12th Grade Spelling Words With Definition
Grade 12: With Definition - 1
The page presents 12th Grade spelling vocabulary (1) with definition. Some words have example sentences selected from classic literature. The vocabulary integrates some training tools to help study and review these words. E.g., online spelling practices and word meaning single choice quizzes are available for each word in Grade 12.
Get Vocabulary/Definition by list: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
The page presents 12th Grade spelling vocabulary (1) with definition. Some words have example sentences selected from classic literature. The vocabulary integrates some training tools to help study and review these words. E.g., online spelling practices and word meaning single choice quizzes are available for each word in Grade 12.
Get Vocabulary/Definition by list: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
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| Grade 12: With Definition - 1 |
| abate |      |
v. subside; decrease; become less in amount or intensity
Helen regarded me, probably with surprise: I could not now abate my agitation, though I tried hard; I continued to weep aloud.
The scarlet of her lips had not had time to abate, and just now it appeared still more intense by the absence of the neighbouring and more transient colour of her cheek.
These were calculated in some degree to abate the dangers of the day; a precaution the more necessary, as the conflict was to be maintained with sharp swords and pointed lances.
| abdicate | |
v. give up, renounce, abandon, lay down, or withdraw from, as a right or claim
| aberration | |
n. a disorder in one's mental state; a state or condition markedly different from the norm
| abject | |
a. being of the most miserable kind; wretched; lacking pride; brought low in condition or status
Still the man stood silent and abject.
Yet mine shall not be the submission of abject slavery.
She had to appease him with the most abject of apologies.
| abstruse | |
a. obscure; profound; difficult to understand.
But I had no inclination for the law, even in this less abstruse study of it, which my family approved.
In a thousand ways he smoothed for me the path of knowledge and made the most abstruse inquiries clear and facile to my apprehension.
| abysmal | |
a. bottomless; very profound; limitless; very bad
There only fell on her an abysmal fear, a certain knowledge that God had turned His face from her for her sin.
At home she wondered if the little beast might not be suggesting himself as a rival to Erik, but that abysmal bedragglement she would not consider.
The film was a highly advertised and abysmal thing smacking of simpering hair-dressers, cheap perfume, red-plush suites on the back streets of tenderloins, and complacent fat women chewing gum.
| acerbic | |
a. sour or bitter in taste; harsh or corrosive in tone
| acquiesce | |
v. assent; accept, comply, or submit tacitly or passively
I inclined my head in acquiescence.
Mr. Crawford bowed his acquiescence.
Darcy shook his head in silent acquiescence.
| acrimonious | |
a. bitter and sharp in language, tone, or manner
Whether he kept a watch over himself, or whether by accident he did not sound the acrimonious chords that in other circumstances had been touched, he was to-night like everybody else.
The mockingbirds and the jays, engaged in their old feud for possession of the magnolia tree beneath her window, were bickering, the jays strident, acrimonious, the mockers sweet voiced and plaintive.
She missed the sounds of quarreling voices that were always heard at Tara when Ellen's back was turned, Mammy quarreling with Pork, Rosa and Teena bickering, her own acrimonious arguments with Suellen, Gerald's bawling threats.
| acumen | |
n. mental keenness; quickness of perception
But when St. John had mused a few moments he recommenced as imperturbably and with as much acumen as ever.
His very intensity and acumen in the affairs of the pits seemed like a manifestation of madness to her, his very inspirations were the inspirations of insanity.
| adept | |
a. expert at; very skilled; having or showing knowledge and skill and aptitude
She had become adept at putting unpleasant thoughts out of her mind these days.
An adept in the business, standing at the box and seeing by the mere action of the elbow where each put his ball, scowled with annoyance.
| admonish | |
v. warn; counsel someone against something to be avoided
In this strain Mrs. Trenor continued for nearly an hour to admonish her friend.
He promised a continuance of his favors, and admonished them to be grateful.
When they arrived at the office, he was shut up in a little room by himself, and admonished by Mr. Bumble to stay there, until he came back to fetch him.
| aesthetic | |
a. elegant or tasteful; of or concerning appreciation of beauty or good taste
Hitherto he had found, in her presence and her talk, the aesthetic amusement which a reflective man is apt to seek in desultory intercourse with pretty women.
A man who advocates aesthetic effort and deprecates social effort is only likely to be understood by a class to which social effort has become a stale matter.
Return of the Native By Thomas Hardy
Context Highlight In BOOK 3: 2 The New Course Causes Disappointment
Context Highlight In BOOK 3: 2 The New Course Causes Disappointment
Between artists and cultured socialists, Constance and her sister Hilda had had what might be called an aesthetically unconventional upbringing.
| affectation | |
n. a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display
Now she was aware that they knew all about her; that they were waiting for some affectation over which they could guffaw.
She had even learnt to detect, in the very gentleness which had first delighted her, an affectation and a sameness to disgust and weary.
He tried to resume his former easy, indifferent air, but it was an affectation now, for the rousing had been more effacious than he would confess.
| aggregate | |
v. gather into a mass, sum, or whole; amount to
Long in the aggregate, though short as they went by.
She believed herself to feel too much of it in the aggregate for honesty or safety in particulars.
For some time back Mawson & Williams, the famous financial house, have been the guardians of securities which amount in the aggregate to a sum of considerably over a million sterling.
| allure | |
v. attract with something desirable; be highly, often subtly attractive
Too wide across the cheek bones, too pointed at the chin, it was a sweet, timid face but a plain face, and she had no feminine tricks of allure to make observers forget its plainness.
And still, at wide intervals in the silvery night, the lonely, alluring jet would be seen.
She was magnificently a specimen of the illiterate divorcee of forty made up to look thirty, clever, and alluring.
| allusion | |
n. indirect reference; symbolical reference or comparison; metaphor
I understand your allusion, my love.
This was in allusion to its heavy black seal and border.
You will smile at my allusion, but I will disclose a secret.
| ambience | |
n. particular environment or surrounding influence; atmosphere of environment
| amphitheater | |
n. oval building with tiers of seats from central open space or arena
You have eternity in which to explain and only one night to be a martyr in the amphitheater.
It was all in one great room, like a circus amphitheater, with a gallery for visitors running over the center.
| annihilate | |
v. destroy completely; reduce to nonexistence
I wish I could annihilate it from the face of the earth.
It has reappeared to annihilate me, all through my life, in connexion with all kinds of subjects.
It is necessary to darken his moral and mental vision, and, as far as possible, to annihilate the power of reason.
| annul | |
v. make or declare void or invalid; reduce to nothing
| antithesis | |
n. a contrast or opposition between two things; direct contrast
| apathetic | |
a. feeling or showing a lack of interest or concern; indifferent
Linton lay on the settle, sole tenant, sucking a stick of sugar-candy, and pursuing my movements with apathetic eyes.
He hustled on his overcoat, and bustled about in a way that showed that an energetic fit had superseded the apathetic one.
A Study In Scarlet By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context Highlight In PART I: CHAPTER III. THE LAURISTON GARDEN MYSTERY
Context Highlight In PART I: CHAPTER III. THE LAURISTON GARDEN MYSTERY
The race thus outraged must find out the facts of this awful hurling of men into eternity on supposition, and give them to the indifferent and apathetic country.
| apex | |
n. highest point; vertex; summit; climax
| aphorism | |
n. definition or concise statement of principle; tersely phrased statement of truth or opinion
| appalling | |
a. causing or fitted to cause dismay or horror; frightful
I thought of Switzerland; it was far different from this desolate and appalling landscape.
Even when the lessons are done, the worst is yet to happen, in the shape of an appalling sum.
Never did I behold a vision so horrible as his face, of such loathsome yet appalling hideousness.
| ardent | |
a. displaying or by strong enthusiasm or devotion; passionate
To her it was but the natural consequence of a strong affection in a young and ardent mind.
They were forever ardent and craving; still I desired love and fellowship, and I was still spurned.
I will not lead you on, unguarded and ardent as I then was, to your destruction and infallible misery.
| atrocious | |
a. shockingly brutal or cruel; exceptionally bad or displeasing
It lay heavier on my breast than if I had been a most atrocious criminal, I dare say.
The commutation of his death sentence had been due to some doubts as to his complete sanity, so atrocious was his conduct.
Then such crimes, equally atrocious, have happened in quick succession, one in Tennessee, one in Arkansas, and one in Alabama.
| august | |
a. impressive; majestic; inspiring awe or admiration
They sought even more thoroughly than the august heirs had done, but it was fruitless.
In magnificent solitude he marched toward the house, while Hugh bewailed his sin and the overclouding of august favor.
But this august dignity I treat of, is not the dignity of kings and robes, but that abounding dignity which has no robed investiture.
| auspicious | |
a. attended by favorable circumstances; marked by success; prosperous
When she told Marianne what she had done, however, her first reply was not very auspicious.
On the day before it, I received an official note from Wemmick, informing me that Mr. Jaggers would be glad if I would call upon him at five in the afternoon of the auspicious day.
But the day did not close so auspiciously as it began.
| authoritative | |
a. having weight of authority; peremptory and dictatorial
Then there was a loud and authoritative tap.
most authoritative American grammarian of his day.
At the authoritative note in her voice, they fell back, helpless hurt looks on their faces.
| automation | |
n. act or process of converting the controlling of a machine or device to a more automatic system, such as computer or electronic controls
| avow | |
v. declare openly; acknowledge openly, boldly, and unashamedly
For some time I was lost in conjecture as to the cause of this, but yesterday an idea struck me, and if it is well founded, I conjure you to avow it.
All were silent; for none thought it safe, in the presence of the Grand Master, to avow any interest in the calumniated prisoner, lest he should be suspected of leaning towards Judaism.
Sir Isaac Newton is said to have avowed that he felt like a child picking up shells beside the great and unexplored ocean of truth.
| banal | |
a. obvious and dull; commonplace; lacking originality
| befall | |
v. happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance
It is a misfortune which may befall anyone.
Some great misfortune will befall you if you do.
But beware of the future, lest a worse thing befall thee.
| bland | |
a. lacking stimulating or mild; agreeable
There was hardly a minute between giggles and bland slumber.
Under her gaze it was suddenly smooth and bland as though wiped clear by magic.
His bland eyes grew suddenly alert and he caught her gaze and held it until a little blush crept up into her cheeks.
| blasphemy | |
n. act of claiming for oneself the attributes and rights of God; utterance or writing concerning God or a sacred entity
His presence made it both the field of blood and of blasphemy.
His cry was answered by a yell and a laugh from the woods, as tauntingly exulting as if fifty demons were uttering their blasphemies at the fall of some Christian soul.
Talk not to me of blasphemy, man; I'd strike the sun if it insulted me.
| blurb | |
n. a promotional statement; a short description of a book, movie, or other product for promotional purposes
| bogus | |
a. counterfeit or fake; not authentic; not genuine
| bourgeois | |
a. middle class; selfishly materialistic; dully conventional
Even an organism is bourgeois: so the ideal must be mechanical.
He considered them bourgeois, and found more diversion at the club.
Then the individual, especially the personal man, is bourgeois: so he must be suppressed.
| brandish | |
v. move or wave, as a weapon; raise and move in various directions
I have seen this whole body of horse, upon a word of command, draw their swords at once, and brandish them in the air.
He picked up dried flowers with his toes and brandished them in the belt of sunlight.
Hawkeye was in front, brandishing his terrible rifle and animating his followers by his example.
| brevity | |
n. quality or state of being brief in duration; concise expression
She answered with equal indifference and brevity, and the other said no more.
I visited many other apartments, but shall not trouble my reader with all the curiosities I observed, being studious of brevity.
But what plays the mischief with this masterly code is the admirable brevity of it, which necessitates a vast volume of commentaries to expound it.
| broach | |
v. introduce; bring up for discussion or debate; announce
Just leave it to me; I will broach the subject very cleverly--I will think of something that will please him very much.
Haley and the stranger smoked a while in silence, neither seeming willing to broach the test question of the interview.
He saluted Rowena by doffing his velvet bonnet, garnished with a golden broach, representing St Michael trampling down the Prince of Evil.
| bureaucracy | |
n. over regulated administrative system
| cajole | |
v. influence or urge by gentle urging or flattering
| callow | |
a. youthful; immature; inexperienced; without feathers
| cancellation | |
n. act of cancelling; calling off some arrangement
It is not usual to cancel articles for any such reason.
In her death she winged her way back to her calm untroubled youth, and cancelled all the rest.
Their capture would paralyze the North and more than cancel off the defeat on the Mississippi.
| candor | |
n. frankness; quality of being honest and straightforward in attitude and speech
And this lack of candor in a matter of such gravity infuriated him.
She was flushed and felt intoxicated with the sound of her own voice and the unaccustomed taste of candor.
He visited the Quaker, in high anger; but, being possessed of uncommon candor and fairness, was soon quieted by his arguments and representations.
| capillary | |
n. long and slender with a very small internal diameter
| capricious | |
a. fickle; impulsive and unpredictable; apt to change opinions suddenly
So the master of Monte Cristo gives himself airs befitting a great millionaire or a capricious beauty.
I had known, from the time when I could speak, that my sister, in her capricious and violent coercion, was unjust to me.
He said I was a capricious witch, and that he would rather sing another time; but I averred that no time was like the present.
| carnivorous | |
a. eating or feeding on flesh; predatory
But its general shape must be what I have indicated, and it can run up a curtain, and it is carnivorous.
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes By Arthur Conan Doyle
Context Highlight In VIII. The Adventure of The Crooked Man
Context Highlight In VIII. The Adventure of The Crooked Man
A thing altogether incredible were it not that attracted by such prey as a dead whale, the otherwise miscellaneously carnivorous shark will seldom touch a man.
| castigate | |
v. criticize severely; punish; revise or make corrections to publication
| cater | |
v. supply what is needed or desired; provide food professionally for special occasion
He, as a private individual, had been catering with his stories for the populace of pleasure.
At least once a fortnight a corps of caterers came down with several hundred feet of canvas and enough colored lights to make a Christmas tree of Gatsby's enormous garden.
| catharsis | |
n. purging or cleansing of any passage of body
| catholic | |
a. broadly sympathetic; universal; related to Roman Catholic Church
| celibacy | |
n. state of being unmarried; single life
| cervical | |
a. of or relating to the cervix of the uterus; relating to the neck
| chagrin | |
n. anxiety caused by humiliation or injured pride; disappointment
And Sir Geoffrey died of chagrin.
Many were the complaints below, and great the chagrin of the head cook at her failures.
Cora bowed her head in disappointment, and, for a bitter moment struggled with her chagrin.
| charisma | |
n. divine gift; great popular charm or appeal of political leader
| charlatan | |
n. quack; one who pretends to knowledge, skill, or importance
| choleric | |
a. hot-tempered; easily angered; bad-tempered; expressing anger
He is an elderly man, red-faced, white-haired, and choleric.
The Hound of the Baskervilles By A. Conan Doyle
Context Highlight In Chapter 8. First Report of Dr. Watson
Context Highlight In Chapter 8. First Report of Dr. Watson
It appeared, indeed, from the countenance of this proprietor, that he was of a frank, but hasty and choleric temper.
Hold, father," said the Jew, "mitigate and assuage your choler.
| choreography | |
n. art of representing dances in written symbols; arrangement of dances