| A | B |
|---|
| accentuate | emphasize |
| affluent | wealthy |
| allegory | symbolic story |
| ambiguous | unclear |
| anagram | letters rearranged to form a new word |
| anecdote | a very brief story |
| assertion | a claim or declaration |
| brevity | shortness; briefness |
| climactic | pertaining to a climax; turning point |
| coherently | logically; smoothly; orderly |
| comprehensive | all-inclusive |
| conjecture | n. a guess; v. to guess |
| connotation | implied meaning of a word |
| despicable | contemptible; able to be looked down upon |
| dissolute | immoral |
| embellish | to elaborate on; exaggerate |
| epilogue | a conclusion |
| epithet | a descriptive characteristic name |
| evasive | misleading |
| evoke | to bring out a quality; to call forth |
| exacting | demanding |
| extemporaneous | spontaneous; improvised; unplanned |
| felicitous | delightful; appropriate |
| ferocity | fierceness |
| fidelity | loyalty |
| foreshadow | to suggest beforehand |
| forte | a strength |
| fulminate | to attack verbally |
| goad | to prod or urge |
| gourmet | fancy food; cook of fancy food |
| hypochondriac | person with imagined illnesses |
| imbibe | to drink; to take in information |
| impregnable | unconquerable; impenetrable |
| inception | beginning |
| incongruous | inappropriate; ill-fitting in a given situation |
| inexplicable | unexplainable |
| infer | to draw a conclusion |
| intricacy | complexity |
| introspective | contemplative; thoughtful |
| laudable | praiseworthy |
| lucid | clear; rational |
| misanthrope | people-hater |
| noncommittal | not taking a position; not showing an opinion |
| nostalgic | longing for times past |
| novice | a beginner |
| philistine | not educated in the arts; boorish |
| proboscis | nose (or trunk as with an elephant) |
| prodigy | a highly gifted person |
| prologue | an introduction |
| protagonist | main character |
| provocative | stimulating |
| quixotic | foolishly idealistic |
| reiterate | to repeat |
| scrutinize | to examine closely |
| stigma | a mark of shame |
| stipend | a salary |
| surmise | to guess |
| symposium | a meeting or panel discussion |
| terse | using few words; concise |
| vernacular | informal, everyday language |
| bumptious | pushy; unpleasantly forward in actions |
| cite | to quote |
| consonant | harmonious; agreeable |
| gibe | a jeer; a snide remark |
| repartee | witty replies |
| rudiment | fundamental principle |
| sanction | approval |
| satiate | to satisfy |
| subservient | submissive |
| vivacious | lively |
| comely | attractive |
| decadence | moral decay; period of decline |
| erroneous | incorrect |
| flaunt | to show off |
| hypercritical | too judgmental |
| irascible | irritable; able to be made angry |
| miscreant | criminal |
| ostentatious | showy |
| pretentious | make-believe |
| stereotype | oversimplified idea |
