Full list of words from this list:

in list orde r
words only definitions & notes

1. abase
cause to feel shame

She is not abased or dejected, but exalted, rather.

2. aberration
a state or condition markedly different from the norm

While Tampa Bay has taken a huge nosedive a year after going 10-6, maybe
that 2010 success was an aberration.

3. abhor
feel hatred or disgust toward

There are sane readers who abhor gratuitous violence but love Reacher’s
menacing wisecracks.Ne

4. abject
most unfortunate or miserable

Mr. Jobling stood wringing his hands helplessly, his flaccid features
expressive of abject despair.Douglas, Hudson

5. abrasive
sharply disagreeable, unpleasant, or harsh

“He has always been focused, driven, demanding and, as a result, very
difficult and abrasive,” Mr. Norman said.New York Times (Oct 7, 2011)

6. abstain
refrain from doing, consuming, or partaking in something

Griffin felt that he had better abstain from questioning, and let his host run
on.Marsh, Richard

7. abstract
existing only in the mind

Presenting an abstract concept, waving our arms trying to describe it, we

will lose our audience right away.

8. abundant
present in great quantity

Fringing and barrier reefs are abundant throughout the archipelago,

surrounding nearly every island.Gabel, Norman E.

9. accentuate
 stress or single out as important

It was a carefully studied costume; and he accentuated its eccentricity by

adopting theatrical attitudes and an air of satisfied negligence.Leblanc,
Maurice

10. acclimate
get used to a certain environment

The Jets will leave Friday for Denver, the better to acclimate to the altitude
and change in time zone.New York Times (Oct 14, 2010)

11. accomplice
a person who joins with another in carrying out some plan

Tiller, the thief, and a supposed accomplice, are under arrest.Various

12. accord
concurrence of opinion

Friday's accord removes one of two main sticking points that have been
holding up a strategic partnership agreement between the two countries.Wall
Street Journal (Mar 9, 2012)

13. acerbic
harsh or corrosive in tone

They were complaining, sometimes yelling, and maybe a bit acerbic.New

York Times (Mar 29, 2012)

14. acme
the highest level or degree attainable

Paris wholly has got to the acme of its frenzy; whirled, all ways, by panic
madness.Various

15. acquiesce
agree or express agreement

I favored building a fire and staying there till morning, but Frank preferred
pushing on to camp, so I acquiesced.Shields, George O.

16. acquit
pronounce not guilty of criminal charges

He said that in the absence of other evidence, “the accused

is acquitted and discharged.”New York Times (Jan 9, 2012)

17. acrimonious
marked by strong resentment or cynicism

At times, the two groups squabble like school children, and the exchange
gets acrimonious. BBC (Feb 9, 2010)
18. acute
extremely sharp or intense

Labor shortages are already so acute in many Chinese industrial zones that
factories struggle to find enough people to operate their assembly lines.New
York Times (Mar 31, 2012)

19. adamant
impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason

But high profile or no, Mr. Kors is adamant about keeping his personal life
under wraps — even as his wedding day approaches.New York Times (Aug
5, 2011)

20. adept
having or showing knowledge and skill and aptitude

He proved an adept playmaker, however, making several nice passes and

finishing with 7 assists.New York Times (Jan 7, 2012)

21. adhere
stick to firmly

Adhering to strict safety standards has kept me alive in some very

dangerous situations.

22. admonish
scold or reprimand; take to task

"Children, children, stop quarrelling, right here in public!" admonished Mrs.

Dering, in a low, shocked tone.Perry, Nora

23. adorn
make more attractive, as by adding ornament or color

Old master reproductions adorn chianti-colored walls; tapestries hang in the

restrooms.Seattle Times (Feb 9, 2012)

24. adroit
quick or skillful or adept in action or thought

Neither is he adroit in the exercise of his duty; instead performs it

bunglingly; his thoughts preoccupied, and eyes wandering about.Reid,
Mayne

25. adulation
exaggerated flattery or praise

Taylor, a demagogue of the Democratic party, was hypocritically appealing

to his "horny handed neighbors" in language of feigned adulation.Levy, T.
Aaron

26. adversity
 a state of misfortune or affliction

Forty years in the wilderness, meeting adversities together, fighting

enemies, marching as one host, made them a nation.Hurlbut, Jesse Lyman

27. advocacy
active support of an idea or cause

That sentiment faded after the 1930s, he said, as

consumer advocacy focused more on protecting shoppers.New York
Times (Nov 11, 2011)

28. aesthetic
characterized by an appreciation of beauty or good taste

In old-fashioned, aesthetic terms, his glossy, color pictures of modern

housing projects in Turkish cities under moody, gray skies are beautiful.New
York Times (Oct 14, 2011)

29. affable
diffusing warmth and friendliness

She is restless, irritable, out of sorts, censorious, complaining at home;

animated, gracious, affable, complaisant abroad.Hyde, William De Witt

30. affinity
a close connection marked by community of interests

Malaysia has a close affinity with many Middle Eastern nations through
their shared religion.

31. affliction
a cause of great suffering and distress

Firm and exceptional natures are thus moulded out of miseries, misfortunes
and afflictions.Leonard, Arthur Glyn

32. affluent
having an abundant supply of money or possessions of value

Affluent families can afford guns, which are more efficient for bagging some
elusive animals than a poorer household’s typical snare trap.New York
Times (Dec 27, 2011)

33. aggrandize
embellish; increase the scope, power, or importance of

Louis XIV. was growing increasingly ambitious of enlarging his domains

and aggrandizing his power.Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)

34. agile
moving quickly and lightly
 Are not many beasts physically stronger, more nimble and agile than man?
Nordau, Max Simon

35. agrarian
relating to rural matters

We’re not an agrarian society any longer, where more hands help farm the
land.New York Times (Jun 20, 2011)

36. alacrity
liveliness and eagerness

The men obeyed with alacrity, as all were glad to go, lying in camp so
long.Terrill, J. Newton

37. alienate
arouse hostility or indifference in

Keeping schools closed and blocking certain public services is not a strategy
we support and could alienate public opinion and play into the governor’s
hand.New York Times (Feb 18, 2011)

38. allege
report or maintain

David is alleged to have written several Psalms, but of this there is little
evidence beyond pious assertion.Bradlaugh, Charles

39. allegiance
the act of binding yourself to a course of action

Notwithstanding this good fortune, Pontiac daily saw his followers dropping
off from their allegiance; for even the boldest had lost heart.Parkman,
Francis

40. allegory
a style in which characters and events are symbolic

Achingly beautiful, quiet and graceful, his award-winning novel Waiting is a

love story superimposed on a political allegory.

41. alleviate
provide physical relief, as from pain

Lewis said he got a Synvisc shot – an injection commonly used

to alleviate arthritic symptoms – in his left knee on Monday.Washington
Post (Mar 7, 2012)

42. allude
make an indirect reference to

In his State of the Union address Tuesday night, Mr. Obama turned up the
heat, alluding to the plan without fleshing out details.New York Times (Jan
27, 2012)
43. aloof
distant, cold, or detached in manner

Too much focus on official duties can make an incumbent look isolated
and aloof.New York Times (Mar 12, 2012)

44. altruistic
showing unselfish concern for the welfare of others

The gesture was not necessarily altruistic; he was hoping for a donation in
return.New York Times (Jan 24, 2011)

45. ambiguous
having more than one possible meaning

"The election law in New York is written in an ill-defined, ambiguous way,"

Goldfeder said, adding that he did not believe any laws were broken.

46. ambivalent
uncertain or unable to decide about what course to follow

"If managers are ambivalent, or wavering, then investor uncertainty

increases and the stocks become more volatile."

47. ameliorate
make better

Possessed of broadly humanitarian sympathies, he became interested

in ameliorating the conditions of imprisoned debtors.Bolton, Herbert
Eugene

48. amiable
diffusing warmth and friendliness

He was also remarkable for his amiable and cheerful manners.Anonymous

49. amicable
characterized by friendship and good will

Thus, by kindness, the natives of this region were won to friendship,

and amicable relations were established.Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens
Cabot)

50. amnesty
a warrant granting release from punishment for an offense

After three years in prison, he was released last October in an amnesty that
freed about 200 political detainees.Seattle Times (Mar 5, 2012)

51. amorphous
having no definite form or distinct shape
 The problem is that where genes are tidy bits of DNA, the environment is
huge, amorphous and hard to quantify.New York Times (Jun 9, 2010)

52. ample
more than enough in size or scope or capacity

Both are highly respected and well known, with ample experience in
development and economic policy making.New York Times (Mar 22, 2012)

53. anachronism
locating something at a time when it couldn't have existed

Today, the British monarchy seems like even more of an anachronism,

notes my friend Merida, a London bureau friend now living in New York.

54. analogous
similar or equivalent in some respects

The two conditions, although apparently analogous, are, in reality, very

different.Various

55. anecdote
short account of an incident

With his fourth book, “Business at 16,” Mr. Bagchi hopes to get teenagers
interested in business, partly by using fictional anecdotes, including boy-
meets-girl stories.New York Times (Nov 29, 2011)

56. animosity
a feeling of ill will arousing active hostility

In this brutal contest, two opposing teams face off against each other with
competing agendas, borrowed tuxedos and tight smiles concealing
deep animosities.New York Times (Jan 14, 2011)

57. annihilate
kill in large numbers

Men deployed may fall back and escape; a mass of columns under direct
artillery fire must surrender or be annihilated.Morse, John

58. anomaly
deviation from the normal or common order, form, or rule

In this view, crises can be understood only as anomalies, the

consequences of unusual outside shocks.

59. anonymous
having no known name or identity or known source

Throughout the process, the targeted consumers are tagged with an

alphanumeric code, removing their names and making the
data anonymous.New York Times (Feb 21, 2012)
60. antagonism
an actively expressed feeling of dislike and hostility

It bred a sense of resentment and secret antagonism which he took less

pains to hide, from that night.Prichard, Katharine Susannah

61. antecedent
someone from whom you are descended

Paul Bunyan is known by his mighty works; his antecedents and personal
history are lost in doubt.Laughead, W. B.

62. anthropomorphic
suggesting human features for animals or inanimate things

The same anthropomorphic fallacy that accords human attributes to giant

corporations like BP distorts clear thinking about how to limit their political
influence.

63. anticipate
be excited or anxious about

I will continue to sit here as usual, waiting, grinning, tapping

and anticipating my future.New York Times (Mar 22, 2012)

64. antipathy
a feeling of intense dislike

At any rate, they had, as a matter of fact, produced widespread discontent

and bitter antipathies between classes.Stephen, Leslie

65. antithetical
sharply contrasted in character or purpose

Memorisation has a bad reputation in education today, dismissed

as antithetical to creativity.

66. apathy
an absence of emotion or enthusiasm

When not thus engaged, his days were passed in

listless apathy.Anonymous

67. aptitude
inherent ability

If there is such a thing as inherited aptitude for art it certainly showed itself
in the family of Bach.Forkel, Johann Nikolaus

68. arbitrary
based on or subject to individual discretion or preference
 The pieces don’t build or develop, sections are carelessly joined, endings
seem arbitrary.New York Times (Jun 4, 2011)

69. arcane
requiring secret or mysterious knowledge

Not just the knowledge of world geography but the very conceptualisation of
space in this late medieval map looks to us remote and arcane.

70. archaic
so extremely old as seeming to belong to an earlier period

There are other advantages as well to reading the classics electronically—

you can tap archaic words on the screen for an instant definition.

71. archetype
something that serves as a model

In many ways, Mr. Romney and Mr. Huntsman embody the

Mormon archetype: clean-cut, Republican American family men.New York
Times (Nov 18, 2011)

72. ardent
characterized by intense emotion

Age, study, experience, retirement, reflection, had in no wise dimmed the fire
of his ardent nationalism.McCarthy, Justin

73. arduous
characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion

He seemed about thirty-five years of age, though the trace

of arduous mental and physical exertion gave him a rather worn and older
appearance.Lindley, Augustus F.

74. aristocratic
belonging to or characteristic of the nobility

Several aristocratic families were stripped of their status after World War II,
limiting the number of royal matches.

75. artifice
the use of deception or trickery

But small men use lying artifices and disguises to protect themselves.Hillis,
Newell Dwight

76. ascetic
characteristic of the practice of rigorous self-discipline

Another frequent cause of visions is long-continued fasting combined with

more or less ascetic devotion.Vere, Maximilian Schele de
77. aspire
have an ambitious plan or a lofty goal

India’s leaders, eager for a bigger footprint in global affairs, now aspire to a
permanent seat on an expanded United Nations Security Council.New York
Times (Mar 31, 2012)

78. assimilation
the process of absorbing one cultural group into another

On the contrary, they themselves become Americanised, thanks to that

faculty of assimilation which they possess in a high degree.Allyn, Jack

79. assuage
provide physical relief, as from pain

Moreover, I became at rest within myself, and the gaping, aching void which
has filled my vitals these many days, became assuaged.Hamilton, J. Angus

80. atone
make amends for

But let us pause for a moment to remember what “redeeming” actually

is: atoning or making up for some mistake or wrongdoing.New York
Times (Jan 25, 2011)

81. attest
provide evidence for

Anticipating compensation, thousands flooded treatment centers seeking

medical certificates attesting to their cholera.New York Times (Mar 31,
2012)

82. attire
clothing of a distinctive style or for a particular occasion

She was elegantly and fashionably attired, wearing rich earrings, gold chain
and locket, three valuable rings in addition to her wedding-ring, and so
forth.Whymper, Frederick

83. attribute
a quality belonging to or characteristic of an entity

This means that fundamentally important attributes such as common sense

and curiosity are starting to take primacy.Washington Post (Mar 29, 2012)

84. attribution
assigning to a cause or source

But borrowing from sample essays found online or other online sources
without attribution, even unintentionally, might result in your application
being rejected.BusinessWeek (Dec 15, 2011)
85. audacious
disposed to venture or take risks

It was such an audacious, daring thing that the very thought made her
dizzy.Stokes, Katherine

86. audible
heard or perceptible by the ear

Tavannes answered--but his words were barely audible above the

deafening uproar.Weyman, Stanley J.

87. augment
enlarge or increase

Computer engineers, in high demand but short supply, can command six-
figure salaries right out of college, augmented by signing bonuses and
equity or stock options.New York Times (Jan 25, 2012)

88. augur
predict from an omen

But ultimately the numbers augured an inescapably grim fate: Lieberman's

approval rating in Connecticut bottomed out at just 31 percent last fall.

89. augury
an event indicating important things to come

It was altogether a pretty picture, that seemed to be a happy augury of the

good times in store.Oxley, J. Macdonald (James Macdonald)

90. auspicious
indicating favorable circumstances and good luck

The coast at the point at which he reached it seemed specially designed by

nature for his favorable and auspicious reception.Johnson, Willis Fletcher

91. austere
severely simple

Adams was poor, simple, ostentatiously austere; the blended influence of

Calvinistic theology and republican principles had indurated his whole
character.Stark, James H.

92. authentic
conforming to fact and therefore worthy of belief

This census is not considered authentic, as many transparent errors were

found in various parts of it.Casseday, Ben

93. authoritarian
characteristic of an absolute ruler or absolute rule
 But, he said, “all the ingredients of a repressive regime,
an authoritarian regime, are there.”New York Times (Dec 13, 2011)

94. authoritative
of recognized power or excellence

His plays are being revived, and an authoritative and exhaustive edition of
his writings is being issued by a leading publishing house.Ingleby, Leonard
Cresswell

95. avarice
reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth

Greed about getting or keeping money pertains to avarice, not necessarily

to simony.Callan, Charles Jerome

96. avenge
take action in return for a perceived wrong

But Amon-Ra of Thebes avenged the dishonour that had been done him,
and stirred up his adorers to successful revolt.Sayce, A. H. (Archibald Henry)

97. aversion
a feeling of intense dislike

Our peculiar aversion, nay, our dread, of various alimentary substances are
well known.Millingen, J. G. (John Gideon)

98. avid
marked by active interest and enthusiasm

An avid runner, Moyer eventually began arriving six hours early on game
days to exercise on an underwater treadmill.New York Times (Mar 21, 2012)

99. avuncular
resembling an uncle in kindness or indulgence

He is a consummate retail politician, given to small talk and

an avuncular style.New York Times (Feb 27, 2011)

100. awe
an overwhelming feeling of wonder or admiration

The aurora deeply impressed him, inspiring feelings of awe and reverence