obdurate:
hardened in wrongdoing or wickedness; not giving in to persuasion | obfuscate:
confuse; muddle; cause confusion; make needlessly complex |
oblique:
having slanting or sloping direction, course, or position; inclined | obsequious:
slavishly attentive; attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery |
obstreperous:
noisily aggressive; making great noise or outcry | obtuse:
lacking in insight or discernment; stupid |
odious:
hateful; arousing strong dislike, aversion, or intense displeasure | officious:
marked by excessive eagerness in offering unwanted services or advice to others |
ostensible:
put forth or held out as real, actual, or intended; proper or intended to be shown | palliate:
lessen violence of disease; moderate intensity; gloss over with excuses |
pallid:
abnormally pale; lacking intensity of color or luminousness | panacea:
remedy for all diseases, evils, or difficulties; a cure-all |
paragon:
model of excellence or perfection; peerless example | pariah:
social outcast; person who is rejected from society or home |
parsimony:
extreme care in spending money; reluctance to spend money unnecessarily | pathos:
tender sorrow; pity; quality in art or literature that produces these feelings |
paucity:
scarcity; smallness of number; fewness | pejorative:
tending to make or become worse; disparaging or belittling |
pellucid:
transparent; limpid; easy to understand | perfidious:
tending to betray; disloyal; faithless |
perfunctory:
done routinely and with little interest or care; acting with indifference; showing little interest or care | pernicious:
very destructive; tending to cause death or serious injury; deadly |
pertinacious:
stubbornly or perversely persistent; unyielding; obstinate | pithy:
precisely meaningful; forceful and brief |
platitude:
dullness; insipidity of thought; commonplace statement; lack of originality | plethora:
excess; over-fullness in any respect; superabundance |
portent:
omen; forewarning; something that portends an event about to occur, especially unfortunate or evil event | precocious:
advanced in development; appearing or developing early |
primeval:
ancient; primitive; belonging to the first or earliest age; original or ancient | proclivity:
inclination; natural tendency; readiness; facility of learning |
promulgate:
proclaim doctrine or law; make known by official publication | propensity:
natural inclination; tendency or preference; predilection |
propitious:
presenting favorable circumstances; fortunate; advantageous | prosaic:
dull and unimaginative; matter-of-fact; factual |
proscribe:
command against; banish; outlaw | protean:
versatile; able to take on many shapes; readily taking on varied shapes |
prurient:
having or causing lustful thoughts and desires; having eager desire for something | puerile:
childish; belonging to childhood; immature |
pulchritude:
great physical beauty and appeal; attractive moral excellence; moral beauty | punctilious:
marked by precise accordance with details |
quagmire:
soft wet boggy land; complex or dangerous situation from which it is difficult to free oneself | querulous:
habitually complaining; expressing complaint or grievance |
quixotic:
idealistic without regard to practicality | rancor:
bitter, long-lasting resentment; deep-seated ill will; hatred |
rebuke:
scold harshly; criticize severely | recalcitrant:
obstinately stubborn; determined to resist authority |
rectitude:
uprightness; moral virtue; correctness of judgment | replete:
filled to brim or to point of being stuffed; abundantly supplied |
reprobate:
person hardened in sin; person without moral scruples | reprove:
voice or convey disapproval of; rebuke; find fault with |
repudiate:
disown; refuse to acknowledge; reject validity or authority of | rescind:
cancel; make void; repeal or annul |
restive:
impatient under restraint or opposition; resisting control; difficult to control | ribald:
coarse or indecent; humorously vulgar or offensive |
rife:
excessively abundant or numerous; in widespread existence, practice, or use | ruse:
trick; use of artifice or trickery; deceptive maneuver, especially to avoid capture |
sacrosanct:
regarded as sacred and inviolable | sagacity:
quality of being sagacious; quickness or acuteness of sense perceptions; keenness of discernment; shrewdness |
salient:
prominent or protruding; projecting outwardly; moving by leaps or springs | sanctimonious:
excessively or hypocritically pious; possessing sanctity; sacred; holy; saintly; religious |
sanguine:
cheerfully confident; optimistic; of healthy reddish color; ruddy | scurrilous:
obscene; indecent; expressing offensive reproach |
serendipity:
gift for finding valuable or desirable things by accident; accidental good fortune or luck | servile:
slavish; suitable to slave or servant; relating to servitude or forced labor |
solicitous:
worried or concerned; full of desire; expressing care or concern | somnolent:
half asleep; inclined to drowsiness; tending to induce sleep |
spurious:
false; counterfeit; forged; illogical | staid:
sober; serious, organized, and professional; characterized by dignity and propriety |
stolid:
dull; impassive; having or revealing little emotion or sensibility | stupefy:
make senseless or dizzy; be mystery or bewildering to |
surfeit:
eat until excessively full; be more than full; feed someone to excess | surmise:
guess; infer something without sufficiently conclusive evidence |
surreptitious:
secret; done or made by stealth, or without proper authority; made or introduced fraudulently | sycophant:
one who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people; bootlicker; yes man |
tacit:
indicated or understood without expressed directly; not speaking; silent | taciturn:
silent or reserved in speech; saying little; not inclined to speak or converse |
tantamount:
equivalent in effect or value | temerity:
boldness; rashness; foolhardy disregard of danger |
tenuous:
long and thin; slender; having little substance | timorous:
fearful; demonstrating fear; weakly hesitant |
torpid:
having lost motion, or the power of exertion and feeling; numb; benumbed | tractable:
easily managed or controlled; governable; easily handled or worked; docile |
transient:
momentary; temporary; staying for short time | transmute:
change from one form, nature, substance, or state into another; transform |
trenchant:
forceful, effective, and vigorous; sharp or keen | truculent:
disposed to fight; belligerent; aggressively hostile |
turgid:
swollen; distended; excessively ornate or complex in style or language | turpitude:
depravity; corrupt, depraved, or degenerate act |
ubiquitous:
being or existing everywhere; omnipresent | unctuous:
oily; composed of oil or fat; characterized by affected, exaggerated, or insincere earnestness |
upbraid:
severely criticize; reprimand; reprove sharply | usurp:
seize and hold power or rights of another by force or without legal authority |
vacillate:
sway unsteadily from one side to the other; oscillate | vacuous:
empty; showing lack of thought or intelligence; vacant |
vapid:
dull and unimaginative; lacking taste or flavor | variegated:
streaked, spotted, or marked with a variety of color; very colorful |
venerate:
treat with great respect and deference; consider hallowed or be in awe of | veracity:
truthfulness; unwillingness to tell lies |
verdant:
green; full of juice in vegetation | vex:
annoy; disturb, especially by minor irritations; be a mystery or bewildering to |
vicarious:
acting as substitute; done by deputy; experienced at secondhand | vicissitude:
change, especially in one's life or fortunes; regular change or succession of one thing to another; alternation |
vilify:
debase; degrade; spread negative information about | viscous:
sticky; gluey; having high resistance to flow |
vitriolic:
harsh or corrosive in tone; sarcastic; bitterly scathing | wanton:
unrestrained; willfully malicious; immoral or unchaste |
winsome:
agreeable; gracious; charming, often in childlike or naive way | wistful:
full of wishful yearning or longing; sadly thoughtful |
zenith:
point directly overhead in sky; summit | zephyr:
gentle breeze; west wind; any of various soft light fabrics, yarns, or garments |
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