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Vocabulary


Ab initio – Latin: from the beginning
Abashed – embarrassed; disconcerted; ashamed.
Abate – end; reduce
Abattoir – slaughterhouse
Abdicate – renounce or step down from a position of authority
Aberrant – straying from the right or normal way
Abet – to assist or support
Abhor – hate; loathe
Abject – lowest state; servile; humble; utter hopelessness
Abjure – to reject solemnly; disavow
Abnegate – surrender or relinquish; deny or renounce
Abscond – to depart secretly; to steal away, particularly to avoid arrest or prosecution
Absolve – To pronounce free from blame, sin or guilt.
Abstain – refrain from
Abstruse – difficult to understand or comprehend
Abut – to touch or meet
Abysmal – bottomless; terrible
Acclimate – to get used to
Accost – confront; approach aggressively
Acme – pinnacle
Acolyte - assistant
Acquiesce – agree to
Acrimony – bitter hatred
Acumen – quickness of perception or discernment
Ad nauseam – to a nauseating or sickening degree.
Adjourn – postpone
Adjudicate – settle a dispute
Adjunct – a subordinate
Adjure – formally command; earnestly appeal or advise
Ado – fuss; bother; trouble
Adonis – beautiful young man loved by Aphrodite.
Adroitly – skillfully
Advent – approach
Alacrity – eager; prompt
Amiable – friendly
Anathema – one intensely disliked; ban or curse pronounced with religious solemnity by ecclesiastical authority, often accompanied by excommunication; denunciation of anything as accursed
Anthemia – A pattern of honeysuckle or palm leaves in a radiating cluster, used as a motif in Greek art
Arcane – Understood by only a few; obscure; requiring secret or mysterious knowledge; esoteric
Ardor – intensity; passion; zeal
Brazen – immodest; shameful; harsh
Bucolic – Rustic, pastoral, country-styled
Construe – interpret
Coup – a quick, brilliant, and highly successful act; a triumph; coup d'ιtat
Coup d’ιtat - the sudden overthrow of a government, differing from a revolution by being carried out by a small group of people who replace only the leading figures
Coup de grβce – a final blow or that kills a wounded person or animal
Dearth – famine; shortage
Debauched – corrupted; immoral; self-indulgent
Debonair – suave; urbane; sophisticated; charming; gracious; courteous
Dilettante – an amateur
Disdain – contempt; derision; scorn
Echelon – level or rank in an organization, profession, or society
Egregious – exceptional bad
Elan – ardor inspired by passion or enthusiasm
Elucidate – to clarify
Emblazon – to adorn or inscribe
Emblematic – is a good example of something
Enclave – group set apart
Encroach – to intrude unrightfully on someone else's rights or territory  
Engender – conceive;
Enigmatic – mysterious
Enmity – hostility
Ennui – boredom; languor
Ensconce – to place something securely
Ephemeral – lasting only a short time; brief; transitory
Epicurean – pursuing pleasure, especially in reference to food or comfort
Epiphany – illuminating realization or discovery, often; manifestation or appearance of a divine or superhuman being.
Equity – fairness
Equivocate – to use words or expressions with more than one meaning with the intent to deceive
Ergo – therefore
Errant – wayward; delinquent
Erroneous – mistaken; inaccurate
Ersatz – fake
Erstwhile – former
Erudite – learned; scholarly; book learned
Eschew – avoid; shun
Esoteric - understood by only a few; obscure; requiring secret or mysterious knowledge; arcane
Espouse – to accept, support, or take on as one’s own
Esprit de corps – group loyalty
Estranged – having become a stranger, of one who formerly was close, as a relative, friend, lover, or spouse
Ethereal – pertaining to the heavenly realm; celestial; otherworldly; delicate; light; airy;
Eulogize – to praise, celebrate or pay homage
Euphemism – a word used in the place of a offensive or vulgar word
Euphonious – pleasant-sounding; agreeable to the ear;
Euphoria – ecstasy; elation; jubilation; rapture
Exacerbate – to make worse
Excise – remove
Expunge – erase
Extol – praise
Faux – fake
Feral – untamed; undomesticated; wild; animal-like
Florid – ornate; extravagant; flowery
Fractious – irritable; peevish; testy
FUBAR – Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition
Gratuitous – unwarranted
Hackney – trite; in common use
Imperious – domineering; authoritative
Impiety – wickedness; sinfulness; immorality; irreverence
Indisposed – reluctant
Inscrutable – unfathomable
Insular – separate or isolated from its surroundings
Juxtapose – to place side by side, especially for contrast or comparison
Lackadaisical – showing no interest or enthusiasm
Laconic – concise; pithy; terse
Laggard – someone who lags behind
Laissez-faire – a policy of non-interference by authority in any competitive process
Languor – listless; exhaustion; sluggishness
Lascivious – wanton; lewd; driven by lust; lustful.
Lechery – inordinate indulgence in sexual activity
Licentious – lacking restraint; ignoring societal standards, particularly in sexual conduct
Loath – unwilling; reluctant; averse; disinclined
Loathe – hate, abhor
Loquacious – talkative
Lupine – Wolf-like; wolfish
Macabre – representing or personifying death; obsessed with death or the gruesome; ghastly
Malign – malevolent; having evil influence or intention
Mercurial – Volatile; erratic; unstable; flighty; fickle; changeable in temperament; lively; animated
Meretricious – tastelessly gaudy; making a false show of being attractive; of, or relating to prostitutes or prostitution; pretentious
Misanthropy – hatred or dislike of people or mankind
Obfuscate – to deliberately make more confusing in order to conceal the truth
Obstinate – stubborn
Obtuse – blunt; dim-witted
Pariah – outcast; subject to scorn
Perverse – turned away from what is good, true, morally correct, or commonly accpeted
Piquant – engaging; charming; pleasantly spicy; stimulating
Pirouette – a whirling or turning on the toes in dancing
Plait – a braid; a flat fold; a pleat
Portmanteau – combining more than one use or quality; a large traveling bag
Prevaricate – deviate from the truth
Putsch - the sudden overthrow of a government; coup d'ιtat
Quip – a smart, sarcastic turn or jest; a taunt; a severe retort
Reciprocate – respond; give back
Reciprocity - revenge
Rue – regret; pity
Shuck –cast off; remove shell
SNAFU – Situation Normal: All Fucked Up
Stalwart – Firmly built; courageous
Stoic – indifferent to pleasure or pain or comfort
Sublimation – when a solid changes into a gas bypassing the liquid stage
Transitory – lasting only a short time; brief;
Tress – a braid, knot, or curl, of hair; a ringlet.
Urbane – courteous; polite; refined; suave
Wanton – undisciplined; unruly; lewd; immoral; unchaste
Whelp – wolf cub

 

 

 

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