English Semester One Vocab Words
Terms
undefined, object
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- tergiversation
- a change in one’s opinions or principles
- jejune
- dull, childish
- libido
- sexual desire
- catharsis
- cleansing or release
- suppliant
- asking humbly and earnestly, beseeching
- insipid
- lacking excitement and interest
- miasma
- a noxious atmosphere or influence
- insouciant
- marked by unconcern, nonchalant
- desultory
- haphazard, disconnected
- venal
- open to bribery, corruptible
- proem
- an introduction, a preface
- lachrymose
- causing or tending to cause tears
- meretricious
- attracting attention in a vulgar manner
- malediction
- a curse
- velleity
- a mere wish or inclination
- desideratum
- something necessary or desirable
- venial
- easily excused or forgiven, pardonable
- trenchant
- forceful, effective, vigorous
- exegesis
- critical explanation or analysis of text
- seraphic
- angelic, sublime, pure
- jocular
- characterized by joking
- effusion
- release of emotions
- avuncular
- relating to an uncle
- idyll
- scene or event of a simple and tranquil nature
- adjunct
- something in a dependent or subordinate position, auxiliary
- opprobrious
- expressing contemptuous reproach, scornful or abusive
- paradox
- a seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true
- elucidate
- to clarify
- solecism
- a violation of etiquette or grammar
- affable
- easy and pleasant to speak to, approachable
- deference
- courteous yielding to the opinions of another
- bilious
- having a peevish disposition, ill-humored
- colloquial
- relating to conversation
- lexicon
- a vocabulary of terms used in a particular profession, subject, or style
- alacrity
- speed or quickness, celerity
- a priori
- made before or without examination, not supported by factual study, deductive
- percipient
- perceiving keenly and with ease
- poignant
- appealing to the emotions, touching
- venerable
- worthy of respect
- penitent
- feeling remorse for one’s misdeeds or sins
- mitigate
- to moderate in force or intensity, alleviate
- quotidian
- everyday, commonplace
- enigma
- a perplexing speech or text, a riddle
- morose
- sullenly melancholy, gloomy
- capricious
- impulsive, unpredictable
- reverie
- state of abstracted musing, daydreaming
- appellation
- a name, title, or designation
- requite
- to make repayment or return for, to avenge
- plausive
- expressing praise
- epigram
- a witty statement
- propinquity
- nearness, proximity
- acme
- highest point
- saturnine
- gloomy, untalkative
- prima facie
- at first glance
- vacuity
- emptiness, stupidity, senselessness
- quid pro quo
- an equal exchange
- purview
- scope or extent of comprehension
- synecdoche
- figure of speech where one term is used for another
- salubrious
- healthful, wholesome
- paucity
- fewness, scarcity
- hitherto
- up to now
- phlegmatic
- having a calm, sluggish temperament
- rubicund
- healthily rosy, ruddy
- laconic
- concise, succinct
- idiom
- a speech form peculiar to a single language
- anima
- the soul
- surrogate
- a substitute or replacement
- mordent
- bitingly sarcastic
- vituperation
- blame, abusive tirade
- malaise
- a feeling of illness or depression
- sardonic
- scornful, mocking
- neophyte
- a recent convert, novice
- sylvan
- abounding in trees, wooded
- probity
- complete integrity, uprightness
- circuitous
- taking a roundabout course, indirect
- propitiatory
- conciliatory, offered in appeasement
- augury
- a sign or omen
- secular
- separate from religion or a religious body
- effusive
- unrestrained in emotional expression
- pedantic
- learning or teaching trivial facts
- nebular
- cloudy, hazy
- detritus
- debris, fragments
- acolyte
- a follower or assistant of a priest
- sedulous
- diligent, painstaking
- placatory
- intended to appeased or calm
- integument
- an outer covering
- putative
- supposed
- diurnal
- occurring daily
- atavistic
- reappearing after absence
- patronage
- support or encouragement
- apprise
- to inform
- adumbrate
- to disclose partially
- latent
- potential but hidden
- minatory
- menacing, threatening
- eclectic
- diverse and varied
- libertine
- one who acts without moral restraint
- emanation
- something that protrudes from a source
- apotheosis
- exaltation to divine rank or statue, deification
- encomium
- formal expression of praise, a tribute
- clandestine
- kept or done in secret, often in order to conceal an illicit purpose
- hackneyed
- overfamiliar through overuse, trite
- cryptic
- having hidden meaning, mystifying
- halcyon
- calm and peaceful
- sacerdotal
- of or relating to priests, priestly
- abjure
- to renounce under oath, forswear
- quell
- to put down forcibly, suppress
- recrudescent
- breaking out again after temporary suppression
- ersatz
- an imitation or substitute that is usually inferior, artificial
- exculpate
- to clear of guilt or blame
- fulsome
- offensively flattering or insincere
- entente
- an agreement for cooperative action or policy
- augment
- to make superior through modification
- inane
- lacking sense or substance
- tête-à-tête
- a private conversation between two people
- tenebrous
- dark and gloomy
- reprise
- a return to an original theme
- split infinitive
- an infinitive where the “to†and verb are separated
- noxious
- harmful to health, corrupting
- droll
- amusingly odd or whimsically comical
- evanescence
- dissipating or disappearing like vapor
- decorous
- proper, exhibiting conformity to social conventions
- xenophobia
- fear of strangers or foreigners
- prevaricate
- to deviate from the truth
- inure
- to make used to something through prolonged subjection
- insular
- detached, suggestive of isolated life
- portentous
- foreboding, ominous
- contingent
- dependent on conditions to occur
- cognate
- related in origin
- nubile
- ready for marriage
- etymology
- the history of the origin of words
- polemic
- controversy or argument
- nascent
- in the process of emerging