| A | B |
|---|
| gregarious | (adj.) fond of company, sociable |
| despotic | (adj.) tyrannical |
| peremptory | (adj.) insisting on immediate attention or obedience |
| nascent | (adj.) coming into existence and beginning to display signs of future potential |
| zenith | (adj.) the highest point above an observer, the time at which something is most powerful or successful |
| trenchant | (adj.) vigorous in expression or style, to have a sharp edge |
| deride | (v.) to laugh mockingly at, to scorn |
| hedonism | (n.) the love of pleasure as the chief goal of life |
| prosaic | (adj.) commonplace, dull |
| supplant | (v.) to cause the downfall of |
| vacuous | (adj.) having or showing a lack of thought or intelligence, mindless |
| Vindicated | (adj.) someone or something that has been cleared of blame or suspicion |
| abstemious | (adj.) not self-indulgent (usually referring to eating or drinking) |
| affluence | (n.) having a large quantity of money, wealth |
| aphasia | (n.) loss of ability to understand or express speech |
| auspicious | (adj.) favorable, bound for success |
| fallacious | (adj.) mistaken belief |
| holistic | (adj.) characterized by the comprehension of the parts of something interconnected and only explainable by a reference to the whole |
| parsimonious | (adj.) unwilling to spend money, stingy |
| pragmatic | (adj.) dealing with things in a practical, not theoretical, wa |
| prolific | (adj.) fertile, in large quantity |
| reclusive | (adj.) solitary |
| rescind | (v.) to revoke or cancel |
| taciturn | (adj.) saying little |
| verbatim | (adv./adj.) in exactly the same words, word for word |
| voracious | (adj.) wanting or eating large quantities of food |
| brevity | n. concise, exact word choice |
| jocularity | n. jesting, merriment |
| proselytize | v. convert (religious) |
| obviate | v. remove (a need or difficulty) |
| advent | n. coming or arrival, especially of something extremely important |
| timorous | adj. showing or suffering from fear or nerves |
| dearth | n. A lack of something |
| spate | n. A sudden increase in number of similar things |
| ambiguous | adj. Having a double, unclear or inexact meaning |
| indict | v. To formally accuse or charge |
| exculpate | v. To show or declare someone not guilty of wrongdoing |
| rescind | v. To revoke or cancel |
| tacit | adj. Understood without being openly expressed; implied |
| amalgamation | – n. a consolidation, as of several corporations |
| bourgeois | n. middle class citizen |
| circumspect | adj. watchful and discreet; cautious; prudent |
| deleterious | adj. harmful; injurious |
| diaphanous | adj. very sheer and light; almost completely transparent |
| ennervate | v. weaken |
| fortuitous | adj. lucky; fortunate |
| fluctuate | v. change continually; vary irregularly |
| impecunious | adj. having little or no money; penniless; poor |
| incisive | adj. remarkably clear and direct; sharp; keen; acute |
| nebulous | adj. hazy, vague, indistinct, or confused |
| peregrinate | v. to travel or journey (typically on foot) |
| pithy | adj. brief, forceful and meaningful in expression |
| quotidian | adj. daily; usual |
| sedentary | adj. having permanent residence or stationary position |
| surfeit | n. excess; overindulgence |
| travesty | n. any grotesque or debased likeness or imitation |
| undulate | v. to move in a wave-like fashion |
| vacillate | v. to swing repeatedly |
| whet | v. to sharpen |
| abase | v. to reduce or lower, as in reputation |
| cogent | adj. convincing or believable by virtue of forcible, clear, or incisive presentation |
| fabulist | n. a liar (i.e. one who tells fables) |
| irascible | adj. easily provoked to anger |
| laud | v. to praise or extol |
| pulchritude | n. physical beauty; comeliness |
| sacrosanct | adj. sacred or inviolable; not to be trespassed upon or interfered with |
| sanguine | adj. cheerfully optimistic, hopeful, or confident |
| veracious | adj. truthful, honest |
| vicissitudes | n. ups and downs, as of life or fortune |
| alacrity | n. cheerful readiness, promptness, or willingness |
| cacophony | n. harsh discordance of sound; dissonance |
| elocution | n. manner of speaking or reading aloud in public, or the study of such practices |
| gall | v. to vex or irritate greatly; to chafe by rubbing |
| impugn | v. to challenge as false or cast doubt upon |
| iniquity | n. a violation of right or duty; wicked act; sin |
| juxtapose | v. to place close together or side by side, esp. for comparison or contrast |
| puerile | adj. childishly foolish; immature or trivial |
| saccharine | adj. cloyingly agreeable or ingratiating; exaggeratedly sweet or sentimental |
| trite | adj. lacking in freshness or effectiveness because of constant use or excessive repetition |
| aberration | n. the act of departing from the right, normal, or usual course |
| abrogate | v. to abolish by formal or official means; repeal |
| exigent | adj. requiring immediate action or aid; urgent; pressing |
| lithe | adj. limber; supple; flexible (used when referring to human bodies) |
| maudlin | adj. tearfully or weakly emotional; foolishly sentimental |
| ostracize | v. to exclude, by general consent, from society, friendship, conversation, etc. |
| petulance | n. act of showing sudden, impatient irritation, esp. over some trifling annoyance |
| physiognomy | n. the face or countenance; the outward appearance of anything |
| profane | v. to treat (anything sacred) with irreverence or contempt; violate the sanctity of |
| terse | adj. abruptly concise; curt; brusque |
| coalesce | v. to blend or come together; to cause to unite |
| confluence | n. a directed unification of people or things (such as rivers merging, etc.) |
| diaphanous | adj. very sheer & light; almost completely transparent or translucent |
| inundate | v. to flood with water; to overwhelm |
| judicious | adj. discreet, prudent or politic; demonstrating practical expediency or sensibility |
| lethargy | n. state of being drowsy, listless & unenergetic; apathetic or sluggish inactivity |
| magnanimous | adj. generous in forgiving insults or injuries; high-minded or noble |
| mediate | v. to settle disagreements or disputes between parties as an intermediary |
| modicum | n. a moderate or small amount of something |
| torrid | adj. oppressively hot, parching or burning (as concerning climate or weather); passionate |
| convalescence | n. the gradual recovery of health & strength after illness |
| disparage | v. to speak of or treat slightingly; depreciate; belittle |
| elucidate | v. to provide clarification; to explain or throw light upon |
| morose | adj. gloomily or sullenly ill-humored (a person or mood) |
| obdurate | adj. unmoved by persuasion, pity, or tender feelings; stubborn; unyielding |
| precarious | adj. vulnerable due to circumstances or forces beyond one's control |
| preponderance | n. superiority in weight, power, numbers, etc. |
| presage | v. to portend or foreshadow; to forecast or predict |
| strife | n. vigorous or bitter conflict, discord, or antagonism |
| surmise | v. to conjecture or guess; to think or infer without strong evidence |
| adumbrate | v. to sketch out in a vague way; to darken, overshadow or partially conceal |
| aspersion | n. a curse or similar expression of ill-will |
| boon | n. a gift or blessing |
| cupidity | n. eager or excessive desire, esp. to possess something; greed |
| dilatory | adj. intended to cause delay, gain time, or defer decision |
| disseminate | v. to scatter or spread widely, as though sowing seed; to broadcast or disperse |
| flippant | adj. frivolously disrespectful, shallow, or lacking in seriousness |
| inveterate | adj. established by long continuance, as a disease, habit, practice, feeling, etc.; chronic |
| pecuniary | adj. of or pertaining to money or finance |
| spurious | adj. not genuine, authentic, or true; counterfeit |
| abject | adj. utterly hopeless, miserable, humiliating, or wretched; shamelessly servile; slavish |
| antithesis | n. the direct opposite (usually followed by of or to) |
| cavort | v. to prance or caper about |
| conciliatory | adj. overcoming distrust or hostility of; placating; winning over |
| derelict | adj. left or deserted, as by the owner or guardian; abandoned |
| expeditious | adj. characterized by promptness; quick |
| harrow | v. to disturb keenly or painfully; distress the mind or feelings of |
| invective | n. vehement or violent denunciation, censure, or reproach |
| libel | n. defamation by written or printed words or pictures |
| mercurial | adj. changeable; volatile; fickle; flighty; erratic |
| aggregate | v. to bring together; collect into one sum, mass, or body |
| allay | v. to lessen or relieve negative emotions |
| cynical | adj. distrusting or disparaging the motives of others; bitterly or sneeringly contemptuous or pessimistic |
| deluge | v. to flood; to overwhelm |
| fetter | n. a chain or shackle used to restrain the feet of a person or large animal |
| hedonist | n. a person whose life is devoted to the pursuit of pleasure & self-gratification |
| grandiose | adj. affectedly grand or important; pompous; overblown |
| intrinsic | adj. belonging to a thing by its very nature |
| prolific | adj. producing offspring, young, fruit, etc., abundantly; highly fruitful or fertile |
| proponent | n. a person who argues in favor of something; an advocate or adherent |
