Word list 13
Group 1
| Alleviated |
made less severe [alleviation (n); alleviate (v)] |
| Apostrophe |
1. punctuation mark; 2. appeal to someone not present (a figure of speech) |
| Centurion |
roman soldier (commander of a company of 100 soldiers) |
| Emollient |
softening (a); something which softens (n) |
| Fusillade |
long burst of gunfire |
| Inerrancy |
infallibility; inability to make mistakes [inerrant (a)] |
| Mince |
1. chop into small pieces; 2. walk with tiny steps, 3. speak in an affected manner |
| Palpate |
medical term meaning to examine with the hands |
| Platitude |
unoriginal, obvious saying |
| Quibble |
1. (v) to argue about minor matters; to play on words when finding fault; 2. (n) a minor verbal point in an argument |
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Group 2
| Apprehension |
slight fear; sense of something unfavorable |
| Conniving |
cunning; scheming [connive (v)] |
| Derision |
mockery [deride (v)] |
| Epigram |
short, witty saying |
| Lassitude |
lack of energy; weariness |
| Pedantic |
over-insistent on matters of book-learning [pedant (n)] |
| Phenomenology |
branch of science concerned with things as they are perceived; not directly derived from theory |
| Precipitate |
1. hurried (a); 2. insoluble product of a reaction in chemistry (n), 3. to instigate or speed up an action (v) |
| Renege |
go back on promise or retract statement |
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Group 3
| Armada |
fleet of ships |
| Dawdler |
slow person who falls behind others [dawdle (v)] |
| Dross |
something worthless; impurities left after refining |
| Expiate |
atone; make amends for |
| Hack |
1. chop roughly; 2. person who writes to earn money, 3. hired horse |
| Prone |
1. vulnerable to; 2. horizontal |
| Propensity |
tendency; inclination |
| Scabbard |
cover for a sword |
| Skiff |
small boat |
| Umbrage |
1. shadow; 2. offence; sense of injury |
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Group 4
| Dilettantism |
dabbling esp. in the arts [dilettante (n) = person who dabbles] |
| Enervate |
weaken |
| Malevolent |
having evil intentions [malevolence(n)] |
| Neophyte |
new convert; tyro |
| Panegyric |
speech praising someone; laudatory words |
| Presage |
forewarn of; indicate |
| Serration |
jagged edge |
| Slight |
1. minor (a); 2. perceived insult (v) and (n) |
| Tare |
1. weed; 2. allowance made for container when weighing |
| Unprepossessing |
unattractive |
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Group 5
| Aberration |
deviation from the normal |
| Cant |
insincere talk |
| Disinter |
dig up [opposite inter = bury] |
| Fa�ade |
1. front elevation of building, 2. false appearance or demeanor |
| Impeding |
hindering [impede (v); impediment (n)] |
| Lacuna |
gap; missing part [plural = lacunae] |
| Monolithic |
united in purpose; forming a single unit |
| Pied |
multicolored |
| Roster |
list of names |
| Seemly |
appropriate (of behavior); decorous |
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Group 6
| Analogue |
1. something similar; 2. output proportional to input (engineering) |
| Coda |
piece of music at the end of a musical work; finale; final part of document |
| Commingle |
mix |
| Equivocal |
ambiguous; open to interpretation [equivocate (v), equivocation (n)] |
| Fallible |
capable of making mistakes [fallibility (n)] |
| Hallow |
respect; worship |
| Indigence |
poverty |
| Papyrus |
material used for writing on before paper was invented |
| Pique |
1. annoyance (n); 2. to stimulate interest; to annoy (v) |
| Sap |
1. liquid inside plants (n); 2. to drain; to undermine (v); 3. a fool (n) |
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Group 7
| Arbitrator |
mediator; person appointed to judge a dispute [arbitrate (v)] |
| Descry |
to see (esp. at a distance); catch sight of |
| Facetious |
not intended to be taken seriously |
| Indecorous |
unseemly; inappropriate (of behavior) |
| Proliferate |
grow and spread [proliferation (n)] |
| Scotch (v) |
to prevent; stop; disable |
| Strut |
1. supporting rod (n); 2. to walk in an arrogant manner; show off (v) |
| Toy (v) |
to play with |
| Usury |
lending money at high interest rates |
| Wag (n) |
a witty person |
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Group 8
| Atavism |
reappearance of ancestral traits; regression [atavistic (a)] |
| Filibuster |
delaying tactics |
| Gambit |
opening move; transaction |
| Mitigation |
making less severe [mitigate (v)] |
| Obligate |
compulsory |
| Predilection |
leaning; interest; talent |
| Propitiate |
appease; try to gain favor [propitiation (n)] |
| Stanch |
to stop |
| Travesty |
parody; ridiculous error |
| Waft |
drift smoothly (v); whiff; smell (n) |
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Group 9
| Forage |
search for food |
| Lumber |
1. walk in an ungainly way; 2. timber (wood) |
| Muse |
1. think; meditate (v); 2. a source of inspiration (n) [in mythology, a goddess who gives inspiration] |
| Prescience |
foreknowledge |
| Prune |
1. to trim; 2. a dried plum |
| Ready |
(used of wit) quick |
| Resolve |
firmness (n) |
| Squalid |
dirty and demeaning |
| Sullied |
made dirty or impure [opposite unsullied; sully (v)] |
| Veneration |
worship; respect [venerable (a), venerate (v)] |
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Group 10
| Demur |
object; hesitate to accept |
| Duplicity |
cunning; deception; double dealing |
| Exigency |
urgent matter; pressing need |
| Expostulate |
offer strong objections; remonstrate |
| Gossamer |
delicate; filmy; like gauze |
| Inefficacious |
ineffective |
| Pine |
1. type of evergreen tree; 2. grieve |
| Prudish |
narrow-minded; excessively concerned with morals [prudery (n), prude (n)] |
| Quixotic |
impractically idealistic |
| Stipple |
cover with dots of paint etc. |
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