Quarter 3 Vocab Mrs.England

Acclaim

praise; applaud

Adamant

refusing to change; stubborn, unyielding

Aloof

detached; apart; indifferent

Ameliorate

to make an unpleasant situation better; to improve

Anathema

a religious curse, or the thing or person being cursed

Apathy

lack of interest or concern

Ascendence

domination; controlling power

Ascetic

a person who rejects physical comfort and luxury for self-discipline

Assuage

relieve; ease; pacify

Baleful

harmful; menacing

Beguile

to cheat or deceive, usually through charm; to amuse

Bequeath

to leave behind or hand down through a will; transmit

Cacophony

harshness of sound; opposite of harmony

Capricious

unpredictable

Celerity

speed

Choler

anger

Coalesce

unite; grow together

Concur

agree

Consummate

to complete or make whole

Conundrum

riddle; mystery

Corporeal

having to do with the body or the physical world

Cryptic

hidden; secret; mysterious

Cursory

quickly and incompletely done; superficial

Deprecate

disapprove; belittle

Despot

tyrant

Discerning

insightful; perceptive

Disparate

different

Distended

swollen; extended

Eclectic

choosing from many different sources; carefully selected

Effervescence

the quality of being bubbly or full of life

Enervate

sap the strength; weaken

Enmity

mutual hatred

Esoteric

known to, or understood by, a limited group of people

Ethereal

heavenly; fine; delicately beautiful

Expunge

erase

Extricate

to free from a trap or difficult situation; to disentangle

Fickle

lacking loyalty; unpredictably changeable; erratic

Foment

to stir into action; rouse; incite

Furtive

sneaky; secretive

Germane

relevant; fitting

Hackneyed

unoriginal; trite

Harangue

a long, lecturing speech

Heresy

an opinion expressed in defiance of generally accepted ideas

Homage

respect paid to someone or something; tribute; honor

Imbue

to fill, as with a strong dye or a strong feeling

Impasse

a situation from which you can not escape; stalemate

Inane

silly; insignificant

Inchoate

not yet fully developed

Indict

charge with a crime; accuse

Indolent

lazy

Innate

having a quality that arises from within, rather than acquired from the outside; native; inborn

Innocuous

harmless, inoffensive

Intrinsic

located within the very nature of an object or person; inherent

Jargon

specialized language used by a particular group

Jettison

to throw overboard; to disregard

Judicious

wise; making good decisions

Juxtapose

to place side-by-side

Laud

praise; worship; extol

Lionize

to put someone onto a pedestal; to treat with great respect

Lugubrious

mournful

Malediction

evil speech; curse

Marred

spoiled, scratched, blemished

Mendacity

a lie; false statement

Mollify

lesson anger; sooth; placate

Nefarious

extremely evil

Neophyte

beginner

Obdurate

stubborn; unyielding

Obsequious

behaving like a meek, spineless servant; subservient; sycophantic

Obviate

eliminate the need for something; make unnecessary

Opaque

too dark or thick for light to pass through

Parsimony

stinginess; excessive frugality

Partisan

blindly devoted to a cause or organization

Perspicacity

mental sharpness; keen insight; shrewdness

Pious

exhibiting religious devotion

Pompous

filled with self-importance; arrogance; obnoxiously proud

Precocious

mature at a young age

Primordial

formed long ago; primitive

Profuse

in large amounts or quantities

Puerile

childish

Quell

to calm; pacify

Rebuff

to ignore or reject strongly; snub

Recondite

hidden; difficult to understand; profound

Reprimand

scold; criticize

Resign

give in; acquiesce; relinquish

Reticent

quiet; uncommunicative

Sanguine

optimistic; cheerful

Scanty

small in quantity; insufficient

Sectarian

limited to the beliefs of a small group, such as a religion sect; narrow in scope

Slough

discard; cast off; shed

Spurious

false; fake; misleading

Stoic

a person who shows no response to pleasure or pain; someone who is impassive

Succor

assistance; relief

Sycophant

someone who flatters in order to gain favor; wimpy follower

Temper

bring into balance; moderate

Tenuous

thin; flimsy

Timorous

afraid

Truculent

aggressive; savage; cruel

Undulate

move in a wavy manner

Usurp

to seize or take over by force

Vacuous

empty; stupid; purposeless