A-D word smart
Terms
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- agnostic
- One who believes that the existence of a god can be neither proven nor disproven
- abridge
- To shorten; to condense
- abate
- To subside; to reduce
- archaic
- Extremely old; ancient; outdated
- digress
- to stray from the main subject
- consummate
- Perfect; complete; supremely skillful
- connoisseur
- An expert particularly in matter of art or taste
- arduous
- Hard; difficult
- allusion
- An indirect reference often to a literary work; a hint hint
- contrite
- Admitting guilt; especially feeling remorseful
- abash
- To make ashamed; to embarrass
- adherent
- Follower; supporter; believer
- castigate
- To criticize severely; to chastise
- deluge
- a flood; an inundation
- consensus
- Unanimity or general agreement
- culminate
- to climax; to reach full effect
- complicity
- Participation in wrongdoing; the act of being an accomplice
- catharsis
- Purification that brings emotional relief or renewal
- aptitude
- Capacity for learning; natural ability
- coherent
- Holding together; making sense
- alloy
- A combination of two or more things usually metals
- desultory
- without a plan or purpose; disconnected; random
- acquiesce
- To comply passively; to accept; to assent; to agree
- disdain
- arrogant scorn; contempt
- abysmal
- Extremely hopeless or wretched; bottomless
- amiable
- Friendly; agreeable
- appreciate
- To increase in value
- beleaguer
- To surround; to besiege; to harass
- bemused
- Confused; bewildered
- anecdote
- A short account of a humorous or revealing incident
- complacent
- Self-satisfied; overly pleased with oneself; contented to a fault
- amoral
- Lacking a sense of right and wrong; neither good nor bad neither moral nor immoral; without moral feelings
- benign
- Gentle; not harmful; kind; mild
- callow
- Immature
- arbitrary
- Random; capricious random
- circumspect
- Cautious
- decadent
- decaying or decayed especially in terms of morals
- abortive
- Unsuccessful
- archetype
- An original model or pattern
- chastise
- To inflict punishment on; to discipline
- chicanery
- Trickery; deceitfulness; artifice; especially legal or political
- deference
- submission to another's will; respect; courtesy
- decimate
- to kill or destroy a large part of 10:1
- anachronism
- Something out of place in time or history; an incongruity
- aesthetic
- Having to do with artistic beauty; artistic
- dilettante
- someone with superficial knowledge of the arts; an amateur; a dabbler
- consonant
- Harmonious; in agreement
- defame
- to libel or slander; to ruin the good name of
- capitulate
- To surrender; to give up or give in
- accolade
- An award; an honor
- adverse
- Unfavorable; antagonistic
- bovine
- Cow related; cow like cf canine equine feline pis cine porcine ursine
- depravity
- extreme wickedness or corruption
- desiccate
- to dry out
- distinguish
- to tell apart; to cause to stand out
- augment
- To make bigger; to add to; to increase ;
- abhor
- To hate very very much; to detest
- domestic
- having to do with the household or family; not foreign
- address
- To speak to; to direct ones attention to
- appease
- To soothe; to pacify by giving in to
- caricature
- A portrait or description that is purposely distorted or exaggerated often to prove some point about its subject
- astute
- Shrewd; keen in judgment ;
- beget
- To give birth to; to create; to lead to; to cause
- ambiguous
- Unclear in meaning; confusing; capable of being interpreted in different ways
- adulterate
- To contaminate; to make impure
- anguish
- Agonizing physical or mental pain
- dogmatic
- arrogantly assertive of unproven ideas; stubbornly claiming that something often a system of beliefs is beyond dispute
- delude
- to deceive
- complement
- To complete or fill up; to be the perfect counterpart
- adulation
- Wild or excessive admiration; flattery
- amorphous
- Shapeless; without a regular or stable shape
- ardent
- Passionate half-hearted
- anarchy
- Absence of government or control; lawlessness; disorder
- aphorism
- A brief often witty saying; a proverb
- auspicious
- Favorable; promising; pointing to a good result
- affluent
- Rich; prosperous
- cogent
- Powerfully convincing
- blithe
- Carefree; cheerful
- bourgeois
- Middle class usually in a pejorative sense; boringly conventional
- amenity
- Pleasantness; attractive or comfortable feature
- alleviate
- To relieve usually temporarily or incompletely; to make bearable; to lessen
- antithesis
- The direct opposite
- discrete
- unconnected; separate; distinct
- convivial
- Fond of partying; festive
- bureaucracy
- A system of government administration consisting of numerous bureaus or offices especially one run according to inflexible and inefficient rules; any large administrative system characterized by inefficiency lots of rules and red tape
- autonomous
- Acting independently
- apocalypse
- A prophetic revelation especially one concerning the end of the world
- despondent
- extremely depressed; full of despair
- dubious
- A full of doubt; uncertain a ~ friend be ~ about cf dubitable
- celibacy
- Abstinence from sex
- avarice
- Greed; excessive love of riches
- distend
- to swell; to extend a great deal
- cerebral
- Brainy; intellectually refined
- approbation
- Approval; praise
- agenda
- Program; the things to be done
- alacrity
- Cheerful eagerness or readiness to respond
- ascendancy
- Supremacy; domination
- antecedent
- Someone or something that went before; something that provides a model for something that came after it
- ascetic
- Hermit like; practicing self-denial
- consecrate
- To make or declare sacred
- absolve
- To forgive or free from blame; to free from sin; to free from an obligation
- cadence
- Rhythm the rise and fall of sounds
- deprecate
- to express disapproval of
- aberration
- Something not typical; a deviation from the standard
- covet
- to wish for enviously
- acerbic
- Bitter; sour; severe
- abstinent
- Abstaining; voluntarily not doing something especially something pleasant that is bad for you or has a bad reputation
- construe
- To interpret
- daunt
- to make fearful; to intimidate
- apathy
- Lack of interest; lack of feeling
- cajole
- To persuade someone to do something he or she doesn't want to do
- criterion
- standard; basis for judgment
- beset
- Harass; to surround
- acrimonious
- Full of spite; bitter; nasty
- belligerent
- Combative; quarrelsome; waging war
- chimera
- An illusion; a foolish fancy
- collusion
- Conspiracy; secret cooperation
- broach
- To open up a subject for discussion often a delicate subject
- assuage
- To soothe; to pacify; to ease the pain of; to relieve
- definitive
- conclusive; providing the last word
- debacle
- violent breakdown; sudden overthrow; overwhelming defeat
- candor
- Truthfulness; sincere honesty
- bucolic
- Charmingly rural; rustic; country like
- choleric
- Hot-tempered; quick to anger
- deride
- to ridicule; to laugh at contemptuously
- abject
- Hopeless; extremely sad and servile; defeated; utterly bummed out
- bequest
- Something left to someone in a will
- chronicle
- A record of events in order of time; a history
- artifice
- A clever trick; cunning ;
- caustic
- Like acid; corrosive
- coerce
- To force someone to do or not to do something
- animosity
- Resentment; hostility; ill will
- degenerate
- to break down; to deteriorate
- concord
- Harmony; agreement
- contingent
- Dependent; possible
- charisma
- A magical-seeming ability to attract followers or inspire loyalty
- conjecture
- To guess; to deduce or infer on slight evidence
- benefactor
- One who provides help especially in the form of a gift or donation
- debauchery
- wild living; excessive intemperance
- dialectical
- relating to discussions; relating to the rules and methods of reasoning; approaching truth in the middle of opposing extremes
- categorical
- Unconditional; absolute
- credulous
- eager to believe; gullible
- conciliatory
- Making peace; attempting to resolve a dispute through goodwill
- abstract
- Theoretical; impersonal
- apocryphal
- Of dubious authenticity; fictitious; spurious
- abnegate
- To deny oneself things; to reject; to renounce
- adamant
- Stubborn; unyielding; completely inflexible
- debilitate
- to weaken; to cripple
- destitute
- extremely poor; utterly lacking
- covert
- secret; hidden
- censure
- To condemn severely for doing something bad
- diffident
- timid; lacking in self-confidence
- conducive
- Promoting
- cacophony
- Harsh-sounding mixture of words voices or sounds
- Capitalism
- Free enterprise
- doctrinaire
- inflexibly committed to a doctrine or theory without regard to its practicality; dogmatic
- acute
- Sharp; shrewd
- derogatory
- disapproving; degrading
- confluence
- A flowing together especially of rivers; place where they begin to flow together
- demagogue
- a leader of the people but more a rabble rouser
- despot
- an absolute ruler; an autocrat
- concurrent
- Happening at the same time; parallel
- brevity
- Briefness
- cliche
- An overused saying or idea
- dormant
- A inactive; as though asleep; asleep ~volcano ~window
- comprehensive
- Covering or including everything
- concise
- Brief and to the point; succinct
- conventional
- common; customary; unexceptional
- clemency
- Mercy; forgiveness; mildness
- ameliorate
- To make better or more tolerable ;
- discern
- to have insight; to see things clearly to discriminate; to differentiate
- ambivalent
- Undecided; neutral; wishy-washy
- assiduous
- Hardworking; busy; quite diligent
- blatant
- Unpleasantly or offensively noisy; glaring
- analogy
- A comparison of one thing to another; similarity similarity
- blight
- Disease in plants; anything that injures or destroys
- coalesce
- To come together as one; to fuse; to unite ;
- antipathy
- Firm dislike; a dislike ↔sympathy ;
- dearth
- lack; scarcity
- agrarian
- Relating to land; relating to the management or farming of land
- curtail
- to shorten; to cut short ...
- conjure
- To summon or bring into being as if by magic
- comprise
- To consist of; to be composed of cf constitute compose
- dictum
- an authoritative saying; an adage; a maxim; a proverb
- copious
- Abundant; plentiful
- blasphemy
- Irreverence; an insult to something held sacred; profanity
- autocratic
- Ruling with absolute authority; extremely bossy
- amnesty
- An official pardon for a group of people who have violated a law or policy
- civil
- Polite; civilized; courteous
- corollary
- something that follows; a natural consequence
- artful
- Wily; sly ; =crafty
- assimilate
- To take in; to absorb; to learn thoroughly
- congenital
- A trait or condition acquired between conception and birth; innate
- cynic
- one who deeply distrusts human nature; one who believes humans are motivated only by selfishness
- arbiter
- One who decides; a judge
- appropriate
- To take without permission; to set aside for a particular use
- delineate
- to describe accurately; to draw in outline
- aristocratic
- Of noble birth; snobbish
- docile
- easily taught; obedient; easy to handle
- compelling
- Forceful; causing to yield
- disinterested
- not taking sides; unbiased
- burgeon
- To expand; to flourish
- allocate
- To distribute; to assign; to allot
- admonish
- To scold gently; to warn
- accost
- To approach and speak to someone
- amenable
- Obedient; willing to give in to the wishes of another; agreeable
- bereaved
- Deprived or left desolate especially through death
- cognitive
- Dealing with how we know the world around us through our senses; mental
- condescend
- To stoop to someone else level usually in an offensive way; to patronize
- cognizant
- Aware; conscious
- avow
- To claim; to declare boldly; to admit
- countenance
- face; facial expression especially an encouraging one
- corroborate
- to confirm; to back up with evidence
- avuncular
- Like an uncle especially a nice uncle ;
- chagrin
- Humiliation; embarrassed disappointment
- deleterious
- harmful
- benevolent
- Generous; kind; doing good deeds
- belittle
- To make to seem little; to put someone down
- circumvent
- To frustrate as though by surrounding
- decorous
- proper; in good taste; orderly
- aloof
- Uninvolved; standing off; keeping ones distance
- circumscribe
- To draw a line around; to set the limits; to define; to restrict.
- contrived
- Artificial; labored
- commensurate
- Equal; proportionate
- chasm
- A deep gaping hole; a gorge
- affinity
- Sympathy; attraction; kinship; similarity
- clique
- An exclusive group bound together by some shared quality or interest
- disseminate
- to spread the seeds of something; to scatter; to make widely known
- coup
- a brilliant victory or accomplishment; the violent overthrow of a government by a small internal group ;
- circuitous
- Round about; not following a direct path
- capricious
- Unpredictable; like to change at any moment
- catholic
- Universal; embracing everything
- abdicate
- To step down from a position of power or responsibility
- catalyst
- In chemistry~; anyone or anything that makes something happen without being directly involved in it
- dissipate
- to thin out drift away or dissolve; to cause to thin out drift away or dissolve; to waste or squander
- anomaly
- An aberration; an irregularity; a deviation ;
- affable
- Easy to talk to; friendly
- circumlocution
- An indirect expression; use of wordy or evasive language
- amorous
- Feeling loving especially in a sexual sense; in love relating to love
- acumen
- Keenness of judgment; mental sharpness
- cursory
- hasty; superficial
- austere
- Unadorned; stern; forbidding; without excess
- compendium
- A summary; an abridgment
- dissolution
- the breaking up or dissolving of something into parts; disintegration
- attrition
- Gradual wearing away weakening or loss; a natural or expected decrease in numbers of size
- absolute
- Total; unlimited; perfect
- bane
- Poison; torment; cause of harm
- allege
- To assert without proof
- contiguous
- Side by side; adjoining
- belie
- To give a false impression of; to contradict
- affectation
- Unnatural or artificial behavior usually intended to impress
- disparate
- different; incompatible; unequal
- cosmopolitan
- at home in many places or situations; internationally sophisticated
- denizen
- inhabitant
- burlesque
- A ludicrous mocking or exaggerated imitation
- culpable
- deserving blame; guilty
- cryptic
- mysterious; mystifying; clandestine mysterious;
- audacity
- Boldness; reckless daring; impertinence ;
- covenant
- a solemn agreement; a contract; a pledge
- abstruse
- Hard to understand
- ambiance
- Atmosphere; mood; feeling mood
- culinary
- relating to cooking or the kitchen
- awry
- Off course; twisted to one side ;
- colloquial
- Conversational; informal in language
- contentious
- Argumentative; quarrelsome
- congenial
- Agreeably suitable; pleasant
- altruism
- Selflessness; generosity; devotion to the interests of others
- bastion
- Stronghold; fortress; fortified place
- apotheosis
- Elevation to divine status; the perfect example of something
- didactic
- intended to teach; morally instructive; pedantic
- axiom
- Self-evident rule or truth; a widely accepted saying
- acrid
- Harsh; like acid
- condone
- To overlook; to permit to happen
- discriminate
- to notice or point out the difference between two or more things; to discern; to differentiate ;
- apartheid
- The abhorrent policy of racial segregation and oppression in the Repubic of South Africa
- discreet
- prudent; judiciously reserved
- apprehensive
- Worried; anxious
- chronic
- Constant; lasting a long time; inveterate
- arcane
- Mysterious; known only to a select few mysterious
- charlatan
- Fraud; quack; con man
- aggregate
- Sum total; a collection of separate things mixed together
- adroit
- Skillful; dexterous; clever; shrewd; socially at ease
- deduce
- to conclude from evidence; to infer
- duplicity
- N the act of being two-faced; double-dealing; deception cf duplication duplicate a n v
- disparage
- to belittle; to say uncomplimentary things about usually in a somewhat indirect way
- belabor
- To go over repeatedly or to an absurd extent
- banal
- Unoriginal; ordinary