|
Accolade |
praise |
|
Allusion |
indirect reference |
|
Ambivalence |
uncertainty; having 'mixed' feelings |
|
Ambivalent |
unable to decide |
|
Analogy |
comparison |
|
Anecdote |
short account of something interesting; story |
|
Anomalous |
odd; not fitting the pattern |
|
Apparition |
ghost; something that 'appears' |
|
Aspersion |
negative feeling; damaging remark |
|
Belligerence |
aggression |
|
Bombastic |
too elaborate; exaggerated |
|
Candid |
truthful |
|
Capricious |
changeable; fickle |
|
Cherished |
cared for; firmly-held |
|
Cliche |
over-used expression |
|
Conception |
1. idea; view. 2. beginning of pregnancy |
|
Convoluted |
complicated or long-winded |
|
Credence |
belief |
|
Cryptic |
hidden |
|
Currency |
1. widespread acceptance, 2. money |
|
Decorous |
good and correct (used of behavior) |
|
Denunciation |
act of speaking out against |
|
Derailed |
thrown off course |
|
Derivative |
unoriginal |
|
Despotic |
acting like a tyrant |
|
Detritus |
rubbish |
|
Diaphanous |
very thin and transparent |
|
Dictum |
often-used saying |
|
Dilettante |
person who dabbles in the arts |
|
Disdained |
showed contempt for |
|
Dispassionate |
unbiased; fair |
|
Dowager |
an elderly woman of elevate social status |
|
Dubious |
doubtful |
|
Egalitarian |
equal; believer in equality |
|
Elicit |
draw out (used mainly for information or feelings) |
|
Elliptical |
1. shaped like an ellipse, 2. indirect |
|
Epitomizes |
acts as a typical example of |
|
Equivocate |
speak ambiguously/vaguely |
|
Evasiveness |
trying to avoid something |
|
Explicitly |
very clear; nothing hidden |
|
Foraging |
searching for food |
|
Hypothetical |
based on guesswork; not proven |
|
Iconoclast |
person who goes against accepted authority |
|
Idiosyncratic |
quirky; unique to an individual |
|
Imponderable |
cannot be understood |
|
Indecorous |
not well-behaved; lacking in dignity |
|
Indigence |
extreme poverty |
|
Inept |
clumsy |
|
Inherent |
inbuilt; genetic |
|
Intricate |
complicated |
|
Irrefutable |
cannot be proved wrong |
|
Jingoism |
using words to stir up exaggerated patriotism |
|
Jubilant |
joyful |
|
Judicious |
fair and equal |
|
Lament |
express regret over something |
|
Loquacious |
talkative; using too many words |
|
Mendicancy |
begging |
|
Metaphorical |
not literal; figurative |
|
Milieu |
environment; surroundings |
|
Mitigated |
made less severe |
|
Nascent |
just begun; in an early stage of development |
|
Nostalgia |
longing for the past |
|
Obtrusive |
easily seen |
|
Orthographical |
concerned with writing and spelling |
|
Ossified |
become fixed and rigid |
|
Ostentatious |
showy |
|
Palpable |
can be felt |
|
Pastoral |
1. concerned with the countryside, 2. concerned with the care a pastor gives to someone |
|
Pedestrian |
1. boring (adj), 2. person who walks (n) |
|
Perfidy |
treachery; betrayal |
|
Profligacy |
wasteful and immoral behavior |
|
Prohibitive |
very expensive |
|
Prudence |
wisdom; caution |
|
Pugnacious |
aggressive |
|
Purveyor |
one who sells something or causes something to spread |
|
Resonance |
echo |
|
Respite |
break (from work etc.) |
|
Resurgence |
revival |
|
Sparse |
thin; not thick |
|
Stringent |
strict |
|
Succumbing |
giving in to; falling under the influence of |
|
Supercilious |
arrogant |
|
Tenacity |
firmness of purpose |
|
Transcend |
go beyond a limit |
|
Variegated |
multicolored |
|
Venerable |
worthy of respect |
|
Viable |
workable; able to live or grow |
|
Visceral |
concerned with the 'guts'; physical rather than mental |
