AP Lang 3 Purse Semester 1 Final

Banal

(adj.) Hackneyed, trite, commonplace. (SYN: stale, insipid)

Carping

(adj.) Tending to find fault, especially in a petty, nasty, or hairsplitting way; (n.) petty, nagging criticism. (SYN: nit

Intransigent

(adj.) Refusing to compromise, irreconcilable. (SYN: uncompromising, unyielding, obdurate)

Reconnaissance

(n.) A survey made for military purposes; any kind of preliminary inspection or examination. (SYN: exploration)

Taciturn

(adj.) Habitually silent or quiet, inclined to talk very little. (SYN: tight lipped, uncommunicative, laconic)

propinquity

n. nearness in place or time; kinship syn. similarity

utopian

adj. founded upon or involving a visionary view of an ideal world, impractical syn. idealistic

accost

(v.) to approach and speak to first; to confront in a challenging or aggressive way (syn: buttonhole, approach)

brackish

(adj.) having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink (syn: saline)

incendiary

(adj.) deliberately setting or causing fires; designed to start fires; tending to stir up strife or rebellion; (n.) one who deliberately sets fire, arsonist; one who causes strife (syn: inflammatory, provocative; firebrand

maelstrom

(n.) a whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirlpool in violence and destruction (syn: chaos, turbulence, tumult)

pejorative

(adj.) tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, deprecatory, belittling

summarily

(adv.) without delay or formality; briefly, concisely (syn: promptly, peremptorily)

suppliant

(adj.) asking humbly and earnestly; (n.) one who makes a request humbly and earnestly

talisman

(n.) an object that serves as a charm or is believed to confer magical powers, an amulet, fetish

undulate

(v.) to move in waves or with a wavelike motion; to have a wavelike appearance or form (syn: fluctuate, rise and fall)

Concord

(n.) A state of agreement, harmony, unanimity; a treaty, pact, covenant.

Glean

(v.) To gather bit by bit; to gather small quantities of grain left in a field by the reapers. (SYN: cull, pick up)

Pusillanimous

(adj.) Contemptibly cowardly or mean (SYN: lily-livered)

Depraved

(adj.) Marked by evil and corruption, devoid of moral principles. (SYN: perverted, degenerate, vicious, corrupt)

Esoteric

(adj.) Intended for or understood by only a select few, private, secret. (SYN: cryptic, arcane, recondite)

Idiosyncrasy

(n.) A peculiarity that serves to distinguish or identify. (SYN: quirk, mannerism)

Mundane

(adj.) Earthly, worldly, relating to practical and material affairs; concerned with what is ordinary. (SYN: prosaic, humdrum, routine, sublunary)

Nuance

(n.) A subtle or slight variation (as in color, meaning, quality) (SYN: shade, nicety, refinement)

Sophistry

(n.) Reasoning that seems plausible but is actually unsound; a fallacy. (SYN: specious reasoning)

Agnostic

(n.) One who believes that nothing can be known about God; a skeptic; (adj.) without faith, skeptical. (SYN: doubter)

Diatribe

(n.) A bitter and prolonged verbal attack. (SYN: harangue, tirade)

Effigy

(n.) A crude image of a despised person. (SYN: figure, figurine)

Inane

(Adj.) Silly, empty of meaning or value. (SYN: idiotic, moronic, fatuous)

Motif

(n.) A principal idea, feature, theme, or element; a repeated or dominant figure in a design.

Neophyte

(n.) A new convert, beginner, novice. (SYN: tenderfoot, tyro, greenhorn)

Reputed

(adj.) according to reputation or general belief; having widespread acceptance and good reputation; (part.) alleged Syn: putative, reputable