Persepolis Vocabulary 2025 - 2026

Subversive (adj.)

Intended to subvert or destroy a system

Frivolity (n.)

Lack of seriousness

Denounce (v.)

Publicly declare to be wrong

Decadent (adj.)

Reflecting a state of cultural decline

Clandestine (adj.)

Kept in secret, especially because it is wrong

Belligerent (adj.)

Hostile and aggressive

Avant-garde (adj.)

Favoring experimental or unusual ideas.

Flagellate (v.)

To flog or beat someone as disciplined

Diabolical (adj.)

Characteristic of the devil; disgracefully unpleasant.

Veritable (adj.)

True, authentic (intensifier used to qualify a metaphor).

Chador (n.)

Garment wrapped around the head that only leaves the face exposed

Secular (adj.)

Denoting things, beliefs, etc. with no spiritual basis.

Martyr (n.)

A person made to suffer or die for their beliefs; a person who uses suffering for attention.

Fundamentalist (n.)

A person who believes in strict, literal interpretation of religio

Vengeance (n.)

Punishment or retribution to “right a wrong”.

Degenerate (v.)

To decline or deteriorate

Liberated (adj.)

Showing freedom from social ideals or traditions.

Intolerable (adj.)

Unable to be endured; too much to bear

Stupor (n.)

A state of insensibility; a daze