliousness |
| superfluous | (adj) having more than needed or wanted; excessive / The lawyer’s continuing arguments were superfluous, as the jury had already reached a verdict. / Word Forms: superfluously, superfluousness, superfluity |
| supplant | (vb) supersede and replace. / "another discovery could supplant the original finding" / PS+RO |
| surfeit | (n) surplus; extra / There is a surfeit of gasoline this month so the price will be lowered significantly. / Word Form: surfeiter |
| surly | (adj) bad tempered or rude / The surly customer was unhappy with every aspect of his meal. / Word Forms: surlily, surliness |
| surreptitious | (adj) stealthy and secret / Before the colonists declared independence, they held a series of surreptitious meetings to secretly discuss their plan. / Word Forms: surreptitiously, surreptitiousness |
| sybarite | (n) a person devoted to luxury / Sybil was a difficult dinner guest because she was a sybarite, insisting on the finest china, most luxurious decor, and the most expensive food. / Word Forms: sybarite (adj), sybaritism |
| symbiosis | (n) a mutually beneficial relationship / Bees and flowers live in symbiosis; the bees pollinate the flowers while the flowers feed the bees. / Word Forms: symbiotic, symbiotical, symbiont |
| sycophant | (n) a person who flatters others in order to gain personal favor; a brown-noser / Sidney is a sycophant who compliments our English teacher in order to get a better grade on his assignments. / PS+RO |
| syncopated | (adj) / displace the beats or accents in (music or a rhythm) so that strong beats become weak and vice versa. / "syncopated dance music" |
| tacit | (adj) unspoken and implied / Although she never commented on our performance, the principal gave her tacit approval of our band by asking us to play at the next school function. / Word Forms: tacitly, tacitness / PS+RO |
| taciturn | (adj) silent; not willing to talk / The detective asked the lost girl her name, but the child remained taciturn, making it impossible to locate her parents. / Word Forms: taciturnly, taciturnity / PS+RO |
| tawdry | (adj) gaudy and cheap / The pretentious members of the club gawked at the guest's tawdry jewelry but she was impervious to their rude stares. / Word Forms: tawdrily, tawdriness |
| temerity | (n) fearless daring / Tim jumped from the plane with temerity; he seemed so fearless and relaxed that it was difficult to tell that this was his first skydiving experience. / Word Forms: temerarious, temerariously, temerariousness |
| temperate | (adj) moderate; not extreme / The plants prefer a temperate climate—not too hot and not too cold. / Word Forms: temperately, temperateness, temperance, temper (vb.) / PS+RO |
| tenacious | (adj) unyielding; stubborn / The tenacious defense refused to let the opponent score. / Word Forms: tenaciously, tenaciousness, tenacity |
| toady | (n) a person who flatters others in order to gain personal favor; a brown-noser / The professional athlete has several toadies who play to his ego in order to enjoy the perks of being in his entourage. / Word Forms: toady (vb.), toadyish, toadyism |
| tome | (n) a long, heavy book / The professor wants a short summary of your biography, not a tome he has to lug home with him. |
| torpid | (adj) sluggish; lacking energy / After the long weekend, Tony was torpid; even with multiple cups of coffee, he was sluggish all morning. / Word Forms: torpidity, torpidness, torpidly |
| transient | (adj) passing quickly or staying briefly / The most transient years of your life are those spent in high school. / Word Forms: transient (n.), transiently, transientness, transience / PS+RO |
| treacly | (adj) overly sweet or sentimental / The movie is treacly, with several emotional scenes; it should be viewed with a box of tissues instead of a box of popcorn. / Word Form: treacle |
| trenchant | (adj) keen, cutting, or energetic / Trent's trenchant wit was a bit too caustic for some of the audience, while others found him to be an effective speaker. / Word Forms: trenchancy, trenchantly |
| trite | (adj) repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse / Be sure to avoid trite expressions in your essay. / Word Forms: tritely, triteness |
| truculence | (n) brutal cruelty and aggressiveness / After the fight in school, Truman was expelled; the school board said that his truculence was a danger to the others. / Word Forms: truculent, truculently, truculency |
| truncated | (adj) shortened by cutting off a part / The author published a truncated version of the novel, because most people would not read a book with so many pages. / Word Forms: truncate, truncately, truncation |
| turgid | (adj) pompous or swollen / Turner wrote a turgid speech that was sure to alienate at least half the audience with its pompousness. / Word Forms: turgidity, turgidness, turgidly |
| turpitude | (n) vile, shameful behavior / In the play, the character’s turpitude exceeds the villainous behavior exhibited by typical antagonists. |
| tyro | (n) a beginner / As a tyro at snow skiing, Tyrone hired an instructor to give him a lesson before heading up the mountain. / Word Form: tyronic |
| ubiquitous | (adj) existing everywhere at once; omnipresent / The fog was ubiquitous, blanketing the countryside. / Word Forms: ubiquitously, ubiquitousness / PS+RO |
| umbrage | (n) offense; displeasure / The customer took umbrage at the clerk's rudeness and reported him to the corporate office. |
| unctuous | (adj) unpleasantly and excessively suave / The unctuous salesman winked at the ladies and flashed his college football ring at the men; ironically, his “charm” chased most customers away. / Word Forms: unctuously, unctuousness, unctuosity |
| untenable | (adj) impossible to defend / Tina made an untenable argument that fell apart on cross examination. / Word Forms: untenably, untenability, untenableness / PS+RO |
| upbraid | (vb) to criticize severely / The sergeant upbraided the cadet for failing to put his gun together correctly. / Word Form: upbraider |
| usury | (n) the practice of lending money at an extremely high interest rate / If you borrow money from a loan shark instead of from a bank, nothing can protect you from the resulting usury. / Word Form: usurious |
| vacillate | (vb) to waver or move back and forth / Vanessa vacillated between the two universities. / Word Forms: vacillatingly, vacillation, vacillant, vacillator / PS+RO |
| vainglorious | (adj) feeling excessive self-importance or pride for one’s own accomplishments / The vainglorious actor brushed aside the reporter’s question to talk about the Oscar he won. / Word Forms: vaingloriously, vaingloriousness, vainglory |
| venerated | (adj) highly respected / The venerated teacher had earned the respect of his students by helping them meet the high expectations he set for them. / Word Forms: venerate, venerable, venerably, venerability, veneration, veneratively, venerator / PS+RO |
| veracity | (n) honesty; truthfulness / The mechanic was known for his veracity, so customers trusted his diagnoses of their car problems. / Word Form: veracious / PS+RO |
| verbose | (adj) using or expressed in more words than are needed. / "much academic language is obscure and verbose" / PS+RO |
| verdant | (adj) green with color or green with inexperience / The verdant garden was lush with plants. / Word Forms: verdancy, verdantly |
| verisimilitude | (n) the appearance of truth; the quality of seeming to be true / Even though the movie was based on a true story, the film lacked verisimilitude. / Word Forms: verisimilitudinous, verisimilar, verisimilarly |
| vestige | (n) a small trace / The bricks from one corner of the foundation were the last vestiges of the historic hotel. / Word Forms: vestigial, vestigially, vestigium |
| vicissitude | (n) a change or variation / After a period of vicissitude in which Vin experienced much loss, he rebounded and regained control of the company. / Word Forms: vicissitudinous, vicissitudinary |
| vim | (n) energy and enthusiasm; vitality / Victor attacked the science project with vim. |
| virtuoso | (n) a person who has mastered a certain skill or field / Tonight I am attending a free concert in the park that features a young virtuoso on the violin. / Word Forms: virtuoso (adj.), virtuosic, virtuosity |
| viscous | (adj) sticky; thick / The viscous nature of maple syrup makes it difficult to remove from dishes once it hardens. / Word Forms: viscously, viscousness, viscosity |
| vitiate | (vb) to make imperfect; to corrupt / The king was vitiated by power. / Word Forms: vitiable, vitiation, vitiator |
| vitriolic | (adj) harsh or corrosive in tone / The orchestra teacher’s vitriolic criticism stung Victoria / Word Forms: vitriolically, vitriol |
| vituperate | (vb) to use abusive language / A children's welfare agency was contacted when the mother vituperated her son in the doctor's office. / Word Form: vituperator |
| vociferous | (adj) marked by loud outcry / When the newspaper ran an article on the benefits of a dress code, there were vociferous complaints from the students. / Word Forms: vociferously, vociferousness, vociferate, vociferation, vociferant, vociferator |
| voluble | (adj) talkative or fluent with words / The voluble hairdresser talked the entire time he cut my hair. / Word Forms: volubility, volubly |
| wane | (vb) to grow smaller / Wayne’s interest in basketball began to wane after he played hockey; he even sold his basketball shoes to buy skates. |
| wanton | (adj) unrestrained; immoral; unjustified / The pundit released wanton criticism on the book, even though it had been reviewed positively by other critics. / Word Forms: wantonly, wantonness |
| whimsical | (adj) characterized by carefree impulses / The babysitter’s whimsical personality meant that the kids were never bored. / Word Forms: whimsically, whimsicality / PS+RO |
| wily | (adj) sly and cunning / The wily real estate agent tried to get us to buy the house even though it was full of termites. / Word Forms: wile, wilily, wiliness |
| wistful | (adj) expressing longing or yearning / Willie gave the car one last wistful look before he left the dealership; he wished he had the money to buy it. / Word Forms: wistfully, wistfulness |
| wizened | (adj) shriveled / The old man's face was wizened with age. / Word Form: wizen |
| wraith | (n) a ghost / Ray was upset after seeing a wraith which he believed forecasted his death. / Word Form: wraithlike |
| zealous | (adj) enthusiastic and devoted / The zealous sports fan had a tattoo of his favorite team’s logo on his ankle. / Word Forms: zealously, zealousness, zealot |
| zenith | (n) the highest point / The actress reached the zenith of her career when she won an Oscar for her role in the blockbuster. / Word Form: zenithal |
| zephyr | (n) a soft breeze / The cool zephyr coming off the water was refreshing in the hot sun. |
| abate | (v) 1. (of something perceived as hostile, threatening, or negative) become less intense or widespread. / "the storm suddenly abated" / PS |
| abscond | (v) leave hurriedly and secretly, typically to avoid detection of or arrest for an unlawful action such as theft. / "she absconded with the remaining thousand dollars" / PS |
| abstain | (v) restrain oneself from doing or enjoying something. / "abstaining from chocolate" / PS |
| admonish | (v) warn or reprimand someone firmly. / "she admonished me for appearing at breakfast unshaven" / PS |
| adulterate | (v) render (something) poorer in quality by adding another substance, typically an inferior one. / "the meat was ground fine and adulterated with potato flour" / PS |
| advocate | (n) a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy. / "he was an untiring advocate of economic reform" / PS |
| alleviate | (v) make (suffering, deficiency, or a problem) less severe. / "he couldn't prevent her pain, only alleviate it" / PS |
| ambiguous | (adj) (of language) open to more than one interpretation; having a double meaning. / "ambiguous phrases" / PS |
| ambivalent | (adj) having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone. / "some loved her, some hated her, few were ambivalent about her" / PS |
| analogous | (adj) comparable in certain respects, typically in a way which makes clearer the nature of the things compared. / "they saw the relationship between a ruler and his subjects as analogous to that of father and children" / PS |
| anoint | (v) ceremonially confer divine or holy office upon (a priest or monarch) by smearing or rubbing with oil. / "Samuel anointed him king" / PS |
| anomaly | (n) something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected. / "there are a number of anomalies in the present system" / PS |
| antithetical | (adj) directly opposed or contrasted; mutually incompatible. / "people whose religious beliefs are antithetical to mine" / PS |
| appease | (v) 1. pacify or placate (someone) by acceding to their demands. / "amendments have been added to appease local pressure groups" / 2. relieve or satisfy (a demand or a feeling). / "we give to charity because it appeases our guilt" / PS |
| arbitrary | (adj) based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system. / "his mealtimes were entirely arbitrary" / PS |
| arcane | (adj) understood by few; mysterious or secret. / "modern math and its arcane notation" / PS |
| arduous | (adj) involving or requiring strenuous effort; difficult and tiring. / "an arduous journey" / PS |
| articulate | (adj) (of a person or a person's words) having or showing the ability to speak fluently and coherently. / "an articulate account of their experiences" / PS |
| artless | (adj) without guile or deception. / "an artless, naive girl" / PS |
| astonishment | (n) great surprise. / "she looked at him in astonishment" / PS |
| aver | (v) state or assert to be the case. / "he averred that he was innocent of the allegations" / PS |
| belie | (v) (of an appearance) fail to give a true notion or impression of (something); disguise or contradict. / "his lively, alert manner belied his years" / PS |
| benign | (adj) gentle; kindly. / "his benign but firm manner" / PS |
| biased | (adj) unfairly prejudiced for or against someone or something. / "we will not tolerate this biased media coverage" / PS |
| bolster | (v) support or strengthen; prop up. / "the fall in interest rates is starting to bolster confidence" / PS |
| brazen | (adj) bold and without shame. / "he went about his illegal business with a brazen assurance" / PS |
| candid | (adj) truthful and straightforward; frank. / "his responses were remarkably candid" / PS |
| capacity | (n) the max amount that something can contain. / "the capacity of the fridge is 1 cu ft" / the amount that something can produce. / "the company aimed to double its capacity" / a specified role or position. / "I was engaged in a voluntary capacity" / PS |
| catalyst | (n) something that speeds up a process or causes action / "the governor's speech acted as a catalyst for debate" / PS |
| chauvinist | (n) a person displaying aggressive or exaggerated patriotism. / "we don't want to lay ourselves open to charges that we're chauvinists" / PS |
| chronological | (adj) (of a record of events) starting with the earliest and following the order in which they occurred. / "the entries are in chronological order" / PS |
| commensurate | (adj) corresponding in size or degree; in proportion. / "salary will be commensurate with experience" / PS |
| compelling | (adj) evoking interest, attention, or admiration in a powerfully irresistible way. / "his eyes were strangely compelling" / not able to be refuted; inspiring conviction. / "a compelling argument" / PS |
| comprehensive | (adj) complete; including all or nearly all elements or aspects of something. / "a comprehensive list of sources" / PS |
| condone | (v) accept and allow (behavior that is considered morally wrong or offensive) to continue. / "the college cannot condone any behavior that involves illicit drugs" / PS |
| confound | (v) cause surprise or confusion in (someone), especially by acting against their expectations. / "the inflation figure confounded economic analysts / PS |
| connoisseur | (n) an expert judge in matters of taste. / "a connoisseur of music" / PS |
| consequential | (adj) 1. following as a result or effect. / "a loss of confidence and a consequential withdrawal of funds" / 2. important; significant. / "perhaps the most consequential discovery of the eighteenth century" / PS |
| construe | (v) interpret (a word or action) in a particular way. / "his words could hardly be construed as an apology" / PS |
| consumption | (n) the using up of a resource. / "industrialized countries should reduce their energy consumption" / PS |
| contend | (v) 1. struggle to surmount (a difficulty or danger). / "she had to contend with his uncertain temper" / 2. assert something as a position in an argument. / "he contends that the judge was wrong" / PS |
| contentious | (adj) causing or likely to cause an argument; controversial. / "a contentious issue" / PS |
| copious | (adj) abundant in supply or quantity. / "she took copious notes" / PS |
| cosmopolitan | (adj) 1. including or containing people from many different countries. / a city with a cosmopolitan population / 2. having wide international sophistication / Greater cultural diversity has led to a more cosmopolitan attitude. / PS |
| covet | (v) yearn to possess or have (something). / "the president-elect covets time for exercise and fishing" / PS |
| craft | (n) 1. skill in planning, making, or executing / 2. an occupation or trade requiring manual dexterity or artistic skill / 3. skill in deceiving to gain an end / PS |
| credence | (n) mental acceptance as true or real // give credence to gossip / PS |
| credulous | (adj) ready to believe especially on slight or uncertain evidence / accused of swindling credulous investors / PS |
| decorum | (n) propriety and good taste in conduct or appearance / strict in her notions of decorum / PS |
| deference | (n) humble submission and respect. / "he addressed her with the deference due to age" / PS |
| deflect | (v) cause (something) to change direction by interposing something; turn aside from a straight course. / "the bullet was deflected harmlessly into the ceiling" / PS |
| deft | adj / characterized by facility and skill / the photographer's deft use of lighting / PS |
| detachment | (n) 1. the state of being objective or aloof. / "he felt a sense of detachment from what was going on" / 2. a group of troops, aircraft, or ships sent away on a separate mission. / 3. the action or process of detaching; separation. / PS |
| determinant | (n) a factor which decisively affects the nature or outcome of something. / "pure force of will was the main determinant of his success" / PS |
| discrepancy | (n) a lack of compatibility or similarity between two or more facts. / "there's a discrepancy between your account and his" / PS |
| disinterested | (adj) 1. not influenced by considerations of personal advantage. / "a banker is under an obligation to give disinterested advice" / 2. having or feeling no interest in something. / PS |
| dispassionate | (adj) not influenced by strong emotion, and so able to be rational and impartial. / "she dealt with life's disasters in a calm, dispassionate way" / PS |
| disregard | (v) pay no attention to; ignore. / "the body of evidence is too substantial to disregard" / PS |
| diverge | (n) (of a road, route, or line) separate from another route, especially a main one, and go in a different direction. / PS |
| dogma | (n) a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true. / "the rejection of political dogma" / PS |
| eccentric | (adj) (of a person or their behavior) unconventional and slightly strange. / PS "my favorite aunt is very eccentric" |
| enhance | (v) intensify, increase, or further improve the quality, value, or extent of. / "his refusal does nothing to enhance his reputation" / PS |
| entitlement | (n) the fact of having a right to something. / "full entitlement to fees and maintenance should be offered" / PS |
| equable | (adj) (of a person) not easily disturbed or angered; calm and even-tempered. / PS |
| equivocate | (v) use ambiguous language so as to conceal the truth or avoid committing oneself. / "“Not that we are aware of,” she equivocated" / PS |
| erroneous | (adj) wrong; incorrect. / "employers sometimes make erroneous assumptions" / PS |
| estimable | (adj) worthy of great respect. / "she was shown into that estimable woman's presence" / PS+RO |
| exacting | (adj) making great demands on one's skill, attention, or other resources. / "living up to such exacting standards" / PS |
| expatiate | (v) speak or write at length or in detail. / "she expatiated on working-class novelists" / PS |
| exposition | (n) 1. a comprehensive description and explanation of an idea or theory. / "the exposition and defense of his ethics" / 2. a large public exhibition of art or trade goods. / PS |
| extrapolate | (v) extend the application of (a method or conclusion) to an unknown situation by assuming that existing trends will continue or similar methods will be applicable. / "the results cannot be extrapolated to other patient groups" / PS |
| facilitate | (v) make (an action or process) easy or easier. / "schools were located on the same campus to facilitate the sharing of resources" / PS+RO |
| fluctuate | (v) rise and fall irregularly in number or amount. / "trade with other countries tends to fluctuate from year to year" / PS |
| foment | (v) instigate or stir up (an undesirable or violent sentiment or course of action). / "they accused him of fomenting political unrest" / PS |
| forestall | (v) prevent or obstruct (an anticipated event or action) by taking action ahead of time. / "vitamins may forestall many diseases of aging" / PS |
| gainsay | (v) deny or contradict (a fact or statement). / "the impact of the railroads cannot be gainsaid" / PS |
| galvanize | (v) shock or excite (someone) into taking action. / "the urgency of his voice galvanized them into action" |
| gauche | (adj) lacking ease or grace; unsophisticated and socially awkward. / "a shy and gauche teenager" / PS |
| hierarchical | (adj) of the nature of a hierarchy; arranged in order of rank. / "the hierarchical bureaucracy of a local authority" / PS |
| homogeneous | (adj) of the same kind; alike. / "timbermen prefer to deal with homogeneous woods" / PS |
| hyperbole | (n) exaggerated statements or claims not meant to be taken literally. / "he vowed revenge with oaths and hyperboles" / PS |
| ideological | (adj) based on or relating to a system of ideas and ideals, especially concerning economic or political theory and policy. / "the ideological struggle that underpinned the cold war" / PS |
| imminent | (adj) about to happen. / "they were in imminent danger of being swept away" / PS |
| impair | (v) weaken or damage something (especially a human faculty or function). / "drug use that impairs job performance" / PS |
| impediment | (n) a hindrance or obstruction in doing something. / "a serious impediment to scientific progress"/ PS |
| imprudence | (n) the quality of being impudent; impertinence. / "his arrogance and impudence had offended many" / PS |
| impudent | (adj) not showing due respect for another person; impertinent. / "he could have strangled this impudent upstart" / PS |
| inadvertent | (adj) not resulting from or achieved through deliberate planning. / "an inadvertent administrative error occurred that resulted in an overpayment" / PS |
| inconclusive | (adj) not leading to a firm conclusion; not ending doubt or dispute. / "the medical evidence is inconclusive" / PS |
| indebted | (adj) 1. owing money. / "heavily indebted countries" / 2. owing gratitude for a service or favor. / "I am indebted to her for her help in indexing my book" / PS |
| indefatigable | (adj) (of a person or their efforts) persisting tirelessly. / "an indefatigable defender of human rights" / PS |
| infer | (v) deduce or conclude (information) from evidence and reasoning rather than from explicit statements. / "from these facts we can infer that crime has been increasing" / PS |
| inscrutable | (adj) impossible to understand or interpret. / "Guy looked blankly inscrutable" / PS |
| intensive | (adj) concentrated on a single area or subject or into a short time; very thorough or vigorous. / "she undertook an intensive Arabic course" / PS |
| intermediary | (n) a person who acts as a link between people in order to try to bring about an agreement or reconciliation; a mediator. / "intermediaries between lenders and borrowers" / PS |
| intimate | (adj) 1. closely acquainted; familiar, close. / "intimate friends" / 2. private and personal. / "intimate details of his sexual encounters" / PS |
| intrepid | (adj) fearless; adventurous (often used for rhetorical or humorous effect). / "our intrepid reporter" / PS |
| inveterate | (adj) having a particular habit, activity, or interest that is long-established and unlikely to change. / "he was an inveterate gambler" / PS |
| invulnerable | (adj) impossible to harm or damage. / "no state in the region is now invulnerable to attack by another" / PS |
| irresolute | (adj) showing or feeling hesitancy; uncertain. / "she stood irresolute outside his door" / PS |
| litigation | (n) the process of taking legal action. / "the company wishes to avoid litigation" / PS |
| maladroit | (adj) ineffective or bungling; clumsy. / "both men are unhappy about the maladroit way the matter has been handled" / PS |
| malign | 1. (adj) evil in nature or effect; malevolent. / "she had a strong and malign influence" / 2. (v) speak about (someone) in a spitefully critical manner. / "don't you dare malign her in my presence" / PS |
| modest | (adj) unassuming or moderate in the estimation of one's abilities or achievements. / "he was a very modest man, refusing to take any credit for the enterprise" / PS |
| monotony | (n) lack of variety and interest; tedious repetition and routine. / "you can become resigned to the monotony of captivity" / PS |
| neglect | (v) fail to care for properly. / "the old churchyard has been sadly neglected" / PS |
| nonplussed | (adj) (of a person) surprised and confused so much that they are unsure how to react. / "he would be completely nonplussed and embarrassed at the idea" / PS |
| notoriety | (n) the state of being famous or well known for some bad quality or deed. / "the song has gained some notoriety in the press" / PS |
| occult | (n) supernatural, mystical, or magical beliefs, practices, or phenomena. / "a secret society to study alchemy and the occult" / PS |
| offset | (v) counteract (something) by having an opposing force or effect. / "the deficit has been more than offset by capital inflows" / PS |
| olfactory | (adj) relating to the sense of smell. / "the olfactory organs" / PS |
| omniscience | (n) the state of knowing everything. / "the notion of divine omniscience" / PS |
| opportunism | (n) the taking of opportunities as and when they arise, regardless of planning or principle. / "he was accused of political opportunism" / PS |
| oscillate | (v) move or swing back and forth at a regular speed. / "a pendulum oscillates about its lowest point" / PS |
| ostentatious | (adj) characterized by vulgar or pretentious display; designed to impress or attract notice. / "books that people buy and display ostentatiously but never actually finish" / PS |
| outstrip | (v) move faster than and overtake (someone else). / PS |
| overshadow | (v) 1. tower above and cast a shadow over. / "an enormous oak tree stood overshadowing the cottage" / 2. appear much more prominent or important than. / "his competitive nature often overshadows the other qualities" / PS |
| painstaking | (adj) done with or employing great care and thoroughness. / "painstaking attention to detail" / PS |
| partial | (adj) 1. existing only in part; incomplete. / 2. favoring one side in a dispute above the other; biased. / 3. having a liking for. / PS |
| patent | (adj) easily recognizable; obvious. / "she was smiling with patent insincerity" / PS |
| pedestrian | (adj) lacking inspiration or excitement; dull. / "disenchantment with their present, pedestrian lives" / PS |
| perfidy | (n) deceitfulness; untrustworthiness. / "it was an example of his perfidy" / PS |
| peripheral | (adj) relating to or situated on the edge or periphery of something. / "the peripheral areas of Europe" / PS |
| perseverance | (n) persistence in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success. / "his perseverance with the technique illustrates his single-mindedness" / PS |
| phenomena | (n) a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, especially one whose cause or explanation is in question. / "glaciers are unique and interesting natural phenomena" / PS |
| plausible | (adj) (of an argument or statement) seeming reasonable or probable. / "a plausible explanation" / PS |
| plummet | (v) fall or drop straight down at high speed. / "a climber was killed when he plummeted 300 feet down an icy gully" / PS |
| polarize | (v) divide or cause to divide into two sharply contrasting groups or sets of opinions or beliefs. / "the cultural sphere has polarized into two competing ideological positions" / PS |
| precarious | (adj) not securely held or in position; dangerously likely to fall or collapse. / "a precarious ladder" / PS |
| precede | (v) come before (something) in time. / "a gun battle had preceded the explosions" / PS |
| precursor | (n) a person or thing that comes before another of the same kind; a forerunner. / "a three-stringed precursor of the violin" / PS |
| presumptuous | (adj) (of a person or their behavior) failing to observe the limits of what is permitted or appropriate. / "I hope I won't be considered presumptuous if I offer some advice" / PS |
| prevail | (v) prove more powerful than opposing forces; be victorious. / "it is hard for logic to prevail over emotion" / PS |
| proliferate | (v) increase rapidly in numbers; multiply. / "the science fiction magazines that proliferated in the 1920s" / PS |
| prospective | (adj) likely to happen at a future date; concerned with or applying to the future. / "a meeting to discuss prospective changes in government legislation" / PS |
| qualification | (n) 1. a quality or accomplishment that makes someone suitable for a particular job or activity. / 2. the action or fact of qualifying or being eligible for something. / 3. a statement or assertion that makes another less absolute. / PS |
| rationalize | (v) attempt to explain or justify (one's own or another's behavior or attitude) with logical, plausible reasons, even if these are not true or appropriate. / "she couldn't rationalize her urge to return to the cottage" / PS |
| reconcile | (v) restore friendly relations between. / "she wanted to be reconciled with her father" / PS |
| relentless | (adj) oppressively constant; incessant. / "the relentless heat of the desert / PS |
| relevant | (adj) closely connected or appropriate to what is being done or considered. / "what small companies need is relevant advice" / PS |
| respectively | (adv) separately or individually and in the order already mentioned (used when enumerating two or more items or facts that refer back to a previous statement). / "they received sentences of one year and eight months respectively" / PS |
| reverent | (adj) feeling or showing deep and solemn respect. / "a reverent silence" / PS |
| sanction | 1. (n) a threatened penalty for disobeying a law or rule. / "a range of sanctions aimed at deterring insider abuse" / 2. (v) give official permission or approval for (an action). / "only two treatments have been sanctioned by the FDA" / PS |
| secular | (adj) denoting attitudes, activities, or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis. / "secular buildings" / PS |
| sediment | (n) matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid; dregs. / PS |
| simultaneous | (adj) occurring, operating, or done at the same time. / "a simultaneous withdrawal of all troops" / PS |
| sparse | (adj) thinly dispersed or scattered. / "areas of sparse population" / PS |
| sporadic | (adj) occurring at irregular intervals or only in a few places; scattered or isolated. / "sporadic fighting broke out" / PS |
| subjective | (adj) based on or influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions. / "his views are highly subjective" / PS |
| substantiate | (v) provide evidence to support or prove the truth of. / "they had found nothing to substantiate the allegations" / PS |
| sufficient | (adj) enough; adequate. / "a small income that was sufficient for her needs" / PS |
| superbly | (adv) very well; excellently. / "the team played superbly" / PS |
| supine | (adj) (of a person) lying face upward. / PS |
| synthesize | (v) combine (a number of things) into a coherent whole. / "pupils should synthesize the data they have gathered" / PS |
| tenuous | (adj) very weak or slight. / "the tenuous link between interest rates and investment" / PS |
| timorous | (adj) showing or suffering from nervousness, fear, or a lack of confidence. / "a timorous voice" / PS |
| tirade | (n) a long, angry speech of criticism or accusation. / "a tirade of abuse" / PS |
| torpor | (n) a state of physical or mental inactivity; lethargy. / "they veered between apathetic torpor and hysterical fanaticism" / PS |
| tortuous | (adj) full of twists and turns. / "the route is remote and tortuous" / PS |
| tractable | (adj) easy to control, manage, or influence. / "tractable dogs that have had some obedience training" / PS |
| unadorned | (adj) plain, unembellished / "it was very simple, its walls unadorned" / PS |
| undermine | (v) lessen the effectiveness, power, or ability of, especially gradually or insidiously. / "this could undermine years of hard work" / PS |
| underscore | (v) 1. to draw a line under / 2. to make evident / PS |
| venal | (adj) capable of being bought or obtained for money or other valuable consideration / PS |
| vexation | (n) the state of being annoyed, frustrated, or worried. / "Jenny bit her lip in vexation" / PS |
| volatile | (adj) liable to change rapidly and unpredictably, especially for the worse. / "the political situation was becoming more volatile" / PS |
| zeal | (n) great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective. / "his zeal for privatization" / PS |
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dogmaticdoctrinaire
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