English 11 Vocab

Factious

Causing disagreement

Ignoble

Dishonorable; shameful

Boor

A rude or impolite person

Aegis

A shield; protection

Perspicacity

Keenness of judgment

Fervent

Eager; earnest

Rectify

To correct; to make right

Enervate

To weaken

Besiege

To overwhelm; to surround and attack

Ephemeral

Lasting only a brief time; short lived

Altruism

A concern for others; generosity

Carrion

Decaying flesh

Erotic

Pertaining to sexual love

Amorphous

Shapeless, formless, vague

Opulent

Rich, luxurious, wealthy

Impotent

Powerless; lacking strength

Antithesis

An exact opposite; an opposite extreme

Maelstrom

Whirlpool; turbulence; agitate state of mind

Emendation

A correction

Chagrin

Embarrassment; complete loss of courage

Bauble

A showy but useless thing

Diaphanous

Very sheer and light

Labyrinth

A complication of winding passages

Gloat

To look at or think about with great satisfaction

Impediment

A barrier; an obstruction

Bestial

Savage; brutal

Effete

Worn out; barren

Shard

A fragment

Bland

Mild; tasteless; dull

Nihilism

A total rejection of established laws

Pedestrian

Ordinary or dull

Bona fide

In good faith

Adventitious

Accidental; nonessential

Fecund

Fertile; productive

Deviate

To turn aside from a course; to stray

Obfuscate

To confuse; to bewilder

Impale

To pierce with a sharp stake through the body

Extenuate

To lessen seriousness by providing partial excuses

Parochial

Local; narrow; limited

Glower

To stare angrily

Edify

Improve someone morally

Ambiguous

Open to more than one interpretation

Cataclysm

A violent change

Optimum

Best; most favorable; ideal

Importune

To ask persistently; to beg

Celibate

Abstaining from intercourse; unmarried

Fortuitous

Happening by chance or accident

Recapitulate

To summarize; to repeat briefly

Perfunctory

Done without a care; in a routine

Baroque

Overly decorated

Hedonism

Pursuit of pleasure; especially of the senses

Obloquy

Strong disapproval; a bad reputation resulting from public criticism

Debacle

A complete failure; a total collapse

Quasi

Resembling; seeing half

Besmirch

To make dirty; to stain

Imperative

Extremely necessary; vitally important

Sacrosanct

Extremely holy

Sadistic

Deriving pleasure from inflicting pain on others

Demeanor

Behavior; manner of conducting oneself

Facetious

Comical; jocular; flippant

Fop

An excessively fashion-conscious man

Imprecation

A curse

Non-sequitur

Something that does not logically follow

Bowdlerize

To remove offensive passages of a play or novel

Impair

To weaken; to cause to become worse

Panegyric

An expression of praise

Quandary

A puzzling situation; a dilemma

Ebullient

Enthusiastic

Deference

Respect; consideration

Carnal

Relating to a physical appetite, especially sexual

Nebulous

Hazy; vague; uncertain

Rakish

Dashingly stylish and confident

Elegy

A sad or mournful poem

Pedantic

Tending to show off one's learning

Sanguine

Cheerful; optimistic