act vocab 6/3

Cabal

a group of conspirators; the acts of such a group; a clique

Cache

a hiding place; the things hidden in a secret place

Cacophony

harsh-sounding mixture of words, voices, or sounds

Cadence

rhythm; the rise and fall of sound

Cajole

to persuade someone to do something he or she doesn't want to do

Calamity

a disaster

Callous

insensitive; emotionally hardened

Callow

immature

Calumny

slander; a maliciously false statement

Candor

truthfulness; sincere honesty

Canon

rule or law, especially a religious one; a body of rules or laws; an official set of holy books; an authoritative list; the set of works by an author that are accepted as authentic

Cant

insincere or hypocritical speech

Canvass

to seek votes or opinions; to conduct a survey

Capacious

spacious; roomy; commodious

Capital

the town or city that is the seat of government; money, equipment, and property owned by a business; wealth used in creating more wealth

Capitalism

an economic system in which businesses are owned by private citizens (not by the government) and in which the resulting products and services are sold with relatively little government control

Capitulate

to surrender; to give up or give in

Capricious

unpredictable; likely to change at any moment

Captivate

to fascinate; to enchant; to enrapture

Carcinogenic

causing cancer

Cardinal

most important; chief

Careen

to swerve; to move rapidly without control; to lean to one side

Caricature

a portrait or description that is purposely distorted or exaggerated, often to prove some point about its subject

Cartography

the art of making maps and charts

Cascade

a waterfall; anything resembling a waterfall

Castigate

to criticize severely; to chastise

Cataclysm

a violent upheaval; an earthquake; a horrible flood

Catalyst

in chemistry, something that changes that rate of a chemical reaction without itself being changed; anyone or anything that makes something happen without being directly involved in it

Categorical

unconditional; absolute

Catharis

purification that brings emotional relief or renewal

Catholic

universal; embracing everything

Caucus

a meeting of the members of a political party or political faction; a political group whose members have common interests or goals

Caustic

like acid; corrisive

Cavalier

arrogant; haughty; carefree; casual

Cavil

to quibble; to raise trivial objections

Celibacy

abstinence from sex

Censure

to condemn severely from doing something bad

Cerebral

brainy; intellectually refined

Chaff

worthless stuff

Chagrin

humiliation; embarrassed disappointment

Chameleon

a highly changeable person

Champion

to defend; to support

Channel

to direct; to cause to follow a certain path

Charisma

a magical-seeming ability to attract followers or inspire loyalty

Charlatan

fraud; quack; con man

Chasm

a deep, gaping hole; a gorge

Chaste

pure and unadorned; abstaining from sex

Chastise

to inflict punishment on; to discipline

Cherub

a cute chubby-cheeked child; a kind of angel

Chicanery

trickery; deceitfulness; artifice; especially legal or political