Summer Vocab
For AP Lang. This also includes my 50 words at the end, so either learn those too, or copy the first 145 into your own set.
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- vehement
- marked by extreme intensity of emotions or convictions
- recalcitrant
- marked by stubborn resistance to and defiant of authority or guidance
- plagiarize
- take without referencing from someone else's writing or speech
- hegemony
- the domination of one state over its allies
- narcissism
- an exceptional interest in and admiration for yourself
- deciduous
- shedding foliage at the end of the growing season
- credulous
- disposed to believe on little evidence
- gustatory
- of or relating to tasting
- paradigm
- an example serving as a model or pattern; a set of all forms which contain a common element, especially the set of all inflectional forms of a word or one of its grammatical category
- skulduggery
- Devious, dishonest, or unscrupulous behavior or activity; also: an instance thereof.
- churlish
- rude and boorish
- diffident
- showing modest reserve
- chromosome
- a threadlike body in the cell nucleus that carries the genes in a linear order
- forlorn
- pitiable in circumstances especially through abandonment
- loquacious
- Talkative or chatty, especially of persons given to excess conversation
- tatterdemalion
- worn to shreds
- metamorphosis
- the marked and rapid transformation of a larva into an adult that occurs in some animals
- thermodynamics
- the branch of physics concerned with the conversion of different forms of energy
- lexicon
- A word-book or dictionary. A vocabulary of terms used in connection with a particular subject.
- kowtow
- a former Chinese custom of touching the ground with the forehead as a sign of respect or submission
- gauche
- lacking social polish
- ephemeral
- enduring a very short time
- panoply
- a complete and impressive array
- tautology
- a statement that is necessarily true
- subjugate
- to forcibly impose obedience or servitude
- ameliorate
- to make better
- reticent
- keeping one's thoughts and opinions to oneself; reserved or restrained
- pusillanimous
- lacking in courage and manly strength and resolution
- astute
- marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
- nanotechnology
- the branch of engineering that deals with things smaller than 100 nanometers (especially with the manipulation of individual molecules)
- moiety
- one of two equal parts
- obsequious
- attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery
- tutelage
- teaching pupils individually (usually by a tutor hired privately)
- duplicity
- a fraudulent or duplicitous representation
- obeisance
- bending the head or body or knee as a sign of reverence or submission or shame
- precipitous
- done with very great haste and without due deliberation
- euro
- the basic monetary unit of most members of the European Union (introduced in 1999)
- archetype
- an original model on which something is patterned
- polymer
- a naturally occurring or synthetic compound consisting of large molecules made up of a linked series of repeated simple monomers
- extol
- to praise; to make high
- caustic
- harsh or corrosive in tone
- expurgate
- edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
- photosynthesis
- synthesis of compounds with the aid of radiant energy (especially in plants)
- pecuniary
- relating to or involving money
- circumnavigate
- travel around the world, either by plane or ship
- laissez faire
- free enterprise
- palaver
- flattery intended to persuade
- lugubrious
- excessively mournful
- flippant
- showing inappropriate levity
- oxidize
- enter into a combination with oxygen or become converted into an oxide
- acumen
- quickness of perception or discernment
- sempiternal
- having no known beginning and presumably no end
- puerile
- of or characteristic of a child
- irony
- witty language used to convey insults or scorn
- propound
- put forward, as of an idea
- winnow
- the act of separating grain from chaff
- bellicose
- having or showing a ready disposition to fight
- Promethean
- boldly inventive or creative
- inculcate
- teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions
- ziggurat
- a rectangular tiered temple or terraced mound erected by the ancient Assyrians and Babylonians
- nihilism
- a revolutionary doctrine that advocates destruction of the social system for its own sake
- tittle-tattle
- light informal conversation for social occasions
- incontrovertible
- impossible to deny or disprove
- nostalgic
- unhappy at being away and longing for familiar things or persons
- beneficence
- The practice of doing good; active goodness, kindness, or charity.
- epiphany
- a divine manifestation
- maudlin
- effusively or insincerely emotional
- belie
- be in contradiction with
- complacence
- the feeling you have when you are satisfied with yourself
- malevolent
- wishing or appearing to wish evil to others
- evanescent
- tending to vanish like vapor
- sapient
- acutely insightful and wise
- quasar
- a star like object that may send out radio waves and other forms of energy
- incognito
- with your identity concealed
- anodyne
- capable of relieving pain
- fatuous
- complacently or inanely foolish
- deleterious
- harmful to living things
- soliloquy
- speech you make to yourself
- glutinous
- having the properties of glue
- asperity
- Roughness as of stone or weather; something that is harsh and hard to endure
- reprehensible
- blameworthy, censurable, guilty
- hubris
- overbearing pride or presumption
- xenophobe
- one who fears that which is unknown
- renascent
- rising again into being; showing renewed vigor.
- malinger
- avoid responsibilities and duties, e.g., by pretending to be ill
- antebellum
- belonging to a period before a war especially the American Civil War
- melange
- a motley assortment of things
- chichi
- affectedly trendy
- idiosyncrasy
- a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual
- bowdlerize
- to remove those parts of a text considered offensive, vulgar, or otherwise unseemly
- diminutive
- very small
- vituperate
- to criticize in a harsh or abusive manner; to overwhelm with wordy abuse; to censure severely or abusively; to rate; to use harsh or abusive wording
- enervate
- weaken mentally or morally
- vortex
- the shape of something rotating rapidly
- provenance
- where something originated or was nurtured in its early existence
- plasma
- colorless watery fluid of blood and lymph containing no cells and in which erythrocytes and leukocytes and platelets are suspended
- gerrymander
- dividing a voting area so as to give your own party an unfair advantage)
- vacuous
- showing a lack of thought or intelligence; vacant
- magnanimous
- noble and generous in spirit
- meticulous
- marked by precise accordance with details
- recapitulate
- to summarize or repeat in concise form
- indigent
- Poor; destitute; in need
- tectonic
- pertaining to the structure or movement of the earth's crust
- oligarchy
- a political system governed by a few people
- obtuse
- intellectually dull or dim-witted
- reparation
- a payment of time, effort or money to undue past transgressions
- lachrymose
- Causing or tending to cause tears.
- diadem
- an ornamental jewelled headdress signifying sovereignty
- truncate
- terminating abruptly by having or as if having an end or point cut off
- quondam
- belonging to some prior time
- fastidious
- giving careful attention to detail
- fiduciary
- relating to or of the nature of a legal trust (i.e. the holding of something in trust for another)
- inexorable
- unable to be persuaded
- exalt
- to honor; to hold in high esteem; to raise in rank, status etc., to elevate
- gamete
- a mature sexual reproductive cell having a single set of unpaired chromosomes
- myriad
- too numerous to be counted
- clamor
- a loud harsh or strident noise
- circumlocution
- a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things
- jejune
- lacking in nutritive value
- lackadaisical
- lacking spirit or liveliness
- proponent
- One who argues in support of something; an advocate; a supporter.
- hemoglobin
- a hemoprotein composed of globin and heme that gives red blood cells their characteristic color
- interpolate
- estimate the value of within data
- choler
- constant irritation or anger; wrath
- cupidity
- extreme greed for material wealth
- contemn
- look down on with disdain
- vilify
- spread negative information about
- suffragist
- an advocate of the extension of voting rights (especially to women)
- prodigious
- so great in size or force or extent as to elicit awe
- yeoman
- officer in the ceremonial bodyguard of the British monarch
- notarize
- authenticate as a notary
- innocuous
- not injurious to physical or mental health
- quotidian
- daily; occurring or recurring every day; common, ordinary, trivial
- auspicious
- attended by favorable circumstances
- nonsectarian
- not restricted to one sect or school or party
- loath
- unwillingness to do something contrary to your custom
- omnipotent
- having unlimited power
- sesquipedalian
- given to the overuse of long words
- hypotenuse
- the side of a right triangle opposite the right angle
- knell
- the sound of a bell rung slowly to announce a death or a funeral or the end of something
- respiration
- the metabolic processes whereby certain organisms obtain energy from organic molecules
- emulate
- strive to equal or match, especially by imitating
- filibuster
- a legislator who gives long speeches in an effort to delay or obstruct legislation that he opposes
- dapple
- a small contrasting part of something
- impeach
- to hinder; to bring a legal proceeding against a public official, he or she should be removed from office
- irreverent
- showing lack of due respect or veneration
- laconic
- using as few words as possible to communicate much information; pithy and concise
- parabola
- a plane curve formed by the intersection of a right circular cone and a plane parallel to an element of the curve
- abstemious
- sparing in consumption of especially food and drink
- paucity
- an insufficient quantity or number
- elusive
- difficult to describe
- mazy
- resembling a labyrinth in form or complexity
- brummagem
- cheap and showy
- facetious
- cleverly amusing in tone
- condign
- fitting or appropriate and deserved
- troglodyte
- one who lives in solitude
- stoic
- seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain
- enfranchise
- grant freedom to
- nomenclature
- a system or arrangement of names; a system to assign names to a given field
- taxonomy
- the science of finding, describing, classifying and naming organisms; the classification in a hierarchical system
- philter
- a drink credited with magical power
- defenestrate
- to throw out of a window.
- kinetic
- relating to the motion of material bodies and the forces associated therewith
- equinox
- either of two times of the year when the sun crosses the plane of the earth's equator and day and night are of equal length
- totalitarian
- characterized by a government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control
- homogeneous
- all of the same or similar kind or nature
- reverent
- feeling or showing profound respect or veneration
- niggardly
- petty in giving or spending
- chicanery
- the use of tricks to deceive someone (usually to extract money from them)
- Muse
- in ancient Greek mythology any of 9 daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne
- usurp
- seize and take control without authority and possibly with force
- orthography
- a method of representing the sounds of a language by written or printed symbols
- abrogate
- revoke formally
- sanguine
- confidently optimistic and cheerful; having the colour of blood; red; characterized by abundance and active circulation of blood
- insensate
- devoid of feeling and consciousness and animation
- harbinger
- an indication of the approach of something or someone
- melodramatic
- having the excitement and emotional appeal of melodrama
- reciprocal
- of an action, feeling, etc, done, felt, etc, by each of two people to, on or towards the other; in the contrary or opposite way, order, or direction
- mitosis
- cell division in which the nucleus divides into nuclei containing the same number of chromosomes
- feckless
- not fit to assume responsibility
- infrastructure
- the basic structure or features of a system or organization
- supernumerary
- more than is needed, desired, or required
- parameter
- a constant in the equation of a curve that can be varied to yield a family of similar curves
- emolument
- compensation received by virtue of holding an office or having employment (usually in the form of wages or fees)
- urbane
- Courteous, polite, refined, and suave
- parochial
- relating to or supported by or located in a parish
- corpulent
- excessively fat
- unctuous
- Oily, greasy; Profusely and unpleasantly polite and insincerely earnest
- banal
- obvious and dull
- antediluvian
- of or relating to the period before the Biblical flood
- tempestuous
- as if showing violent anger
- philomath
- A lover of learning; a scholar.
- mephitic
- of noxious stench from atmospheric pollution
- wrought
- having been worked or prepared somehow
- garrulous
- full of trivial conversation
- egress
- the reappearance of a celestial body after an eclipse
- abjure
- formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief, usually under pressure
- blackguard
- someone who is morally reprehensible
- provocative
- serving or tending to provoke, excite, or stimulate
- supercilious
- Arrogantly superior; showing contemptuous indifference; haughty