Vocabulary Building: Key Words and Definitions for Advanced English Learners

Ascertaining

Verb - - To find something out for certain; make sure of.​

Rendered

Verb: to cause (someone or something) to be or become​

Judiciously

Adverb​: with good judgment or sense.

Asinine

Adjective: extremely stupid or foolish

benign

Adjective: gently and kindly

auspicious

Adjective: conducive to success; favorable.​

fractious

Adjective: (typically of children) irritable and quarrelsome

Diminutive

Adjective: Indicating small size and sometimes the state or quality of being familiarly known, lovable, pitiable, or contemptible. ​

Dispensation

Noun: An exemption from a law or from animpediment, vow, or oath; a formalauthorization​

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Entailed

Noun- a system in feudal English law thatrestricted the inheritance of land to aspecific line of descendants, such as theeldest son. ​

Wallowing

Verb - to roll oneself about in a lazy,relaxed, or ungainly manner.​

Malevolent

Adjective: having or showing a desire to cause harm or evil​

Tyrannical

Adjective: Exercising power in a cruel or arbitrary way.

taciturn

Adjective: silent or quiet, inclined to talk very little

Chattels

Noun: an item of personal, movable property; that are not fixed to the land and can be transported or moved.​

vapid

Adjective: dull, uninteresting, tiresome; lacking in sharpness, flavor, liveliness, or force

dictum

noun

A formal or authoritative statement expressing a universally accepted concept or truth

piety

noun

the quality of being religious or reverent

assuaged

verb

make an unpleasant feeling more managable/ to soothe

Dismemberment

Noun: to cut or tear off the limbs of a body.