| A | B |
|---|
| abash | to make ashamed or uneasy; disconcert |
| abate | to reduce in amount, degree, or intensity; lessen |
| aberrant | deviating from the proper or expected course |
| abeyance | being temporarily set aside; suspension: "held the plan in a____" |
| abjure | to renounce under oath; to recant solemnly; to give up, abstain from |
| abnegate | to give up, renounce; to deny (something) to oneself |
| abridge | to reduce the length of (a written text); to cut short; curtail |
| abscond | to leave quickly and secretly and hide onself, often to avoid arrest |
| abscise | to cut off; remove |
| abstemious | eating and drinking in moderation; sparingly used or consumed; restricted to bare necessities |
| abstruse | difficult to understand; recondite |
| abut | to touch or end at one side, lie adjacent; to border upon |
| abysmal | unfathomable; very profound, limitless; very bad; abyssal |
| accede | to give one's consent, often at the insistence of another; to arrive at an office or dignity "a____ to the throne" |
| acclimate | to accustom oneself to a new environment or situation |
| accrete | to make larger or greater; to grow together, fuse; to grow or increase gradually |
| accrual | (noun) the act of accumulating, an increase; something that accumulates |
| accumbent | lying down, reclining |
| acerbate | to vex or annoy |
| acerbic | sharp or biting, as in charactor or expression |
| achromatic or achromic | designating color to have no hue, e.g. grays, whites or blacks; |
| acolyte | a devoted follower or attendant |
| acquisitive | characterized by a strong desire to gain and possess |
| acrid | unpleasantly sharp, pungent or bitter to the taste or smell |
| acrophobia | fear of high places |
| actuary | a statistician who computes insurances risks and premiums |
| actuate | to put into motion or action, active; to move to action "a speech that will a____ dissent" |
| adage | a saying that sets forth a general truth and that has gained credit through long use |
| addlepated | befuddled, confused; eccentric, peculiar; senseless, mad"led the a____ charge of the Light Brigade" |
| à deux | of or involving two individuals, especially when of a private nature |
| ad hoc | for the specific purpose at hand and for no other "a committee formed a____ to address the issue of salaries" ; improvised and often impromptu |
| adjudicate | to study and settle; to hear and settle by judicial procedure |
| adjunct | something attached to another in a dependent or subordinate position |
| adjure | to command or enjoin solemnly, as under oath "to a____ her in the name of God to declare the truth"; to earnestly entreat |
| adjutant | a staff officer who helps a commanding officer; an assistant |
| adoral | near the mouth |
| adscititious | not inherent or essential, derived from something outside |
| adulate | to praise or admire excessively, fawn on |
| adulterate | to make impure by adding improper or extraneous ingredients |
| adust | burned, scorched |
| ad valorem | in proportion to the value "a____ duties on imported goods" |
| adventitious | not inherent but added extrinsically |
| advert | to turn attention (used with "to") "the board decided to a____ to compensation issues" ; to call attention (used with "to") |
| advertent | paying attention, attentive |
| affable | easy to speak to; gentle and gracious |
| affective | influence by the emotions; arousing feelings or emotions, emotional |
| affectless | showing no emotions |
| affiance | to bind in a pledge of marriage |
| affined | linked by a close relationship; beholden to another |
| afflatus | a strong creative impulse, especially as a result of divine inspiration |
| affray | a noisy quarrel or brawl |
| affricate | a complex speech sound consisting of a stop consant followed by a fricative (e.g. child and joy) |
| affront | to insult intentionally, usually overtly; to meet definatly, confront; |
| aficionado (female = aficionada) | an enthusiastic admirer or follower |
| aflame | keenly excited and interested |
| a fortiori | for a still stronger reason, all the more |
| afoul of | in or into collision, entanglement or conflict iwth |
| agape (uh GAPE) | in a state of wonder or amazement; wide open |
| agenesis | incomplete development of an organ or body part |
| agglomerate | to form into a rounded mass; a confused or jumbled mass |
| agglutinate | to cause to adhere, as with glue |
| aggrandize | to increase the scope of, extend; to make greater in power; to make appear greater, exaggerate "a____ one argument while belittling another" |
| aggrieve | to distress, afflict |
| aggro | aggressive or violent behavior; irritation |
| agitprop | political propaganda, especially favoring communism "it also is a conspiracy movie, a____ against today's targets" |
| agnail | a hangnail |
| agnate | descended from the father's side; coming from a common source, akin |
| agnosia | loss of the ability to interpret sensory stimuly, such as sounds or images |
| agog | full of keen anticipation; excited |
| à gogo | in a fast and lively manner |
| agon | a conflict b/w the protagonist and antagonist in literature; a test of will |
| Agrapha | the sayings of Jesus not written in the Gospels but known from other ancient sources |
| agraphia | a disorder marked by loss of the ability to write |
| ague | a chill or fit of shivering |
| aiguille | a sharp, pointed mountain peak |
| aikido | Japanese self-defense that employs holds and locks to debilitate the strength of the opponent |
| AK-47 | Soviet, gas-operated, 7.62 calibur |
| akinesia | loss of normal motor function, resulting in impaired muscle movement |
| alacrity | cheerful willingness; eagerness |
| alar or alary | resembling or composed of wings |
| alarum | a warning or alarm, especially a call to arms |
| alarums and excursions | loud frantic, or excited activity; clamor |
| alastor | an avenging deity or spirit |
| alate | having winglike extensions or parts |
| albescent | becoming white or moderately white; whitish |
| alcaide or alcayde | the commander or governor of a fortress in spain or portugal |
| alcove | a partly enclosed extension connected to part of a room; a secluded structure, such as a bower, in a garden |
| aleatory | (latin aleator = gambler; alea = game of chance) dependent on chance or luck "an a____ contract between an oil prospector and a landowner" ; of or characterized by gambling |
| Alexandretta | present-day Iskenderun |
| alexia | loss of the ability to read (also word blindness) |
| alfresco | in the fresh air; outdoors "dining a____" |
| algolagnia | sexual gratification derived from inflicting or experiencing pain |
| algophobia | abnormal fear of pain |
| alight | to come down, settle "the queen would a____ from the carriage" ; to come by chance "a____ on a happy solution" |
| aliment | something that nourishes, food; something that supports or sustains |
| allay | to reduce the intensity of |
| allocution | a formal and authoritative speech |
| allonym | the name of a person, usually a historical person, assumed by a writer |
| alluvion | the flow of water against a shore or bank; inundation by water, flood |
| also-ran | a horse that does not win or place in a race; a loser in a competition |
| amative | inclined toward love, especially sexual love |
| ambient | surrounding, encircling "a____ sound, a____ air" |
| ambiguous | equivocal, obscure, recondite, abstruse, vague |
| ambipolar | operating in two directions simultaneously |
| ambit | an external boundary; sphere or scope |
| amble | to walk slowly or leisurely; stroll |
| ambrosial | suggestive of a____ [the noun meaning food of the gods), fragrant or delicious; worthy of the gods, divine |
| ambsace (AIM zaiss" | double aces; bad luck; the smallest amount possible |
| ambulate (ambulant) | to move or walk about |
| ambuscade | an ambush; to attack suddenly |
| ameliorate | to make or become better; improve |
| amenable | responsive to advice, authority, or suggestion; responsible to higher authority "a____ to the law" |
| amensalism | a symbiotic relationship between organisms in which one species is harmed or inhibited and the other species is unaffected |
| ament (AY ment) (amentia) | (noun) a person with severely deficient intellectual capacity |
| amerce (amercement) | to punish by imposing an arbitrary penalty |
| amity | peaceful relations |
| amulet | an object worn, especially around the neck, as a charm against evil or injury |
| anabasis (uh NAB uh sis) | an advance, an expedition; a large-scale military advance |
| anaclisis (an uh KLY sis" | (greek ana = on + linein = to lean) psychological dependence on others |
| anagram | reordering words, e.g. satin --> stain |
| analeptic | (greek analeptikos: ana = up + lep- = take) restorative or stimulating, as a drug or medication |
| anal retentive | indicating personality traits, such as meticulousness, originating in habits associated with infantile pleasure in retention of feces |
| anaphora | deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of several successive verses, e.g. "we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the grounds, we shall fight...." |
| anaphrodisia | decline or absence of sexual desire |
| anathema | a formal ecclesiastical ban or curse; a vehement denunciation; one that is cursed; one that is loathed or shunned "essentialism--a belief in natural sex differences--is a____ to postmodernists" |
| ancillary | of secondarry importance; auxiliary, helping |
| automaton | a self-operating machine or mechanism, especially a robot; one that behaves or responds in a mechanical way |
| attar | a fragrant essential oil or perfume obtained from flowers |
| atticism | an expression characterized by conciseness and elegance |
| Attila (nickname) | "the Scourge of the Gods" |
| autostrada | an expressway in Italy |
