Word list 11
Group 1
| Abate |
reduce in intensity |
| Abjure |
renounce; swear to refrain from something |
| Blandishment |
words used to coax or flatter [blandish (v)] |
| Boor |
ill-mannered person [boorish (a)] |
| Cardinal |
1. high ranking church official; 2. major, important |
| Deliberate |
1. slow (a); 2. to think over (v); 3. on purpose (a) |
| Equivocation |
speaking ambiguously [equivocate (v), equivocal (a)] |
| Feckless |
feeble; helpless; lacking in initiative |
| Imperturbability |
quality of being calm and not easily disturbed [imperturbable (a)] |
| Meretricious |
falsely attractive; tawdry |
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Group 2
| Augury |
prediction, looking for omens [augur (v)] |
| Boycott |
refuse to have dealings with |
| Glib |
slick; superficial esp. in speech |
| Incise |
cut into [incision (n); incisive (a)] |
| Moralistic |
concerned with morals [moralize (v)] |
| Ostracism |
shunning; social isolation [ostracize (v)] |
| Penchant |
inclination; leaning; tendency; predilection |
| Rarefy |
make less dense [rarefaction (n)] |
| Repine |
fret; be discontented |
| Stipulate |
specify [stipulation (n)] |
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Group 3
| Diaphanous |
transparent; thin and delicate |
| Feint |
pretended attack; a move intended to deceive |
| Inured |
hardened; habituated |
| Mettlesome |
spirited [mettle (n)] |
| Puissance |
power |
| Recondite |
obscure |
| Stygian |
very dark |
| Touting |
advertising; supporting [tout (v)] |
| Virtuosity |
skill, expertise [virtuoso (n); virtuosi (n.pl)] |
| Volubility |
excessive talkativeness [voluble (a)] |
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Group 4
| Caret |
punctuation mark signifying omission |
| Contiguous |
adjacent; touching; abutting [contiguity (n)] |
| Damp |
(used of vibration) reduce in extent |
| Ellipsis |
omission of essential words |
| Extirpation |
wiping out; complete destruction [extirpate (v)] |
| Foppish |
behaving or dressing like a dandy; excessively concerned with fashion |
| Gaffe |
blunder; social mistake |
| Hortatory |
encouraging; exhorting |
| Opprobrious |
expressing great scorn [opprobrium (n)] |
| Recumbent |
reclining; lying down |
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Group 5
| Ambidextrous |
able to use both left and right hands equally well |
| Culpability |
guilt [culpable = blameworthy] |
| Discernment |
judgment; perceptiveness |
| Encomium |
praise |
| Inveigle |
coax; cajole; wheedle; entice |
| Minatory |
threatening |
| Ossified |
turned to bone; become rigid [ossification (n)] |
| Plumb |
measure depth of (v); exact (a. slang) |
| Quintessential |
most typical; the perfect example of [quintessence (n)] |
| Runic |
mysterious; magical |
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Group 6
| Accretion |
accumulation of matter; growth produced by adding from the outside |
| Anachronistic |
occurring in the wrong time period [anachronism (n)] |
| Chronic |
long lasting (often used for diseases in which case the opposite is acute) |
| Churlishness |
rudeness; ill-mannered behavior |
| Demagogue |
mob leader (who appeals to base instincts) [demagogy/demagoguery (n)] |
| Effrontery |
daring; audacity (has a negative connotation) |
| Idyll |
story or incident in peaceful or ideal setting [idyllic (a)] |
| Interregnum |
interval between reigns or governments |
| Nugatory |
of minor significance; futile |
| Sinecure |
job which pays salary but requiring little effort |
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Group 7
| Anodized |
electroplated; coated with thin layer of metal |
| Aphoristic |
expressed tersely [aphorism (n) = short statement; maxim] |
| Canonical |
orthodox [canon (n) = set of accepted works] |
| Commensurate |
equal in significance |
| Dexterity |
skill, esp. with hands [dexterous (a)] |
| Extant |
still in existence (opposite of extinct) |
| Impugned |
challenged; called into question |
| Probity |
uprightness; honesty |
| Raconteur |
person who relates a story |
| Solicitous |
kindly; expressing care and concern |
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Group 8
| Amalgamate |
join; consolidate [amalgamation (n)] |
| Baleful |
evil |
| Coerce |
force [coercion (n); coercing (a)] |
| Inchoate |
undeveloped; nascent |
| Iniquitous |
evil; unjust [iniquity (n)] |
| Libertine |
dissolute person; prodigal |
| Millinery |
hats and hat-making |
| Natty |
neat; dapper; smart |
| Occluded |
obscured; blocked |
| Sidereal |
of or related to stars |
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Group 9
| Avaricious |
greedy for money |
| Extirpate |
wipe out totally |
| Halcyon |
peaceful and happy; calm (esp. of summer weather) |
| List (v) |
1. to lean to one side; 2. to write in order |
| Maudlin |
sad; sentimental; inclined to weep |
| Refulgent |
glowing; radiant |
| Subliminal |
below the threshold of consciousness |
| Testiness |
irritability; irascibility [testy (a)] |
| Vituperate |
attack bitterly |
| Whittle |
1. carve with knife; 2. reduce step by step |
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Group 10
| Colander |
bowl with holes used to drain vegetables etc. |
| Cumbersome |
bulky; difficult to carry [encumber = to burden] |
| Diaphanous |
transparent; thin and delicate |
| Dispatch |
1. send (v); 2. speed; celerity (n) |
| Epistemology |
theory of knowledge |
| Froward |
stubborn; wayward; disobedient |
| Supine |
lying flat on one�s back |
| Throwback |
exhibiting primitive, or ancestral, traits |
| Untoward |
unexpected |
| Verisimilar |
true to life; giving the appearance of reality |
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