english 9h vocab

abet

(verb) assist or encourage, usually in some wrongdoing

mongrel

(noun) an inferior dog or one of undefinable or mixed breed; offensive term for something or mixed or questionable origin

coalesce

(verb) fuse or cause different elements to form a whole

camaraderie

(noun) friendship or fellowship

disparate

(adj) fundamentally different in quality or kind

gild

(verb) cover with gold; give a pleasing aspect to something, often false or superficial

incendiary

(adj) arousing to action to rebellion, (noun) a fire-starter, one who sparks revolts

ostracize

(verb) to exclude or banish someone from a community or group

pluralism

(noun) a system in which two or more influences coexist or diversity is tolerated

tenuous

(adj) lacking substance or significance, (adj) of thin or weak quality

efface

(verb) to wipe out

muddle

(verb) to make a mess of

opinionated

(adj) stubborn and often unreasonable in holding to one's ideas

predisposed

(verb) incline to beforehand

relinquish

(verb) to let go, give up

salvage

(verb) to save from fire or shipwreck

spasmodic

(adj) sudden and violent, brief

spurious

(adj.) not genuine, not true, not valid

unbridled

(adj) uncontrolled, lacking in restraint

perennial

(adj.) lasting for a long time, persistent

admonish

(v) to caution or advise against something; to scold mildly; to remind of a duty

breach

(noun) an opening, gap, a violation or infraction, (verb) to create an opening, break through

brigand

(n.) a bandit

circumspect

(adj.) careful, cautious

commandeer

(v) to seize for military or official use

cumbersome

(adj.) clumsy, hard to handle

deadlock

(n.) complete standstill

debris

(n.) scattered fragments

diffuse

(v.) to spread or scatter freely or widely

dilemma

(n.) a difficult or perplexing situation or problem

adjourn

(v) to stop proceeding for a time; to move to another place

alien

(n) citizen of another country, (adj.) foreign or strange

comely

(adj.) to have a pleasing appearance

compensate

(v.) to make up for, (v.) to repay for in services

dissolute

(adj.) loose in one's morals or behavior

erratic

(adj.) not regular/consistent; different from what is ordinarily expected; undependable

expulsion

(n) the process of driving or forcing out

feint

(n) a deliberately deceptive movement; (v) to make a distracting movement; to make a pretense of

fodder

(n) food for horses or cattle; (n) raw material for a designated purpose

fortify

(v.) to strengthen, build up

incessant

(adj) never stopping, going on all the time

intricate

(adj) complicated, difficult to understand

lucid

(adj) easy to understand, clear, rational, sane

posthumous

(adj) occurring or publishing after death

prim

(adj) overly neat, precise, proper or formal; prudish

sardonic

(adj) grimly or scornfully mocking, bitterly sarcastic

superfluous

(adj) exceeding what is sufficient ore required; excess

supplant

(v) to take the place of, supersede

taunt

(v) to jeer at, mock

tenacious

(adj) holding fast; holding together firmly; persistent

illegible

(adj) difficult or impossible to read

jeer

(v) to make fun of rudely or unkindly; (n.) a rude remark of derision

lucrative

(adj) bringing in money, profitable

mediocre

(adj) average, ordinary, undistinguished

proliferate

(v) to reproduce, increase, or spread rapidly

subjugate

(v) to conquer by force, bring under complete control

sully

(v) to soil, stain, tarnish, defile, besmirch

tantalize

(v) to tease, torment by teasing

terse

(adj) brief and to the point

unflinching

(adj) firm, showing no signs of fear, not drawing back

abridge

(v) to make shorter

adherent

(adj) attached, sticking to; (n) a follower; supporter

altercation

(n) an angry argument

cherubic

(adj) resembling an angel portrayed as a little child with a beautiful, round, or chubby; sweet and innocent

condone

(v) to pardon or overlook

dissent

(v) to disagree, (n) disagreement

eminent

(adj) famous, outstanding, distinguished; projecting

exorcise

(v) to drive out by magic; to dispose of something troublesome, menacing, or oppressive

fabricate

(v) to make manufacture, to make up, invent

irate

(adj) angry

marauder

(n) a raider, plunderer

obesity

(n) extreme fatness

pauper

(n) an extremely poor person

pilfer

(v) to steal in small quantities

rift

(n) a split, break, breach

semblance

(n) a likeness; an outward appearance, an apparition

surmount

(v) to overcome; rise above

terminate

(v) to bring to an end

trite

(adj) commonplace, overused, stale

usurp

(v) to seize and hold a position by force or without right

abscond

(v) to run off and hide

access

(n) approach or admittance to places, persons, things

anarchy

(n) a lack of government and law, confusion

arduous

(adj) hard to do, requiring much effort

auspicious

(adj) favorable, fortunate

biased

(adj) favoring one side unduly, prejudice

daunt

(v) to overcome with dear, intimidate; to dishearten, discourage

disentangle

(v) to free from tangles or complications

fated

(adj) determined in advance by destiny or fortune

hoodwink

(v) to mislead by a track, decieve

inanimate

(adj) not having life, without energy or spirit

incinerate

(v) to burn to ashes

intrepid

(adj) very brave, fearless, unshakable

larceny

(n) theft

pliant

(adj) bending readily, easily influenced

pompous

(adj) overly self-important in speech or manner, excessively stately or ceremonious

precipice

(n) a very steep cliff; the brink of edge of disaster

rectify

(v) to make right, correct

reprieve

(n) a temporary relief or delay

revile

(v) to attack with words, call bad names