Verbigerate's Vocabulary Builder
If you know of any words that you feel should be on this list, please E-mail me. Thanks :)
Abase - to degrade; humiliate
Abash - embarrass
Abate - to reduce; do away with
Abattoir - slaughterhouse
Abecedarian - a person who studies or teaches the alphabet; elementary or basic
Abeyance - suspended action
Abhor - detest
Ab Initio - from the beginning
Abiogenesis - the process, once thought possible, by which life could proceed from nonliving
matter
Abjure - to disclaim formally or disclaim upon oath
Ablate - to remove or become reduced by erosion or evaporation
Ablution - the act of washing one's body; cleansing
Abnegate - to deny to oneself; renounce; surrender
Abominate - to loathe; detest
Abortive - unsuccessful; fruitless
Abrade - to roughen or wear away the surface by rubbing
Abreaction - the release of pent-up emotions through verbalizing a previous event that caused a
conflict
Abrogate - to rescind; abolish by formal action
Abscond - to leave quickly and secretively
Absolutized - made absolute; converted to an absolute
Absonant - discordant
Absquatulate - to decamp
Abstemious - sparing in eating and drinking; temperate
Abstruse - difficult to understand; obscure; profound
Abut - to border; to have a common boundary or frontier
Abysmal - bottomless
Accede - agree
Acclivity - an upward slope of ground
Accouterments - personal clothing, accessories, or equipment
Accoutre - equip
Accretion - growth; increase
Acerbic - sharply or bitingly ironic
Acidulous - sour; ill-tempered
Acquiesce - to comply passively; to give in
Acrid - sharp; bitterly pungent
Actuate- motivate
Adamantine - unyielding; inflexible
Addle - muddle; drive crazy; become rotten
Adjuration - solemn urging
Ad Libitum - in accordance with one’s wishes; ad lib.
Ad Rem - pertinent to the matter or person at issue; directed at the specific thing
Adroit - smoothly skillful; deft; clever
Adulation - fulsome flattery; excessive admiration
Adumbrate - to suggest partly; to foreshadow vaguely
Adventitious - accidental; casual
Advert - refer (to)
Aegis - protection; patronage; supervision
Aesopian - conveying an innocent meaning to an outsider but a concealed meaning to an informed
member of a conspiracy or underground movement
Affable - courteous
Affectation - a manner of speech or behavior not natural to one’s actual personality or capabilities
Affected - artificial; pretended
Afflatus - a creative impulse; divine inspiration
A Fortiori - all the more certainly
Agathism - the belief that things ultimately lead to good
Agglomeration - collection; heap; an indiscriminately formed mass
Agglutinate - to unite or combine into a group or mass
Aggrandize - to make great
Aggrieve - to distress; to mistreat
Agnate - from the father's side of the family
Agog - highly excited; intensely curious
Agora - assembly place
Ailurophile - a cat lover
Akimbo - having one's hands in a bent position on the hips; something slightly out of balance
Alacrity - cheerful readiness; liveliness
Albescent - shining out more conspicuously
Aleatory - based on chance
Alopecia - baldness; loss of hair
Amalgamate - combine; unite in one body
Amanuensis - one who takes dictation or copies manuscripts
Ambagious - devious
Ambient - surrounding on all sides; encompassing; enveloping
Ambivalent - having contradictory feelings
Ambulatory - able to walk or move about
Ameliorate - to improve; make better
Amenities - social courtesies; pleasantries; civilities
Amerce - deprive as a punishment
Amity - friendship (esp. between nations)
Ana - collection of materials that reflect a person or place
Analogue - something similar; another version of the same thing
Anathema - something or someone loathed or intensely disliked
Ancillary - auxiliary; aiding; supporting; subordinate
Anfractuous - full of twists and turns; winding; tortuous
Angler - one who tries to catch fish
Angst - A perpetual, even neurotic, state of anxiety
Animadversion - critical remark
Animate - (adj) living; pertaining to animal life; (v) to give life to; motivate; enliven; make cheerful
Animus - hostile feeling
Anneal - to strengthen; toughen
Anodyne - painkilling; soothing
Anon - later; soon (now/ever and anon --> from time to time)
Antediluvian - outmoded; old-fashioned
Antinomian - opposed to, defiant of, or rejecting moral law
Antinomy - contradiction between two seemingly true statements
Antipathy - opposition in feeling; aversion or dislike
Antipodal - exactly opposite
Aphoristic - characterized by concise, artful, quotable statements or principles
Aplomb - poise; composure
Apocryphal - untrue; made up
Apodictic - certain
Apogee - the farthest or highest point
Apoplexy - a stroke; becoming so angry as to be on the verge of exploding
Aposiopesis - an abrupt breaking off of an idea in the middle of a sentence that suggests the
speaker did not want to or was unable to continue
Apostate - someone who abandons one's religious faith (or party, etc.) for another
A Posteriori - arriving at a principled conclusion as a result of the examination of the facts;
reasoning from the particular to the generality
Apostrophe - digression
Apothegm - pithy, compact saying
Appellation - name; title
Appetence - craving
Application - diligent attention
Apposite - suited to the purpose; appropriate; apt
Apprise - inform
Approbation - approval
Apriorism - reasoning from principles to particulars
Aquiline - curved; hooked
Arbiter Elegantiae - the person who rules on matters of fashion, protocol, taste
Arcane - secret; mysterious; very unusual; the kind of thing generally known only to scholars
Argot - a dialect of a particular group
Arrant - notoriously without moderation; downright
Array - marshal, draw up in order; clothe, adorn
Arriviste - a social climber; an upstart
Arrogate - attribute to another without just reason
Arroyo - gully
Artifice - deception; trickery
Artificer - craftsman
Artless - without guile; open and honest
Ascendancy - controlling influence
Ascetic - (n) an austere person; (adj) disposed to do without luxuries; austere
Aseptic - surgically clean; free of germs
Asperity - sharpness (of the temper or tongue); roughness, unevenness (of a surface); severity (of
weather)
Aspirant - one who is ambitious of advancement or attainment
Assay - analyze; evaluate
Assent - agree; accept
Asseveratively - with positive or emphatic affirmation
Assiduous - diligent; marked by constant, unremitting attention
Assignation - assignment; something assigned; a tryst
Assonant - marked by resemblance of sound in words or syllables; resemblance
Assuage - ease; lessen (pain)
Astringent - tending to draw together or tighten living tissue; harsh; severe
Asunder - into parts; apart
Asymptotically - getting closer and closer to a goal, but never quite reaching it
Atavism - the reappearance of a previous trait after a period in which the trait had not appeared
Athwart - across; from one side to another; against; in opposition to
Atrabilious - inclined to melancholy
Atrophy - wasting away
Attenuate - make thin or slender; weaken; dilute (a liquid); to stretch out; prolong
Attrition - gradual wearing down
Aught - nothing; zero; cipher
Augury - omen; prophecy
August - majestic; noble and impressive
Auspices - the umbrella under which you operate; the patronage
Austere - strict; stern
Avatar - an archetype; a temporary incarnation of a continuing entity
Aver - state confidently
Averse - reluctant
Avuncular - the kind of thing you would expect from an uncle; benevolent
Awry - distorted; crooked
Babbitt - a member of the middle class who is so fond of its ideals as to be narrow-minded and
conceited
Bacchanal - a drunken reveler or orgy
Badinage - playful teasing; joking and repartee
Bagatelle - something of insignificance; a trifle; a short piece of music
Bailiwick - a particular area of expertise
Baleful - causing or willing evil
Balk - stop short, as if faced with an obstacle, and refuse to continue; foil
Balm - something that relieves pain
Banal - trite; hackneyed; vapid; lacking freshness, originality, or novelty
Banausic - routine; mechanical; boring
Bandy - to toss back and forth; exchange, use in a glib way
Bane - a cause of misery, worry, or anxiety; a person who constantly gets on one's nerves
Baneful - harmful
Barefaced - shameless; bold; unconcealed
Baroque - extravagantly ornate; flamboyant; characterized by bold ornamentation
Barrator - one who is constantly filing suits, esp. false and malicious suits
Bastinado - a beating; a form of punishment in which a person is hit on the soles of the feet with a
stick
Bate - let down; restrain
Bathos - a sudden transition from the illustrious to the commonplace; insincere pathos; triteness
Bavardage - chatter; idle talk
Bawdy - indecent; obscene
Beamish - smiling or glowing
Beatific - giving bliss; blissful; exulting; radiant
Bedizen - to dress in a gaudy fashion
Bedraggle - wet thoroughly
Behest - a command or earnest request
Beholden - under an obligation; bound in gratitude
Beldam - an ugly old woman; a raging woman
Beleaguered - hemmed in; bottled up; subjected to oppressive or grievous forces; harassed
Belie - to run counter to; to show something as false
Belletristic - speech or writing that consciously or unconsciously is more concerned with literary
quality than with meaning
Bellicose - characterized by military hostility; provocatively warlike
Bellwether - a person who assumes a leadership role or takes initiative; the guide by which one
measures other data
Beneficence - active goodness or kindness
Benison - blessing; benediction
Bent - determined; a natural talent or inclination
Bereft - deprived, especially by death; stripped; dispossessed
Beset - harass; trouble
Besmirch - to stain or sully, esp. a reputation
Bestir - to stir up; rouse into brisk, vigorous action
Bête Noire - something that is detested
Bevy - large group
Bias - diagonal or oblique line
Bibelot - a bauble; a small decorative object; a finely crafted miniature book
Bibulous - highly absorbent; given to or fond of alcoholic beverages
Bifurcate - to branch or separate into two parts
Bilious - ill-tempered; cranky; angry
Bilk - to defraud (a creditor) by avoiding payment of one's debts; to evade, give (someone) the
slip
Billingsgate - foul, vulgar, abusive talk
Birkie - (adj) lively; spirited (n) a spirited or lively man
Bivouac - a temporary encampment
Blanch - to turn pale
Blandishment - flattery
Blithe - happy; lighthearted; joyful
Bodkin - a small, sharply pointed tool for making holes in leather or fabric; a dagger; a long hairpin
Boîte - a small restaurant; a joint
Bombilation - buzzing; humming sound
Bonhomie - a genial disposition or atmosphere
Boondoggle - a useless or valueless project or activity
Boor - a rude or insensitive person
Borborygmus - a noise made by one's stomach when gas moves through the intestine
Bosky - wooded; covered with trees and shrubs
Bowdlerize - to censor prudishly
Bower - a cottage or abode; a shelter in a garden made of tree limbs
Bracing - (adj) invigorating; (v) preparing
Braggadocio - arrogant pretension; empty conceit
Bray - to crush into powder
Broach - to open up a subject for discussion
Brobdingnagian - huge
Bromide - cliché
Brook - to tolerate; put up with something
Bruit - to pass news of; repeat
Brummagem - bogus; fraudulent; cheap; showy
Brusque - blunt; abrupt
Bucolic - rustic; pastoral
Bugaboo - bugbear; object of baseless terror
Bugbear - an object of irritation or source of dread or abhorrence
Bull - an authoritative declaration or statement
Bumptious - pushy; conceited; noisily self-assertive
Bunkum - claptrap; empty or insincere chatter
Burden - the central theme; the principal idea
Burke - to suppress quietly or stifle; to disregard; to kill someone through suffocation
Burlesque - intentionally comic through exaggerated, light-hearted imitation
Burnish - make shiny by rubbing; polish
Byzantine - extremely intricate or complicated in structure
Cache - a hiding place; something hidden in a secret place
Cachet - a mark of distinction
Cachexia - physical ill health, with loss of weight and emaciation
Cachinnate - to laugh really hard; to guffaw
Cadge - to obtain by subtle begging
Cadre - a nucleus or core group, especially of trained personnel or active members of an
organization who are capable of assuming leadership or of training and indoctrinating others
Caduceus - Hermes' staff which had two serpents entwined around it; the symbol used to
represent the medical profession
Caducity - the frailty of old age; the quality of being perishable; transitoriness
Caeteris Paribus - if all other relevant things remain unaltered
Cajole - coax with flattery
Callipygian - having shapely buttocks
Callow - lacking in adult sophistication, experience, perception, or judgment
Calumniate - accuse falsely
Calumny - malicious misrepresentation; slander
Camorra - a secret Neapolitan society organized in the 1820s similar to the Mafia; any secret
group
Canard - a fabricated story; sensational report; hoax
Candor - truthfulness; great honesty; frankness; directness of expression
Canny - shrewd; thrifty
Canoodle - to caress or make love; to persuade through caressing
Cant - the expression or repetition of conventional, trite, or unconsidered ideas or sentiments
Canvass - determine or seek opinions, votes, etc.
Capacious - spacious
Capitulate - surrender
Capricious - fickle; incalculable
Captious - faultfinding; critical
Carious - decayed
Carousal - drunken revel
Carthaginian - totalist, as in the Roman destruction of Carthage in 146 B.C.
Carping - petty criticism; faultfinding; repeated complaining
Carte Blanche - complete discretionary powers
Caryatid - a column used for support that is shaped like a draped female figure
Cassandra - a person whose predictions or prophecies go unheeded
Castigation - punishment; severe criticism
Catachresis - the improper use of a word or phrase, esp. when for effect
Catechetical - relying on questions and answers or inculcate orthodoxy
Catechizing - severe questioning designed to illuminate moral guilt
Categorical - without exceptions; unqualified; absolute
Caterwauling - complaining loudly; screeching
Catholic - broad in tastes or understanding
Caustic - biting in humor
Cavalier - casual and offhand; arrogant
Cavil - to raise trivial objections; quibble
Cavort - to prance about
Celerity - speed; rapidity
Cenobite - a person who belongs to a convent
Censure - to blame; criticize
Cerebration - thought
Chagrin - disappointment or distress over one's own acts, plight, etc.
Champion - to support or defend
Chandler - candlemaker
Charnel - (adj) ghastly; suggesting death; (n) a tomb
Charybdis - a destructive hazard ("between scylla and charybdis" ---> between a rock and a hard
place)
Chasten - discipline; punish in order to correct
Chattel - an object of portable personal property; a slave
Check - to hold in restraint
Checkered - marked by changes in fortune
Chiaroscuro - using light and shade for representation in painting or drawing
Chicanery - trickery
Chiding - reproof; rebuke
Chiliastic - relating to the Second Coming; having to do with the reappearance of Christ on Earth
Chimerical - wildly fanciful; absurd
Choleric - angered easily; irascible
Chthonic - of or relating to the underworld
Churlish - boorish; rude
Cicatrice - a scar left when a wound heals
Cincture - (n) enclosure; act of encircling; belt; girdle; (v) to enclose; to encircle
Circumlocution - indirect or roundabout expresion
Circumspect - careful; prudent; discreet
Clandestine - secret
Clangor - loud, resounding noise
Claque - an audience paid to clap; an obsequious audience
Clerisy - the intellectual elite; intelligentsia
Climacteric - a decisive or critical period or stage in any course, career, or developmental process
Clime - region; climate
Cloister - monastery or convent
Clout - influence; a forceful blow
Coadjutor - a helper; assistant
Coagulate - thicken; congeal; clot
Coalesce - to come together as one; to fuse or unite
Cockalorum - a small man with a big opinion of himself; bragging
Coda - a concluding portion of a musical, literary, or dramatic work; anything that serves to
conclude, round out or summarize yet has an interest of its own
Codex - a volume in manuscript, esp. an ancient one
Codicil - an appendix, esp. to a will
Coeval - originating during the same period; contemporary
Coffle - a group of animals or prisoners chained in a line
Cogent - convincing
Cognate - related to each other; analogous
Cognoscente - a connoisseur; one with refined taste, esp. in the fine arts
Coiffure - hairstyle
Collation - a light meal
Collocate - arrange; organize
Colloquy - informal discussion
Collusion - conspiring in a fraudulent scheme
Colophon - an inscription on the last page of a book telling about its publication; a publisher's
trademark placed on the title page of a book
Color - to distort or misrepresent
Comity - courtesy; friendly civility; mutual consideration
Commensurate - equal in extent
Commiserate - feel or express pity or sympathy for
Commonweal - the common interest
Commove - to agitate; to move violently
Compendium - a comprehensive summary
Complaisant - trying to please; obliging
Complicity - participation in wrongdoing
Comport - to behave oneself in a particular manner; to agree; to suit
Compunction - remorse
Conation - the desire or will to perform conscious acts
Concatenation - chain of things or events
Concerted - arranged by mutual agreement; contrived or devised
Conciliatory - reconciling; soothing
Conclamant - crying out or shouting together
Conclave - a private or secret meeting
Concomitant - that which accompanies
Concubinage - living together while unmarried
Concupiscence - ardent sexual desire
Condign - adequate; deservedly severe
Conduce - to lead or tend, especially with reference to a desirable result
Confabulate - to chat; to replace fact with fantasy in memory
Conflagration - a large, disastrous fire
Conflate - to bring together; collect; merge; fuse
Confluence - crowd; a flocking together
Confutation - the act or process of overwhelming by argument
Congeries - collection of things; mass; heap
Conjugal - pertaining to marriage
Conjuncture - combination of circumstances or events
Connivance - complicity; silent agreement
Consanguinity - the state of being related by blood or descended from a common ancestor; a
close relationship or connection; affinity
Consign - deliver officially; entrust; set apart
Consort - (v) associate with; (n) husband or wife
Consummate - complete
Contemn - to view or treat with contempt as mean and despicable; reject with disdain
Contemporaneity - the quality or state of existing or occurring during the same time
Contentious - quarrelsome
Contiguous - in contact; neighboring; next in order or time
Continence - self-restraint from yielding to impulse or desire; sexual chastity
Contradistinction - in contrast with
Contraindicate - to suggest that something is inadvisable
Contravene - to go against; to oppose
Controvert - to dispute or oppose by reasoning
Contumacious - disobedient; resisting authority
Contumely - disdain; expression of contempt, dislike, hatred
Conurbation - a metropolitan area; a region that is predominantly urban
Convalescence - a gradual recovering from illness
Conversant - well acquainted; familiar; informed about
Convoke - call together, as a meeting
Cooptation - election or selection, usually to a body or group by vote of its own members
Copious - plentiful
Coprolalia - dirty language
Coquet - (v) to flirt; to dally; (n) a flirt
Cordiform - shaped like a heart
Cordon Sanitaire - a line designed to act as a buffer between two territories actually or potentially
hostile to each other
Corollary - consequence; accompaniment
Cortege - a procession; a group of attendants
Coruscate - to glitter or sparkle; to be brilliant in technique or intelligence
Coterie - an intimate group of people with a common interest
Coterminously - contained within the same period; coextensive
Countenance - (v) approve, tolerate; (n) face
Coxcomb - a fop; a self-satisfied dandy
Cozen - to deceive by artful wheedling or tricky dishonesty; to beguile craftily; to act with artful
deceit
Crapulous - gluttonous or immoderate in drinking; suffering from the effects of overindulgence
Craquelure - fine cracks that appear on oil paintings
Credenda - the constituent elements of what forms your belief in religion, politics, etc.
Credulous - ready or inclined to believe, especially on slight on uncertain evidence
Crenellate - to furnish with battlements
Crepitate - crackle; rattle
Crepuscular - dim; obscure; pertaining to twilight
Crotchet - an unusual or whimsical fancy; a peculiar trick
Cryptic - having a hidden meaning, perhaps even impenetrable
Cuckold - a derisive word for a man whose wife is unfaithful
Cudgel - a short, heavy stick or club ("To take up the cudgels" ---> to enter onto a vigorous
contest)
Cunctation - procrastination
Cupidity - avarice or greed, esp. for wealth
Curio - something arousing interest as being novel, rare, or bizarre
Cursory - abrupt; brief; hasty
Cynosure - center of attraction or interest
Daedal - ingenious or complex in design
Dalliance - playful flirtation; frivolous action
Dasein - a philosophical term for existence or being
Deasil - clockwise
Debacle - a disaster or violent breakdown
Debauch - (v) to corrupt (a person); (n) a bout of excessive self-indulgence in sensual pleasures
Decadence - a falling away; decline; deterioration
Decalogue - the ten commandments; a set of fundamental rules
Declamation - a rhetorical speech; harangue
Déclassé - having reduced or inferior social status
Decoct - to figure out by deduction the true meaning of a statement, symbol, or oblique
communication
Decollate - to behead
Decorous - observing propriety and good taste, especially in conduct, manner, or appearance
Decrepitude - a state of ruin, dilapidation, or disrepair; lack of power; decay
Decry - denounce; condemn
Decussate - cross in the form of an "x"; intersect
Defalcate - to embezzle
Defenestration - the act of throwing someone or something out a window
Deferential - showing a polite regard for someone else's wishes, ideas, etc.; respectful submission
Defi - a challenge; rejection of
Defiled - corrupted
Dégagé - casual; relaxed
Degauss - demagnetize
Deign - to condescend
Deism - the belief that God created the universe and then left it to its own devices
Deliquesce - to melt away
Delirament - delusion; insane notion
Delusory - deceptive; false
Demarche - course of action; diplomatic initiative; statement made to a public official by citizens
Demesne - possessed legally; land attached to a home or estate; a region; a realm
Demimonde - women of lower social standing; a group that exists on the fringes of respectability
Demotic - of the people; popular
Demur - modest; quiet and serious looking
Demurral - the act of taking exception
Denature - to change the nature of; take natural qualities away from
Denizen - inhabitant
Denominate - to give a name to; call by a name; designate
Denouement - outcome
Deprecate - express disapproval of; belittle; protest against
Depredate - prey upon; to plunder with violence if necessary
Deracinate - to separate from one’s environment
Deride - to laugh at in scorn; mock
Derogate - detract; take away from; to make to seem lesser in esteem; disparage
Descant - to discourse at large; elaborate (often tediously)
Descry - to discern; to see something; to catch sight of
Desiccate - to drain of vitality, especially to divest of vigor, spirit, passion, or a capability of
evoking mental or emotional excitement; to dry out
Desiderate - desire; feel the need for or the lack of
Desideratum - that which is desired; the better, or even perfect, state
Despoil - to pillage; to ruin (land) by stripping away its valuable products or putting it to wrong use
Desuetude - the state of being used no longer
Desultory - aimless; haphazard; digressing at random; lacking regularity, steadiness, or continuity
Deteriorism - the belief that things tend toward the worst
Detritus - the loose material wearing away from rocks; any product of wearing away; a fragment
De Trop - too much or too many; in the way; superfluous; unwanted
Detumesce - to subside from a state of swelling; to diminish in size
Deviationist - departing from the principles of an organization with which one is affiliated
Devolution - descent through stages of a process; transfer of rights to a successor; decentralization
Dharma - principle that orders the universe; one's conduct with regard to that principle; an
essential function
Diacritical - serving to separate; distinguishing; able to discriminate
Diadem - a crown that indicates royalty
Diapasonal - a musical term which suggests fully orchestrated; full; harmonious
Diaphanous - transparent
Diaspora - a dispersion of a people with a common origin
Diatribe - criticism that is bitter or malicious
Didactic - instructive; characteristic of the teacher (in manner, arrangement, or posture); intended
to educate
Diddle - to masturbate; to copulate
Diffidence - shyness
Diffuse - (adj) wordy, not concentrated; (v) to spread widely
Dilate - to write or speak about at great, or greater, length
Dilatory - delaying
Dilettante - a person who cultivates an art or branch of knowledge as a pastime without pursuing it
professionally
Diminution - diminishing; lessening; decrease
Dingle - a small, wooded valley
Dint - (n) a dent; (v) to dent; ("by dint of" ---> by means of)
Dirigible - (adj) able to be directed; (n) a flying ship, such as a blimp
Disabuse - to correct someone; to free from misconception
Discerning - keenly perceptive; shrewd
Discombobulate - to confuse; throw into a state of confusion
Discomfit - to confuse; deceive
Discommode - bother; inconvenience; trouble
Discountenance - to put to shame; reject; refuse to look upon with favor
Discursive - rambling, having no planned sequence; treating many subjects broadly
Dishabille - disarrayed; partly dressed
Disingenuous - lacking in candor; not straightforward; crafty
Disjunction - the action of disjoining or condition of being disjoined; separation; disconnection;
disunion
Dislocative - causing confusion; causing to deviate from a predicted course, situation, or
relationship
Disparate - basically different; unrelated
Disputatious - argumentative; fond of argument
Disquietude - lack of peace or tranquillity
Disquisition - a formal or systematic inquiry into or discussion of a subject; an elaborate analytical
or explanatory essay or discussion
Dissimulation - deception; hiding under a false appearance
Dissipate - to break up; squander; indulge excessively in sensual pleasure
Dissonance - a combination of sounds that is harsh; discord; discrepancy; strife
Distaff - relating to a woman or a female genetic line
Distrait - absent-minded
Dither - (n) a state of nervous indecisiveness; (v) to act with confusion or indecision
Dithyrambic - truly exaggerated in praising something or somebody
Divagate - digress; wander or stray from the subject
Divest - to deprive (eg, of honors); to strip (of clothing)
Docent - (adj) serving to instruct; (n) in some universities, a teacher who is not a member of the
regular faculty; a tour guide in a museum or cathedral
Doctrinaire - stubbornly devoted to a particular doctrine or theory without regard to practical
considerations
Doff - to take off (usually clothing) as a sign of greeting
Doggerel - comic, sometimes crude, informal verse
Dolorous - sorrowful
Don - to put on, esp. clothing
Donnish - like a university don; bookish; pedantic
Donnybrook - a tempestuous brawl
Dossier - a file of documents; letters and records
Dotage - feeblemindedness as a result of old age
Doughty - brave; valiant
Dowager - widow with a title or property inherited from her husband; older woman of high social
standing
Dowdy - not modern in style; staid; shabby
Doyen - the senior male member of a group
Doyenne - the senior female member of a group
Dreadnought - a heavily armed battleship; something or someone that cannot be stopped
Droll - amusing; humorous
Ductile - malleable
Dudgeon - sour, angry, or indignant mood
Dulcet - having a nice, agreeable, melodious sound
Duplicity - deception by pretending to entertain one set of feelings and acting under the influence of
another
Durance - confinement that is forced; imprisonment
Dyad - two individuals thought of as a pair
Dybbuk - the soul of a dead person that controls a living person's behavior
Dysgenically - genetic profusion of a kind thought inimical to public interests
Dyslogistic - disapproving; indicating disfavor
Dyspeptic - having dyspepsia, a digestive disorder characterized by gas, nausea, and a feeling of
fullness; having a gloomy disposition
Dysphasia - loss of or deficiency in the power to use or understand language caused by injury to
or disease of the brain
Ebullient - showing excitement; overflowing with enthusiasm
Éclat - a dazzling success; acclaim
Eclectic - drawn from many sources; reflecting different styles, doctrines, or methods
Ecumenical - universal; of worldwide scope; having the backing of more than one faction (political,
theological, or scientific)
Edacious - having an insatiable appetite; great voracity
Edify - to instruct and improve, especially in moral and religious knowledge; enlighten; elevate;
uplift
Educe - to draw out something that is present in a latent state; elicit; evoke
Efface - to erase; to rub away the features; to obscure
Effete - soft or decadent as a result of overrefinement of living conditions or laxity of mental or
moral discipline; exhausted; lost vitality; overrefined
Efficacious - useful or successful in bringing about a desired result; effective
Effluvium - a foul-smelling vapor; a waste product; the gas given off by decaying material
Effrontery - boldness; audacity; impudence
Effulgence - strong, radiant light; glorious splendor
Effusion - unrestrained expression of feelings; something that is poured out with little or no restraint
Egalitarian - one who believes in the doctrine of equalizing the political and economic condition of
everyone
Egregious - flagrant; outstanding for some bad quality
Egress - (n) a way out, exit; (v) the act of going out
Eidolon - an apparition; a ghostly shape or figure
Ejaculate - to discharge suddenly and quickly; exclaim
Élan - enthusiastic vigor and liveliness; distinctive, elegant style
Eleemosynary - charitable or related to charity; given as an act of charity
Elegy - a mournful poem, esp. one lamenting the dead
Elide - to suppress or alter at intermediate stages
Elision - omission of a vowel at the end of a word for the sake of poetic measure; act of omitting
something
Elucidate - to clarify; explain
Embarrass - to disconcert; impede; complicate
Embrangle - complicate; confuse; entangle
Emend - to correct or improve, esp. a literary text
Emollient - (adj) soothing, softening; (n) a soothing ointment or lotion
Emolument - salary; compensation
Emplace - to put into position
Empyreal - celestial; sublime; superior; fiery
Encaustic - a method of painting in which pigment in hot wax is fused with heat
Encomium - high praise; eulogy
Endemic - widespread; taking hold throughout a community or society
Endue - to provide with a talent, ability, etc.; endow
Enervate - weaken
Engender - to cause; produce; to bring into existence
Enigmatic - obscure; puzzling
Enjoin - to direct, prescribe, or impose by order, typically authoritatively and compellingly
Ennobling - tending to elevate in degree or excellence
Ennui - boredom; listlessness; lack of interest
Ensconce - to settle oneself snugly; hide in a secure place
Enumerate - to relate one after another
Envoi - the final communication; valedictory; send-off
Ephemeral - short-lived; fleeting
Epicedium - dirge; funeral hymn
Epicene - having characteristics of both male and female; neuter; sexless; lacking in vigor or virility
Epicurean - suited to a person with refined taste, esp. in food and wine
Epigone - an heir or imitative follower, usually second rate
Epiphany - a manifestation of God; a sudden understanding of the essential meaning of something
Epistolary - relating to letters; contained in letters; written in the form of a series of letters
Epithet - characterization, often disparaging, of a person or thing
Epochal - extremely important, likely to affect future events or the understanding of them
Eponym - the mythical or historical person or thing after which a tribe, city, country, etc. is named
Equable - not changing much, steadily even, without extremes; calm, not easily upset or excited
Equanimity - evenness of mental disposition; emotional balance, esp. under stress
Equipoise - equal in weight or relationship; a counterbalance
Equivocate - lie; mislead; attempt to conceal the truth
Eremitical - characteristic of the hermit; far removed from ordinary life and considerations
Eristic - finely argumentative; taking logic and argument to extreme lengths
Ersatz - (adj) an inferior substitute
Eructation - a violent belching out or emitting
Erudite - scholarly; deeply learned; well read
Escarpment - cliff; a steep slope resulting from erosion
Eschatology - doctrine or belief in the last judgment or the end of humanity
Eschew - avoid; to turn down; ignore; do without
Esculent - edible; suitable for eating
Esoterica - items intended for or understood by only a few
Espousal - a taking up or adopting as a cause or belief
Espy - to glimpse; descry; catch sight of
Essay - to make an attempt at
Establishmentarian - allied to the dominant institutional forces
Estop - to put an end to; bar; prohibit
Esurient - hungry; avid for food; greedy
Ethos - the character or values of a specific person, culture, or movement
Etiolate - pale and drawn; to make weak by stunting growth; to whiten or become bleached
Etiology - the study of causes or origins; cause of a disease
Eudaemonism - an ethical system of values that evaluates actions by their ability to produce
happiness
Euphonious - pleasing in sound
Euthenics - the science of improving the condition of humans by improving their environment
Evanescent - vanishing; happening for the briefest moment
Eventuate - to come out finally or in conclusion; come to pass
Evince - show clearly; reveal
Eviscerate - to deprive of an essential part
Evocation - the act or fact of calling forth, out, or up; summoning
Exacting - greatly demanding; requiring close attention; requiring as a matter of justice
Ex Cathedra - authoritatively; by virtue of or in the exercise of one’s office, as with papal authority
Excogitate - devise; think out carefully
Excoriate - to wear the skin off; abrade; denounce scathingly
Excursive - digressive; rambling
Execrable - very bad; deserving to be declared evil or detestable
Execration - the act of cursing or denouncing
Exegete - a person skilled in critical explanation or analysis, esp. of a text
Exhort - urge
Exigency - urgent situation
Exiguous - small; minute; scant; meager
Ex Officio - by virtue of an office
Exordium - a beginning or introduction to a formal speech, sermon, or literary work
Expedient - something that is suitable, practical, and efficient in achieving a particular end; fit and
proper under the circumstances
Expiate - make amends for (a sin)
Expostulation - protest; remonstrance
Expunge - to erase; wipe out; to obliterate completely; annihilate
Extant - still in existence
Extirpate - to rip up by the roots; abolish; annihilate; remove any traces of
Extol - praise; glorify
Extortionate - characterized by, or having the nature of extortion; excessive; exorbitant
Extricate - to free; disentangle
Extrinsic - unrelated to the person, matter, or idea at hand; extraneous
Extrude - to disgorge; push out; thrust out
Extuberance - protuberance
Exude - to ooze out in small drops; to give off, emit
Fabulist - someone who invents fables; one who tells lies
Facetious - humorous; jocular
Factious - contentious; given to raising dissention
Factitious - artificial; fabricated; deliberately worked up; not natural
Falciform - sickle-shaped
Fallacious - embodying or presenting a false or erroneous idea
Fallow - marked by inactivity
Farrago - confused mixture; medley
Fastidious - difficult to please; fussy about details; meticulous
Fatuous - silly; thoughtless; inane
Fealty - the fidelity of a vassal or feudal tenet to his lord; faithfulness; allegiance
Febrile - feverish
Feckless - lacking responsibility; ineffective
Fecundity - fertility; fruitfulness
Feral - like a wild animal; savage
Fervid - ardent; emotionally intense; fervent
Fetid - smelly; rotten
Fey - otherworldly; magical
Fiat - authorization
Fiduciary - of, or having to do with, or involving a confidence or trust
Filial - relating to a son
Fillip - (n) the snap made by a finger and thumb; a small stimulus; something added that tends to
arouse or excite; (v) to strike with a fillip; stimulate
Fissiparous - breaking up; dividing into parts; disintegrating
Flaccid - limp; flabby; feeble
Flagellate - to whip, or punish as if by whipping
Flagitious - atrocious; wicked
Fleer - deride; sneer; laugh coarsely; jeer
Florid - heavily ornate; flowery in style; flushed
Flout - to treat with contempt; defile; mock
Foible - an odd feature or mild failing in a person's character
Foment - to stir up; incite
Fons et origo - source; origin
Fop - a dandy; coxcomb; a man overly concerned with (and usually vain about) his manners and
clothes
Foray - an initial venture; to raid in search of plunder
Ford - to cross something, esp. a river
Forlorn - deserted; wretched; abandoned; cheerless
Forswear - retract, renounce, or recant
Fossette - dimple; small depression
Fowler - one who tries to catch birds
Foxed - discolored or stained, as pages of an old book
Fractious - tending to cause trouble as by disobedience to an established order; hard to manage;
unruly
Freshet - a rush of fresh water caused by rain or melted snow
Fribble - (v) to fritter away; (n) a frivolous person; (adj) frivolous
Froufrou - (adj) excessively fussy or showy ornamentation or dress; (n) a rustling sound
Froward - contrary; consistently disobedient
Frugality - thrift; economy
Fruition - accomplishment or realization of things worked for
Fugacious - evanescent; lasting only a short time
Fulcrum - balancing point
Fulgent - dazzlingly bright; radiant
Fulminate - to flash like lightning or explode like thunder; to thunder forth (threats, commands,
etc.)
Fulsome - offensive, esp. because of excess or insincerity
Funambulist - a performer on a tightrope
Fungible - able to replace something of equal value; interchangeable
Furtive - stealthy; sneaky; surreptitious; hidden
Fusillade - a rapid outburst; spray of gunfire
Fustian - (adj) ridiculously pompous; bombastic; (n) a thick, twilled cloth (eg, corduroy); pompous
speech or writing
Fusty - musty; mildewy; old fashioned; antiquated
Gad - to wander with no apparent purpose
Gaffe - social blunder
Gainsay - deny; ignore; overlook
Galimatias - confused or meaningless talk
Gallimaufry - a jumble; a confused mixture
Gallionic - carefree and indifferent; easygoing; irresponsible
Gallivant - to bop about happily, esp. with members of the opposite sex
Galoot - a loutish oaf; a clumsy but somewhat likable person
Gamely - in a spirited manner; with courage
Gamin - (n) a street urchin (gamin is male, gamine female); (adj) like a gamin(e)
Garner - gather; store up
Garrote - a Spanish method of execution in which an iron collar is tightened around the
condemned person's neck; such an iron collar; cord used to strangle
Garrulity - talkativeness
Gauche - awkward; clumsy
Gemeinschaft - a group with similar tastes; a group bound by similar interests and kinship
Gemütlich - agreeable
Gird - to prepare for a struggle, test of strength, or other action
Globoid - nearly spherical
Gloriole - a halo
Gloze - to palliate; to minimize; to gloss (over)
Gobbet - a chunk or piece, esp. of raw flesh; a lump or morsel; a mouthful
Gonif - a thief; an untrustworthy person; a mischievous child; an ingenious person
Gossamer - delicate; flimsy substance
Gourmand - someone who appreciates good food but without the refinement of taste of a
gourmet, and usually with gluttonous excess
Grandiloquent - bombastic; using high-sounding language
Granitic - very hard; granite-like
Gratuitous - given freely; unwarranted; uncalled for
Gravamen - the central point of a complaint; the heart of an accusation or objection
Gregarious - seeking and enjoying the company of others
Grig - a lively person
Groak - a person or animal that hangs around watching hopefully for some food
Grouse - complain; fuss
Gull - to make a dupe of; cheat; deceive
Habituate - to make familiar through use or experience; to make acceptable or desirable
Hackneyed - commonplace; trite
Hagiography - a biography of saints; a biography that idealizes or worships its subject
Hagridden - suffering from terrifying dreams or nameless fears, as if cursed by a witch
Halcyon - calm; peaceful; happy
Handsel - a gift given to wish good luck for a new year or a new enterprise; the first money
received by a business, usually signifying good luck
Hapless - unlucky
Harangue - long, passionate, and vehement speech
Harbinger - forerunner
Harry - to attack repeatedly
Hauteur - a display of overbearing pride with disdain for others; haughtiness
Hebdomadal - meeting or appearing once a week; weekly
Hector - to fuss over insistently; intending to press a point
Hegemony - preponderant influence or authority; leadership; dominance
Hegira - a journey or trip, esp. an escape to avoid danger or get away from an unpleasant location
Helicoid - coiled spirally
Hermeneutics - the science of interpretation, esp. spiritual texts
Hermetic - airtight; impervious to outside interference or influence
Heterodox - iconoclastic; not in agreement with accepted beliefs; unorthodox
Heuristic - related to speculation as a method of learning; serving to discover
Hew - to cling; to adhere; to hold tightly to
Hidebound - excessively rigid; dry and stiff; inflexible
Hie - to go off with haste
Hirsute - hairy; covered with hair
Histrionic - overly dramatic; theatrical; deliberately affected
Hoary - gray or white with age; ancient; stale
Hoi Polloi - the masses
Holographic - written in the hand of the person from whom it proceeds
Homiletic - of the nature of a sermon; having the intention of edifying morally
Homologate - to confirm officially
Homunculus - a dwarf; a small human; a tiny human believed by early biologists to live in a sperm
cell
Honorific - titles or other forms designed to suggest titles or honors earned or received
Hortatory - encouraging; exhortive
Hoyden - (n) a rude girl; a tomboy; (adj) like a hoyden
Hubris - arrogance; excessive self-conceit
Hugger-mugger - (n) confusion; jumble; secrecy; (adj) secret; confused
Hullabaloo - uproar; great noise or excitement; confusion
Hurly-burly - confusion; turmoil; tumult; uproar
Husbandry - the judicious use of resources; livestock farming
Hustings - any place where election campaign speeches are made; an act of political campaigning
Hypermammiferous - having extremely large breasts
Hypostatize - consider as real
Iconoclastic - attacking cherished traditions
Ideate - to form an idea; to conceive
Ideologize - to absorb within a system, so as to make it a part of that system
Idiomatic - verbally informal
Igneous - relating to fire; formed from a molten state; related to such rock
Ignominious - marked by, full of, or characterized by disgrace or shame; dishonorable; deserving
of shame
Ignoratio elenchi - a fallacy in logic of supposing that the point at issue is proved or disproved by
an argument which proves or disproves something not at issue
Imago - an adult stage of an insect; an ideal image of a parent or other person formed in childhood
but remaining unconsciously in adulthood
Imbibe - to take in (liquid, moisture, etc.); to take into the mind by a gradual process
Imbricate - having overlapping parts like roof tiles
Imbroglio - complicated situation; perplexity; entanglement
Imbue - to fill, esp. with moisture or color; to fill with an emotion
Immolate - offer as a sacrifice
Immure - imprison; shut up in confinement
Impacted - crowded; densely populated
Impalpable - incapable of being felt by the touch
Impasse - predicament from which there is no escape
Impassive - without feeling; not affected by pain
Impecunious - without money
Impenitent - not repenting of sin; not contrite
Imperious - commanding; lordly; arrogant
Imperium - authority or power that is absolute or supreme
Imperturbability - the quality or state of being extremely calm, impassive, assured, and steady
Impetuous - hastily or rashly energetic; impulsive
Impetus - driving force; stimulus
Implacable - incapable of being pacified or mitigated; inexorable
Impolitic - not wise
Import - significance
Importune - to vex someone by demanding too often, too vehemently, or unreasonably
Imprecation - cursing; a curse
Improvident - thriftless
Impugn - doubt; challenge; gainsay
Imputation - charging of a wrongdoing or fault; accusation
Impute - attribute accusingly, often unjustly
Incense - enrage; infuriate
Inchoate - recently begun; rudimentary; elementary
Incipient - in an early stage; beginning to be
Incisive - acute; keen; sharp; biting
Incubus - burden; discouraging or oppressive thing; a male demon who was supposed to have
sexual intercourse with sleeping women
Inculcate - teach
Inculpate - blame; charge with fault
Incunabula - a book from before the invention of the printing press (1501); anything in its infancy
Indefeasible - not capable of or not liable to being annulled, voided, or undone
Indemnify - to secure against harm or loss; to compensate for loss or injury
Indite - to write; compose; to set down in writing
Induce - to cause; bring about
Ineffable - unutterable; cannot be expressed in speech
Ineffaceably - In a manner impossible to deny or erase
Ineluctable - irresistible; not to be escaped, avoided, or changed
Inert - unable to move or act; moving or acting slowly
Inexorable - relentless; unyielding
Ingenuous - naive; young and unsophisticated
Ingratiation - the act of winning favor; the process of insinuating oneself in the good graces of
others
Inhere - to be a fixed element or attribute of; belong
Inimical - unfriendly; hostile
Iniquitous - unjust; wicked
In medias res - into the thick of it
Inordinate - unrestrained; excessive
Insalubrious - unwholesome; not healthful
Inscrutable - impenetrable; not readily understood; mysterious
Insipid - lacking in flavor; dull
In Situ - in its original position
Insouciant - indifferent; without concern or care
Insufflate - breathe or blow into or upon
Insularity - narrow-mindedness; isolation; detachment
Insurgent - rebellious
Integument - an envelope; that which covers something
Intellection - exercise of the intellect; reasoning; cognition; apprehension; a specific act of the
intellect
Intercredal - pertaining to conversations or exchanges between members of different faiths
Interdict - prohibit; forbid
Internecine - mutually destructive; wounding
Interpolate - insert between
Interregnum - a period between two successive governments; a pause in a continuing series
Interstice - a space, usually little, that intervenes between solid matter
Intestate - died without having made a will
Intimate - to hint
Intractable - unruly; refractory; unmovable; inflexible; difficult to lead
Intransigence - state of stubborn unwillingness to compromise
Intrepid - fearless
Intuit - to know or apprehend directly
Intumesce - to swell up, expand, or bubble up, esp. as a result of heat
Inured - accustomed; hardened
Inveigh - denounce; utter censure or invective
Inveigle - to obtain by deceiving or flattery
Inveterate - deep-rooted; habitual
Invidious - causing envy or ill-feeling, esp. by unfair discrimination
Invite - attract, cause, or make likely
Involuted - of an involved or complicated nature; abstruse; intricate
Ipso facto - by the very fact; by the very nature of the case
Irredentism - a claim by a nation to land that formerly belonged to it
Irreverent - disrespectful; gently or humorously mocking
Irrevocable - unalterable
Irruption - a sudden, violent, or forcible entry; a rushing or bursting in; a sudden or violent invasion
Iterant - repeating
Itinerant - moving from place to place
Jactitation - a false boasting or claim, esp. one that hurts others; a twitching of the body or its parts
Jaded - fatigued; surfeited
Janissary - a member of a group of loyal or subservient troops, officials, or supporters
Jape - (v) to joke; to quip; to make fun of; (n) a joke
Jaundiced - prejudiced; envious
Jaunt - trip; short journey
Jaunty - lighthearted; easy and carefree
Jejune - barren; insipid; dry; lacking interest
Jeremiad - a lamenting and denunciatory complaint; a dolorous tirade
Jilt - to discard or cast off a favored sweetheart
Jocularity - sense of fun; mirthfulness
Juggernaut - a massive, unstoppable object
Juxtapose - place side by side
Kedge - to dig an anchor in securely
Ken - range of knowledge
Kibitz - to give unasked-for advice, esp. in a card game
Kindred - related; similar in nature or character
Kinetic - supplying motive force; energizing; dynamic
Kismet - fate
Knell - a death signal or passing bell; a warning of or a sound indicating the passing away of
something
Kudos - (n) acclaim; praise
Kvetch - (n) one who complains a lot; (v) to complain
Labile - unstable; adaptable; liable to change
Lachrymose - tearful; weepy; causing tears
Laconic - brief; to the point; using or marked by the use of few words; terse
Lacuna - blank space; missing part
Laggard - slow; sluggish
Lagniappe - a gratuitous little gift, in any form
Lambaste - beat; thrash verbally or physically
Lambent - radiant; flickering; marked by lightness
Lampoon - ridicule
Languor - lassitude; depression
Lank - long and thin
Lapidary - (n) someone who cuts, polishes, or engraves gems; (adj) pertaining to precious stones;
tersely elegant and pithy (of literary style)
Largess - a generous giving of gifts; philanthropy
Lascivious - lustful
Lassitude - languor; weariness
Latitudinarianism - broadmindedness; permissiveness
Laudable - praiseworthy; commendable
Lebensraum - living space
Legerdemain - manual dexterity; any deception or trickery
Levity - lack of seriousness; frivolity
Libation - pouring a liquid for a religious ritual; drinking an intoxicating beverage
Libertarian - pertaining to the political philosophy that stresses the absolute right of the individual to
make his own decisions, unobstructed by the state
Libertine - a man who is dissolute in his sexual conduct; a free-thinker
Libidinous - lustful; lascivious
Licentious - wanton; lewd; dissolute
Licit - legally or otherwise allowable; condonable
Lickspittle - a toady; sycophant
Limn - to become visible, traceable, or detectable as to features or form; draw; outline; describe
Limpid - clear
Lionize - treat as a celebrity
Literati - the literate, educated class
Lithe - flexible; supple
Livid - discolored as if by bruising; exceedingly angry
Locus classicus - a standard passage important for the elucidation of a word or subject
Lodestar - the guiding force; the focus of attention; inspiration
Logorrhea - pathologically excessive and often incoherent talkativeness
Longueur - an overlong passage, made dull or tedious
Lope - to run at a steady, easy pace
Loquacious - talkative
Lout - a clumsy person
Lubricious - slippery; marked by instability; elusive; lewd; sexually stimulating
Lucid - easily understood; clear
Lucre - money
Lucubrate - burn the midnight oil in writing or studying
Luftmensch - a dreamer; a person who is impractical
Lugubrious - mournful
Luminary - a person of great intellectual, creative, or spiritual stature
Lupine - having the characteristics of a wolf
Lurid - wild; sensational; gruesome; horrifying; causing shock or horror
Macabre - gruesome; grisly
Macerate - to make or become soft by soaking; to cause to waste away (usually by starving)
Machination - scheming activity for an evil purpose
Maculated - spotted; stained
Magisterial - authoritative; imperious
Magnanimity - generosity
Magnate - person of prominence or influence
Malefactor - one who does ill toward another; evildoer
Malleable - open to outside forces or influences; urging a change in position or viewpoint
Malum in se - an act that is evil or wrong from its own nature or by the natural law irrespective of
statute
Malversation - corrupt administration
Manifold - numerous; varied; multiple; of many kinds
Manque - (adj) a failure to realize one's aspirations
Manumit - emancipate; free from bondage
Marplot - a foolish meddler who causes a plot to fail
Marshal - put in order
Martinet - strict disciplinarian
Mastodonic - something unusually, surrealistically large
Matrix - point of origin
Maudlin - effusively sentimental
Maverick - rebel; nonconformist
Melange - a mixture of incongruous elements
Meliorism - a theory that holds the world can be improved with well-directed human action
Mellifluous - flowing smoothly; smooth
Mendacious - deceitful
Mendicant - beggar
Meniscus - crescent or crescent-shaped item
Mensch - an admirable, trustworthy character
Mercurial - fickle; changing
Meretricious - attractive in a flashy way
Merkin - a wig for a woman's pubic hair
Mete - to assign by measure; deal out; allot; apportion
Meteoric - swift; momentarily brilliant
Metonymy - a figure of speech in which a word is substituted for a related word with which it is
associated
Mettle - courage; spirit
Miasma - atmosphere or influence that is unwholesome or noxious
Mien - demeanor; the air or bearing of a person
Milieu - environment; means of expression
Militate - to have weight or effect; work against
Millenarian - the person who believes that perfection is coming for us down the line, for reasons
biological, political, or theological
Milquetoast - apologetic, meek, shy person
Mimetic - imitative of the natural world in literature or art; imitative
Minatory - menacing or threatening
Mingy - mean and stingy
Minx - a flirtatious young woman or girl
Mirabile dictu - “wonder to relate”; incredible
Miscegenetic - having to do with the mixture of the races
Miscible - capable of being mixed (esp. in any ratio)
Miscreant - wretch; villain
Misogynist - one who hates women
Misopedia - aversion to or dislike of children
Missive - letter
Modicum - limited quantity
Moil - (v) to toil; to work assiduously and continuously; (n) drudgery; confusion
Mollify - to quiet; soothe; lessen
Mollycoddle - (v) to indulge; pamper; (n) a wimp or weakling
Monitory - warning; admonitory
Moot - (n) a hypothetical case or trial used as an exercise; (v) to discuss; to broach; (adj) subject
to debate; of no importance; of no legal significance
Moratorium - a legally authorized period of delay before debts have to be paid
Mordant - bitingly sarcastic; incisive; caustic in manner
Moribund - at the point of death; having to do with death
Morphology - The study of the nature of a word, thought, or movement, including its causes and
its composition
Mortification - the subjection and denial of bodily passions and appetites by abstinence or self-
inflicted pain or discomfort
Mote - small speck
Motile - capable of moving; mobile
Moue - a pout, usually playful; a little grimace
Mountebank - charlatan; boastful pretender
Muckrake - to expose political misconduct
Mudsill - a sill of a structure that is so low as to be in the mud; members of the lowest stratum of
society
Mugwump - a person or politician who can't make up his or her mind; an independent
Mulct - (n) a fine or penalty; (v) to fine; swindle; to bleed
Multicentrist - those who hold that attachments to many positions (political, social, cultural) are
educationally advanced
Multifarious - varied; greatly diversified
Munificent - very generous
Muse - the creative spirit of an individual; the source of inspiration
Mutatis mutandis - the necessary changes having been made
Mycology - the properties and life phenomena exhibited by a fungus, fungus type, or fungus group;
the study of mushrooms
Myopia - nearsightedness; lacking foresight
Myrmidon - a follower who faithfully obeys orders without asking questions
Nabob - a wealthy, influential person
Nacre - (n) mother of pearl; (adj) iridescent
Nadir - lowest point
Nascent - coming into existence; being born
Nebbish - a hapless unfortunate; a loser
Nebulous - vague; hazy; cloudy
Nefandous - unspeakable; unutterable
Neophyte - recent convert; beginner
Neoteric - (adj) modern; (n) a modern writer
Nepenthe - a drug or something else that helps someone forget sorrow or pain
Nepotistically - characterized by nepotism, favoritism shown to relatives
Nescience - the belief that nothing is establishable or provable
Nether - situated down or below; lying beneath or in the lower part
Nexus - connection; tie; link
Nicety - precision; minute distinction
Nictate - to wink
Niggardly - (adj) stingy; (adv) in a stingy manner
Niggle - to be obsessed with trivialities; to quibble; to constantly find fault with
Nimbus - an atmosphere that surrounds a person or thing; a rain cloud; a radiant light suggesting
holiness
Nimrod - a hunter
Noblesse oblige - the inferred obligation of people of high rank or social position to behave nobly
or kindly toward others
Noisome - foul smelling; unwholesome
Nomenklatura - the elite within the Soviet bureaucracy
Non grata - not approved; unwelcome
Nonplus - bring to a halt by confusion; perplex
Nostrum - a quack remedy
Nugatory - futile; worthless; trifling; of little importance
Numinous - related to a numen (a spirit said to inhabit natural objects); sacred; holy; spiritual;
magical
Numismatist - one who studies or collects coins
Obeisance - a movement of the body or other gesture made in token of respect or submission
Obfuscate - confuse; muddle
Objurgate - berate; upbraid; scold severely
Oblation - something offered or presented in worship or sacred service
Obloquy - abusive language; slander directed against a person; ill-repute
Obsequious - fawning; servile; sycophantic
Obsequy - gesture of reverence, piety, or deference, usually toward the dead; funeral ceremony
Obstreperous - resisting control or restraint, often with a show of noisy disorder; boisterous; noisy
Obtrude - to thrust out; push forward
Obtuse - blunt; stupid
Obverse - counterpart; the other, opposite side
Obviate - make unnecessary; get rid of
Ochlocracy - government by the mob; mob rule
Odium - repugnance; dislike
Oenophile - a lover or connoisseur of wine
Oeuvre - a work of art; the sum of an artist's work
Offal - the waste parts of a product; refuse; rubbish
Officious - meddlesome; excessively pushy in offering one's services
Oleaginous - unctuous; oily; affected
Ombudsman - a man who mediates settlements between aggrieved parties, esp. representing
people against the government; a mediator
Omnibus - of, relating to, or providing for many things at once
Omnicompetent - well qualified in all respects
Omphalos - central point; hub; navel
Omphaloskepsis - a meditation on one's navel practiced by Eastern mystics
Onanism - masturbation; self-gratification
Onerous - burdensome; oppressive; troublesome
Ontogeny - the development of an organism from conception to adult
Ontology - the philosophical study of the nature of being
Onus - burden; responsibility
Opine - to express an opinion
Opisthenar - the back of the hand
Opprobrium - public disgrace
Opus - a creative work
Orotund - unduly strong in delivery or style
Orthodox - conventional; proper
Osculant - clinging closely
Ossify - to become rigid; to become set in one's ways
Ostensible - apparent; professed; pretended
Ostracism - the exclusion by general consent from common privilege or social acceptance
Otiose - lazy; useless; futile
Oubliette - a dungeon which has only one exit, a trap door in its roof
Oust - to eject; banish; expel
Outré - eccentric to the point of deviance; bizarre
Pablum - a cereal for infants patented in 1932; something made palatable; blandness or insipidity
Pabulum - something that nourishes or feeds
Pace - with deference to
Paean - an intensely joyous hymn; a jubilant outburst
Palatial - magnificent
Palaver - (n) discussion; a long meeting or conference; idle chitchat; talk meant to charm; (v) to
cajole; wheedle; to partake in idle chitchat
Palimpsest - a surface that has been written on, erased or covered, and then reused for something
else
Palliate - to hide the seriousness of something with excuses or apologies; to ease without curing
Pallid - lacking color, brightness, or intensity; wan
Palpable - tangible; easily perceptible
Paltry - insignificant; petty
Pan - criticize harshly
Panacea - cure-all; remedy for all ailments
Panache - flair; flamboyance
Pander - to truckle to someone’s desires, usually disreputable
Panegyric - lofty praise; eulogistic writing
Panglossian - stupidly or naively optimistic
Panjandrum - a self-important person
Panoply - a complete set of armor; rich ceremonial dress; splendid display
Pantheism - the belief that God is everything in the universe and that the universe is all God
Pantheon - a Roman temple built in 27 B.C. that is circular and meant to honor all of the gods;
all the Gods of a people; a group of people who are considered major contributors to a
field
Paradigm - model; example; pattern
Paralogism - reasoning contrary to the rules of logic; a faulty argument
Paramount - foremost in importance; supreme
Paramour - a lover, esp. an illicit lover
Pariah - social outcast
Parietal - campus-related; involving life within a college
Parity - equality; close resemblance
Parlance - a manner of speaking; a speech
Parley - to speak with another; to discourse; to confer, esp. to talk peace terms with an enemy
Parlous - characterized by uncertainty; fraught with danger or risk; dangerous; perilous
Parochial - narrowly limited in scope (of ideas, opinions); provincial
Paronomasia - a pun or punning
Paroxysm - fit or attack (of pain, rage, laughter, etc.)
Parsimonious - stingy; excessively frugal
Parvenu - an upstart who has acquired wealth and class but hasn't achieved the social acceptance
or position
Pasquinade - a satire that ridicules a specific person, traditionally posted in public
Pastiche - a piece that imitates or is made up from pieces of other works; a hodgepodge from
different sources
Patent - open for the public to read; obvious
Pathos - that which in art arouses sympathy, pity, or sorrow; the feeling of sympathy generated by
art
Patina - surface discoloration caused by age and oxidation; a superficial covering or exterior
Patois - a language used by a particular population that differs from standard speech
Patrology - the study of the source of a discipline (most commonly, the fathers of the Christian
faith)
Paucity - smallness of quantity; dearth; scarcity
Peccadillo - a slight offense
Peculate - to embezzle
Pedagogue - teacher
Pejorative - negative in connotation; having a belittling effect
Pellucid - intensely clear; easily understood
Penchant - strong inclination; liking
Pendant - hanging down from something
Pendulous - hanging; suspended
Penultimate - next to last
Penumbra - partially shaded area in an eclipse; an area where something exists in an uncertain
degree; fringe
Penurious - stingy; unwilling to part with money; poor; poverty-stricken; mean-spiritedly
parsimonious
Percipience - keen perception
Perdition - damnation; hell
Perdurable - lasting a long time or indefinitely
Peregrination - journey
Peremptory - demanding and leaving no choice
Perfervid - excessively, unbalancedly ardent
Perfidious - treacherous; disloyal
Perfunctory - superficial; not thorough; lacking interest or care
Periphrastic - ornately long-winded; given to profuse formulations
Pernicious - very destructive
Perorate - to make a long, formal speech; to sum up a speech
Persiflage - banter; a frivolous manner of treating a subject
Perspicacious - having insight; penetrating; astute
Perspicuous - plainly expressed
Pertinacious - that which holds stubbornly and tenaciously to a course of action; perversely
persistent
Pettifogger - a disreputable lawyer who works mainly on petty cases; one who worries over trivial
details
Phantasmagoria - an ongoing vision; nightmare; fantasy
Pharisaical - relating to the Pharisees; hypocritical
Phenomenology - a philosophical theory based on the idea that phenomena should be subjectively
experienced through intuition
Philatelist - person who collects and studies postage stamps
Philippic - tirade; an attack
Philistine - narrow-minded person, uncultured and exclusively interested in material gain
Phlegmatic - calm; not easily disturbed
Phlogistonic - heat-producing; combustible
Phylogeny - the evolutionary development of a species; the evolutionary development of part of an
organism
Picayune - (n) a Spanish coin worth about six cents and used in the Southern U.S. in the nineteenth
century; something of the least value; (adj) paltry; trivial; petty
Pied - variegated; multicolored
Pine - languish, decline; long for, yearn
Pinguid - fat; unctuous
Pinion - restrain
Piquant - charmingly provocative
Pique - to hurt or rile the feelings of someone; irritate; to stimulate or arouse
Pith - the substance or gist of a matter; forceful relevance
Pithy - concise; meaty
Placate - pacify; conciliate
Plainspoken - frank; straightforward; unadorned
Plaint - complaint; grievance
Plaintive - mournful
Plangent - loud and resonant; expressing sadness
Plastic - capable of being shaped or formed
Platitude - trite remark; commonplace statement
Platonic - tending toward the theoretical or ideal
Plaudits - applause
Plebeian - common; pertaining to the common people
Plebiscite - a submission of a proposed new law for a vote by the people
Plenary - complete; full
Plenipotentiary - (adj) given full authority or power; (n) a diplomat given full authorization to
transact any business
Pleonasm - the use of an excess of words to express an idea when only a few are necessary;
superfluity
Plight - to put or give in pledge
Pluck - courage
Plumb - vertical
Plutocracy - society ruled by the wealthy
Pluvial - rainy
Poignant - emotionally moving
Polemicize - to engage in controversy; dispute aggressively
Politic - expedient; prudent; well devised
Polity - political organization
Pollyanna - one who is unduly optimistic
Poltroon - coward
Polyglot - someone who speaks or writes several languages
Pomposity - ornately showy or pretentiously dignified demeanor, speech, or action
Poniard - (n) a dagger with a thin triangular or square blade; (v) to stab with such a dagger
Popinjay - a vain person who talks a lot
Pore - study industriously; ponder; scrutinize
Portend - foretell; presage
Portent - sign; omen; forewarning
Portentous - exhibiting gravity or ponderousness; self-consciously weighty
Portmanteau - a large suitcase; a word made from two other words by combining sounds (eg,
"smog" comes from "smoke" and "fog")
Posit - to set down or assume as a fact; postulate
Positivism - the philosophical theory that only sense perceptions can be used for precise thought
Postiche - artificial; counterfeit
Pother - commotion; fluster; bustle
Poultice - a moist mass of matter applied externally to soothe an aching part of the body
Pragmatic - practical
Prandial - related to a meal
Praxis - accepted practice
Precipitate - (adj) headlong, rash; (v) hasten
Précis - a summary of a work; an abstract
Preclude - make impossible; eliminate
Precocious - advanced in development
Predicate - to establish; to base; to affirm; to declare; to ascribe a quality to
Predilection - partiality; preference
Preeminent - outstanding; superior
Preempt - head off; forestall by acting first; supplant
Prefatory - introductory
Pregnant - highly significant; overflowing
Prehensile - clutching greedily
Preponderant - having superior weight, force, or influence; having greater prevalence
Prepossession - an attitude, belief, or impression formed beforehand; a preconceived opinion
Prescience - ability to foretell the future
Prescient - having foresight
Prescind - to pull out; abstract; disengage
Presentiment - premonition; foreboding
Prestidigitation - the execution of tricks through sleight of hand; legerdemain
Pretense - a false appearance or action intended to deceive
Preternaturally - extremely; more than one would think natural
Pretext - excuse
Prevaricate - to lie
Priapic - phallic; suggesting a phallus
Prig - one who is arrogantly pedantic or moral, and whose attitude bores others
Prima Facie - at first glance
Primogeniture - the state of being the firstborn; the right to inherit given to the eldest son
Pristine - characteristic of earlier times; unspoiled; primitive
Privation - lack of comforts; poverty; state of being deprived
Privy - secret; hidden; not public
Probative - serving to prove; substantiating
Probity - uncompromising adherence to the highest principles and ideals; incorruptibility
Pro Bono Publico - for the public good
Proclivity - inclination; natural tendency
Procrustean - designed to exact strict conformity without regard for individual differences
Procurement - obtaining
Prodigal - wasteful; reckless with money
Prodigious - enormous; marvelous
Proffer - to offer; tender
Profligate - dissipated; wasteful; licentious
Profusion - lavish expenditure; overabundant condition
Progenitive - pertaining to those who beget (as in parents, founders, discovers)
Prognathous - protruding; a jaw that projects in front of the face
Prognosticate - to predict; foreshadow; presage
Prolegomenon - introductory section, esp. to a learned work
Prolix - verbose; drawn out
Promulgate - announce officially; put into effect
Propensity - natural inclination; innate or inherent tendency
Prophylactic - used to prevent disease
Propinquity - nearness; kinship
Propitiate - to appease; conciliate
Propitious - presenting favorable circumstances; auspicious
Propound - put forth for analysis
Proprietary - having to do with the owner; befitting an owner
Propriety - fitness; correct conduct
Prosaic - having a dull, flat, unimaginative quality of style or expression
Proscribe - ostracize; banish; outlaw
Proscriptively - in a prohibiting, interdicting, or proscribing manner
Proselytize - induce someone to convert to a religion or belief
Prostrate - lying full-length face downwards; overcome with shock, grief, etc.; physically
exhausted
Prosy - dull; tedious
Pro Tanto - to a certain extent; proportionately; commensurately
Protean - versatile; able to take on many forms
Protract - prolong
Provenance - origin or source of something
Provident - displaying foresight; thrifty; preparing for emergencies
Provincial - limited in outlook; unsophisticated
Proviso - stipulation
Proximate - pertaining to the immediately preceding event, push, causative factor
Prurient - lascivious; having lustful thoughts or desires
Psephology - the study of elections
Pudency - modesty; prudishness
Puerile - childish
Pugnacious - combative; disposed to fight
Puissance - power; strength
Puissant - powerful; strong; potent
Pulchritude - beauty; comeliness
Pullutate - to sprout out; germanate; breed quickly; spring up in abundance
Punctilious - laying stress on niceties of conduct or form; precise
Pundit - learned person; authority on a subject
Purchase - firm grasp or footing
Purloin - to steal
Purport - intention; meaning
Pursuant - conforming; done in accordance with
Purveyor - furnisher of foodstuffs; caterer
Purview - the extent of the meaning of a document; range of knowledge, authority, responsibility,
vision, or comprehension; scope; range
Pusillanimous - cowardly
Putative - supposed; reputed; ostensible
Putsch - a covert attempt to overthrow a government
Pyrotechnics - brilliant, ostentatious oratory
Pyrrhic - relating to Pyrrhus, king of Epirus; a victory that is too costly
Qua - in the capacity of
Quaff - to drink deeply; to drink of a liquid freely
Quagmire - shaky, muddy ground; a situation which threatens to become inextricable
Quail - cower; lose heart
Qualified - limited; restricted
Qualm - a doubt or misgiving; uneasiness; pang of conscience
Quarry - (v) dig into; (n) victim; object of a hunt
Quell - to put an end to; to squelch; to calm
Querulous - fretful; whining
Queue - line
Quiddity - the real nature of a thing; the essence; a hairsplitting distinction
Quidnunc - a busybody; one who needs to know everything
Quiescent - at rest; dormant
Quietus - an end; the death of
Quintessence - purest and highest embodiment
Quisling - a traitor who helps an enemy who occupies his or her country
Quittance - discharged debt; recompense
Quixotic - foolishly impractical and idealistic
Quizzical - bantering; comical; humorously serious
Quotidian - daily; commonplace; customary
Raconteur - story-teller
Raffish - jaunty; sporty; disreputable; vulgar; characterized by a careless unconventionality
Rail - to scold with bitter language; rant
Raillery - good-natured ridicule; pleasantry touched with satire; banter; mockery
Raiment - clothing
Rakehell - an evil person
Rakish - stylish; sporty
Ramify - divide into branches or subdivisions
Ramose - branched
Rampant - rearing up on hind legs; unrestrained
Rancor - bitterness; hatred
Rankle - irritate; fester
Rapacious - greedy; ravenous
Rapprochement - a reestablishment of good relations
Rarefied - esoteric; interesting to only a few
Ratiocination - reasoning; act of drawing conclusions from premises; systematic thought
Raucous - harsh and shrill
Raze - destroy completely
Rebuff - snub; beat back
Recalcitrant - obstinately stubborn
Recidivist - of the kind committed before
Recherché - rare; sought out with care; precious; pretentious
Reciprocate - repay in kind
Recision - the act rescinding or canceling
Réclame - public acclaim, esp. when received through publicity; skill in publicity; showmanship
Recluse - hermit
Recondite - abstruse; profound; secret
Recreant - (n) a coward, esp. one who gives up during a battle; a disloyal person; traitor; (adj)
unfaithful or disloyal; cowardly
Recrimination - countercharges
Rectilinear - moving in a straight line; having an undeviating direction; forming a straight line
Rectitude - uprightness; righteous
Recumbent - reclining; lying down completely or in part
Recusant - (n) someone who refuses to conform; (adj) refusing to conform or submit to authority
Redemptive - something that frees or extricates from harm
Redolent - having a pleasant smell
Redoubt - a small, defensive, secure place; a stronghold
Redoubtable - formidable; fearsome; deserving of respect
Redress - remedy; compensation
Reductio ad absurdum - reduction to the absurd
Refectory - dining hall
Refractory - stubborn; unmanageable; resisting control or authority
Refulgence - brilliance; radiance; splendor
Regale - entertain
Regnant - the predominating meaning, figure, or concept
Reify - to treat something that is abstract as if it were real
Rejoinder - retort; comeback; reply
Relegate - banish; consign to inferior position
Remiss - careless; negligent
Remonstrance - protest; objection
Remunerative - compensating; rewarding
Renascent - reborn; showing new life or vigor
Rend - to split; tear apart
Rent - a tear or rip; split
Repartee - clever reply
Repast - a meal; the act of eating
Repine - fret; complain
Replete - filled to capacity; abundantly supplied
Repository - storehouse
Reprieve - temporary stay
Reprisal - retaliation
Repristinate - to restore to an original state or condition
Reprobate - a person hardened in sin, devoid of a sense of decency
Reprobation - severe disapproval
Reprove - censure; rebuke
Repudiate - disown; disavow; recant
Reputable - respectable
Requital - return or repayment for something; something given in return or compensation
Requite - repay; revenge
Rescind - to take back; annul; cancel
Rescript - decree
Residue - remainder; balance
Resolute - not turned from a purpose by difficulties, opposition, risk, etc.; unwavering
Resonant - having an effect; being heard; being acted on
Respite - delay in punishment; interval of relief; rest
Resplendent - brilliant; lustrous
Restive - restlessly impatient; obstinately resisting control
Reticent - reserved; uncommunicative; inclined to silence
Reticulation - a network; an arrangement of lines resembling a net
Retinue - a group of attendants to an elevated person
Retiring - modest; shy
Retrench - cut expenses; economize
Retrograde - go backwards; degenerate
Reverent - respectful
Reverie - daydream; musing
Revile - slander; vilify
Revivification - the rebirth; the invigoration of; the injection of life into
Rhapsodize - to speak or write in an exaggeratedly enthusiastic manner
Rhetoric - art of effective communication; insincere or grandiloquent language
Ribald - wanton; profane
Rife - abundant; current
Rime - ice formed when water freezes on grass or trees; any coating, like mud or slime, that is
similar to a thin film of frost
Riposte - a quick counterthrust given after parrying an opponent's attack in fencing; a retaliatory
action; a quick retort
Ripsnorter - something very powerful, impressive, or remarkable
Risible - relating to laughter; easily disposed to laugh
Rivulet - small stream
Robust - vigorous; strong
Rococo - ornate; highly decorated
Rodomontade - a vain, exaggerated boast; a bragging speech; empty bluster
Roister - to engage in boisterous revelry; to swagger
Roseate - rosy; optimistic
Rostrum - platform for speech-making; pulpit
Rotundity - roundness; sonorousness of speech
Roué - a lecherous man; a rake; a person devoted to sensual pleasures
Rout - to put to flight; to scatter; to cause a huge defeat
Routinization - reduction to a prescribed and detailed course of action to be followed regularly
Rubescent - becoming red; red
Rubric - heading; title; category
Ruck - a mass; throng; crowd; the group of horses left behind in a race; people who are not
distinguishable as opposed to their leader
Ruddy - reddish; healthy-looking
Rudimentary - not developed; elementary
Rueful - regretful; sorrowful; dejected
Ruminate - to let the mind dwell on and develop; disport with; chew the cud; ponder
Rump - relating to a fragment or remainder; a small group usually claiming to be representative of a
larger whole that arises independently or breaks off from a parent body
Sabulous - sandy; gritty
Saccadic - relating to rapid and intermittent movement of the eye as it moves from point to point
while looking at different things; relating to any rapid movement; jerky
Saccharine - cloyingly sweet
Sacerdotal - of or relating to priests or priesthood
Sacrosanct - most holy or sacred; inviolable
Sagacity - wisdom; soundness of judgment
Salacious - lascivious; lustful
Salient - (adj) prominent; (n) the cutting point; the apex of the military formation, or of an argument
Sallow - yellowish; sickly in color
Sally - a rushing attack; witty repartee; a brief excursion
Salmagundi - a mixture of meat, anchovies, eggs, and onions, served on lettuce; any mixture or
medley
Salubrious - healthful
Salutary - tending to improve; beneficial
Salvific - having the intent to save or admit to salvation
Sanctimonious - displaying ostentatious or hypocritical devoutness
Sanction - approve; ratify
Sangfroid - coolness; composure
Sanguinary - bloody
Sanguine - cheerful; hopeful
Sapid - having a strong, agreeable taste
Sapient - wise; knowledgeable
Saporous - tasty; flavorsome
Saprophytic - obtaining nourishment osmotically from dead matter
Sardonic - disdainful; sarcastic; cynical
Sartorial - relating to dress or fashion
Sass - to talk impudently or disrespectfully to
Sate - satisfy to the full; cloy
Satrap - a subordinate ruler
Saturnine - gloomy
Satyriasis - abnormal or uncontrollable desire by a man for sexual intercourse
Scabrous - covered with small bumps; rough; difficult to deal with; scandalous; lacking in delicacy;
salacious
Scad - a great quantity
Scalawag - someone disreputable; reprobate; scamp; a Southern white person who accepted the
laws of the reconstruction
Scanty - meager; insufficient
Scarify - criticize sharply
Schadenfreude - guilty pleasure one feels when others are suffering
Schism - division; split
Schlemiel - a foolish, unlucky, clumsy wimp
Schlimazel - a born loser; an unlucky simp
Schuss - to make a straight, high-speed run on skis
Scintilla - a barely perceptible manifestation; the slightest particle or trace; shred; least bit
Scintillate - sparkle; flash
Sciolism - superficial knowledge; a show of learning without substantial foundation
Scion - descendant; offspring; an offshoot of a plant; a twig
Sclerosis - hardening of the tissue owing to neglect or overburdening; inactivity to the point of
sluggishness, owing to years of inattention or bureaucratic overhead
Sclerotic - hard; toughened
Scofflaw - one who is continually breaking the law
Scotch - stamp out; thwart; hinder
Scourge - lash; whip; severe punishment
Screed - a long and monotonous tirade; a long letter
Scruple - fret about; hesitate, for ethical reasons
Scrupulous - conscientious; extremely thorough
Scurrilous - obscene; indecent
Scurry - move briskly
Scuttle - sink
Sear - to burn or scorch; to make dry or withered; parch
Secern - to discriminate; distinguish
Secrete - hide away or cache
Sectarian - divisively attached to one faction within a church, ideology, or political party; narrow-
minded; limited in scope
Sedate - composed; grave
Sedentary - requiring sitting
Sedulous - diligent
Seemly - proper; appropriate
Seethe - be disturbed; boil
Seine - (v) to fish out or pluck from the sea; (n) net for catching fish
Semblance - outward appearance; guise
Seminal - germinal; influencing future developments
Semiotics - semantics
Senescence - beginning of old age
Sententious - preachy; pompous; using wise sayings excessively
Sentinel - sentry; lookout
Sepulcher - tomb
Sequacious - obsequious; following in logical sequence
Sere - parched; dry
Serpentine - winding; twisting
Serried - crowded together
Serviette - a table napkin
Sequester - to set apart; separate for a special purpose; remove; segregate
Seriatim - in a series; serially
Sesquipedalian - (n) a long word, or one with many syllables; (adj) given to using long words
Sessile - sedentary; not free to move
Severance - division; partition; separation
Sheathe - to place into a case
Shibboleth - a distinctive word or behavior that typifies a group; slogan
Shoal - (adj) shallow (of water); (n) a school of fish; a great quantity
Shunt - turn aside; divert; sidetrack
Sibilant - having or making a hissing sound
Sibylline - prophetic; oracular
Sidereal - related to the stars
Simper - smirk; smile affectedly
Simulacrum - an image; a vague representation or semblance
Sinecure - well-paid position with little responsibility
Sine qua non - an essential condition or element
Sinewy - tough; strong and firm
Sinuous - winding; bending in and out; not morally honest
Sisyphean - requiring a continual and ineffective effort
Skein - something suggesting the twistings and contortions of a loosely coiled length of yarn or
thread
Skittish - lively; frisky
Skulduggery - dishonest behavior
Skulk - move furtively and secretly
Slake - quench; sate
Slapdash - haphazard; careless; sloppy
Slatternly - squalid; unkempt or dirty because of neglect; characteristic of a prostitute
Slavish - resembling or characteristic of a slave; spineless; submissive
Slight - insult to one's dignity; snub
Sloth - disinclination to action or labor; sluggishness; laziness; idleness; indolence
Slough - cast off
Sluice - artificial channel for directing the flow of water
Smarmy - hypocritically earnest; unctuous; smug
Smolder - burn without flame; be liable to break out at any moment
Sobriety - moderation, esp. regarding indulgence in alcohol; seriousness
Sobriquet - a nickname, usually humorous or affectionate; an assumed name
Sodality - companionship
Sojourn - temporary stay
Solace - comfort in trouble
Solatium - compensation for injury to the feelings
Solecism - construction that is flagrantly incorrect grammatically
Solicitous - worried; concerned; anxious
Solipsism - a theory in philosophy that only the self can be known to exist; extreme focus on the
self as opposed to relationships with others
Solvent - able to pay all debts
Somatic - pertaining to the body; physical
Sommelier - a waiter in a restaurant who has charge of wines and their service; a wine steward
Somnambulist - a sleepwalker
Somnolent - half-asleep
Sonorous - marked by excessively heavy, grandiloquent, or self-assured effect or style; resonant
Sophistry - seemingly plausible but fallacious reasoning
Sophomoric - immature; shallow
Soporific - sleep producing
Sordid - filthy; base; vile
Sotto voce - under the breath; in an undertone
Sough - (v) to make a murmuring or sighing sound; (n) a soft murmuring sound
Soupçon - a tiny bit; a trace; a hint; a suspicion
Spartan - lacking luxury and comfort; sternly disciplined
Spasmodic - fitful; periodic
Spate - sudden flood or outburst
Specious - seemingly reasonable but incorrect
Specie - coin, as in money ("in specie" ---> in kind/in coin)
Sphygmomanometer - instrument used to measure blood pressure
Splenetic - characterized by morose bad temper, sullen malevolence, or spiteful anger; ill-
tempered; irritable
Spoonerism - a transposition of the consonant sounds in two words, esp. for comic effect
Sportive - playful
Spry - vigorously active; nimble
Spurious - false; counterfeit; forged; illogical
Spurn - reject; scorn
Squalid - dirty; neglected; poor
Staid - sober; sedate
Stalwart - unwavering; robust; sturdily built
Stasis - a state of static equilibrium among opposing tendencies or forces; quiescence; stagnation
Static - unchanging; lacking development
Steadfast - loyal; unswerving
Steep - soak; saturate
Stem - to stop or check
Stentorian - extremely loud; emphatic
Sthenic - athletically vigorous
Stifle - suppress; extinguish; inhibit
Stilted - bombastic; stiffly pompous
Stint - (v) to be thrifty; set limits; (n) supply; allotted amount; assigned portion of work
Stipple - paint or draw with dots
Stodgy - stuffy; boringly conservative
Stoic - showing indifference to pain; apathetic
Stolidity - dullness; impassiveness
Strappado - a torture in which a person has his hands tied behind his back and is lifted and then
dropped with all the weight on the tied hands
Stratagem - a trick or deceptive scheme
Strew - spread randomly; sprinkle; scatter
Striated - marked with parallel bands; grooved
Stricture - critical comments; severe and adverse criticism; something that closely restrains or limits
Strident - loud and harsh
Structuralism - a method of analyzing phenomena in which the phenomena is broken down into its
most stable and elemental structures
Studied - unspontaneous; deliberate; thoughtful
Stultify - cause to appear or become useless, ineffectual, stupid, or inconsistent; frustrate or hinder
Stupefy - make numb; stun; amaze
Sturm Und Drang - turmoil; a late eighteenth century German literary movement in which a
person's individual struggle against conventional society was a typical theme
Stygian - relating to the river Styx; gloomy; dark; hellish; unbreakable (oath)
Suasion - the act or an instance of urging, convincing, or persuading
Subaltern - a subordinate person
Subjugate - conquer; bring under control
Sublimate - refine; purify
Sublime - exalted; noble; uplifting
Suborn - persuade to act unlawfully (esp. to commit perjury)
Sub-rosa - (adj) secret; confidential (adv) secretly
Subside - settle down; descend; grow quiet
Subsidiary - secondary; subordinate
Subsistence - existence; means of support; livelihood
Sub specie aeternitatis - viewed under the aspects of the heavens; in its essential or universal form
or nature
Substantive - essential; pertaining to the substance
Subsume - include; encompass
Subterfuge - a deception
Subversive - tending to overthrow; destructive
Succinct - brief; terse; compact
Succor - (v) to relieve the difficulty or distress of; (n) help given in time of need; aid
Succubus - a female demon who was supposed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping men;
demon; prostitute
Succumb - yield; give in; die
Suffuse - spread over
Sui Generis - unique; of its own kind
Sui Juris - competent (legally) to manage one's own affairs
Sully - tarnish; soil
Sultry - sweltering
Summum bonum - the supreme or highest good, usually in which all other goods are included or
from which they are derived
Sumptuous - lavish; rich
Sunder - to break or tear apart; to separate
Sundry - various; several; miscellaneous
Superannuated - retired or disqualified because of age
Supercilious - arrogant
Supererogatory - superfluous; more than needed or demanded; verbally redundant
Supernal - being or coming from above; that which emanates from heaven
Supernumerary - a person or thing in excess of what is necessary; extra
Supersede - cause to be set aside; replace
Supervene - to follow immediately after; to ensue
Supine - lying on one’s back (helplessly); manifesting mental or moral lethargy; indifferent to one’s
duty
Supplant - replace; usurp
Supple - flexible; pliant
Suppliant - entreating; beseeching
Supplicate - petition humbly; pray to grant a favor
Supposition - hypothesis; surmise
Supposititious - assumed; counterfeit; hypothetical
Suppurating - generating pus; giving out poison
Surcease - cessation
Surfeit - satiate; stuff; indulge to excess in anything
Surly - rude; cross
Surmount - overcome
Surreptitious - secret; hidden; out of sight; clandestine
Susurrate - (v) to make a soft rustling sound; (n) a whispering sound
Svelte - slender; thin; elegant; sophisticated
Swarthy - dark; dusky
Swathe - wrap around; bandage
Swill - drink greedily
Sybarite - lover of luxury
Sycophant - servile flatterer
Syllogism - form of logic in which major and minor premises are made, and from them a
conclusion is drawn; the process of deduction; reasoning from the general to the particular
Sylvan - pertaining to the woods; rustic
Symbiosis - the profitable coexistence of two organisms, to their mutual advantage
Synaesthetic - experiencing a subjective sensation or image that appeals to all of the senses
Syncretism - a fusion of differing systems of philosophy
Synecdoche - the rhetorical device by which the part is taken for the whole, or the whole for the
part
Synergetic - cooperative; working together
Synergy - the combined force of two distinct elements that is more powerful than each alone
Synesthesia - when one sense informs the other (eg, a sound makes one see color); a description
of one sense with a term used in another sense (eg, loud pattern, sweet sounds)
Synoptic - providing a general overview; summary
Syntactical - relating to the rules of syntax, a connected system of order; orderly arrangement;
harmonious adjustment of parts or elements
Tabula rasa - the condition of the mind before it is exposed to anything; total innocence; blankness
Tacit - understood; unwritten
Taciturn - habitually silent; talking little
Talismanic - having the properties of something that produces extraordinary or apparently magical
effects
Tangential - peripheral; only slightly connected; digressing
Tantamount - equivalent in value, significance, or effect; equal
Taper - candle
Tarantism - a disorder in which the victim has an uncontrollable urge to dance
Tarry - delay; dawdle
Tatterdemalion - a ragged person, always in tatters
Tautological - needlessly repetitious
Tawdry - cheap and gaudy
Tectonic - having to do with structural changes in the Earth's crust; architectural
Teleology -the study of design or purpose in natural phenomena
Temerarious - recklessly daring; rash
Temerity - boldness; rashness
Temper - to moderate; tone down or restrain
Temporize - avoid committing oneself; gain time
Tenacity - firmness; persistency; adhesiveness
Tendentious - having an aim; biased; designed to further a cause
Tender - to offer; to extend
Tenebrous - dark and gloomy
Tensile - capable of being stretched
Tenuous - thin; rare; slim
Tepid - lukewarm; unenthusiastic; halfhearted
Tergiversate - to desert; change sides; reverse opinion
Termagant - a quarrelsome woman; a shrew
Terrestrial - of or relating to the Earth
Tesselated - inlaid; mosaic
Testator - maker of a will
Thaumaturgy - the performance of miracles or magic
Theocracy - government of a state by theological doctrine
Theodicy - a defense of God's benevolence despite the existence of evil
Theosophy - any religion that believes that the nature of the soul can be discovered through
meditation
Thither - to or toward that place; in that direction; there
Thrall - a slave or person held in bondage
Threnody - dirge; funeral song
Throes - violent anguish
Throng - crowd
Throttle - strangle
Throttlebottom - a useless vice president
Thwart - baffle; frustrate
Timorous - fearful; demonstrating fear
Tincture - (n) a tiny bit of something; a hint; (v) to dye; infuse with some characteristic
Tintinnabulation - the sound made when bells ring
Tipple - drink (alcoholic beverages) frequently
Tirade - extended scolding; denunciation
Titillate - to tickle
Titivate - to make (esp. oneself) neat in appearance
Titter - nervous laugh
Titular - having the title of an office without the obligations
Toady - servile flatterer
Tocsin - a bell used to sound an alarm or a general summons
Tome - large volume
Tony - fashionable; trendy; aristocratic
Toothsome - agreeable; pleasant; abundant; tasty; luscious; sexually attractive
Tor - a high rock; a high rocky hill; pile of rocks
Torpor - lethargy; sluggishness; dormancy
Torque - twisting force; force producing rotation
Torrent - rushing stream; flood
Tort-feasor - one who is guilty of a wrongful act; a wrongdoer; a trespasser
Tortuous - winding; full of curves
Tory - conservative in beliefs, esp. in politics
Totalism - exercising total autocratic powers; tending toward monopoly
Touchstone - stone used to test the fineness of gold alloys; criterion
Tout - publicize; praise excessively
Tract - pamphlet; a region of indefinite size
Tractable - docile
Traduce - to lower or disgrace the reputation of; expose to shame or blame by utterance of
falsehood or misrepresentation; expose to slander
Transcendent - going beyond or exceeding usual limits; surpassing; being above material existence
or apart from the universe
Transcribe - to copy
Transient - momentary; temporary; staying for a short time
Transitoriness - impermanence
Transmute - to change; convert to something different
Transparent - permitting light to pass through freely; easily detected
Transport - strong emotion
Transubstantiate - to change into another substance; transform; transmute
Trappings - outward decorations; ornaments
Travail - painful labor
Travesty - comical parody; treatment aimed at making something appear ridiculous
Treacle - something (as a tone of voice, manner, or compliment) resembling treacle—a blend of
molasses, invert sugar, and corn syrup—in its heavy sweetness and cloying nature
Tremulous - trembling; wavering; quivering; palpitating; timid
Trenchant - cutting; keen; forceful; tightly constructed
Trepidation - fear; trembling agitation
Tribulation - distress; suffering
Trice - a moment; a short period of time
Trilemma - a problem for which there are three possible courses of action, and none perfect
Tripartite - divided into or being in three parts; composed of three parts or kinds
Trivia - trifles; unimportant matters
Troglodyte - a member of any ancient or mythological race that dwelt in caves; a brutish person;
hermit
Trope - the use of a word in the figurative sense; a figure of speech
Tropism - an innate tendency to react in a definite manner to stimuli; a natural born inclination
Troth - pledge of good faith, esp. in betrothal
Trough - container for feeding farm animals; lowest point (of a wave, business cycle, etc.)
Truckle - (n) a small wheel used to make it easier to move heavy furniture; caster; (v) to be
subservient
Truculence - aggressiveness; ferocity
Truncate - cut the top off; cut short
Tryst - meeting, esp. between two lovers
Tumescence - a swelling; swelling fullness
Tumid - bombastic; swollen; pompous
Tumult - commotion; riot; noise; uproar
Tu quoque - referring to a retort charging an adversary with being or doing what he criticizes in
others
Turbid - muddy; having the sediment disturbed
Turgid - swollen; distended
Turpitude - depravity; corruption; evildoing; iniquity
Tutelage - guardianship; training
Tutoyer - to address familiarly
Twit - annoy or taunt by reminding of a fault
Tyro - beginner; novice
Ubiety - the quality of being in a particular position or location; whereness
Ubiquitous - being everywhere; omnipresent
Ukase - an authoritative decree; official edict
Ululate - to wail or howl loudly
Umbrage - resentment; anger; sense of insult or injury; shade
Unassuaged - unsatisfied; not soothed
Unassuming - modest
Unconscionable - unscrupulous; excessive
Unction - the act of anointing with oil
Unctuous - revealing or marked by a smug, ingratiating, and false appearance or spirituality; oily;
bland; insincerely suave
Undulate - to move smoothly in a wavelike motion
Unequivocal - plain; obvious
Unfeigned - genuine; real
Unfettered - liberated; freed from chains
Unfledged - immature
Ungainly - awkward
Unguent - ointment
Unimpeachable - blameless and exemplary
Unkempt - disheveled; with uncared-for appearance
Unmeeching - not cringing, sneaky, or whining in tone
Unprepossessing - unattractive
Unrequited - not reciprocated
Unseemly - unbecoming; indecent
Unshirted - undiluted; unsparing; undisguised
Untenable - unable to be defended, supported, or maintained
Untoward - unfortunate; annoying
Unwonted - unaccustomed
Upbraid - scold; reproach
Uproarious - marked by commotion; extremely funny; very noisy
Upshot - outcome
Urbane - suave; refined; elegant
Urchin - mischievous child
Ursine - bearlike; pertaining to a bear
Usufruct - the right to use someone else's property as long as it is not damaged in the process
Usurious - involving charging an unconscionable or exorbitant rate or amount of interest
Usurpation - the wrongful assumption of power
Utilitarian - stressing the value of practical over aesthetic qualities; characterized by or aiming at
utility as distinguished from beauty or ornament
Uxorious - excessively devoted to one's wife
Vacuous - empty; lacking in ideas; stupid
Vagary - caprice; whim
Vagrant - (n) homeless wanderer; (adj) stray; random
Vainglorious - marked by excessive pride in one’s achievements; boastful; conceited
Valedictory - farewell; that which is said in the course of ending a speech or bidding good-bye
Valetudinarian - (n) an unhealthy person, esp. one who is obsessed with his health; (adj) sickly;
infirm; being obsessed with one's health
Vanguard - forerunners; advance forces
Vantage - position giving an advantage
Vapid - lacking flavor, zest, animation, or spirit; insipid; inane
Varicose - abnormally swollen or dilated
Variegated - multicolored
Vaticination - a prediction; prophesy
Vaunted - boasted; bragged; highly publicized
Vehement - impetuous; with marked vigor
Velleity - a slight, nonfervent wish
Venal - capable of being bribed
Veneer - thin layer; cover
Venerable - deserving high respect
Venerate - revere
Venial - forgivable; trivial; pardonable; excused; overlooked
Veracious - truthful
Verbiage - pompous array of words
Verbose - wordy
Verdant - green; lush in vegetation; inexperienced; callow
Verdigris - green coating on copper which has been exposed to the weather
Verisimilitude - having the appearance of being the real
Verity - truth; reality
Vermiform - useless
Vernal - pertaining to spring
Vertex - summit
Vertigo - dizziness
Verve - enthusiasm; liveliness
Vestige - trace; remains
Vestigial - remaining or surviving, however degenerate, atrophied, or imperfect
Vex - annoy; distress
Vexatious - annoying; troublesome
Viable - capable of maintaining life; practicable; workable
Viand - food
Vicarious - acting as a substitute; done by a deputy
Vicissitude - change of fortune
Victuals - food
Vie - contend; compete
Vignette - picture; short literary sketch
Vigor - active strength
Vilify - to slander
Vindicate - to clear of charges
Vindictive - revengeful
Vinous - caused by or resulting from drinking wine or spirits; showing the effects of the use of wine
Vintner - winemaker; seller of wine
Virago - a shrew; a manly woman; a warrior
Viridescent - green
Virile - manly
Virulent - extremely poisonous
Visage - face; appearance
Vis-à-vis - in comparison to
Visceral - felt in one's inner organs
Viscid - adhesive; sticky
Viscous - sticky; gluey
Vital - vibrant and lively; critical; living
Vitiate - to impair the value or quality of; corrupt; invalidate; debase
Vitreous - pertaining to or resembling glass
Vitriolic - corrosive; sarcastic
Vituperative - abusive; scolding
Vivacious - lively or animated; sprightly
Vivisection - the act of dissecting living animals
Vixen - female fox; ill-tempered woman
Vociferous - clamorous; noisy
Vogue - popular fashion
Volatile - changeable; explosive; evaporating rapidly
Volition - the act of making a conscious choice
Volubly - talkatively
Voluminous - bulky; large; profuse; exorbitant
Voluptuarian - lustful; sensuous
Voluptuous - gratifying the senses
Voracious - ravenous
Vortex - whirlwind; whirlpool; center of turbulence; predicament into which one is inexorably
plunged
Votary - a sworn adherent; an ardent enthusiast; a devoted admirer; disciple; fan
Vouchsafe - grant condescendingly; guarantee
Vox populi - popular opinion
Vulpine - like a fox; crafty
Waffle - speak equivocally about an issue
Waft - moved gently by wind or waves
Waggish - mischievous; humorous; tricky
Waif - homeless child or animal
Wan - having a pale or sickly color; pallid
Wane - grow gradually smaller
Wangle - wiggle out; fake
Wanton - unrestrained; willfully malicious; unchaste
Warble - to sing; to babble
Warrant - to declare or maintain with little or no fear of being contradicted or belied; be certain; be
sure that
Warren - tunnels in which rabbits live; crowded conditions in which people live
Wastrel - profligate
Wax - to increase; grow
Waylay - ambush; lie in wait
Wayward - willfully turning away from what is right and proper, and heedless of the counsel of
others
Weal - prosperity; well-being; the general good
Wean - accustom a baby not to nurse; give up a cherished activity
Weather - to endure the effects of weather or other forces
Weltanschauung - complete philosophy of the world; world view
Welter - (v) to writhe, toss, wallow; (n) accumulation that is confusing; jumble
Weltschmerz - world-weariness
Wheedle - cajole; coax; deceive by flattery
Whelp - a young wolf, dog, tiger, etc.
Whet - sharpen; stimulate
Whit - smallest speck
Whorl - ring of leaves around stem; ring
Widdershins - counterclockwise
Willful - intentional; headstrong
Williwaw - a gust of cold wind; a mini-gale
Windfall - fallen fruit; unexpected lucky event
Winnow - sift; separate good parts from bad
Winsome - agreeable; gracious; engaging
Wispy - thin; slight; barely discernible
Wistful - vaguely longing; sadly pensive
Withal - besides; in addition
Wizened - withered; shriveled
Wont - custom; habitual procedure
Wraith - specter; ghost
Wrangle - to quarrel; obtain through arguing; herd cattle
Wreak - to bring about harm; cause; inflict
Wrench - pull; strain; twist
Wrest - pull away; take by violence
Writhe - squirm; twist
Wunderkind - a child with exceptional talent who becomes famous at an early age; prodigy
Yen - longing; urge
Yoke - join together; unite
Yore - time past
Zaftig - full-figured; plump
Zeal - eager enthusiasm
Zealot - fanatic; person who shows excessive zeal
Zeitgeist - the dominant moral and intellectual character of a particular period; spirit of the times
Zenith - point directly overhead in the sky; summit
Zephyr - a gentle breeze
Zero-sum - meaningless
Zest - a piquant, enhancing quality; a piece of lemon or orange peel added to a drink to give flavor
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