Study Guides from Notes & Lecture Recordings

Atonement (n)

Something that makes up for an offense or injury.

Penance (n)

The act of showing sorrow or regret for a sin.

Culmination (n)

The highest point

Apogee (n)

The peak, climax, point of orbit where an object is the furthest.

Pinnacle (n)

the highest point of development or achievement

Abyss (n)

A bottomless pit, an imeassurable space.

Moor (n)

A swampy, boggy area

Bellicose (adj.)

Warlike, hostile

Supercilious (adj.)

disdainful, snobbish, condescending

Prosaic (adj.)

dull, unimaginative, everyday/ordinary.

Cavalier (adj)

Arrogant, haughty

Dichotomy (n)

A division into 2 mutually exclusive or contradictory groups.

Demure (adj)

Reserved, modest; quiet and polite

Hegemony (n)

influence or authority over others

Loquacious (adj)

talkative

Archetype (n)

An original pattern or model from which something is copied

Ephemeral (adj)

Lasting a very short time, fleeting

Immutable (adj)

unchanging

Mercurial (adj)

characterized by sudden rapid change

Vernacular (n)

Relating to or using ordinary spoken language rather than literary.

Alacrity (n)

cheerful eagerness

Capitulate (vb)

To surrender

Desiccate (vb)

To dry out

Harbinger (n)

Something that foreshadows a future event

Vindicated (vb)

To free from blame; to justify; to avenge

Concord (n)

Harmony, agreement

Desultory (adj)

Without a plan or purpose

Hedonism (n)

The pursuit of pleasure as a way of life

Malaise (n)

Feeling of uneasiness, feeling unwell without a reason

Wistful (adj)

Yearning or sadly longing

Benevolent (adj)

good hearted, kind, generous

Egregious (adj)

extremely bad

Malleable (adj)

easy to shape or bend

Morose (adj)

Extremely sad, gloomy, sullen

Purported (adj)

Rumored or claimed but not support by fact

coy (adj)

marked by playfulness; pretending to be shy in a flirtatious way; being evasive and dodging question in an artful way

cloister (n)

a monastic establishment; monastic life or a state of seclusion

gallant (adj)

showy in dress; splendid; stately; spirited or brave; noble or chivalrous

sovereign (n)

a supreme ruler, especially a monarch.

adj: (having unlimited power, being independent)

sundry (adj)

miscellaneous, various

absolve (vb)

To pardon, to forgive, to set free from blame

Boorish (adj)

a rude or insensitive

Solicitous (adj)

Full of concern, eager, meticulously careful

sardonic (adj)

Mocking or scornful

Wanton (adj)

Inhumane, lustful, malicious

Broach (vb)

to open up for discussion

Consecrate (vb)

to make or declare something sacred

Engender (vb)

to bring into existence, to produce, to reproduce offspring

Lampoon (vb)

to satirize or mock

Nebulous (vb)

vague, hazy, unclear

Sordid (adj)

dirty, filthy, vile

Stringent (adj)

strict and restrictive

tenet (n)

a belief, shared principle

torpor (adj)

sluggishness; inactivity; apathy

virulent (adj)

poisonous, full of hate, malignant