| A | B |
|---|
| accost | to approach and speak to first, to confront in a challenging or aggressive way |
| animadversion | a comment indicating strong criticism or disapproval |
| avid | desirous of something to the point of greed; intensely eager |
| brackish | having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink |
| celerity | swiftness, rapidity of motion or action |
| devious | staying or wandering from a straight or direct course, done or acting in a shifty or underhanded way |
| gambit | in chess, an opening move that involves risk or sacrifice of a minor piece in order to gain a later advantage; any opening move of this type |
| halcyon | a legendary bird identified wit the kingfisher; or or relating to the halcyon; calm; peaceful; happy; golden;prosperous; affluent |
| histrionic | pertaining to actos and their techniques, theatrical, artificial, melodramatic |
| incendiary | deliberately setting or causing fires; designed to start fires; tending to stir up strife or rebellion; (n) one who deliberately sets fires |
| maelstrom | (n) a whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirlpool violence and destruction |
| myopic | (adj) nearsighted; lacking a broad, realistic view of a situation; lacking foresight or discernment |
| overt | open, not hidden, expressed or revealed in a way that is easily recognized |
| pejorative | tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, deprecatory, belittiling |
| propriety | (n) the state of being proper, appropriateness (pl) standards of what is proper or socially acceptable |
| sacrilege | (n) improper or disrespectful treatment of something held sacred |
| summarily | without delay or formality, briefly, concisely |
| suppliant | (adj) asking humbly and earnestly (n) one who makes a request humbly and earnestly, a petitioner, suitor |
| talisman | (n) an object that serves as a charm or is believed to confer magical powers, an amulet, fetish |
| undulate | (v) to move in waves or with a wavelike motion |
| articulate | to pronounce distinctly, to express well in words (adj) expressed clearly or forcefully |
| cavort | to romp or prance around exuberantly; to make merry |
| credence | belief, mental acceptance |
| decry | to condemn, express strong disapproval; to officially depreciate |
| dissemble | to disguise or conceal, deliberately give a false impression |
| distraught | very much agitated or upset as a result or emotion or mental conflict |
| eulogy | a formal statement of commendation; high praise |
| evince | to display clearly; to make evident; to provoke |
| exhume | to remove from a grave; to bring to light |
| feckless | lacking in spirit and strength; ineffective, weak; irresponsible; unreliable |
| murky | dark and gloomy; obscure; lacking in clarity and precision. |
| nefarious | wicked, depreaved, devoid of moral standards |
| piquant | stimulating to the taste or mind; spicy, pungent, appealingly provocative |
| primoridial | developed or created at the very beginning; going back to the most ancient times or earliest stage; fundamental; basic |
| propinquity | nearness in place or time, kinship |
| unwonted | not usual or expected; not in character |
| utopian | founded upon or involving a visionary view of an ideal world; impractical |
| verbiage | language that is too wordy or inflated in proportion to the sense or content, wordiness, a manner of expression |
| verdant | green in tinti or color; immature in experience or judgement |
| viscous | having a gelatinous or gluey quality, lacking in easy movement or fluidity |
| acquisitive | able to get and retain ideas or information; concerned with acquiring wealth or property |
| arrogate | to claim or take without right |
| banal | hackneyed, trite, commonplace |
| belabor | to work on excessively; to thrash soundly |
| carping | tending to find fault, especially in petty, nasty or hairsplitting way |
| coherent | holding or sticking together; making a logical whole; comprehensible, meaningful |
| congeal | to change from liquid to solid |
| emulate | to imitate with intent of equaling or surpassing model |
| encomium | a formal expression of praise, a lavish tribute |
| eschew | to avoid, shun, keep away from |
| germane | relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting |
| insatiable | so great or demanding as not to be satisfied |
| intransigent | refusing to compromise, irreconcilable |
| invidious | offensive, hateful; tending to cause bitterness and resentment |
| largesse | generosity in giving; lavish or bountiful contributions |
| reconnaissance | a survey made for military purposes |
| substantiate | to establish by evidence, prove, to give concrete or substantial form to |
| taciturn | habitually silent or quiet, inclined to talk very little |
| temporize | to stall or act evasively in order to gain time, avoid a confrontation, or postpone a decision; to compromise |
| tenable | capable of being held or defended |
