UCONN English - Vocab #2 Definitions

Accost

Accost

(v.) to approach and speak to first; to confront in a challenging or aggressive way.

Animadversion

(n.) a comment indicating strong criticism or disapproval.

Avid

(adj.) desirous of something to the point of greed; intensely eager.

Brackish

(adj.) having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink.

Celerity

(n.) swiftness, rapidity of motion or action.

Devious

(adj.) straying or wandering from a straight or direct course; done or acting in a shifty or underhanded way.

Gambit

(n.) in chess, an opening move that involves risk or sacrifice of a minor piece in order to gain a later advantage; any opening move of this type.

Halcyon (n.)

(n.) a legendary bird identified with the kingfisher.

Halcyon (adj.)

(adj.) of or relating to the halcyon; calm, peaceful; happy golden; prosperous, affluent.

Histrionic

(adj.) pertaining to actors and their techniques; theatrical, artificial; melodramatic.

Incendiary (adj.)

(adj.) deliberately setting or causing fires; designed to start fires; tending to stir up strife or rebellion.

Incendiary (n.)

(n.) one who deliberately sets fires, arsonist; one who causes strife.

Maelstrom

(n.) a whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirlpool in violence and destruction.

Myopic

(adj.) nearsighted; lacking a broad, realistic view of a situation; lacking foresight or discernment

Overt

(adj.) open, not hidden, expressed or revealed in a way that is easily recognized.

Pejorative

(adj.) tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, deprecatory, belittling.

Propriety

(n.) the state of being proper, appropriateness; (pl.) standards of what is proper or socially acceptable

Sacrilege

(n.) improper or disrespectful treatment of something held sacred.

Summarily

(adv.) without delay or formality; briefly, concisely.

Suppliant (adj.)

(adj.) asking humbly and earnestly.

Suppliant (n.)

(n.) one who makes a request humbly and earnestly, a petitioner, suitor.

Talisman

(n.) an object that serves as a charm or is believed to confer magical powers, an amulet, fetish.

Undulate

(v.) to move in waves or with a wavelike motion; to have a wavelike appearance or form.