AP Seminar VOCAB TEST #1

Acquisitive

REMEMBER information

ACQUIRE INFORMATION, GREEDY

Arrogate

To CLAIM or take without right, expropriate, comandeer

ARROGANTLY CLAIM

Banal

Hackneyed, trite, commonplace, stale

OVERUSED

Belabor

To work on excessively, beat up

OVERWORK

Carping

(adj) Tending to find fault, especially in a petty, nasty, or hairsplitting way; (noun) petty, nagging criticism

NIT-PICKING, caviling

Coherent

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

connected, COHESIVE

Congeal

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

HARDEN, liquid to solid

Emulate

To imitate with the intent of equaling or surpassing the model

COPY, MIMIC

Encomium

A formal expression of praise, a lavish tribute

EULOGY, tribute, praise

Eschew

To avoid, shun, keep away from

CHEW TO AVOID

Germane

Relevant, appropriate, apropos, fitting

pertain to, RELEVANT

Insatiable

So great or demanding as not to be satisfied

IMPOSSIBLE TO SATISFY

Intransigent

Refusing to compromise, irreconcilable

UNCOMPROMISING

Invidious

Offensive, hateful; tending to cause bitterness and resentment

HATEFUL, SPITEFUL

Largesse

Generosity in giving, lavish or bountiful contributions

GRAND GENEROSITY

Reconnaissance

A survey made for military purposes; any kind of preliminary inspection or examination

military survey, examination

Substantiate

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

VALIDATE W/ EVIDENCE

Taciturn

Habitually silent or quiet, inclined to talk very little

TURN AWAY FROM SPEAKING, SILENT

Temporize

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

TEMPORARY PAUSE, PROCRASTINATE

Tenable

Capable of being held or defended

DEFENDABLE IS TENABLE

Accost

To APPROACH and speak to first; to confront in a challenging or AGGRESSIVE way

APPROACH AGGRESSIVELY, BUTTONHOLE

Animadversion

A comment indicating strong CRITICISM or disapproval

CRITICISM, MADLY REBUKE

Avid

DESIROUS of something to the point of greed; intensely EAGER

KEEN, ENTHUSIASTICALLY, GREEDY

Brackish

Having a SALTY taste and unpleasant to drink

SALTY, SALINE

Celerity

SWIFTNESS, rapidity of motion or action

SPEED, SWIFTNESS, PROMPTNESS

Devious

Straying or wandering from a straight or direct course; done or acting in a shifty or UNDERHANDED way

UNDERHANDED, ROUNDABOUT, TRICKY

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

PLOY, RUSE, MANEUVER

Halcyon

A legendary bird identified with the kingfisher / of or relating to the halcyon, peaceful, happy, golden, prosperous, affluent

BIRD THAT IS PEACEFUL, TRANQUIL

Histrionic

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

ACTING, AFFECTED, STAGY

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

INFLAMMATORY, PROVOCATIVE, FIREBRAND

Maelstrom

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

CHAOS, TURBULENCE, TUMULT

Myopic

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

NEARSIGHTED/SHORTSIGHTED

Overt

Open, NOT hidden, expressed or revealed in a way that is easily recognized

CLEAR, OBVIOUS, MANIFEST, PATENT

Pejorative

Tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, deprecatory, belittlin

DISAPPROVE, WORSEN, DEROGATORY

Propriety

The state of being proper, appropriateness; standards of what is proper or socially acceptable

PROPER, APPROPRIATE, CORRECTNESS, FITNESS

Sacrilege

Improper or disrespectful treatment of something held sacred

DESECRATION, PROFANITY

Summarily

Without delay or formality; briefly; concisely

BRIEF, CONCISE, PROMPTLY, NO DELAY

Suppliant

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

ASK HUMBLY/EARNESTLY, PETITIONER

Talisman

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

AMULET, CHARM

Undulate

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

WAVELIKE, FLUCTUATING

Cavort

To romp or prance around exuberantly; to make merry

PRANCE MERRILY

Credence

Belief, mental acceptance

CREDIT, TRUST, CONFIDENCE

Decry

To condemn, express strong disapproval; to officially depreciate

DEVALUE

Dissemble

To disguise or conceal, deliberately give a false impression

DISSIMULATE

Distraught

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

DISTRACTED

Eulogy

A formal statement of commendation; high praise

ENCOMIUM, TRIBUTE

Evince

To display clearly, to make evident, to provoke

MAKE EVIDENT, EXHIBIT

Exhume

To remove from a grave; to bring to light

DISINTER, REVEAL

Feckless

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

FEEBLE, WEAK

Murky

Dark and gloomy, obscure; lacking in clarity and precision

DIM, CLOUDY

Nefarious

Wicked, depraved, devoid of moral standards

WICKED

Piquant

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

ZESTY, TANGY

Primordial

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

ORIGINAL, PRIMAL

Propinquity

Nearness in place or time; kinship

SIMILARTY

Substantive

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

SUBSTANTIAL

Unwonted

Not usual or expected; not in character

UNUSUAL, UNCOMMON

Utopian

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

IDEAL

Verbiage

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

WORDY

Verdant

Green in tint or color; immature in experience or judgement

GREEN, ARTLESS, NAIVE

Viscous

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

STICKY, THICK