Sophomore Pre-IB English Vocab

Valiant

Showing courage and/or determination.

Pestilence

A fatal epidemic disease.

Abide

To bear patiently.

Disdain

The feeling that someone is unworthy of another’s respect.

Turncoat

A traitor to their party.

Flout

Openly disregard.

Canker

A dead area of a tree bark affected by a disease.

Subdued

Quiet and depressed.

Throng

A packed crowd of people or animals.

Shrewd

Smart and understands gestures.

Solicit

To ask for something from someone.

Dissuade

To persuade someone to not do something.

Perturb

To do something to make someone anxious.

Covertly

Without being openly known.

Semblance

An outward appearance that’s not necessarily true.

Blithe

Happy and carefree.

Requited

To return something to someone (usually a feeling).

Coy

Pretending to be shy but making it alluring.

Bestow

To present an honor.

Disparage

To see something with little worth.

Harrowing

Really disturbing or distressing.

Fastidious

Giving extreme attention to details, excessively concerned with cleanliness, hard to please.

Ameliorate

Make something bad better.

Evince

To reveal a feeling or quality of someone or something.

Countenance

A person’s face or to tolerate something.

Repose

Rest, sleep or to put something somewhere.

Poignant

A sense of sadness or regret.

Inexorable

Impossible to stop.

Capitulate

To admit defeat.

Endeavor

To try to look for something or an attempt to achieve something.

Capacious

Having a lot of space/room.

Acquit

To act or behave well.

Dauntless

Showing fearlessness, not hesitant and determined.

Inure

Used to something unpleasant.

Derive

To get something/obtain something from somewhere.

Conjecture

To form an opinion on incomplete information.

Peruse

To read something closely.

Foreboding

A bad feeling that something bad will happen.

Ardent

Enthusiastic or passionate.

Vehemence

The display of strong feeling, passion.

Undulate

Moves smoothly up and down, rise and fall.

Indelible

Unable to be removed or forgotten.

Penury

Extremely in poverty.

Venerable

A great deal of respect and wisdom, coming from age.

Exculpate

To declare that someone is not guilty.

Obdurate

Not wanting to change one’s opinion.

Convalescence

In a state of rest after an illness.

Odious

Extremely unpleasant.

Abhor

Regarded with disgust and hatred.

Facile

Easy to achieve, effortless.

Vacillate

Wavering between different opinions.

Verdant

Greens, grass, rich vegetation.

Incipient

An initial stage, something developing.

Erroneously

In a mistaken way, incorrectly.

Dogma

A principle set by an authority that is as true without questions.

Repugnance

Intense disgust.

Precipice

A very steep rock/cliff.

Progeny

A decadence.

Caprice

A sudden change of mood.

Pernicious

Having a harmful effect in a subtle/gradual way.

Fitfully

Not regularly or continuously.

Sanguine

Blood red color.

Adherent

Someone who supports a party/person/idea.

Specious

Seemingly true, but actually false.

Archaic

Very old or old-fashioned.

Urbane

Refined in manner.

Gesticulate

Using dramatic gestures instead of speaking.

Sordid

Ignorant actions that are morally distasteful.

Aureole

A circle of light around something.

Tableaux

A representation of a scene.

Mutable

Liable to change.

Myriad

A countless great number.

Zealot

A person who is uncompromising in their beliefs.

Vapid

Offering nothing that is stimulating.

Invariably

In every case or occasion.

Pugnacious

Eager to fight or argue.

Thwart

To prevent someone from achieving something.

Drivel

Nonsense.

Compendium

A short but detailed info of a subject.

Harangue

A long and aggressive speech.

Dissemble

To conceal one’s true motives or feelings.

Supersede

To take the place of something.

Repudiate

Refuse to associate with.

Apoplectic

To overcome with anger.

Burly

Large built.

Hapless

Very unfortunate.

Homely

Cozy and comfortable in a house.

Jocund

Cheerful and lighthearted.

Proclivity

A tendency to do something regularly.

Supercilious

Behaving as if they are superior to others.

Sycophant

A person who excessively praises another to gain advantage.

Vacuous

Showing a lack of intelligence.

Anachronistic

A out of place/time object or act.

Edify

To instruct or improve morally or intellectually.

Eschew

To deliberately avoid using something.

Galvanize

Shock or excite something into taking action.

Paucity

Something in small quantities.

Colloquially

Informally known language.

Visceral

A gut feeling.

Occult

A supernatural or mythical beliefs and practices.