aberration
n. a disorder in one's mental state; a state or condition markedly different from the norm |
abstract
a. theoretical; not concrete; not applied or practical; difficult to understand |
accolade
n. award of merit; expression of approval; praise |
accommodate
v. do a favor or service for; provide for; supply with; make suitable |
aesthetic
a. elegant or tasteful; of or concerning appreciation of beauty or good taste |
affinity
n. natural attraction, liking, or feeling of kinship; relationship by marriage |
altercation
n. noisy quarrel; contention in words; dispute carried on with heat or anger; controversy |
ameliorate
v. make or become better; improve; grow better |
amicable
a. exhibiting friendliness or goodwill; not quarrelsome |
anarchy
n. absence of governing body; state of disorder; political disorder and confusion |
anomaly
n. irregularity; person or something that is unusual; departure from normal or common order |
appall
v. depress or discourage with fear; grow faint or become weak |
archaic
a. no longer current or applicable; antiquated |
arduous
a. demanding great effort or labor; difficult |
articulate
a. expressing oneself easily in clear and effective language |
astute
a. wise or keen; shrewd; with sharp intelligence |
authoritarian
a. expecting absolute obedience; completely dominating another's will |
aversion
n. firm dislike; turning away; avoidance of a thing, situation, or behavior because of dislike |
biased
a. favoring one person or side over another; prejudiced |
brevity
n. quality or state of being brief in duration; concise expression |
cajole
v. influence or urge by gentle urging or flattering |
callous
a. emotionally hardened; unfeeling; toughened |
capitulate
v. surrender; end all resistance; give up; go along with or comply |
catalyst
n. agent which brings about chemical change while it remains unaffected and unchanged |
catharsis
n. purging or cleansing of any passage of body |
caustic
a. capable of burning, corroding, dissolving, or eating away by chemical action |
censure
v. expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism; blame |
chastise
v. punish, as by beating; criticize severely; rebuke |
clamor
n. noise; loud outcry; expression of discontent or protest |
coalesce
v. combine; fuse; grow together; come together so as to form one whole; unite |
cognizant
a. having or showing knowledge or understanding or realization or perception |
commiserate
v. feel or express pity or sympathy for |
composure
n. mental calmness; calm or tranquil state of mind |
conciliatory
a. making or willing to yield, or to make concessions |
contract
v. constrict; make smaller; compress or concentrate |
copious
a. plentiful; containing plenty; affording ample supply |
cordial
a. gracious; showing warm and friendliness |
dearth
n. scarcity; shortage of food; famine from failure or loss of crops |
debilitate
v. make weak; enfeeble; impair the strength of |
decadence
n. process, condition, or period of deterioration or decline; falling off or away; decay |
deference
n. willingness to carry out the wishes of others; great respect |
delineate
v. portray; depict; draw or trace outline of; sketch out |
deprecate
v. express disapproval of; protest against; belittle |
despot
n. tyrant; harsh, authoritarian ruler; eastern Orthodox bishop |
devious
a. departing from correct or accepted way; misleading; not straightforward |
didactic
a. instructive (especially excessively) |
disparage
v. belittle; speak of in a slighting or disrespectful way; reduce in esteem or rank |
dissonance
n. discord; disagreeable sounds; harsh, disagreeable combination of sounds |
duplicity
n. double-dealing; deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech; acting in bad faith. |
edifice
n. building, especially one of imposing appearance or size; a structure that has a roof and walls |
effervescent
a. used of wines and waters; charged naturally or artificially with carbon dioxide |
egregious
a. notorious; conspicuously bad or shocking |
elusive
a. difficult to describe; difficult to detect or grasp by mind |
equivocal
a. open to two or more interpretations and often intended to mislead |
erroneous
a. containing or derived from error; mistaken |
exemplary
a. serving as model; outstanding; typical |
expedient
a. suitable; appropriate to a purpose; serving to promote your interest |
extraneous
a. not essential; coming from outside |
formidable
a. arousing fear; threatening; difficult to undertake or defeat |
frivolous
a. lacking in seriousness; not serious; relatively unimportant |
grueling
a. by effort to the point of exhaustion, especially physical effort |
haphazard
a. not thorough, constant or consistent; by chance |
heretic
n. one who holds to a heresy; one who believes some doctrine contrary to the established faith or prevailing religion |
hindrance
n. something that holds back or causes problems with something else; obstacle |
hypocrisy
n. practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold; falseness; expression of agreement that is not supported by real conviction |
iconoclast
n. a destroyer of images used in religious worship |
incessant
a. uninterrupted; unceasing; continuing without interruption |
incidental
a. happening, as occasional event, without regularity; coming without design |
incite
v. arouse to action; motivate; induce to exist |
incorrigible
a. not correctable; difficult or impossible to control or manage |
indict
v. charge; accuse formally of a crime |
indoctrinate
v. teach with biased or one-sided ideology; teach doctrines to; teach uncritically |
insurgent
a. rising in revolt against established authority; rebelling against leadership of political party |
intangible
a. not able to be perceived by senses, as touch; vague |
judicious
a. exhibiting good judgment or sound thinking; prudent |
lavish
a. liberal; wasteful; excessive spending |
listless
a. lacking in spirit or energy to exert effort |
meager
a. deficient in quantity, fullness, or extent; inadequate; feeble |
meander
v. follow a winding and turning course; move aimlessly and idly without fixed direction |
negligent
a. careless; inattentive |
obliterate
v. destroy completely; do away with completely so as to leave no trace |
ponderous
a. slow and laborious because of weight; labored and dull |
preclude
v. make impossible, as by action taken in advance; prevent; eliminate |
prerequisite
n. something that is required in advance; necessity; required as a prior condition |
proximity
n. state of being proximate; nearness in place, time, or relation |
rectify
v. set right; correct by calculation or adjustment |
rescind
v. cancel; make void; repeal or annul |
resolution
n. determination; resolving to do something; formal statement of a decision |
rigorous
a. full of rigors; harsh; rigidly accurate; precise |
scrutinize
v. examine closely and critically |
substantiate
v. establish by evidence; make firm or solid; support |
surmise
v. guess; infer something without sufficiently conclusive evidence |
tirade
n. extended scolding; long angry or violent speech |
turbulence
n. state of violent agitation; eddying motion; unstable flow of a liquid or gas; state of violent disturbance and disorder |
unimpeachable
a. free of guilt; not subject to blame; completely acceptable |
unobtrusive
a. inconspicuous; not obtrusive or undesirably noticeable |
usurp
v. seize and hold power or rights of another by force or without legal authority |
vacillate
v. sway unsteadily from one side to the other; oscillate |
whimsical
a. determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason; capricious |