AP Lit Semester 1 Vocabulary

Abjure

A_____ verb: to recant, to repudiate

Bailiwick

B_____ noun: a person’s area of skill, knowledge, authority, or work

Colloquial

C_____ adj: used in ordinary or familiar conversation; not formal or literary

Defenestration:

D_____ noun: the act of throwing someone out of a window

Didactic

D_____ adj: intended for instruction; inclined to teach or lecture

Dissemble

D_____ verb: to give false, misleading appearance to; to feign

Egregious

E_____ adj: extraordinary in a bad way; glaring and flagrant

Façade

F_____ noun: a superficial appearance or illusion of something

Harangue

H_____ noun: a scolding or long and intense verbal attack

Imperturbable

I_____ adj: incapable of being upset or agitated; not easily excited; calm

Labile

L_____ adj: apt or likely to change

Lachrymose

L_____ adj: suggestive of tears or mournful

Nadir

N_____ noun: the lowest point; the point of great adversity or despair

Obdurate

O_____ adj: 1) hardhearted; unmoved by persuasion; 2) stubborn or resistant

Paucity

P_____ noun: smallness of quantity; scarcity

Penchant

P_____ noun: a strong inclination, taste, or liking for something

Serendipity

S_____ noun: an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident

Tawdry

T_____ adj: gaudy; showing, cheap

Tempestuous

T_____ adj: tumultuous; turbulent

Unbridled

U_____ adj: not controlled or restrained

Abscond

A_____ to run away and hide; to avoid arrest

Anachronism

A_____ something that is not correct in its historical or chronological time

Baleful

B_____ full of menacing or malign influences; pernicious

Depravity

D_____ the state of moral corruption

Eschew

E_____ to abstain or keep away from; to shun or avoid

Facile

F_____ moving, acting, or proceeding with ease; easy in manner

Fastidious

F_____ finicky and picky; hard to please

Hackneyed

H_____ made commonplace or trite; banal

Immutable

I_____ not changeable

Impasse

I_____ a position or situation from which there is no escape; a deadlock

Lackadaisical

L_____ without interest or vigor; lazy; indolent

Lagniappe

L_____ a gratuity or tip; an unexpected benefit

Obliterate

O_____ to remove or destroy all traces of

Pedantic

P_____ ostentatious in one's learning; acting superior when teaching small details

Panache

P_____ a grand and flamboyant manner; flair; style

Savant

S_____ a profound scholar; a person of extensive learning

Temerity

T_____ recklessness; boldness; rashness

Trenchant

T_____ vigorous or incisive in expression or style

Unfathomable

U_____ not able to be comprehended

Unheralded

U_____ appearing without fanfare or prior announcement

analogous

A_____ corresponding to something in particular

banal

B_____ devoid of freshness or originality; hackneyed and trite

bombastic

B_____ high sounding; inflated; pretentious (of speech and writing)

capacious

C_____ spacious or roomy

capricious

C_____ erratic; unpredictable; constantly changing

copious

C_____ large in quantity or number; abundant or plentiful

deprecate

D_____ to express disapproval

diatribe

D_____ a bitter, sharply abusive attack or criticism

esprit de corps

E_____ a sense of unity and common interest developed among a group of people closely associated in a task

euphemism

E_____ the substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one that is too harsh or blunt

ferment

F_____ agitation, unrest; excitement; commotion; tumult

impressionable

I_____ easily impressed or influenced; susceptible

largesse

L_____ a generous bestowal of gifts

leaven

L_____ an element that produces an altering or transforming influence; to permeate with an altering or transforming element

neophyte

N_____ a beginner or novice

noisome

N_____ having an offensive odor; harmful or injurious to health

perfidious

P_____ deliberately faithless; deceitful; treacherous

perfunctory

P_____ performed as a routine duty; hasty and superficial

scurrilous

S_____ grossly and obscenely abusive

unsolicited

U_____ given or supplied without being requested or asked for