English Exam Units 1 -7 Definitions

Acquisitive

able to get and retain ideas or information; concerned with acquiring wealth of property

Arrogate

to claim or take without right

Banal

hackneyed, trite, commonplace

Belabor

to work on excessively; to thrash soundly

Carping

tending to find fault, especially in a petty, nasty, or hairsplitting way; petty, nagging criticism 

Coherent

holding or sticking together, making a logical whole; comprehensible, meaningful

Congeal

to change from liquid to solid, thicken; to make inflexible or rigid

Emulate

to imitate with the intent of equaling or surpassing the model

Encomium

a formal expression of praise, a lavish tribute

Eschew

to avoid, shun, keep away from

Germane

relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting

Insatiable

unquenchable, ravenous

Intransigent

refusing to compromise, irreconcilable 

Invidious

offensive, hateful; tending to cause bitterness and resentment

Largesse

generosity in giving, lavish or bountiful contributions

Reconnaissance

a survey made for military purposes, any kind of preliminary inspection or examination

Substantiate

to establish by evidence, prove; to give concrete or substantial form to

Taciturn

habitually silent or quiet, inclined to talk very little

Temporize

to stall or act evasively in order to gain time, avoid a confrontation, or postpone a decision; to compromise

Tenable

capable of being held or defended

Accost 

to approach and speak to first; to confront in a challenging or aggressive way 

Animadversion

a comment indication strong criticism or disapproval

Avid

desirous of something to the point of greed, intensely eager

Brackish

having a salty taste and unpleasant to drink

Celerity

swiftness, rapidity of motion or action

Devious

straying or wandering from a straight or direct course; done or acting in a shift or underhanded way 

Gambit

in chess, an opening move that involves risk or sacrifice of a minor piece in order to gain a later advantage; any opening move of this type

Halycon

a legendary bird identified with the kingfisher; of or relating to ____; calm, peaceful; happy, golden; prosperous, affluent

Histrionic

pertaining to actors and their techniques; theatrical, artificial; melodramatic

Incendiary

deliberately setting or causing fires; designed to start fires; tending to stir up strife or rebellion; one who deliberately sets fires, arsonist; one who causes strife

Maelstrom

a whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirlpool in violence and destruction

Myopic

nearsighted; lacing a broad, realistic view of a situation; lacking foresight or discernment

Overt

open, not hidden, expressed or revealed in a way that is easily recognized

Pejorative

tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, deprecatory, belittling

Propriety

the state of being proper, appropriateness; (pl.) standards of what is proper or socially acceptable

Sacrilege

improper or disrespectful treatment of something held sacred 

Summarily

without delay or formality; briefly, concisely

Suppliant

asking humbly and earnestly; one who makes a request humbly and earnestly, a petitioner, suitor

Talisman

an object that serves as a charm or is believed to confer magical powers, an amulet, fetish 

Undulate

to move in waves or with a wavelike motion; to have a wavelike appearance or form

Cavort

to romp or prance around exuberantly; to make merry

Credence

belief, mental acceptance

Decry

to condemn, express strong disapproval; to officially depreciate

Dissemble 

to disguise or conceal, deliberately give a false impression 

Distraught 

very much agitated or upset as a result of emotion or mental conflict

Eulogy

a formal statement of commendation; high praise

Evince

to display clearly, to make evident, to provoke

Exhume

to remove from a grave; to bring to light

Feckless

lacking in spirit and strength; ineffective, weak; irresponsible, unreliable

Murky

dark and gloomy, obscure; lacing in clarity and precision

Nefarious

wicked, depraved, devoid of moral standards

Piquant

stimulating to the taste or mind; spicy, pungent; appealingly provocative

Primordial

developed or created at the very beginning; going back to the most ancient times or earliest stage; fundamental, basic 

Propinquity

nearness in place or time; kinship

Substantive

real, having a solid basis; considerable in number or amount; meaningful and on topic

Unwonted

not usual or expected; not in character

Utopian

founded upon or involving a visionary view of an ideal world; impractical

Verbiage

language that is too wordy or inflated in proportion to the sense or content, wordiness; a manner of expression

Verdant

green in tint or color, immature in experience or judgement

Viscous

having a gelatinous or gluey quality, lacking in easy movement or fluidity

Atrophy

the wasting away of a body organ or tissue; any progressive decline or failure, to waste away

Bastion

a fortified place, stronghold

Concord

a state or agreement, harmony, unanimity; a treaty, pact, covenant

Consummate

complete or perfect in the highest degree; to bring to a state of completion or perfection

Disarray

disorder, confusion; to throw into disorder

Exigency

urgency, pressure; urgent demand, pressing need; an emergency

Flotsam

floating debris; unimportant or discarded material

Frenetic

frenzied, highly agitated

Glean

to gather bit by bit; to gather small quantities of grain left in a field by the reapers

Grouse

a type of game bird; a complaint; to complain, grumble

Incarcerate

to imprison, confine, jail

Incumbent

obligatory, required; one who holds a specific office at the time spoken of

Jocular

humorous, jesting, jolly, joking

Ludicrous

ridiculous, laughable, absurd

Mordant

biting or caustic in thought, manner, or style; sharply or bitterly harsh

Nettle

a prickly or stinging plant'; to arouse displeasure, impatience, or anger; to vex or irritate severely

Pecuniary

consisting of or measured in money; of or related to money

Pusillanimous

contemptibly cowardly or mean-spirited

Recumbent

in a reclining position, lying down, in the posture of one sleeping or resting

Stratagem

a scheme to outwit or deceive an opponent or to gain an end

Acuity

sharpness (particularly of the mind or senses)

Delineate

to portray, sketch, or describe in accurate and vivid detail; to represent pictorially

Depraved

marked by evil and corruption, devoid of moral principles

Enervate

to weaken or lessen the mental, moral, or physical vigor of; enfeeble, hamstring

Esoteric

intended for or understood by only a select few, private, secret

Fecund

fruitful in offspring or vegetation; intellectually productive

Fiat

an arbitrary order or decree; a command or act of will or consciousness

Figment

a fabrication of the mind, an arbitrary notion

Garner

to acquire as the result of effort; to gather and store away, as for future use

Hallow

to set apart as holy sacred, sanctify, consecrate; to honor greatly, revere

Idiosyncrasy

a peculiarity that serves to distinguish or identify

Ignominy

shame and disgrace

Mundane

earthly, worldly, relating to practical and material affairs; concerned with what is ordinary

Nuance

a subtle or slight variation (as in color, meaning, quality), delicate gradation or shade of difference

Overweening

conceited, presumptuous; excessive, immoderate

Penchant

a strong attraction or inclination

Reputed

according to reputation or general belief; having widespread acceptance and good reputation; (participial) alleged

Sophistry

reasoning that seems plausible but is actually unsound; a fallacy

Sumptuous

costly, rich, magnificent

Ubiquitous

present or existing everywhere