AP English III - Vocabulary #1

Acquisitive

(adj.) able to get and retain ideas or information; concerned with acquiring wealth or property

Animadversion

(n.) a comment indicating strong criticism or disapproval

Banal

(adj.) hackneyed, trite, commonplace

Cacophonous

(adj.) harsh-sounding, raucous, discordant, dissonant

Celerity

(n.) swiftness, rapidity of motion or action

Dissemble

(v.) to disguise or conceal, deliberately give a false impression

Eschew

(v.) to avoid, shun, keep away from

Evince

(v.) to display clearly, to make evident, to provoke

Feckless

(adj.) lacking in spirit and strength; ineffective, weak

Halcyon

(n.) a legendary bird identified with the kingfisher; (adj.) of or relating to the halcyon; calm, peaceful; happy, golden; prosperous, affluent

Intransigent

(adj.) refusing to compromise; irreconcilable

Maelstrom

(n.) a whirlpool of great size and violence; a situation resembling a whirlpool in violence and destruction

Nefarious

(adj.) wicked, depraved, devoid of moral standards

Pejorative

(adj.) tending to make worse; expressing disapproval or disparagement, derogatory, deprecatory, belittling

Piquant

(adj.) stimulating to the taste or mind; spicy, pungent; appealingly provocative

Progeny

(n.) descendants, offspring, children, followers, Disciples

Summarily

(adv.) without delay or formality; briefly, concisely

Temporize

(v.) to stall or act evasively in order to gain time, avoid a confrontation, or postpone a decision; to compromise

Unwonted

(adj.) not usual or expected; not in character

Verbiage

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