Good & Beautiful High School 1 Vocabulary Words

ardent

with passionate feeling

Cassandra's ardent love of reading is admirable.

perceptible

capable of being perceived (recognized, understood)

Light specks of snow fell, so small as to be scarcely perceptible.

demur

to oppose, object, or delay

"That's too extravagant," demurred Mr. Lopez. Fred demurred his answer for as long as possible.

inert

unable to move or act; lethargic

She had never seen Marilla sit inertly like that.

tremulously

with trembling, quivering, or shaking

"Who--who is there?" he quavered tremulously.

tersely

abruptly concise

"Well, Susan, this time you've done it." he declared tersely.

sundry

various, miscellaneous

He made sundry visits to the Alps whenever his busy schedule allowed.

veritable

truly called, real, genuine

It was a veritable feast.

plaintively

with sorrow, mournfully

"I do wish you wouldn't all say such sarcastic things to each other," said poor Cecily plaintively.

remonstrated

said with protest, reproof

"Why did you do that, Sue?" remonstrated her mother.

consternation

feeling alarm or dismay

He stared at the bill with consternation, having no ideas how he would pay it.

incredulous

disbelieving

A murmur of incredulous amazement was heard.

mollify

to sooth or soften

Your apology will mollify Miguel's hurt feelings.

dilapidated

in a state of neglect or disrepair

The dilapidated house next door is going to be torn down.

nonchalant

feeling or appearing casual calm and relaxed; not displaying anxiety, interest, or enthusiasm

"I don't care a bit about that," she answered nonchalantly."

aversion

a strong feeling of dislike or opposition

Polly was angry when the dog walked in with muddy paws; she had a serious aversion to animals in the house.

derisive

sarcastically mean or mocking

"So you've returned from your wanderings, have you?" he said with a derisive sneer.

sonorous

deep and full sound

The man's sonorous voice filled the chapel with rich, full sounds.

incorrigible

not able to be corrected or changed

Father is an incorrigible optimist; his words are always positive.

audacious

extremely bold, daring, confident

The audacious explorer entered the unknown land.

austere

stern, severe, strict

The Austere man reacted to my enthusiasm with a stony stare.

enigmatic

perplexing, mysterious

Sean spoke in an enigmatic tone. He seemed to be planning a surprise.

jocular

joking, humorous, playful

His jocular remarks made us laugh.

rogue

A dishonest person, scoundrel

That rogue should be put in jail.

surly

rude, unfriendly disposition

Jane's surly demeanor darkened everyone's mood.

pert

bold in speech or manner; self-assured; saucy

The pert young lady was not afraid to say what was on her mind.

relinquish

to give up, surrender, or desist (stop)

After being relentlessly pelted by snowballs, I relinquished the fort to my brothers.

impetuous

acting suddenly, impulsively, or spontaneously

He was now regretting his impetuous decision to enter he hot dog eating contest

placid

pleasant, peaceful, serene, and calm

The quiet, placid lake had hardly a ripple.

decorum

behaving, speaking, or dressing properly, respectfully, and with dignity

The children were so well-behaved; it was obvious that they had been taught to conduct themselves with proper decorum when in public.

impeccable

perfect, flawless, without fault, or exquisite

The chef's cooking was impeccable, with not a single dish on the menu that was not absolutely delicious.

loquacious

excessively talkative, or extremely chatty

Although her younger sister was a loquacious little thing who never stopped talking, Anna was soft-spoken and more reserved.

abhor

regard with disgust and hatred

Sam abhors spiders, so he has the pest control company come often.

amiable

friendly, pleasant

His amiable personality is like a pleasant, friendly wind.

deft

skillful and quick in one's movements.

With deft, practiced hands, he quickly reassembled the machine.

invariably

always, without fail or variation

Invariably, Mother had a hot breakfast ready every morning.

reconnoiter

to inspect, observe, or survey;

The spies had been sent in ahead of the troops to reconnoiter the location and determine the best way to advance.

procure

to obtain or bring about by diligent effort and care;

We hoped to procure enough food donations to make a real difference for the hungry in our community.

inure

to acclimate or become accustomed to something difficult or undesirable;

Repeated exposure to gory and cruel behaviors in movies can inure you to violence.

laconic

concise, using few words;

His laconic reprimand conveyed his disappointment more than any lengthy lecture could have.

magnanimous

generous and noble, with good intentions;

His magnanimous donation made it possible to renovate the old county library.

recompense

to pay back or compensate;

Her service had been such a blessing that I hoped I would have opportunities to make recompense for her kindness.

dexterity

with great skill or ability (this is almost always a reference to the use of hands);

To improve my dexterity, I set a goal to practice handwriting everyday.

genial

friendly, cheerful, and pleasant in manner;

His genial personality attracted people to him like bees to honey.

laurels

honors, awards, or achievements;

She won laurels for her well-written novel.

implicit

something that is implied or understood with needing to be spoken;

Although we might not always agree, our respect and love for one another is implicit.

succinct

expressed in few words; concise;

Because we are out of time, I will give a succinct summary of the rest of my speech.

chagrin

humiliation, disappointment, or distress caused by failure;

Much to my chagrin, I did not realize I had forgotten to add the sugar to the batch of cookies until we tasted them fresh from the oven.

duly

properly, fittingly, or punctually;

don

to dress, or put on;

She donned the new dress with pride.

abate

to become less strong or intense; diminish or lessen;

The company appealed to the government to abate the tax burden.

abdicate

to renounce or relinquish a throne, right, power, claim, responsibility;

You cannot abdicate your parental responsibilities to others.

amicable

characterized by friendly goodwill, peaceable; Amy's relationship with her mother-in-law was surprisingly amicable.

ambivalent

having mixed or contradictory feelings;

Even after the debate, Hector was ambivalent about the candidates for Congress.

cajole

to persuade with gentle urging or flattery, to coax; You should never let your friends cajole you into doing what you know is wrong.

copious

abundant, very plentiful;

Franco's attorney presented a copious amount of evidence in his defense.

culpable

deserving blame, responsible for something wrong or bad;

By watching and doing nothing to help, Bethany and Eric were also culpable.

brazen

bold, without shame;

The brazen thieves robbed the credit union in the middle of the day.

exhort

strongly encourage or urge;

The candidate exhorted her audience to get out and vote.

dank

unpleasantly damp or humid;

The children were terrified of the dank basement.

avarice

excessive greed for wealth;

It was avarice that led her to a life of crime.

adroit

cleverly skillful, resourceful, or ingenious;

An adroit presenter can always capture the audience's attention.

alacrity

cheerful willingness, eagerness;

Shantel accepted her mother's suggestion with alacrity.

antipathy

a strong feeling of dislike, opposition, or anger; The antipathy of the rival teams was almost palpable.

rankled

angrily annoyed;

The rankled man demanded an immediate apology; he was fit to be tied!

wary

feeling or showing caution about possible dangers or problems;

I am always wary around Mr. Tanner; I don't trust him.

quaint

charmingly unusual; attractively old-fashioned;

The windows of the quaint cottage glowed brightly, evidence of cheerful flames dancing in the fireplace.

stolid

showing little emotion or animation;

His stolid, uninterested attitude lessened the excitement of the group.

dogged

stubbornly persistent, determined;

He has such a dogged personality that I know he won't quite until the project is finished.

furtive

attempting to avoid notice or attention;

When Kate wasn't looking, I made a furtive attempt to hide her gift.

flagrant

obviously wrong or offensive;

The attack was a flagrant violation of the countries' peace treaty.

fastidious

excessively particular, critical, or demanding; hard to please;

The inspector searched the package with a fastidious attention to detail.

spurious

seeming to be genuine, but actually false, deceitful;

Trent believed he was the target of spurious accusations because of his beliefs.

opulent

very wealthy, luxurious, lavish;

It was unclear how Marie could afford such an opulent lifestyle.

indolent

wanting to avoid exertion; lazy;

Cassandra's indolent nephew watched television for three hours instead of mowing the lawn.

inane

lacking significance or meaning; empty, silly;

Amelia was tired of wasting her time watching such inane TV shows.

dire

extremely serious or urgent;

The refugees are in dire need of assistance.

disparage

to regard or represent as having little worth;

The politician went to the press to disparage his opponent.

eclectic

composed of elements from a broad range of sources;

Misha has an eclectic taste in music, enjoying almost any song that is skillfully written.

fallacious

logically unsound, deceptive or misleading;

Professor Augustine corrected the use of that fallacious philosophy in my thesis.

fortuitous

occurring seemingly by chance, luck, or fortune;

Looking back, it appeared that a serious of fortuitous events contributed to the venture's success, but we knew to give thanks to Providence.

intrepid

fearless, adventurous;

In spite of the others' fear, Shawn confronted the bully intrepidly.