AP Lang Vocab Flashcards

Poignant (adj.)/ Poignantly (adv.)

1. evoking a strong emotional response, often through feelings of sadness or regret.

2. designed to make an impression

patronizing (adj.)/ patronizingly (adv.)/ patronizingness (n.)

1. showing or characterized by a superior attitude towards others : marked by condescension

incredulous (adj.)/ incredulously (adv.)

1. unwilling to admit or accept what is offered as true : not credulous : skeptical

forthright (adj.), (adv.), (n.)/ forthrightly (adv)./ forthrightness (n.)

1. free from ambiguity or evasiveness : going straight to the point

2. notably simple in style or quality

3. proceeding straight on

4. a straight path

unabashed (adj.)/ unabashedly (adv.)

1. not embarrassed, disconcerted, or ashamed.

2. Confidently open about one's beliefs or actions, regardless of others' opinions.

wry (v.), (adj.)/ wryly (adv.)/ wryness (n.)

1. to pull out of or as if out of proper shape : make awry

2. bent, twisted, or turned usually abnormally to one side

3. made by a deliberate distortion of the facial muscles often to express irony or mockery

4. cleverly and often ironically or grimly humorous

pretentious (adj.)/ pretentiously (adv.)/ pretentiousness (n.)

1. attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed.

2. expressive of affected, unwarranted, or exaggerated importance, worth, or stature

3. making demands on one's skill, ability, or means : ambitious

brazen (adj.), (v.)/ brazenly (adv.)/ brazenness (n.)

1. made of brass

2. sounding harsh and loud like struck brass

3. marked by shameless or disrespectful boldness

4. to face with defiance or impudence —> used in the phrase _____ it out

ambivalent (adj.) / ambivalently (adv.)

1. having or showing simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings toward something or someone

incense(d) (v.), (adj.)

1. to apply or offer incense to

2. to perfume with incense

3. to arouse the extreme anger or indignation of

4. very angry/ enraged

pragmatic (adj.), (n.)/ pragmatically (adv.)

1. relating to matters of fact or practical affairs often to the exclusion of intellectual or artistic matters : practical as opposed to idealistic

pompous (adj.)/ pompously (adv.)/ pompousness (n.)

1. excessively elevated or ornate

2. having or exhibiting self-importance : arrogant

3. relating to or suggestive of pomp or splendor : magnificent

4. affectedly and irritatingly grand, solemn, or self-important.

reticent (adj.)/ reticently (adv.)

1. inclined to be silent or uncommunicative in speech : reserved

2. restrained in expression, presentation, or appearance

3. not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily.

indignant (adj.) / indignantly (adv.)

1. feeling or showing anger because of something unjust or unworthy

2. feeling or showing anger or annoyance at what is perceived as unfair treatment

contemptuous (adj.)/ contemptuously (adv.)/ contemptuousness (n.)

1. manifesting, feeling, or expressing deep hatred or disapproval

2. showing the feeling that a person or a thing is beneath consideration, worthless, or deserving scorn

caustic (adj.)/ caustically (adv.) / causticity (n.)

1. capable of destroying or eating away by chemical action : corrosive

2. marked by incisive sarcasm (sarcastic in a scathing and bitter way)

3. a substance that burns or destroys organic tissue by chemical action or a strong corrosive alkali (such as sodium hydroxide)

4. the envelope of rays emanating from a point and reflected or refracted by a curved surface

malicious (adj)/ maliciously (adv)/ maliciousness (n)

1. having or showing a desire to cause harm to someone : given to, marked by, or arising from malice

didactic (adj)/ didactical (adj)/ didactically (adv)/ didacticism (n)

1. designed or intended to teach

2. intended to convey instruction and information in addition to serving another purpose (such as pleasure and entertainment)

3. usually disapproving : making moral observations : intended to teach proper or moral behavior

seductive (adj.) / seductively (adv)/ seductiveness (n)

1. tending to seduce : having alluring or tempting qualities

2. tempting and attractive; enticing.

whimsical (adj.)/ whimsicality (n)/ whimsically (adv)/ whimsicalness (n)

1. resulting from or characterized by whim or caprice

   especially : lightly fanciful

2. subject to erratic behavior or unpredictable change

3. full of, actuated by, or exhibiting whims

4. playfully quaint or fanciful, especially in an appealing and amusing way.

somber (adj)./ somberly (adv.)/ somberness (n)

1. so shaded as to be dark and gloomy

2. of a serious mien : grave

3. of a dismal or depressing character : melancholy

4. conveying gloomy suggestions or ideas

5. of a dull or heavy cast or shade : dark colored

satiric (adj.) satirical/ satirically (adv)

1. of, relating to, or constituting satire (the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize people's stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues)

2. manifesting or given to satire

urgent (adj)/ urgently (adv)

1. calling for immediate attention : pressing

mock-heroic (adj.) (n) / mock-heroically (adv)

1. a mock-heroic composition

2. ridiculing or burlesquing (an absurd or comically exaggerated imitation of something, especially in a literary or dramatic work; a parody) heroic style, character, or action

3. (of a literary work or its style) imitating the style of heroic literature in order to satirize an unheroic subject.

diffident (adj)/ diffidently (adv)

1. hesitant in acting or speaking through lack of self-confidence

ironic (adj)/ ironically (adv). / ironicalness (n)

1. relating to, containing, or constituting irony (happening in the opposite way to what is expected, and typically causing wry amusement because of this)

2. relating to the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect.

petty (adj) / pettily (adv) / pettiness (n)

1. having secondary rank or importance : minor, subordinate

2. having little or no importance or significance

3. marked by or reflective of narrow interests and sympathies : small-minded

4. (of behavior) characterized by an undue concern for trivial matters, especially in a small-minded or spiteful way.

elegiac (adj) (n) elegiacal / elegiacally (adv)

1. noted for having written poetry in such couplets

2. of or relating to the period in Greece about the seventh century b.c. when poetry written in such couplets flourished

3. of, relating to, or comprising elegy or an elegy (a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead.)

4. of, relating to, or consisting of two dactylic hexameter lines the second of which lacks the arsis in the third and sixth feet

disdainful (adj) / disdainfully (adv) / disdainfulness (n)

1. full of or expressing contempt for someone or something regarded as unworthy or inferior : full of or expressing scorn or disdain

lugubrious (adj) / lugubriously (adv) / lugubriousness (n)

1. looking or sounding sad and dismal.