Vocabulary Review for AP English Literature

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards for reviewing key terms and definitions in preparation for the AP English Literature exam.

Proscribe

(V.) to prohibit or put outside the law.

Debauch

(v.) to engage in wild and corruptive living, immorality.

Licentious

(adj.) immoral, lewd, corruptive.

Demagogue

a political leader who seeks support by appealing to desires rather than by using rational argument.

Umbrage

(n.) offense or annoyance.

Travail

(n.) suffering and hardship.

Veracity

(n.) truth.

Voracious

(adj.) greedy, grasping.

Encomium

(n.) great praise.

Banal

(adj.) ordinary and dull.

Dereliction

(n.) failure to perform an official duty or responsibility.

Travesty

(n.) a farce.

Anathema

(n.) anything forbidden socially.

Perfidy

(n.) treason or double-dealing.

Ignominy

(n.) disgraceful.

Pyrrhic

(adj.) a victory accomplished at too great a cost.

Surfeit

(n.) an excess or overabundance.

Dour

(adj.) gloomy, solemn.

Slothful

(adj.) lazy, indolent.

Pithy

(adj.) brief and to the point.

Nemesis

(n.) a long-standing rival; an archenemy.

Acquisitive

(adj.) greedy or materialistic.

Pariah

(n.) an outcast.

Paradigm

(n.) an outstandingly clear or typical example of something.

Ebullient

(adj.) buoyant, bubbly, enthusiastic, full of energy.

Culpable

(adj.) guilt.

Recondite

(adj.) little known.

Peremptory

(adj.) final, irrevocable.

Countermand

(v.) to go against.

Pertinacious

(adj.) holding firmly to an opinion or a course of action.

Lambent

(adj.) glowing, gleaming, or flickering with a soft radiance.

Cupidity

(n.) inordinate desire for wealth.

Tawdry

(adj.) cheap and gaudy in appearance or quality.

Internecine

(adj.) destructive for everyone involved.

Imbroglio

(n.) a confused, complicated mess or situation.

Impetus

(n.) the force that makes something happen or happen more quickly.

Perspicacious

(adj.) of acute mental vision or discernment.

Confluence

(n.) flowing together.

Effluence

(n.) flowing out of; pollution that flows into water.

Simplistic

(adj.) too simple.

Ablutions

(n.) purifying with water.

Abstemious

(adj.) not self-indulgent, especially when eating and drinking.

Amulet

(n.) a piece of jewelry thought to give protection against evil.

Mitigate

(v.) make less severe.

Analogous

(adj.) comparable in certain respects.

Apparition

(n.) ghost.

Parse

(v.) to read carefully, analyze or examine minutely.

Artifice

(n.) clever skill; a clever trick.

Atrophy

(v.) a wasting away or gradual decline.

Guile

(n.) sly or cunning intelligence.

Bereft

(adj.) grieving because of loss.

Flaccid

(adj.) limp or flabby.

Premonition

(n.) a strong feeling that something is about to happen.

Gourmet

(n.) a connoisseur of good food.

Ubiquitous

(adj.) occurring everywhere.

Admonish

(v.) to express warning or disapproval, especially in a gentle manner.

Caveat

(n.) a warning or proviso of specific stipulations.

Derogate

(v.) to blacken or defame someone.

Traduce

(v.) to publicly ridicule someone.

Cosseted

(adj.) pampered; treated as a pet.

Acquiesce

(v.) to give into.

Beleaguered

(adj.) troubled or harassed.

Machiavellian

(adj.) ruthless and scheming.

Draconian

(adj.) excessively harsh or severe.

Extirpate

(v.) to wipe out completely.

Attrition

(n.) the act of gradually reducing the strength of something.

Tangential

(adj.) around the outside; not relevant to the main issue.

Exacerbate

(v.) to make worse.

Abrogate

(v.) to end or repeal.

Truncate

(v.) to shorten by cutting off.

Convoluted

(adj.) complicated, complex.

Synergy

(n.) interaction when combined has a total effect greater than the sum of the individuals.

Ersatz

(adj.) an inferior substitute.

Inexorable

(adj.) inevitable or bound to happen.

Desultory

(adj.) wandering; aimless.

Quotidian

(adj.) ordinary; everyday events.

Sanctimonious

(adj.) morally superior, hypocritically holy.

Pontificate

(v.) to express ideas in an annoying manner.

Inure

(v.) to become accustomed to something unpleasant.