AP Lang Vocab List #3

bombast

impressive but meaningless language

Please, professor, no more bombast; just give me facts

bona fide

in good faith

We made a bona fide offer for the property

boor

a rude or impolite person

My brother was acting like a boor

bovine

pertaining to cows or cattle

The critic described the large figures in the painting as bovine.

bowdlerize

to remove offensive pages of a play, novel, ect.

If the editors bowdlerize much more of the book, there won’t be anything left to read.

brevity

briefness; short duration

The brevity of the candidate’s speech surprised everyone

bucolic

pertaining to the countryside; rural, rustic

Jim wanted to find an old inn in the bucolic setting in which they have lunch

cajole

to coax, to persuade, to wheedle

Tim tried to cajole his parents into letting him use the new car

callow

young and inexperienced

Although he was not the typical callow youth, he was not as experienced as he pretended

carcinogen

causing cancer

It is widely believed that nicotine is a carcinogen

carnal

sensual, sexual

Even though Evelyn didn’t understand the painting, she knew it had a carnal feeling about it.

carrion

decaying flesh

The vultures circling in the sky led the border patrol to the carrion they had been seeking since the disaster.

cataclysm

a violent change

The earthquake in Mexico was a cataclysm which no one could have foreseen.

cataract

large waterfall; abnormality of the eye

Because of the cataracts in that part of the river, you can’t put a canoe in the water.

My grandmother had to have a cataract surgically removed from her eye.

caveat

a warning

John did not heed that old caveat about swimming alone because he had such confidence in his own ability.

-ty, y

state of

-ize

to cause