AP Lit Vocab Unit 6

Definitions

Acumen (n)

skill in making correct decisions in a particular subject

Adjudicate (v)

to officially decide who is right; to settle judicially

Anachronism (n)

a chronological misplacing of people, events, or objects, in regard to each other

Apocryphal (adj)

of doubtful authenticity

Dissimulate (v)

 to hide under a false appearance

Empirical (adj)

based on real-world evidence/experience rather than theory

Fetid (adj)

having a heavy offensive smell

Fulsome (adj)

generous in amount; offensively insincere; disgusting

Immolate (v)

to kill or destroy by fire: to offer in sacrifice

Nihilism (n)

the belief that existence is meaningless

Patrician (n)

an aristocrat or nobleman

Propitiate (v)

to win back favor of someone by doing something that pleases them

Sublimate (v)

to make something purer; to make something more socially acceptable

Sycophant (n)

someone who feigns praise to powerful or rich people to manipulate them

Tautology (n)

the saying of the same thing twice in different words

Patrician (adj)

belonging to or characteristic of the aristocracy