GAW/ACT/SAT/AP WORD LIST
Terms
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- aberration
- a deviation from the proper or expected course, a departure from the normal or typical
- abeyance
- the condition of being temporarily set aside; suspension
- acerbic
- sour or bitter tasting, acid
- acuity
- acuteness of vision or perception; keenness, sharpness, clearness, and distinctness of perception or vision
- admonish
- to reprove gently but earnestly, to counsel against something to be avoided; caution
- adroit
- dexterous, deft; skillful and adept to under pressing conditons, skillful in adapting means to ends
- aesthete
- one who cultivates an unusually high sensitivity to beauty, as in art or nature
- altruistic
- unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness
- ameliorate
- to make or become better; improve
- amorphous
- lacking definite from, shapeless, of no particular shape, lacking organization
- antediluvian
- extrememly old and aniquated (outdated), occurring or belonging to the era before the Flood
- apocryphal
- of questionable authorship or authenicity, erroneous
- arable
- fit for cultivation, land fit to be cultivated
- ascetic
- a person who renounces material comforts and leads a life of self-disciple as an act of religious devotion
- assuage
- to make less intense or severe, to satisfy or appease, to pacify or calm
- atrophy
- a wasting or decrease in size of a body organ, tissue, or part, a wasting away, deterioration, to waste away
- avarice
- immoderate desire for wealth, excessive or insatible desire for greed
- aviary
- a large enclosure for holding birds in confinement, a building where birds are kept
- avow
- to acknowledge openly, boldy, and unashamedly, to state positively, to declare or affirm as true
- bilk
- to defraud, cheat, or swindle, one who cheats
- broach
- to bring up for discussion or debate, to announce, to pierce in order to draw off liquid
- buttress
- a structure, usually brick or stone, build against a wall for support or reinforcement, something that serves to support
- celerity
- swiftness of action of motion; speed, a rate that is rapid
- charlatan
- a person who makes elaborate, fradulent (deceitful), and often valuable claims to skill or knowledge, a quack or fraud
- cherubic
- having a sweet nature befitting an angel or cherub
- churlish
- of, like, of befitting a churl; boorish or bulgar, having a bad disposition, difficult to work with, rude
- circuitous
- being or taking a roundabout, lengthy couse, deviating from a straight course
- clandestine
- keep or done in secret, of in order to concean an illicit or improper purpose, hidden aims or methods
- commensurate
- of the same size, extent, or duration as another, corresponding in size or degree, porportional
- concomitant
- occurring or existing concurrently, one that occurs or exists concurrently with another
- cryptic
- having hidden meaning, mystifying secret or beyong the realm of human comprehension, tending to conceal or camouflage
- diffidence
- lack of self confidence, timidity or shyness, quality or state of being diffident
- dearth
- a scarce supply, a lack, shortage of food, a scarcity of provisions
- dissemble
- to disguise or conceal behind a false appearance, to make a false show of, make believe with the intent to deceive
- dissonant
- harsh and inharminous in sound, disagreeing, lacking in harmony
- desecrate
- to violate the sacredness of, violate the sacred nature of a place or language
- disparage
- to speak of in a disrespectful way, belittle, to reduce in esteem or rank, express a negative opinion of
- dilatory
- intended to delay, tending to postpone or delay, inclined to waste time and lag behind
- credulous
- disposed to believe too readily, guillible, disposed to believe on little evidence
- duplicity
- deliberate deceptiveness in behavior or speech, acting in bad faith, deception by pretending
- divination
- the art or act of foretelling future events, an inspired guess, successful conjecture by unusual insight, gift of prophecy
- dispassionate
- devoid or unaffected by passion, emotion, or bias, unaffected by strong emotion or prejudice
- elucidate
- to make clear or plain, especially by explaination; clarify, to make clear
- dotard
- a person who is in his or her senility, someone whos age has impaired his intellect
- conjugal
- of or relating to marriage or the relationship of spouses
- confluence
- a flowing or meeting together; a joining, a place where things merge or flow together, a coming together of people
- disaffected
- to cause to loss affection or loyalty, resentful and rebellious especially against authority
- coterie
- a small or often select group of persons who associate with one anotehr frequently, an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose
- demagogue
- a leader who obtains power by means of impassioned appeals to the emotions and prejudices of the populace
- elegiac
- mouring or expressing sorrow for that which is in the past, expressing lament for a deceased person
- emanate
- to come or send forth, as from a source, to give out or emit
- curmudgeon
- an ill tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions, an easily angered, disagreable person full of stubborn ideas
- diatribe
- a bitter, abusive act of accusing another of a crime, thunderous verbal attack
- conundrum
-
a riddle in whihc a fanciful question is answered by a pun, a paradoxical, insoluble, or difficult problem
ex: If a turtle loses its shell is it naked or homeless? - corpulence
- the condtiion of being excessively fat, obesity
- contentious
- quarrelsome, involving or likely to cause controversy, inclined or showing an inclination to dispute or disagree
- discursive
- covering a wide field of subjects; rambling, proceeding to a conclusion by reason/argument rather than intuition
- egregious
- obviously bad or offensive
- copious
- large in quantity, abundant, to be fully supplied in matter, thoughts or words, full of information or matter
- dissuade
- to deter a person from a course of action or a purpose by persuasion, turn away from
- emulate
- to strive to equal or excel, especially through imitation, to compete with successfully, approach or reach equality with
- enigmatic
- of or resembling an enigma; not clear to the understanding
- ennui
- listlessness and dissatisfication resulting from lack of interest; boredom, the feeling of being bored by something tedious
- ephermeral
- lasting for a brief time, living or lasting only for a day; short-lived, short time
- epicure
- a person with refined taste, especially in food and wine, a person devoted to sensuous pleasure and luxurious living
- equivocate
- to use of doubtful or uncertain nature, langauge, intentionally, be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information
- erudition
- deep extensive learning, profound scholarly knowledge
- esoteric
- intended for or understood by only a particular group, confined to a small group
- espouse
- to take in marriage, to give one's loyalty or support to, choose and follow, take up the cause
- ethereal
- not of this world, spiritual, intangible, characterized by lightness, of the celestial spheres
- extol
- to praise highly, glorify, honor
- fatuous
- smugly and unconsciously foolish, delusive, unreal, one that lacks common sense/substance
- fecund
- capable of producing offspring/vegetation; fruitful, intellectually productive
- felicity
- great happiness; bliss, a cuase or souce of happiness
- fetid
- having an offensive odor
- flippant
- marked by disrespectful speech/casualness, inappropriate lack of seriousness
- florid
- flushed with rosy color, very ornate; flowery, elaborately/excessively ornamented
- foible
- a minor weakness or failing of character, a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual
- furtive
- characterized by not disclosing one's true ideology, affiliations or positions, expressive of hidden motives or purposes
- garish
- marked by strident color or excessive ornamentation, gaudy, loud and flashy
- garner
- to gather and store in or as if in a granary, to amass, acquire, store grain, pull your thoughts together
- guile
- treacherous, cunning, skillful/deceit, to deceive, the use of tricks to deceive someone
- hedonism
- pursuit of or devotion to pleasure, the belief that only what is pleasant is intrinsically good, pleasure/happiness is the cheif gola in life
- heretic
- a person who holds religious beliefs in conflict with the dogma of the Catholic church
- hiatus
- a gap or interruption in space, time, or continuity, a break, a fissure in an organ
- histrionic
- of or relating to actors or acting, excessively dramatic or emotional
- hoary
- gray or white with or as if with age, ancient, showing chracteristics of age
- iconoclasm
- the beliefs, practices of one who attacks and seeks to overthrow traditional/popular ideas, someone who tries to destroy traditional ideas
- immutable
- not subject or susceptible to change
- impervious
- incapable of being penetrated, incapable of being affected
- impregnable
- impossible to capture or enter by force, difficult or impossible to attack, challenge, or refute with sucess
- impugn
- to attack as false or questionable; challenge in argument, attack as false or wrong
- inauspicious
- not favorable; not prosperous
- incipient
- beginning to exist or appear, beginning to come into being or to become apparent
- incisive
- penetrating, clear and sharp, as in operation or expression, having or demostrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
- incorrigible
- incapable of being corrected or reformed, difficult or impossible to control or manage: firmly rooted
- indecorous
- lacking propriety or good taste in manners and conduct
- indefatigable
- incapable of being fatigued, tireless
- innocuous
- having no adverse effect; harmless, not likely to offend or provoke strong emotions
- inscrutable
- difficult to fathom or understand, of an obscure nature
- insipid
- lacking flavor or zest; not tasty, lacking qualities that excite, stimulate, or interest; dull
- intonate
- to intone, to utter with a particular tone of voice, speak carefully as with rising and falling pitch
- intractable
- difficult to manage or govern; stubborn, difficult to mold or manipulate
- intrinsic
- of or relating to the essential nature of a thing, originating or due to causes or factoes within a body, organ, or part
- inveigh
- to give vent to angry disapproval; protest vehemently, complain bitterly
- inveterate
- firmly and long established; deep-rooted, persisting in an ingrained habit; habitual
- irascible
- prone to outbursts of temper; easily angered, characterizedd by anger, quickly aroused to anger
- jettison
- to cast overboard or off, to discard as unwanted or burdenson, throw away
- juncture
- the act of joining or the condition of being joined, a place where two things are joined, an event that occurs at a critical time
- juxtapose
- to place side by side, especially for comparison or contrast
- laconic
- using or marked by the use of few words; terse or concise, brief and to the point
- lampoon
- a written attack ridiculing a person, group, or institution, a light, good-natured satire
- largess
- liberality in bestowing gifts, money or gifts bestowed, generosity of spirit or attitude
- lassitude
- a state or feeling of weariness, diminshed energy a feeling of lack of interest or energy
- lethargy
- a state of sluggishness, inactivity, and apathy
- lithe
- readily bent; supple, marked by effortless grace, gracefully slender; moving and bending with ease
- lurid
- causing shock or horror; gruesome, glowing or shining with the glare of fire through a haze, glaringly vivid and graphic
- malevolent
- having or exhibiting ill will; wishing harm to others; mallicious, having an evil or harmful influence
- maudlin
- effusively or tearfully sentimental
- meander
- to follow a winding and turning course, to move aimlessly and idly without fixed direction