Advanced Academic Vocabulary Tiers

Practice flashcards covering five tiers of academic vocabulary including synonyms, nuance, and frequency-based priority terms.

ESCHEW

To deliberately avoid or abstain from something.

UBIQUITOUS

Present, appearing, or found everywhere.

IDIOSYNCRATIC

Peculiar or individual to a particular person or thing.

ABRIDGE

To shorten a book, movie, speech, or other text without losing the sense.

ATTENUATE

To reduce the force, effect, or value of something; to weaken.

CONJECTURE

An opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information; a guess.

EPITOMIZE

To be a perfect example of a particular quality or type.

EXACERBATE

To make a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling worse.

HETEROGENEOUS

Diverse in character or content; originating from different sources.

INDEX

An indicator, sign, or measure of something.

MANIFEST

Clear or obvious to the eye or mind; to display or show a quality or feeling by one's acts or appearance.

PROPONENT

A person who advocates a theory, proposal, or project.

SUBSTANTIATE

To provide evidence to support or prove the truth of something.

UNDERMINE

To lessen the effectiveness, power, or ability of someone or something, especially gradually or insidiously.

EQUIVOCAL

Open to more than one interpretation; ambiguous or uncertain.

ABATE

To become less intense or widespread.

AMELIORATE

To make something bad or unsatisfactory better.

ANOMALOUS

Deviating from what is standard, normal, or expected.

BELIE

To fail to give a true notion or impression of something; to disguise or contradict.

CAPACIOUS

Having a lot of space inside; roomy or spacious.

DEARTH

A scarcity or lack of something.

DISPARATE

Essentially different in kind; not allowing comparison.

ENUMERATE

To mention a number of things one by one.

EVINCE

To reveal the presence of a quality or feeling; to indicate or show clearly.

INCONGRUOUS

Not in harmony or keeping with the surroundings or other aspects of something.

MISCONSTRUE

To interpret a person's words or actions wrongly.

MULTIFARIOUSNESS

Having great variety and diverse aspects; multifacetedness.

PERNICIOUS

Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.

PRECEDE

To come before something in time, order, or position.

PRECLUDE

To prevent from happening; to make impossible.

QUINTESSENTIAL

Representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class.

TENUOUS

Very weak, slight, or flimsy.

TRANSPOSE

To cause two or more things to change places with each other.

UNDERSCORE

To emphasize or draw attention to something.

UNTENABLE

Not able to be maintained or defended against objection or attack.

VINDICATE

To clear someone of blame or suspicion; to show or prove to be right.

ABOUND

To exist in large numbers or amounts.

ALLEVIATE

To make suffering, deficiency, or a problem less severe.

ATTRITION

The gradual reduction of strength or effectiveness through sustained attack or pressure.

CAPRICIOUS

Given to sudden and unaccountable changes of mood or behavior.

CIRCUMSPECTION

The quality of being wary and unwilling to take risks; prudence.

CONFLATE

To combine two or more ideas, texts, or sets of information into one.

CORROBORATE

To confirm or give support to a statement, theory, or finding.

EPHEMERAL

Lasting for a very short time; transient.

HARBINGER

A person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another; a forerunner.

ICONOCLASM

The action of attacking or assertively rejecting cherished beliefs and institutions or established values.

IMPERVIOUS

Unable to be affected by something; not allowing fluid to pass through.

METICULOUS

Showing great attention to detail; very careful and precise.

OPAQUE

Not able to be seen through; not transparent; hard to understand or explain.

PERVADE

To spread through and be perceived in every part of a space or thing.

TANTAMOUNT

Equivalent in seriousness to; virtually the same as.

VACILLATE

To alternate or waver between different opinions or actions; to be indecisive.

ACQUIESCE

To accept something reluctantly but without protest.

AMBIVALENT

Having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone.

ANTHROPOGENIC

Originating in human activity; caused by humans.

ESOTERIC

Intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge.

JUXTAPOSE

To place or deal with close together for contrasting effect.

PAUCITY

The presence of something only in small or insufficient quantities or amounts.

PRAGMATIC

Dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations.

SUCCINCT

Briefly and clearly expressed; concise.

VERISIMILITUDE

The appearance of being true or real.