High Utility Academic Words

Words 1-100

Abate

to lessen

Abrupt

sudden and unexpected

Abundant

plentiful

Acclaim

praise

Acquit

to declare not guilty

Adept

skillful

Adhere

to stick to

Adverse

unfavorable

Advocacy

support of an idea or cause

Aesthetic

pertaining to beauty

Agency

the ability to think, act, and make choices independently

Aggravate

to make worse

Alleviate

to relieve

Allude

to refer to casually or indirectly

Altruism

a concern for others; generosity

Ambiguous

unclear

Ambivalent

having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone

Ameliorate

to improve

Amoral

lacking a sense of right and wrong

Analyze

to look at something carefully by attention to its parts

Anecdote

short account of event

Anonymous

of an unknown source or unrevealed name

Antagonize

cause someone to become hostile

Anthology

collection of literary works

Apathy

lack of interest or emotion

Appease

to calm; to make satisfied (often only temporarily)

Abitrary

based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system

Articulate (adj)

able to speak clearly and expressively

Articulate (verb)

express clearly

Ascend

to move upward, to rise from a lower station

Ascertain

to find out

Aspiration

a strong desire for achievement

Assert

state a fact or belief confidently and forcefully

Asset

something of value

Atypical

not typical

Audacity

boldness

Augment

increase

Autonomous

self-governing

Barring

excluding

Benefactor

one who does good to others

Beneficiary

one who receives benefits

Benign

harmless

Binary

a way of representing information using only two options.

Bipartisan

supported by two parties

Bolster

to support

Brevity

shortness

Bulwark

a defensive wall

Buttress

to support

Bygone

well in the past

Capitulate

to surrender

Caricature

an exaggerated portrayal of one's features

Catalyze

to speed up

Catharasis

the process of releasing, and thereby providing relief from, strong or repressed emotions.

Caustic

burning

Cease

to stop

Censor

to delete objectionable material

Censure

to criticize harshly

Charismatic

charming

Circuitous

roundabout

Clandestine

done in secrecy

Coerce

to force by using pressure, intimidation, or threats

Cogent

convincing; reasonable

Cognitive

how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information

Coherent

logically connected

Compel

to force someone to do something

Complementary

serving to complete something

Complicit

involved with others in an illegal activity or wrongdoing

Compose

write or create

Compounded

mixed or combined

Comprehensible

understandable

Comprise

to include or contain

Compulsory

required; mandatory

Concede

to admit

Circumvent

get around

Condescending

possessing an attitude of superiority, patronizing

Conditional

depending on a condition

Condone

to pardon or overlook

Confer

to discuss something with someone else; consult; to bestow

Conflate

to combine into one

Conform

to follow rules or customs

Conjecture

to guess

Consensus

general agreement

Consequential

resulting; important

Consist

to be made up of

Conspicuous

noticeable

Constitute

form

Contrive

to plan cleverly; to devise

Control

standard for comparison

Conventional

usual

Converge

to move toward one point

Convoluted

intricate and complicated

Correlate

have a mutual relationship or connection

Covert

hidden; undercover

Credible

believable

Credulous

gullible

Critical

finding fault; very important

Crucial

extremely important

Cub (verb)

inexperienced

Curtail

to shorten

Dearth

a lack, scarcity