Chapter 3 English Vocab
Terms
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- aromatic
- sweet-scented, fragrant
- attenuate
- make thin; weaken
- lament
- mourn; deplore
- dipsomania
- abnormal, uncontrollable craving for alcohol; alcoholism
- levity
- lack of proper seriousness; trifling gaiety; frivolity
- heterodox
- rejecting regularly accepted beliefs or doctrines; heretical; nonconformist
- dilemma
- situation requiring a choice between two equally bad alternatives; predicament
- dross
- waste, refuse
- symmetry
- balance; harmony
- jocose
- given to jesting; playfully humorous; jocular
- incense
- substance yielding a pleasant odor when burned
- sublimate
- redirect the energy or a person's bad impulses into socially and morally higher channels; purify, refine
- filial
- of or like a son or daughter
- aversion
- strong dislike; repugnance; antipathy
- axiomatic
- self-evident; universally accepted as true
- dregs
- most worthless part; sediment at the bottom of a liquid
- ascetic
- shunning pleasures, self-denying, austere
- puerile
- foolish for a grown person to say or do; childish
- brazen
- shameless; impudent; made of brass or bronze
- progeny
- offspring; children; descendants
- diffident
- lacking self-confidence; unduly timid; shy
- venerable
- worthy of respect because of advanced age, achievement, virtue, or historical importance
- laudable
- praiseworthy; commendable
- travesty
- imitation that makes a serious thing seem ridiculous; mockery
- lamentable
- pitiable; rueful
- paramount
- chief; above others; supreme
- juxtaposition
- close or side-by-side position
- patriarch
- father and ruler of a family or tribe; founder; highly respected old man
- sophistry
- clever but deceptive reasoning
- humiliate
- lower the pride, position, or dignity of; abase; degrade; mortify
- relevant
- bearing upon the matter in hand; pertinent
- unsavory
- unpleasant to taste or smell; morally offensive
- droll
- odd and laughter-provoking
- libel
- false and defamatory printed (or written) statement
- sinuous
- bending in and out; winding; serpentine
- axiom
- self-evident truth; maxim
- inveterate
- firmly established by age; deep-rooted
- primeval
- pertaining to the world's first ages; primitive
- nostalgia
- homesickness; yearning for the past
- dogmatic
- asserting opinions as if they were facts; opinionated; asserted without proof; doctrinaire
- malodorous
- ill-smelling; stinking; fetid; unpleasantly odorous
- menagerie
- place where animals are kept and trained; collection of wild animals
- illusion
- misleading appearance; false impression; misconception
- puberty
- physical beginning of manhood (about age 14) or womanhood (about age 12)
- astringent
- substance that shrinks tissues and checks flow of blood
- obsolete
- no longer in use; out-of-date
- earthy
- down-to-earth; realistic; coarse; low
- adulation
- excessive praise; flattery
- ecstatic
- in ecstasy; enraptured
- curry favor
- seek to gain favor by flattery
- matriarch
- mother and ruler of a family or tribe; founder; highly respected old woman
- obsequious
- showing excessive willingness to serve; subservient; fawning
- parasitic
- living at the expense of another; sponging
- haggard
- careworn; gaunt
- jubilant
- showing great joy; rejoicing; exultant
- rank
- having a strong, bad odor or taste; offensively gross or coarse; extreme
- adolescent
- teenager
- lionize
- treat as highly important
- declivity
- downward slope
- molt
- shed feathers, skin, hair, etc.
- satiric/satirical
- giving to or expressing satire
- loath
- unwilling; averse; disinclined; reluctant
- indubitable
- certain; incontrovertible; indisputable
- climactic
- arranged in order of increasing force and interest
- ingratiate
- work (oneself) into favor
- squalid
- filthy from neglect; dirty; degraded
- decrepit
- weakened by old age
- cajole
- persuade by pleasant words; wheedle; coax
- grave
- deserving serious attention; weighty; momentous
- juvenile
- of or for youth; youthful; immature
- dejection
- lowness of spirits; sadness; depression
- rotund
- rounded out; pump; full-toned
- fraternal
- of or like a brother
- crux
- most important point; essential part
- adjacent
- lying near or next to; bordering; adjoining
- noisome
- offensive to smell; disgusting; harmful; noxious
- humble
- of low position or condition; not proud; unpretentious; modest; courteously respectful
- toxic
- poisonous
- doldrums
- calm, windless part of the ocean near the equator; listlessness
- criterion
- standard; rule or test for judging
- acclivity
- upward slope
- badger
- tease; annoy; nag
- slatternly
- untidy; dirty from habitual neglect; slovenly
- ludicrous
- exciting laughter; ridiculous; farcical; absurd
- jubilation
- rejoicing; exultation
- modesty
- freedom from conceit or vanity; unpretentious; humility
- olfactory
- pertaining to the sense of smell
- rationalize
- invent excuses for one's actions, desires, failures, etc
- dejected
- sad; in low spirits; depressed; downcast
- therapeutic
- curative
- convalescent
- person recovering from sickness
- morbid
- gruesome; having to do with disease
- bigotry
- views or behavior of a bigot; narrow-mindedness; intolerance
- sloven
- person habitually untidy, dirty, or careless in dress, habit, etc.
- adolescent
- growing from childhood to adulthood; roughly, of the teenage period
- offal
- waste parts of a butchered animal; refuse; garbage
- arbitrary
- autocratic; despotic; tyrannical; proceeding from a whim or fancy
- squalor
- filth; degradation; sordidness
- carousal
- drinking party; drunken revelry
- derogatory
- expressing low esteem; belittling; disparaging
- hoary
- white or gray with age; ancient
- ostentatious
- done to impress others; showy; pretentious
- frolic
- play and run around happily; have fun; romp
- sarcasm
- sneering and often ironic language intended to hurt a person's feelings
- consanguinity
- blood relationship
- tenable
- capable of being maintained or defended; defensible
- environs
- districts surrounding a place; suburbs
- fester
- form pus; rankle; rot; putrefy
- jettison
- throw (goods) overboard to lighten a ship or plane; discard
- coy
- pretending to be shy
- malign
- speak evil of; vilify; traduce
- prelapsarian
- of the time or state before the fall of mankind
- libelous
- injurious to reputation; defamatory; calumnious
- fallacious
- based on fallacy; misleading; deceptive
- convivial
- fond of eating and drinking with friends, sociable
- gala
- characterized by festivity
- disconsolate
- cheerless; inconsolable
- viral
- caused by a virus
- antediluvian
- antiquated; belonging to the time before the Biblical Flood
- stigma
- mark of disgrace
- obese
- extremely overweight; corpulent
- brine
- salty water; ocean; sea; the deep
- expurgate
- remove objectionable material from a book; bowdlerize; purify
- scent
- get a suspicion of
- nonagenarian
- person 90-99 years old
- abyss
- bottomless depth; immeasurable great space
- genealogy
- a person's or family's descent; lineage; pedigree
- glum
- moody; gloomy; dour
- maternal
- of or like a mother
- sot
- person made foolish by excessive drinking, drunkard
- alacrity
- cheerful willingness; readiness; liveliness
- aviary
- place where birds are kept
- propinquity
- kinship; nearness of place; proximity
- svelte
- slender; lithe
- bow
- forward part of a ship; prow
- profound
- very deep; deeply felt; intellectually deep
- buoyant
- cheerful; able to float
- lank
- lean; ungracefully talk; lanky
- elated
- in high spirits; joyful
- disgruntled
- in bad humor; displeased; discontented
- acme
- highest point; pinnacle; summit
- apogee
- farthest point from the earth in the orbit of a heavenly body; highest point; culmination
- banter
- playful teasing; joking; raillery
- benign
- not dangerous; gentle, kindly
- pudgy
- short and plump; chubby
- marine
- of the sea or shipping; nautical; maritime
- flippant
- treating serious matter lightly
- longevity
- long life; length of life
- loathe
- have an intense aversion to; detest
- elation
- state of being elated; euphoria
- kith and kin
- friends and relatives; kindred
- starboard
- pertaining the right-hand side of a ship when you are on deck and facing the bow
- volition
- will
- eminence
- high rank
- malignant
- threatening to cause death; very evil
- preeminent
- standing out above others; superior
- inebriated
- drunk; intoxicated
- mature
- full-grown; ripe; carefully thought out
- facetious
- in the habit of joking; said in jest without serious intent
- paradoxical
- having the characteristics of a paradox
- egoism
- excessive concern for oneself; selfishness; conceit
- kudos
- fame or praise due to achievement
- flotsam
- wreckage of a ship or its cargo found floating on the sea; driftage
- doleful
- causing grief or sadness; mournful; dolorous; lugubrious
- nostalgic
- homesick
- eclectic
- choosing from various sources; selective
- paltry
- practically worthless; trashy; piddling; petty
- sycophant
- parasitic flatterer; truckler
- plight
- unfortunate state; predicament
- calumnious
- falsely and maliciously accusing; defamatory; slanderous
- contemporary
- of the same period or duration; modern; up-to-date
- anticlimax
- abrupt decline from the dignified or important to the trivial or ludicrous; comedown; bathos
- immunize
- make immune (resistant from disease)
- posthumous
- published after the author's death; occurring after death
- rational
- able to think clearly; having the power to reason
- satire
- language or writing that exposes follies or abuses by holding them up to ridicule
- lackey
- follower who carries out another's wishes like a servant; toady
- virulent
- extremely poisonous; deadly; venomous; very bitter
- complacent
- to be too pleased with one's self - often without awareness or possible dangers or defects; self-satisfied; smug
- laudatory
- expressing praise; eulogistic
- vertex
- farthest point opposite the base, as in a triangle or pyramid; apex
- ironic/ironical
- containing or expressing irony
- purge
- cleanse; purify; rid of undesired element or person
- menial
- low; mean; subservient; servile
- slander
- false and defamatory spoken statement; calumny
- speculate
- reflect; meditate; conjecture; buy or sell with the hope of profiting by price fluctuations
- complacency
- self-satisfaction; smugness
- carrion
- decaying flesh of a carcass
- convalesce
- recover health after illness; recuperate
- approximate
- nearly correct
- crone
- withered old woman
- overweening
- thinking too highly of oneself; arrogant; presumptuous
- lesion
- injury; hurt
- chasm
- deep breach; wide gap or rift
- virus
- disease-causing substance too small to be seen through a microscope; corruptive force
- infantile
- of or like an infant or infancy; childish
- bigoted
- intolerant; narrow-minded
- buoy
- keet afloat; raise the spirits of; encourage
- antidote
- remedy for a poison or evil
- demure
- falsely modest or serious; coy; grave; prim
- obesity
- excessive body weight; corpulence
- juxtapose
- put side by side; put close together
- encomium
- speech or writing of high praise; tribute; eulogy; panegyric
- sullen
- resentfully silent; glum; morose; gloomy
- immaculate
- spotless; absolutely clean; pure; faultless
- humility
- freedom from pride; humbleness; lowliness; modesty
- abstemious
- sparing in eating and drinking; temperate; abstinent
- blithe
- merry; joyous
- sebaceous
- greasy; secreting sebum
- mariner
- sailor; seaman
- distort
- twist out of shape; change from the true meaning
- eulogize
- praise; extol; laud; glorify
- progenitor
- forefather; ancestor
- sober
- not drunk; temperate; serious; free from excitement or exaggeration
- scent
- smell; perfume
- blandishment
- word or deed of mild flattery; allurement; enticement
- pungent
- sharp in smell or taste; acrid; biting; stimulating
- chagrin
- embarrassment; mortification; disappointment
- immunity
- resistance (to a disease); freedom; exemption
- hypothetical
- supposed; having the characteristics of a hypothesis
- parrot
- repeat mechanically, like a parrot
- senile
- showing the weakness of age
- veteran
- person experienced in some occupation, art, or profession; ex-member of the armed forces
- ornithology
- study of birds
- tribulation
- suffering; distress
- bias
- opinion formed before there are grounds for it; prejudice; predilection; partiality
- orthodox
- generally accepted, especially in religion; conventional; approved
- stigmatize
- brand with a mark of disgrace
- staid
- settled; of quiet disposition; sedate
- contaminate
- make impure by mixture; pollute; defile
- unguent
- salve; ointment
- pestilential
- morally harmful; pertaining to a pestilence; deadly
- reek
- emit a strong, disagreeable smell; be permeated with
- apiary
- place where bees are kept
- cherubic
- chubby and innocent-looking; like a cherub
- emaciated
- made unnaturally thin; abnormally lean because of starvation or illness
- preposterous
- senseless; absurd; irrational
- burly
- strongly and heavily built; husky
- concave
- curved inward, creating a hollow space
- plumb
- get to the bottom of; ascertain the depth of; fathom
- halcyon
- calm; peaceful
- sarcastic
- given to or expressing sarcasm
- sully
- tarnish; besmirch; defile
- consummate
- perfect; superb; carried to the highest degree
- conviviality
- sociability
- compunction
- regret; remorse; misgiving; qualm; scruple
- irony
- species of humor whose intended meaning is the opposite of the words used; state of affairs contrary to what would normally be expected
- deduce
- derive by reasoning; infer
- teetotaler
- person who totally abstains from intoxicating beverages
- truckle
- submit in subservient manner to a superior; fawn; make a doormat of oneself
- superannuated
- retired on a pension; advanced in years; very old; incapacitated by age
- acclaim
- welcome with approval; applaud loudly
- precipitous
- steep as a precipice; hasty, rash
- sublime
- elevated; noble; exalted; uplifting
- pensive
- thoughtful in a sad way; melancholy
- salubrious
- healthful
- abject
- deserving contempt; sunk to a low condition; wretched
- analogy
- likeness in some respects between things otherwise different; similarity; comparison
- exalt
- lift up with joy, pride, etc.; elate; raise in rank, dignity, etc.; extol, glorify
- callow
- young and inexperienced; unfledged
- putrid
- stinking from decay; extremely bad; corrupt
- contrition
- repentance; remorse; penitence
- paternal
- of or like a father
- ravine
- deep, narrow gorge worn by running water
- gentility
- good manners; gentry; upper class
- plausible
- apparently trustworthy; superficially true or reasonable
- amorphous
- shapeless; having no definite form; unorganized
- cajolery
- persuasion by flattery; allurement; enticement
- delectable
- very pleasing; delightful
- poignant
- painfully touching, piercing
- primordial
- existing at the very beginning; elementary; primary; first in order
- precipice
- very steep or overhanging place; cliff
- throes
- anguish; pangs
- malleable
- capable of being shaped by hammering, as a metal; adaptable; pliant
- cogitate
- think over; consider with care; ponder; deliberate
- fusty
- stale-smelling; musty; moldy
- obsolescent
- going out of use; becoming obsolete
- rancid
- unpleasant to smell or taste from being spoiled or stale
- nadir
- lowest point
- modest
- not thinking too highly of one's merits; unpretentious; humble
- harlequin
- buffoon; clown
- jetsam
- goods cast overboard to lighten a ship in distress
- yore
- long ago)
- sardonic
- bitterly sarcastic; mocking; sneering
- ethereal
- of the heavens; celestial; airy; delicate; intangible
- plaudit
- applause; enthusiastic praise; acclaim
- hilarious
- boisterously merry; very funny
- pristine
- in original, long-ago state; uncorrupted
- aroma
- pleasant odor; bouquet
- contiguous
- touching; adjoining
- ecstasy
- state of overwhelming joy; rapture
- bliss
- perfect happiness
- vain
- conceited; excessively proud or concerned about one's personal appearance or achievements; empty; worthless; futile
- maudlin
- weekly sentimental and tearful
- forebear
- forefather; ancestor; progenitor
- parasite
- animal, plant, or person living on others; freeloader
- sordid
- filthy; vile
- nugatory
- of little or no value; trifling; worthless; useless
- nonage
- legal minority; period before maturity
- sibling
- one or two or more children of a family
- archaic
- no longer used; except in a special context; old-fashioned
- involuntary
- not done of one's own free will; automatic; unintentional; spontaneous
- abysmal
- deep; profound; immeasurably great (in a bad way)
- leeward
- in the direction away from the wind
- zenith
- highest point; culmination; point in the heavens directly overhead
- pathos
- quality in events or art that arouses pity
- defunct
- dead; deceased; extinct
- vainglorious
- excessively proud or boastful; elated by vanity
- imputation
- charge, especially an unjust or false charge; insinuation; accusation
- pert
- too free in speech or action; bold; saucy; impertinent; lively; spirited
- astringent
- severe, stern; causing contraction
- chagrined
- ashamed; mortified
- jocund
- merry; cheerful; lighthearted
- scavenger
- animal or person removing refuse, decay, etc.
- arbitrate
- decide a dispute, acting as a judge
- contour
- outline of a figure
- regimen
- set of rules, especially to improve health
- hypochondriac
- one who is morbidly anxious about personal health, or suffering from imagined illness
- fragrant
- having a pleasant odor; pleasantly odorous or odoriferous
- caricature
- drawing, imitation, or description that ridiculously exaggerates peculiarities or defects
- blissful
- very happy
- sobriety
- temperance; abstinence
- vanity
- condition of being too vain about one's appearance or achievements; conceit
- pathetic
- arousing pity
- fulsome
- offensive because of insincerity; repulsive; disgusting
- hilarity
- noisy gaiety; mirth; jollity; glee
- contrite
- showing deep regret and sorrow for wrongdoing; deeply penitent; repentant; remorseful
- eminent
- standing out; notable; famous
- frolicsome
- full of merriment; playful
- parody
- humorous imitation
- symmetrical
- balanced in arrangement; capable of division by a central line into similar halves
- specious
- superficially true, reasonable, attractive, or just, but not really so
- fallible
- liable to be mistaken
- buxom
- plump and attractive
- nepotism
- favoritism to relatives by those in power