GCH Vocab Words

Word, definition, and sample sentence

Arcane

mysterious - his reasoning for the crime was arcane

Ubiquitous

present everywhere - phones are ubiquitous in society.

Exuberance

quality of being full of excitment - he always showed exuberance, especially after school.

Charisma

quality of magnetic charm - The teacher had such charisma that everyone looked forward to going to class.

Myriad

countless or great in number - There’s a myriad of solutions to the math problem.

Adjourn

to suspend an event to a later time/date - They decided to adjourn the movie to tomorrow.

Anachronism

Something out of date/no longer relevant - The Starbucks cup in the Game of Thrones scene was an anachronism.

Acquiesce

to agree to something without arguing - She seemed to acquiesce in the decision.

Adroit

skillful/clever - The adoit technique is necessary for chamber music

Cordial

warm and friendly - My teacher gave us a cordial welcome on the first day of school

meticulous

show great attention to detail - The doctor had meticulous skills.

Sanctimonious

asserting that you have moral superiority - His sanctimonious attitude ruined the dinner party

Sophmoric

juvenille/stupid - The boy’s sophmoric actions earned him detention.

Melliflous

pleasant to hear - the melliflous sounds from the piano captured the audience’s attention.

Cogent

clear, logical, convincing - His cogent argument helped him win the case.

Inscrutable

impossible to interpret/understand - The archeologists stared at the inscrutable writings on the wall.

Scrutiny

recieve harsh criticism - His work was under a lot of scrutiny

Anomaly

deviates from expectation - the practice was an anomaly when we ran the whole time.

Aplomb

confidence/self-assurance

she spoke at the conference with aplomb

vindictive

showing strong desire for revenge

her vindictive remarks showed she wasn’t quite ready to forgive.

loquacious

talkative/chatty

the student is normally loquacious, but today he was silent.

tenacious

perserverance/stubborn

her tenacious attitude helped her pass the class.

zealous

showing enthusiasm/energy

he’s a zealous supporter of the sports team.

penultimate

second to last - my penultimate class is econ

pragmatic

practical - he took the pragmatic approach to solving the puzzle

lugubrious

extreme saddness

he was lugubrious after his hamster ran away

quixotic

being impractical - my dream job is quixotic

apathy

lack of interest - his apathy for the project was shown when he didn’t even bother to turn it in.

pretentious

attempting to impress through exaggeration - The neighborhood was full of expensive and pretentious houses

candor

open and honest - Mrs. Konz is a woman of refreshing candor

Contend

to fight with/for something - I had to contend for the win

Adept

very skilled/proficient - he was an adept piano player

ascertain

to find out something - it is important to ascertain the cause of a chronic headache.

epitome

the perfect example of - the girl is the epitome of kindness

mendacious

untruthful - the boy was mendacious when talking about his day

bamboozle

to trick someone - the clown bamboozled the crowd

gregarious

sociable - the girl was gregarious at the party.

bashful

shy/easily embarassed - she was bashful after being asked a question.

benevolent

kind (positive way) - He set himself up in the role of a benevolent dictator

estemeed

held in great respect/admired - the esteemed park attracts tourists 

meritorious

deserving reward/praise - her meritorious performance earned her an award. 

verbatim

word for word - she knew the script to the movie verbatim. 

placid

calm/peaceful - The placid lake relaxed me

versimilitude

appearance of being true/real - "the detail gives the novel some verisimilitude"

conjecture

a theory/guess based on uncertain information- Her explanation was pure conjecture since she didn’t use any facts. 

Ephemeral

lasting a very short time/brief - the sunset was ephemeral. 

ambiguous

unclear/multiple possible meanings - The directions for the assignment were ambiguous

petulant

childishly poor mannered - His demeanor was that of a petulant child

pedestrian

ordinary/bland - the man was unimpressed by the pedestrian painting

belligerant

hostile/agressive - it’s difficult to negotiate with a belligerant salesman

wanderlust

strong desire to travel - after watching the movie, he was filled with wanderlust

kerfuffle

minor disagreement - there was a kerfuffle at the meeting

superfluous

unncessary - delete the superfluous details from your essay

scintillating

brilliantly clever - The audience loved his scintillating performance

Magnanimous

generous/forgiving - She should be magnanimous in victory

Contempt

strong dislike - He showed contempt for his job by doing it very badly

Cognizant

being aware - He was cognizant of how the group felt about him.

Usurp

to take by force - The commoners usurped the king’s power

Indelible

unforgettable - Our trip to Sicily was indelible

Discern

to recognize something - it took a while to discern his face

Erudite

having great knowledge - He can turn any conversation into an erudite discussion

Imminent

about to happen - the storm was imminent

Vigilant

watchful/alert to danger - The vigilant dog sat at the window 

Pensive

thoughtful - She was pensive once she got home from school

Absquatulate

to leave apruptly - he suddenly absquadtulated from the party. 

Vagabond

wanderer with no home - The man on the trainwas a vagabond

Cacophony

harsh mixture of sounds - There was a cacophony of alarm bells at the station

Ambulatory

one’s ability to walk - After the injury, he was no longer ambulatory

Fortutious

happening by chance (lucky) - Their meeting was fortuitous

Idiosyncrasy

peculiar behavior - His way of eating pizza was an idiosyncrasy

Impetuous

acting without thought - His impetuous actions gave him a detention.

obfuscate

to make unclear/obscure.

the data is used to obfuscate the truth

concise

brief but comprehensive

her essay was concise and articulate 

elation

intense joy

he felt a great sense of elation when he won

agility

the ability to move quickly and easily

His agility was clear during the match. 

arbitrary

done or chosen without any reason or logic

the arbitrary change in the schedule was made without any epxlanation

lethargic

sluggish

I felt lethargic this morning 

remedial

done to correct/improve something

she gave him a remedial soup

capricious

sudden changes of mood.

the boy was very capricious yesterday

audacious

bold

the audience was stunned by his audacious remarks

eloquent

fluent/persuasive in seaking/writing

His essay was very eloquent

fanatical

excessive enthusiasm

the teacher was fanatical when she taught

truculent

quick to argue/oppose

he was very truculent about his opinions 

pulchritudinous

physically beautiful - the ballerina’s pulchritudinous performance left the audience in awe. 

intrepid

courageous/bold - the boy was an intrepid traveler

obvilate

to anticipate and prevent something. the new medical treatment obvilates the need for surgery. 

tutelage

guardianship - in class, we are all under the tutelage of the teacher.

parsimonious

extremely frugal/stingy

The parsimonious restaurant gave out tiny appetizers

Paradigm

typical example of 

the discovery changed the paradigm of modern physics 

refute

to prove something false

it was hard to refute the rumor

absolution

to forgive someone religiously

he recieved absolution for his sins

analgesic

something that reduces pain

the analgesic should make you feel better

affable

friendly - he was an affable and kind roommate

illicit

forbidden by law - He was arrested for illicit activities

serene

calm/peaceful

the lake looked serene at sunset

quintessential

perfect example - Micheal Jordan is the quintessential basketball player

innovate

to introduce new ideas. the company continues to innovate everyday 

Garrulous

excessively talkative - the boys were garrulous today