Vocabulary: Key Words and Definitions for Advanced English Learners

Abdicate

to give up or renounce (authority, duties, an office, etc.), esp. in a voluntary, public, or formal manner

Abrogate

to put aside; put an end to

Abscond

to depart in a sudden and secret manner, esp. to avoid capture and legal prosecution

Abstemious

sparing or moderate in eating and drinking; temperate in diet

Abstruse

hard to understand; recondite; esoteric

Beatitude

supreme blessedness; exalted happiness

Cogent

to the point; relevant; pertinent

Concur

to accord in opinion; agree

Contemptuous

showing or expressing disdain or scorn

Convene

to come together or assemble, usually for some public purpose

Discord

lack of harmony between persons or things

Rectitude

rightness of principle or conduct; moral virtue

Turpitude

vile, shameful, or base character; depravity

Verisimilitude

something, as an assertion, having merely the appearance of truth

Vicissitude

a change or variation occurring in the course of something