Vocabulary Expansion: Advanced English Terms

burgeon

v. to expand; to flourish

profligate

adj. extravagantly wasteful and usually wildly immoral

impetuous

adj. impulsive; extremely impatient

hiatus

n. a break or interruption, often from work

incorrigible

adj. incapable of being reformed

fauna

n. animals

pejorative

adj. negative; disparaging

spurious

adj. false; fake; counterfeit

adulterate

v. to contaminate; to make impure

propensity

n. a natural inclination or tendency

despot

n. an absolute ruler; an autocrat

indignant

adj. angry; insulted

heed

v. to pay attention to

lugubrious

adj. exaggeratedly mournful

gravity

n. seriousness

dubious

adj. full of doubt; uncertain

auspicious

adj. favorable; promising; pointing to a good result

incantation

n. a chant; the repetition of statements or phrases

assiduous

adj. hard-working; showing great care and perseverance

sagacious

adj. discerning; shrewd; wise

putative

adj. commonly accepted; supposed as truth

obfuscate

v. to darken; to confuse or make difficult to understand

desultory

adj. without a plan or purpose; disconnected; random

opaque

adj. impossible to see through; impossible to understand

unctuous

adj. oily, both literally and figuratively, excessively flattering

mendacious

adj. lying; untruthful

disparage

v. to belittle; to say uncomplimentary things about, usually in a somewhat indirect way

inexorable

adj. relentless; inevitable; unavoidable; impossible to stop or prevent

esoteric

adj. hard to understand; understood by only a select few

tenuous

adj. flimsy; extremely thin; very weak or slight

polemic

n. a powerful argument, often made to attack or refute a controversial issue

obdurate

adj. stubborn and insensitive

discreet

adj. marked by, exercising, or showing prudence and wise self-restraint in speech and behavior; free from ostentation or pretension; modest

ardent

adj. passionate; enthusiastic

hermetic

adj. impervious to external influences

acquiesce

v. to comply passively; to accept; to assent

extol

v. to praise highly; to laud

ineffable

adj. incapable of being expressed or described

rudimentary

adj. basic; crude; unformed

obtuse

adj. lacking quickness of perception or intellect; characterized by a lack of intelligence or sensitivity; slow to understand

reiterate

v. to say again; to repeat

circumlocution

n. the use of many words where fewer would do, esp. in a deliberate attempt to vague or evasive

proletariat

n. the industrial working class

distend

v. to swell; to extend a great deal

perquisite

n. a privilege that goes along with a job; a 'perk'

precipitous

adj. steep

furtive

adj. secretive; sly

dictum

n. an authoritative saying; an adage; a maxim

consummate

adj. perfect; complete; supremely skillful / v. make perfect, make complete

recalcitrant

adj. stubbornly defiant of authority; disobedient