"A&B" AP LANG

!st vocab test, a and a terms with his definitions

Banal

Adj: Lacking originality or freshness

Brusque

Adj: Somewhat rough in manner or speech

Blasphemy

N: The act of insulting religion or anything held dearly to a person

Brevity

N: Shortness of duration

Brandish

V: To wave or shake as a weapon

Bolster

V: To support

Affable

Adj: Friendly/good-natured

Antecedent

N: A model or stimulus for later developments

Ambivalence

N: The state of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes

Acute

Adj: Very refined or sharp

Acrimonious

Adj: Bitter

Apocryphal

Adj: Of doubtful authenticity, although widely circulated as being true

Anodyne

Adj: Serving to soothe, calm, or alleviate pain or discomfort

Abate

V: To decrease in force or intensity

Bucolic

Adj: Pleasingly natural and simple; rural

Acumen

N: Keen insight

Bombastic

Adj: High-sounding but with little meaning

Assuage

V: To relieve or ease

Auspicious

Adj: Favoring success

Ameliorate

V: To make better

Anomaly

N: Something different, abnormal, peculiar or not easily classified

Bastion

N: An institution, place, or person strongly defending or upholding particular principles, attitudes, or activities

Balk

V: To stop, as at an obstacle, and refuse to proceed or to do something specified

Bravado

N: An aggressive display of boldness

Boorish

Adj: Rude

Archetype

N: An original model that is widely imitated

Apathy

N: Insensibility to emotions; lack of effort

Antithesis

N: The exact opposite

Amenable

Adj: Open and responsiveness to suggestion

Absolve

V: To free from sin or blame

Acquiesce

V: To comply or submit

Aloof

Adj: Distant; disinterested

Bureaucracy

N: Administration characterized by excessive procedure and routine

Barring

Prep: Excluding by exception

Burgeon

V: To sprout; grow

Bilious

Adj: Having a nasty temperament or disagreeable disposition

Bleak

Adj: Without hope

Bedlam

N: A scene of great uproar; Asylum

Byzantine

Adj: Excessively complicated, and typically involving a great deal of administrative detail

Behest

N: An authoritative order or command; an urgent prompting

Austere

Adj: Severely simple unadorned

Bellicose

Adj: Favoring or inclined to start quarrels or wars

Bauble

N: A showy, usually cheap, ornament; a knickknack

Ad hominem

Adj: Appealing to one’s prejudice, emotions, or special interests rather than to one’s intellect or reason

Barrage

N: A concentrated outpouring

Accost

V: To confront boldly

Baleful

Adj: Malignant; threatening

Beleaguer

V: To surround with troubles

Ascetic

N: A person who deliberately chooses to live a plain and simple life

Aggrandize

V: To exaggerate, put on a false front, and make something look greater than it really is