HONORS LIT VOCAB MIDTERM

Approbation

The expression of approval or favorable opinion, praise; official approval.

Assuage

To make easier or milder, relieve; to quiet, calm; to put an end to, appease, satisfy, quench.

Coalition

A combination, union, or merger for some specific purpose.

Decadence

Decline, decay, or deterioration; a condition or period of decline or decay; excessive self-indulgence.

Elicit

To draw forth, bring out from some source (such as another person).

Expostulate

To attempt to dissuade someone from some course or decision by earnest reasoning.

Hackneyed

Used so often as to lack freshness or originality.

Hiatus

A gap, opening, break (in the sense of having an element missing).

Innuendo

A hint, indirect suggestion, or reference (often in a derogatory sense).

Intercede

To plead on behalf of someone else; to serve as a third part or go-between in a disagreement.

Lurid

Causing shock, horror, or revulsion; sensational; pale or sallow in color; terrible or passionate in intensity or lack of restraint.

Meritorious

Worthy, deserving recognition and praise.

Petulant

Peevish, annoyed by trifles, easily irritated and upset.

Prerogative

A special right or privilege; a special quality showing excellence.

Provincial

Pertaining to an outlying area; local; narrow in mind or outlook.

Simulate

To make a pretense of, imitate; to show the outer signs of.

Transcend

To rise above or beyond, exceed.

Unctuous

Excessively smooth or smug; trying too hard to give an impression of earnestness, sincerity, or piety.

Permeate

To spread through, penetrate, soak through.

Surmise

To think or believe without certain supporting evidence; to conjecture or guess.

Ameliorate

To improve, make better, correct a flaw or shortcoming.

Aplomb

Poise, assurance, great self-confidence.

Bombastic

Pompous or overblown in language; full of high-sounding words intended to conceal a lack of ideas.

Callow

Without experience; immature, not fully developed.

Drivel

Foolish, aimless talk or thinking; nonsense.

Epitome

A summary, condensed account; an instance that represents a larger reality.

Exhort

To urge strongly, advise earnestly.

Infringe

To violate, trespass, go beyond recognized bounds.

Ingratiate

To make oneself agreeable and thus gain favor or acceptance by others.

Inhibit

To hinder, restrain, or prevent an action or process.

Interloper

One who moves in where he or she is not wanted or has no right to be.

Intrinsic

Belonging to someone or something by its very nature, essential, inherent.

Inveigh

To make a violent attack in words, express strong disapproval.

Lassitude

Weariness of body or mind, lack of energy.

Millennium

A period of one thousand years.

Occult

Mysterious, magical, supernatural; secret, hidden from view.

Precipitate

To fall as moisture; to cause or bring about suddenly.

Stringent

Strict, severe; rigorously or urgently binding or compelling.

Abominate

To have an intense dislike or hatred for.

Acculturation

The modification of the social patterns, traits, or structures of one group by contact with those of another.

Adventitious

Resulting from chance rather than from an inherent cause.

Ascribe

To assign or refer to (as a cause or source), attribute.

Circuitous

Roundabout, not direct.

Commiserate

To sympathize with, have pity or sorrow for.

Enjoin

To direct or order; to prescribe a course of action in an authoritative way.

Expedite

To make easy, cause to progress faster.

Expiate

To make amends, make up for; to avert.

Ferment

A state of great excitement, agitation, or turbulence.

Inadvertent

Resulting from or marked by lack of attention; unintentional.

Nominal

Existing in name only, not real; too small to be considered.

Noncommittal

Not decisive or definite; unwilling to take a clear position.

Peculate

To steal something that has been given into one's trust.

Proclivity

A natural or habitual inclination or tendency.

Sangfroid

Composure or coolness, especially in trying circumstances.

Seditious

Resistant to lawful authority; having the purpose of overthrowing an established government.

Tenuous

Thin, slender, not dense; lacking clarity or sharpness.

Vitriolic

Bitter, sarcastic; highly caustic or biting.

Wheedle

To use coaxing or flattery to gain some desired end.

Affable

Courteous and pleasant, sociable, easy to speak to.

Aggrandize

To increase in greatness, power, or wealth; to build up or intensify.

Amorphous

Shapeless, without definite form.

Archetype

An original model on which something was patterned or replicated.

Erudite

Scholarly, learned, bookish, pedantic.

Gossamer

Thin, light, delicate, insubstantial.

Inscrutable

Incapable of being understood; impossible to see through.

Insular

Relating to, characteristic of, or situated on an island; narrow or isolated.

Irrevocable

Incapable of being changed or called back.

Propensity

A natural inclination or predilection toward.

Querulous

Peevish, complaining, fretful.

Remonstrate

To argue or plead with someone against something.

Resilient

Able to return to an original shape or form; able to recover quickly.

Reverberate

To re-echo, resound; to reflect or be reflected repeatedly.

Scurrilous

Coarsely abusive, vulgar or low, foul-mouthed.

Sedulous

Persistent, showing industry and determination.

Sleazy

Thin or flimsy in texture; cheap; shoddy or inferior.

Blazon

To adorn or embellish; to display conspicuously.

Caveat

A warning or caution to prevent misunderstanding.

Equitable

Fair, just, embodying principles of justice.

Extricate

To free from entanglements or difficulties.

Filch

To steal, especially in a sneaky way and in petty amounts.

Flout

To mock, treat with contempt.

Fractious

Tending to be troublesome; unruly, quarrelsome.

Amnesty

A general pardon for an offense against a government; an act of forgiveness.

Autonomy

Self-government, political control.

Axiomatic

Self-evident, expressing a universally accepted principle.

Precept

A rule of conduct or action.

Salutary

Beneficial, helpful; healthful.

Scathing

Bitterly severe, withering; causing great harm.

Scourge

To whip, punish severely; a cause of affliction or suffering.

Sepulchral

Funeral, typical of the tomb; extremely gloomy or dismal.

Soporific

Tending to cause sleep, relating to sleepiness or lethargy.

Straitlaced

Extremely strict in regards to moral standards and conduct.

Transient

Lasting only a short time, fleeting; one who stays only a short time.

Unwieldy

Not easily carried, handled, or managed because of size or complexity.

Vapid

Dull, uninteresting, tiresome; lacking in sharpness.

Anomalous

Abnormal, irregular, departing from the usual.

Aspersion

A damaging or derogatory statement; the act of slandering or defaming.

Bizarre

Extremely strange, unusual, atypical.

Brusque

Abrupt, blunt, with no formalities.

Cajole

To coax, persuade through flattery or artifice.