Princeton Review Vocabulary
Terms
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- abate
- to lessen in intensity or degree
- aberrant
- deviating from the norm
- abscond
- to depart secretly (think romeo and juliet running away)
- acerbic
- having sour or bitter taste or character
- acumen
- quick, keen, or accurate knowledge or insight
- adulation
- excessive praise, intense adoration
- adulterate
- to reduce purity by combining w/ inferior ingredients
- aesthetic
- dealing with beauty and outward appearance
- aggrandize
- to increase in intensity, power
- alacrity
- eager and enthusiastic willingness
- ameliorate
- make better or more tolerable
- amenable
- agreeable, responsive to suggestion
- anachronism
- something out of place or time
- anomaly
- deviation from the norm; abnormality
- approbation
- approval, praise
- archaic
- outdated, really old and primitive, ancient
- ascetic
- practicing rigid self-denial, especially as an act of religious devotion
- assuage
- to ease or lessen, appease or pacify
- astringent
- tightening effect on the skin, harsh, severe
- audacious
- daring and reckless, fearless and bold
- austere
- severely simple, without adornment
- avarice
- greed, especially for wealth
- aver
- state as a fact, confirm or support
- axiom
- universally recognized principle, given as a truth
- bolster
- provide support or reinforcement
- bombast
- pompous writing or speech
- bucolic
- rustic and pastoral
- burgeon
- grow rapidly, flourish
- cacophony
- harsh, discordant sound
- canon
- established set of laws
- canonical
- following or in agreement with orthodox requirements
- capricious
- erratic, unpredictable, fickle and changing one's mind
- catalyst
- causes change without changing itself
- caustic
- burning or stinging, causing corrosion
- censure
- criticize severely
- chary
- wary, cautious
- chicanery
- trickery or subterfuge
- cogent
- convincing
- complaisance
- willingness to comply with wishes of others
- connoisser
- expert
- contentious
- argumentative, quarrelsome
- contrite
- regretful, seeking forgiveness
- credulous
- gullible, too trusting and believing
- cynicism
- belief that all people are motivated by selfishness
- dearth
- lack, scarcity
- demur
- to question or oppose
- derision
- scorn, ridicule, contempt
- desiccate
- dry out, dehydrate
- diatribe
- harsh denunciation
- didactic
- intended to teach or instruct
- dilettante
- amateur or superficial knowledge
- disabuse
- to undeceive, set right
- discordant
- harsh in sound, conflicting
- discretion
- cautious reserve
- disparage
- to slight or belittle
- dissemble
- disguise or conceal, mislead
- dogmatic
- stubbornly opinionated
- ebullience
- lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings
- eccentric
- departing from norms or conventions
- eclectic
- composed of elements drawn from different sources
- effrontery
- extreme boldness, presumptuousness
- elegy
- mournful poem (usually lamenting the dead)
- emollient
- soothing to the skin, mollifying
- endemic
- characteristic often found in particular locality, region, or people
- enervate
- weaken, reduce in vitality
- enigmatic
- mysterious, obscure, difficult to understand
- ennui
- restlessness from boredom or apathy
- ephemeral
- brief, fleeting
- equivocate
- use ambiguous language with deceptive intent
- erudite
- learned, scholarly
- esoteric
- intended for small, specific group
- eulogy
- speech honoring the dead
- evanescent
- disappearing, vanishing
- exacerbate
- make worse or more severe
- exculpate
- exonerate, clear from blame
- exigent
- urgent, pressing, requiring immediate attention or action
- exonerate
- clear from blame
- extemporaneous
- improvised, done without practice
- facetious
- playful, humorous
- fervent
- greatly emotional or zealous
- filibuster
- intentional obstruction, usually to delay legislative action
- flout
- demonstrate contempt for
- fulminate
- loudly attack or denounce
- furtive
- marked by stealth, covert
- germane
- relevant to the subject or matter at hand
- glib
- superficial, marked by informality, can be sarcastic
- grandiloquence
- pompous speech or expression
- hackneyed
- trite or commonplace due to frequent use
- halcyon
- calm and peaceful
- harangue
- to deliver pompous speech or tirade
- hegemony
- consistent dominance of one state or ideology over others
- heretical
- violating accepted dogma or convention
- hubris
- arrogant presumption or pride
- hyperbole
- exaggerated statement (often figure of speech)
- iconoclast
- one who attacks or undermines conventions or institutions, maverick
- idolatrous
- given to intense or excessive devotion to something
- imminent
- about to happen, impending
- immutable
- never changing
- impassive
- revealing no emotion
- impecunious
- lacking funds, without money
- imperturbable
- marked by extreme calm
- impetuous
- extremely impulsive
- impunity
- immunity from punishment or penalty
- inchoate
- not fully formed, in an initial state
- incipient
- beginning to come into being or to become apparent
- infelicitous
- unfortunate, inappropriate
- ingenuous
- frank and candid, lacking in sophistication
- inimical
- damaging, harmful
- insipid
- without taste or flavor, bland
- intractable
- stubborn, obstinate
- intrepid
- steadfast and courageous
- intransigent
- refusing to compromise
- inured
- accustomed to accepting something undesirable
- inveigle
- obtain by deception or flattery
- irascible
- easily angered
- laconic
- using few words, terse
- magnanimity
- generously noble in mind and heart, especially in forgiving
- malevolent
- vicious in will, spiteful, hatred
- martial
- associated with war and armed forces
- maverick
- independent individual
- mendacity
- dishonesty
- mercurial
- rapid and unpredictable mood changes
- meticulous
- extreme care and attention to detail
- misanthrope
- one who hates all humans
- mitigate
- moderate, make less severe
- nascent
- in early developmental stages
- nebulous
- vague, cloudy, lacking clear defined form
- neologism
- creation of new words
- neophyte
- recent convert, beginner, novice
- obdurate
- stubborn, unyielding
- obviate
- make unnecessary
- occlude
- obstruct or block
- odious
- evoking intense aversion or dislike
- onerous
- troubling, burdensome
- opprobrium
- disgrace, contempt, scorn
- ostentatious
- given to pretentiousness
- paean
- song or hymn of praise and thanksgiving
- pedagogy
- art of training, teaching, or instructing
- pedantic
- excessive attention to learning
- penurious
- penny-pinching, ungenerous
- penury
- poverty, destitution
- perennial
- happening repeatedly, through the years
- perfidy
- treachery
- perfunctory
- cursory, done without care or interest
- pernicious
- harmful, potentially causing death
- perspicacious
- acutely perceptive, having keen discernment
- peruse
- examine with great care
- phlegmatic
- calm, sluggish, unemotional
- pirate
- use/reproduce illegally
- pith/pithy
- essential or central part, precise and brief
- platitude
- superficial remark, especially one offered as meaningful
- polemical
- controversial, argumentative
- precipitate
- acting with excessive haste or impulse
- prediliction
- disposition in favor of something, preference
- preen
- primp, groom
- prescience
- knowing of events before they occur
- prevaricate
- deliberately avoid the truth, to mislead
- probity
- adherence to highest principles, uprightness
- proclivity
- natural disposition or inclination towards
- prodigious
- abundant in size, force, or extent - extraordinary
- profligate
- excessively wasteful; recklessly extravagant
- proliferate
- grow or increase swiftly and abundantly
- prolific
- producing large volumes or amounts, productive
- propensity
- natural inclination or tendency
- prosaic
- dull, unimaginative
- pungent
- strong, sharp smell or taste
- putrefy
- rot, decay and give off odor
- quaff
- drink deeply
- querulous
- prone to complaining
- quiescence
- stillness, motionless
- quotidian
- commonplace, occurring daily
- rancorous
- bitter, long-lasting resentment
- rarefy
- make thin, refine
- recalcitrant
- obstinately defiant of authority
- recant
- retract (especially previously held belief)
- recondite
- hidden, concealed, difficult to understand
- redoubtable
- worthy of honor, awe-inspiring
- refulgent
- radiant, shiny, brilliant
- relegate
- to forcibly assign, especially to a lower position
- renege
- to fail to honor a commitment, go back on a promise
- repudiate
- refuse to have anything to do with
- rescind
- invalidate, repeal, retract
- reticent
- quiet, reserved
- salubrious
- promoting health or well-being
- sanction
- penalty intended to enforce compliance
- sedulous
- diligent, presistent, hardworking
- solicitous
- concerned and attentive, eager
- solvent
- able to meet financial obligations, able to dissolve another substance
- sordid
- characterized by filth, grime, or squalor
- specious
- deceptively attractive
- spurious
- lacking authenticity, counterfeit
- squalid
- wretched and dirty from neglect
- stoic
- steadfast, unaffected
- stupefy
- stun, baffle, amaze
- stymie
- block, thwart
- succinct
- brief, concise
- supplant
- to take the place of
- surfeit
- excess, overindulgence
- synthesis
- combining of parts to make a whole
- tacit
- implied, not explicitly stated
- tenacity
- persistence to something valued
- tenuous
- weak, little substance or strength, flimsy
- torpid
- lethargic, sluggish
- torque
- force that causes rotation
- tortuous
- winding, twisting, very complicated
- tout
- publicly praise or promote
- trenchant
- sharply perceptive, keen
- truculent
- fierce and cruel, eager to fight
- ubiquitous
- widespread
- untenable
- indefensible, not viable, uninhabitable
- urbane
- sophisticated, refined, elegant
- variegated
- multicolored, motley
- veracity
- truthfulness, honesty
- vexation
- annoyance, irritation
- vigilant
- alert and watchful
- viscous
- sticky, thick (like a viscous fluid)
- vituperate
- use harsh language, abuse or berate severely
- volatile
- fickle, explosive
- zealous
- fervent, ardent, impassioned
- ardent
- impassioned, serious about something