Barron's High Frequency Words
Terms
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- Abate
- V. Subside or moderate.
- Aberrant
- Adj. Abnormal or deviant.
- Abeyance
- N. Suspended action.
- Abscond
- V. Depart secretly and hide.
- Abstemious
- Adj. Sparing in eating and drinking; Temperate.
- Admonish
- V. Warn; Reprove.
- Adulterate
- V. Make impure by adding inferior or tainted substances.
- Asthetic
- Adj. Artistic; dealing with or capable of appreciating the beautiful.
- Aggregate
- V. Gather; Accumulate.
- Alacrity
- N. Cheerful promptness; eagerness.
- Alleviate
- V. Relieve.
- Amalgamate
- V. combine; unite in one body.
- Ambigious
- Adj. Unclear or doubtful in meaning.
- Ambivalence
- N. The state of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes.
- Ameliorate
- V. Improve.
- Anachronism
- N. Something or someone misplaced in time.
- Analogous
- Adj. Comparable.
- Anarchy
- N. Absence of governing body; state of disorder.
- Anomaious
- Adj. Abnormal; irregular.
- Antipathy
- N. Aversion; dislike.
- Apathy
- N. Lack of caring; indefference.
- Appease
- V. Pacify or soothe; relieve.
- Apprise
- V. Inform
- Approbation
- N. Approval.
- Appropriate
- V. Acquire; take possession of for one's own use.
- Arduous
- Adj, Hard; strenuous.
- Artless
- Adj. Without guile; open and honest.
- Ascetic
- Adj. Practicing self-denial; austere.
- Assiduous
- Adj. Diligent.
- Assuage
- V. Ease or lessen (pain); satisify (hunger); soothe (anger).
- Attenuate
- V. Make thin; weaken.
- Audacious
- Adj. Daring; bold.
- Austere
- Adj. Forbiddingly stern; severely simple and unornamented.
- Autonomous
- Adj. Self-governing.
- Aver
- V. State confidently.
- Banal
- Adj. Hackneyed; Commonplace; trite; lacking originality.
- Belie
- V. Contradict; give a false impression.
- Beneficent
- Adj. Kindly; doing good.
- Bolster
- V. Support; reinforce.
- Bombastic
- Adj. Pompous; using inflated language.
- Boorish
- Adj. Rude; insensitive.
- Burgeon
- V. Grow forth; send out buds.
- Burnish
- V. Make shiny by rubbing; polish.
- Buttress
- V. Support; prop up.
- Cacophonous
- Adj. Discordant; inharmonious.
- Capricious
- Adj. Unpreditable; fickle.
- Castigation
- N. Punishment; Severe criticism.
- Catalyst
- N. Agent that brings about a chemical change while it remains unaffected and unchanged.
- Caustic
- Adj. Burning; sarcastically biting.
- Chicanery
- N. Trickery; deception.
- Coagulate
- V. Thicken; Congeal; Clot.
- Coda
- N. Concluding section of a musical or literanry composition.
- Cogent
- Adj. Convincing.
- Commensurate
- Adj. Equal in extenct.
- Compendium
- V. Brief, comprehensive summary.
- Complaisant
- Adj. Trying to please; obliging.
- Compliant
- Adj. Yeilding; conforming to requirments.
- Conciliatory
- Adj. Reconciling; soothing.
- Condone
- V. Overlook; forgive; give tacit approval; excuse.
- Confound
- V. Confuse; puzzle.
- Connoisseur
- N. Person competent to act as a judge or art, etc.; lover of an art.
- Contention
- N. Claim; Thesis.
- Contentious
- Adj. Quarrelsome.
- Contrite
- Adj. penitent.
- Conundrum
- N. riddle; difficult problem.
- Converge
- V. Approach; tend to meet; come together.
- Convoluted
- Adj. Coiled around; involved; Intricate.
- Craven
- Adj. Cowardly.
- Daunt
- V. Intimidate; frighten.
- Decorum
- N. Propriety; orderliness and good taste in manners.
- Default
- N. Failure to act.
- Deference
- N. Courteous regard for another's wish.
- Delineate
- V. Portray; depict; sketch.
- Denigrate
- V. Blacken.
- Deride
- V. Ridicule; make fun of.
- Derivative
- Adj. Unoriginal; obtained from another source.
- Desiccate
- V. Dry up.
- Desultory
- Adj. Aimless; haphazard; digressing at random.
- Deterrent
- N. Something that discourages; hinderance.
- Diatribe
- N. Bitter scolding; invective.
- Dichotomy
- N. Split; branching into two parts (especially contradictory ones).
- Diffidence
- N. Shyness.
- Diffuse
- Adj. Wordy; rambling; spread out (like a gas).
- Digression
- N. Wandering away from the subject.
- Dirge
- N. Lament with music.
- Disabuse
- V. Correct a false impression; undeceive.
- Discerning
- Adj. Mentally quick and observant; having insight.
- Discordant
- Adj. not harmonious; conflicting.
- Discredit
- V. Defame; destroy confidence in; disbelieve.
- Discrepancy
- N. Lack of consistency; difference.
- Discrete
- Adj. Separate; unconnected.
- Disingenuous
- Adj. Not naive; sophisticated.
- Disinterested
- Adj. Unprejudiced
- Disjointed
- Adj. Disconnected.
- Dismiss
- V. Eliminate from consideration; reject.
- Disparage
- V. belittle.
- Disparate
- Adj. basically different; unrelated.
- Dissemble
- V. Disguise; pretend.
- Disseminate
- V. Distribute; spread; scatter (like seeds).
- Dissolution
- N. Disintegration; Looseness in morals.
- Dissonance
- N. discord; opposite of harmony.
- Distend
- V. Expand; Swell out.
- Distill
- V. purifyl refine; concentrate.
- Diverge
- V. Vary; go in different directions from the same point.
- Divest
- V. Strip; deprive.
- Document
- V. provide written evidence.
- Dogmatic
- Adj. Opinionated; Arbitrary; Doctrinal.
- Dormant
- Adj. Sleeping; lethargic; latent.
- Dupe
- N. Someone easily fooled.
- Ebullient
- Adj. Showing excitement; overflowing with enthusiasm.
- Eclectic
- Adj, Selective; composed of elements drawn from desperate sources,
- Efficacy
- N. Power to produce desired effect.
- Effrontery
- N. Shameless boldness.
- Elegy
- N. Poem or song expressing lamentation.
- Elicit
- V. Draw out by discussion.
- Embellish
- V. Adorn; Ornament; Enhance, as a story.
- Empirical
- Adj. Based on experience.
- Emulate
- V. Imitate; rival
- Endemic
- Adj. Prevail among a specific group of people or in a specific area of the country.
- Enervate
- V. weaken.
- Engender
- V. Cause; produce.
- Enhance
- V. Increase ; improve.
- Ephemeral
- Adj. Short-lived; fleeting.
- Equanimity
- N. Calmness of temperament; composure.
- Equivocate
- V. Lie; Mislead; attempt to conceal the truth.
- Erudite
- Adj. Learned; Scholarly.
- Esoteric
- Adj. Hard to understand; known only to the chosen few.
- Eulogy
- N. Expression of praise, often on the occasion of someone's death.
- Euphemism
- N. Mild expression in place of an unpleasant one.
- Exacerbate
- V. Worsen; Embitter
- Exculpate
- V. Clear from Blame.
- Exigency
- N. Urgent situation
- Extrapolation
- N. Projection; conjecture.
- Facetious
- Adj. Joking (often inappropriately); humorous.
- Facilitate
- V. Help bring about; Make less difficult.
- Fallacious
- Adj. false; misleading.
- Fatuous
- Adj. foolish; inane.
- Fawning
- Adj. courting favor by cringing and flattering.
- Felicitous
- Adj. Apt; Suitably expressed; well chosen.
- Fervor
- N. glowing ardor; intensity of feeling.
- Flag
- V. droop; grow feeble.
- Fledgling
- Adj. Inexperienced.
- Flout
- V. reject; mock.
- Foment
- V. Stir up; instigate.
- Forstall
- V. prevent by taking action in advance.
- Frugality
- N. Thrift; economy.
- Futile
- Adj. Useless; hopeless; ineffectual.
- Gainsay
- V. Deny.
- Garrulous
- Adj. Loquacious; wordy; talkative.
- Goad
- V. Urge on
- Gouge
- V. Overcharge.
- Grandiloquent
- Adj. Pompous; bombastic; using high-sounding language.
- Gregarious
- Adj. Sociable.
- Guileless
- Adj. without deceit.
- Gullible
- Adj. easily deceived.
- Harangue
- N. Long, passionate, and vehement speech.
- Homogeneous
- Adj. of the same kind.
- Hyperbole
- N. Exaggeration; Overstatement.
- Iconoclastic
- Adj. Attacking cherished traditions.
- Idolatry
- N. Worship of idols; excessive admiration
- Immutable
- Adj. unchnageable.
- Impair
- V. injure; hurt.
- Impassive
- Adj. without feeling; imperturable; stoical.
- impede
- V. hinder; block.
- Impermeable
- Adj. Imprevious; not permitting passage through its substance.
- Imperturbable
- Adj. Calm; placid.
- Imprevious
- Adj. Impenetrable; incapable of being damaged or distressed.
- Implacable
- Adj. Incapable of being pacified.
- Implict
- Adj. Understood but not stated.
- Implode
- V. Burst inward.
- Inadvertently
- Adv. unintentionally; by oversight; carelessly.
- Inchoate
- Adj. recently begun; redimentary; elementray.
- Incongruity
- N. Lack of harmony; absurdity.
- Inconsequential
- Adj. Insignificant; unimportant.
- Incorporate
- V. Introduce something into a larger whole; combine; unite.
- Indeterminate
- Adj. uncertain; not clearly fixed; indefinite.
- Indigence
- N. poverty.
- Indolent
- Adj. Lazy.
- Inert
- Adj. inactive; lacking power to move.
- Ingenuous
- Adj. naive and trusting; young; unsophisticated.
- Inherent
- Adj. Firmly established by nature or habit.
- Innocuous
- Adj. harmless.
- Insensible
- Adj. Unconscious; unresponsive.
- Insinuate
- V. Hint; imply; creep in.
- Insipid
- Adj. Lacking in flavor; dull.
- Insularity
- N. Narrow-mindedness; Isolation.
- Intractable
- Adj. Unruly; stubborn; unyielding.
- Intransigence
- N. Refusal of any compromise; stubbornness.
- Inundate
- V. Overwhelm; flood; submerge.
- Inured
- Adj. Accustomed; hardended.
- Invective
- N. abuse.
- Irascible
- Adj. Irritable; easily angered.
- Irresolute
- Adj. uncertain how to act; weak.
- Itinerary
- N. Plan of a trip.