Sadlier Vocab COMBINED

Acquisitive

(adj.) able to get and retain ideas or information; concerned with acquiring wealth or property

Arrogate

(v.) to claim or take without right

Banal

(adj.) hackneyed, trite, commonplace

Belabor

(v.) to work on excessively; to thrash soundly

Carping

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

Coherent

(adj.) holding or sticking together; making a logical whole; comprehensible, meaningful

Congeal

(v.) to change from liquid to solid, thicken; to make inflexible or rigid

Emulate

(v.) to imitate with the intent of equaling or surpassing the model

Encomium

(n.) a formal expression of praise, a lavish tribute

Eschew

(v.) to avoid, shun, keep away from

Germane

(adj.) relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting

Insatiable

(adj.) so great or demanding as not to be satisfied

Intransigent

(adj.) refusing to compromise, irreconcilable

Invidious

(adj.) offensive, hateful; tending to cause bitterness and resentment

Largesse

(n.) generosity in giving; lavish or bountiful contributions

Reconnaissance

(n.) a survey made for military purposes; any kind of preliminary inspection or examination

Substantiate

(v.) to establish by evidence, prove; to give concrete or substantial form to

Taciturn

(adj.) habitually silent or quiet, inclined to talk very little

Temporize

(v.) to stall or act evasively in order to gain time, avoid a confrontation, or postpone a decision; to compromise

Tenable

(adj.) capable of being held or defended

Accost

To approach and speak to first; to confront in a challenging or aggressive way

Animadversion

A comment indicating strong criticism or disapproval

Avid

Desirous of something to the point of greed; intensely eager

Brackish

Having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink

Celerity

Swiftness, rapidity of motion or action

Devious

Straying or wandering from a straight or direct course; done or acting in a shifty or underhanded way

Gambit

In chess, an opening move that involves risk or sacrifice of a minor piece in order to gain a later advantage; any opening move of this type

Halcyon

(n.) a legendary bird identified with the kingfisher;

(adj.) of or relating to the halcyon; calm, peaceful; happy golden; prosperous, affluent

Histrionic

Pertaining to actors and their techniques; theatrical, artificial; melodramatic

Incendiary

(adj.) deliberately setting or causing fires; designed to start fires; tending to stir up strife or rebellion;

(n.) one who deliberately sets fires, arsonist; one who causes strife

Maelstrom

A whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirlpool in violence and destruction

Myopic

Nearsighted; lacking a broad, realistic view of a situation; lacking foresight or discernment

Overt

Open, not hidden, expressed or revealed in a way that is easily recognized

Pejorative

Tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, deprecatory, belittling

Propriety

(n.) the state of being proper, appropriateness

(pl.) standards of what is proper or socially acceptable

Sacrilege

Improper or disrespectful treatment of something held sacred

Summarily

Without delay or formality; briefly, concisely

Suppliant

(adj.) asking humbly and earnestly;

(n.) one who makes a request humbly and earnestly, a petitioner, suitor

Talisman

An object that serves as a charm or is believed to confer magical powers, an amulet, fetish

Undulate

To move in waves or with a wavelike motion; to have a wavelike appearance or form

Cavort

To romp or prance

Credence

Belief, mental acceptance

Decry

Express strong disapproval

Dissemble

Disguise or conceal

Distraught

Agitated or upset

Eulogy

Formal statement or praise

Evince

To display clearly

Exhume

Remove from grave, bring to light

Feckless

Ineffective or weak

Murky

Dark and gloomy, lacking clarity

Nefarious

Wicked or against morals

Piquant

Spicy or pungent

Primordial

Developed at the very beginning, fundamental

Propinquity

Nearness or kinship

Substantive

Solid basis or meaningful

Unwonted

Unusual or out of character

Utopian

Ideal world

Verbiage

Too wordy

Verdant

Green or immature

Viscous

Gelatinous or gluey

Atrophy

Decline or failure

Bastion

Fortified place or stronghold

Concord

Agreement or harmony

Consummate

Completion or perfection

Disarray

Disorder or confusion

Exigency

Urgency or pressure

Flotsam

Debris, homeless, impoverished

Frenetic

Frenzied or agitated

Glean

Gather bit by bit

Grouse

Kind of bird or complaint

Incarcerate

Imprison or jail

Incumbent

Required or holding office

Jocular

Humorous or jesting

Ludicrous

Ridiculous or absurd

Mordant

Sharp or harsh

Nettle

Prickly or irritating

Pecuniary

Relating to money

Pusillanimous

Cowardly or mean-spirited

Recumbent

Lying down or resting

Stratagem

Scheme to outwit or deceive

Acuity

Sharpness of mind

Depraved

Evil or corrupt

Esoteric

For a select few

Fecund

Lot of offspring or productive

Garner

Gather or store

Hallow

To sanctify or make sacred

Idiosyncrasy

Peculiarity that helps to identify

Nuance

Slight variation

Sophistry

Seems plausible but isn’t

Sumptuous

Rich or magnificent

Ubiquitous

Existing everywhere

Delineate

Describe in detail

Enervated

Weaken or lessen

Fiat

Order or decree

Figment

Fabrication in your head

Ignominy

Shame

Mundane

Concerned with material or earthly affairs

Overweening

Arrogant or inflated

Penchant

Attraction or inclination

Reputed

Good reputation