real

Condemn

a. To express strong disapproval of b. to give a judgement against;to sentence c. to declare to be unfit for use, often by official order

Culpable

a. guilty, deserving of blame or punishment for being wrong, evil, or harmful

Exonerate

a. to free from blame b. to free from responsibility and obligation/task

Extort

a. to obtain by force or threat

Incorrigible

a. incapable of being corrected or reformed b. difficult or impossible to control

Malfeasance

a. wrongdoing or misconduct, especially by a public official

Misdemeanor

a. a minor offense, a misdeed

Purloin

a. to steal, often in a violation of trust; to commit theft

Ruffian

noun, a. a gangster or thug b. a tough or rowdy person; a trouble maker

unscrupulous

adj, a. have no morals, willing to do bad things lacking moral restrain; scornful of what is right or honorable

August

adj, a. impressive, majestic; inspiring awe or admiration

Condescend

a. to lower oneself to the level of one considered inferior b. to treat others as though they are inferior, to patronize

Deference

a. respectful yielding to the opinion or wishes of others, courteous respect

Grovel

verb, a. to behave so humbly that it is demeaning b. to lie or creep face downward; as in humility

Lackey

noun, a. one who does lowly jobs for another; one who follows all orders without questioning them

Predominate

a. to be greatest in number or importance b. to have or gain the greatest power of influence; prevail

Slavish

adj, a. acting completely under the will of another; like a slave b. showing no originality; blindly imitating

Subjugation

a. the act of conquering or bringing under control; enslavement

Supercilious

adj, a. acting like you are superior, arrogant, proudly scornful; disdainful

Sycophant

noun a. a person attempting to win favor by flattering important people

Sentience

The ability to feel, perceive, or experience sensations and emotions (like pain, pleasure, or awareness)

The question of animal sentience has influenced laws about how livestock are treated.

Sensational

causing great public interest, excitement, or shock, often through exaggerated detail

The news story was so sensational that everyone was talking about it.

Sententious

Using too many moral sayings or short, wise-sounding statements; often in a way that seems overly serious, preachy, or not genuinely thoughtful.

His speech sounded sententious filled with life lessons and cliches.

sensibilities

A person’s ability to feel, understand, and respond to emotions, beauty, or subtle things

someone’s attitudes, values, or feelings about what is appropriate or acceptable.

The movie was edited to avoid offending modern sensibilities.

Apathetic

someone showing no interest, enthusiasm, energy, or concern, often remaining indifferent or unmoved by important matters
The students were apathetic about the announcement and barely reacted.

Pathological

Related to disease or caused by a medical condition

extreme, compulsive, or abnormal behavior that’s not normal

The doctor found pathological changes in the brain tissue

She has a pathological fear of failure, studying every minute.

Empathy

The ability to understand and share the feelings of another person; putting yourself in someone else’s emotional situation.

presentiments

A feeling or intuition that something (usually bad or important) is going to happen, without clear evidence. Hunch

Despite no proof, he couldn’t shake the presentiment that he would fail the test.

assent

agreement, approval

The committee gave it’s assent to the new rule

Pathetic

Causing pity, sadness, or sympathy

Very poor or disappointing in quality or strength

The abandoned puppy looked pathetic and needed help

Precipitating

to cause an event (usually negative) to happen suddenly or sooner than expected

Fear of failure was precipitating her into rash action

harbinger

a external signal or sign warning that another event or thing is going to happen

Dark clouds were a harbinger of the coming storm.

Perennial

Lasting for a long time or recurring again and again

Poverty remains a perennial problem in many parts of the world.

ensuing

Happening immediately after something else as a result or consequence. Following

The first argument was minor, but the ensuing fight was major

Ephemeral

Lasting for a very short time; temporary or short-lived.

The beauty of a sunset is ephemeral, lasting only a few minutes.

retrospective

Looking back on or dealing with past events or situations

An exhibition, review, or reflection of past work or events

The company held a retrospective meeting to review the project’s successes and failures.

imminent

About to happen very soon; likely to occur at any moment. Impending

Dark clouds made it clear that a storm was imminent.

Provisional

Temporary; arranged or accepted for the time being until something is finalized or confirmed.

The school issued a provisional schedule until the final exam dates were confirmed.

Interim

The time between two events or states

In the interim, we’ll continue using the old system.

Temporary; used for the period between two events

She served as interim coach during the season change.

interminable

Seeming to have no end; extremely long and tedious 

The meeting felt interminable and everyone was ready to leave.

gradients

an inclined part of a road or railway, slope, actual rate of change

The gradient of the hill was so steep it was hard to walk up

gradation

a scale or a series of successive changes, stages, or degrees.

The painting shows a gradation of colors from pink to red

Predecessors

People or things that came before another in time, position, or role.

Modern phones are way better than its predecessors

Unprecedented

Something that has never happened or been seen before, unusual, unexpected

The school faced an unprecedented number of applicants this year

Concede

to admit that something is true after denying it

She conceded that she was wrong after seeing the evidence

to give up, to yield, to surrender

The team conceded the game after falling behind

regress

To return to an earlier state or to return to a less advanced state

Without practice your skills may regress over time

Transgress

To go beyond a limit or boundary, infringe, misbehave, breaking a law, morals

He was given detention for transgressing the school’s rules.

deceased

a person who has died

she inherited the house from her deceased grandmother

egress

go out of or leave a place, or an exit a way out

The crowd begins to egress after the concert

cede

To give up something to another

He had to cede control of his project to his coworker

cursory

Hasty job, not detailed, hurried

her cursory review of her essay missed several mistakes

precursors

Something that comes before another of the same kind, forerunner, indicates the development of something else

Dark clouds are often precursors to a storm

Recurrent

Occurring often, repeatedly, happening again and again

She suffers from recurrent headaches every month

incur

become subject to something undesirable because of one’s own actions, give rise to

The company incurred losses after the failed project.

incursions

entering a place in a sudden or hostile way, an invasion or attack, especially a sudden or brief one.

The army launched several incursions into enemy territory

concurrent

existing, happening, or done at the same time

The two meeting were concurrent so I could only attend one

recourse

an option of source of help in a difficult situation, alternative, resort, option

Financial aid provided students with recourse during emergencies

couriers

a company or employee of a company that transports commercial packages and documents.

The courier delivered the package at my doorstep

discursive

digress, deviate, from subject to subject, wandering

Covering a wide range of subjects in a formal or analytical way.

His essay was discursive jumping from topic to topic

The article was discursive touching on all topics

succor

assistance and support in times of hardship and distress.

give assistance or aid to

The refugees received succor for the organization

Volunteers succored the victims

Accredit

to officially recognize, approve of something meeting certain standards

the university is accredited by a national board

to credit, attribute to something

the success of her project is accredited to her teacher

credence

Acceptance as true or valid; belief

Scientists gave credence to the new theory after evidence

Credential

evidence of ones qualification, something that gives ones authority

His impressive credentials got him the job

Creditable

Deserving of recognition and limited praise; sufficiently good. Worthy of belief.

Her effort on the team was creditable even if it wasn’t perfect

Credibility

Believability; reliability; the power to inspire belief

The scientists data added credibility to the theory

Credulous

Easily deceived; believing too readily; gullible

She was so credulous that she fell for the online scam

creed

A system of beliefs, principles, or opinions

The organization follows a strict creed of honesty

Discredit

To damage a reputation, to cause to be distrusted or doubted, to show as not valid

The scandal discredited the politician

Incredulous

Disbelieving, skeptical, unwilling to believe something

she gave him an incredulous look after he said he had seen a ghost

Miscreant

A person who misbehaves, villain, evildoer

The police arrested the miscreants who stole from the bank

Aversion

An intense dislike to something and to turn away, avoid it

She has an aversion to snakes and wont go near them

Avert

To turn away, to prevent

She averted her eyes from the scary scene in the movie

She walked away to avert a confrontation

Diversify

to give more variety, spread out

Farmers diversified their crops to include different types of fruits

Diversion

Something that turns attention away, distraction, relaxes or entertains mind

Reading a book was a good diversion from her stressful day

Inadvertently

Accidentally, unintentionally

She inadvertently deleted the important documents

incontrovertible

Impossible to deny, unquestionable, certain

The fingerprints provided incontrovertible evidence for the crime

Invert

To turn something upside down/inside out

to reverse position or order

She inverted the glass to pour the water out

Irreversible

Impossible to change, undo, reverse

The damage to the painting was irreversible

revert

To return to a previous state

After trying a new hairstyle she decided to revert back to her old one

vertigo

dizzy, spinning sensation

He experienced vertigo after spinning to quickly

Assail

to attack; to assault

The knight was assailed by enemies on both sides

Asylum

A place offering protection and safety; a shelter

many people seek asylum to escape war

Bulwark

something that acts as a strong defense or protection against danger

the castle served as a bulwark against invaders

Citadel

a fortress that protects a city, center of power/safety

the soldiers retreated to the citadel to defend the city

Fortitude

Mental and emotional strength that allows someone to  endure pain or adversity with courage

It takes fortitude to stand up for what you believe in

Invincible

Incapable of being overcome or defeated

the enemy seemed invincible after the new technology

Mettle

Courage and strength or mind; spirit, ability to handle difficult situations.

She showed his mettle by staying calm under pressure

Resilient

Able to recover or spring back quickly

She is very resilient recovering quickly after the failures

Stalwart

A person who is strong and dependable, hardworking, reliable

She was a stalwart supporter of the team. attending every game

Stamina

Endurance; ability to withstand prolonged physical or mental effort. How long you can keep going for a long time.

Running a marathon requires a lot of stamina.

Abject

Most miserable kind, despicable kind, extremely bad, degrading,

She was in abject poverty after failing his exams

Conjecture

a. an opinion or conclusion formed without sufficient evidence, guess, speculation

His theory was based on pure speculation rather than evidence

b. To infer from insufficient evidence; to guess

We can only conjecture on what happened at the park

Dejected

Feeling depressed, sad, in low spirits

He felt dejected after he failed his bar exam

Interject

to insert btwn other elements. To interrupt and say something suddenly

He couldn't help but interject a comment the meeting

jettison

To cast overboard or off; to discard, to throw away

The company decided to jettison old policies

Jetty

A structure that extends into the water and protects the shore. Dock,pier

We walked around the jetty and watched the sunset

Jut

To stick out, to project sharply

The sign jutted into the pathway almost hitting a biker

Objectionable

Offensive; arousing disapproval

The movie had many objectionable scenes

Projectile

An object that is fired, thrown, or self-propelled

snowballs became projectiles in the snow ball fight

Trajectory

A path of a moving item, chose taken course

The snowball followed a trajectory before hitting him on the face