adj.

deviating from the norm

aberrant
(n. aberration)

v. depart clandestinely; steal

abscond
off and hide

n. great willingness or
alacrity
enthusiasm

n. deviation from the normal

anomaly order, form, or rule;
abnormality (adj. anomalous)
 n. an expression of approval or
approbation
praise

adj. strenuous; taxing;

arduous
requiring significant effort

v. ease or lessen; appease or

assuage
pacify

adj. daring and fearless;

audacious
recklessly bold (n. audacity)
 adj. without adornment; bare;
austere severely simple; ascetic (n.
austerity)

adj. taken as a given;

axiomatic possessing self-evident truth
(n. axiom)

adj. following or in agreement

canonical with accepted, traditional
standards (n. canon)

adj. inclined to change one's

capricious mind impulsively; erratic;
unpredictable
 v. criticize severely; officially
censure
rebuke

chicanery n. trickery or subterfuge

n. an informed and astute

connoisseur judge in matters of taste;
expert

convoluted adj. complex or complicated

disabuse v. undeceive; set right

adj. conflicting; dissonant or

discordant
harsh in mind

adj. fundamentally distinct or

disparate
dissimilar

n. extreme boldness;
effrontery
presumptuousness
 adj. well-spoken; expressive;
eloquent
articulate (n. eloquence)

enervate v. weaken; reduce in vitality

n. dissatisfaction and
ennui restlessness resulting from
boredom or apathy

v. use ambiguous language

equivocate with a deceptive intent (adj.
equivocal)
 adj. very learned; scholarly (n.
erudite
erudition)

exculpate v. exonerate; clear of blame

adj. urgent; pressing; requiring

exigent
immediate action or attention

adj. improvised; done without

extemporaneous
preparation
 n. intentional obstruction, esp.
filibuster using prolonged speechmaking
to delay legislative action

fulminate v. loudly attack or denounce

adj. artless; frank and candid;

ingenuous
lacking in sophistication

adj. accustomed to accepting

inured
something undesirable
 adj. easily angered; prone to
irascible
temperamental outbursts

v. praise highly (adj.

laud
laudatory)

lucid adj. clear; easily understood

n. the quality of being

generously noble in mind and
magnanimity
heart, esp. in forgiving (adj.
magnanimous)
 adj. associated with war and
martial
the armed forces

adj. of the world; typical of or

mundane
concerned with the ordinary

adj. coming into being; in early

nascent
developmental stages

adj. vague; cloudy; lacking

nebulous
clearly defined form
 n. a new word, expression, or
neologism usage; the creation or use of
new words or senses

noxious adj. harmful; injurious

adj. lacking sharpness of

obtuse intellect; not clear or precise
in thought or expression

v. anticipate and make

obviate
unnecessary
onerous adj. troubling; burdensome

n. a song or hymn of praise

paean
and thanksgiving

n. a humorous imitation
parody intended for ridicule or comic
effect, esp. in literature and art

adj. recurrent though the year

perennial or many years; happening
repeatedly
 n. intentional breach of faith;
perfidy
treachery (adj. perfidious)

adj. cursory; done without

perfunctory
care or interest

adj. acutely perceptive; having

perspicacious keen discernment (n.
perspicacity)

v. babble meaninglessly; talk

prattle
in an empty and idle manner
 adj. acting with excessive
haste or impulse, v. cause or
precipitate
happen before anticipated or
required

n. a disposition in favor of
predilection
something; preference

n. foreknowledge of events;
prescience knowing of events prior to
their occurring (adj. prescient)

v. deliberately avoid the truth;

prevaricate
mislead
 n. misgivings; reservations;
qualm
causes for hesitancy

v. retract, esp. a previously

recant
held belief

v. disprove; successfully argue

refute
against

v. forcibly assign, esp. to a

relegate
lower place or position
 adj. quiet; reserved; reluctant
reticent to express thoughts and
feelings

adj. concerned and attentive;

solicitous
eager

adj. characterized by filth,

sordid
grime, or squalor; foul

adj. occurring only

sporadic occasionally, or in scattered
instances
 v. waste by spending or using
squander
irresponsibly

adj. not moving, active, or in

static
motion; at rest

stupefy v. stun, baffle, or amaze

stymie v. block; thwart

 n. the combination of parts to
synthesis
make a whole (v. synthesize)

torque n. a force that causes rotation

adj. winding; twisting;

tortuous
excessively complicated

adj. fierce and cruel; eager to

truculent
fight
veracity n. truthfulness; honesty

adj. extremely harmful or

virulent poisonous; bitterly hostile or
antagonistic

adj. having an insatiable

voracious appetite for an activity or
pursuit; ravenous

v. move to and fro; sway; be

waver
unsettled in opinion
 abate v. lessen in intensity of degree

accolade n. an expression of praise

n. excessive praise; intense

adulation
adoration

v. make better or more

ameliorate
tolerable
 n. one who practices rigid self-
ascetic denial, esp. as an act of
religious devotion

n. greed, esp. for wealth (adj.

avarice
avaricious)

adj. dealing with, appreciative

aesthetic of, or responsive to art or the
beautiful

n. a universally recognized
axiom
principle (adj. axiomatic)
 adj. rustic and pastoral;
bucolic characteristic of rural areas
and their inhabitants

burgeon v. grow rapidly or flourish

n. harsh, jarring, discordant

cacophony sound; dissonance (adj.
cacophonous)

n. an established set of
principles or code of laws,
canon
often religious in nature (adj.
canonical)
 n. severe criticism or
castigation
punishment (v. castigate)

n. a substance that accelerates

the rate of a chemical reaction
catalyst without itself changing; a
person of thing that causes
change

adj. burning or stinging;

caustic
causing corrosion

chary adj. wary; cautious; sparing

 adj. appealing forcibly to the
cogent
mind or reason; convincing

n. the willingness to comply

complaisance with wishes of others (adj.
complaisant)

adj. argumentative;
contentious quarrelsome; causing
controversy or disagreement

adj. regretful; penitent;

contrite seeking forgiveness (n.
contrition)
 adj. deserving blame (n.
culpable
culpability)

n. smallness of quantity or
dearth
number; scarcity; a lack

demur v. question or oppose

adj. intended to teach or

didactic
instruct
 n. cautious reserve in speech;
discretion ability to make responsible
decisions (adj. discreet)

adj. free of bias of self-

disinterested
interest; impartial

adj. expressing a rigid opinion

based on unproved or
dogmatic
unprovable principles (n.
dogma)

adj. the quality of lively or

enthusiastic expression of
ebullience
thoughts and feelings (adj.
ebullient)
 adj. composed of elements
eclectic
drawn from various sources

n. a mournful poem, esp. one

elegy lamenting the dead (adj.
elegiac)

adj. / n. soothing, esp. to the

skin; making less harsh;
emollient
mollifying; an agent that
softens of smoothes the skin

adj. based on observation or

empirical
experiment
 adj. mysterious; obscure;
enigmatic difficult to understand (n.
enigma)

lasting or used for only a short

ephemeral
period of time

adj. intended for or understood

esoteric
by a small, specific group

n. a speech or piece of writing

eulogy praising somebody/something
very much
exonerate v. remove blame

facetious adj. playful; humorous

n. an invalid or incorrect
fallacy notion; a mistaken belief (adj.
fallacious)

adj. marked by stealth; covert;

furtive
surreptitious
 adj. sociable; outgoing;
gregarious enjoying the company of other
people

v. / n. deliver a pompous
harangue speech or tirade; a long,
pompous speech

adj. violating accepted dogma

heretical
or convention (n. heresy)

n. an exaggerated statement,
hyperbole often used as a figure of
speech (adj. hyperbolic)
 adj. lacking funds; without
impecunious
money

adj. beginning to come into

incipient
being or to become apparent

adj. unmoving; lethargic;

inert
sluggish

adj. harmless; causing no

innocuous
damage
 adj. refusing to compromise
intransigent
(n. intransigence)

adj. unhappy, bad-tempered

morose
and not talking very much

adj. evoking intense aversion

odious
or dislike

adj. impenetrable by light; not

opaque
reflecting light
 n. the act or state of swinging
back and forth with a steady,
oscillation
uninterrupted rhythm (v.
oscillate)

adj. penny-pinching;
penurious excessively thrifty;
ungenerous

adj. extremely harmful;

pernicious
potentially causing death

v. obtain by deception or
inveigle
flattery
 v. examine with great care (n.
peruse
perusal)

adj. extremely reverent or

pious devout; showing strong
religious devotion (n. piety)

n. one that precedes and

precursor indicates or announces
another

v. dress up; primp; groom

preen
oneself with elaborate care
 adj. abundant in size, force, or
prodigious
extent; extraordinary

adj. producing large volumes

prolific
or amounts; productive

rot; decay and give off a foul

putrefy
odor (adj. putrid)

quaff v. drink deeply

 n. stillness; motionlessness;
quiescence quality of being at rest (adj.
quiescent)

adj. awe-inspiring; worthy of

redoubtable
honor

n. / v. authoritative permission
or approval; a penalty
sanction intended to enforce
compliance; give permission
or authority to

n. a way of criticizing a
person, an idea or an
institution in which you use
satire
humor to show their faults or
weaknesses; a piece of writing
that uses this type of criticism
 adj. sordid; wretched and dirty
squalid
as from neglect (n. squalor)

supplant v. take the place of; supersede

adj. lethargic; sluggish;

torpid
dormant (n. torpor)

adj. existing everywhere at the

ubiquitous same time; constantly
encountered; widespread
 adj. sophisticated; refined;
urbane
elegant (n. urbanity)

v. defame; characterize
vilify
harshly

viscous adj. thick; sticky (n. viscosity)

n. keen, accurate judgement or

acumen
insight
 v. reduce purity by combining
adulterate
with inferior ingredients

v. combine several elements

amalgamate into a whole (n.
amalgamation)

adj. outdated; associated with

archaic an earlier, perhaps more
primitive, time

v. state as a fact; declare or

aver
assert
 v. provide support or
bolster
reinforcement

diatribe n. a harsh denunciation

adj. pompous; grandiloquent

bombastic
(n. bombast)

dissemble v. disguise or conceal; mislead

 adj. departing from norms or
eccentric
conventions

adj. tending to disappear like

evanescent
vapor; vanishing

exacerbate v. make worse or more severe

adj. greatly emotional or

fervent
zealous (n. fervor)
 adj. happening by accident or
fortuitous
chance

adj. relevant to the subject at

germane hand; appropriate in subject
matter

adj. rendered trite or

hackneyed commonplace by frequent
usage

halcyon adj. calm and peaceful

 n. devotion to pleasurable
pursuits, esp. to the pleasures
hedonism
of the senses ( a hedonist is
someone who purses pleasure)

a person who criticizes

iconoclast popular beliefs or established
customs and ideas

n. pompous speech or
grandiloquence
expression (adj. grandiloquent)

n. the consistent dominance of

hegemony one state or ideology over
others
 adj. given to intense or
idolatrous excessive devotion to
something (n. idolatry)

impassive adj. revealing no emotion

adj. marked by extreme clam,

imperturbable
impassivity, and steadiness

n. immunity from punishment

impunity
or penalty
 adj. not capable of being
implacable appeased or significantly
changed

infelicitous adj. unfortunate; inappropriate

adj. without taste or flavor;

insipid
lacking in spirit; bland

adj. extremely talkative (n.

loquacious
loquacity)
 adj. characterized by
luminous brightness and the emission of
light

adj. having or showing often

malevolent vicious ill will, spite, or hatred
(n. malevolence)

adj. in an initial stage; not fully

inchoate
formed

adj. capable of being shaped

malleable
or formed; tractable; pliable
 n. the condition of being
mendacity untruthful; dishonesty (adj.
mendacious)

adj. characterized by extreme

meticulous case and precision; attentive
to detail

n. one who hates all other

misanthrope
humans (adj. misanthropic)

v. make or become less severe

mitigate
or intense; moderate
 adj. unyielding; hardhearted;
obdurate
intractable

adj. exhibiting a fawning

obsequious
attentiveness

occlude v. obstruct or block

opprobrium n. disgrace; contempt; scorn

 n. the profession or principles
pedagogy
of teaching, or instructing

adj. the parading of learning;

pedantic excessive attention to minutiae
and formal rules

penury n. poverty; destitution

adj. having the tendency to

pervasive
permeate or spread throughout
 v. yearn intensely; languish;
pine
lose vigor

pirate v. illegally use or reproduce

pith n. the essential or central part

pithy adj. precise and brief

 v. appease; clam by making
placate
concessions

n. a superficial remark, esp.

platitude
one offered as meaningful

v. plunge or drop straight

plummet
down

adj. controversial;
polemical
argumentative
 adj. recklessly wasteful;
prodigal
extravagant; profuse; lavish

adj. given or coming forth

profuse
abundantly; extravagant

v. grow or increase swiftly and

proliferate
abundantly

n. questions; inquiries; doubts

queries
in the mind; reservations
 adj. prone to complaining or
querulous
grumbling; peevish

adj. characterized by bitter,

rancorous long-lasting resentment (n.
rancor)

adj. obstinately defiant of

recalcitrant
authority; difficult to manage

v. refuse to have anything to

repudiate
do with; disown
 rescind v. invalidate; repeal; retract

adj. marked by, feeling, or

expressing a feeling of
reverent
profound awe and respect (n.
reverence)

n. the art or study of effective

rhetoric use of language for
communication and persuasion

adj. promoting health or well-

salubrious
being
 adj. able to meet financial
solvent obligations; able to dissolve
another substance

adj. seeming true, but actually

specious being fallacious; misleadingly
attractive; plausible but false

adj. lacking authenticity or

spurious
validity; false; counterfeit

n. a court order requiring

subpoena
appearance and/or testimony
 succinct adj. brief; concise

adj. exceeding what is

superfluous
sufficient or necessary

n./v. an overabundant supply;

surfeit excess; feed or supply to
excess

n. the quality of adherence or

persistence to something
tenacity
valued; persistent
determination (adj. tenacious)
 adj. having little substance or
tenuous
strength; flimsy; weak

n. a long and extremely critical

tirade
speech; a harsh denunciation

adj. fleeting; passing quickly;

transient
brief

adj. fervent; ardent;

zealous impassioned; devoted to a
cause (cf. zealot)
 adj. indifferent to or
stoic unaffected by pleasure or pain
(stoicism)

adj. characteristic of or often

endemic found in a particular locality,
region, or people

adj. having a sour or bitter

acerbic taste or character; sharp;
biting

v. increase in intensity, power,

aggrandize
influence, or prestige
 n. a medieval science aimed at
alchemy the transmutation of metals,
esp. base metals into gold

adj. agreeable; responsive to

amenable
suggestion

n. something or someone out

anachronism of place in terms of historical
or chronological context

adj./n. having a tightening

astringent effect on living tissue; harsh;
severe
 n. self-important or pompous
bombast writing or speech (adj.
bombastic)

adj. sharing a border;

contiguous
touching; adjacent

n. a generally agreed-upon
convention
practice or attitude

adj. tending to believe too

credulous
readily; gullible (n. credulity)
 n. an attitude or quality of
belief that all people are
cynicism
motivated by selfishness (adj.
cynical)

n. polite or appropriate
decorum conduct or behavior (adj.
decorous)

n. scorn; ridicule;
derision contemptuous treatment (adj.
derisive, v. deride)

v. dry out or dehydrate; make

desiccate
dry or dull
 n. one with an amateurish or
dilettante superficial interest in the arts
or a branch of knowledge

disparage v. slight or belittle

divulge v. disclose something secret

fawn v. flatter or praise excessively

 v. show contempt for, as in a
flout
rule or convention

adj. pointlessly talkative,

garrulous
talking too much

adj. marked by ease or

glib informality; nonchalant;
lacking in depth; superficial

n. overbearing presumption or
hubris
pride; arrogance
 adj. about to happen;
imminent
impending

immutable adj. not capable of change

adj. hastily or rashly energetic;

impetuous
impulsive and vehement

adj. having no interest or

indifferent concern; showing no bias or
prejudice
 adj. damaging; harmful;
inimical
injurious

adj. not easily managed or

intractable
directed; stubborn; obstinate

intrepid adj. steadfast and courageous

laconic adj. using few words; terse

 n. an independent individual
maverick who does not go along with a
group or party

adj. characterized by rapid and

mercurial
unpredictable change in mood

v. calm or soothe; reduce in

mollify
emotional intensity

n. a recent convert; a
neophyte
beginner; novice
 deliberately obscure; make
obfuscate
confusing

adj. stubborn; hardheaded;

obstinate
uncompromising

adj. characterized by or given

ostentatious
to pretentious display; showy

v. permeate throughout (adj.

pervade
pervasive)
 adj. calm; sluggish;
phlegmatic
unemotional

n. an overabundance; a
plethora
surplus

adj. practical rather than

pragmatic
idealistic

adj. overstepping due bounds

presumptuous (as of propriety or courtesy);
taking liberties
 pristine adj. pure; uncorrupted; clean

n. a natural predisposition or
proclivity
inclination

adj. excessively wasteful;

profligate recklessly extravagant (n.
profligacy)

n. a natural inclination or
propensity
tendency, penchant
 adj. dull; lacking in spirit or
prosaic
imagination

adj. characterized by a strong,

pungent
sharp smell or taste

adj. foolishly impractical;

quixotic marked by lofty romantic
ideals

adj. occurring or recurring

quotidian
daily; commonplace
 v. make or become thin, less
rarefy
dense, refine

n. adherence to highest
principles; complete and
probity
confirmed integrity;
uprightness

adj. hidden; concealed;

recondite difficult to understand;
obscure

refulgent adj. radiant; shiny; brilliant

 v. fail to honor a commitment;
renege
go back on a promise

adj. diligent; persistent;

sedulous
hardworking

n. a piece of broken pottery or

shard
glass

adj. causing drowsiness;

soporific
tending to induce sleep
 adj. thin; not dense; arranged
sparse
at widely spaced intervals

n. one who spends money

spendthrift
wastefully

adj. not obvious; elusive;

subtle
difficult to discern

adj. implied; not explicitly

tacit
stated
 adj. brief and concise in
terse
wording

tout v. publicly praise or promote

adj. sharply perceptive; keen;

trenchant
penetrating

adj. genuine; not false or

unfeigned
hypocritical
 adj. indefensible; not viable;
untenable
uninhabitable

v. waver indecisively between

vacillate one course of action or
opinion and another; waver

adj. multicolored;
variegated characterized by a variety of
patches of different color

n. annoyance; irritation (v.

vexation
vex)
 adj. alertly watchful (n.
vigilant
vigilance)

v. use harsh condemnatory

vituperate language; abuse or censure
severely or abusively; berate

adj. readily changing to a

volatile vapor; changeable; fickle;
explosive (n. volatility)

of many different kinds;

multifarious
having great variety