abhor | fill with horror and loathing; horrify; hate |
abrasive | rubbing away; tending to grind down |
abrogate | abolish, do away with, or annul, especially by authority |
absolution | act of absolving or the state of being absolved; formal remission of sin imparted by a priest |
abstain | refrain; hold oneself back voluntarily from an action or practice |
abstemious | sparing or moderation in eating and drinking; temperate |
abstruse | obscure; profound; difficult to understand. |
accolade | award of merit; expression of approval; praise |
acquiesce | assent; agree without protesting |
acrid | unpleasantly sharp or bitter to taste or smell; bitterly pungent |
acrophobia | fear of heights; abnormal fear of high places |
acuity | sharpness; acuteness of vision or perception; keenness |
adamant | extremely hard; inflexible; stubbornly unyielding |
adroit | skillful and adept under pressing conditions |
adulation | excessive flattery or admiration; unmerited praise |
adversity | state of misfortune, hardship, or affliction; misfortune |
advocate | speak, plead, or argue in favour of; plead for; push for something |
aesthetic | elegant or tasteful; of or concerning appreciation of beauty or good taste |
affable | easily approachable; warmly friendly |
alacrity | cheerful promptness or willingness; eagerness; speed or quickness |
alchemy | medieval chemistry; magical or mysterious power or process of transforming |
allay | calm; pacify; reduce the intensity of; relieve |
alleviate | provide physical relief, as from pain; make easier; remove in part |
aloof | apart; remote in manner; distant physically or emotionally; reserved and remote |
amass | collect; gather for oneself, as for one's pleasure or profit |
ambiguity | state of being ambiguous; doubtfulness or uncertainty |
ambiguous | unclear or doubtful in meaning |
ambivalence | state of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes, such as love and hate |
ambulatory | able to walk; formed or adapted for walking; not stationary |
ameliorate | make or become better; improve; grow better |
amiable | good-natured and likable; lovable; warmly friendly |
amity | friendship; peaceful relations, as between nations |
amorphous | formless; lacking shape or definition |
analgesic | serving to reduce sensibility to pain without loss of consciousness |
analogous | comparable; similar or alike |
anarchy | absence of governing body; state of disorder; political disorder and confusion |
anecdote | short account of amusing or interesting event; short narrative; secret story of history or biography |
animosity | bitter hostility; active hatred; hostile feeling or act |
annex | append or attach; take possession of; incorporate into an existing political unit |
annex | append or attach; take possession of; incorporate into an existing political unit |
anomaly | irregularity; person or something that is unusual; departure from normal or common order |
antagonism | active resistance; condition of being an opposing principle, force, or factor |
antediluvian | antiquated; extremely old and ancient; belonging to very ancient times |
anthology | book of literary selections by various authors |
antiquated | too old to be fashionable, suitable, or useful; obsolete; aged |
apathetic | feeling or showing a lack of interest or concern; indifferent |
apathy | lack of caring; indifference |
apocryphal | untrue; of questionable authorship or authenticity; erroneous; fictitious |
appease | bring peace, quiet, or calm to; satisfy or relieve |
apprehensive | capable of apprehending; knowing; conscious; relating to the faculty of apprehension; sensible; feeling; perceptive |
arable | fit for growing crops, as by plowing |
arbitrary | randomly chosen; determined by chance or impulse, and not by reason or principle |
arcane | secret; mysterious; known only to the initiated |
archaic | no longer current or applicable; antiquated |
bigot | hypocrite, especially, superstitious hypocrite; one who is strongly partial to one's own group, religion, race, or politics |
bilk | defraud or cheat; frustrate or disappoint; evade or escape from |
billowing | swelling out in waves; surging; stormy; affected by storms |
blasphemy | act of claiming for oneself the attributes and rights of God; utterance or writing concerning God or a sacred entity |
blatant | flagrant; conspicuously obvious; loudly offensive |
blighted | suffering from a disease; destroyed, ruined, or spoiled |
blithe | gay; joyous; carefree and lighthearted |
bolster | support or prop up with or as if with a long narrow pillow or cushion |
boorish | rude and clumsy in behavior; ungentlemanly; awkward in manners |
bourgeois | middle class; selfishly materialistic; dully conventional |
braggart | boaster; one given to loud, empty boasting; very talkative person |
brevity | quality or state of being brief in duration; concise expression |
broach | introduce; bring up for discussion or debate; announce |
brusque | abrupt and curt in manner or speech; rudely abrupt, unfriendly |
bulwark | earthwork or other strong defense; person who defends |
bureaucracy | over-regulated administrative system |
burgeon | grow forth; send out buds; grow or develop rapidly |
burnish | make shiny by rubbing; polish |
buttress | support physically; prop up; support something or someone by supplying evidence |
cajole | influence or urge by gentle urging or flattering |
caldron | large kettle or boiler of copper, brass, or iron |
callow | youthful; immature; inexperienced; without feathers |
candid | straightforward; frank; free from prejudice; impartial |
candor | frankness; quality of being honest and straightforward in attitude and speech |
cantankerous | ill humored; irritable; marked by ill-tempered contradiction or opposition; ugly; malicious |
capacious | capable of containing a large quantity; spacious or roomy |
capitulate | surrender; end all resistance; give up; go along with or comply |
carping | fault-finding; excessive complaining; of unreasonable criticism or censure |
cartographer | one who makes maps or charts |
castigate | criticize severely; punish; revise or make corrections to publication |
catharsis | purging or cleansing of any passage of body |
caucus | private meeting of members of a party to select officers or determine policy |
caustic | capable of burning, corroding, dissolving, or eating away by chemical action |
cavalcade | ceremonial procession or display; succession or series |
celerity | swiftness of action or motion; speed |
censorious | critical; addicted to censure; severe in making remarks on others, or on their writings or manners; implying or expressing censure |
censure | expression of strong disapproval or harsh criticism; blame |
cerebral | relating to the brain or cerebrum; intellectual rather than emotional |
certitude | state of being certain; complete assurance; confidence |
chary | cautious; sparing or restrained about giving |
chicanery | mean or unfair artifice to obscure truth; deception by trickery or sophistry |
chimerical | fantastically improbable; highly unrealistic; imaginative |
choleric | hot-tempered; easily angered; bad-tempered; expressing anger |
circuitous | being or taking a roundabout, lengthy course; going round in a circuit; not direct |
circumlocution | indirect or roundabout expression; evasion in speech or writing |
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