abdicate (v.

)
to give up a position, usually one of leadership

When he realized that the revolutionaries

would surely win, the king abdicated his
throne.
abet (v.)
to aid, help, encourage

The spy succeeded only because he had a

friend on the inside to abet him.
abide (v.)
to put up with

Though he did not agree with the decision,

Chuck decided to abide by it.
absolution (n.)
freedom from blame, guilt, sin

Once all the facts were known, the jury gave

Angela absolution by giving a verdict of not
guilty.
abstruse (adj.)
hard to comprehend

Everyone else in the class understood

geometry easily, but John found the subject
abstruse.
accord (n.)
an agreement

After much negotiating, England and Iceland

finally came to a mutually beneficial accord
about fishing rights off the coast of
Greenland.
adverse (adj.)
antagonistic, unfavorable, dangerous

Because of adverse conditions, the hikers

decided to give up trying to climb the
mountain.
advocate (v.)
to argue in favor of something

Arnold advocated turning left at the stop

sign, even though everyone else thought we
should turn right.
alias (n.)
a false name or identity
sneak
He snuck past the guards by using an alias
and fake ID.
alleviate (v.)
to relieve, make more bearable

This drug will alleviate the symptoms of the

terrible disease, but only for a while.
ameliorate (v.)
to improve

The tense situation was ameliorated when

Sam proposed a solution everyone could
agree upon.
analogous (adj.)
similar to, so that an analogy can be drawn

Though they are unrelated genetically, the

bone structure of whales and fish is quite
analogous.
annul (v.)
to make void or invalid

After seeing its unforeseen and catastrophic

effects, Congress sought to annul the law.
seek
antithesis (n.)
the absolute opposite

Your values, which hold war and violence in

the highest esteem, are the antithesis of my
pacifist beliefs.
banal (adj.)
dull, commonplace

The client rejected our proposal because

they found our presentation banal and
unimpressive.
calamity (n.)
an event with disastrous consequences

The earthquake in San Francisco was a

calamity worse than any other natural
disaster in history.
candor (n.)
honesty, frankness

We were surprised by the candor of the

mayor’s speech because he is usually rather
evasive.
concoct (v.)
to fabricate, make up

She concocted the most ridiculous story to

explain her absence.
confound (v.)
to frustrate, confuse

MacGuyver confounded the policemen

pursuing him by covering his tracks.
consensus (n.)
an agreement of opinion

The jury was able to reach a consensus only

after days of deliberation.
convoluted (adj.)
intricate, complicated

Grace’s story was so convoluted that I

couldn’t follow it.
cupidity (n.)
greed, strong desire

His cupidity made him enter the abandoned

gold mine despite the obvious dangers.
circumlocution (n.)
indirect and wordy language

The professor’s habit of speaking in

circumlocutions made it difficult to follow his
lectures.
cursory (adj.)
brief to the point of being superficial

Late for the meeting, she cast a cursory

glance at the agenda.
curt (adj.)
abruptly and rudely short

Her curt reply to my question made me

realize that she was upset at me.
daunting (adj.)
intimidating, causing one to lose courage

He kept delaying the daunting act of asking

for a promotion.
debunk (v.)
to expose the falseness of something

He debunked her claim to be the world’s

greatest chess player by defeating her in 18
consecutive matches.
successive
disclose (v.)
to reveal, make public

The CEO disclosed to the press that the

company would have to fire several
employees.
discretion (n.)
the quality of being reserved in speech or action;
good judgment
Not wanting her patient to get overly
anxious, the doctor used discretion in
deciding how much to tell the patient about
his condition.
dissuade (v.)
to persuade someone not to do something

Worried that he would catch a cold, she tried

to dissuade him from going out on winter
nights.
equivocal (adj.)
confusing or ambiguous

The findings of the study were equivocal—

the two researchers had different opinions
on what the results signified.
exacerbate (v.)
make worse

Her sleeplessness exacerbated her cold;

when she woke up the next day, her sinuses
were completely blocked.
frugal (adj.)
not spending much money (but spending wisely)

Monte was no miser, but was simply frugal,

wisely spending the little that he earned .
indigent (adj.)
very poor, impoverished

I would rather donate money to help the

indigent population than to the park
sculpture fund.
nominal (adj.)
trifling, insignificant

Because he was moving the following week

and needed to get rid of his furniture more
than he needed money, Jordan sold
everything for a nominal fee.
novice (n.)
a beginner, someone without training or
experience
Because we were all novices at yoga, our
instructor decided to begin with the basics.
tangential (adj.)
incidental, peripheral, divergent

I tried to discuss my salary, but the boss kept

veering off into tangential topics.
verbose (adj.)
wordy, impaired by wordiness

It took the verbose teacher two hours to

explain the topic, while it should have taken
only fifteen minutes.
vigilant (adj.)
watchful

The guards remained vigilant throughout the

night, but the enemy never launched the
expected attack.
vituperate (v.)
to berate

Jack ran away as soon as his father found

out, knowing he would be vituperated for his
unseemly behavior.