degradation Abhor hate Abrasive rough; coarse; harsh Abridge shorten Abrogate cancel

35 Pages·2009·0.35 MB·English

word definition
Abasement humiliation; degradation
Abhor hate
Abrasive rough; coarse; harsh
Abridge shorten
Abrogate cancel; deny; repeal yellow bold
Absolution forgiveness; pardon; release words are
Abstain desist; go without; withdraw those that
Abstemious holding back from eating or drinking too much numerous
Abstemious self denying; refraining from indulging sources have
Abstruse difficult to understand; obscure identified as
Accessible available; ready for use words to
Acclaim to express strong approval or praise; hail know for the
Accolade tribute; honor; praise SAT
Acoustics the quality of sound, pertaining to how it is heard based on the quality and structure of the room
Acquiesce to agree to; give in to
Acrid sharp; pungent (used of smells and tastes)
Acrid bitter, harsh
Acrophobia fear of heights
Acuity sharpness (mental or visual)
Acute keen-minded; sharp
Adamant unwilling to bend; unyielding
Adamant forceful; inflexible
Adept Very skilled, able, or proficient.
Adroit skilful
Adulate to praise or flatter too greatly; fawn over
Adulation strong admiration; worship
Adversary an opponent
Adversity great trouble or difficulty
Adversity hardship
Advocate One who acts in support or defense of a person or cause.
Advocate support
Aesthetic Pertaining to what is considered beautiful or tasteful.
Aesthetic concerning art or beauty
Aesthetic having to do with artistic beauty
Affable easy to talk to; easy to approach, friendly; kind; amiable
Affable friendly; social; easygoing
Aggregate a sum total or mixture
Alacrity eagerness; enthusiasm; quickness
Alchemy medieval chemistry; attempt to change base metal into gold
Alibi an excuse that shows someone was not at a crime scene
Alimentary relating to food and nourishment
Allay to lessen fear; to calm; to relieve pain
Allay to lessen
Alleviate to lessen pain or tension
Alleviate make less severe
Allusion an indirect reference, often to literature
Aloof distant; detached; cold
Aloof uninterested; showing no concern; emotionally removed or distant
Altruism putting others first; being self-sacrificing
Altruistic showing an unselfish concern for others
Amass accumulate
Ambiguity uncertainty; vagueness
Ambiguous unclear in meaning; can be interpreted in different ways
Ambiguous hard to understand; unclear; open to more than one interpretation
Ambivalence lack of clarity; wavering; being undecided
Ambivalent having conflicting feelings or opinions about something; unsure
Ambulatory able to walk around (used of hospital patients)
Ameliorate to make better; to lessen pain, difficulty, or tension
Ameliorate make better
Amelioration improvement
Amiable friendly
Amiable friendly, kind
Amicable showing goodwill; peaceable
Amity friendship
Amorphous lacking in shape
Ample abundant; plentiful; enough or more than enough
Anachronism Something out of its correct chronological or historical order.
Analgesic medicine to combat pain
Analogous comparable
Anarchy chaos; lack of government
Anecdote A short account of an interesting or humorous, often biographical, incident.
Anecdote a brief amusing story
Animosity hatred; ill will
Animosity hatred; antagonism
Annex a building which is an addition to an existing building
Annex take possession of; seize; capture
Anomaly something which does not fit in a pattern; irregularity
Antagonism hatred or hostility
Antagonism hostility; strong opposition
Antagonistic opposed; hostile; aggressive
Antediluvian very, very old; antiquated
Antediluvian outdated; prehistoric; very old-fashioned
Anthology a book which is a collection of poems or stories
Anthropocentrism putting man at the center of one's philosophy
Antidote something that relieves or prevents; a remedy that counteracts the effects of poison
Antiquated outdated; old fashioned
Antiquated very old and no longer in use; obsolete
Antiquity ancient times
Apathetic indifferent; uninterested; lethargic
Apathetic indifferent; showing no care, interest, or concern; lacking emotion
Apathy lack of interest or emotion
Apocryphal of doubtful origin
Appease pacify; soothe; calm down; make peace with
Appease to make tranquil or quiet, especially by giving into demands; to pacify
Apprehensive Uneasy, anxious, or fearful about the future; quick to understand or learn.
Apprehensive worried; fearful
Arable can be cultivated
Arbitrary random; for no definite reason
Arcane obscure; known only to a few people
Archaic ancient; outdated; old fashioned
Archaic old; from a much earlier time; antiquated
Archetype classic example of
Archives collections of old records; place of storage of old documents
Ardent full of passion and emotion
Arid dry, lacking water
Arrogance An offensive display of self-importance or superiority; overbearing pride.
Arrogant overbearing; proud; haughty
Articulate clear; lucid; eloquent
Artifice deception; trickery
Artisan craftsman
Artisan a person who is skillful with his or her hands
Ascetic without luxuries; severely simple
Ascetic a person who refrains from indulging in earthly pleasures
Ascetic a person who refrains from indulging in earthly pleasures
Aspire to work toward or to have a goal
Assiduous thorough; diligent
Assuage to alleviate; to lessen pain or conflict; pacify
Assuage to calm
Astute perceptive; sharp-witted
Astute sharp-minded; very clear
Asylum place of refuge or safety
Atheist person who does not believe in God
Atheistic without a belief in any god
Atrophy waste away from lack of use
Attenuate weaken
Audacious very bold
Augment increase; make bigger
Auspicious favorable; promising to turn out well
Austere having great economy; showing self-control when it comes to foregoing luxuries, frills; stern in manner
Austere severely plain
Autonomous independent
Avarice greed
Aversion a dislike of
Aviary an enclosed space for birds
Avid showing enthusiasm; ardent
Balk hinder and prevent; hesitate over
Banal dull or stale because of overuse; trite; hackneyed
Banal common; dull
Banality ordinariness; dullness
Baneful causing ruin; harmful; pernicious
Bellicose of a quarrelsome nature; eager to fight; warlike; belligerent
Belligerent taking part in war or fighting ready to fight
Benevolent giving freely and easily to others; charitable
Berate to rebuke or scold in a harsh tone
Bigot narrow-minded, prejudiced person
Bilk cheat; defraud
Billowing swelling; fluttering; waving
Blasphemy speech which offends religious sentiments
Blatant obvious
Blighted damaged; destroyed; ruined
Blithe free-spirited; carefree
Blunderbuss 1. ancient weapon (type of gun); 2. a clumsy person
Bolster support; prop up
Bolster to support; to strengthen
Bombast arrogant, pompous language
Boorish Crude, coarse, and clumsy in behavior; churlish, oafish, insensitive.
Boorish ill-mannered
Bourgeois middle class
Braggart on who boasts a great deal
Braggart someone who boasts
Brawny muscular
Brevity The quality of being brief in time or duration; concise expression.
Brevity briefness or conciseness in speech or writing
Brevity being brief
Bristle to show irritation
Broach start to discuss; approach
Brusque blunt; abrupt
Bulwark fortification; barricade; wall
Bureaucracy officialdom
Burgeon grow; flourish; put forth new shoots
Burnish polish
Buttress strengthen; support
Byline the line that tells you who wrote an article
Cacophony discordant loud noises
Cacophony lack of harmony; loud and unpleasant noise; a racket
Cajole coax
Caldron huge cooking pot
Callow immature
Candid frank; honest
Candor frankness; openness
Candor honesty, sincerity
Cantankerous bad-tempered; quarrelsome
Cantankerous bad-tempered; quarrelsome
Capacious spacious
Capitulate surrender; give in to
Captious made for the sake of quarreling; quibbling
Carping constant criticism
Cartographer person who makes maps
Castigate to scold or punish severely
Castigate scold strongly
Catharsis purging of pent-up emotions
Cathartic Delivering catharsis; emotionally purging.
Caucus type of private political meeting
Caustic burning
Cavalcade procession of vehicles
Celerity speed
Censorious disapproving; critical
Censure To express disapproval in a strong or vehement fashion; to criticize or blame.
Censure to criticize strongly
Censure blame
Cerebral intellectual
Certitude certainty
Charlatan trickster who claims knowledge he doesn't have
Charlatan a fraud; a quack or imposter
Chary wary of; cautious about; reluctant to give
Chary cautious; wary
Chastise to punish or scold harshly
Chastises punishes
Chicanery trickery
Chimerical changeable; unstable
Choleric easily angered
Chronicler person who records historical information
Circuitous indirect
Circumlocution speaking in circles; roundabout speech
Circumlocution using too many words; long-windedness
Circumscribe limit
Circumspect cautious; considering all sides
Circumspect careful and cautious before acting
Circumvent avoid
Cite To quote as an authority or example; to mention in support or confirmation.
Clairvoyant psychic; mystic
Clamor shout; scream
Clamor unpleasant sound; noise
Clandestine secret; covert; stealthy
Clandestine hidden, secret, concealed
Clemency mercy
Cliché overused expression; something unoriginal
Cliché an idea or expression that has become stale due to overuse
Clientele customers
Coalesce come together; merge
Coalesce to have different opinions join together; fuse; converge
Coalesce to come together
Coddle pamper; fuss over; indulge
Coercion force
Cogent lucid; well argued
Cogitate think over something; ponder
Collage picture made from fragments of other pictures
Collate arrange in order
Colloquial pertaining to common everyday speech; conversational
Colloquial local and informal (used of language)
Collusion plotting and planning
Commandeer take possession of
Commendable Worthy of great praise or approval.
Complacent self-satisfied; smug
Complacent self-satisfied; smug
Complementary serving to complete another
Compliant easy to control; submissive
Compliant yielding, submissive
Concatenate link together
Concatenation linking into chains
Conciliate to bring together; end a dispute
Conciliate to win a person over through special considerations or persuasive methods
Conciliatory Attempting to regain goodwill through pleasantness; accommodating.
Concise using few words in speaking and writing
Concise stated in few words
Condescend talk down to
Conflagration a huge fire, an inferno
Confounding puzzling; baffling
Congenial compatible; having kindred needs or tastes; sympathetic
Conscientious relating to doing what one knows is right; scrupulous
Consensus Majority of opinion among a group; general agreement or accord.
Consummate Complete or perfect in every respect; supremely skilled.
Contemporary modern, new; relating to the same time period
Contemptuous lacking respect; scornful
Contentious quarrelsome; belligerent
Convalesce to recover from an illness
Convivial sociable, outgoing in a festive way, especially when pertaining to eating and drinking; fond of good company
Copious abundant; much; plentiful
Cordial warm and friendly; amiable
Counterfeit fake; false
Covert hidden; undercover
Covert secret, hidden
Cower recoil in fear or servility; shrink away from
Credible believable
Creditable praiseworthy
Credulous gullible; ready to believe anything
Crepuscular active at dawn and dusk
Cringe recoil; flinch; shy away
Cryptic puzzling; enigmatic
Cryptic hidden; hard to understand; mysterious; obscure
Culinary having to do with cooking, preparing meals
Cursory Performed hastily and without attention to detail; superficial.
Curtail cut short
Cynical believing that people act only out of selfish motives
Cynical believing that all others are motivated by self-interest
Debacle a failure or breakdown; a collapse that is often nonsensical
Debility weakness; incapacity
Debunk to prove wrong or false
Debunking exposing false claims or myths
Decathlon an athletic competition with ten events
Decorum dignified, correct behavior [decorous (a)]
Decoy lure; trap; trick
Deference respect
Defiant Boldly resisting authority or an opposing force; challenging.
Defoliate cause leaves to fall off
Defunct no longer in existence
Degradation deprivation; poverty; debasement
Delectable delicious
Deleterious harmful
Deleterious harmful to one’s health or overall welfare; pernicious
Deliberate to think over deeply
Delineation demarcation; explanation; definition; outlining
Delusion a false opinion or belief
Demur hesitate; refuse
Denounce condemn; speak out against
Depict To represent or characterize in words, pictures, or sculpture.
Deplete use up; lessen
Deplore regret
Depravity moral corruption
Deprecate to show mild disapproval
Deprecate criticize; denounce; to show mild disapproval
Deride To laugh at in scorn or treat with contempt; to ridicule.
Deride ridicule; make fun of; mock
Derivative unoriginal; taken from something already existing
Derogatory uncomplimentary
Desecrate to damage or pollute a holy place
Desecration spoiling something holy
Desist stop; discontinue; cease
Despondent having no hope; miserable
Destitution hardship; poverty; misery
Detached aloof; indifferent
Deter put off; prevent
Deteriorate worsen; decline
Detrimental harmful
Detrimental harmful
Devious dishonest or deceptive
Devoured greedily eaten/consumed
Dexterous skilful with hands
Dichotomy a division into two parts
Didactic intended to teach; instructive
Diffident lacking confidence
Diffuse spread out, not concise; wordy
Digress wander off the subject
Digress to wander off from the subject or topic spoken about
Dike dam; embankment
Dilatory slow; falling behind with one's work
Dilemma puzzling situation
Dilettante person who dabbles in a subject without serious study
Diligent hard-working
Din ongoing loud sound; noise
Diorama model of a scene
Dirge mournful song
Disapprobation disapproval
Discern to distinguish one thing from another
Discerning able to judge people and situations clearly
Discord disagreement
Discordancy cacophony; harshness; jarring
Discordant lacking harmony or agreement
Discrepancy something which does not match up; inconsistency
Discrepancy a difference
Discriminate to make a clear distinction; see the difference
Discursiveness long windedness; indirectness
Disdain contempt; strong dislike
Disdainful full of bitter scorn and pride; aloof
Disinterested unbiased
Disparage To speak of with disrespect; to belittle or depreciate.
Disparage criticize; belittle
Disparity Lack of equality or similarity; difference.
Disparity an inequality