Magoosh Flashcards(GRE)

aberrant	adjective: markedly different from an accepted norm	When the financial director started screaming and throwing food at his co-workers, the police had to come in to deal with his aberrant behavior.
aberration	noun: a deviation from what is normal or expected	Aberrations in climate have become the norm: rarely a week goes by without some meteorological phenomenon making headlines.
abjure	verb: formally reject or give up (as a belief)	While the church believed that Galileo abjured the heliocentric theory under threat of torture, he later wrote a book clearly supporting the theory.
aboveboard	adjective: open and honest	The mayor, despite his avuncular face plastered about the city, was hardly aboveboard – some concluded that it was his ingratiating smile that allowed him to engage in corrupt behavior and get away with it.
abrogate	verb: revoke formally	As part of the agreement between the labor union and the company, the workers abrogated their right to strike for four years in exchange for better health insurance.
abstain	verb: choose not to consume or take part in (particularly something enjoyable)	Considered a health nut, Jessica abstained from anything containing sugar--even chocolate.
abstruse	adjective: difficult to understand; incomprehensible	Physics textbooks can seem so abstruse to the uninitiated that readers feel as though they are looking at hieroglyphics.
abysmal	adjective: extremely bad	Coach Ramsey took his newest player off the field after watching a few painful minutes of her abysmal performance.
access	noun: the ability to go into (when somebody or something must allow you to enter)  verb: to go into something when allowed to enter	Only students have access to the university library. There is a large amount of oil under the ice, but we have not be able to access it.
accolade	noun: an award or praise granted as a special honor	Jean Paul-Sartre was not a fan of accolades, and as such, he refused to accept the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964.
acerbic	adjective: harsh in tone	Most movie critics are acerbic towards summer blockbusters, often referring to them as garbage.
acme	noun: the highest point of achievement	The new Cessna airplanes will be the acme of comfort, offering reclining seats and ample legroom.
acrimony	noun: bitterness and ill will	The acrimonious dispute between the president and vice-president sent a clear signal to voters: the health of the current administration was imperiled.
adamant	adjective: refusing to change one's mind	Civil rights icon Rosa Parks will forever be remembered for adamantly refusing to give up her seat on a public bus--even after the bus driver insisted, she remained rooted in place.
adequate	adjective: good enough for what you need	A very light jacket will be adequate for Los Angeles's warm winter.
adjudicate	verb: to serve as a judge in a competition; to arrive at a judgment or conclusion	Only those with the most refined palates were able to adjudicate during the barbeque competition.
admonish	verb: to warn strongly, even to the point of reprimanding	Before the concert began, security personel admonished the crowd not to come up on stage during the performance.
admonitory	adjective: serving to warn; expressing reproof or reproach especially as a corrective	At the assembly, the high school vice-principal gave the students an admonitory speech, warning them of the many risks and dangers of prom night.
advocate	verb: speak, plead, or argue in favor of noun: a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea	While the senator privately approved of gay marriage, he was unwilling to advocate for the cause in a public venue. Martin Luther King Jr. was a tireless advocate for the rights of African-Americans in the United States.
aesthete	noun: one who professes great sensitivity to the beauty of art and nature	A true aesthete, Marty would spend hours at the Guggenheim Museum, staring at the same Picasso.
aesthetic	adjective: concerned with the appreciation of beauty noun: a set of principles underlying and guiding the work of a particular artist or artistic movement.	The director, not known for his aesthetic sensibilities, decided not to use costumes at all, and put on the play in everyday clothing. The artist operated according to a peculiar aesthetic, not considering any photograph to be worth publishing unless it contained a marine mammal.
affable	adjective: likeable; easy to talk to	For all his surface affability, Marco was remarkably glum when he wasn’t around other people.
affluent	adjective: wealthy	The center of the city had sadly become a pit of penury, while, only five miles away, multi-million dollar homes spoke of affluence.
afford	verb: provide with an opportunity	The summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro affords a panoramic view that encompasses both Tanzania and Kenya.
alacrity	noun: an eager willingness to do something	The first three weeks at his new job, Mark worked with such alacrity that upper management knew it would be giving him a promotion.
altruism	noun: the quality of unselfish concern for the welfare of others	Albert Schweitzer spent most of his life doing missionary work as a doctor in Africa, seeking no reward, apparently motivated only by altruism.
amalgam	noun: a mixture of multiple things	The band’s music was an amalgam of hip-hop, flamenco and jazz, blending the three styles with surprising results.
ambiguous	adjective: open to more than one interpretation	The coach told his team, “Move towards that side of the field”; because he did not point, his directions were ambiguous, and the team had no idea to which side he was referring.
ambivalent	adjective: mixed or conflicting emotions about something	Sam was ambivalent about studying for the exam because doing so ate up a lot of his time, yet he was able to improve his analytical skills.
ameliorate	verb: make something bad better	"Three Cups of Tea" tells the story of western man who hopes to ameliorate poverty and the lack of education in Afghanistan.
amenable	adjective: easily persuaded	Even though she did not like the outdoors, Shirley was generally amenable and so her brother was able to persuade her to go camping.
amiable	adjective: friendly	Amy’s name was very apt: she was so amiable that she was twice voted class president.
amok	adverb: in a frenzied or uncontrolled state	Wherever the bowl haircut teen-idol went, his legions of screaming fans ran through the streets amok, hoping for a glance at his boyish face.
amorphous	adjective: shapeless	His study plan for the GRE was at best amorphous; he would do questions from random pages in any one of seven test prep books.
amply	adverb: more than is adequate	The boat was amply supplied for its year at sea—no man would go hungry or thirst.
anachronism	noun: something that is inappropriate for the given time period (usually something old).	Dressed in 15th century clothing each day, Edward was a walking anachronism.
analogous	adjective: similar in some respects but otherwise different	In many ways, the Internet's transformative effect on society has been analogous to that of the printing press.
anathema	noun: a detested person; the source of somebody's hate	Hundreds of years ago, Galileo was anathema to the church; today the church is anathema to some on the left side of the political spectrum.
anemic	adjective: lacking energy and vigor	After three straight shows, the lead actress gave an anemic performance the fourth night, barely speaking loudly enough for those in the back rows to hear.
animosity	noun: intense hostility	The governor’s animosity toward his rival was only inflamed when the latter spread false lies regarding the governor’s first term.
anodyne	noun: something that soothes or relieves pain adjective: inoffensive	Muzak, which is played in department stores, is intended to be an anodyne, but is often so cheesy and over-the-top that customers become irritated. Wilbur enjoyed a spicy Mexican breakfast, but Jill preferred a far more anodyne meal in the mornings.
anomalous	adjective: not normal	According to those who do not believe in climate change, the extreme weather over the last five years is simply anomalous—daily temperatures should return to their old averages, they believe.
anomaly	noun: something that is not normal, standard, or expected	After finding an anomaly in the data, she knew that she would have to conduct her experiment again.
antedate	verb: precede in time	Harry was so unknowledgable that he was unaware the Egyptian pharaohs antedated the American Revolution.
antic	adjective: ludicrously odd	The clown's antic act was too extreme for the youngest children, who left the room in tears.
antipathy	noun: an intense feeling of dislike or aversion	Maria had an antipathy for tour groups, often bolting to the other side of the museum as soon as she saw a chaperone leading a group of wide-eyed tourists.
antiquated	adjective: old-fashioned; belonging to an earlier period in time	Aunt Betty had antiquated notions about marriage, believing that a man should court a woman for at least a year before receiving a kiss.
antithetical	adjective: sharply contrasted in character or purpose	His deep emotional involvement with these ideas is, in fact, antithetical to the disattachment Buddhism preaches.
apathetic	adjective: marked by a lack of interest	Mr. Thompson was so talented at teaching math that even normally apathetic students took interest.
apathy	noun: an absence of emotion or enthusiasm	Widespread apathy among voters led to a very small turnout on election day.
apex	noun: the highest point	The Ivy League is considered the apex of the secondary education system.
aphorism	noun: a short instructive saying about a general truth	Nietzsche was known for using aphorisms, sometimes encapsulating a complex philosophical thought in a mere sentence.
aphoristic	adjective: something that is concise and instructive of a general truth or principle	Sometimes I can't stand Nathan because he tries to impress everyone by being aphoristic, but he just states the obvious.
aplomb	noun: great coolness and composure under strain	Nancy acted with aplomb during dangerous situations--she once calmly climbed up an oak tree to save a cat.
apocryphal	adjective: being of questionable authenticity	The web is notorious for sandwiching apocryphal stories between actual news.
apogee	noun: the highest point	The apogee of the Viennese style of music, Mozart’s music continues to mesmerize audiences well into the 21st century.
apostate	noun: a person who has abandoned a religious faith or cause	An apostate of the Republican Party, Sheldon has yet to become affiliated with any party and dubs himself an independent.
apothegm	noun: a short, pithy instructive saying	Winston Churchill is famous for many apothegms, but this might be his most famous: "It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."
apotheosis	noun: exaltation to divine status; the highest point of development	As difficult as it is to imagine, the apotheosis of Mark Zuckerberg’s career, many believe, is yet to come.
appease	verb: pacify by acceding to the demands of	Neville Chamberlain, the British prime minister during WWII, tried to appease Hitler and in doing so sent a clear message: you can walk all over us.
appreciable	adjective: large enough to be noticed (usu. refers to an amount)	There is an appreciable difference between those who say they can get the job done and those who actually get the job done.
apprehension	noun: fearful expectation	Test day can be one of pure apprehension, as many students worry about their test scores.
approbatory	adjective: expressing praise or approval	Although it might not be her best work, Hunter's new novel has received generally approbatory reviews.
appropriate	verb: to give or take something by force verb: to allocate	The government appropriated land that was occupied by squatters, sending them scurrying for another place to live. The committe appropriated the funds to its various members.
appurtenant	adjective: supply added support	n hiking Mt. Everest, sherpas are appurtenant, helping climbers both carry gear and navigate treacherous paths.
arbitrary	adjective: based on a random, groundless decision	One of the arbitrary decrees in place during the emperor's rule is that all citizens pay him weekly homage at his palace.
arcane	adjective: requiring secret or mysterious knowledge	Most college fraternities are known for arcane rituals that those hoping to the join the fraterntiy must learn.
arch	adjective: to be deliberately teasing	The baroness was arch, making playful asides to the townspeople; yet because they couldn't pick up on her dry humor, they thought her supercilious.
archaic	adjective: so old as to appear to belong to a different period	Hoping to sound intelligent, Mary spoke in archaic English that was right out of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice--needless to say, she didn't have many friends.
arduous	adjective: demanding considerable mental effort and skill; testing powers of endurance	In order to deal with the arduous cross-country journey, truck drivers often survive on a string of caffeinated drinks, staying awake for up to 30 hours at a time.
arrant	adjective: complete and wholly (usually modifying a noun with negative connotation)	An arrant fool, Lawrence surprised nobody when he lost all his money in a pyramid scheme that was every bit as transparent as it was corrupt.
arriviste	noun: a person who has recently reached a position of power; a social climber	The city center was aflutter with arrivistes who each tried to outdo one another with their ostentatious sports cars and chic evening dress.
arrogate	verb: seize and control without authority	Arriving at the small town, the outlaw arrogated the privileges of a lord, asking the frightened citizens to provide food, drink, and entertainment.
artful	adjective: exhibiting artistic skill; adjective: clever in a cunning way	Picasso is generally considered the most artful member of the Cubist movement.; Bernie Madoff's artful Ponzi scheme stole billions of dollars from investors and is considered the largest financial fraud in U.S. history.
artifice	noun: cunning tricks used to deceive others	The mayoral candidates both spent much of the campaign accusing each other of artifices designed to mislead the voting public.
artless	adjective: without cunning or deceit	Despite the president's seemingly artless speeches, he was a skilled and ruthless negotiator.
artlessness	noun: the quality of innocence	I, personally, found the artlessness of her speech charming.
ascendancy	noun: the state that exists when one person or group has power over another	The ascendancy of the Carlsbad water polo team is clear—they have a decade of championships behind them.
ascetic	adjective: practicing self-denial noun: one who practices great self-denial	His ascetic life is the main reason he inspired so many followers, especially since he gave up wealth and power to live in poverty. Historically, ascetics like Ghandi are often considered wise men partially because of their restraint.
ascribe	verb: attribute or credit to	History ascribes The Odyssey and The Iliad to Homer, but scholars now debate whether he was a historical figure or a fictitious name.
askance	adverb: with a look of suspicion or disapproval	The old couple looked askance on the teenagers seated next to them, whispering to each other, "They've got rings through their noses and purple hair!"
asperity	noun: harshness of manner	The editor was known for his asperity, often sending severe letters of rejection to amateur writers.
assail	verb: attack in speech or writing	In the weekly paper, the editor assailed the governor for wasting hundreds of thousands of dollars in public projects that quickly failed.
assiduously	adverb: with care and persistence	The top college football program recruits new talent assiduously, only choosing those who were the top in their county.
assuage	verb: make something intense less severe	Her fear that the new college would be filled with unknown faces was assuaged when she recognized her childhood friend standing in line.
atavism	noun: a reappearance of an earlier characteristic; throwback	Much of the modern art movement was an atavism to a style of art found only in small villages through Africa and South America.
attenuate	verb: to weaken (in terms of intensity); to taper off/become thinner.	Her animosity towards Bob attenuated over the years, and she even went so far as to invite him to her party.
audacious	adjective: willing to be bold in social situations or to take risks	As all of the other campers cowered in their tents, Bill, armed only with a flashlight, audaciously tracked down the bear that had raided their food.
audacity	noun: aggressive boldness in social situations	She surprised her colleagues by having the audacity to publically criticize the findings of an distinguished scientist.
augment	verb: enlarge or increase; improve	Ideally, the restaurant's augmented menu will expand its clientele and increase its profits.
auspicious	adjective: favorable, the opposite of sinister	Despite an auspicious beginning, Mike’s road trip became a series of mishaps, and he was soon stranded and penniless, leaning against his wrecked automobile.
austere	adjective: practicing self-denial adjective: unadorned in style or appearance adjective: harsh in manner of temperament	His lifestyle of revelry and luxurious excess could hardly be called austere. Late Soviet architecture, although remaining largely austere, moved into experimental territory that employed previously unused shapes and structures. The principal of my elementary school was a cold, austere woman; I could never understand why she chose to work with children.
autocratic	adjective: characteristic of an absolute ruler or absolute rule; having absolute sovereignty adjective: offensively self-assured or given to exercising usually unwarranted power	The last true autocratic country is certainly North Korea; nowhere does a leader exercise the absolute control over all aspects of a people the way that Kim Jong-un does. The manager was finally fired for his autocratic leadership, which often bordered on rude and offensive.
autonomously	adverb: In an autonomous or self-governing manner.	Many of the factory workers are worried about being replaced by machines and computers that will work completely autonomously.
avarice	noun: greed (one of the seven deadly sins)	The Spanish conquistadors were known for their avarice, plundering Incan land and stealing Incan gold.
avaricious	adjective: excessively greedy	Since avaricious desire is similar to gluttony or lust--sins of excess--it was listed as one of the seven deadly sins by the Catholic church.
avert	verb: turn away verb: ward off or prevent	Afraid to see the aftermath of the car crash, I averted my eyes as we drove by. The struggling videogame company put all of its finances into one final, desperate project to avert bankruptcy.
avid	adjective: marked by active interest and enthusiasm	Martin is an avid birdwatcher, often taking long hikes into remote mountains to see some rare eagle.
badger	verb: to pester	Badgered by his parents to find a job, the 30-year-old loafer instead joined a gang of itinerant musicians.
baleful	adjective: threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments	Movies often use storms or rain clouds as a baleful omen of evil events that will soon befall the main character.
balk	verb: refuse to comply	The students were willing to clean up the broken glass, but when the teacher asked them to mop the entire floor, they balked, citing reasons why they needed to leave.
banal	adjective: repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse	The professor used such banal expression that many students in the class either fell asleep from bordeom or stayed awake to complete his sentences and humor friends.
banality	noun: a trite or obvious remark	Herbert regarded the minister's remark as a mere banality until Sharon pointed out profound implications to the seemingly obvious words.
banish	verb: expel from a community, residence, or location; drive away	The most difficult part of the fast was banishing thoughts of food.
base	adjective: the lowest, class were without any moral principles	She was not so base as to begrudge the beggar the unwanted crumbs from her dinner plate.
bastardization	noun: an act that debases or corrupts	The movie World War Z is a complete bastardization of the book with little more in common than zombies and a title.
beatific	adjective: blissfully happy	Often we imagine all monks to wear the beatific smile of the Buddha, but, like any of us, a monk can have a bad day and not look very happy.
becoming	adjective: appropriate, and matches nicely	Her dress was becoming and made her look even more beautiful.
beg	verb: to evade or dodge (a question)	By assuming that Charlie was headed to college—which he was not—Maggie begged the question when she asked him to which school he was headed in the Fall.
begrudge	verb: to envy someone for possessing or enjoying something verb: to give reluctantly	Sitting all alone in his room, Harvey begrudged the happiness of the other children playing outside his window. We never begrudge money spent on ourselves.
behooves	verb: to be one's duty or obligation	The teacher looked down at the student and said, "It would behoove you to be in class on time and complete your homework, so that you don't repeat freshman English for a third straight year."
belie	verb: to give a false representation to; misrepresent	The smile on her face belies the pain she must feel after the death of her husband.
belittle	verb: lessen the importance, dignity, or reputation of	A good teacher will never belittle his students, but will instead empower them.
bellicose	adjective: warlike; inclined to quarrel	Known for their bellicose ways, the Spartans were once the most feared people from Peloponnesus to Persia.
belligerent	adjective: characteristic of one eager to fight	Tom said that he was arguing the matter purely for philosophical reasons, but his belligerent tone indicated an underlying anger about the issue.
bemoan	verb: express discontent or a strong regret	While the CFO carefully explained all the reasons for the cuts in benefits, after the meeting employees bemoaned the cuts as further evidence that management was against them.
benighted	adjective: fallen into a state of ignorance	Far from being a period of utter benightedness, The Medieval Ages produced some great works of theological speculation.
benign	adjective: kind adjective: (medicine) not dangerous to health; not recurrent or progressive	I remember my grandfather's face was wrinkled, benign, and calm. The tumor located in your ear lobe seems to be benign and should not cause you any trouble.
bereft	adjective: unhappy in love; suffering from unrequited love adjective: sorrowful through loss or deprivation	After 64 years of marriage, William was bereft after the death of his wife. "You are not bereft if you haven't played on your Xbox in the past week," his mother said.
besiege	verb: harass, as with questions or requests; cause to feel distressed or worried	After discovering a priceless artifact in her backyard, Jane was besieged by phone calls, emails, and reporters all trying to buy, hold or see the rare piece of history.
besmirch	verb: damage the good name and reputation of someone	The prince's distasteful choice of words besmirched not only his own name, but the reputation of the entire royal family.
besotted	adjective: strongly affectionate towards adjective: very drunk	Even though her father did not approve, Juliet became besotted with the young Romeo. Never before have I seen my mom so besotted, and honestly, I hope it's the last time she drinks so much.
betray	verb: to reveal or make known something, usually unintentionally	With the gold medal at stake, the gymnast awaited his turn, his quivering lip betraying his intense emotions.
bilious	adjective: irritable; always angry	Rex was bilious all morning, and his face would only take on a look of contentedness when he’d had his morning cup of coffee.
blatant	adjective: without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious	Allen was often punished in school for blatantly disrespecting teachers.
bleak	adjective: having a depressing or gloomy outlook	Unremitting overcast skies tend to lead people to create bleak literature and lugubrious music — compare England’s band Radiohead to any band from Southern California.
blinkered	adjective: to have a limited outlook or understanding	In gambling, the addict is easily blinkered by past successes and/or past failures, forgetting that the outcome of any one game is independent of the games that preceded it.
bolster	verb: support and strengthen	The case for the suspect's innocence was bolstered considerably by the fact that neither fingerprints nor DNA were found at the scene.
boon	noun: a desirable state adjective: very close and convivial	Modern technology has been a boon to the travel industry. He was a boon companion to many, and will be sadly missed.
boorish	adjective: ill-mannered and coarse or contemptible in behavior or appearance	Bukowski was known for being a boorish drunk and alienating close friends and family.
bowdlerize	verb: edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate	To receive an R rating, the entire movie was bowdlerized because it contained so much violence and grotesque subject matter.
brazen	adjective: unrestrained by convention or propriety	Their large "donations" to the local police department gave the drug cartel the brazen confidence to do their business out in the open.
bridle	verb: the act of restraining power or action or limiting excess verb: anger or take offense	New curfew laws have bridled people's tendency to go out at night. The hostess bridled at the tactless dinner guests who insisted on eating before everybody had gotten their food.
bristle	verb: react in an offended or angry manner	As we discussed the painting, I noticed the artist's wife bristling at our criticisms, ready to defend her husband's work.
broadside	noun: a strong verbal attack	Political broadsides are usually strongest in the weeks leading up to a national election.
bromide	noun: a trite or obvious remark	Instead of sharing his umbrella, the cheeky stranger offered Martha the following bromide: "Looks like it's raining."
brook	verb: put up with something or somebody unpleasant	While she was at the chalkboard, the teacher did not brook any form of talking--even a tiny peep resulted in afternoon detention.
browbeat	verb: be bossy towards; discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner	During the interrogation, the suspect was browbeaten into signing a false confession.
brusquely	adverb: in a blunt, direct manner	Not one for social pleasantries, the Chief of Staff would brusquely ask his subordinates anything he wanted, even coffee.
buck	verb: resist	The profits at our firm bucked the general downturn that affected the real estate industry.
bucolic	adjective: relating to the pleasant aspects of the country	The noble families of England once owned vast expanses of beautiful, bucolic land.
bumbling	adjective: lacking physical movement skills, especially with the hands	Within a week of starting, the bumbling new waiter was unceremoniously fired.
burgeon	verb: grow and flourish	China's housing market is burgeoning, but some predict that the growth is merely a bubble and will burst much like the U.S. real estate bubble of 2008.
buttress	verb: make stronger or defensible	China's economy has been buttressed by a global demand for the electronic parts the country manufactures.
byzantine	adjective: intricate and complex	Getting a driver’s license is not simply a matter of taking a test; the regulations and procedures are so byzantine that many have found themselves at the mercy of the Department of Motor Vehicles.
cadaverous	adjective: emaciated; gaunt	Some actors take challenging roles in which they have to lose so much weight that they appear cadaverous.
callow	adjective: young and inexperienced	Both Los Angeles and New York are known for callow out-of-towners hoping to make it big.
calumny	noun: making of a false statement meant to injure a person’s reputation	With the presidential primaries well under way, the air is thick withcalumny, and the mud already waist-high.
canard	noun: a deliberately misleading fabrication	The public will always be fooled by the media's canards.
candid	adjective: a straightforward and honest look at something	Even with a perfect stranger, Charles was always candid and would rarely hold anything back.
candidness	noun: the quality of being honest and straightforward in attitude and speech	Although I was unhappy that the relationship ended, I appreciated her candidness about why she was ready to move on from the relationship.
capacity	noun noun: the amount or volume something can hold ability (especially mental)	The hotel is full to maximum capacity; there are no empty rooms. Few birds have the capacity to recognize themselves when looking in a mirror; most act as though there is a second bird behind the glass.
capitulate	noun: to surrender (usually under agreed conditions)	Paul, losing 19-0 in a ping-pong match against his nimble friend, basically capitulated when he played the last two points with his eyes closed.
capricious	adjective: determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason	Nearly every month our capricious CEO had a new plan to turn the company around, and none of them worked because we never gave them the time they needed to succeed.
cardinal	adjective: of primary importance; fundamental	Most cultures consider gambling a cardinal sin and thus have outlawed its practice.
carping	adjective: persistently petty and unjustified criticism	What seemed like incessant nagging and carping about my behavior from my mother turned out to be wise and useful advice that has served me well.
castigate	verb: to reprimand harshly	Drill sergeants are known to castigate new recruits so mercilessly that the latter often break down during their first week in training.
cataclysm	noun: an event resulting in great loss and misfortune	The introduction of smallpox was a cataclysm for Native Americans, killing off more than half of their population.
catalyst	noun: something that speeds up an event	Rosa Park’s refusal to give up her bus seat acted as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement, setting into motion historic changes for African-Americans.
catholic	adjective: of broad scope; universal	Jonah’s friends said that Jonah’s taste in music was eclectic; Jonah was quick to point out that not only was his taste eclectic but it was also catholic: he enjoyed music from countries as far-flung as Mali and Mongolia.
cavalier	adjective: given to haughty disregard of others	Percy dismissed the issue with a cavalier wave of his hand.
cede	verb: relinquish possession or control over	Eventually, all parents must cede control of their growing childrens' educations and allow their offspring some autonomy.
celerity	noun: speed, rapidity	We aim to respond to customers' questions with celerity and accuracy, with no longer than a 24 hour wait time.
censor	verb: to examine and remove objectionable material noun: an official who censors material	Every fall, high school English teachers are inundated by requests to censor their curriculum by removing The Catcher in the Rye and Scarlet Letter from their reading lists. The censor insisted that every reference to drugs should be removed from the manuscript.
censor	verb: to examine and remove objectionable material noun: an official who censors material	Every fall, high school English teachers are inundated by requests to censor their curriculum by removing The Catcher in the Rye and Scarlet Letter from their reading lists. The censor insisted that every reference to drugs should be removed from the manuscript.
censure	verb: to express strong disapproval	After being caught in bed with a mistress, the mayor was quickly censured by the city council.
cerebral	adjective: involving intelligence rather than emotions or instinct	A cerebral analysis of most pop music finds it to be simple and childish, but that ignores the point--the music's effect on the listener.
chagrin	noun: strong feelings of embarrassment verb: cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of	Much to the timid writer's chagrin, the audience chanted his name until he came back on the stage. She never cared what others said about her appearance but was chagrined by the smallest comment from her mother.
champion	verb: to fight for a cause	Martin Luther King Jr. championed civil rights fiercely throughout his short life.
charlatan	noun: a flamboyant deceiver; one who attracts customers with tricks or jokes	You may call him a "motivational speaker," but I call him a charlatan--he doesn't have any idea what he's really talking about.
chary	adjective: cautious, suspiciously reluctant to do something	Having received three speeding tickets in the last two months, Jack was chary of driving at all above the speed limit, even on a straight stretch of highway that looked empty for miles ahead.
chastise	verb: to reprimand harshly	Though chastised for eating the snacks for the party, Lawrence shrugged off his mother’s harsh words, and continued to plow through jars of cookies and boxes of donuts.
chastise	verb: to reprimand harshly	Though chastised for eating the snacks for the party, Lawrence shrugged off his mother’s harsh words, and continued to plow through jars of cookies and boxes of donuts.
chauvinism	noun: fanatical patriotism; belief that one's group/cause is superior to all other groups/causes	Vegetarians argue that man is chauvinistic in his belief that animals do not consciously feel the pain we humans do.
chauvinist	noun: a person who believes in the superiority of their group	The chauvinist lives on both sides of the political spectrum, outright shunning anybody whose ideas are not consistent with his own.
check	verb: to limit (usually modifying the growth of something) noun: the condition of being held back or limited	Deserted for six months, the property began to look more like a jungle and less like a residence—weeds grew unchecked in the front yard When government abuses are not kept in check, that government is likely to become autocratic.
checkered	adjective: one that is marked by disreputable happenings	One by one, the presidential candidates dropped out of the race, their respective checkered pasts— from embezzlement to infidelity—sabotaging their campaigns.
chimera	noun: something desired or wished for but is only an illusion and impossible to achieve	Many believe that a world free of war is a chimera—a dream that ignores humanity's violent tendencies.
chivalrous	adjective: being attentive to women like an ideal knight	Marco's chivalrous ways, like opening doors and pulling out chairs, was much appreciated by his date.
choleric	adjective: prone to outbursts of temper; easily angered	While a brilliant lecturer, Mr. Dawson came across as choleric and unapproachable—very rarely did students come to his office hours.
chortle	verb: to chuckle, laugh merrily	Walking past the bar, I could hear happy, chortling people and the blast of horns from a jazz band.
churlish	adjective: lacking manners or refinement	The manager was unnecessarily churlish to his subordinates, rarely deigning to say hello, but always quick with a sartorial jab if someone happened to be wearing anything even slightly mismatching.
circumscribe	verb: restrict or confine	Their tour of South America was circumscribed so that they saw only popular destinations and avoided the dangerous parts of cities.
circumvent	verb: cleverly find a way out of one's duties or obligations	One way of circumventing the GRE is to apply to a grad school that does not require GRE scores.
clemency	noun: leniency and compassion shown toward offenders by a person or agency charged with administering justice	In the final moments of the trial, during his closing speech, Phillips was nearly begging the judge for clemency.
coalesce	verb: fuse or cause to grow together	Over time, the various tribes coalesced into a single common culture with one universal language.
cogent	adjective: clear and persuasive	A cogent argument will change the minds of even the most skeptical audience.
cohesive	adjective: well integrated, forming a united whole	A well-written, cohesive essay will keep on topic at all times, never losing sight of the main argument.
collusion	noun: agreement on a secret plot	Many have argued that Lee Harvey Oswald, JFK's assassin, was in collusion with other criminals; others maintain that Oswald was a lone gunman.
colossal	adjective: so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe	Few appreciate the colossal scale of the sun: if hollow, it could contain a million Earths.
commendable	adjective: worthy of high praise	The efforts of the firefighters running into the burning building were commendable.
commensurate	adjective: to be in proportion or corresponding in degree or amount	The convicted felon’s life sentence was commensurate to the heinousness of his crime.
complacent	adjective: contented to a fault with oneself or one's actions	After the water polo team won their sixth championship, they became complacent and didn't even make it to the playoffs the next year.
complaisant	adjective: showing a cheerful willingness to do favors for others	On her first day at the job, Annie was complaisant, fulfilling every request of her new employee and anticipating future requests.
complementary	adjective: enhancing each other's qualities (for two things or more).	The head waiter was careful to tell the amateur diners that red wine was complementary with beef, each bringing out subtle taste notes in the other.
complicit	adjective: Associated with or participating in an activity, especially one of a questionable nature.	While the grand jury cleared the senator of all criminal charges, in the public mind he was still complicit in the corruption.
compound	verb: make more intense, stronger, or more marked	Her headache was compounded by the construction crew outside, which had six jackhammers going at the same time.
concede	verb: acknowledge defeat verb: admit (to a wrongdoing) verb: give over; surrender or relinquish to the physical control of another	I concede. You win! After a long, stern lecture from her father, Olivia conceded to having broken the window. The Spanish were forced to concede much of the territory they had previously conquered.
conciliate	verb: to make peace with	His opponents believed his gesture to be conciliatory, yet as soon as they put down their weapons, he unsheathed a hidden sword.
concomitant	adjective: describing an event or situation that happens at the same time as or in connection with another	Concomitant with his desire for nature was a desire for the culture and energy of a big city.
conducive	adjective: making a situation or outcome more likely to happen	Studying in a quiet room is conducive to learning; studying in a noisy environment makes learning more difficult.
conflagration	noun: a very intense and uncontrolled fire	In the summer months, conflagrations are not uncommon in the southwest, do to the heat and lack of rain.
conflate	verb: mix together different elements or concepts	In her recent book, the author conflates several genres--the detective story, the teen thriller, and the vampire romance--to create a memorable read.
confound	verb: be confusing or perplexing to verb: mistake one thing for another	Though Harry loved numbers, he found calculus confounding. Americans often confound sweet potatoes with yams, and refer to both vegetables by the same name.
conniving	verb: taking part in immoral and unethical plots	The queen was so conniving that, with the help of the prince, she tried to overthrow the king.
conniving	verb: taking part in immoral and unethical plots	The queen was so conniving that, with the help of the prince, she tried to overthrow the king.
consecrate	verb: to make holy or set apart for a high purpose	At the church of Notre Dame in France, the new High Altar was consecrated in 1182.
conspicuous	adjective: without any attempt at concealment; completely obvious	American basketball players are always conspicuous when they go abroad--not only are they American, but some are over seven feet tall.
constituent	noun: a citizen who is represented in a government by officials for whom he or she votes noun: an abstract part of something	The mayor's constituents are no longer happy with her performance and plan to vote for another candidate in the upcoming election. The constituents of the metal alloy are nickel, copper, and tin.
constraint	noun: something that limits or restricts	We don't have many resources, so we'll have to work with some very tight constraints.
construe	verb: interpreted in a particular way	The author's inability to take a side on the issue was construed by both his opponents and supporters as a sign of weakness.
consummate	adjective: having or revealing supreme mastery or skill verb: to make perfect and complete in every respect	Tyler was the consummate musician: he was able to play the guitar, harmonica, and the drum at the same time. The restoration of the ancient church was only consummated after a twenty years of labor.
contemptuous	adjective: scornful, looking down at others with a sneering attitude	Always on the forefront of fashion, Vanessa looked contemptuously at anyone wearing dated clothing.
contentious	adjective: likely to argue	Since old grandpa Harry became very contentious during the summer when only reruns were on T.V., the grandkids learned to hide from him at every opportunity.
contingent	noun: a gathering of persons representative of some larger group adjective: possible but not certain to occur	A small contingent of those loyal to the king have gathered around the castle to defend it. Whether the former world champions can win again this year is contingent upon none of its star players getting injured.
contrite	adjective: to be remorseful	Though he stole his little sister’s licorice stick with malevolent glee, Chucky soon became contrite when his sister wouldn't stop crying.
contrition	noun: the feeling of remorse or guilt that comes from doing something bad	Those who show contrition during their prison terms--especially when under review by a parole board--often get shortened sentences.
contrive	verb: to pull off a plan or scheme, usually through skill or trickery	Despite a low GPA, he contrived to get into college, going so far as to write his own glowing letters of recommendation.
conundrum	noun: a difficult problem	Computers have helped solve some of the mathematical conundrums which have puzzled man for many centuries.
convivial	adjective: describing a lively atmosphere	The wedding reception was convivial; friends who hadn't seen each other for ages drank and ate together before heading to the dance floor.
convoluted	adjective: highly complex or intricate	Instead of solving the math problem in three simple steps, Kumar used a convoluted solution requiring fifteen steps.
copious	adjective: in abundant supply	In midsummer, there are copious popiscle stands at the beach; in the winter, there are none.
cornucopia	noun: an abundant supply of something good	The International Food Expo was a cornucopia of culinary delights: gourmet foods from every continent were under one roof.
corollary	noun: a practical consequence that follows naturally	A corollary of Hurricane Sandy, which ravaged the east coast of the U.S., is a push to build higher sea walls to protect against future hurricanes.
corroborate	verb: to confirm or lend support to (usually an idea or claim)	Her claim that frog populations were falling precipitously in Central America was corroborated by locals, who reported that many species of frogs had seemingly vanished overnight.
cosmopolitan	adjective: comprising many cultures; global in reach and outlook	There are few cities in the world as diverse and cosmopolitan as New York.
cosseted	verb: treat with excessive indulgence	The king and queen cosseted the young prince, giving him a prized miniature pony for his fifth birthday.
coterminous	adjective: being of equal extent or scope or duration	The border of the state is coterminous with geographic limits on travel; the east and north are surrounded by a nearly uncrossable river and the south by a desert.
countermand	verb: a contrary command cancelling or reversing a previous command	By the time the colonel countermanded his soldiers not to land in enemy territory, a few helicopters had already touched down amid heavy gunfire.
cow	verb: to intimidate	Do not be cowed by a 3,000-word vocabulary list: turn that list into a deck of flashcards!
craven	adjective: pathetically cowardly	Though the man could have at least alerted the police, he crouched cravenly in the corner as the old woman was mugged.
credence	noun: belief in something	He placed no credence in psychics, claiming that they offered no special powers beyond the ability to make people part with their money.
creditable	adjective: deserving of praise but not that amazing	Critics agreed the movie was creditable, but few gave it more than three out of five stars.
credulity	noun: tendency to believe readily	Virginia's wide-eyed credulity as a five-year old was replaced by suspicion after she learned that Santa Claus didn't really exist.
crestfallen	adjective: brought low in spirit	I asked Maria on a date and she refused without a moment's thought; I was crestfallen.
cryptic	adjective: mysterious or vague, usually intentionally	Since Sarah did not want her husband to guess the Christmas present she had bought him, she only answered cryptically when he would ask her questions about it.
crystallize	verb: cause to take on a definite and clear shape	Only after fifteen minutes of brainstorming did Samantha's ideas for the essay crystallize.
culminate	verb: reach the highest or most decisive point	Beethoven's musical genius culminated in the 9th Symphony, which many consider his greatest work.
culpability	noun: a state of guilt	Since John had left his banana peel at the top of the stairwell, he accepted culpability for Martha's broken leg.
cumbersome	adjective: difficult to handle or use especially because of size or weight	Only ten years ago, being an avid reader and a traveler meant carrying a cumbersome backpack stuffed with books--these days we need only an e-reader.
cupidity	noun: greed for money	Some believe people that amassing as much wealth as possible is the meaning to life—yet they often realize that cupidity brings anything but happiness.
curmudgeon	noun: a grouchy, surly person	Since Uncle Mike was the family curmudgeon, each Thanksgiving he was plied with copious amounts of wine, in the hope that he would become less grouchy.
dearth	noun: a lack or shortage	I am surprised by the dearth of fast food chains; this is America and I assumed they were on every street.
debase	verb: reduce the quality or value of something	The third-rate script so debased the film that not even the flawless acting could save it from being a flop.
debonair	adjective: having a sophisticated charm	James Bond is known for his good looks, high tech gadgets, and debonair manner.
debunk	verb: expose as false ideas and claims, especially while ridiculing	Richard Dawkins tries to debunk religious belief, but his ridicule tends to push people away from his points rather than convince them.
decimation	noun: destroying or killing a large part of the population	The decimation after atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is incomprehensible.
decorous	adjective: characterized by good taste in manners and conduct	Sally's parties are decorous affairs, and instead of the usual beer and music, there is tea and intellectual conversation.
decorum	noun: propriety in manners and conduct	"You will obey the rules of decorum for this courtroom or spend the night in a jail cell," said the judge to the prosecutor.
decry	verb: express strong disapproval of	The entire audience erupted in shouts and curses, decrying the penalty card issued by the referee.
deferential	adjective: showing respect	If you ever have the chance to meet the president, stand up straight and be deferential.
defray	verb: to help pay the cost of, either in part of full	In order for Sean to attend the prestigious college, his generous uncle helped defray the excessive tuition with a monthly donation.
degrade	verb: reduce in worth or character, usually verbally	Jesse had mockingly pointed out all of Nancy's faults in front of their friends, publicly degrading the poor girl.
deign	verb: do something that one considers to be below one's dignity	The master of the house never deigned to answer questions from the servants.
delegate	verb: give an assignment to (a person)	Since the senior manager had to go on many international business trips, she was forced to delegate many of her responsibilities to two lower-level managers.
deleterious	adjective: harmful to living things	The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was deleterious to the fishing industry in the southern states.
deliberate	verb: think about carefully; weigh the pros and cons of an issue	Emergency situations such as this call for immediate action and leave no room to deliberate over options.
delineate	verb: describe in detail	After a brief summary of proper swimming technique, the coach delineated the specifics of each stroke, spending 30 minutes alone on the backstroke.
demean	verb: to insult; to cause someone to lose dignity or respect	At first the soccer players bantered back and forth, but as soon as one of the players became demeaning, calling the other's mother a water buffalo, the ref whipped out a red card.
demonstrative	adjective: given to or marked by the open expression of emotion	When Sally told James that she wanted to break up with him, she expected he would react demonstratively, but he quietly nodded his head and left without saying a word.
demur	verb: to object or show reluctance	Wallace disliked the cold, so he demurred when his friends suggested they going skiing in the Alps.
demure	adjective: to be modest and shy	The portrait of her in a simple white blouse was sweet and demure.
denigrate	verb: charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone	Count Rumford denigrated the new theory of heat, demonstrating that it was wholly inadequate to explain the observations.
denote	verb: be a sign or indication of; have as a meaning	Even if the text is not visible, the red octagon denotes "stop" to all motorists in America.
denouement	noun: the final resolution of the many strands of a literary or dramatic work; the outcome of a complex sequence of events	At the denouement of the movie, all questions were answered, and the true identity of the robber was revealed.
derelict	adjective: (of a person) not doing one's duties noun: (of a building) abandoned	The teacher was derelict in her duties because she hadn't graded a single student paper in three weeks. At one time the waterfront factories were busy and productive, but now they stand derelict and will be torn down.
deride	verb: treat or speak of with contempt	The nun derided the students for trying to sneak insects and worms into the classroom.
derisive	adjective: abusing vocally; expressing contempt or ridicule	I was surprised by her derisive tone; usually, she is sweet, soft spoken, and congenial.
derivative	adjective: (or a creative product, e.g. music, writing, etc.) not original but drawing on the work of another person	Because the movies were utterly derivative of other popular movies, they did well at the box office.
derive	verb: come from; be connected by a relationship of blood, for example verb: reason by deduction; establish by deduction	Many words in the English language are derived from Latin, including the word "derive." From the multiple set of footprints in the living room, the investigator derived an important clue: Sheila was not alone in the room at the time of the murder.
derogative	adjective: expressed as worthless or in negative terms	Never before have we seen a debate between two political candidates that was so derogative and filthy.
desecrate	verb: to willfully violate or destroy a sacred place	After desecrating the pharaoh's tomb, the archaeologist soon fell victim to a horrible illness.
desiccated	adjective: uninteresting, lacking vitality	Few novelists over 80 are able to produce anything more than desiccated works--boring shadows of former books.
desideratum	noun: something desired as a necessity	The desideratum of the environmental group is that motorists should rely on carpooling.
despite	preposition: even with (when an event is surprising because of some difficulty)	We enjoyed our vacation despite the rain.
despot	noun: a cruel and oppressive dictator	The Emperor Claudius was regarded as a fair-minded leader; his successor, Nero, was an absolute despot.
destitute	adjective: poor enough to need help from others adjective: completely wanting or lacking (usually "destitute of")	Jean Valjean, is at first destitute, but through the grace of a priest, he makes something of his life. Now that the mine is closed, the town is destitute of any economic activity.
deter	verb: turn away from by persuasion verb: try to prevent; show opposition to	His mother tried to deter him from joining the army, but he was too intoxicated with the idea of war to listen. The government's primary job should involve deterring paths to war, not finding ways to start them.
detrimental	adjective: (sometimes followed by "to") causing harm or injury	Many know that smoking is detrimental to your health, but processed sugar in large quantities is equally bad.
devolve	verb: pass on or delegate to another verb: grow worse (usually "devolve into")	The company was full of managers known for devolving tasks to lower management, but never doing much work themselves. The dialogue between the two academics devolved into a downright bitter argument.
diabolical	adjective: to be extremely wicked like the devil	The conspirators, willing to dispatch anyone who stood in their way, hatched a diabolical plan to take over the city.
diatribe	noun: a strong verbal attack against a person or institution	Steve’s mom launched into a diatribe during the PTA meeting, contending that the school was little more than a daycare in which students stare at the wall and teachers stare at the chalkboard.
dictatorial	adjective: expecting unquestioning obedience; characteristic of an absolute ruler	The coach was dictatorial in his approach: no players could ever argue or question his approach.
didactic	adjective: instructive (especially excessively)	Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Illyich is a didactic novel, instructing the reader on how to live a good life.
differentiate	verb: be a distinctive feature, attribute, or trait (sometimes in positive sense) verb: evolve so as to lead to a new species or develop in a way most suited to the environment	Mozart's long melodic lines differentiate his compositions from other works of late 18th century music. Animals on Madagascar differentiated from other similar animal species due to many years of isolation on the island.
diffident	adjective: showing modest reserve; lacking self-confidence	As a young girl she was diffident and reserved, but now as an adult, she is confident and assertive.
dilapidated	adjective: in terrible condition	The main house has been restored but the gazebo is still dilapidated and unuseable.
dilatory	adjective: wasting time	Lawyers use dilatory tactics so that it takes years before the case is actually decided.
dilettante	noun: an amateur who engages in an activity without serious intentions and who pretends to have knowledge	Fred has no formal medical training; while he likes to claim authority on medical issues, he is little more than a dilettante
diligent	adjective: characterized by care and perseverance in carrying out tasks	Michael was a diligent gardener, never leaving a leaf on the ground and regularly watering each plant.
diminutive	noun: to indicate smallness adjective: very small	He prefers to be called a diminutive of his name: "Bill" instead of "John William." When he put on his father's suit and shoes, his appearance was that of a diminutive youth.
disabuse	verb: to persuade somebody that his/her belief is not valid	As a child, I was quickly disabused of the notion that Santa Claus was a rotund benefactor of infinite largess—one night I saw my mother diligently wrapping presents and storing them under our Christmas tree.
disaffected	adjective: discontented as toward authority	After watching his superior take rations from the soliders, he quickly became disaffected and rebeled.
discord	noun: lack of agreement or harmony	Despite all their talented players, the team was filled with discord--some players refused to talk to others--and lost most of their games.
discreet	adjective: careful to protect one's speech or actions in order to avoid offense or gain an advantage	The professor thought that he was discreet, subtly wiping the stain off of his shirt, but as soon as he stepped off the podium a member of the audience pointed out the large ketchup stain.
discrete	adjective: constituting a separate entity or part	What was once known as Czechoslovakia has since split into two discrete, independent nations.
discriminate	verb: recognize or perceive the difference	Sarah couldn't discriminate between a good wine and a bad wine, so she avoided wine tastings.
discursive	adjective: (of e.g. speech and writing) tending to depart from the main point	Many readers find it tough to read Moby Dick since the author is discursive, often cutting the action short to spend 20 pages on the history of a whale.
disenfranchise	verb: deprive of voting rights	The U.S. Constitution disenfranchised women until 1920 when they were given the right to vote.
disheartened	adjective: made less hopeful or enthusiastic	After the visiting team scored nine times, the home team's fans were disheartened, some leaving the game early.
disingenuous	adjective: not straightforward; giving a false appearance of frankness	Many adults think that they can lie to children, but kids are smart and know when people are disingenuous.
disinterested	adjective: unbiased; neutral	The potential juror knew the defendant, and therefore could not serve on the jury, which must consist only of disinterested members.
disparate	adjective: two things are fundamentally different	With the advent of machines capable of looking inside the brain, fields as disparate as religion and biology have been brought together by scientists trying to understand what happens in the brain when people have a religious experience.
dispassionate	adjective: unaffected by strong emotion or prejudice	A good scientist should be dispassionate, focusing purely on what the evidence says, without personal attachment.
dispatch	noun: the property of being prompt and efficient verb: dispose of rapidly and without delay and efficiently	She finished her thesis with dispatch, amazing her advisors who couldn't believe she hadn't written 60 scholarly pages so quickly. As soon as the angry peasants stormed the castle, they caught the king and swiftly dispatched him.
dispensation	noun: an exemption from a rule or obligation	Since her father is a billionaire, she is given dispensation from many of the school's policies.
dissemble	verb: conceal one's true motives, usually through deceit	To get close to the senator, the assassin dissembled his intentions, convincing many people that he was a reporter for a well-known newspaper.
disseminate	verb: cause to become widely known	Before the effects of anaethesia were disseminated, patients had to experience the full pain of a surgery.
dissipate	verb: squander or spend money frivolously verb: to disperse or scatter	The recent graduates dissipated their earnings on trips to Las Vegas and cruises in Mexico. Kathleen's perfume was overwhelming in the cramped apartment, but once we stepped outside the smell dissipated and we could breathe once again.
dissolution	noun: a living full of debauchery and indulgence in sensual pleasure	Many Roman emperors were known for their dissolution, indulging in unspeakable desires of the flesh.
docile	adjective: easily handled or managed; willing to be taught or led or supervised or directed	Barnyard animals are considerably more docile than the wild animals.
dog	verb: to pursue relentlessly; to hound	Throughout his life, he was dogged by insecurities that inhibited personal growth.
dogmatic	adjective: highly opinionated, not accepting that your belief may not be correct	Bryan is dogmatic in his belief that the earth is flat, claiming that all pictures of a spherical earth are computer generated.
doleful	adjective: filled with or evoking sadness	No event is more doleful than the passing of my mother; she was a shining star in my life, and it brings me great sadness to think that she is now gone.
dolorous	adjective: showing sorrow	Chopin's ballades are filled with sharp changes in moods--a dolorous melody can give way to a lighthearted tempo.
doughty	adjective: brave; bold; courageous	I enjoy films in which a doughty group comes together to battle a force of evil.
dovetail	verb: fit together tightly, as if by means of a interlocking joint	Although Darwin's evolution and Mendel's genetics were developed in isolation from one another, they dovetail very well.
dupe	verb: to trick or swindle noun: a person who is easily tricked or swindled	Once again a get-rich-fast Internet scheme had duped Harold into submitting a $5,000 check to a sham operation. The charlatan mistook the crowd for a bunch of dupes, but the crowd was quickly on to him and decried his bald-faced attempt to bilk them.
duplicity	noun: deceitfulness, pretending to want one thing but interested in something else	A life of espionage is one of duplicity: an agent must pretend to be a totally different person than who she or he actually is.
duress	noun: compulsory force or threat	The witness said he signed the contract under duress and argued that the court should cancel the agreement.
ebullient	adjective: joyously unrestrained	Can you blame him for his ebullient mood? He just graduated from medical school.
eccentric	adjective: highly unconventional or unusual (usually describes a person)	Mozart was well-known for his eccentricities, often speaking words backward to confuse those around him.
eclectic	adjective: comprised of a variety of styles	Joey was known for his eclectic tastes in music, one moment dancing to disco the next "air conducting" along to Beethoven's 9th symphony.
economical	adjective: avoiding waste, efficient	Journalists favor an economical style of writing, in which no unnecessary words are used and every sentence is as short as possible.
edifying	adjective: enlightening or uplifting so as to encourage intellectual or moral improvement	I recently read an article in the Times about whether good literature is edifying or not; specifically, does reading more make a person more moral.
effervescent	adjective: marked by high spirits or excitement	After the sales result, the manager was in an effervescent mood, letting several employees leave work early that day.
efficacious	adjective: producing the intended result	Since Maggie's cough syrup, which had expired five years back, was no longer efficacious, she coughed through the night.
effrontery	noun: audacious (even arrogant) behavior that you have no right to	The skateboarders acted with effrontery, skating through the church grounds and spray-painting signs warning trespassers.
egotist	noun: a conceited and self-centered person	An egotist, Natasha had few friends because of her inability to talk about anything except her dream of becoming the next American Idol.
egregious	adjective: standing out in negative way; shockingly bad	The dictator’s abuse of human rights was so egregious that many world leaders demanded that he be tried in an international court for genocide.
eke	verb: To live off meager resources, to scrape by	Stranded in a cabin over the winter, Terry was able to eke out an existence on canned food.
elaborate	adjective: marked by complexity and richness of detail verb: explain in more detail	Thomas, on returning from Morocco, replaced his dirty gray carpet with an elaborate one he'd brought back with him. Most high school physics teachers find themselves elaborating the same point over and over again, since many concepts confuse students.
elegiac	adjective: expressing sorrow	Few can listen to the elegiac opening bars of the Moonlight sonata without feeling the urge to cry.
elicit	verb: call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)	Just smiling--even if you are depressed--can elicit feelings of pleasure and happiness.
elicit	verb: call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)	Just smiling--even if you are depressed--can elicit feelings of pleasure and happiness.
elucidate	verb: make clearer and easier to understand	Youtube is great place to learn just about anything--an expert elucidates finer points so that even a complete novice can learn.
elude	verb: escape understanding	Even a basic understanding of physics can elude most high schools students.
elusive	adjective: difficult to capture or difficult to remember	Many first time skydivers say that describing the act of falling from the sky is elusive.
embellish	verb: make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.; make more beautiful	McCartney would write relatively straightforward lyrics, and Lennon would embellish them with puns and poetic images.
embroiled	adjective: involved in argument or contention	These days we are never short of a D.C. politician embroiled in scandal—a welcome phenomenon for those who, having barely finished feasting on the sordid details of one imbroglio, can sink their teeth into a fresh one.
eminent	adjective: standing above others in quality or position	Shakespeare is an eminent author in the English language, but I find his writing uninteresting and melodramatic.
empathetic	adjective: showing understanding and ready comprehension of other peoples' states and emotions	Most discrimination and hatred is based on a lack of empathetic awareness of people that have the same aspirations and fears.
empiricism	noun: any method that derives knowledge from experience, used in experimental science as a way to gain insight and knowledge	Empiricism does not always lead to knowledge; an experience or experiment may raise more questions than it answers.
emulate	verb: strive to equal or match, especially by imitating; compete with successfully	To really become fluent in a new language, emulate the speech patterns and intonation of people who speak the language.
enamor	verb: attraction or feeling of love	She is completely enamored with Justin Bieber, and goes to all his concerts on the East coast.
encumber	verb: hold back	The costume encumbered all my movements and caused me to sweat profusely.
endemic	adjective: native; originating where it is found	Irish cuisine makes great use of potatoes, but ironically, the potato is not endemic to Ireland.
enervate	verb: to sap energy from	John preferred to avoid equatorial countries; the intense sun would always leave him enervated after he’d spent the day sightseeing.
engender	verb: give rise to	The restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles were so severe that they engendered deep hatred and resentment in the German people.
enjoin	verb: give instructions to or direct somebody to do something with authority	The government agency enjoined the chemical company to clean up the hazardous dump it had created over the years.
enmity	noun: a state of deep-seated ill-will	Charles rude remark toward Sarah yesterday was due to his illness, not due to any real enmity toward Sarah.
enormity	noun: an act of extreme wickedness	The enormity of Pol Pot's regime is hard to capture in words--within months hundreds of thousands of Cambodians lost their lives.
enthrall	verb: hold spellbound	She was so enthralled by the movie that she never heard people screaming, "Fire! Fire!" in the neighboring theater.
entice	verb: get someone to do something through (often false or exaggerated) promises	Harold enticed his wife, Maude, to go on a vacation to Hawaii, with promises of luaus on the beach and all-you-can-eat seafood buffets.
entrenched	adjective: fixed firmly or securely	By the time we reach 60-years old, most of our habits are so entrenched that it is difficult for us to change.
enumerate	verb: determine the number or amount of verb: specify individually, one by one	The survey enumerates the number of happy workers and the number of unhappy workers. I sat and listened as she enumerated all of the things she did not like about the past three months.
ephemeral	adjective: lasting a very short time	The lifespan of a mayfly is ephemeral, lasting from a few hours to a couple of days.
epigram	noun: a witty saying	My favorite epigram from Mark Twain is "A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn no other way."
epiphany	noun: a sudden revelation or moment of insight	Gary one day had an epiphany that he was a people person; he prompty quit his factory job and began working as a salesman.
eponym	noun: the name derived from a person (real or imaginary); the person for whom something is named	Alexandria, Egypt is an eponym because it is named after Alexander the Great.
equitable	adjective: fair to all parties as dictated by reason and conscience	The equitable distribution of ice cream to a group of 5 year olds will ensure little to no fighting—at least until the ice cream is gone.
equivocal	adjective: confusing or ambiguous	The findings of the study were equivocal—the two researchers had different opinions on what the results signified.
equivocate	verb: to speak vaguely, usually with the intention to mislead or deceive	After Sharon brought the car home an hour after her curfew, she equivocated when her parents pointedly asked her where she had been.
eradicate	verb: to completely destroy	I tried eradicating the mosquitos in my apartment with a rolled up newspaper, but there were too many of them.
err	verb: to make an error	He erred in thinking that "indigent" and "indignant" were synonyms.
errant	adjective: to be wandering; not sticking to a circumscribed path	Unlike his peers, who spent their hours studying in the library, Matthew preferred errant walks through the university campus.
erratic	adjective: unpredictable; strange and unconventional	It came as no surprise to pundits that the President’s attempt at re-election floundered; even during his term, support for his policies was erratic, with an approval rating jumping anywhere from 30 to 60 percent.
ersatz	adjective: not real or genuine; phony	The car dealer's ersatz laughter was immediately followed by a price quote, one that Shelley found highly inflated.
erudite	adjective: having or showing profound knowledge	Before the Internet, the library was typically were you would find erudite readers.
eschew	verb: avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of	Politicians are the masters of eschewing morals; academics are the masters of eschewing clarity.
esoteric	adjective: confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle	Map collecting is an esoteric hobby to most, but to geography geeks it is a highly enjoyable pasttime.
espouse	verb: to adopt or support an idea or cause	As a college student, Charlie espoused Marxism, growing his beard out and railing against the evils of the free-market.
estimable	adjective: deserving of esteem and respect	After serving thirty years, in which he selflessly served the community, Judge Harper was one of the more estimable people in town.
ethereal	adjective: characterized by lightness and insubstantiality	Because she dances with an ethereal style, ballet critics have called her Madame Butterfly.
euphoria	noun: a feeling of great (usually exaggerated) elation	The euphoria of winning her first gold medal in the 100 meter dash overwhelmed Shelly-Ann Fraser and she wept tears of immense joy.
evanescent	adjective: tending to vanish like vapor	The storm flashed into existence above us and lasted only a short time—an evanescent turbulence of wind and cloud.
evasive	adjective: avoiding or escaping from difficulty or danger or commitment adjective: deliberately vague or ambiguous	His responses were clearly evasive; he obviously did not want to take on any responsibility or any new work. Every time I call the bank, I receive the same evasive answers about our mortgage and never get a clear response.
evenhanded	adjective: without partiality	Teachers often have trouble being evenhanded to all of their varied students.
exacerbate	verb: make worse	Her sleeplessness exacerbated her cold--when she woke up the next day, her sinuses were completely blocked.
exacting	adjective: requiring and demanding accuracy	Though his childhood piano teacher was so exacting, Max is thankful now, as a professional pianist.
exalt	verb: praise or glorify	The teenagers exalted the rock star, covering their bedrooms with posters of him.
exasperate	verb: to irritate intensely	As a child, I exasperated my mother with strings of never-ending questions.
excoriate	verb: to criticize very harshly	Entrusted with the prototype to his company’s latest smartphone, Larry, during a late night karaoke bout, let the prototype slip into the hands of a rival company—the next day Larry was excoriated, and then fired.
excruciating	adjective: extremely painful	After the boulder rolled a couple of feet, pinning my friend's arm, he experienced excruciating pain.
execrate	verb: to curse and hiss at	Though the new sitcom did decently in the ratings, Nelson railed against the show, saying that it was nothing more than an execrable pastiche of tired cliché’s and canned laughter.
exegesis	noun: critical explanation or analysis, especially of a text	The Bible is fertile ground for exegesis—over the past five centuries there have been as many interpretations as there are pages in the Old Testament.
exemplar	noun: something to be imitated	Lena's homework is on the wall because it is an exemplar of clean, neat, and thoughtful work.
exemplify	verb: be characteristic of verb: clarify by giving an example of	Lincoln exemplified the best of not only America, but also the potential greatness that exists within each person. Please present some case studies that exemplify the results that you claim in your paper.
exhort	verb: to strongly urge on; encourage	Nelson’s parents exhorted him to study medicine, urging him to choose a respectable profession; intransigent, Nelson left home to become a graffiti artist.
exiguity	noun: the quality of being meager	After two months at sea, the exiguity of the ship's supplies forced them to search for fresh water and food.
exorbitant	adjective: greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation	Shelley made one exorbitant purchase after another, buying new clothes and taking vacations even though she earned a limited salary.
expansive	adjective: communicative, and prone to talking in a sociable manner	After a few sips of cognac, the octogenarian shed his irascible demeanor and became expansive, speaking fondly of the “good old days”.
expound	verb: add details or explanation; clarify the meaning; state in depth	The CEO refused to expound on the decision to merge our department with another one, and so I quit.
expound	verb: add details or explanation; clarify the meaning; state in depth	The CEO refused to expound on the decision to merge our department with another one, and so I quit.
expunge	verb: to eliminate completely	When I turned 18, all of the shoplifting and jaywalking charges were expunged from my criminal record.
expurgate	verb: to remove objectionable material
extant	adjective: still in existence (usually refers to documents).	Despite many bookstores closing, experts predict that some form of book dealing will still be extant generations from now.
extenuating	adjective: making less guilty or more forgivable	The jury was hardly moved by the man’s plea that his loneliness was an extenuating factor in his crime of dognapping a prized pooch.
extrapolate	verb: draw from specific cases for more general cases	By extrapolating from the data on the past three months, we can predict a 5% increase in traffic to our website.
facetious	adjective: cleverly amusing in tone	Facetious behavior will not be tolerated during sex eduation class; it's time for all of you to treat these matters like mature adults.
facile	adjective: arrived at without due care or effort; lacking depth	Many news shows provide facile explanations to complex politics, so I prefer to read the in-depth reporting of The New York Times.
factious	adjective: produced by, or characterized by internal dissension	The controversial bill proved factious, as dissension even within parties resulted
factitious	adjective: artificial; not natural	The defendant’s story was largely factitious and did not accord with eyewitness testimonies
fallacious	adjective: of a belief that is based on faulty reasoning	adjective: of a belief that is based on faulty reasoning
fastidious	adjective: overly concerned with details; fussy	Whitney is fastidious about her shoes, arranging them on a shelf in a specific order, each pair evenly spaced.
fawn	verb: try to gain favor by extreme flattery	The media fawned over the handsome new CEO, praising his impeccable sense of style instead of asking more pointed questions.
feckless	adjective: lazy and irresponsible	Two years after graduation, Charlie still lived with his parents and had no job, becoming more feckless with each passing day.
fecund	adjective: intellectually productive	The artist had entered a fecund period, producing three masterpieces in the span of two months.
fell	adjective: terribly evil	For fans of the Harry Potter series, the fell Lord Voldemort, who terrorized poor Harry for seven lengthy installments, has finally been vanquished by the forces of good—unless, that is, JK Rowling decides to come out of retirement.
ferret	verb: to search for something persistently	Ever the resourceful lexicographer, Fenton was able to ferret out the word origin of highly obscure words.
fete	verb: to celebrate a person	After World War II, war heroes were feted at first but quickly forgotten.
fickle	adjective: liable to sudden unpredictable change, esp. in affections or attachments	She was so fickle in her politics, it was hard to pinpoint her beliefs; one week she would embrace a side, and the next week she would denounce it.
finagle	verb: achieve something by means of trickery or devious methods	Steven was able to finagle one of the last seats on the train by convincing the conductor that his torn stub was actually a valid ticket.
firebrand	noun: someone who deliberately creates trouble	Freddie is a firebrand: every time he walks into the office, he winds up at the center of heated argument.
flag	verb: droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness; become less intense	After the three crushing defeats in the last three games, the team's enthusiasm began to flag.
fledgling	adjective: young and inexperienced; describing any new participant in some activity	Murray has years of experience in family practice, but he is just a fledgling in surgery.
fleece	verb: to deceive	Many people have been fleeced by Internet scams and never received their money back.
flippant	adjective: showing inappropriate levity	Although Sam was trying to honor Mark's sense of humor, many found it quite flippant that he wore a comic nose and glasses mask to Mark's funeral.
flounder	verb: behave awkwardly; have difficulties	Sylvia has excelled at advanced calculus, but ironically, when she has deal with taxes, she flounders.
flummox	verb: be a mystery or bewildering to	Mary's behavior completely flummoxes me: I never have any idea what her motivations might be.
flush	adjective: to be in abundance	The exam's passage is flush with difficult words, words that you may have learned only yesterday.
flux	noun: a state of uncertainty about what should be done (usually following some important event)	Ever since Elvira resigned as the head of marketing, everything about our sales strategy has been in a state of flux.
foible	noun: a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual	When their new roommate sat staring at an oak tree for an hour, Marcia thought it indicated a mental problem, but Jeff assured her it was a harmless foible.
foment	verb: try to stir up public opinion	After having his pay cut, Phil spread vicious rumors about his boss, hoping to foment a general feeling of discontent.
foolhardy	adjective: marked by defiant disregard for danger or consequences	The police regularly face dangerous situations, so for a police officer not to wear his bullet-proof vest is foolhardy.
forlorn	adjective: marked by or showing hopelessness	After her third pet dog died, Marcia was simply forlorn: this time even the possibility of buying a new dog no longer held any joy.
forthcoming	adjective: available when required or as promised adjective: at ease in talking to others	The President announced that the senators were about to reach a compromise, and that he was eager to read the forthcoming details of the bill. As a husband, Larry was not forthcoming: if Jill didn't demand to know details, Larry would never share them with her.
forthright	adjective: characterized by directness in manner or speech; without subtlety or evasion	I did not expect the insurance agent to give us any straight answers, but I was pleasantly surprised by how forthright he was.
fortuitous	adjective: occurring by happy chance; having no cause or apparent cause	While the real objects are vastly different sizes in space, the sun and the moon seem to have the same fortuitous size in the sky.
fractious	adjective: irritable and is likely to cause disruption	We rarely invite my fractious Uncle over for dinner; he always complains about the food, and usually launches into a tirade on some touchy subject.
frivolous	adjective: not serious in content or attitude or behavior	Compared to Juliet's passionate concern for human rights, Jake's non-stop concern about football seems somewhat frivolous.
frugal	adjective: not spending much money (but spending wisely)	Monte was no miser, but was simply frugal, wisely spending the little that he earned.
frustrate	verb: hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of	I thought I would finish writing the paper by lunchtime, but a number of urgent interruptions served to frustrate my plan.
furtive	adjective: marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed	While at work, George and his boss Regina felt the need to be as furtive as possible about their romantic relationship.
futile	adjective: producing no result or effect; unproductive of success	I thought I could repair the car myself, but after two days of work with no success, I have to admit that my efforts were futile.
gaffe	noun: a socially awkward or tactless act	In a famous gaffe, Vice President Quayle attempted to correct the spelling of a grade school student, only to find that the child was correct.
gainsay	verb: deny or contradict; speak against or oppose	I can't gainsay a single piece of evidence James has presented, but I still don't trust his conclusion.
gall	noun: the trait of being rude and impertinent noun: feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will	Even though Carly was only recently hired, she had the gall to question her boss's judgment in front of the office. In an act of gall, Leah sent compromising photos of her ex-boyfriend to all his co-workers and professional contacts.
galvanize	verb: to excite or inspire (someone) to action	At mile 23 of his first marathon, Kyle had all but given up, until he noticed his friends and family holding a banner that read, “Go Kyle”; galvanized, he broke into a gallop, finishing the last three miles in less than 20 minutes.
gambit	noun: a maneuver or risk in a game or conversation, designed to secure an advantage	Randy played a gambit, telling his boss that he would leave at the end of the week if he didn't get a raise.
garrulous	adjective: full of trivial conversation	Lynne was garrulous: once, she had a fifteen minute conversation with a stranger before she realized the woman didn't speak English.
gauche	adjective: lacking social polish	Sylvester says the most gauche things, such as telling a girl he liked that she was much prettier when she wore makeup.
genial	adjective: agreeable, conducive to comfort	Betty is a genial young woman: everyone she meets is put at ease by her elegance and grace.
genteel	adjective: marked by refinement in taste and manners	A live string quartet would provide a more genteel air to the wedding than would a folk singer.
germane	adjective: relevant and appropriate	The professor wanted to tell the jury in detail about his new book, but the lawyer said it wasn't germane to the charges in the cases.
gerrymander	verb: to manipulate voting districts in order to favor a particular political party	Years ago, savvy politicians had gerrymandered the city center to ensure their re-election.
glean	verb: collect information bit by bit	Herb has given us no formal statement about his background, but from various hints, I have gleaned that he grew up in difficult circumstances.
glib	adjective: (of a person) speaking with ease but without sincerity	I have found that the more glib the salesman, the worse the product.
glut	noun: an excessive supply verb: supply with an excess of	The Internet offers such a glut of news related stories that many find it difficult to know which story to read first. In the middle of economic crises, hiring managers find their inboxes glutted with resumes.
goad	verb: urge on with unpleasant comments	Doug did not want to enter the race, but Jim, through a steady stream of taunts, goaded him into signing up for it.
gossamer	adjective: characterized by unusual lightness and delicacy	The gossamer wings of a butterfly, which allow it to fly, are also a curse, so delicate that they are often damaged.
graft	noun: corruption, usually through bribery	In countries with rampant graft, getting a driver's license can require no more than paying an official.
grandiloquent	adjective: puffed up with vanity	The dictator was known for his grandiloquent speeches, puffing his chest out and using big, important-sounding words.
gregarious	adjective: to be likely to socialize with others	Often we think that great leaders are those who are gregarious, always in the middle of a large group of people; yet, as Mahatma Gandhi and many others have shown us, leaders can also be introverted.
grovel	verb: show submission or fear	Every time Susan comes to the office, Frank grovels as if she were about to fire.
guffaw	verb: laugh boisterously	Whenever the jester fell to the ground in mock pain, the king guffawed, exposing his yellow, fang-like teeth.
guileless	adjective: free of deceit	At first I thought my niece was guileless, but I then found myself buying her ice cream every time we passed a shop.
gumption	noun: resourcefulness and determination	Wallace Stegner lamented the lack of gumption in the U.S. during the sixties, claiming that no young person knew the value of work.
hackneyed	adjective: lacking significance through having been overused	Cheryl rolled her eyes when she heard the lecturer's hackneyed advice to "be true to yourself."
hagiographic	adjective: excessively flattering toward someone's life or work	Most accounts of Tiger Woods life were hagiographic, until, that is, his affairs made headlines.
hail	verb: enthusiastically acclaim or celebrate something	Many college superstar athletes are hailed as the next big thing, but then flop at the professional level.
halcyon	adjective: idyllically calm and peaceful; suggesting happy tranquillity; marked by peace and prosperity	The first decade after WWI was a halcyon period in America with new-found wealth and rapidly improving technology.
hamper	verb: prevent the progress or free movement of	As the rain water began to collect in pools on the highway, it began to hamper the flow of traffic.
hamstrung	verb: made ineffective or powerless	The FBI has made so many restrictions on the local police that they are absolutely hamstrung, unable to accomplish anything.
hamstrung	verb: made ineffective or powerless	The FBI has made so many restrictions on the local police that they are absolutely hamstrung, unable to accomplish anything.
haphazard	adjective: marked by great carelessness; dependent upon or characterized by chance	Many golf courses are designed with great care, but the greens on the county golf course seem entirely haphazard.
harangue	noun: a long pompous speech; a tirade; verb: to deliver a long pompous speech or tirade	Dinner at Billy's was more a punishment than a reward, since anyone who sat at the dinner table would have to listen to Billy's father's interminable harangues against the government.; Tired of his parents haranguing him about his laziness and lack of initiative, Tyler finally moved out of home at the age of thirty-five.
harried	adjective: troubled persistently especially with petty annoyances	With a team of new hires to train, Martha was constantly harried with little questions and could not focus on her projects.
haughty	adjective: having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy	The haughty manager didn't believe that any of his subordinates could ever have an insight as brilliant his own.
hauteur	noun: overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors	As soon as she won the lottery, Alice begin displaying a hauteur to her friends, calling them dirty-clothed peasants behind their backs.
hector	verb: to bully or intimidate	The boss’s hectoring manner put off many employees, some of whom quit as soon as they found new jobs.
hedge	verb: to limit or qualify a statement; to avoid making a direct statement	When asked why he had decided to buy millions of shares at the very moment the tech companies stock soared, the CEO hedged, mentioning something vague about gut instinct.
hegemony	adjective: dominance over a certain area	Until the Spanish Armada was defeated in 1587, Spain had hegemony over the seas, controlling waters stretching as far as the Americas.
heretic	noun: a person who holds unorthodox opinions in any field (not merely religion)	Though everybody at the gym told Mikey to do cardio before weights, Mikey was a heretic and always did the reverse.
heyday	noun: the pinnacle or top of a time period or career	During the heyday of Prohibition, bootlegging had become such a lucrative business that many who had been opposed to the 18th Amendment began to fear it would be repealed.
histrionic	adjective: to be overly theatrical	Though she received a B- on the test, she had such a histrionic outburst that one would have thought that she’d been handed a death sentence.
hoary	adjective: ancient	Most workout gurus are young, fit people, whereas most yoga gurus are hoary men with long white beards.
hobble	verb: to hold back the progress of something	Bad weather has hobbled rescue efforts, making it difficult for crews to find bodies in the wreckage.
hodgepodge	noun: a confusing mixture or jumble	Those in attendance represented a hodgepodge of the city's denizens: chimney sweepers could be seen sitting elbow to elbow with stockbrokers.
hoodwink	verb: to deceive or trick someone	Someone tried to hoodwink Marty with an email telling him that his uncle had just passed away, and to collect the inheritance he should send his credit card information.
hound	verb: to pursue relentlessly	An implacable foe of corruption, Eliot Ness hounded out graft in all forms—he even helped nab Al Capone.
hubris	noun: overbearing pride or presumption	Bill Clinton was criticized for his hubris, since he believed he could get away with anything once in the White House.
humdrum	adjective: dull and lacking excitement	Having grown up in a humdrum suburb, Jacob relished life in New York City after moving.
iconoclast	noun: somebody who attacks cherished beliefs or institutions	Lady Gaga, in challenging what it means to be clothed, is an iconoclast for wearing a "meat dress" to a prominent awards show.
iconoclastic	adjective: defying tradition or convention	Jackson Pollack was an iconoclastic artist, totally breaking with tradition by splashing paint on a blank canvas.
idiosyncrasy	noun: a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual	Peggy's numerous idiosyncrasies include wearing mismatched shoes, laughing loudly to herself, and owning a pet aardvark.
ignoble	adjective: dishonorable	In the 1920s, the World Series was rigged--an ignoble act which baseball took decades to recover from.
ignominious	adjective: (used of conduct or character) deserving or bringing disgrace or shame	Since the politician preached ethics and morality, his texting of revealing photographs was ignominious, bringing shame on both himself and his party.
illicit	adjective: contrary to or forbidden by law	Though Al Capone was engaged in many illicit activities, he was finally arrested for income tax evasion, a relatively minor offense.
illustrious	adjective: widely known and esteemed; having or conferring glory	Einstein was possibly the most illustrious scientist in recent history.
imbibe	verb: to drink or absorb as if drinking	Plato imbibed Socrates’ teachings to such an extent that he was able to write volumes of work that he directly attributed, sometimes word for word, to Socrates.
imbroglio	noun: a confusing and potentially embarrassing situation	The chef cook-off featured one gourmand who had the unfortunate distinction of mixing the wrong broths, creating an imbroglio that diners would not soon forget.
immaterial	adjective: not relevant	The judge found the defendant’s comments immaterial to the trial, and summarily dismissed him from the witness stand.
immure	verb: to enclose, usually in walls	The modern supermarket experience makes many feel claustrophobic, as they are immured in walls upon walls of products.
immutable	adjective: not able to be changed	Taxes are one of the immutable laws of the land, so there is no use arguing about paying them.
impartial	adjective: free from undue bias or preconceived opinions	The judge was not impartial since he had been bribed by the witness's family.
impeccable	adjective: without fault or error	He was impeccably dressed in the latest fashion without a single crease or stain.
impecunious	adjective: lacking money; poor	In extremely trying times, even the moderately wealthy, after a few turns of ill-fortune, can become impecunious.
impede	verb: be a hindrance or obstacle to	Since the police sergeant had to train the pair of new hires, progress in his own case was impeded.
impending	adjective: close in time; about to occur	The impending doom of our world has been a discussed and debated for 2000 years—maybe even longer.
imperious	adjective: having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy	Children are imperious with each other before they learn that earning someone's respect is better than demanding.
impermeable	adjective: does not allow fluids to pass through	The sand bags placed on the river formed an impermeable barrier, protecting the town from flooding.
impertinent	adjective: being disrespectful; improperly forward or bold	Dexter, distraught over losing his pet dachshund, Madeline, found the police officer’s questions impertinent—after all, he thought, did she have to pry into such details as to what Madeline’s favorite snack was?
impervious	adjective: not admitting of passage or capable of being affected	I am not impervious to your insults; they cause me great pain.
impetuous	adjective: characterized by undue haste and lack of thought or deliberation	Herbert is rarely impetuous, but on the spur of the moment, he spent thousands of dollars on a motorcycle today.
implacable	adjective: incapable of making less angry or hostile	Win or lose, the coach was always implacable, never giving the athletes an easy practice or a break.
implausible	adjective: describing a statement that is not believable	The teacher found it implausible that the student was late to school because he had been kidnapped by outlaws on horseback.
implicate	verb: convey a meaning; imply verb: to indicate in wrongdoing, usually a crime	By saying that some of the guests were uncomfortable, the manager implicated to the hotel staff that it needed to be more dilligent. The crime boss was implicated for a long list of crimes, ranging from murder to disturbing the peace.
implicate	verb: convey a meaning; imply verb: to indicate in wrongdoing, usually a crime	By saying that some of the guests were uncomfortable, the manager implicated to the hotel staff that it needed to be more dilligent. The crime boss was implicated for a long list of crimes, ranging from murder to disturbing the peace.
imponderable	adjective: impossible to estimate or figure out	According to many lawmakers, the huge variety of factors affecting society make devising an efficient healthcare system an imponderable task.
importuned	verb: beg persistently and urgently	After weeks of importuning the star to meet for a five-minute interview, the journalist finally got what she wanted.
impregnable	adjective: immune to attack; incapable of being tampered with	As a child, Amy would build pillow castles and pretend they were impregnable fotresses.
improvident	adjective: not given careful consideration	Marty was improvident, never putting money aside for the future but spending it on decorating the interior of his home.
imprudent	adjective: not wise	Hitler, like Napoleon, made the imprudent move of invading Russia in winter, suffering even more casualties than Napoleon had.
impudent	adjective: improperly forward or bold	In an impudent move, the defendant spoke out of order to say terribly insulting things to the judge.
impugn	verb: attack as false or wrong	Though many initially tried to impugn Darwin's theory, in scientific circles today, the is idea taken as truth.
impute	verb: attribute (responsibility or fault) to something	He imputed his subpar performance on the test to a combination of stress and poor sleep.
inadvertent	adjective: happening by chance or unexpectedly or unintentionally	Although Prohibition was rooted in noble ideals, the inadvertent and costly consequences of making alcohol illegal in the U.S. led its the repeal.
inanity	noun: total lack of meaning or ideas	Bill's poem was nothing more than a list of impressive sounding words, so there was no point in trying to take meaning from the inanity.
inarticulate	adjective: without or deprived of the use of speech or words	Although a brilliant economist, Professor Black was completely inarticulate, a terrible lecturer.
incense	verb: make furious	When Herb bought football tickets for a game on the day of their wedding anniversary, Jill was incensed.
incessant	adjective: uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing	I don't mind small children in brief doses, but I think the incessant exposure that their parents have to them would quickly wear me down.
inchoate	adjective: only partly in existence; imperfectly formed	Inchoate ideas about the relation of humans to other animals had been discussed since the Middle Ages but the modern theory really began with Darwin.
incisive	adjective: having or demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions	The lawyer had an incisive mind, able in a flash to dissect a hopelessly tangled issue and isolate the essential laws at play.
inclement	adjective: (of weather) unpleasant, stormy adjective: used of persons or behavior; showing no mercy	After a week of inclement weather, we finally are able to go outside and enjoy the sun. Marcus Aurelius, though a fair man, was inclement to Christians during his reign, persecuting them violently.
incongruous	adjective: lacking in harmony or compatibility or appropriateness	The vast economic inequality of modern society is incongruous with America's ideals.
incontrovertible	adjective: necessarily or demonstrably true; impossible to deny or disprove	Unless you can provide incontrovertible evidence, I will remain skeptical.
incorrigible	adjective: impervious to correction by punishment	Tom Sawyer seems like an incorrigible youth until Huck Finn enters the novel; even Sawyer can't match his fierce individual spirit.
incumbent	adjective: necessary (for someone) as a duty or responsibility	Middle managers at times make important decisions, but real responsibility for the financial well-being of the corporation is ultimately incumbent on the CEO.
indecorous	adjective: not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society	Eating with elbows on the table is considered indecorous in refined circles.
indict	verb: to formally charge or accuse of wrong-doing	The bankrobber was indicted on several major charges, including possession of a firearm.
indifference	noun: the trait of seeming not to care	In an effort to fight indifference, the president of the college introduced a new, stricter grading system.
indigenous	adjective: originating in a certain area	The plants and animals indigenous to Australia are notably different from those indigenous to the U.S—one look at a duckbill platypus and you know you’re not dealing with an opossum.
indigent	adjective: poor; having very little noun: a poor or needy person	In the so-called Third World, many are indigent and only a privileged few have the resources to enjoy material luxuries. The indigents, huddled under the overpass, tried to start a small bonfire in the hope of staying warm.
indignant	adjective: feeling anger over a perceived injustice	When the cyclist swerved into traffic, it forced the driver to brake and elicited an indignant shout of "Hey, punk, watch where you're going!"
industrious	adjective: characterized by hard work and perseverance	Pete was an industrious student, completing every assignment thoroughly and on time.
ineffable	adjective: too sacred to be uttered; defying expression or description	While art critics can occasionally pinpoint a work's greatness, much of why a piece captures our imaginations is completely ineffable.
ineluctable	adjective: impossible to avoid or evade:	For those who smoke cigarettes for years, a major health crisis brought on by smoking is ineluctable.
inequity	noun: injustice by virtue of not conforming with rules or standards	After decades of racial inequity, the "separate but equal" doctrine was successfully overturned.
inexorable	adjective: impossible to stop or prevent	The rise of the computer was an inexorable shift in technology and culture.
infelicitous	adjective: inappropriate	During the executive meeting, the marketing director continued to make infelicitous comments about the CEO's gambling habit.
inflammatory	adjective: extremely controversial, incendiary	It only takes one person to leave an inflammatory comment on an Internet thread for that thread to blow up into pages upon pages of reader indignation.
ingenuity	noun: the power of creative imagination	Daedalus was famous for his ingenuity; he was able to fashion his son Icarus with a pair of wings, using wax to hold them together.
ingenuous	adjective: to be naïve and innocent	Two-years in Manhattan had changed Jenna from an ingenuous girl from the suburbs to a jaded urbanite, unlikely to fall for any ruse, regardless of how elaborate.
inimical	adjective: hostile (usually describes conditions or environments)	Venus, with a surface temperature that would turn rubber to liquid, is inimical to any form of life.
inimitable	adjective: defying imitation; matchless	Mozart's music follows a clear pattern that, anyone could imitate, but his music gives an overall sense of effortlessness that is inimitable.
inkling	noun: a slight suggestion or vague understanding	Lynne speaks four Romance languages, but she doesn't have an inkling about how East Asian languages are structured.
innocuous	adjective: harmless and doesn’t produce any ill effects	Everyone found Nancy’s banter innocuous—except for Mike, who felt like she was intentionally picking on him.
inscrutable	adjective: not easily understood; unfathomable	His speech was so dense and confusing that many in the audience found it inscrutable.
insidious	adjective: working in a subtle but destructive way	Plaque is insidious: we cannot see it, but each day it eats away at our enamel, causing cavities and other dental problems.
insipid	adjective: dull and uninteresting	The movie director was known for hiring beautiful actors in order to deflect attention away from the insipid scripts he would typically use.
insolent	adjective: rude and arrogant	Lilian could not help herself from being insolent, commenting that the Queen's shoes were showing too much toe.
insolvent	adjective: unable to pay one's bills; bankrupt	With credit card bills skyrocketing, a shockingly large number of Americans are truly insolvent.
insouciance	noun: lack of concern	Surprisingly, Hank had become a high-powered CEO; his high school friends remembered him as "Hanky Panky", who shrugged off each failed class with insouciance.
insufferable	adjective: intolerable, difficult to endure	Chester always tried to find some area in which he excelled above others; unsurprisingly, his co-workers found him insufferable and chose to exclude him from daily luncheons out.
intermittent	adjective: stopping and starting at irregular intervals	The intermittent thunder continued and the night was punctuated by cracks of lightning—a surreal sleepless night.
internecine	adjective: (of conflict) within a group or organization	The guerilla group, which had become so powerful as to own the state police, was finally destroyed by an internecine conflict.
intimate	verb: to suggest something subtly	At first Manfred’s teachers intimated to his parents that he was not suited to skip a grade; when his parents protested, teachers explicitly told them that, notwithstanding the boy’s precocity, he was simply too immature to jump to the 6th grade.
intimation	noun: an indirect suggestion	At first the hostess tried intimation, praising the benefits of cutlery; when Cecil continued eating with his hands, the hostess told him to use a fork at dinner.
intransigent	adjective: unwilling to change one's beliefs or course of action	Despite many calls for mercy, the judge remained intransigent, citing strict legal precedence.
intrepid	adjective: fearless	Captain Ahab was an intrepid captain whose reckless and fearless style ultimate leads to his downfall.
inundate	verb: to flood or overwhelm	The newsroom was inundated with false reports that only made it more difficult for the newscasters to provide an objective account of the bank robbery.
inure	verb: to make accustomed to something unpleasant	Three years of Manhattan living has inured her to the sound of wailing sirens; she could probably sleep through the apocalypse.
invective	noun: abusive or denunciatory language	The Internet has unleashed the invectives in many of us; many people post stinging criticism on the comments section underneath newspaper articles or YouTube videos.
inveterate	adjective: habitual	He is an inveterate smoker and has told his family and friends that there is no way he will ever quit.
invidious	adjective: likely to cause resentment	At a time when many others in the office were about to be laid off, many considered Cheryl's fine clothes that day an invidious display.
inviolable	adjective: never to be broken, infringed, or dishonored	To many the grass at Wimbledon is inviolable and only greater tennis players are able to enjoy a game there.
inviolate	adjective: must be kept sacred	While the literary critic subjected most of the classics to the harshest reviews, he regarded Cervantes as inviolate, and had nothing but praise for him.
involved	adjective: complicated, and difficult to comprehend	The physics lecture became so involved that the undergraduate’s eyes glazed over.
irascible	adjective: quickly aroused to anger	If Arthur's dog is not fed adequately, he becames highly irascible, even growling at his own shadow.
irk	verb: irritate or vex	My little sister has a way of irking and annoying me like no other person.
irrefutable	adjective: impossible to deny or disprove	The existence of life on earth is irrefutable; the existence of intelligent life on earth is still hotly debated.
irresolute	adjective: uncertain how to act or proceed	He stood irresolute at the split in the trail, not sure which route would lead back to the camp.
irrevocable	adjective: incapable of being retracted or revoked	Once you enter your plea to the court, it is irrevocable so think carefully about what you will say.
itinerant	adjective: traveling from place to place to work	Doctors used to be itinerant, traveling between patients' homes.
jargon	noun: a characteristic language of a particular group	To those with little training in medicine, the jargon of doctors can be very difficult to understand.
jaundice	adjective: to be biased against due to envy or prejudice	Shelly was jaundiced towards Olivia; though the two had once been best friends, Olivia had become class president, prom queen, and, to make matters worse, the girlfriend of the one boy Shelly liked.
jejune	adjective: dull; lacking flavor adjective: immature; childish	Although many top chefs have secured culinary foam's popularity in haute cuisine, Waters criticizes it for being jejune and unfilling. Her boss further cemented his reuptation for being jejune after throwing a fit when the water cooler wasn't refilled.
jingoism	noun: fanatical patriotism	North Korea maintains intense control over its population through a combination of jingoism and cult of personality.
jingoist	noun: a person who thinks that their country should be at war	In the days leading up to war, a nation typically breaks up into the two opposing camps: doves, who do their best to avoid war, and jingoists, who are only too eager to wave national flags from their vehicles and vehemently denounce those who do not do the same.
jocular	adjective: characterized by jokes and good humor	My uncle was always in a jocular mood at family gatherings, messing up people's hair and telling knock-knock jokes to anyone who would listen.
jocular	adjective: characterized by jokes and good humor	My uncle was always in a jocular mood at family gatherings, messing up people's hair and telling knock-knock jokes to anyone who would listen.
jovial	adjective: full of or showing high-spirited merriment	The political candidate and his supporters were jovial once it was clear that she had won.
jubilant	adjective: full of high-spirited delight because of triumph or success	My hardwork paid off, and I was jubilant to receive a perfect score on the GRE.
juggernaut	noun: a force that cannot be stopped	Napoleon was considered a juggernaut until he decided to invade Russia in winter; after which, his once indomitable army was decimated by cold and famine.
junta	noun: an aggressive takeover by a group (usually military)	As dangerous of a threat as North Korea is, some analysts believe that were a junta suddenly to gain power, it could be even more unpredictable and bellicose than the current leadership
juxtapose	verb: place side by side	The appeal of her paintings comes from a classical style which is juxtaposed with modern themes.
kowtow	verb: to bow or act in a subservient manner	Paul kowtowed to his boss so often the boss herself became nauseated by his sycophancy.
label	noun: a name or phrase given to a group of things to identify them (often negative) verb: to give a label to something	The meaning of the label ""punk"" has changed greatly in the last 30 years. Children are often unkind and label others who look different as outsiders.
laborious	adjective: characterized by effort to the point of exhaustion; especially physical effort	The most laborious job I've had was working 20 hours a day as a fisherman in King Salmon, Alaska.
lacerate	verb: deeply hurt the feelings of; distress	The teacher was fired for lacerating a student who wrote a poor essay.
lachrymose	adjective: showing sorrow	Lachrymose and depressed, Alexei Alexandrovich walked two miles home in the rain after learning that his wife was having an affair.
laconic	adjective: one who says very few words	While Martha always swooned over the hunky, laconic types in romantic comedies, her boyfriends inevitably were very talkative—and not very hunky.
lambast	verb: criticize severely or angrily	Showing no patience, the manager utterly lambasted the sales team that lost the big account.
lampoon	verb: ridicule with satire	Mark Twain understood that lampooning a bad idea with humor was the most effective criticism.
languid	adjective: not inclined towards physical exertion or effort; slow and relaxed	As the sun beat down and the temperature climbed higher, we spent a languid week lying around the house.
languish	verb: become feeble	Stranded in the wilderness for four days, the hiker languished, eating protein bars and nuts.
largess	noun: extreme generosity and giving	Uncle Frank was known for his largess, so his nephew was sad when he did not receive a present for his birthday.
lascivious	adjective: lecherous; sexually perverted	Lolita is a challenging novel for many, not necessarily because of the elevated prose style but because of the depravity of the main character, Humbert Humbert, who, as an old, lascivious man, falls in love with a girl.
laudable	adjective: worthy of high praise	To say that Gandhi's actions were laudable is the greatest understatement; he overthrew an empire without violence.
leery	adjective: openly distrustful and unwilling to confide	Without checking his references and talking to previous employers, I am leery of hiring the candidate.
lethargic	adjective: lacking energy	Nothing can make a person more lethargic than a big turkey dinner.
limpid	adjective: clarity in terms of expression	Her limpid prose made even the most recondite subjects accessible to all.
lionize	verb: assign great social importance to	Students in the U.S. learn to lionize Jefferson, Franklin, and Washington because they are the founding fathers of the nation.
litany	noun: any long and tedious account of something	Mr. Rogers spoke to a Senate committee and did not give a litany of reasons to keep funding the program, but instead, appealed to the basic human decency of all present.
loath	adjective: unwillingness to do something contrary to your custom (usually followed by 'to')	I was loath to leave the concert before my favorite band finished playing.
lucid	adjective: (of language) transparently clear; easily understandable	Though Walters writes about physics and time travel, his writing is always lucid, so readers with little scientific training can understand difficult concepts.
lugubrious	adjective: excessively mournful	At the funeral, lugubrious songs filled the small church.
macabre	adjective: suggesting the horror of death and decay; gruesome	Edgar Allen Poe was considered the master of the macabre; his stories vividly describe the moment leading up to—and often those moments after—a grisly death.
machinate	verb: engage in plotting or enter into a conspiracy, swear together	The rebels met at night in an abandoned barn to machinate.
magisterial	adjective: offensively self-assured or given to exercising unwarranted power	Though she was only a third grade teacher, Ms. Martinet was magisterial in dealing with her class, lording over them like a queen.
magnanimous	adjective: noble and generous in spirit, especially towards a rival or someone less powerful	He was a great sportsman: in defeat he was complementary and in victory he was magnanimous.
maintain	verb: to assert	The scientist maintained that the extinction of dinosaurs was most likely brought about by a drastic change in climate.
maladroit	adjective: clumsy	As a child she was quite maladroit, but as an adult, she has become an adept dancer.
malady	noun: a disease or sickness	The town was struck by a malady throughout the winter that left most people sick in bed for two weeks.
malapropism	noun: the confusion of a word with another word that sounds similar	Whenever I looked glum, my mother would offer to share "an amusing antidote" with me—an endearing malapropism of "anecdote" that never failed to cheer me up.
malevolent	adjective: wishing or appearing to wish evil to others; arising from intense ill will or hatred	Villians are known for their malevolent nature, oftentimes inflicting cruetly on others just for enjoyment.
malfeasance	adjective: misconduct or wrongdoing (especially by a public official)	Not even the mayor’s trademark pearly-toothed grin could save him from charges of malfeasance: while in power, he’d been running an illegal gambling rink in the room behind his office.
malingerer	noun: someone shirking their duty by pretending to be sick or incapacitated	At one time, our country was full of hardworking respectful people, but now it seems that everyone is a malingerer with little inclination to work.
malleable	adjective: capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out adjective: easily influenced	The clay became malleable and easy to work with after a little water was added. My little brother is so malleable that I can convince him to sneak cookies from the cupboard for me.
malodorous	adjective: having an unpleasant smell	Some thermally active fountains spew sulfur fumes--the air around them is sometimes so malodorous that many have to plug their noses.
martial	adjective: suggesting war or military life	Americans tend to remember Abraham Lincoln as kindly and wise, not at all martial, despite the fact that he was involved in the fiercest war America has even fought.
martinet	noun: a strict disciplinarian	The job seemed perfect to Rebecca, until she found out that her boss was a total martinet; after each project the boss would come by to scrutinize—and inevitably criticize—every little detail of the work Rebecca had done.
maudlin	adjective: overly emotional and sad	Just as those who were alive during the 70’s are mortified that they once cavorted about in bellbottoms, many who lived during the 80’s are now aghast at the maudlin pop songs they used to enjoy—really, just what exactly is a total eclipse of the heart?
maunder	verb: wander aimlessly verb: speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly	Max liked to maunder down by the seaside and pick up whatever sea shells he would stumble upon. After drinking two espressos each, the animated couple would maunder loudly, annoying the other patrons in the coffee shop.
maverick	noun: someone who exhibits great independence in thought and action	Officer Kelly was a maverick, rarely following police protocols or adopting the conventions for speech common among his fellow officers.
mawkish	adjective: overly sentimental to the point that it is disgusting	The film was incredibly mawkish, introducing highly likeable characters only to have them succumb to a devastating illnesses by the end of the movie.
maxim	noun: a short saying expressing a general truth	Johnson initially suggests that the secret to business can be summarized in a single maxim but then requires a 300-page book to explain exactly what he means.
meander	verb: to wander aimlessly	A casual observer might have thought that Peter was meandering through the city, but that day he was actually seeking out those places where he and his long lost love had once visited.
melancholy	noun: a deep, long-lasting sadness	Hamlet is a figure of tremendous melancholy: he doesn't have a truly cheerful scene throughout the entire play.
melee	noun: a wild, confusing fight or struggle	After enduring daily taunts about my name, I became enraged and pummeled the schoolyard bully and his sycophantic friends in a brutal melee.
mellifluous	adjective: smooth and sweet-sounding	Chelsea’s grandmother thought Franz Schubert’s music to be the most mellifluous ever written; Chelsea demurred, and to her grandmother’s chagrin, would blast Rihanna on the home stereo speakers.
mendacity	noun: the tendency to be untruthful	I can forgive her for her mendacity but only because she is a child and is seeing what she can get away with.
mendicant	noun: a pauper who lives by begging	Tolstoy was an aristocrat, but he strove to understand the Christianity of the Russian peasants by wandering among them as a mendicant.
mercurial	adjective: (of a person) prone to unexpected and unpredictable changes in mood	The fact that Ella’s moods were as mercurial as the weather was problematic for her relationships—it didn’t help that she lived in Chicago.
mesmerize	verb: to spellbind or enthrall	The plot and the characters were so well developed that many viewers were mesmerized, unable to move their eyes from the screen for even a single second.
meteoric	adjective: like a meteor in speed or brilliance or transience	The early spectacular successes propelled the pitcher to meteoric stardom, but a terribly injury tragically cut short his career.
meticulous	adjective: marked by extreme care in treatment of details	The Japanese noodle maker was meticulous in making his noodles and would never let another person take over the task.
mettlesome	adjective: filled with courage or valor	For its raid on the Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Seal Team Six has become, for many Americans, the embodiment of mettle.
mettlesome	adjective: filled with courage or valor	For its raid on the Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Seal Team Six has become, for many Americans, the embodiment of mettle.
misanthrope	noun: a hater of mankind	Kevin is such a misanthrope that he refused to attend the Christmas party, claiming that everyone's happiness was "fake" and "annoying."
misattribute	verb: To erroneously attribute; to falsely ascribe; used especially of authorship.	I made a mistake; I misattributed "Crime and Punishment" to Leo Tolstoy when it was actually written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
misconstrue	verb: interpret in the wrong way	The politician never trusted journalists because he though that they misconstrue his words and misrepresent his positions.
miscreant	noun: a person who breaks the law	"Come back you miscreant!" yelled the woman who just had her purse stolen.
miser	noun: a person who doesn't like to spend money (because they are greedy)	Monte was no miser, but was simply frugal, wisely spending the little that he earned.
misogynist	noun: a person who dislikes women in particular	Many have accused Hemingway of being a quiet misogynist, but recently unearthed letters argue against this belief.
mitigate	verb: make less severe or harsh verb: lessen the severity of an offense	I can only spend so much time mitigating your disagreements with your wife, and at certain point, you need to do it on your own. If it weren't for the mitigating circumstances, he would have certainly lost his job.
modicum	noun: a small or moderate or token amount	If my sister had even a modicum of sense, she wouldn't be engaged to that barbarian.
mollify	verb: to make someone angry less angry; placate	In the morning, Harriat was unable to mollify Harry, if he happened to become angry, unless he had his cup of coffee.
moment	noun: significant and important value	Despite the initial hullabaloo, the play was of no great moment in Hampton’s writing career, and within a few years the public quickly forgot his foray into theater arts.
moot	adjective: open to argument or debate; undecidable in a meaningless or irrelevant way	Since the Board just terminated Steve as the CEO, what the finance committe might have thought of his proposed marketing plan for next year is now a moot point.
mordant	adjective: biting and caustic in thought, manner, or style	While Phil frequently made mordant remarks about company policy overall, he always was considerably gentler in discussing any person in particular.
moribund	adjective: being on the point of death; declining rapidly losing all momentum in progress	Whether you like it or not, jazz as a genre is moribund at best, possibly already dead.
morose	adjective: ill-tempered and not inclined to talk; gloomy	After Stanley found out he was no longer able to go on vacation with his friends, he sat in his room morosely.
morph	verb: To undergo dramatic change in a seamless and barely noticeable fashion.	The earnestness of the daytime talk shows of the 1970's has morphed into something far more sensational and vulgar: today guests actually standup and threaten to take swings at one another.
mulct	verb: to defraud or swindle	The so-called magical diet cure simply ended up mulcting Maria out of hundreds of dollars, but did nothing for her weight.
mundane	adjective: repetitive and boring; not spiritual adjective: relating to the ordinary world	Nancy found doing dishes a thorougly mundane task, although Peter found a kind of Zen pleasure in the chore. Though we think of the pope as someone always dealing in holy matters, he is also concerned with mundane events, such as deciding when to set his alarm each morning.
munificent	adjective: very generous	Uncle Charley was known for his munificence, giving all seven of his nephews lavish Christmas presents each year.
muted	adjective: softened, subdued	Helen preferred muted earth colors, such as green and brown, to the bright pinks and red her sister liked.
myopic	adjective: lacking foresight or imagination	The company ultimately went out of business because the myopic managers couldn't predict the changes in their industry.
myriad	noun: a large indefinite number	There are a myriad of internet sites hawking pills that claim to boost energy for hours on end.
nadir	noun: the lowest point	For many pop music fans, the rap and alternative-rock dominated 90s were the nadir of musical expression.
negligible	adjective: so small as to be meaningless; insignificant	The GRE tests cumulative knowledge, so if you cram the night before it is, at best, likely to only have a negligible impact on your score.
nettlesome	adjective: causing irritation or annoyance	Maria found her coworker's cell phone nettlesome, because every few minutes it would buzz to life with another text message.
noisome	adjective: having an extremely bad smell	Each August, when the winds moved in a south easterly direction, the garbage dump would spread noisome vapors through the small town.
nonchalant	adjective: coming across as uninterested or unconcerned; overly casual	The twenty-somethings at the coffee shop always irked Sheldon, especially the way in which they acted nonchalantly towards everything, not even caring when Sheldon once spilled his mocha on them.
nonplussed	verb: unsure how to act or respond	Shirley was totally nonplussed when the angry motorist cut her off and then stuck his finger out the window.
nuance	noun: a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude	Because of the nuances involved in this case, I hired an outside consultant to advice us and help.
nuance	noun: a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude	Because of the nuances involved in this case, I hired an outside consultant to advice us and help.
obdurate	adjective: stubbornly persistent in changing an opinion or action	No number of pleas and bribes would get him to change his obdurate attitude.
objurgate	verb: express strong disapproval of	The manager spent an hour objurgating the employee in the hopes that he would not make these mistakes again.
obliging	adjective: showing a cheerful willingness to do favors for others	Even after all his success, I found him to be accommodating and obliging, sharing with me his "secret tips" on how to gain wealth and make friends.
oblique	adjective: not straightforward; indirect	Herbert never explicitly revealed anything negative about Tom's past, but at times he would obliquely suggest that Tom was not as innocent as he seemed.
obscure	verb: make unclear adjective: known by only a few	On the Smith's drive through the Grand Canyon, Mr. Smith's big head obscured much of Mrs. Robinson's view, so that she only saw momentary patches of red rock. Many of the biggest movie stars were once obscure actors who got only bit roles in long forgotten films.
obsequious	adjective: attentive in an ingratiating or servile manner; attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery	The obsequious waiter did not give the couple a moment's peace all through the meal, constantly returning to their table to refill their water glasses and to tell them what a handsome pair they made.
obstinate	adjective: resistant to guidance or discipline; stubbornly persistent	The coach suggested improvements Sarah might make on the balance beam, but she remained obstinate, unwilling to modify any of the habits that made her successful in the past.
obstreperous	adjective: noisily and stubbornly defiant; willfully difficult to control	When the teacher asked the obstreperous student simply to bus his tray, the student threw the entire tray on the floor, shouted an epithet, and walked out.
obtain	adjective: be valid, applicable, or true	The custom of waiting your turn in line does not obtain in some countries, in which many people try to rush to front of the line at the same time.
obtuse	adjective: slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity; lacking in insight or discernment	Jackson was the most obtuse member of the team: the manager's subtle ironies were always lost on him.
officious	adjective: intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner	The professor had trouble concentrating on her new theorem, because her officious secretary would barge in frequently reminding her of some trivial detail involving departmental paperwork.
opaque	adjective: not clearly understood or expressed	The meaning of the professor's new research was opaque to most people, so no one asked any questions.
opulence	noun: wealth as evidenced by sumptuous living	Russian oligarchs are famous for their opulence, living in fancy homes and dining on expensive cavier.
ornate	adjective: marked by elaborate rhetoric and elaborated with decorative details	The ornate Victorian and Edwardian homes spread throughout San Francisco are my favorite part of the city.
ossify	verb: make rigid and set into a conventional pattern	Even as a young man, Bob had some bias against poor people, but during his years in social services, his bad opinions ossified into unshiftable views.
ostentatious	adjective: intended to attract notice and impress others; tawdry or vulgar	Matt wanted to buy stone lions for front of the house, but Cynthia convinced him that such a display would be too ostentatious for a modest house in an unassuming neighborhood.
ostracize	verb: exclude from a community or group	Later in his life, Leo Tolstoy was ostracized from the Russian Orthodox Church for his writings that contradicted church doctrine.
overweening	adjective: arrogant; presumptuous	Mark was so convinced of his basketball skills that in his overweening pride he could not fathom that his name was not on the varsity list; he walked up to the basketball coach and told her she had forgotten to add his name.
palatable	adjective: acceptable to the taste or mind	MIkey didn't partake much in his friends' conversations, but found their presence palatable.
palaver	verb: speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly	During the rain delay, many who had come to see the game palavered, probably hoping that idle chatter would make the time go by faster.
palimpsest	noun: something that has been changed numerous times but on which traces of former iterations can still be seen	The downtown was a palimpsest of the city’s checkered past: a new Starbucks had opened up next to an abandoned, shuttered building, and a freshly asphalted road was inches away from a pothole large enough to swallow a small dog.
panacea	noun: hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases; a universal solution	While the company credit card has made most large purchases easier, it is no panacea: some smaller basic transactions still must be conducted in cash.
panache	noun: distinctive and stylish elegance	Jim, with his typical panache, came to the wedding reception with a top hat, a cane, and a long cape covered in sequins.
panegyric	noun: a formal expression of praise	Dave asked Andrew to do just a simple toast, but Andrew launched into a full panegyric, enumerating a complete list of Dave's achievements and admirable qualities.
paradoxical	adjective: seemingly contradictory but nonetheless possibly true	That light could be both a particle and a wave seems paradoxical, but nonetheless, it is true.
paragon	noun: model of excellence or perfection of a kind; one having no equal noun: an ideal instance; a perfect embodiment of a concept	Even with the rise of Kobe Bryant, many still believe that Michael Jordon is the paragon for basketball players. Some say that Athens was the paragon of democracy, but these people often forget that slaves and women were still not allowed to vote.
pariah	noun: an outcast	The once eminent scientist, upon being found guilty of faking his data, has become a pariah in the research community.
parochial	adjective: narrowly restricted in scope or outlook	Jasmine was sad to admit it, but her fledgling relationship with Jacob did not work out because his culinary tastes were simply tooparochial; "After all," she quipped on her blog, "he considered Chef Boyardee ethnic food."
parsimonious	adjective: extremely frugal; miserly	Katie is so parsimonious that she only buys a pair of socks if all of her other socks have holes in them.
parvenu	noun: a person who has suddenly become wealthy, but not socially accepted as part of a higher class	The theater was full of parvenus who each thought that they were surrounded by true aristocrats.
pastoral	adjective: relating to the countryside in a pleasant sense	Those who imagine America's countryside as a pastoral region are often disappointed to learn that much of rural U.S. is filled with cornfields extending as far as the eye can see.
patent	adjective: glaringly obvious	Since the book had been through no fewer than six proof runs, the staff was shocked to see such a patent spelling mistake remaining, right in the middle of the front cover!
patronize	verb: treat condescendingly	She says she genuinely wanted to help me, but instead she patronized me, constantly pointing out how I was inferior to her.
paucity	noun: a lack of something	There is a paucity of jobs hiring today that require menial skills, since most jobs have either been automated or outsourced.
pecuniary	adjective: relating to or involving money	The defendent was found guilty and had to serve a period of community service as well as pay pecuniary damages to the client.
pedantic	adjective: marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning especially its trivial aspects	Professor Thompson was regarded as an expert in his field, but his lectures were utterly pedantic, focused on rigorous details of the most trivial conventions in the field.
pedestrian	adjective: lacking imagination	While Nan was always engaged in philosophical speculation, her brother was occupied with far more pedestrian concerns: how to earn a salary and run a household.
peevish	adjective: easily irritated or annoyed	Our office manager is peevish, so the rest of us tip-toe around him, hoping not to set off another one of his fits.
pejorative	adjective: expressing disapproval (usu. refers to a term)	Most psychologists object to the pejorative term "shrink", believing that they expand the human mind, not limit it.
pellucid	adjective: transparently clear; easily understandable	The professor had a remarkable ability make even the most difficult concepts seem pellucid.
penurious	adjective: lacking money; poor adjective: miserly	Truly penurious, Mary had nothing more than a jar full of pennies. Warren Buffett, famous multi-billionaire, still drives a cheap sedan, not because he is penurious, but because luxury cars are gaudy and impractical.
perceive	verb: to be aware of, to sense or feel	If hunters are skilled, the animals will not perceive their presence.
percipient	adjective: highly perceptive	Even the most percipient editor will make an occasional error when proofreading.
peremptory	adjective: bossy and domineering	My sister used to peremptorily tell me to do the dishes, a chore I would either do perfunctorily or avoid doing altogether.
perennial	adjective: lasting an indefinitely long time; eternal; everlasting	Even at the old-timers games, Stan Musial would get the loudest cheer: he was a perennial favorite of the fans there.
perfidy	noun: an act of deliberate betrayal; a breach of a trust	The lowest circles in Dante's Inferno were for those who had practiced perfidy, and among these, the very lowest was for those, such as Judas, who had been treacherous to one of their benefactors.
perfunctory	adjective: done routinely and with little interest or care	The short film examines modern perfunctory cleaning rituals such as washing dishes, doing laundry and tooth-brushing.
peripatetic	adjective: traveling by foot	Jim always preferred a peripatetic approach to discovering a city: he felt that he could see so many more details while walking.
pernicious	adjective: exceedingly harmful; working or spreading in a hidden and injurious way	The most successful viruses are pernicious: an infected person may feel perfectly healthy for several months while incubating and spreading the virus.
perpetuate	verb: cause to continue	If you do not let him do things for himself, you are merely perpetuating bad habits that will be even harder to break in the future.
perquisite	noun: a right reserved exclusively by a particular person or group (especially a hereditary or official right)	Even as the dishwasher at the French restaurant, Josh quickly learned that he had the perquisite of being able to eat terrific food for half the price diners would pay.
perspicacious	adjective: acutely insightful and wise	Many modern observers regard Eisenhower as perspicacious, particularly in his accurate prediction of the growth of the military.
pertinent	adjective: having precise or logical relevance to the matter at hand	While the salaries of the players might draw attention in the media, such monetary figures are not pertinent to the question of who plays the best on the field.
perturb	verb: disturb in mind or cause to be worried or alarmed	Now that Henry is recovering from a major illnesses, he no longer lets the little trivialities, such as late mail, perturb him.
peruse	verb: to read very carefully	Instead of perusing important documents, people all too often rush to the bottom of the page and plaster their signatures at the bottom.
petulant	adjective: easily irritated or annoyed	When Ed first met Ruth, he didn't realize she was so petulant, but now that they are three months into their relationship, Ed feels a day doesn't go by in which she isn't whining about some minor issue.
phantasmagorical	adjective: illusive; unreal	Those suffering from malaria fall into a feverish sleep, their world a whirligig of phantasmagoria; if they recover, they are unsure of what actually took place and what was simply a product of their febrile imaginations.
philistine	adjective: smug and ignorant towards artistic and cultural values	Jane considered Al completely philistine, because he talked almost exclusive about video games; she was entirely unaware of how well read he really was.
phlegmatic	adjective: showing little emotion	Arnold is truly noble, remaining reserved until an issue of significance arises, but Walter is simply phlegmatic: he doesn't have the energy or inclination to care about anything.
picayune	adjective: trifling or petty (a person)	English teachers are notorious for being picayune; however, the English language is so nuanced and sophisticated that often such teachers are not being contrary but are only adhering to the rules.
pillory	verb: ridicule or expose to public scorn	After the candidate confessed, the press of the opposing party took the opportunity to pillory him, printing editorials with the most blatantly exaggerated accusations.
pine	verb: to yearn for	Standing forlornly by the window, she pined for her lost love.
pinnacle	noun: the highest point	At its pinnacle, the Roman Empire extended across most of the landmass of Eurasia, a feat not paralleled to the rise of the British Empire in the 18th and 19th century.
piquant	adjective: having an agreeably pungent taste	The chef, with a mere flick of the salt shaker, turned the bland tomato soup into a piquant meal.
pith	noun: the most essential part of something	When Cynthia hears a speaker presenting a complex argument, she is always able to discard the irrelevant details and extract the pith of what the speaker is trying to convey.
pithy	adjective: concise and full of meaning	I enjoy reading the Daodejing for its pithy and insightful prose; it always gives me something to think about.
pittance	noun: a small amount (of money)	Vinny’s uncle beamed smugly about how he’d offered his nephew fifty dollars for his Harvard tuition; even twice the amount would have been a mere pittance.
placate	verb: cause to be more favorably inclined; gain the good will of	I was able to placate the angry mob of students by promising to bring cookies on Monday.
placid	adjective: not easily irritated	Doug is normally placid, so we were all shocked to see him yelling at the television when the Mets lost the game.
platitude	noun: a trite or obvious remark	The professor argued that many statements regarded as wise in previous times, such as the Golden Rule, are now regarded as mere platitudes.
plodding	adjective: (of movement) slow and laborious	Charlie may seem to run at a plodding pace, but he is an ultramarathoner, meaning he runs distances of up to 100 miles, and can run for ten hours at a stretch.
ploy	noun: a clever plan to turn a situation to one's advantage	Dennis arranged an elaborate ploy, involving 14 different people lying for him in different situations, so that it could appear that he was meeting Mary completely by chance at the wedding reception.
plucky	adjective: marked by courage and determination	Some scouts initially doubted Pedroia because of his short stature, but he is a plucky player, surprising everyone with his boundless energy and fierce determination.
poignant	adjective: emotionally touching	After the Montagues and Capulets discover the dead bodies of Romeo and Juliet, in the play's most poignant moment, the two griefstricken familes agree to end their feud once and for all.
polemic	noun: a strong verbal or written attack on someone or something.	The professor launched into a polemic, claiming that Freudian theory was a pack of lies that absolutely destroyed European literary theory.
Pollyannaish	adjective: extremely optimistic	Even in the midst of a lousy sales quarter, Debbie remained Pollyannaish, never losing her shrill voice and wide smile, even when prospective customers hung up on her.
ponderous	adjective: weighed-down; moving slowly	Laden with 20 kilograms of college text books, the freshman moved ponderously across the campus.
pontificate	verb: talk in a dogmatic and pompous manner	The vice-president would often pontificate about economic theory, as if no one else in the room were qualified to speak on the topic.
portentous	adjective: ominously prophetic	When the captain and more than half the officers were sick on the very first night of the voyage, many of the passengers felt this was portentous, but the rest of the voyage continued without any problems.
posit	verb: assume as fact	Initially, Einstein posited a repulsive force to balance Gravity, but then rejected that idea as a blunder.
powwow	noun: an informal meeting or discussion	Before the team takes the field, the coach always calls for a powwow so that he can make sure all the players are mentally in the right place.
pragmatic	adjective: guided by practical experience and observation rather than theory	Rather than make a philosophical appeal to the Congressmen, the Speaker decided to take a far more pragmatic approach, making small side-deals that would add votes to his bill.
precarious	adjective: fraught with danger	People smoke to relax and forget their cares, but ironically, in terms of health risks, smoking is far more precarious than either mountain-climbing or skydiving.
precedent	noun: an example that is used to justify similar occurrences at a later time	The principal explained that even though one student had done modelling work outside of school, the outfits that student wore in those photographs in no way established a precedent for what could be worn at school dances.
precipitate	adjective: hasty or rash verb: to cause to happen	Instead of conducting a thorough investigation after the city hall break-in, the governor acted precipitately, accusing his staff of aiding and abetting the criminals. The government's mishandling the hurricane's aftermath precipitated a widespread outbreak of looting and other criminal activity.
precipitous	adjective: done with very great haste and without due deliberation	He was expecting a precipitous rise in the value of a "hot" tech stock, so he was disappointed when it only inched up a dollar or two each day.
preclude	verb: keep from happening or arising; make impossible	The manager specified that all other gates be locked, to preclude the possibility of persons without tickets entering the arena undetected.
precocious	adjective: characterized by or characteristic of exceptionally early development or maturity (especially in mental aptitude)	Though only seven years old, she was a precocious chess prodigy, able to beat players twice her age.
predilection	noun: a strong liking	Monte had a predilection for the fine things in life: Cuban cigars, 200 dollar bottles of wine, and trips to the French Riviera.
preempt	verb: take the place of or have precedence over	A governmental warning about an imminent terrorist attack would preempt ordinary network programming on television.
preemptive	adjective: done before someone else can do it	Just as Martha was about to take the only cookie left on the table, Noah preemptively swiped it.
prescience	noun: the power to foresee the future	Baxter's warnings about investing in technology stocks seemed like an act of prescience after the whole market declined significantly.
presentiment	noun: a feeling of evil to come	On the night that Lincoln would be fatally shot, his wife had a presentiment about going to Ford's Theater, but Lincoln persuaded her that everything would be fine.
presumption	noun: an assumption that is taken for granted noun: audacious (even arrogant) behavior that you have no right to	When Mr. Baker found out the family car was gone, he acted under the presumption that his rebellious son had taken the car, calling his son's phone and yelling at him; only later did Mr. Baker realize that Mrs. Baker had simply gone out to get her nails done. The new neighbor quickly gained a reputation for her presumption; she had invited herself to several neighbors' homes, often stopping over at inopportune times and asking for a drink.
presumptuous	adjective: excessively forward	Many felt that Barney was presumptuous in moving into the large office before the management even made any official announcement of his promotion.
prevail	verb: be widespread in a particular area at a particular time; be current: verb: prove superior	During the labor negotiations, an air of hostility prevailed in the office. Before the cricket match, Australia was heavily favored, but India prevailed.
prevaricate	verb: to speak in an evasive way	The cynic quipped, “There is not much variance in politicians; they all seem to prevaricate”.
primacy	noun: the state of being first in importance	The primacy of Apple Computers is not guaranteed, as seen in the recent lawsuits and weak growth.
pristine	adjective: Unspoiled, untouched (usu. of nature) adjective: Immaculately clean and unused	The glacial lake was pristine and we filled our canteens to drink deeply. Drill sergeants are known for demanding pristine cabinets, uniforms, and beds, and often make new recruits clean and clean and clean until they meet the expected high standards.
probity	noun: integrity, strong moral principles	The ideal politician would have the probity to lead, but reality gravely falls short of the ideal of morally upright leaders.
prodigal	adjective: rashly or wastefully extravagant	Successful professional athletes who do not fall prey to prodigality seem to be the exception—most live decadent lives.
prodigious	adjective: so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe	After the relatively small homerun totals in the "dead ball" era, Babe Ruth's homerun totals were truly prodigious: every year, he set a new all-time record.
profligate	adjective: spending resources recklessly or wastefully; noun: someone who spends resources recklessly or wastefully	The composer Wagner, while living on a limited salary, was so profligate as to line all the walls of his apartment with pure silk. ；Most lottery winners go from being conservative, frugal types to outright profligates who blow millions on fast cars, lavish homes, and giant yachts.
profuse	adjective: plentiful; pouring out in abundance	During mile 20 of the Hawaii Marathon, Dwayne was sweating so profusely that he stopped to take off his shirt, and ran the remaining six miles wearing nothing more than skimpy shorts.
profusion	noun: the property of being extremely abundant	When Maria reported that she had been visited by Jesus Christ and had proof, a profusion of reporters and journalists descended on the town.
prognostication	noun: a statement made about the future	When the Senator was asked about where the negotiations would lead, he said that any guess he could make would be an unreliable prognostication.
prolific	adjective: intellectually productive	Schubert was the most prolific composer, producing hundreds of hours of music before he died at the age of 31.
prolixity	noun: boring verbosity	I loved my grandfather dearly, but his prolixity would put me to sleep, regardless of the topic.
promulgate	verb: state or announce	The President wanted to promulgate the success of the treaty negotiations, but he had to wait until Congress formally approved the agreement.
propitiate	verb: to placate or appease	The two sons, plying their angry father with cheesy neckties for Christmas, were hardly able to propitiate him – the father already had a drawer full of ones he had never worn before or ever planned to.
propitious	adjective: presenting favorable circumstances; likely to result in or show signs of success	The child's heartbeat is still weak, but I am seeing many propitious signs and I think that she may be healing.
proponent	noun: a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea	Ironically, the leading proponent of Flat-Earth Theory flies all over the world in an effort to win more adherents.
prosaic	adjective: dull and lacking imagination	Unlike the talented artists in his workshop, Paul had no such bent for the visual medium, so when it was time for him to make a stained glass painting, he ended up with a prosaic mosaic.
proscribe	verb: command against	My doctor proscribes that I not eat donuts with chocolate sauce and hamburger patties for breakfast.
proselytize	verb: convert to another religion, philosophy, or perspective	Lisa loves her Mac but says little about it; by contrast, Jake will proselytize, interrogating anyone with an Android about why she didn't purchase an iPhone.
protean	adjective: readily taking on different roles; versatile	Peter Sellers was truly a protean actor—in Doctor Strangelove he played three very different roles: a jingoist general, a sedate President and a deranged scientist.
provident	adjective: careful in regard to your own interests; providing carefully for the future	In a move that hardly could be described as provident, Bert spend his entire savings on a luxurious cruise, knowing that other bills would come due a couple months later.
provincial	adjective: characteristic of the a limited perspective; not fashionable or sophisticated	Maggie's enthusiasm about her high school teams seemed provincial to her college classmates, all of whom were following a nationally ranked college team.
provisional	adjective: under terms not final or fully worked out or agreed upon	Until the corporate office hands down a definitive decision on use of the extra offices, we will share their use in a provisional arrangement.
puerile	adjective: of or characteristic of a child; displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity	Helen enjoyed blowing soap bubbles, but Jim regarded this as puerile, totally unworthy of a woman with a Ph.D.
pugnacious	adjective: eager to fight or argue; verbally combative	The comedian told one flat joke after another, and when the audience started booing, he pugnaciously spat back at them, “Hey, you think this is easy – why don’t you buffoons give it a shot?”
puissant	adjective: powerful	Over the years of service, and quite to his surprise, he became a puissant advisor to the community.
punctilious	adjective: marked by precise accordance with details	The colonel was so punctilious about enforcing regulations that men feel compelled to polish even the soles of their shoes.
pundit	noun: someone who has been admitted to membership in a scholarly field	Steven Pinker's credentials are unquestioned as a pundit; he has taught at MIT and Stanford, teaches at Harvard, and has published a number of influential books on cognition, language, and psychology.
pyrrhic	adjective: describing a victory that comes at such a great cost that the victory is not worthwhile	George W. Bush’s win in the 2000 election was in many ways a pyrrhic victory: the circumstances of his win alienated half of the U.S. population.
quail	verb: draw back, as with fear or pain	Craig always claimed to be a fearless outdoorsman, but when the thunderstorm engulfed the valley, he quailed at the thought of leaving the safety of his cabin.
qualify	verb: to be eligible for a role, status, or benefit by meeting specific requirements; verb: to make less severe; to limit (a statement)	If James had made more than $50,000 last year, then he wouldn't havequalified for the low-income scholarship.; Chris qualified his love for San Francisco, adding that he didn't like the weather as much as the weather in Los Angeles.
qualm	noun: uneasiness about the fitness of an action	While he could articulate no clear reason why Harkner's plan would fail, he neverless felt qualms about committing any resources to it.
quandary	noun: state of uncertainty or perplexity especially as requiring a choice between equally unfavorable options	Steve certainly is in a quandary: if he doesn't call Elaine, she will blame him for everything, but if he does call her, the evidence of where he currently is could cost him his job.
querulous	adjective: habitually complaining	The querulous old woman was begining to wear down even the happier members of the staff with her ceaseless complaining.
quip	noun: a witty saying or remark verb: to make a witty remark, to say in jest	In one of the most famous quips about classical music, Mark Twain said: "Wagner's music is better than it sounds." When a old English teacher criticized Churchill for ending a sentence with a preposition, he quipped, "This is the kind of criticism up with which we will not put!"
quisling	noun: a traitor	History looks unfavorably upon quislings; indeed they are accorded about the same fondness as Nero—he who watched his city burn down while playing the violin.
quixotic	adjective: wildly idealistic; impractical	For every thousand startups with quixotic plans to be the next big name in e-commerce, only a handful ever become profitable.
quotidian	adjective: found in the ordinary course of events	Phil gets so involved thinking about Aristotle's arguments that he totally forgets quotidian concerns, such as exercising and eating regularly.
raconteur	noun: a person skilled in telling anecdotes	Jude is entertaining, but he is no raconteur: beyond the handful of amusing stories he has memorized, he has absolutely no spontaneous story-telling ability.
raffish	adjective: marked by a carefree unconventionality or disreputableness	The men found him raffish, but the women adored his smart clothes and casual attitude.
raft	noun: a large number of something	Despite a raft of city ordinances passed by an overzealous council, noise pollution continued unabated in the megalopolis.
raillery	noun: light teasing	The new recruit was not bothered by the raillery, finding most of it light-hearted and good-natured.
rakish	adjective: marked by a carefree unconventionality or disreputableness	As soon as he arrived in the city, the rakish young man bought some drugs and headed straight for the seedy parts of town.
rankle	verb: gnaw into; make resentful or angry	His constant whistling would rankle her, sometimes causing her to leave in a huff.
rapprochement	noun: the reestablishing of cordial relations	Although Ann hoped that her mother and her aunt would have a rapprochement, each one's bitter accusations against the other made any reconciliation unlikely.
rarefied	verb: make more subtle or refined	Jack's vulgar jokes were not so successful in the rarefied environment of college professors.
rash	adjective: marked by defiant disregard for danger or consequences; imprudently incurring risk	Although Bruce was able to make the delivery in time with a nightime motorcycle ride in the rain, Susan criticized his actions as rash.
ravenous	adjective: extremely hungry; devouring or craving food in great quantities	John didn't eat much at all during the week he had the flu, so now that he is regaining his health, it's not surprising that he has a ravenous appetite.
rebuke	verb: criticize severely or angrily; censure	The police chief rebuked the two officers whose irresponsible decisions almost led to the deaths of seven innocent by-standers.
recapitulation	noun: a summary (think of recap)	Every point of the professors lesson was so clear that the students felt his concluding recapitulation was not necessary.
reconcile	verb: make (one thing) compatible with (another)	Peggy was unable to reconcile her kind friend Jane with the cruel and merciless character Jane played on television.
recondite	adjective: difficult to penetrate; incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding or knowledge	I found Ulysses recondite and never finished the book, waiting instead to read it with someone else so we could penetrate its meaning together.
recrimination	noun: mutual accusations	The two brothers sat and cried, pointing fingers and making elaborate recriminations of the other's guilt
recrudesce	verb: to break out or happen again	After years of gamblers anonymous, Tony thought he'd broken his compulsive slot machine playing, but it took only one trip to the Atlantic City for a full recrudescence--he lost $5k on the one armed bandit.
redoubtable	adjective: inspiring fear or awe	On television basketball players don't look that tall, but when you stand in front of a seven-foot tall NBA player, he is truly redoubtable.
redress	noun: an act of making something right	Barry forgot his wife's birthday two years in a row, and was only able to redress his oversight by surprising his wife with a trip to Tahiti.
refractory	adjective: stubbornly resistant to authority or control	Used to studious high school students, Martha was unprepared for the refractory Kindgergarteners who neither sat still nor listened to a single word she said.
refute	verb: prove to be false or incorrect	No one could refute his theories or propositions, and that is why he was esteemed by all his colleagues in the philosophy department.
register	verb: to put your name or other information in a list for something verb: to identify and show on a tool for measuring	If you'd like to buy a meal plan, you can register at the student affairs office.  The bomb was so strong that far away weather balloons registered the heat.
relegate	verb: assign to a lower position	When Dexter was unable to fulfill his basic duties, instead of firing him, the boss relegated him to kitchen cleanup.
relevant	adjective: closely connected to the topic and therefore important	I think Professor McGarry can give you some relevant books to help you write that essay.
remiss	adjective: to be negligent in one’s duty	Remiss in his duty to keep the school functioning efficiently, the principal was relieved of his position after only three months.
remonstrate	verb: to make objections while pleading	The mothers of the kidnapped victims remonstrated to the rogue government to release their children, claiming that the detention violated human rights.
renege	verb: fail to fulfill a promise or obligation	We will no longer work with that vendor since it has reneged on nearly every agreement.
replete	adjective: completely stocked or furnished with something	Only weeks after the hurricane made landfall, the local supermarket shelves were replete with goods, so quick was the disaster relief response.
replete	adjective: completely stocked or furnished with something	Only weeks after the hurricane made landfall, the local supermarket shelves were replete with goods, so quick was the disaster relief response.
reprisal	noun: a retaliatory action against an enemy in wartime	The Old Testament doctrine of an eye for an eye is not the kind of retaliation practiced in war; rather, an arm, a leg, and both ears are the reprisal for the smallest scratch.
reproach	verb: to express criticism towards	At first, Sarah was going to yell at the boy, but she didn't want to reproach him for telling the truth about the situation.
reprobate	noun: a person who is disapproved of	Those old reprobates drinking all day down by the river–they are not going to amount to much.
repudiate	verb: reject as untrue or unfounded	Many in the public believed the rumors of a UFO crash outside town, so the chief of police did everything he could to repudiate the rumors.
rescind	verb: cancel officially	The man's driver's license was rescinded after his tenth car accident, which meant he would never be allowed to legally drive again.
reservation	noun: an unstated doubt that prevents you from accepting something wholeheartedly	I was initially excited by the idea of a trip to Washington, D.C. but now that I have read about the high crime statistics there, I have some reservations.
resignation	noun: the acceptance of something unpleasant that can't be avoided	Since Jack could not think of a convincing reason why he had to miss the seminar, he attended it with a sense of resignation.
resolve	verb: reach a conclusion after a discussion or deliberation	After much thought, Ted resolved not to travel abroad this summer because he didn't have much money in his bank account.
resource	noun: some saved material that can be used for a purpose (especially money, anything used to make energy such as oil, or information sources such as books)	Many of the richest countries have surprisingly few natural resources and must buy oil or gas from other countries.  Never forget to make use of the library during your studies; it's full of great resources.
respite	noun: a pause from doing something (as work)	Every afternoon, the small company has a respite in which workers play foosball or board games.
restive	adjective: restless	The crowd grew restive as the comedian’s opening jokes fell flat.
resurgent	adjective: rising again as to new life and vigor	The team sank to fourth place in June, but is now resurgent and about to win the division.
reticent	adjective: reluctant to draw attention to yourself; temperamentally disinclined to talk	When asked about her father, Helen lost her outward enthusiasm and became rather reticent.
retiring	adjective: to be shy, and to be inclined to retract from company	Nelson was always the first to leave soirees—rather than mill about with “fashionable” folk, he was retiring, and preferred the solitude of his garret.
retract	verb: pull inward or towards a center; formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure	Email is wonderfully efficient, but once something awkward or damaging has been sent, there is no way to retract it.
reverent	adjective: feeling or showing profound respect or veneration	The professor could speak objectively about the other composers, but he always lectured about Brahms with a particularly reverent air, unable to offer a single criticism of his compositions.
ribald	adjective: humorously vulgar	The speaker was famous for his ribald humor, but the high school principal asked him to keep the talk G-rated when he spoke to the student body.
rile	verb: cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations	Dan is usually calm and balanced, but it takes only one intense glare from Sabrina to rile him.
robust	adjective: sturdy and strong in form, constitution, or construction	Chris preferred bland and mild beers, but Bhavin preferred a beer with more robust flavor.
row	noun: an angry dispute	The Prime Minister looked very foolish after his row with the foreign dignitary was caught on video and posted on youtube.
rudimentary	adjective: being in the earliest stages of development; being or involving basic facts or principles	I would love to be able to present a fully polished proposal to the board, but right now, our plans for the product are still in the most rudimentary stages.
rustic	adjective: characteristic of rural life; awkwardly simple and provincial	The vacation cabin had no electricity and no indoor plumbing, but despite these inconveniences, Nigel adored its rustic charm.
sagacious	adjective: having good judgement and acute insight	Steve Jobs is surely one of the most sagacious CEOs, making Apple the most recognizable and valuable companies in the world.
sanctimonious	adjective: making a show of being pious; holier-than-thou	Even during the quiet sanctity of evening prayer, she held her chin high, a sanctimonious sneer forming on her face as she eyed those who were attending church for the first time.
sanction	verb: give authority or permission to noun: a legal penalty for a forbidden action	The authorities have sanctioned the use of the wilderness reserve for public use; many expect to see hikers an campers enjoying the park in the coming months. International sanctions have been placed on certain shipping lanes that were thought to be involved in human trafficking.
sangfroid	noun: calmness or poise in difficult situations	The hostage negotiator exhibited a sangfroid that oftentimes was more menacing than the sword at his throat, or the gun at his head.
sanguine	adjective: cheerful; optimistic	With the prospect of having to learn 3,000 words during the course of the summer, Paul was anything but sanguine.
sardonic	adjective: disdainfully or ironically humorous; scornful and mocking	A stand-up comedian walks a fine line when making jokes about members of the audience; such fun and joking can quickly become sardonic and cutting.
sartorial	adjective: related to fashion or clothes	Monte was astute at navigating the world of finance; sartorially, however, he was found wanting—he typically would attempt to complement his beige tie with a gray suit and white pants.
saturnine	adjective: morose or gloomy	Deprived of sunlight, humans become saturnine; that’s why in very northerly territories people are encouraged to sit under an extremely powerful lamp, lest they become morose.
savvy	noun: a perceptive understanding verb: get the meaning of something adjective: well-informed or perceptive	Although a great CEO, he did not have the political savvy to win the election. The student savvies the meaning of astrophysics with little effort. With his savvy business partner, the company was able to turn a profit within a year.
schadenfreude	noun: joy from watching the suffering of others	From his warm apartment window, Stanley reveled in schadenfreude as he laughed at the figures below, huddled together in the arctic chill.
scintillating	adjective: describes someone who is brilliant and lively	Richard Feynman was renowned for his scintillating lectures—the arcana of quantum physics was made lucid as he wrote animatedly on the chalkboard.
screed	noun: an abusive rant (often tedious)	Joey had difficulty hanging out with his former best friend Perry, who, during his entire cup of coffee, enumerated all of the government’s deficiencies--only to break ranks and launch into some screed against big business.
scrupulous	adjective: characterized by extreme care and great effort adjective: having a sense of right and wrong; principled	Because of his scrupulous nature, Mary put him in charge of numbering and cataloging the entire collection of rare stamps. Everyone trusted what he said and followed his example because he was scrupulous and honest.
sedulous	adjective: done diligently and carefully	An avid numismatist, Harold sedulously amassed a collection of coins from over 100 countries—an endeavor that took over fifteen years, and to five continents.
self-effacing	adjective: reluctant to draw attention to yourself	The most admirable teachers and respected leaders are those who are self-effacing, directing attention and praise to their students and workers.
semblance	noun: an outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading	While the banker maintained a semblance of respectability in public, those who knew him well were familiar with his many crimes.
sententious	adjective: to be moralizing, usually in a pompous sense	The old man, casting his nose up in the air at the group of adolescents, intoned sententiously, “Youth is wasted on the young.”
sentimental	adjective: effusively or insincerely emotional, especially in art, music, and literature	I don't like romanticism for the same reason I don't like melodramatic acting and soap operas—overly sentimental.
serendipity	noun: the instance in which an accidental, fortunate discovery is made	By pure serendipity, Sarah discovered, at a flea market in Peoria, a matching earring to replace the one that fell down the storm drain back home.
serene	adjective: calm and peaceful	I'd never seen him so serene; usually, he was a knot of stress and anxiety from hours of trading on the stock exchange.
simulacrum	noun: a representation of a person (especially in the form of sculpture) noun: a bad imitation	The Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center showcases a simulacrum of all the present and approved buildings in the city of Shanghai. The early days of computer graphics made real people into a simulacrum that now seems comical.
sinecure	noun: an office that involves minimal duties	The position of Research Director is a sinecure: the job entails almost no responsibilities, nor does the person in that position have to answer to anyone.
slapdash	adjective: carelessly and hastily put together	The office building had been constructed in a slapdash manner, so it did not surprise officials when, during a small earthquake, a large crack emerged on the façade of the building.
smattering	noun: a slight or superficial understanding of a subject; a small amount of something	I know only a smattering of German, but Helen is able to read German newspapers and converse with natives.
smug	adjective: marked by excessive complacency or self-satisfaction	When Phil was dating the model, he had a smug attitude that annoyed his buddies.
snide	adjective: expressive of contempt; derogatory or mocking in an indirect way	The chairman interpreted Taylor's question about promotions as a snide remark, but in all innocence Taylor was trying to figure out the company's process.
snub	verb: refuse to acknowledge; reject outright and bluntly	Wheeler was completely qualified for the committee, but the board snubbed him, choosing an obviously lesser qualified candidate instead.
solecism	noun: a socially awkward or tactless act	Mother Anna was always on guard against any solecism from her children and scolded them immediately if any of them talked out of place in public.
solicitous	adjective: showing hovering attentiveness	Our neighbors are constantly knocking on our door to make sure we are ok, and I don't know how to ask them to stop being so solicitous about our health.
solicitude	noun: a feeling of excessive concern	I walked to his house in the rain to make sure he had enough to eat while he was sick, but he seemed not to appreciate my solicitude.
soporific	adjective: inducing mental lethargy; sleep inducing	Although the professor is brilliant, his bland monotone gives his lectures a soporific effect.
sordid	adjective: involving ignoble actions and motives; arousing moral distaste and contempt; foul and run-down and repulsive	The nightly news simply announced that the senator had had an affair, but the tabloid published all the sordid details of the interaction.
spartan	adjective: unsparing and uncompromising in discipline or judgment; practicing great self-denial	After losing everything in a fire, Tim decided to live in spartan conditions, sleeping on the floor and owning as little furniture as a possible.
specious	adjective: based on pretense; deceptively pleasing adjective: plausible but false	Almost every image on TV is specious and not to be trusted. He made a career out of specious arguments and fictional lab results, but lost his job and reputation when his lies were exposed by an article in The New York Times.
spendthrift	noun: one who spends money extravagantly	Taking weekly trips to Vegas, Megan was a spendthrift whose excesses eventually caught up to her.
splenetic	adjective: very irritable	Ever since the car accident, Frank has been unable to walk without a cane, and so he has become splenetic and unpleasant to be around.
sporadic	adjective: recurring in scattered and irregular or unpredictable instances	The signals were at first sporadic, but now we detect a clear, consistent pattern of electromagnetic radiation eminating from deep space.
spurious	adjective: plausible but false	When listening to a politician speak, it is hard to distinguish the spurious claims from the authentic ones.
spurn	verb: reject with contempt	She spurned all his flattery and proposals, and so he walked off embarrassed and sad.
squander	verb: spend thoughtlessly; waste time, money, or an opportunity	Fearing his money would be squandered by his family, he gave all of it to charity when he died.
squelch	verb: suppress or crush completely	After the dictator consolidated his power, he took steps to squelch all criticism, often arresting any journalist who said anything that could be interpreted as negative about his regime.
staid	adjective: characterized by dignity and propriety	Frank came from a staid environment, so he was shocked that his college roommate sold narcotics.
stalwart	adjective: dependable; inured to fatigue or hardships	Despite all the criticism directed at the President during this scandal, Lisa has remained his stalwart supporter.
start	verb: to suddenly move in a particular direction	All alone in the mansion, Henrietta started when she heard a sound.
staunch	adjective: firm and dependable especially in loyalty	No longer a staunch supporter of the movement, Todd now will openly question whether its goals are worthwhile.
steadfast	adjective: marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakable	A good captain needs to be steadfast, continuing to hold the wheel and stay the course even during the most violent storm.
stem	verb: to hold back or limit the flow or growth of something	To stem the tide of applications, the prestigious Ivy requires that each applicant score at least 330 on the Revised GRE.
stipend	noun: a regular allowance (of money)	He was hoping for a monthly allowance loan from the government, but after no such stipend was forthcoming he realized he would have to seek other means of paying for his college tuition.
stolid	adjective: having or revealing little emotion or sensibility; not easily aroused or excited	Elephants may appear stolid to casual observers, but they actually have passionate emotional lives.
stringent	adjective: demanding strict attention to rules and procedures	Most of the students disliked the teacher because of his stringent homework policy, but many students would later thank him for demanding so much from them.
stultify	verb: cause one, through routine, to lose energy and enthusiasm	As an undergraduate Mark felt stultified by classes outside his area of study; only in grad school, in which he could focus solely on literary analysis, did he regain his scholarly edge.
stymie	verb: hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of	The engineers found their plans stymied at every turn and were ultimately able to make almost no progress on the project.
subsume	verb: contain or include verb: consider (an instance of something) as part of a general rule or principle	The rogue wave quickly subsumed the pier and boardwalk, destroying everything in its path. Don Quixote of La Mancha subsumes all other modern novels, demonstrating modern literary devices and predating even the idea of a postmodern, metanarrative.
subterfuge	noun: something intended to misrepresent the true nature of an activity	Finally deciding to abandon all subterfuge, Arthur revealed to Cindy everything about his secret affair over the past two years.
subversive	adjective: in opposition to a civil authority or government	The ruling political party has begun a campaign to shut down subversive websites that it deems as a threat to "national safety."
sullen	adjective: showing a brooding ill humor	Herbert took board games too seriously, often appearing sullen after losing.
summit	noun: the peak or highest point noun: a meeting of high-level leaders	After hiking for two days, the climbers finally reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. Since climate change policy has been mired in congressional fighting, this summit should help set the goals for president's next term.
supercilious	adjective: haughty and disdainful; looking down on others	Nelly felt the Quiz Bowl director acted superciliously towards the underclassmen; really, she fumed, must he act so preternaturally omniscient each time he intones some obscure fact—as though everybody knows that Mt. Aconcagua is the highest peak in South America.
superfluous	adjective: serving no useful purpose adjective: more than is needed, desired, or required	How can we hope to stay open if we don't eliminate all superfluous spending, like catered meetings and free acupucture Tuesday? The third paragraph in your essay is superfluous and can be deleted.
supplant	verb: take the place or move into the position of	For many, a cell phone has supplanted a traditional phone; in fact, most 20-somethings don't even have a traditional phone anymore.
surfeit	noun: an excessive amount of something	There was no such thing as a surfeit of shopping for Nancy--she could stay at the outlet stores from opening to closing time.
surly	adjective: inclined to anger or bad feelings with overtones of menace	Every morning, Bhavin was a surly unhappy person, but once he ate breakfast, he became loving, laughing, and a joy to be around.
surreptitious	adjective: stealthy, taking pains not to be caught or detected	Since his mom was a light sleeper, Timmy had to tiptoe surreptitiously through the entire house, careful to not make the floors creak, until he at last was able to enjoy his plunder: a box of chocolate chip cookies.
sybarite	noun: a person who indulges in luxury	Despite the fact that he’d maxed out fifteen credit cards, Max was still a sybarite at heart: when the police found him, he was at a $1,000 an hour spa in Manhattan, getting a facial treatment.
sycophant	noun: a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage	The CEO was unaware of the damaging consequences of his choices, largely because he surrounded himself with sycophants who would never dare criticize him.
taciturn	adjective: habitually reserved and uncommunicative	While the CEO enthusiastically shares his plans and agenda with all who will listen, the CFO is far more taciturn, rarely revealing his perspective.
tact	noun: consideration in dealing with others and avoiding giving offense	In a tremendous display of tact, Shelly was able to maintain a strong friendship with Marcia, even though Marcia's husband, Frank, confessed to finding Shelley more attractive than Marcia.
tantamount	adjective: being essentially equal to something	In many situations, remaining silent is tantamount to admitting guilt, so speak to prove your innocence.
tarnish	verb: make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically	Pete Rose was one of the best baseball players of his generation, but his involvement with gambling on baseball games has tarnished his image in the eyes of many.
tawdry	adjective: tastelessly showy; cheap and shoddy	Carol expected to find New York City magical, the way so many movies had portrayed it, but she was surprised how often tawdry displays took the place of genuine elegance.
taxing	adjective: use to the limit; exhaust	The hike to the summit of Mt. Whitney was so taxing that I could barely speak or stand up.
telling	adjective: significant and revealing of another factor	Her unbecoming dress was very telling when it came to her sense of fashion.
telltale	adjective: revealing	The many telltale signs of chronic smoking include yellow teeth, and a persistent, hacking cough.
temerity	noun: fearless daring	No child has the temerity to go in the rundown house at the end of the street and see if it is haunted.
temperance	noun: the trait of avoiding excesses	Welles wasn't known for his temperance--he usually ate enough for two and drank enough for three.
tempered	adjective: moderated in effect	The wide-eyed optimism of her youth was now tempered after she had worked many years in the criminal justice system.
tempestuous	adjective: as if driven by turbulent or conflicting emotions; highly energetic and wildly changing or fluctuating	Chuck and Kathy had always been stable and agreeable people on their own, but when they got involved, it was a tempestuous relationship.
tenacious	adjective: stubbornly unyielding	Even the most tenacious advocates for gun ownership must admit some of the dangers that firearms present.
tenacious	adjective: stubbornly unyielding	Even the most tenacious advocates for gun ownership must admit some of the dangers that firearms present.
tendentious	adjective: likely to lean towards a controversial view	Because political mudslinging has become a staple of the 24-hour media cycle, most of us, despite protestations to the contrary, are tendentious on many of today’s pressing issues.
tender	verb: offer up something formally	The government was loath to tender more money in the fear that it might set off inflation.
The document clearly indicated that Nick was out of the state at the time of the crime, and so served to exonerate him of any charges.	verb: gain favor with somebody by deliberate efforts	Even though Tom didn't like his new boss, he decided to ingratiate himself to her in order to advance his career.
thoroughgoing	adjective: very thorough; complete	As a thoroughgoing bibliophile, one who had turned his house into a veritable library, he shocked his friends when he bought a Kindle.
thrifty	adjective: spending money wisely	He was economical, spending his money thriftily and on items considered essential.
thwart	verb: hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of	I wanted to spend a week in New York this autumn, but the high costs of travel and lodging thwarted my plans.
timorous	adjective: timid by nature or revealing fear and nervousness	Since this was her first time debating on stage and before an audience, Di's voice was timorous and quiet for the first 10 minutes.
tirade	noun: an angry speech	In terms of political change, a tirade oftentimes does little more than make the person speaking red in the face.
To say that Gandhi's actions were laudable is the greatest understatement; he overthrew an empire without violence.	verb: pronounce not guilty of criminal charges	The document clearly indicated that Nick was out of the state at the time of the crime, and so served to exonerate him of any charges.
torpor	noun: inactivity resulting from lethargy and lack of vigor or energy	After work, I was expecting my colleagues to be enthusiastic about the outing, but I found them in a state of complete torpor.
tortuous	adjective: marked by repeated turns and bends; not straightforward	Because the logic behind McMahon's side of the debate was so tortuous, his audience came out either completely confused or, worse, feeling they'd been tricked.
tout	verb: advertize in strongly positive terms; show off	At the conference, the CEO touted the extraordinary success of his company's Research & Development division.
tractable	adjective: readily reacting to suggestions and influences; easily managed (controlled or taught or molded)	Compared to middle school students, who have an untamed wildness about them, high school students are somewhat more tractable.
transient	adjective: lasting a very short time	The unpredictable and transient nature of deja vu makes it a very difficult phenomenon to study properly.
transitory	adjective: lasting a very short time	If we lived forever and life was not transitory, do you think we would appreciate life less or more?
transmute	verb: change or alter in form, appearance, or nature	One of the goals of alchemy was to find the substance or process that would transmute lead into gold.
travail	noun: use of physical or mental energy; hard work; agony or anguish	While they experienced nothing but travails in refinishing the kitchen, they completed the master bedroom in less than a weekend.
travesty	noun: an absurd presentation of something; a mockery	What I expected to be an intelligent, nuanced historical documentary turned out to be a poorly-produced travesty of the form.
treacherous	adjective: tending to betray adjective: dangerously unstable and unpredictable	Even though Jesse James was an outlaw, his killer, Robert Ford, is remembered more for his treacherous actions than for eliminating a criminal and murder. The bridge built from twine and vine is treacherous to walk across, and so I think I will stay put right here.
trenchant	adjective: characterized by or full of force and vigor; having keenness and forcefulness and penetration in thought, expression, or intellect	Jill presented a rather superficial treatment of sales in Asia, but her trenchant analysis of sales in Europe inspired a number of insights into how to proceed in that market.
tribulation	noun: something, especially an event, that causes difficulty and suffering	As of 2013, nearly 1.5 million Syrians have fled their country hoping to escape the tribulations of a civil war tearing their country to pieces.
trite	adjective: repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse	Many style guides recommend not using idioms in writing because these trite expressions are uninteresting and show a lack of imagination on the part of the writer.
truculence	noun: defiant aggressiveness	When the boss confronted Aaron about his earlier remarks, Aaron responded with utter truculence, simply throwing a glass of water in the boss' face and walking away.
truculent	adjective: having a fierce, savage nature	Standing in line for six hours, she became progressively truculent, yelling at DMV employees and elbowing other people waiting in line.
truncate	verb: reduce the length of something	The soccer game was truncated when the monsoon rain began to fall.
tumult	noun: a state of chaos, noise and confusion	Riots broke out just in front of our apartment building, and the tumult continued late into the night.
turgid	adjective: (of language) pompous and tedious	The amount of GRE vocabulary he used increased with his years--by the time he was 60, his novels were so turgid that even his diehard fans refused to read them.
turpitude	noun: depravity; a depraved act	During his reign, Caligula indulged in unspeakable sexual practices, so it not surprising that he will forever be remembered for his turpitude.
tyro	noun: someone new to a field or activity	All great writers, athletes, and artists were tyros at one time—unknown, clumsy, and unskilled with much to learn.
umbrage	noun: a feeling of anger caused by being offended	Since he was so in love with her, he took umbrage at her comments, even though she had only meant to gently tease him.
unassailable	adjective: immune to attack; without flaws	Professor Williams is so self-assured as to seem arrogant, presenting each and every opinion as an unassailable fact.
uncanny	adjective: suggesting the operation of supernatural influences; surpassing the ordinary or normal	Reggie has an uncanny ability to connect with animals: feral cats will readily approach him, and sometimes even wild birds will land on his finger.
uncompromising	adjective: not making concessions	The relationship between Bart and Hilda ultimately failed because they were both so uncompromising, never wanting to change their opinions.
unconscionable	adjective: unreasonable; unscrupulous; excessive	The lawyer’s demands were so unconscionable that rather than pay an exorbitant sum or submit himself to any other inconveniences, the defendant decided to find a new lawyer.
undermine	adjective: to weaken (usually paired with an abstract term)	The student undermined the teacher’s authority by questioning the teacher’s judgment on numerous occasions.
underscore	verb: give extra weight to (a communication)	While the hiking instructor agreed that carrying a first aid kit could be a good idea under certain circumstances, he underscored the importance of carrying enough water.
underwrite	verb: to support financially	The latest symphony broadcast was made possible with underwriting from the Carnegie Endowment.
unequivocal	adjective: admitting of no doubt or misunderstanding; having only one meaning or interpretation and leading to only one conclusion	The President's first statement on the subject was vague and open to competing interpretations, so when he spoke to Congress about the same subject later, he was cafeful to make his position completely unequivocal.
unflappable	adjective: not easily perturbed or excited or upset; marked by extreme calm and composure	The house shook and the ground quaked, but my dad was unflappable and comforted the family.
unforthcoming	adjective: uncooperative, not willing to give up information	The teacher demanded to know who broke the window while he was out of the room, but the students understandably were unforthcoming.
unimpeachable	adjective: free of guilt; not subject to blame; beyond doubt or reproach	After his long and unimpeachable service to the company, Sharat felt that a gold watch was a slap in the face rather than an honor.
unnerve	verb: to make nervous or upset	At one time unnerved by math problems, she began avidly “Magoosh-ing”, and soon became adept at even combinations and permutations questions.
unprecedented	adjective: having never been done or known before; novel	When America first created its national parks, the idea of setting aside the most beautiful land in a country was unprecedented in the history of mankind.
unprepossessing	adjective: creating an unfavorable or neutral first impression	World leaders coming to meet Gandhi would expect a towering sage, and often would be surprised by the unprepossessing little man dressed only in a loincloth and shawl.
unpropitious	adjective: (of a circumstance) with little chance of success	With only a bottle of water and a sandwich, the hikers faced an unpropitious task: ascending a huge mountain that took most two days to climb.
unruly	adjective: (of persons) noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline; unwilling to submit to authority	Walk in to any preschool and I am sure that you will find an unruly and chaotic scene—unless it's nap time.
unscrupulous	adjective: without scruples or principles	In the courtroom, the lawyer was unscrupulous, using every manner of deceit and manipulation to secure a victory for himself.
unseemly	adjective: not in keeping with accepted standards of what is right or proper in polite society	He acted in an unseemly manner, insulting the hostess and then speaking ill of her deceased husband.
unstinting	adjective: very generous	Helen is unstinting with her time, often spending hours at the house of a sick friend.
untenable	adjective: (of theories etc) incapable of being defended or justified	With the combination of Kepler's brilliant theories and Galileo's telescopic observations, the old geocentric theory became untenable to most of the educated people in Europe.
untoward	adjective: unfavorable; inconvenient	Some professors find teaching untoward as having to prepare for lectures and conduct office hours prevents them from focusing on their research.
untrammeled	adjective: not confined or limited	untrammeled inspired the American Revolution and was enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
unviable	adjective: not able to work, survive, or succeed (also spelled inviable).	The plan was obviously unviable considering that it lead to complete environmental destruction in the river valley.
upbraid	verb: to reproach; to scold	Bob took a risk walking into the "Students Barbershop"—in the end he had to upbraidthe apparently drunk barber for giving him an uneven bowl cut.
urbane	adjective: showing a high degree of refinement and the assurance that comes from wide social experience	Because of his service as an intelligence officer and his refined tastes, W. Somerset Maugham became the inspiration for the urbane and sophistcate spy James Bond.
vacillate	verb: be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action	Some students vacillate between schools when deciding which to attend, while others focus only on one school.
vacuous	adjective: devoid of intelligence, matter, or significance	To the journalist's pointed question, the senator gave a vacuous response, mixing a few of his overall campaign slogans with platitudes and completely avoiding the controversial subject of the question.
vanquish	verb: come out better in a competition, race, or conflict	For years, Argentina would dominate in World Cup qualifying matches, only to be vanquished by one of the European countries during the late stages of the tournament.
variance	noun: the quality of being different	The cynic quipped, “There is not much variance in politicians; they all seem to lie”.
vaunted	adjective: highly or widely praised or boasted about	For years, they had heard of New York City's vaunted skyline, and when they finally saw it, the spectacular cityscape did not disappoint them in the least.
vehement	adjective: marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions	While the other employees responded to the bad news in a measured way, Andrew responded in a vehement manner, tipping over his desk and shouting at the top of his lungs.
venality	noun: the condition of being susceptible to bribes or corruption	Even some of the most sacred sporting events are not immune to venality, as many of the officials have received substantial bribes to make biased calls.
veneer	noun: covering consisting of a thin superficial layer that hides the underlying substance	Mark Twain referred to the Victorian Period in America as the "Gilded Age", implying the ample moral corruption that lay beneath a mere veneer of respectability.
venerate	verb: to respect deeply	The professor, despite his sleep-inducing lectures, was veneratedamongst his colleagues, publishing more papers yearly than all of his peers combined.
venial	adjective: easily excused or forgiven; pardonable	His traffic violations ran the gamut from the venial to the egregious—on one occasion he simply did not come to a complete stop; another time he tried to escape across state lines at speeds in excess of 140 mph.
veracious	adjective: truthful	While we elect our leaders in the hope that every word they speak will be veracious, history has shown that such a hope is naive.
verisimilitude	noun: the appearance of truth	All bad novels are bad for numerous reasons; all good novels are good for their verisimilitude of reality, placing the readers in a world that resembles the one they know.
veritable	adjective: truthfully, without a doubt	Frank is a veritable life-saver -- last year, on two different occasions, he revived people using CPR.
vicarious	adjective: felt or undergone as if one were taking part in the experience or feelings of another	The advent of twitter is a celebrity stalker's dream, as he or she can—through hundreds of intimate "tweets"—vicariously live the life of a famous person.
vicissitude	noun: change in one’s circumstances, usually for the worse	Even great rulers have their vicissitudes—massive kingdoms have diminished overnight, and once beloved kings have faced the scorn of angry masses.
vie	verb: compete for something	While the other teams in the division actively vie for the championship, this team seems content simply to go through the motions of playing.
vilify	verb: spread negative information about	Todd was noble after the divorce, choosing to say only complimentary things about Barbara, but Barbara did not hesitate to vilify Todd.
vindicate	verb: to clear of accusation, blame, suspicion, or doubt with supporting arguments or proof	Even seven Tour de France wins cannot vindicate Lance Armstrong in the eyes of the public--that the athlete used performance enhancing drugs invalidates all those wins.
vindictive	adjective: to have a very strong desire for revenge	Though the other girl had only lightly poked fun of Vanessa's choice in attire, Vanessa was so vindictive that she waited for an entire semester to get the perfect revenge.
virago	noun: an ill-tempered or violent woman	Poor Billy was the victim of the virago’s invective—she railed at him for a good 30-minutes about how he is the scum of the earth for speaking loudly on his cellphone in public.
vitriol	noun: abusive or venomous language used to express blame or bitter deep-seated ill will	His vitriol spewed forth from a deep-seated racism that consumed his whole life.
vitriolic	adjective: harsh or corrosive in tone	While the teacher was more moderate in her criticism of the other student's papers, she was vitriolic toward Peter's paper, casting every flaw in the harshest light.
vituperate	adjective: to criticize harshly; to berate	Jason had dealt with disciplinarians before, but nothing prepared him for the first week of boot camp, as drill sergeants vituperated him for petty oversights such as forgetting to double knot the laces on his boots.
vociferous	adjective: conspicuously and offensively loud; given to vehement outcry	In giving Marcia a particular vociferous response, Paul caused people at every other table in the restaurant to turn around an look at them angrily.
volubility	noun: the quality of talking or writing easily and continuously	The professor's volubility knows no bounds; he could talk through a hurricane and elaborate a point from one St. Patrick's Day to the next.
voracious	adjective: very hungry; approaching an activity with gusto	Steven was a voracious reader, sometimes finishing two novels in the same day.
wanting	adjective: lacking	She did not think her vocabulary was wanting, yet there were so many words that inevitably she found a few she didn't know.
wanton	adjective: without check or limitation; showing no moral restraints to one's anger, desire, or appetites	Due to wanton behavior and crude language, the drunk man was thrown out of the bar and asked to never return.
wax	verb: to gradually increase in size or intensity	Her enthusiasm for the diva’s new album only waxed with each song; by the end of the album, it was her favorite CD yet.
whimsical	adjective: determined by impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason	Adults look to kids and envy their whimsical nature at times, wishing that they could act without reason and play without limitation.
winsome	adjective: charming in a childlike or naive way	She was winsome by nature, and many people were drawn to this free and playful spirit.
zeitgeist	noun: spirit of the times	Each decade has its own zeitgeist—the 1990’s was a prosperous time in which the promise of the American Dream never seemed more palpable.
zenith	noun: the highest point; culmination	At the zenith of his artistic career, Elvis was outselling any other artist on the charts.