C: Freevocabulary.com
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- cabal
- n. A number of persons secretly united for effecting by intrigue some private purpose.
- cabalism
- n. Superstitious devotion to one's religion.
- cabinet
- n. The body of men constituting the official advisors of the executive head of a nation.
- cacophony
- n. A disagreeable, harsh, or discordant sound or combination of sounds or tones.
- cadaverous
- adj. Resembling a corpse.
- cadence
- n. Rhythmical or measured flow or movement, as in poetry or the time and pace of marching troops.
- cadenza
- n. An embellishment or flourish, prepared or improvised, for a solo voice or instrument.
- caitiff
- adj. Cowardly.
- cajole
- v. To impose on or dupe by flattering speech.
- cajolery
- n. Delusive speech.
- calculable
- adj. That may be estimated by reckoning.
- calculus
- n. A concretion formed in various parts of the body resembling a pebble in hardness.
- callosity
- n. The state of being hard and insensible.
- callow
- adj. Without experience of the world.
- calorie
- n. Amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of 1 kilogram of water 1 degree centigrade.
- calumny
- n. Slander.
- Calvary
- n. The place where Christ was crucified.
- Calvinism
- n. The system of doctrine taught by John Calvin.
- Calvinize
- v. To teach or imbue with the doctrines of Calvinism.
- came
- n. A leaden sash-bar or grooved strip for fastening panes in stained-glass windows.
- cameo
- n. Any small engraved or carved work in relief.
- campaign
- n. A complete series of connected military operations.
- Canaanite
- n. A member of one of the three tribes that dwelt in the land of Canaan, or western Palestine.
- canary
- adj. Of a bright but delicate yellow.
- candid
- adj. Straightforward.
- candor
- n. The quality of frankness or outspokenness.
- canine
- adj. Characteristic of a dog.
- canon
- n. Any rule or law.
- cant
- v. To talk in a singsong, preaching tone with affected solemnity.
- cantata
- n. A choral composition.
- canto
- n. One of the divisions of an extended poem.
- cantonment
- n. The part of the town or district in which the troops are quartered.
- capacious
- adj. Roomy.
- capillary
- n. A minute vessel having walls composed of a single layer of cells.
- capitulate
- v. To surrender or stipulate terms.
- caprice
- n. A whim.
- caption
- n. A heading, as of a chapter, section, document, etc.
- captious
- adj. Hypercritical.
- captivate
- v. To fascinate, as by excellence. eloquence, or beauty.
- carcass
- n. The dead body of an animal.
- cardiac
- adj. Pertaining to the heart.
- cardinal
- adj. Of prime or special importance.
- caret
- n. A sign (^) placed below a line, indicating where omitted words, etc., should be inserted.
- caricature
- n. a picture or description in which natural characteristics are exaggerated or distorted.
- carnage
- n. Massacre.
- carnal
- adj. Sensual.
- carnivorous
- adj. Eating or living on flesh.
- carouse
- v. To drink deeply and in boisterous or jovial manner.
- carrion
- n. Dead and putrefying flesh.
- cartilage
- n. An elastic animal tissue of firm consistence.
- cartridge
- n. A charge for a firearm, or for blasting.
- caste
- n. The division of society on artificial grounds.
- castigate
- v. To punish.
- casual
- adj. Accidental, by chance.
- casualty
- n. A fatal or serious accident or disaster.
- cataclysm
- n. Any overwhelming flood of water.
- cataract
- n. Opacity of the lens of the eye resulting in complete or partial blindness.
- catastrophe
- n. Any great and sudden misfortune or calamity.
- cathode
- n. The negative pole or electrode of a galvanic battery.
- Catholicism
- n. The system, doctrine, and practice of the Roman Catholic Church.
- catholicity
- n. Universal prevalence or acceptance.
- cat-o-nine-tails
- n. An instrument consisting of nine pieces of cord, formerly used for flogging in the army and navy.
- caucus
- n. A private meeting of members of a political party to select candidates.
- causal
- adj. Indicating or expressing a cause.
- caustic
- adj. Sarcastic and severe.
- cauterize
- v. To burn or sear as with a heated iron.
- cede
- v. To pass title to.
- censor
- n. An official examiner of manuscripts empowered to prohibit their publication.
- censorious
- adj. Judging severely or harshly.
- census
- n. An official numbering of the people of a country or district.
- centenary
- adj. Pertaining to a hundred years or a period of a hundred years.
- centiliter
- n. A hundredth of a liter.
- centimeter
- n. A length of one hundredth of a meter.
- centurion
- n. A captain of a company of one hundred infantry in the ancient Roman army.
- cereal
- adj. Pertaining to edible grain or farinaceous seeds.
- ceremonial
- adj. Characterized by outward form or ceremony.
- ceremonious
- adj. Observant of ritual.
- cessation
- n. Discontinuance, as of action or motion.
- cession
- n. Surrender, as of possessions or rights.
- chagrin
- n. Keen vexation, annoyance, or mortification, as at one's failures or errors.
- chameleon
- adj. Changeable in appearance.
- chancery
- n. A court of equity, as distinguished from a common-law court.
- chaos
- n. Any condition of which the elements or parts are in utter disorder and confusion.
- characteristic
- n. A distinctive feature.
- characterize
- v. To describe by distinctive marks or peculiarities.
- charlatan
- n. A quack.
- chasm
- n. A yawning hollow, as in the earth's surface.
- chasten
- v. To purify by affliction.
- chastise
- v. To subject to punitive measures.
- chastity
- n. Sexual or moral purity.
- chateau
- n. A castle or manor-house.
- chattel
- n. Any article of personal property.
- check
- v. To hold back.
- chiffon
- n. A very thin gauze used for trimmings, evening dress, etc.
- chivalry
- n. The knightly system of feudal times with its code, usages and practices.
- cholera
- n. An acute epidemic disease.
- choleric
- adj. Easily provoked to anger.
- choral
- adj. Pertaining to, intended for, or performed by a chorus or choir.
- Christ
- n. A title of Jesus
- christen
- v. To name in baptism.
- Christendom
- n. That part of the world where Christianity is generally professed.
- chromatic
- adj. Belonging, relating to, or abounding in color.
- chronology
- n. The science that treats of computation of time or of investigation and arrangement of events.
- chronometer
- n. A portable timekeeper of the highest attainable precision.
- cipher
- v. To calculate arithmetically. (also a noun meaning zero or nothing)
- circulate
- v. To disseminate.
- circumference
- n. The boundary-line of a circle.
- circumlocution
- n. Indirect or roundabout expression.
- circumnavigate
- v. To sail quite around.
- circumscribe
- v. To confine within bounds.
- circumspect
- adj. Showing watchfulness, caution, or careful consideration.
- citadel
- n. Any strong fortress.
- cite
- v. To refer to specifically.
- claimant
- n. One who makes a claim or demand, as of right.
- clairvoyance
- n. Intuitive sagacity or perception.
- clamorous
- adj. Urgent in complaint or demand.
- clan
- n. A tribe.
- clandestine
- adj. Surreptitious.
- clangor
- n. Clanking or a ringing, as of arms, chains, or bells; clamor.
- clarify
- v. To render intelligible.
- clarion
- n. A small shrill trumpet or bugle.
- classify
- v. To arrange in a class or classes on the basis of observed resemblance's and differences.
- clearance
- n. A certificate from the proper authorities that a vessel has complied with the law and may sail.
- clemency
- n. Mercy.
- clement
- adj. Compassionate.
- close-hauled
- adj. Having the sails set for sailing as close to the wind as possible.
- clothier
- n. One who makes or sells cloth or clothing.
- clumsy
- adj. Awkward of movement.
- coagulate
- v. To change into a clot or a jelly, as by heat, by chemical action, or by a ferment.
- coagulant
- adj. Producing coagulation.
- coalescence
- n. The act or process of coming together so as to form one body, combination, or product.
- coalition
- n. Combination in a body or mass.
- coddle
- v. To treat as a baby or an invalid.
- codicil
- n. A supplement adding to, revoking, or explaining in the body of a will.
- coerce
- v. To force.
- coercion
- n. Forcible constraint or restraint, moral or physical.
- coercive
- adj. Serving or tending to force.
- cogent
- adj. Appealing strongly to the reason or conscience.
- cognate
- adj. Akin.
- cognizant
- adj. Taking notice.
- cohere
- v. To stick together.
- cohesion
- n. Consistency.
- cohesive
- adj. Having the property of consistency.
- coincide
- v. To correspond.
- coincidence
- n. A circumstance so agreeing with another: often implying accident.
- coincident
- adj. Taking place at the same time.
- collaborate
- v. To labor or cooperate with another or others, especially in literary or scientific pursuits.
- collapse
- v. To cause to shrink, fall in, or fail.
- collapsible
- adj. That may or can collapse.
- colleague
- n. An associate in professional employment.
- collective
- adj. Consisting of a number of persons or objects considered as gathered into a mass, or sum.
- collector
- n. One who makes a collection, as of objects of art, books, or the like.
- collegian
- n. A college student.
- collide
- v. To meet and strike violently.
- collier
- n. One who works in a coal-mine.
- collision
- n. Violent contact.
- colloquial
- adj. Pertaining or peculiar to common speech as distinguished from literary.
- colloquialism
- n. Form of speech used only or chiefly in conversation.
- colloquy
- n. Conversation.
- collusion
- n. A secret agreement for a wrongful purpose.
- colossus
- n. Any strikingly great person or object.
- comely
- adj. Handsome.
- comestible
- adj. Fit to be eaten.
- comical
- adj. Funny.
- commemorate
- v. To serve as a remembrance of.
- commentary
- n. A series of illustrative or explanatory notes on any important work.
- commingle
- v. To blend.
- commissariat
- n. The department of an army charged with the provision of its food and water and daily needs.
- commission
- v. To empower.
- commitment
- n. The act or process of entrusting or consigning for safe-keeping.
- committal
- n. The act, fact, or result of committing, or the state of being
- commodity
- n. Something that is bought and sold.
- commotion
- n. A disturbance or violent agitation.
- commute
- v. To put something, especially something less severe, in place of.
- comparable
- adj. Fit to be compared.
- comparative
- adj. Relative.
- comparison
- n. Examination of two or more objects with reference to their likeness or unlikeness.
- compensate
- v. To remunerate.
- competence
- n. Adequate qualification or capacity.
- competent
- adj. Qualified.
- competitive
- adj. characterized by rivalry.
- competitor
- n. A rival.
- complacence
- n. Satisfaction with one's acts or surroundings.
- complacent
- adj. Pleased or satisfied with oneself.
- complaisance
- n. Politeness.
- complaisant
- adj. Agreeable.
- complement
- v. To make complete.
- complex
- adj. Complicated.
- compliant
- adj. Yielding.
- complicate
- v. To make complex, difficult, or hard to deal with.
- complication
- n. An intermingling or combination of things or parts, especially in a perplexing manner.
- complicity
- n. Participation or partnership, as in wrong-doing or with a wrong-doer.
- compliment
- v. To address or gratify with expressions of delicate praise.
- component
- n. A constituent element or part.
- comport
- v. To conduct or behave (oneself).
- composure
- n. Calmness.
- comprehensible
- adj. Intelligible.
- comprehension
- n. Ability to know.
- comprehensive
- adj. Large in scope or content.
- compress
- v. To press together or into smaller space.
- compressible
- adj. Capable of being pressed into smaller compass.
- compression
- n. Constraint, as by force or authority.
- comprise
- v. To consist of.
- compulsion
- n. Coercion.
- compulsory
- adj. Forced.
- compunction
- n. Remorseful feeling.
- compute
- v. To ascertain by mathematical calculation.
- concede
- v. To surrender.
- conceit
- n. Self-flattering opinion.
- conceive
- v. To form an idea, mental image or thought of.
- concerto
- n. A musical composition.
- concession
- n. Anything granted or yielded, or admitted in response to a demand, petition, or claim.
- conciliate
- v. To obtain the friendship of.
- conciliatory
- adj. Tending to reconcile.
- conclusive
- adj. Sufficient to convince or decide.
- concord
- n. Harmony.
- concordance
- n. Harmony.
- concur
- v. To agree.
- concurrence
- n. Agreement.
- concurrent
- adj. Occurring or acting together.
- concussion
- n. A violent shock to some organ by a fall or a sudden blow.
- condensation
- n. The act or process of making dense or denser.
- condense
- v. To abridge.
- condescend
- v. To come down voluntarily to equal terms with inferiors.
- condolence
- n. Expression of sympathy with a person in pain, sorrow, or misfortune.
- conduce
- v. To bring about.
- conducive
- adj. Contributing to an end.
- conductible
- adj. Capable of being conducted or transmitted.
- conduit
- n. A means for conducting something, particularly a tube, pipe, or passageway for a fluid.
- confectionery
- n. The candy collectively that a confectioner makes or sells, as candy.
- confederacy
- n. A number of states or persons in compact or league with each other, as for mutual aid.
- confederate
- n. One who is united with others in a league, compact, or agreement.
- confer
- v. To bestow.
- conferee
- n. A person with whom another confers.
- confessor
- n. A spiritual advisor.
- confidant
- n. One to whom secrets are entrusted.
- confide
- v. To reveal in trust or confidence.
- confidence
- n. The state or feeling of trust in or reliance upon another.
- confident
- adj. Assured.
- confinement
- n. Restriction within limits or boundaries.
- confiscate
- v. To appropriate (private property) as forfeited to the public use or treasury.
- conflagration
- n. A great fire, as of many buildings, a forest, or the like.
- confluence
- n. The place where streams meet.
- confluent
- n. A stream that unites with another.
- conformance
- n. The act or state or conforming.
- conformable
- adj. Harmonious.
- conformation
- n. General structure, form, or outline.
- conformity
- n. Correspondence in form, manner, or use.
- confront
- v. To encounter, as difficulties or obstacles.
- congeal
- v. To coagulate.
- congenial
- adj. Having kindred character or tastes.
- congest
- v. To collect into a mass.
- congregate
- v. To bring together into a crowd.
- coniferous
- adj. Cone-bearing trees.
- conjecture
- n. A guess.
- conjoin
- v. To unite.
- conjugal
- adj. Pertaining to marriage, marital rights, or married persons.
- conjugate
- adj. Joined together in pairs.
- conjugation
- n. The state or condition of being joined together.
- conjunction
- n. The state of being joined together, or the things so joined.
- connive
- v. To be in collusion.
- connoisseur
- n. A critical judge of art, especially one with thorough knowledge and sound judgment of art.
- connote
- v. To mean; signify.
- connubial
- adj. Pertaining to marriage or matrimony.
- conquer
- v. To overcome by force.
- consanguineous
- adj. Descended from the same parent or ancestor.
- conscience
- n. The faculty in man by which he distinguishes between right and wrong in character and conduct.
- conscientious
- adj. Governed by moral standard.
- conscious
- adj. Aware that one lives, feels, and thinks.
- conscript
- v. To force into military service.
- consecrate
- v. To set apart as sacred.
- consecutive
- adj. Following in uninterrupted succession.
- consensus
- n. A collective unanimous opinion of a number of persons.
- conservatism
- n. Tendency to adhere to the existing order of things.
- conservative
- adj. Adhering to the existing order of things.
- conservatory
- n. An institution for instruction and training in music and declamation.
- consign
- v. To entrust.
- consignee
- n. A person to whom goods or other property has been entrusted.
- consignor
- n. One who entrusts.
- consistency
- n. A state of permanence.
- console
- v. To comfort.
- consolidate
- v. To combine into one body or system.
- consonance
- n. The state or quality of being in accord with.
- consonant
- adj. Being in agreement or harmony with.
- consort
- n. A companion or associate.
- conspicuous
- adj. Clearly visible.
- conspirator
- n. One who agrees with others to cooperate in accomplishing some unlawful purpose.
- conspire
- v. To plot.
- constable
- n. An officer whose duty is to maintain the peace.
- constellation
- n. An arbitrary assemblage or group of stars.
- consternation
- n. Panic.
- constituency
- n. The inhabitants or voters in a district represented in a legislative body.
- constituent
- n. One who has the right to vote at an election.
- constrict
- v. To bind.
- consul
- n. An officer appointed to reside in a foreign city, chiefly to represent his country.
- consulate
- n. The place in which a consul transacts official business.
- consummate
- v. To bring to completion.
- consumption
- n. Gradual destruction, as by burning, eating, etc., or by using up, wearing out, etc.
- consumptive
- adj. Designed for gradual destruction.
- contagion
- n. The communication of disease from person to person.
- contagious
- adj. Transmitting disease.
- contaminate
- v. To pollute.
- contemplate
- v. To consider thoughtfully.
- contemporaneous
- adj. Living, occurring, or existing at the same time.
- contemporary
- adj. Living or existing at the same time.
- contemptible
- adj. Worthy of scorn or disdain.
- contemptuous
- adj. Disdainful.
- contender
- n. One who exerts oneself in opposition or rivalry.
- contiguity
- n. Proximity.
- contiguous
- adj. Touching or joining at the edge or boundary.
- continence
- n. Self-restraint with respect to desires, appetites, and passion.
- contingency
- n. Possibility of happening.
- contingent
- adj. Not predictable.
- continuance
- n. Permanence.
- continuation
- n. Prolongation.
- continuity
- n. Uninterrupted connection in space, time, operation, or development.
- continuous
- adj. Connected, extended, or prolonged without separation or interruption of sequence.
- contort
- v. To twist into a misshapen form.
- contraband
- n. Trade forbidden by law or treaty.
- contradiction
- n. The assertion of the opposite of that which has been said.
- contradictory
- adj. Inconsistent with itself.
- contraposition
- n. A placing opposite.
- contravene
- v. To prevent or obstruct the operation of.
- contribution
- n. The act of giving for a common purpose.
- contributor
- n. One who gives or furnishes, in common with others, for a common purpose.
- contrite
- adj. Broken in spirit because of a sense of sin.
- contrivance
- n. The act planning, devising, inventing, or adapting something to or for a special purpose.
- contrive
- v. To manage or carry through by some device or scheme.
- control
- v. To exercise a directing, restraining, or governing influence over.
- controller
- n. One who or that which regulates or directs.
- contumacious
- adj. Rebellious.
- contumacy
- n. Contemptuous disregard of the requirements of rightful authority.
- contuse
- v. To bruise by a blow, either with or without the breaking of the skin.
- contusion
- n. A bruise.
- convalesce
- v. To recover after a sickness.
- convalescence
- n. The state of progressive restoration to health and strength after the cessation of disease.
- convalescent
- adj. Recovering health after sickness.
- convene
- v. To summon or cause to assemble.
- convenience
- n. Fitness, as of time or place.
- converge
- v. To cause to incline and approach nearer together.
- convergent
- adj. Tending to one point.
- conversant
- adj. Thoroughly informed.
- conversion
- n. Change from one state or position to another, or from one form to another.
- convertible
- adj. Interchangeable.
- convex
- adj. Curving like the segment of the globe or of the surface of a circle.
- conveyance
- n. That by which anything is transported.
- convivial
- adj. Devoted to feasting, or to good-fellowship in eating or drinking.
- convolution
- n. A winding motion.
- convolve
- v. To move with a circling or winding motion.
- convoy
- n. A protecting force accompanying property in course of transportation.
- convulse
- v. To cause spasms in.
- convulsion
- n. A violent and abnormal muscular contraction of the body.
- copious
- adj. Plenteous.
- coquette
- n. A flirt.
- cornice
- n. An ornamental molding running round the walls of a room close to the ceiling.
- cornucopia
- n. The horn of plenty, symbolizing peace and prosperity.
- corollary
- n. A proposition following so obviously from another that it requires little demonstration.
- coronation
- n. The act or ceremony of crowning a monarch.
- coronet
- n. Inferior crown denoting, according to its form, various degrees of noble rank less than sovereign.
- corporal
- adj. Belonging or relating to the body as opposed to the mind.
- corporate
- adj. Belonging to a corporation.
- corporeal
- adj. Of a material nature; physical.
- corps
- n. A number or body of persons in some way associated or acting together.
- corpse
- n. A dead body.
- corpulent
- adj. Obese.
- corpuscle
- n. A minute particle of matter.
- correlate
- v. To put in some relation of connection or correspondence.
- correlative
- adj. Mutually involving or implying one another.
- corrigible
- adj. Capable of reformation.
- corroborate
- v. To strengthen, as proof or conviction.
- corroboration
- n. Confirmation.
- corrode
- v. To ruin or destroy little by little.
- corrosion
- n. Gradual decay by crumbling or surface disintegration.
- corrosive
- n. That which causes gradual decay by crumbling or surface disintegration.
- corruptible
- adj. Open to bribery.
- corruption
- n. Loss of purity or integrity.
- cosmetic
- adj. Pertaining to the art of beautifying, especially the complexion.
- cosmic
- adj. Pertaining to the universe.
- cosmogony
- n. A doctrine of creation or of the origin of the universe.
- cosmography
- n. The science that describes the universe, including astronomy, geography, and geology.
- cosmology
- n. The general science of the universe.
- cosmopolitan
- adj. Common to all the world.
- cosmopolitanism
- n. A cosmopolitan character.
- cosmos
- n. The world or universe considered as a system, perfect in order and arrangement.
- counter-claim
- n. A cross-demand alleged by a defendant in his favor against the plaintiff.
- counteract
- v. To act in opposition to.
- counterbalance
- v. To oppose with an equal force.
- countercharge
- v. To accuse in return.
- counterfeit
- adj. Made to resemble something else.
- counterpart
- n. Something taken with another for the completion of either.
- countervail
- v. To offset.
- counting-house
- n. A house or office used for transacting business, bookkeeping, correspondence, etc.
- countryman
- n. A rustic.
- courageous
- adj. Brave.
- course
- n. Line of motion or direction.
- courser
- n. A fleet and spirited horse.
- courtesy
- n. Politeness originating in kindness and exercised habitually.
- covenant
- n. An agreement entered into by two or more persons or parties.
- covert
- adj. Concealed, especially for an evil purpose.
- covey
- n. A flock of quails or partridges.
- cower
- v. To crouch down tremblingly, as through fear or shame.
- coxswain
- n. One who steers a rowboat, or one who has charge of a ship's boat and its crew under an officer.
- crag
- n. A rugged, rocky projection on a cliff or ledge.
- cranium
- n. The skull of an animal, especially that part enclosing the brain.
- crass
- adj. Coarse or thick in nature or structure, as opposed to thin or fine.
- craving
- n. A vehement desire.
- creak
- n. A sharp, harsh, squeaking sound.
- creamery
- n. A butter-making establishment.
- creamy
- adj. Resembling or containing cream.
- credence
- n. Belief.
- credible
- adj. Believable.
- credulous
- adj. Easily deceived.
- creed
- n. A formal summary of fundamental points of religious belief.
- crematory
- adj. A place for cremating dead bodies.
- crevasse
- n. A deep crack or fissure in the ice of a glacier.
- crevice
- n. A small fissure, as between two contiguous surfaces.
- criterion
- n. A standard by which to determine the correctness of a judgment or conclusion.
- critique
- n. A criticism or critical review.
- crockery
- n. Earthenware made from baked clay.
- crucible
- n. A trying and purifying test or agency.
- crusade
- n. Any concerted movement, vigorously prosecuted, in behalf of an idea or principle.
- crustacean
- adj. Pertaining to a division of arthropods, containing lobsters, crabs, crawfish, etc.
- crustaceous
- adj. Having a crust-like shell.
- cryptogram
- n. Anything written in characters that are secret or so arranged as to have hidden meaning.
- crystallize
- v. To bring together or give fixed shape to.
- cudgel
- n. A short thick stick used as a club.
- culinary
- adj. Of or pertaining to cooking or the kitchen.
- cull
- v. To pick or sort out from the rest.
- culpable
- adj. Guilty.
- culprit
- n. A guilty person.
- culvert
- n. Any artificial covered channel for the passage of water through a bank or under a road, canal.
- cupidity
- n. Avarice.
- curable
- adj. Capable of being remedied or corrected.
- curator
- n. A person having charge as of a library or museum.
- curio
- n. A piece of bric-a-brac.
- cursive
- adj. Writing in which the letters are joined together.
- cursory
- adj. Rapid and superficial.
- curt
- adj. Concise, compressed, and abrupt in act or expression.
- curtail
- v. To cut off or cut short.
- curtsy
- n. A downward movement of the body by bending the knees.
- cycloid
- adj. Like a circle.
- cygnet
- n. A young swan.
- cynical
- adj. Exhibiting moral skepticism.
- cynicism
- n. Contempt for the opinions of others and of what others value.
- cynosure
- n. That to which general interest or attention is directed.