H English vocab

inveigh

(v) to complain or protest about a topic with great emotion

politic

(adj) seemingly appropriate for the situation; keen and thoughtful; political; tactful in promoting a policy

toady

(n) a person who is overly flattering to gain an advantage

(v) to act in an overly flattering way

risible

(adj) provoking; capable of laughing; relating to or used in laughter

desultory

(adj) Lack of a plan, effort, or purpose; not connected to the main topic; underwhelming and quality or progress

ennui

(n) A feeling of boredom, weariness, and dissatisfaction

indefatigable

(adj) incapable of tiring

puissant

(adj) holding great power

voluble

(adj) Speaking fluently and rapidly; easily rotating

restive

(adj) Stubbornly resisting control; having impatience or boredom

diffident

(adj) hesitant when acting or speaking due to a lack of self-confidence; reserved or unassertive; distrustful

sophistry

(noun) subtle deception through argument and reasoning

bilious

(adj) Relating to bile; spiteful in disposition; sickeningly unpleasant

sepulchral

(adj) relating to a sepulchre (tomb); suited to or suggestive of a sepulchre, a funeral

florid

(adj) Very flowery in style; fully developed (as in a disease); elaborately decorated; tinged with red; marked by emotional or sexual fervor; healthy

coterie

(noun) An intimate and often exclusive group of people with a unifying interest or purpose

litigious

(adj) likely to cause an argument or disagree; prone to engage in lawsuits; subject to litigation (the act of settling a dispute in the court of law)

bandy

(verb) To discuss lightly or banter; to exchange; to toss or pass in a careless manner; to use in an off hand, banner; to band together

(noun) A game similar to field hockey

(adj) bowed or bowlegged

soporific

(adj) causing or tending to cause sleep

(noun) a soporific agent

umbrage

(noun) a feeling of resentment at a slight or insult; shady branches, shade; a vague suggestion or reason for doubt

cacophony

(noun) - a harsh or jarring sound; a chaotic or striking mixture or combination

remonstrate

(verb) - to present and urge reasons in opposition

caveat

(noun) - a modifying or cautionary detail to be considered when evaluating, interpreting, or doing something

(noun) - a legal warning to a judicial officer to suspend a proceeding until the opposition has a hearing

dun

(adjective) - having a slightly brownish dark gray color; (of a horse) having a grayish-yellow coat with black mane and tail; marked by dullness and drabness

(noun) - a horse with a grayish-yellow coat and a black mane and tail; a variable color averaging a nearly neutral slightly brownish dark gray

(noun) - a subadult mayfly

(verb) - to make persistent demands upon for payment

(noun) - someone who makes persistent demands upon people for payment; an urgent request

charlatan

(noun) - one making usually showy pretenses to knowledge or ability; fraud or faker

torpid

(adjective) - sluggish in functioning or acting

vilify

(verb) - to utter slanderous and abusive statements against

(verb) - to lower in estimation or importance

sublime

(verb) - to cause to pass directly from the solid to the vapor state and condense back to solid form

(adjective) - lofty, grand, or exalted in thought, expression, or manner

prolixity

(noun) - the state or quality of being unnecessarily or tediously wordy

(noun) - a tendency to speak or write at great or tedious length

supernal

(adjective) - being or coming from on high; heavenly, ethereal

(adjective) - located in or belonging to the sky

loquacity

(noun) - the quality or state of being very talkative

sidereal

(adjective) - of, relating to, or expressed in relation to stars or constellations

plaudits

(noun) - an act or round of applause

(noun) - enthusiastic approval

importune

(verb) - to press or urge with troublesome persistence; annoy, trouble

(adjective) - troublesomely urgent: overly persistent in request or demand

reprove

(verb) - to scold or correct usually gently or with kindly intent

(verb) - to express disapproval of

fastidious

(adjective) - of a person's work, approach, etc. : extremely or excessively careful or detailed

(adjective) - of a person or trait : characterized by a meticulous, sensitive, or demanding attitude

(adjective) - having complex nutritional requirements

supine

(adjective) - lying on the back or with the face upward

(adjective) - mentally or morally slack, passive

gormandize

(verb) - to eat gluttonously or ravenously

nadir

(noun) - the lowest point

(noun) - the point of the celestial sphere that is directly opposite the zenith and vertically downward from the observer

captious

(adjective) - marked by an often ill-natured inclination to stress faults and raise objections

(adjective) - calculated to confuse, entrap, or entangle in argument

prodigious

(adjective) - causing amazement or wonder

(adjective) - extraordinary in bulk, quantity, or degree

(adjective) - resembling or befitting a prodigy

artifice

(noun) - a clever or artful skill

(noun) - an artful stratagem; trick

debunk

(verb) - to expose the falseness of

intuit

(verb) - to know, sense, or understand by intuition

vestigial

(adjective) - remaining in a form that is small or imperfectly developed and not able to function

(adjective) - remaining as the last small part of something that existed before

parsimony

(noun) - the quality of being careful with money or resources

(noun) - economy in the use of means to an end

plinth

(noun) - the lowest member of a base; a usually square block serving as a base; a course of stones forming a continuous foundation or base course

simian

(adjective) - of, relating to, or resembling monkeys or apes

(noun) - monkey, ape

effusive

(adjective) - marked by the expression of great or excessive emotion or enthusiasm

(adjective) - characterized or formed by a nonexplosive outpouring of lava

avancular

(adjective) - suggestive of an uncle especially in kindliness or geniality; of or relating to an uncle

probity

(noun) - adherence to the highest principle and ideals

draconian

(adjective) - of, relating to, or characteristic of Draco or the severe code of laws held to have been framed by him; severe

hoi polloi

(plural noun) - the general populace

(plural noun) - people of distinction or wealth or elevated social status

maelstrom

(noun) - a powerful often violent whirlpool sucking in objects within a given radius

(noun) - something resembling a maelstrom in turbulence

expunge

verb) - to strike out, obliterate, or mark for deletion; to efface completely; to eliminate from one’s consciousness

nonplussed

(adjective) - unsure about what to say, think, or do

(adjective) - not bothered, surprised, or impressed by something

doctrinaire

(adjective) - stubbornly or excessively devoted to a doctrine or theory without regard to practical consideration

(noun) - one who attempts to put into effect an abstract doctrine or theory with little to no regard for practical difficulties

halcyon

(adjective) - characterized by happiness, great success, and prosperity: often used to describe an idyllic time in the past that is remembered as better than today

(adjective) - calm, peaceful

(adjective) - prosperous, affluent

(adjective) - of or relating to the halcyon or its nesting period

(noun) - a bird identified with the kingfisher and held in ancient legend to nest at sea about the time of the winter solstice and to calm the waves during incubation

antediluvian

(adjective) - of or relating to the period before the flood described in the Bible

(adjective) - made, evolved, or developed a long time ago

(adjective) - extremely primitive or outmoded

(noun) - a person who lived before the Biblical flood

(noun) - a very old or old-fashioned person or thing

prevaricate

(verb) - to deviate from the truth

otiosity

(noun) - the state of being otiose, or having nothing to do; ease; relief from labor; idleness

(noun) - easy negligence; carelessness; ineffectiveness; futility

aggrandize

(verb) - to make great or greater; increase, enlarge

(verb) - to enhance the power, wealth, position, or reputation of

indubitable

(adjective) - too evident to be doubted; unquestionable

refulgent

(adjective) - radiant or resplendent; brilliant

profundity

(noun) - intellectual depth

(noun) - the quality or state of being profound or deep

comely

(adjective) - pleasurably conforming to notions of good appearance, suitability, or proportion; having a pleasing appearance, not homely or plain; nice to look at

lassitude

(noun) - a condition of weariness or debility; fatigue

(noun) - a condition characterized by lack of interest, energy, or spirit

discursive

(adjective) - moving from topic to topic without order; rambling

(adjective) - marked by a method of resolving complex expressions into simpler or more basic ones; marked by analytical reasoning

(adjective) - of or relating to discourse (conversation)

axiomatic

(adjective) - taken for granted

(adjective) - based on or involving an axiom or system of axioms

verbose

(adjective) - containing more words than necessary; wordy

surreptitious

(adjective) - done, made, or acquired by stealth; clandestine

remunerate

(verb) - to pay an equivalent for; to pay an equivalent to for a service, loss, or expense

indolence

(noun) - inclination to laziness

bastion

(noun) - a projecting part of a fortification

(noun) - a fortified area or position

supercilious

(adjective) - coolly and patronizingly haughty

assuage

(verb) - to lessen the intensity of (something that pains or distresses)

(verb) - to reduce to a state of peace, calm, or quiet

(verb) - to put an end to by satisfying

sinecure

(noun) - an office or position that requires little or no work and that usually provides an income

prescience

(noun) - foreknowledge of events; foresight

malapropism

(noun) - the usually unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase; the use of a word sounding somewhat like the one intended but ludicrously wrong in the context

phlegmatic

(adjective) - resembling, consisting of, or producing the humor phlegm

(adjective) - having or showing a slow and stolid temperament; stoic

stolid

(adjective) - having or expressing little or no sensibility; unemotional

(adjective) - (of a thing) not interesting or attractive

infelicitous

(adjective) - not suitable for the occasion

replete

(adjective) - full, especially with food

(adjective) - well supplied

(verb) - to gorge

(noun) - an abundant supply

comestible

(noun) - an item of food

(adjective) - suitable or safe for eating

demur

(verb) - to express disagreement or refuse to do something

(noun) - the act of expressing disagreement or of refusing to do something

redoubtable

(adjective) - very strong, especially in character; producing respect and a little fear in others

irascible

(adjective) - made angry easily

sobriquet

(noun) - a name given to someone or something that is not their or its real or official name

saturnine

(adjective) - serious and unfriendly

(adjective) - suffering from lead poisoning

subjugate

(verb) - to defeat people or a country and rule them in a way that allows them no freedom

(verb) - to treat yourself, your wishes, or your beliefs as being less important than other people or their wishes or beliefs

inchoate

(adjective) - only recently or partly formed, or not completely developed or clear

incipient

(adjective) - just beginning

smarmy

(adjective) - extremely polite or helpful or showing a lot of respect in a way that is annoying or does not seem sincere

unctuous

(adjective) - expressing too much praise, interest, friendliness, etc., in a way that is false and unpleasant

prodigality

(noun) - the quality of spending or using large amounts of money, time, energy, etc., especially in a way that is not very wise

(noun) - the quality of being very great in amount or degree

laconic

(adjective) - using very few words to express what you mean

cupidity

(noun) - a strong feeling of wanting to have something, especially money or possessions

jocular

(adjective) - funny or intended to make someone laugh

(adjective) - used to describe someone who is happy and likes to make jokes

hauteur

(noun) - a formal and unfriendly way of behaving that suggests that the person thinks they are better than other people

histrionic

(adjective) - very emotional and energetic, but not sincere or without real meaning