AP Lang: Vocab Quiz 6

integrity

total honesty and sincerity

Affable

being pleasant and at ease in talking to others

Facetious

joking or jesting often inappropriately; not serious

assiduous

showing great care, attention, and effort

quandary

state of perplexity or doubt

transient

passing especially quickly into and out of existence

colloquial

ordinary or familiar type of conversation

jargon

dictation used by a group which practices a similar profession or activity

denotation

the literal, explicit meaning of a word, without its connotation

connotation

the associates suggested by a word; implied meaning rather than literal meaning

Uncanny

eerie, unsettling; uncomfortably familiar

Elusive

tending to evade grasp or pursuit; hard to comprehend or define

Convoluted

extremely complex, intricate, and difficult to follow

Consensus

general agreement

Insular

separated and narrow-minded; tight-knit, closed off

Profound

having intellectual depth and insight

Diction

the choice and use of words and phrases in speech or writing

Vernacular

the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region

Aphorism

a pithy observation that contains general truth

Fallacy

a mistaken belief, especially on based on unsound or misleading argument; faulty reasoning

Eloquent

marked by forceful and fluent expresion

Futile

serving no useful purpose; completely ineffective

Impede

to interfere with or slow the progress of

Dogmatic

expressing opinions very strongly or positively as if they were facts

Capricious

impulsive; unpredictable

Intrepid

characterized by resolute fearlessness, fortitude, and endurance

Juxtaposition

placing two or more things side by side often to compare or contrast or create an interesting effect

Anaphora

repitition of a word or expression at the beginning of successive phrases, clauses, sentences, or verses

Invective

insulting or abrasive language

Parallelism

Sentence construction which places equal grammatical construction near each other, or repeats identical grammatical patterns

Ostentatious

Characterized by vulgar or pretentious display; deigned to impress or attract notice

Impartial

not partial or biased; treating or affecting all equally

Vindicated

to free from allegation or blame

Embellish

to make beautiful with ornamentation

Aberration

a departure from what is normal, usual, or expected

Wary

very cautious

Paradox

a statement/person that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true

Oxymoron

a combination of contradictory or incongruous words

Hyperbole

an extravagant or extreme exaggeration

Antecedent

a noun, pronoun, phrase, or clause referred to by a pronoun; an event or cause coming before something

Pretentious

attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed

Disingenuous

lacking honesty or sincerity

Amenable

having or showing willingness to agree or to accept something that is wanted or asked for

Superfluous

exceeding what is necessary; unnecessary

Tenuous

having little substance of strength

Didactic

designed or intended to teach (rather than to entertain)

Analogy

a comparison between two things to show their similarities

Synecdoche

a comparison between two things to show their similarities

Litotes

a figure of speech that uses understatement and a negative to express a positive or emphasize a point

Allusion

the act of making an indirect reference to something

Nebulous

unclear, vague, or ill-defined

Remiss

careless

Bellicose

demonstrating aggression and willingness to fight

Dismal

depressing; dreary

Incendiary

tending to excite or inflame

Frivolous

not having any serious purpose or value

Ambivalent

having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone

Nefarious

wicked or criminal

Pensive

thoughtful

Brazen

marked by shameless or disrespectful boldness