AP Lang - Unit 3 Vocabulary

cavort (the actors in the musical cavort on stage)

to romp or prance around exuberantly; to make merry

credence (the government and the public failed to give credence to the reports of an impending water shortage)

belief, mental acceptance

decry (every arm of government and every educational institution should decry bigotry in all its forms)

to condemn, express strong disapproval; to officially depreciate

dissemble (the young man was unable to dissemble his feelings and admitted to having committed the crime)

to disguise or conceal, deliberately give a false impression

distraught (the workforce became distraught in the wake of the 1929 stock market crash)

very much agitated or upset as a result of emotion or mental conflict

eulogy (the best friend and longtime law partner of the deceased delivered the eulogy at the funeral)

a formal statement of commendation; high praise

evince (the crowd did not evince any signs of panic but moved i nan orderly fashion to the nearest exists)

to display clearly, to make evident, to provoke

exhume (suspecting foul play, the coroner issued an order to exhume the body immediately)

to remove from a grave; to bring to light

feckless (although a feckless youth, he eventually matured into a hard-working and responsible citizen)

lacking in spirit and strength; ineffective, weak; irresponsible, unreliable

murky (many visitors have claimed to see a mysterious creature in the murky waters of Loch Ness in Scotland)

dark and gloomy, obscure, lacking in clarity and precision

nefarious (Brutus and Cassius hatched a nefarious plot to assassinate Julius Caesar on the steps of the Roman Senate)

wicked, depraved, devoid of moral standards

piquant (the chef was an expert in making those piquant dishes that are characteristic of South Indian cooking

stimulating to the taste or mind; spicy, pungent; appealingly provocative

primordial (the primordial stages of most civilizations are founded on common needs met by common goals)

developed or created at the very beginning; going back to the most ancient times or earliest stage; fundamental, basic

propinquity (the propinquity of the two cities has created a greater metropolitan area that in effect is one city)

nearness in place or time; kinship

substantive (the candidate dismissed the silly questions but took the time to answer to most substantive ones)

real, having a solid basis; considerable in number or amount; meaningful and on topic

unwonted (the listless student answered with unwonted spirit when the subject of military tactics was raised)

not usual or expected; not in character

utopian (a number of American religious groups like the Shakers have built separate communities based on utopian schemes)

founded upon or involving a visionary view of an ideal world; impractical

verbiage (the contract was full of meaningless verbiage that seemed designed to confuse the lay person)

language that is too wordy or inflated in proportion to the sense or content, wordiness; a manner of expression

verdant (the tourists on safari traveled over the verdant grasslands of Kenya in search of native wildlife)

green in tint or color; immature in experience or judgement

viscous (the varnish left a viscous residue on the wood that was hard to remove)

having a gelatinous or gluey quality, lacking in easy movement or fluidity