| A | B |
|---|
| aberrant: | Differing from the normal or accepted way, esp. in behavior |
| abet: | To aid, promote, or encourage the commission of (an offense). |
| abeyance: | A state of suspension or temporary inaction. |
| abjure: | To recant, renounce, repudiate under oath. |
| ablution: | A washing or cleansing, especially of the body. |
| abrogate: | To abolish, repeal. |
| abscond: | To depart suddenly and secretly, as for the purpose of escaping arrest. |
| abstemious: | Characterized by self denial or abstinence, as in the use of drink, food. |
| abstruse: | Dealing with matters difficult to be understood. |
| abut: | To touch at the end or boundary line. |
| accede: | To agree. |
| acquiesce: | To comply; submit. |
| acrid: | Harshly pungent or bitter. |
| acumen: | Quickness of intellectual insight, or discernment; keenness of discrimination. |
| adage: | An old saying. |
| adamant: | Impervious to pleas, appeals, or reason; stubbornly unyielding. |
| admonition: | A mild, kind, yet earnest cautionary advice or warning. |
| adumbrate: | To represent beforehand in outline or by emblem; to foreshadow |
| affable: | Easy and pleasant to speak to; approachable. |
| aggrandize: | To make great or greater in power, wealth, rank or honor. |
| aggravate: | To make heavier, worse, or more burdensome. |
| agile: | Able to move or act quickly, physically, or mentally. |
| agog: | Full of keen anticipation or excitement; eager. |
| alacrity: | Cheerful willingness; eagerness. |
| alcove: | A covered recess connected with or at the side of a larger room. |
| alleviate: | To make less burdensome or less hard to bear. |
| aloof: | Not in sympathy with or desiring to associate with others. |
| amalgamate: | To mix or blend together in a homogeneous body. |
| ambidextrous: | Having the ability of using both hands with equal skill or ease. |
| ambiguous: | Open to more than one interpretation; doubtful or uncertain. |
| ameliorate: | To relieve, as from pain or hardship |
| anathema: | One that is greatly reviled, loathed or shunned. |
| animadversion: | Strong criticism; censure. |
| animosity: | Hatred. |
| antediluvian: | Pertaining to times, things, events before the great flood in the Bible; extremely old |
| antidote: | Anything that will counteract or remove the effects of poison, disease, or the like. |
| aplomb: | Confidence; coolness. |
| apocryphal : | Of doubtful authority or authenticity. |
| apogee: | The climax. |
| apostate: | One who has abandoned one’s religious faith, a political party, one’s principles or a cause. |
| apotheosis: | Elevation to divine rank or stature; deification. |
| apparition: | Ghost. |
| appease: | To soothe by quieting anger or indignation. |
| apposite: | Strikingly appropriate and relevant. |
| apprise: | To give notice to; to inform. |
| approbation: | Official approval or sanction. |
| arboreal: | Of or pertaining to a tree or trees. |
| ardor: | Intensity of passion or affection. |
| argot: | A specialized vocabulary peculiar to a particular group or profession. |
| arrant: | Downright or completely so. |
| ascetic: | Given to severe self-denial and practicing excessive abstinence and devotion. |
| ascribe: | To assign as a quality or attribute. |
| asperity: | Harshness or roughness of temper. |
| assiduous: | Unceasing; persistent. |
| assuage: | To cause to be less harsh, violent, or severe, as excitement, appetite, pain, or disease. |
| astringent: | Harsh in disposition or character. |
| astute: | Keen in discernment. |
| atonement: | Amends, reparation, or expiation made from wrong or injury. |
| augury: | Omen |
| auspicious: | Promising success; opportune; favored by fortune |
| austere: | Severely simple; unadorned. |
| autocrat: | Any one who claims or wields unrestricted or undisputed authority or influence. |
| auxiliary: | One who or that which aids or helps, especially when regarded as subsidiary or accessory. |
| avarice: | Passion for getting and keeping riches; greed. |
| aver: | To affirm positively; declare. |
| aversion: | A mental condition of fixed opposition to or dislike of some particular thing. |
| avow: | To declare openly. |
| baleful: | Portending evil; ominous. |
| banal: | Commonplace. |
| bask: | To make warm by genial heat. |
| beatify: | To make supremely happy. |
| bedaub: | To smear over, as with something oily or sticky. |
| bellicose: | Aggressively hostile; belligerent |
| belligerent: | Manifesting a warlike spirit. |
| benefactor: | A doer of kindly and charitable acts. |
| benevolence: | Any act of kindness or well-doing. |
| benign: | Having a kindly disposition; healthful, pleasant or beneficial. |
| berate: | To scold severely. |
| bewilder: | To confuse the perceptions or judgment of. |
| blandishment: | Flattery intended to persuade. |
| blatant: | Unpleasantly loud; brazenly obvious; flagrant. |
| blithe: | Joyous, carefree. |
| boisterous: | noisily jolly or rowdy; rough and stormy |
| bolster: | To support or prop up with; long narrow pillow or cushion |
| bombast: | Inflated or extravagant language, especially on unimportant subjects. |
| boorish: | Rude; crude; insensitive. |
| breach: | The violation of official duty, lawful right, or a legal obligation. |
| brittle: | Fragile; frail. |
| broach: | To mention, for the first time. |
| bumptious: | Full of offensive and aggressive self-conceit. |
| buoyant: | Having the power or tendency to float or keep afloat. |
| burnish: | To make brilliant or shining. |
| cabal: | A small group of secret plotters, as against a government or authority. |
| cacophony: | A disagreeable, harsh, or discordant sound or combination of sounds or tones. |
| cajole: | To impose on or dupe by flattering speech; coax. |
| callow: | Without experience of the world. |
| calumny: | Slander. |
| candid: | Straightforward. |
| cant: | To talk in a singsong, preaching tone with affected solemnity; an oblique or slanting face of anything. |
| capacious: | Roomy. |
| capitulate: | To surrender or stipulate terms. |
| captious: | Hypercritical; faultfinding; difficult to please. |
| cataract: | Opacity of the lens of the eye resulting in complete or partial blindness. |
| caustic: | Sarcastic and severe. |
| censure: | To criticize severely; also, an expression of disapproval. |
| centurion: | A captain of a company of one hundred infantry in the ancient Roman army. |
| chagrin: | Keen vexation, annoyance, or mortification, as at one's failures or errors. |
| chary: | Careful; wary; cautious. |
| chicanery: | The use of trickery to deceive. |
| circumlocution: | Indirect or roundabout expression. |
| coddle: | To treat as a baby or an invalid. |
| coerce: | To compel by force, intimidation or authority. |
| coeval: | Existing during the same period of time; also, a contemporary. |
| cogent: | Appealing strongly to the reason or conscience. |
| cogitate: | Consider carefully and deeply; ponder. |
| cognizant: | Taking notice. |
| colloquial: | Pertaining or peculiar to common speech as distinguished from literary. |
| collusion: | A secret agreement for a wrongful purpose. |
| comestible: | Fit to be eaten. |
| commemorate: | To serve as a remembrance of. |
| complaisance: | The inclination to comply willingly with the wishes of others. |
| complement: | Something that completes, makes up a whole or brings to perfection. |
| comport: | To conduct or behave (oneself). |
| compunction: | Remorseful feeling. |
| conceit: | Self-flattering opinion. |
| conciliatory: | Tending to reconcile. |
| concord: | Harmony. |
| concur: | To agree. |
| condense: | To abridge. |
| conflagration: | A great fire, as of many buildings, a forest, or the like. |
| confluence: | The place where streams meet. |
| congeal: | To coagulate. |
| conjoin: | To unite. |
| connoisseur: | A critical judge of art, especially one with thorough knowledge and sound judgment of art. |
| console: | To comfort. |
| conspicuous: | Easily seen or noticed; attracting special attention. |
| consternation: | Alarming amazement or dread that results in confusion; dismay. |
| constrict: | To cause to contract or shrink |
| consummate: | To bring to completion. |
| contiguous: | Touching or joining at the edge or boundary. |
| contrite: | Broken in spirit because of a sense of sin. |
| contumacious: | Willfully and obstinately disobedient. |
| copious: | Plenteous. |
| cornucopia: | The horn of plenty, symbolizing peace and prosperity. |
| corporeal: | Of a material nature; physical. |
| correlate: | To put in some relation of connection or correspondence. |
| corroboration: | Confirmation. |
| counterfeit: | Made to resemble something else. |
| countervail: | To offset. |
| covert: | Concealed, especially for an evil purpose. |
| cower: | To crouch down tremblingly, as through fear or shame. |
| crass: | Coarse or thick in nature or structure, as opposed to thin or fine. |
| credulous: | Willing to believe or trust too readily; gullible. |
| cupidity: | eager or excessive desire to possess something. |
| cursory: | Rapid and superficial. |
| curtail: | To cut off or cut short. |
| cynosure: | Something that strongly attracts attention by its brilliance; serves as a focal point. |
| dearth: | Scarcity, as of something customary, essential ,or desirable. |
| defer: | To delay or put off to some other time. |
| deign: | To deem worthy of notice or account. |
| deleterious: | Hurtful, morally or physically. |
| delineate: | To represent by sketch or diagram. |
| deluge: | To overwhelm with a flood of water. |
| demagogue: | A leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace. |
| denizen: | Inhabitant; anything adapted to a new place. |
| denouement: | That part of a play or story in which the mystery is cleared up. |
| deplete: | To reduce or lessen, as by use, exhaustion, or waste. |
| deposition: | Testimony taken under oath, especially a statement by a witness written down or recorded for use in court at a later date. |
| deprave: | To render bad, especially morally bad. |
| deprecate: | To express disapproval or regret for, with hope for the opposite. |
| deride: | To ridicule. |
| derision: | Ridicule. |
| derivative: | Coming or acquired from some origin. |
| descry: | To discover by careful observation or scrutiny. |
| desiccant: | Any remedy which, when applied externally, dries up or absorbs moisture, as that of wounds. |
| desuetude: | A state of disuse or inactivity. |
| desultory: | Not connected with what precedes; digressing. |
| deter: | To frighten away. |
| dexterity: | Readiness, precision, efficiency, and ease in any physical activity or in any mechanical work. |
| diaphanous: | Translucent; delicately hazy. |
| diatribe: | A bitter or malicious criticism. |
| didactic: | Pertaining to teaching. |
| diffidence: | Lack of self-confidence. |
| dilate: | To enlarge in all directions. |
| dilatory: | Tending to delay or procrastinate. |
| disallow: | To withhold permission or sanction. |
| discomfit: | To put to confusion. |
| disconcert: | To disturb the composure of. |
| disconsolate : | Hopelessly sad; also, saddening; cheerless. |
| discountenance: | To look upon with disfavor. |
| discredit: | To injure the reputation of. |
| discreet: | Judicious. |
| disheveled: | Disordered; disorderly; untidy. |
| dissemble: | To give a false or misleading appearance; feign. |
| disseminate: | To sow or scatter abroad, as seed is sown; broadcast. |
| dissent: | Disagreement. |
| dissolution: | A breaking up of a union of persons. |
| distraught: | Distracted; deeply agitated. |
| divulge: | To tell or make known, as something previously private or secret. |
| dogmatic: | Making statements without argument or evidence; opinionated. |
| dormant: | Being in a state of or resembling sleep. |
| dubious: | Doubtful. |
| duplicity: | Deceitfulness in speech or conduct; deliberate deceptiveness. |
| earthenware: | Anything made of clay and baked in a kiln or dried in the sun. |
| ebullient: | Showing enthusiasm or exhilaration of feeling. |
| edacious: | Devouring; voracious; consuming. |
| edible: | Suitable to be eaten. |
| effete: | Exhausted; degenerate; decadent. |
| efficacy: | The power to produce an intended effect as shown in the production of it. |
| effrontery: | Unblushing impudence. |
| effulgence: | Splendor; radiance. |
| egregious: | Extreme; glaring; flagrant. |
| Egress: | Any place of exit. |
| elegy: | A lyric poem lamenting the dead. |
| elicit: | To educe or extract gradually or without violence. |
| elucidate: | To bring out more clearly the facts concerning. |
| emaciate: | To waste away in flesh. |
| embellish: | To make beautiful or elegant by adding attractive or ornamental features. |
| embezzle: | To take for one’s own use in violation of a trust. |
| emblazon: | To set forth publicly or in glowing terms; to extol. |
| encomium: | A formal or discriminating expression of praise; eulogy. |
| encumbrance: | A burdensome and troublesome load. |
| endemic: | Peculiar to some specified country or people. |
| enervate: | To render ineffective or inoperative; to deprive of force. |
| engender: | To produce; bring into existence. |
| engrave: | To cut or carve in or upon some surface. |
| enigma: | A riddle; a puzzling situation. |
| enmity: | Hatred. |
| entangle: | To involve in difficulties, confusion, or complications. |
| entreat: | To ask for or request earnestly. |
| epicurean: | Indulging; devoted to the pursuit of sensual pleasure, especially to the enjoyment of good food and comfort. |
| epithet: | a term used as a descriptive substitute for the name or title of a person, such as The Great Emancipator for Abraham Lincoln. |
| epitome: | A representative or perfect example of a class or type. |
| equable: | Equal and uniform; not easily disturbed; serene. |
| equanimity: | Evenness of mind or temper; composure; equilibrium |
| equilibrium: | A state of balance. |
| equivocal: | Open to two or more interpretations and often intended to mislead; ambiguous. |
| equivocate: | To use words of double meaning; prevaricate. |
| eradicate: | To destroy thoroughly. |
| errant: | Roving or wandering, as in search of adventure or opportunity for gallant deeds. |
| erratic: | Irregular. |
| erroneous: | Incorrect. |
| erudite: | Very learned. |
| eschew: | To keep clear of; avoid. |
| espy: | To keep close watch. |
| eulogy: | A spoken or written laudation of a person's life or character. |
| euphonious: | Characterized by agreeableness of sound. |
| evanescent: | Fleeting; scarcely perceptible. |
| evince: | To make manifest or evident. |
| evoke: | To call or summon forth. |
| exacerbate: | To make more sharp, severe, or virulent. |
| exculpate: | To relieve of blame. |
| exhaustive: | Thorough and complete in execution. |
| exorbitant: | Exceeding all bounds, as of custom or fairness; highly excessive. |
| expatiate: | To speak or write at some length. |
| expedient: | Contributing to personal advantage. |
| expiate: | To make satisfaction or amends for. |
| explicate: | To clear from involvement. |
| expostulate: | To discuss. |
| expropriate: | To deprive of possession; also, to transfer (another's property) to oneself. |
| extant: | Still existing and known. |
| extempore: | Without studied or special preparation. |
| extenuate: | To diminish the gravity or importance of; underestimate. |
| extinct: | Being no longer in existence. |
| extinguish: | to put out, as of a fire; to put an end to. |
| Extirpate: | To root out; to eradicate. |
| extol: | To praise in the highest terms. |
| extort: | To obtain by violence, threats, coercion or intimidation. |
| extraneous: | Having no essential relation to a subject. |
| exuberance: | joyful enthusiasm; overflowing with eager enjoyment or approval. |
| facetious: | Not meant to be taken seriously; lacking serious intent. |
| facile: | Not difficult to do. |
| factious: | Given to or promoting internal dissension. |
| fallacious: | Illogical; deceptive or misleading; disappointing. |
| fatuous: | Idiotic in a smug or self-satisfied way. |
| fawn: | A young deer; to seek notice or favor by servile demeanor. |
| Feint | Any sham, pretense, or deceptive movement. |
| felon: | One who has committed a felony; a painful infection at the end of a finger or surrounding the nail. |
| ferocity: | Savageness. |
| fervid: | Intense; heated or vehement in spirit. |
| fervor: | Ardor or intensity of feeling. |
| fidelity: | Loyalty. |
| finesse: | Subtle contrivance used to gain a point. |
| flamboyant: | Characterized by extravagance and in general by want of good taste. |
| flippant: | Having a light, pert, trifling disposition. |
| florid: | Flushed with red. |
| flout: | To treat with contempt; an insult |
| foible: | A personal weakness or failing. |
| foment: | To nurse to life or activity; to encourage discord; incite. |
| foppish: | Characteristic of one who is unduly devoted to dress and the niceties of manners. |
| forbearance: | Patient endurance or toleration of offenses. |
| forfeit: | To lose possession of through failure to fulfill some obligation. |
| forgery: | Counterfeiting. |
| forswear: | To renounce upon oath. |
| fragile: | Easily broken; lacking in substance or force; flimsy. |
| frantic: | Frenzied. |
| frugal: | Economical. |
| fugacious: | Fleeting; transitory. |
| fulminate: | To cause to explode; to issue a thunderous verbal attack. |
| fulsome: | Offensive to good taste; repulsive. |
| gainsay: | To contradict; to deny. |
| gamut: | The whole range or sequence. |
| garrulous: | Given to constant trivial talking. |
| germane: | Relevant. |
| gesticulate: | To make gestures or motions, as in speaking, or in place of speech. |
| glimmer: | A faint, wavering, unsteady light. |
| gossamer: | A soft, sheer, gauzy fabric; something delicate or flimsy. |
| gourmand: | A connoisseur in the delicacies of the table. |
| grandiloquent: | Speaking in or characterized by a pompous or bombastic style. |
| gregarious: | Sociable, outgoing |
| grievous: | Creating affliction. |
| guile: | Insidious cunning in attaining a goal; crafty. |
| gullible: | Easily deceived or cheated. |
| halcyon: | Calm or tranquil; prosperous; carefree. |
| harangue: | A long, pompous speech, especially one delivered before a gathering. |
| harbinger: | One who or that which foreruns and announces the coming of any person or thing. |
| heinous: | grossly wicked or reprehensible; abominable. |
| heresy: | An opinion or doctrine subversive of settled beliefs or accepted principles. |
| heterogeneous: | Consisting of dissimilar elements or ingredients of different kinds. |
| hirsute: | Having a hairy covering; shaggy. |
| hoodwink: | To deceive. |
| hospitable: | Disposed to treat strangers or guests with generous kindness. |
| hypocrisy: | The practice of professing beliefs, feelings or virtues that one does not hold or possess; falseness. |
| iconoclast: | An image-breaker; person who attacks cherished beliefs. |
| idiosyncrasy: | A mental quality or habit peculiar to an individual. |
| ignoble: | Low in character or purpose. |
| ignominious: | Deserving disgrace or shame; despicable. |
| illicit: | Unlawful. |
| imbroglio: | A misunderstanding attended by ill feeling, perplexity, or strife. |
| imbue : | To dye; to inspire or influence thoroughly; to saturate. |
| immaculate: | Without spot or blemish. |
| imminent: | Dangerous and close at hand. |
| immutable: | Unchangeable. |
| impair: | To cause to become less or worse. |
| impassive: | Unmoved by or not exhibiting feeling. |
| impecunious: | Having no money; penniless. |
| impede: | To be an obstacle or to place obstacles in the way of. |
| imperative: | Obligatory. |
| imperious: | Insisting on obedience. |
| imperturbable: | Calm; incapable of being upset. |
| impervious: | Impenetrable. |
| impetuous: | Impulsive. |
| impiety: | Irreverence toward God. |
| implacable: | Incapable of being pacified. |
| implicate: | To show or prove to be involved in or concerned |
| implicit: | Implied. |
| importunate: | Urgent in character, request, or demand; annoying. |
| importune: | To harass with persistent demands or entreaties. |
| impromptu: | Anything done or said on the impulse of the moment. |
| improvident: | Lacking foresight; neglecting to provide for future needs. |
| impugn: | To assail with arguments, insinuations, or accusations. |
| impute: | To attribute. |
| inadvertent: | Accidental. |
| inane: | Silly. |
| incessant: | Unceasing. |
| inchoate: | Rudimentary; not yet completed or fully developed. |
| incipient: | Initial. |
| incite: | To rouse to a particular action. |
| incongruous: | Unsuitable for the time, place, or occasion. |
| inculcate: | To teach by frequent repetitions. |
| indelible: | That can not be blotted out, effaced, destroyed, or removed. |
| indigence: | Poverty. |
| indigenous: | Native. |
| indistinct: | Vague. |
| indolence: | Laziness. |
| indolent: | Habitually inactive or idle. |
| indomitable: | Unconquerable. |
| indulgent: | Yielding to the desires or humor of oneself or those under one's care. |
| ineffable: | incapable of being expressed; not to be uttered; taboo. |
| ineluctable: | Impossible to avoid. |
| inept: | Without skill or aptitude; awkward or clumsy; inappropriate; foolish. |
| inexorable: | Unrelenting. |
| infuse: | To instill or introduce as if by pouring; to soak; to flavor. |
| ingenuous: | Candid, frank, or open in character or quality. |
| inimical: | Injurious or harmful in effect; hostile. |
| innocuous: | Harmless. |
| inscrutable: | Impenetrably mysterious or profound; difficult to fathom or understand. |
| insensible: | Imperceptible; unaware; indifferent; lacking meaning. |
| insinuate: | To suggest or hint slyly. |
| insipid: | Without distinctive, interesting or stimulating qualities. |
| insouciant: | Nonchalant; free from worry or anxiety. |
| insurrection: | The state of being in active resistance to authority. |
| interdict: | Authoritative act of prohibition. |
| interim: | Time between acts or periods. |
| intransigent: | Not capable of being swayed or diverted from a course. |
| intrepid: | Fearless and bold. |
| introspection: | The act of observing and analyzing one's own thoughts and feelings. |
| inundate: | To fill with an overflowing abundance. |
| inure: | To harden or toughen by use, exercise, or exposure. |
| invalid: | One who is disabled by illness or injury; void or without legal force. |
| Invective | An utterance intended to cast censure, or reproach. |
| inveigh: | To utter vehement censure or invective. |
| inveterate: | Habitual. |
| invidious: | Calculated to create ill will or resentment; injurious; causing animosity. |
| invincible: | Not to be conquered, subdued, or overcome. |
| iota: | A small or insignificant mark or part. |
| irascible: | Prone to anger. |
| irate: | Moved to anger. |
| ire: | Wrath. |
| irksome: | annoying; irritating; exasperating. |
| itinerant: | Wandering. |
| itinerate: | To wander from place to place. |
| jocular: | Inclined to joke. |
| jovial: | Merry. |
| judicious: | Prudent. |
| junta: | A council or assembly that deliberates in secret upon the affairs of government. |
| lachrymose: | Given to shedding tears. |
| lackadaisical: | Listless; without vigor or determination. |
| languid: | Lacking energy or vitality; showing little animation or force. |
| lascivious: | Lustful. |
| lassitude: | Weariness of body or mind from strain; indolent indifference. |
| latent: | Dormant. |
| laudable: | Praiseworthy. |
| laudatory: | Pertaining to, expressing, or containing praise. |
| legacy: | A bequest. |
| levee: | An embankment beside a river or stream or an arm of the sea, to prevent overflow. |
| levity: | Frivolity; lack of appropriate seriousness or earnestness. |
| lexicon: | A dictionary; stock of terms used in a particular profession or subject. |
| libel: | Defamation; a false publication, as in writing, print, signs or pictures that damages a person’s reputation. |
| licentious: | Unrestrained by law or general morality. |
| lien: | A legal claim or hold on property, as security for a debt or charge. |
| listless: | Having or showing little or no interest in anything. |
| lithe: | Supple. |
| loquacious: | Very talkative; babbling. |
| lugubrious: | Indicating sorrow, often ridiculously. |
| luminary: | A celestial body; an object that gives light; a person who has attained eminence in his or her field. |
| lustrous: | Shining; splendid. |
| malaise: | A condition of bodily weakness or discomfort; a vague or unfocused feeling of mental uneasiness, lethargy or discomfort. |
| malcontent: | One who is dissatisfied with the existing state of affairs. |
| malevolence: | Ill will. |
| malign: | To speak evil of, especially to do so falsely and severely. |
| malleable: | Pliant; easily controlled or influenced; able to adjust to circumstances. |
| massacre: | The unnecessary and indiscriminate killing of human beings. |
| maudlin: | Tearfully or weakly emotional; foolishly sentimental. |
| mawkish: | Excessively sentimental; sickening or insipid in taste. |
| mellifluous: | Sweetly or smoothly flowing; sweet-sounding. |
| Mendacious: | Telling lies; habitually dishonest. |
| mendicant: | A beggar. |
| meretricious: | Alluring by false or gaudy show. |
| mesmerize: | To hypnotize; compel by fascination. |
| meticulous: | Talking or showing extreme care about minute details; finicky; fussy. |
| mettle: | Courage. |
| mettlesome: | Having courage or spirit; willing to face danger. |
| microcosm: | The world or universe on a small scale. |
| mien: | The external appearance or manner of a person. |
| mischievous: | Fond of tricks. |
| miscreant: | A villain; a vicious or depraved person. |
| miser: | A person given to saving and hoarding unduly. |
| misnomer: | A name wrongly or mistakenly applied. |
| moderation: | Temperance. |
| modicum: | A small or token amount. |
| mollify: | To soothe. |
| molt: | To cast off, as hair, feathers, etc. |
| monomania: | The unreasonable pursuit or obsession of one idea or subject. |
| morbid: | Caused by or denoting a diseased or unsound condition of body or mind; gruesome. |
| mordant: | Biting; sarcastic wit; corrosive. |
| moribund: | On the point of dying; on the verge of extinction; stagnant. |
| morose: | Gloomily or sullenly ill-humored. |
| multifarious: | Having great diversity or variety. |
| mundane: | Worldly, as opposed to spiritual or celestial. |
| munificent: | Extraordinarily generous. |
| myriad: | A vast indefinite number. |
| nadir: | The lowest point. |
| nefarious: | Wicked in the extreme. |
| negligent: | Apt to omit what ought to be done. |
| neophyte: | Having the character of a beginner. |
| noisome: | Very offensive, particularly to the sense of smell. |
| nostrum: | A quack remedy; a favorite yet usually ineffective remedy for problems or evils. |
| noxious: | Harmful or injurious to health. |
| nugatory: | Having no power or force; worthless; not valid. |
| obdurate: | Impassive to feelings of humanity or pity; stubbornly resistant to moral influence. |
| obfuscate: | To darken; to obscure. |
| oblique: | Slanting as a line; not direct; morally, ethically or mentally wrong. |
| obsequious: | Showing a servile readiness to fall in with the wishes or will of another. |
| obstreperous: | Resisting control or restraint; boisterous. |
| obtrude: | To thrust (something) forward or upon a person without warrant or invitation; intrude. |
| obviate: | To anticipate and dispose of effectively; render unnecessary. |
| odious: | Hateful; highly offensive; repugnant |
| officious: | Marked by excessive eagerness in offering unwanted services or advice to others. |
| ominous: | Portentous; foreboding. |
| onerous: | Burdensome or oppressive. |
| onus: | A burden or responsibility. |
| opprobrium: | Disgrace arising from exceedingly shameful conduct; scornful reproach. |
| ossify: | To convert into bone. |
| ostentation: | A display dictated by vanity and intended to invite applause or flattery. |
| ostracism: | Exclusion by general consent, from social acceptance, privileges, friendship, etc. |
| ostracize: | To exclude from public or private favor. |
| palate: | The roof of the mouth. |
| palatial: | Magnificent; of, pertaining to, or resembling a palace. |
| palliate: | To make an offense or crime seem less serious; mitigate. |
| palpable: | Perceptible by feeling or touch; tangible. |
| panacea: | A remedy or medicine proposed for or professing to cure all diseases. |
| panegyric: | A formal and elaborate eulogy, written or spoken, of a person or of an act. |
| panoply: | A wide-ranging and impressive array or display; a full set of armor or ceremonial attire. |
| paragon: | A model of excellence; to be a match for; parallel. |
| pariah: | A member of a degraded class; a social outcast. |
| paroxysm: | A sudden, violent outburst; a recurrence, or intensification of a disease; convulsion. |
| parsimonious: | Unduly sparing in the use or expenditure of money; stingy. |
| partisan: | Characterized by or exhibiting undue or unreasoning devotion to a party. |
| pathos: | The quality in any form of representation that rouses emotion or sympathy. |
| paucity: | Scarcity; insufficiency of number. |
| peccadillo: | A small breach of propriety or principle. |
| pedestrian: | One who journeys on foot. |
| pellucid: | Translucent; allowing the maximum passage of light; clear. |
| penchant | : |
| penurious: | Excessively sparing in the use of money; destitute. |
| penury: | Extreme poverty; destitution. |
| peregrination: | A course of travel especially on foot; traverse. |
| peremptory: | Leaving no opportunity for denial or refusal; dictatorial. |
| perfidy: | Treachery; deliberate breach of faith or trust. |
| perfunctory: | Half-hearted. |
| peripatetic: | Walking about; itinerant. |
| perjury: | A solemn assertion of a falsity. |
| permeate: | To pervade; saturate. |
| pernicious: | Tending to kill or hurt. |
| persiflage: | Banter; a frivolous or flippant style of treating a subject. |
| perspicacity: | Acuteness of perception, discernment or understanding. |
| perturbation: | Mental disquiet, disturbance or agitation. |
| petrify: | To convert into a substance of stony hardness and character. |
| petulant: | Unreasonably irritable or ill-tempered; peevish; contemptuous in speech. |
| phlegmatic: | Not easily roused to feeling or action; apathetic. |
| physiognomy: | The outward appearance of anything, taken as offering some insight into its character. |
| pious: | Religious. |
| pique: | To excite a slight degree of anger in. |
| placate: | To allay the anger of, especially by making concessions. |
| platitude: | A written or spoken statement that is flat, dull, or commonplace. |
| plea: | An argument to obtain some desired action. |
| plenary: | Entire; absolute; unqualified. |
| plethora: | Excess; superabundance. |
| plumb: | A weight suspended by a line to test the verticality of something. |
| plummet: | A piece of lead, also called a plumb bob for making soundings, adjusting walls to the perpendicular. |
| poignant: | Severely painful or acute to the spirit; affecting or moving the emotions. |
| polyglot: | Able to speak, read, or write several languages; a mixture or confusion of languages. |
| ponderous: | Unusually weighty or forcible. |
| portend: | To indicate as being about to happen, especially by previous signs. |
| portent: | Anything that indicates what is to happen. |
| precarious: | Perilous; beyond one’s control; having no foundation. |
| preclude: | To prevent. |
| precocious: | Having the mental faculties prematurely developed. |
| predominate: | To be chief in importance, quantity, or degree. |
| premature: | Coming too soon. |
| presage: | To foretell. |
| prescience: | Knowledge of events before they take place; foresight. |
| presumption: | That which may be logically assumed to be true until disproved. |
| preternatural: | Extraordinary; supernatural. |
| prevalent: | Of wide extent or frequent occurrence. |
| prevaricate: | To use ambiguous or evasive language for the purpose of deceiving or diverting attention. |
| prim: | Stiffly proper. |
| pristine: | Having its original purity; uncorrupted; pertaining to the earliest period or state. |
| probity: | Virtue or integrity; honesty. |
| proclivity: | A natural inclination. |
| procrastination: | Delay, putting off until another day. |
| prodigal: | One wasteful or extravagant, especially in the use of money or property. |
| prodigious: | Immense. |
| profligacy: | Reckless extravagance or waste. |
| profligate: | Utterly and shamelessly immoral. |
| profuse: | Produced or displayed in overabundance. |
| prolix: | Verbose; tending to write or speak at excessive length. |
| propinquity: | Nearness in place; proximity. |
| propitious: | Presenting favorable conditions; auspicious; disposed to bestow favors. |
| prosaic: | Unimaginative. |
| proscribe: | To reject, as a teaching or a practice, with condemnation or denunciation; banish. |
| protuberant: | Bulging. |
| provident: | Anticipating and making ready for future wants or emergencies. |
| prudence: | Caution. |
| puerile: | Childish. |
| pugnacious: | Quarrelsome. |
| punctilious: | Strictly observant of the rules or forms prescribed by law or custom. |
| pungency: | The quality of affecting the sense of smell; being caustic or biting. |
| pusillanimous: | Without spirit or bravery; cowardly. |
| pyre: | A heap of combustibles arranged for burning a dead body. |
| qualm: | An uneasy feeling or pang of conscience as to conduct; misgiving; sudden onset of faintness or illness. |
| quandary: | A puzzling predicament. |
| quibble: | An utterly trivial distinction or objection. |
| quiescence: | Being quiet, still, or at rest; inactive |
| quiescent: | Being in a state of repose or inaction. |
| Quixotic: | Chivalrous or romantic to a ridiculous or extravagant degree. |
| quotidian: | Of an everyday character; ordinary. |
| raconteur: | A person skilled in telling stories and anecdotes. |
| ramify: | To divide or subdivide into branches or subdivisions. |
| rapacious: | Given to seizing for plunder; predatory. |
| raucous: | Harsh or grating; rowdy or disorderly. |
| reactionary: | Characterized by reaction, especially opposition to progress or liberalism; extremely conservative. |
| rebuff: | A peremptory or unexpected rejection of advances or approaches. |
| recalcitrant: | Marked by stubborn resistance; not obedient or compliant. |
| recant: | To withdraw formally one's belief (in something previously believed or maintained). |
| reciprocity: | Equal mutual rights and benefits granted and enjoyed. |
| recluse: | One who lives in retirement or seclusion. |
| recondite: | Incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding; little known; obscure. |
| recrudescent: | breaking out afresh or into renewed activity. |
| recuperate: | To recover. |
| redoubtable: | Formidable; commanding or evoking respect. |
| redress: | To set right, as a wrong by compensation or the punishment of the wrong-doer. |
| refractory: | Obstinately resistant to authority; difficult to melt or work; resistant to treatment. |
| regale: | To give unusual pleasure. |
| regicide: | The killing of a king or sovereign. |
| reiterate: | To say or do again and again. |
| relapse: | To suffer a return of a disease after partial recovery. |
| remonstrate: | To present a verbal or written protest to those who have power to right or prevent a wrong. |
| renovate: | To restore after deterioration, as a building. |
| repast: | A meal; figuratively, any refreshment. |
| repel: | To force or keep back in a manner, physically or mentally. |
| repine: | To indulge in fretfulness and faultfinding; complain. |
| reprobate: | One abandoned to depravity and sin. |
| repudiate: | To refuse to have anything to do with; to reject as having no authority. |
| repulsive: | Grossly offensive. |
| requisite: | Necessary. |
| requite: | To repay either good or evil to, as to a person; retaliate. |
| rescind: | To make void, as an act, by the enacting authority or a superior authority. |
| resilience: | The power of springing back to a former position |
| resonance: | Ability to reinforce sound by sympathetic vibrations. |
| respite: | Interval of rest. |
| restive: | Resisting control; stubborn. |
| retinue: | The group of people who accompany an important person during travels. |
| revere: | To regard with worshipful veneration. |
| reverent: | Showing profound respect or veneration |
| ribald: | Indulging in or manifesting coarse indecency or obscenity. |
| risible: | Capable of exciting laughter. |
| rotund: | Round from fullness or plumpness. |
| ruffian: | A lawless or recklessly brutal fellow. |
| ruminate: | To chew over again, as food previously swallowed and regurgitated. |
| sagacious: | Able to discern and distinguish with wise perception; shrewd. |
| salacious: | lustful or lecherous; obscene; grossly indecent. |
| salient: | Standing out prominently. |
| salubrious: | Healthful; promoting health. |
| salutary: | Beneficial. |
| sanction: | Authoritative permission or approval; support or encouragement. |
| sanguine: | Cheerfully confident; optimistic; ruddy or blood red. |
| sardonic: | Scornfully or bitterly sarcastic. |
| satiate: | To satisfy fully the appetite or desire of. |
| satyr: | A very lascivious person; lecher; in mythology a woodland deity represented as part human and part horse noted for riotousness. |
| savor: | To perceive by taste or smell; to appreciate fully or relish. |
| scabbard: | The sheath of a sword or similar bladed weapon. |
| scintilla: | A minute particle; spark; trace. |
| scribble: | Hasty, careless writing. |
| sedulous: | Persevering in effort or endeavor. |
| sequence: | The order in which a number or persons, things, or events follow one another in space or time. |
| severance: | Separation. |
| shrewd: | Characterized by skill at understanding and profiting by circumstances. |
| sinecure: | Any position requiring little or no work but provides a salary. |
| sinuous: | Curving in and out; devious; serpentine. |
| skiff: | Usually, a small light boat propelled by oars. |
| sluggard: | A person habitually lazy or idle. |
| solace: | Comfort in grief, trouble, or calamity. |
| solvent: | Having sufficient funds to pay all debts. |
| somniferous: | Tending to produce sleep. |
| somnolent: | Sleepy. |
| sonorous: | Resonant; rich and full in sound. |
| sophistry: | Reasoning sound in appearance only, especially when designedly deceptive. |
| soporific: | Causing sleep; also, something that causes sleep. |
| sordid: | Filthy, morally degraded |
| specious: | Plausible; pleasing to the eye but deceptive. |
| spurious: | Not genuine; counterfeit. |
| squalid: | Having a dirty, mean, poverty-stricken appearance. |
| stanch: | To stop the flowing of; to check. |
| stigma: | A mark of infamy or token of disgrace attaching to a person as the result of evil-doing. |
| stingy: | Cheap, unwilling to spend money. |
| stolid: | Expressing no power of feeling or perceiving; unemotional. |
| submerge: | To place or plunge under water. |
| subterfuge: | An artifice or expedient used to evade a rule, escape a consequence, hide something, etc. |
| succinct: | Concise. |
| sumptuous: | Rich and costly. |
| supercilious: | Exhibiting haughty and careless contempt. |
| superfluous: | Being more than is needed. |
| supernumerary: | Superfluous; exceeding the required or desired amount. |
| supersede: | To displace in power, authority, effectiveness, use, etc. |
| supine: | Lying on the back. |
| supplicate: | To beg. |
| suppress: | To prevent from being disclosed or punished. |
| surcharge: | An additional amount charged. |
| surfeit: | To feed to fullness or to satiety; an excessive amount. |
| susceptibility: | A tendency to be emotionally affected. |
| sybarite: | A person devoted to luxury and pleasure. |
| sycophant: | A servile flatterer, especially of those in authority or influence. |
| synopsis: | A syllabus or summary. |
| taciturn: | Inclined to silence; reserved in speech; reluctant to join in conversation. |
| taut: | Stretched tight. |
| temerity: | Foolhardy disregard of danger; recklessness. |
| terse: | Neat or effectively concise; curt; brusque. |
| timorous: | Lacking courage. |
| torpid: | Dull; sluggish; inactive. |
| torrid: | Excessively hot. |
| tortuous: | Abounding in irregular bends or turns; circuitous; deceitfully indirect or devious. |
| tractable: | Easily led or controlled; docile. |
| transgress: | To break a law. |
| transient: | Not lasting or enduring; transitory; staying only a short time; temporary. |
| transitory: | Existing for a short time only. |
| travail: | Hard or agonizing labor. |
| travesty: | A grotesque or exaggerated imitation. |
| trenchant: | Cutting deeply and quickly; incisive or keen. |
| trepidation: | Nervous uncertainty of feeling. |
| trite: | Made commonplace by frequent repetition. |
| truculence: | Ferocity; aggressive hostility. |
| truculent: | Fierce; cruel; savagely brutal. |
| turbid: | Clouded; opaque; obscured; In a state of turmoil; muddled. |
| turgid: | Swollen; inflated; pompous. |
| turpitude: | Depravity. |
| tutelage: | The act of training or the state of being under instruction. |
| tyro: | One slightly skilled in or acquainted with any trade or profession; novice. |
| ubiquitous: | Being present everywhere. |
| ulterior: | Lying beyond what is evident, revealed or avowed; especially concealed intentionally so as to deceive; subsequent. |
| umbrage: | A sense of injury; resentment. |
| unctuous: | Oily. |
| undermine: | To subvert in an underhanded way. |
| undulate: | To move like a wave or in waves. |
| untoward: | unfavorable or unfortunate; improper. |
| upbraid: | To reproach as deserving blame. |
| vagary: | An unpredictable or erratic action; a whimsical, wild or unusual idea or action. |
| vainglory: | Excessive, pretentious, and demonstrative vanity. |
| valorous: | Courageous. |
| vapid: | Having lost sparkling quality and flavor; dull or tedious. |
| variegated: | Having marks or patches of different colors; also, varied. |
| vehement: | Very eager or urgent; zealous; characterized by anger; intense or passionate. |
| venal: | Mercenary; corrupt; characterized by bribery. |
| veneer: | Outside show or elegance. |
| venial: | That may be pardoned or forgiven, a forgivable sin; trifling. |
| veracious: | Habitually disposed to speak the truth. |
| veracity: | Truthfulness. |
| verbiage: | Use of many words without necessity; verbosity. |
| verbose: | Wordy. |
| verdant: | Green with vegetation. |
| veritable: | Real; true; genuine. |
| vestige: | A visible trace, mark, or impression, of something absent, lost, or gone. |
| vicissitude: | A change, especially a complete change, of condition or circumstances, as of fortune. |
| vigilance: | Alert and intent mental watchfulness in guarding against danger. |
| vigilant: | Being on the alert to discover and ward off danger or insure safety. |
| virago: | a loud-voiced, ill-tempered, scolding woman; shrew. |
| virtu: | Rare, curious, or beautiful quality; love or tastefor fine objects of art. |
| visage: | The face, countenance, or look of a person. |
| vitiate: | To contaminate; debase; corrupt. |
| vituperate: | To verbally abuse; berate; vilify. |
| vivify: | To give life to; animate |
| vociferous: | Making a loud outcry; boisterous. |
| volatile: | Changeable. |
| voluble: | Having great fluency in speaking; talkative. |
| whimsical: | Capricious; unpredictable. |
| winsome: | Attractive. |
| Zeitgeist: | The intellectual and moral tendencies that characterize any age or epoch; the spirit of the time. |
