Advanced English Vocabulary

For the AP LANG Warriors!!

Accentuate

To stress or emphasize; to intensify

Accessible

Attainable, available; approachable

Adept

Very skilled

Advantageous

Favorable; useful

Aggressive

Actively hostile; assertive; bold

Agitate

To upset or disturb

Alacrity

Cheerful willingness, eagerness; speed

Alleviate

To relieve; to improve partially

Amalgamation

Combination, to combine smaller parts into a whole

Ambiguous

Uncertain; subject to multiple interpretations

Amiable

Likeable, pleasant, friendly

Anachronistic

From an incorrect or a different time period

Ancient

Very old; antique

Arable

Land suitable for cultivation (prepare soil for crops)

Archaic

Outdated; from an earlier time

Astute

Having good judgment

Augment

To expand; extend

Autonomous

Separate, independent

Beneficial

Adantageous, helpful

Benevolent

Helpful and friendly

Cacophony

Jarring, unpleasant noise

Catastrophic

Of, or relating to, a terrible event or complete failure

Censure

To blame; to find fault with and condemn as wrong

Challenge

To question or go against

Circumscribe

To encircle; to set limits on, to confine

Clandestine

Secretive, concealed for a darker purpose

Compassion

Sympathy; helpfulness or mercy

Complement

To complete or perfect

Comprehensive

Very large in scope

Compulsion

An irresistible impulse to act

Conciliatory

Overcoming anger, a fight, distrust, or hostility

Concordant

In agreement; in harmony; listening

Confirm

To say yes, to verify, to say it is true

Conformity

Listening to or acting like others; following the rules; similarity in form, character, or action

Confound

Confused, baffled, perplexed

Contemptuous

Hateful, scornful, disdainful

Controversial

Likely to cause public argument or disagreement

Convergence

The state of separate elements joining or coming together

Conviction

A fixed or strong belief

Crude

Blunt, offensive; unrefined, natural

Curtail

To shorten or to limit

Debacle

A total failure or great disaster

Debilitating

Making something or someone weak; reducing the strength of something or someone

Debunk

To show something is not true

Defensive

Protective

Deferment

Putting on hold; the act of delaying

Deficit

A shortage or loss; the amount a person or team is behind in a game or contest

Deliberation

Careful thought or discussion done in order to make a decision; being slow and careful

Delineate

To describe or to clearly show

Demean

To cause someone or something to seem less important or less worthy of respect; to make fun of or to embarrass

Derelict

Failing to complete a job, duty, or task

Derivative

Copied or adapted; ordinary, or not original

Didactic

Teaching; doing something in a way to teach; teaching something in a way that is annoying or unwanted

Dilatory

Causing a delay; slow to do something

Diminish

To make smaller

Discern

To see, hear, or notice something using senses and effort

Discord

Disagreement or tension; lack of agreement between people, ideas, etc

Discrepancy

A difference especially between things that should be the same

Dismissal

The act of being fired, removed, or sent away

Disparage

To describe someone or something as bad, unimportant, weak, etc.; to speak disrespectfully about

Dispel

To remove, drive out or scatter; to make a belief go away

Dogmatic

A fixed, unchanging, or rigid opinion as if it cannot be doubted

Eclectic

A variety; things taken from many different sources

Disputant

Someone in an argument

Eloquent

Clearly, effectively, or persuasively expressing emotion or meaning

Divisive

Dividing or splitting; causing a disagreement, which causes people to separate into different groups

Distortion

Changing something so that it is no longer true or accurate; making something false; twisting out of shape

Empathy

The ability to share someone else’s feelings

Dubious

Doubtful, questionable, or uncertain; to cause or to arose doubt

Disseminate

To cause something to go to many people; to spread out far and wide

Exasperation

Irritation, frustration, and/or exhaustion

Expedite

To speed up; to cause something to happen faster

Enhance

To improve or add; to make better

Extensive

Large in size or amounts; very full or complete

Extant

Currently existing; still in existence

Erratic

Something or someone that changes in ways that are not expected or usual; unpredictable, inconsistent

Encroach

To intrude upon; to go beyond limits

Eradicate

To erase or wipe out

Exacerbate

To make something worse

Encompass

To include, cover, group, or encircle

Extol

To praise

Extravagant

Very fancy, expensive, or unnecessary; spending a lot of money on something

Facile

Too simple or easy; not showing enough thought or effort

Fickle

Changing often; changing opinions often

Flabbergasted

To shock or to surprise very much

Florid

Having a red or reddish color; covered with decorations; covered with fancy patterns and shapes

Flourish

To be very successful

Foil

Something used to contrast against something else; to prevent (something) from happening

Foreshadow

To hint at the future; to predict

Formidable

Very difficult to deal with; very powerful or strong; deserving serious attention and respect

Frugal

Cheap, simple, or plain

Hackneyed

Overused, worn out; not fresh or original

Harangue

Angry speech; to speak to someone in a forceful or angry way

Humane

Kind; kind or gentle to people or animals

Illegible

Unreadable; not clear enough to read

Implement

To carry out, to begin to do or use something (such as a plan)

Inconsequential

Not important; trivial

Inconspicuous

Hidden; not easy to see or notice

Indiscriminate

Not careful in making choices; affecting or harming many people or things in a careless or unfair way

Indomitable

Fearless; impossible to defeat or discourage