AP Lit lesson 1 & 2 vocab

apathy

lack of emotion or interest

ambiguous

having more than one meaning: vague

fervent

passionate

vagrant

a wandering homeless person; a tramp

undermine

to weaken; to wear the foundation of

oblivious

unaware; unconscious

indifferent

not caring one way or another; lacking a preference; neutral

obscure

unclear; clouded; partially hidden; hard to understand

objective

without bias (as opposed to subjective)

revere

to worship

discriminate

to differentiate; to make a clear distinction; to see the difference

embellish

to add details; to exaggerate

denounce

to speak out against; to condemn

innovate

to be creative; to create something new

stagnant

not moving

candid

honest; frank

impartial

unbiased; neutral

discern

to distinguish one thing from another

ostentatious

showing off

contentious

quarrelsome (causing or likely to cause a disagreement)

reprove

to scold; to find fault with

pessimism

gloominess; a belief that bad guys always win

cursory

hasty; not thorough

profiligate

extremely wasteful; wildly extravagent

miser

someone who hoards money; saves greedily

jocular

joking

fracas

uproar; brawl

caricature

a satiric portrait or representation

corroborate

to confirm

precarious

dangerously unstable

expository

explanatory

bolster

to support; to prop up

daunt

to intimidate; to discourage

inclined

tending toward one direction

uniform

constant; without variation

perceptive

having clear understanding; discerning

superficial

shallow; on the surface level only

diligent

hard-working

refute

to disapprove

anarchy

lack of governemnt; chaos

discord

disagreement

monotonous

without variety; tiresome

trivial

unimportant; insignificant