100 Words Every High School Graduate should know
Terms
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- orthography
- a method of representing the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols
- metamorphosis
- a complete change of physical form or substance especially as by magic or witchcraft, a striking change in appearance or character or circumstances, the marked and rapid transformation of a larva into an adult that occurs in some animals
- hubris
- overbearing pride or presumption
- filibuster
- a tactic for delaying or obstructing legislation by making long speeches, a legislator who gives long speeches in an effort to delay or obstruct legislation that he (or she) opposes, obstruct deliberately by delaying
- nihilism
- complete denial of all established authority and institutions, a revolutionary doctrine that advocates destruction of the social system for its own sake, the delusion that things (or everything, including the self) do not exist
- unctuous
- unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech
- respiration
- the metabolic processes whereby certain organisms obtain energy from organic moelcules, the bodily process of inhalation and exhalation, a single complete act of breathing in and out
- gamete
- a mature sexual reproductive cell having a single set of unpaired chromosomes
- kinetic
- supplying motive force, characterized by motion, relating to the motion of material bodies and the forces associated therewith
- winnow
- treat by exposure to a current of air so that waste matter is eliminated, the act of separating grain from chaff, remove by a current of air, separate from chaff, blow on
- polymer
- a naturally occurring or synthetic compound consisting of large molecules made up of a linked series of repeated simple monomers
- deciduous
- (of plants and shrubs) shedding foliage at the end of the growing season, (of teeth, antlers, etc.) being shed at the end of a period of growth
- notarize
- authenticate as a notary
- evanescent
- tending to vanish like vapor
- auspicious
- attended by favorable circumstances, tending to favor or bring good luck
- interpolate
- insert words into texts, often falsifying it thereby, estimate the value of
- ziggurat
- a rectangular tiered temple or terraced mound erected by the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians
- lugubrious
- excessively mournful
- oligarchy
- a political system governed by a few people
- euro
- the basic monetary unit of most members of the European Union (introduced in 1999)
- hegemony
- the domination of one state over its allies
- abstemious
- sparing in consumption of especially food and drink, marked by temperance in indulgence
- quotidian
- found in the ordinary course of events
- expurgate
- edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
- reciprocal
- hybridization involving a pair of crosses that reverse the sexes associated with each genotype, (mathematics) one of a pair of numbers whose product is 1: the reciprocal of 2/3 is 3/2, something (a term or expression or concept) that has a reciprocal relation to something else, of or relating to the multiplicative inverse of a quantity or function, concerning each of two or more persons or things, of or relating to or suggestive of complementation
- loquacious
- full of trivial conversation, full of trivial conversation
- chromosome
- a threadlike body in the cell nucleus that carries the genes in a linear order
- wrought
- shaped to fit by or as if by altering the contours of a pliable mass (as by work or effort)
- facetious
- cleverly amusing in tone
- impeach
- bring an accusation against, charge with a crime or misdemeanor, charge with an offense or misdemeanor, challenge the honesty or credibility of
- plagiarize
- take without referencing from someone else's writing or speech
- hypotenuse
- the side of a right triangle opposite the right angle
- subjugate
- put down by force or intimidation, make subservient
- precipitous
- extremely steep, characterized by precipices, done with very great haste and without due deliberation
- irony
- incongruity in between what might be expected and what actually occurs, witty language used to convey insults or scorn, a trope that involves incongruity between what is expected and what actually occurs
- nonsectarian
- not restricted to one sect or school or party
- infrastructure
- the stock of basic facilities and capital equipment needed for the functioning of a country or area, the basic structure or features of a system or organization
- deleterious
- harmful to living things
- fiduciary
- a person who holds assets in trust for a beneficiary, relating to or of the nature of a legal trust (i.e. the holding of something in trust for another)
- sanguine
- inclined to a healthy reddish color often associated with outdoor life, confidently optimistic and cheerful
- epiphany
- a divine manifestation, [Epiphany] Twelve days after Christmas; celebrates the visit of the three wise men to the infant Jesus
- belie
- represent falsely, be in contradiction with
- chicanery
- the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them)
- bowdlerize
- edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
- paradigm
- a standard or typical example, the generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time, the class of all items that can be substituted into the same position (or slot) in a grammatical sentence (are in paradigmatic relation with one another), systematic arrangement of all the inflected forms of a word
- enervate
- weaken mentally or morally, disturb the composure of
- oxidize
- add oxygen to or combine with oxygen, enter into a combination with oxygen or become converted into an oxide
- feckless
- generally incompetent and ineffectual, not fit to assume responsibility
- equinox
- 1. (astronomy) either of two points on the celestial sphere at which the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator 2. either of the two times during a year when the sun crosses the celestial equator and when day and night are approximately equal length
- incognito
- with your identity concealed, without revealing one's identity
- lexicon
- a language user's knowledge of words, a reference book containing an alphabetical list of words with information about them
- circumnavigate
- travel around, either by plane or ship
- moiety
- one of two basic subdivisions of a tribe, one of two (approximately) equal parts
- acumen
- shrewdness shown by keen insight, a tapering point
- yeoman
- in former times was free and cultivated his own land, officer in the (ceremonial) bodyguard of the British monarch
- photosynthesis
- synthesis of compounds with the aid of radiant energy (especially in plants)
- omnipotent
- having unlimited power
- inculcate
- teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions
- tempestuous
- (of the elements) as if showing violent anger
- vortex
- a powerful circular current of water (usually the resulting of conflicting tides), the shape of something rotating rapidly
- kowtow
- a former Chinese custom of touching the ground with the forehead as a sign of respect or submission, try to gain favor by cringing or flattering, bend the knees and bow in a servile manner
- tautology
- (logic) a statement that is necessarily true, useless repetition
- recapitulate
- summarize briefly, repeat an earlier theme of a composition, repeat stages of evolutionary development during the embryonic phase of life
- nanotechnology
- the branch of engineering that deals with things smaller than 100 nanometers (especially with the manipulation of individual molecules)
- hemoglobin
- a hemoprotein composed of globin and heme that gives red blood cells their characteristic color
- nomenclature
- a system of words used in a particular discipline
- suffragist
- an advocate of the extension of voting rights (especially to women)
- supercilious
- expressive of contempt, having or showing arrogant superiority to and disdain of those one views as unworthy
- pecuniary
- relating to or involving money
- circumlocution
- an indirect way of expressing something, a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things
- quasar
- a starlike object that may send out radio waves and other forms of energy
- fatuous
- complacently or inanely foolish
- taxonomy
- practice of classifying plants and animals according to their presumed natural relationships, (biology) study of the general principles of scientific classification, a classification of organisms into groups based on similarities of structure or origin etc
- abjure
- formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure
- churlish
- having a bad disposition; surly, rude and boorish
- bellicose
- having or showing a ready disposition to fight
- totalitarian
- characterized by a government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control, of or relating to the principles of totalitarianism according to which the state regulates every realm of life
- abrogate
- revoke formally
- homogeneous
- all of the same or similar kind or nature
- vehement
- marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions, characterized by great force or energy
- xenophobe
- an irrational fear of foreigners or strangers
- gauche
- lacking social polish
- diffident
- lacking self-confidence, showing modest reserve
- incontrovertible
- necessarily or demonstrably true, impossible to deny or disprove
- thermodynamics
- the branch of physics concerned with the conversion of different forms of energy
- mitosis
- cell division in which the nucleus divides into nuclei containing the same number of chromosomes
- vacuous
- devoid of significance or point, complacently or inanely foolish
- laissez faire
- the doctrine that government should not interfere in commercial affairs
- enfranchise
- grant voting rights, grant freedom to; as from slavery or servitude
- obsequious
- attentive in an ingratiating or servile manner, attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery
- tectonic
- of or pertaining to construction or architecture, pertaining to the structure or movement of the earth's crust
- soliloquy
- a (usually long) dramatic speech intended to give the illusion of unspoken reflections, speech you make to yourself
- gerrymander
- an act of gerrymandering (dividing a voting area so as to give your own party an unfair advantage), divide unfairly and to one's advantage
- parabola
- a plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone and a plane parallel to an element of the curve
- plasma
- colorless watery fluid of blood and lymph containing no cells and in which erythrocytes and leukocytes and platelets are suspended, (physical chemistry) a fourth state of matter distinct from solid or liquid or gas and present in stars and fusion reactors, a green slightly translucent variety of chalcedony used as a gemstone
- jejune
- displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity, lacking interest or significance, lacking in nutritive value
- usurp
- seize and take control without authority and possibly with force, take the place of
- reparation
- compensation (given or received) for an insult or injury, something done or paid in expiation of a wrong, the act of putting something in working order again, (usually plural) compensation exacted from a defeated nation by the victors
- antebellum
- belonging to a period before a war especially the American Civil War
- parameter
- a constant in the equation of a curve that can be varied to yield a family of similar curves, a quantity (such as the mean or variance) that characterizes a statistical population and that can be estimated by calculations from sample data, any factor that defines a system and determines (or limits) its performance