Notes

Abate
(v.) to make less in amount, degree, etc.; to subside, become less; to nullify; to deduct, omit
Abominate
(v.) to have an intense dislike or hatred for
Abrasive
(adj.) causing irritation, harsh, annoying; grinding or wearing down; (n.) a substance used to smooth or polish
Abstemious
(adj.) moderate, sparing (as in eating and drinking); characterized by abstinence and self-discipline
Abstinent
(adj.) the characteristics of forbearance from any indulgence of appetite, especially for the use of alcohol
Accolade
(n.) any award, honor, or laudatory notice
Acronym
(n.) a word created by the initials of adjacent words
Adage
(n.) a proverb, wise saying
Adroit
(adj.) skillful, expert in the use of the hands or body
Adulation
(n.) excessive devotion to someone; servile, flattery
Adversity
(n.) a difficult situation or condition; misfortune or tragedy
Affable
(adj.) courteous and pleasant, sociable, easy to speak to
Affinity
(n.) a feeling of closeness and understanding that someone has for another person/thing b/c of similar qualities, ideas, or interests
Alleviate
(v.) to reduce the pain or trouble of [something]
Ambiguous
(adj.) able to be understood in more than one way; vague
Ameliorate
(v.) to improve, make better, correct a flaw or shortcoming
Amenity
(n.) an item that increases comfort; something that makes life easier or more pleasant
Anagram
(n.) a word or phrase spelled by rearranging the letters of another word or phrase
Analogy
(n.) a comparison of 2 things based on their being alike in some way
Ancillary
(adj.) providing something additional to a main part or function
Anomaly
(n.) deviation from what is normal type
Antecedents
(n.) ancestors, events of one's earlier life
Anthropology
(n.) the study of human kind
Aphorism
(n.) a terse embodying a general truth, or astute observations
Aplomb
(n.) imperturbable, self-possession, poise, self assurance; chill
Apprehend
(v.) to catch or arrest, to understand, to be fearful of
Appropriate
(adj.) suitable for a particular purpose; (v.) to set aside for a specific purpose
Apt
(adj.) inclined to exhibit a particular behavior; likely
Arduous
(adj.) requires lots of work
Arid
(adj.) extremely dry; tedious, batten, boring, tiresome
Aspersion
(n.) an attack of someone's integrity or reputation
Assiduous
(adj.) showing great care and perseverance; hard working
Assuage
(v.) to make [an unpleasant feeling] less intense; alleviate
Atrophy
(n, v.) [usually body, tissue, or organ] to waste away; degenerate
Augment
(v.) to make something greater by adding to it
Awry
(adv, adj.) away from the appropriate, planned, or expected course
Axiom
(n.) universally accepted principle or rule
Bastion
(n.) a fortified place
Behemoth
(n.) a huge or monstrous creature; something enormous
Beleague
(v.) to surround with annoyances or troubles; to surround with military force
Bellicose
(adj.) inclined or eager to fight; aggressively hostile
Belligerent
(adj, n.) adj. of a warlike character; n. a state or nation at war
Bestow
(v.) to present as a gift
Bovine
(adj.) like a cow; dull, sluggish, listless
Bravado
(n.) a pretentious, swaggering display of courage
Bibliophile
(n.) a person who loves or collects books
Cadaverous
(adj.) of or like a dead body
Callow
(adj.) immature or inexperienced
Cantankerous
(adj.) disagreeable to deal with
Carnivorous
(adj.) meat eating
Calamity
(n.) an event resulting in great loss and misfortune
Cease
(v.) to put an end to a state or an activity
Charisma
(n.) a personal attractiveness that enables one to influence others
Chasm
(n.) a deep fissure in the earth's surface
Chronic
(adj.) being long-lasting and recurrent or characterized by long suffering
Cipher
(n.) zero; something of no value; a person with no influence; a coded message
Circuitous
(adj.) deviating from a straight course
Clandestine
(adj.) conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods; secretive
Cloy
(v.) to become uninteresting or disdainful through overabundance
Commodious
(adj.) large and roomy
Complement
(n.) something that completes or makes perfect
Compliant
(adj.) obeying, obliging, or yielding, especially is a submissive way
Concrete
(adj.) constituting on actual thing or instance; real
Consensus
(n.) majority of opinion; general agreement or concord; harmony
Contiguous
(adj.) touching, next to; in proximity to
Conundrum
(n.) a riddle, often with a pun as an answer
Copius
(adj.) large in quantity or number; abundant, plentiful
Corollary
(n.) a natural consequence or result of something
Craven
(adj.) cowardly; contemptibly timid
Credible
(adj.) capable of being believed
Culpable
(adj.) deserving blame of censure; guilty
Curmudgeon
(n.) a bad tempered, difficult, cantankerous person
Debacle
(n.) a sudden collapse; a disastrous breakdown
Debilitate
(v.) to weaken
Debunk
(v.) to expose something as false
Decimate
(v.) to destroy a large portion or number
Decorum
(n.) dignified propriety of behavior, speech dress, etc.
Deduce
(v.) to draw a conclusion from given data
Deem
(v.) to regard or consider
Definitive
(adj.) authoritative, the last word on the subject
Demonic
(adj.) like a demon; possessed or activated by a demon
Denizen
(n.) inhabitant; residents
Derelict
(adj.) abandoned; neglected of duty; (n.) a person abandoned by society
Deride
(v.) to scoff at or mock someone or something
Derisive
(adj.) the state of deriding someone or something
Desecrate
(v.) to treat something irreverently, to profane and defile it
Desiccate
(v.) to dry up
Detrimental
(adj.) harmful, injurious
Diffident
(adj.) shy and lacking in self-confidence
Digress
(v.) to depart from the main topic
Disdain
(v.) a feeling of strong dislike or disapproval of someone or something you think does not deserve respect
Distraught
(adj.) very upset to where you are not able to think clearly
Dolt
(n.) a stupid person
Dormant
(adj.) lying asleep or as if asleep; temporarily inactive
Eclectic
(adj.) deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources
Effective
(adj.) successful in producing a desired or intended result
Efficacious
(adj.) successful in producing a desired or intended result
Efficient
(adj.) achieves maximum productivity with minimum wasted effort
Egregious
(adj.) outstandingly bad; shocking
Elegy
(n.) a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead
Elicit
(v.) to draw out, bring out from a source
Illicit
(adj.) illegal
Enigmatic
(adj.) puzzling and obscure
Enmity
(n.) hostility, antagonism
Entity
(n.) a "thing," anything having a distinct existence
Epigram
(n.) witticisms, witty saying, wisecracks, tersely expressed, often in verse
Epitaph
(n.) a tomb inscription, any written praise of one who has passed on
Epitome
(n.) the embodiment of something, it's typical representation
Equanimity
(n.) composure, calmness of temperament
Erudite
(adj.) learned, scholarly
Etymology
(n.) derivation, in the sense of the specific derivation of a particular word
Eulogy
(n.) a speech or writing in praise of a person (usually deceased)
Exacerbate
(v.) to worsen a situation, to aggravate it, in the sense of increasing its bitterness
Excrement
(n.) feces, any bodily waste
Exemplary
(adj.) commendable, an example worth imitating
Exhort
(v.) to urge, to advise with great emphasis
Exorcise
(v.) to expel an evil spirit from a person by prayer or religious rites
Expostulate
(v.) to argue vigorously with someone in order to talk them out of doing something
Extenuate
(v.) to lessen the seriousness of an offense, or someone's guilt
Exuberant
(adj.) being in high spirits, full of enthusiasm
Facile
(adj.) able to act and perform with ease
Facilitate
(v.) to make easy, to help along
Fallow
(adj.) dormant, inactive, unproductive
Falter
(v.) to waver, to stumble
Feasible
(adj.) can be accomplished, workable
Feisty
(adj.) full of spirit, lively, ready for everything
Felicity
(n.) great happiness
Feral
(adj.) wild, savage, untamed
Festoon
(n./v.) n. A chain of flowers, v. to decorate with flowers
Finite
(adj.) having limits, limited in some way, the opposite of infinite
Foible
(n.) a minor, relatively harmless weakness in a person's characteristic
Forensic
(adj.) having to do with the law and the courts
Formidable
(adj.) to be feared or dreaded
Fruition
(n.) fulfillment, attainment, results that have been achieved
Furtive
(adj.) stealth, slyness, shiftiness, sneakiness
Gadfly
(n.) a "pest" or anyone who annoys others by continual pestering
Gauche
(adj.) crude, awkward, lacking in social grace
Generic
(adj.) general, common, in the sense of "applicable to a whole class"
Genesis
(n.) an origin or source
Gratuitous
(adj.) given free of charge, uncalled for, unprovoked
Gratuity
(n.) anything given voluntarily
Guise
(n.) assumed appearance, one that conceals its true form
Hackneyed
(adj.) trite, stale from overuse
Harbinger
(n.) someone or something that signals the approaching of things to come; omen
Hedonist
(n.) one who believes that pleasure is the chief aim in life and lives that way
Heinous
(adj.) excessively evil, positively hateful
Herbivorous
(adj.) plant eating
Hiatus
(n.) a gap
Hypothesis
(n.) a theory used to explain an occurrence in the absence of actual proof
Idyllic
(adj.) happily peaceful, charmingly romantic
Ignomy
(n.) disgrace resulting from a shameful act or the nonperishable conduct itself
Immemorial
(adj.) describes something so old, it almost extends past memory
Immutable
(adj.) unchangable
Impede
(v.) to hinder, to delay or prevent someone or something by obstructing them
Implement
(n.) a tool or utensil for a particular purpose
(v.) to carry out, put into action
Implicate
(v.) to involve or show someone involved in a crime, to imply
Intrepid
(adj.) fearless, bold, ready to take risks, adventurous
Intuit
(v.) to know something without having to be told, known from instinct
Inundate
(v.) to flood or overflow
Jettison
(n.) the act of throwing cargo overboard to lighten a vessel
(v.) getting rid of any burden, to discard
Jocular
(adj.) joking, facetious, not to be taken seriously
Karma
(n.) the sum total of one's deeds in life which decides one's fate
Keen
(v.) to yell
Kinetic
(adj.) having to do with motion
Knell
(n/v.) the sound of a bell
Kudos
(n.) praise, honor, glory
Lament
(n/v.) an expression of grief, especially a vivid or passionate one
Latent
(adj.) in existence, but not yet active or apparent; present but not visible
Lax
(adj.) showing a lack of interest in doing a job well or on time
Lethargic
(adj.) sluggish, listless, without pep or energy
Leviathan
(n.) a monster, any thing of wondrous site or vast power
Litany
(n.) any monotonous repetitious recital
Lurid
(adj.) gruesome, shockingly vivid, sensational
Maladroit
(adj.) awkward, clumsy, opposite of adroit
Malleable
(adj.) able to be shaped, impressionable
Masticate
(v.) to chew, to reduce to a pulp
Matriculate
(v.) to enroll in college or university
Megalomania
(n.) delusions of grandeur, exaggerated ideas of one's own importance
Metamorphosis
(n.) a transformation
Misanthrope
(n.) a person who dislikes humankind
Misapprehension
(n.) a mistake
Miscreant
(n.) a vicious or depraved person
(adj.) depraved
Misnomer
(n.) an error in naming a person or thing
Misogyny
(n.) dislike or mistrust in women, prejudice against women
Mnemonic
(n.) something intended to assist the memory
Molt
(v.) to cast off in the process of renewal
Motif
(n.) a recurring subject or theme in a piece of work
Mottled
(adj.) spotted or blotched in coloring
Mundane
(adj.) common, ordinary, of or relating to the world in contrast of heaven
Nebulous
(adj.) hazy, confused, cloudy
Nemesis
(n.) something or someone a person cannot conquer
Nirvana
(n.) a state of perfect happiness and peace
Nomenclature
(n.) the sames compromising a system
Nonsequitur
(n.) a statement not connected in a logical or clear way
Oblivion
(n.) a state of being completely forgotten
Obtrusive
(adj.) noticeable or prominent in an unwelcome or intrusive way
Obtuse
(adj.) not pointed, blunt
Odious
(adj.) causing hatred or strong dislike
Offal
(n.) guts/organs considered inedible by humans
Olympian
(adj.) pertaining to Mount Olympus; great
(n.) a contender in the Olympic games
Omniscient
(adj.) all knowing
Ostentatious
(adj.) characterized by pretentious or conspicuous show to impress others
Ostracize
(v.) to exclude someone from a group
Pallid
(adj.) faint or deficient in color; lacking in interest
Palpable
(adj.) easily perceived; readily or plainly seen
Panacea
(n.) a remedy for all disease or ills
Paradox
(n.) a statement that contradicts itself
Paragon
(n.) a model or pattern of excellence; epitome
Pastoral
(adj.) relating to the country; rural
Pathological
(adj.) caused by or involving disease
Pedestrian
(n.) a person who travels by foot
(adj.) lacking in imagination; boring
Penultimate
(adj.) next to last
Penurious
(adj.) extremely poor, indigent
Perfidious
(adj.) deceitful, deliberately faithless
Peripheral
(adj.) minor aspect of the subject in question
Pernicious
(adj.) evil, cruel; fatal, deadly
Persona
(n.) a person's perceived/evident personality; guise
Peruse
(v.) to read through with care
Pervasive
(adj.) spread throughout
Petulant
(adj.) showing irritation; easily annoyed
Placebo
(n.) an object that has no medical effect but is given to satisfy a patient or as a control for testing
Placid
(adj.) calm, serene, tranquil
Platitude
(n.) trite, boring remark
Plethora
(n.) an overabundance or an excess of something; surplus
Polyglot
(n/adj.) a person with a command of a number of languages; multilingual
Prate
(v.) to babble, to talk too much
Precipitous
(adj.) very steep
Preen
(v.) primping, grooming, congratulating oneself
Prehensile
(adj.) describes an animal's appendage, capable of grasping and object
Prestidigitador
(n.) magician, especially those practicing sleight of hand
Primordial
(adj.) first to exist; primeval
Procreate
(v.) to reproduce, to multiply
Proliferate
(v.) to increase in number or amount quickly
Prone
(adj.) likely to do something, apt
(adj.) lying face down, front of body on the ground
Propensity
(n.) a strong natural tendency to do something
Protracted
(adj.) lasting for a long time
(v.) to prolong
Prowess
(n.) great ability or skill
Puckish
(adj.) having or showing a desire to cause trouble in a playful or harmless way
Puerile
(adj.) silly and childish in a way that shows a lack of seriousness or good judgement
Pummel
(v.) to repeatedly hit or punch hard
Purloin
(v.) to take [something that belongs to someone else]
Quagmire
(n.) a soft boggy area of land; and awkward, complex, or hazardous situation
Quail
(v.) to shrink back with fear; cower
Qualm
(n.) an uneasy feeling of doubt, worry, or fear, especially about one's own conduct; a misgiving
Quandary
(n.) a state of perplexity or uncertainty over what to do in a difficult situation
Quash
(v.) reject or void, especially by legal procedure
Query
(n.) a question, especially one addressed to an official or organization
(v.) to ask a question about something
Queue
(n.) a line of people who are waiting for something
Rake
(v.) to revive or bring to light; uncover
(n.) a dissolute or profligate person, especially a man who is licentious; immoral man
Rambunctious
(adj.) difficult to control or handle
Rapt
(adj.) deeply moved or delighted; into it
Recapitulate
(v.) to summarize, to review by a brief summary
Reclusive
(adj.) shut off or apart from the world; living in seclusion
Rectify
(v.) to fix; to make, put, or set right
Redolent
(adj.) something or someone that brings back strong memories or a strong association; sweet smelling, fragrant
Refulgent
(adj.) shining bright; radiant, gleaming, glowing
Renegade
(v.) a person who deserts a party or cause for another
Renege
(v.) to go back on one's word
Repetoire
(n.) the entire stock of skills or remembered performances of a particular person
Reprehensible
(adj.) deserving blame or censure
Resolute
(adj.) firmly resolved or determined, set in purpose or opinion
Retrospective
(adj.) characterized by looking back into the past
Rhetoric
(n.) the art of using language effectively
Rigors
(n.) the difficulties and unpleasant conditions or experiences that are associated with something
Rue
(v.) to regret deeply, to wish something hadn't happened and could be undone
Salubrious
(adj.) health-giving, healthful, wholesome
Salutary
(adj.) health-giving, healthful, wholesome
*synonym to salubrious
Sanctify
(v.) to make something holy or to set it apart
Sangfroid
(n.) the ability to stay calm in difficult or dangerous situations
Savor
(n.) taste or smell
(v.) to enjoy the taste or smell of something
Scourge
(n.) a whip, a person or thing that is considered to be the cause pf a great affliction
(v.) to whip [now watch me whip]
Scuttle
(v.) to scurry; to destroy in a short time
Seamy
(adj.) immoral, sordid, disagreeable
Secular
(adj.) worldly (as opposed to spiritual, sacred, or religious)
Septic
(adj.) causing or having to do with infection by microorganisms
Sequester
(v.) to remove and keep separate
Serendipity
(n.) the making of a pleasant discovery by accident, the good luck of finding something agreeable
Serpentine
(adj.) curved and sinuous, shaped like a snake
Servile
(adj.) slavish, submissive, suck up to the point of cringe-worthiness
Sinecure
(n.) a job that pays well but requires little work
Skeptic
(n.) anyone who makes a practice of doubting and insists on examining all beliefs, including widely accepted ones
Skittish
(adj.) having frisky, nervous energy
Slake
(v.) quench or satisfy; to satisfy something else
Smug
(adj.) showing or having excessive pride in oneself for an achievement
Sodden
(adj.) saturated with liquid, especially water
Soliloquy
(n.) the act of speaking one's thoughts aloud by oneself; talking to self
Sporadic
(adj.) occurring at irregular intervals or in a few places
Strident
(adj.) loud and harsh
Stultify
(v.) to lose enthusiasm, especially as a result of tedious or restrictive routines
Supplicate
(v.) to beg, beseech, petition humbly and prayerfully
Succulent
(adj.) tender, juicy, and tasty
Succumb
(v.) to fail to resist; to give in or give up
Supine
(adj.) lying on the back; inactive, passive, inert, especially from laziness
Surmise
(v.) to think or infer without strong evidence
(n.) an idea of something as being possible or likely
Sycophant
(n.) a self-seeking, servile flatterer; suck up
Sylph
(n.) a slender, graceful woman
Tactile
(adj.) pertaining to the sense of touch
Tangible
(adj.) capable of being touched
Tedious
(adj.) long and tiresome; causes weariness and boredom
Tenuous
(adj.) thin or slender in form, as a thread; lacking a sound basis; weak
Terse
(adj.) neatly or effectively concise; short and to the point
Timorous
(adj.) full of fear; fearful, subject to fear
Tortuous
(adj.) excessively lengthy and complex; not straightforward, winding
Transcend
(v.) to go beyond limits or to surpass
Travesty
(n.) a comic imitation of a serious work of art
Truncate
(v.) to shorten something by cutting of the top or end
Turgid
(adj.) swollen, distended, inflated; pompous, ostentatious
Unctuous
(adj.) excessively flattering or suave, excessively smooth, oily
Unfathomable
(adj.) not completely understood, incomprehensible
Vacillate
(v.) waver in mind or opinion, be indecisive
Veneer
(n.) a superficial valuable or pleasing appearance; pleasant guise
Venerate
(v.) to regard or treat with reverence or respect
Veracious
(adj.) true, thruthful
Vertigo
(n.) dizziness, giddiness; the feeling that one, or the world about him, is whirling around
Vilify
(n.) to speak ill of; to defame, with the implication that it is unfair
Virtuoso
(n/adj.) a person of outstanding skill
Voracious
(adj.) ravenous, craving and consuming great amounts of food
Waft
(v.) to travel through the air lightly
Wanton
(adj.) committed deliberately, expressing disdainful irony
Waspish
(adj.) ill tempered, sharp tongued, ready to snap at others
Wry
(adj.) twisted, distorted, expressing disdainful irony
Xenophobia
(n.) fear of strangers and foreigners
Zealot
(n.) a fanatic, a fanatical follower of a radical cause or leader