English III AP Vocabulary—List #6

abstruse

abstruse

(adj.) extremely difficult to understand

curmudgeon

(n.) a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person

disingenuous

(adj.) lacking in sincerity or candor

ecumenical

(adj.) worldwide or universal in influence or application

exigency

(n., often pl.) urgency, pressure; urgent demand, pressing need; an emergency

flotsam

(n.) floating debris; homeless, impoverished people

glean

(v.) to gather bit by bit; to gather small quantities of grain left in a field by the reapers

​hallow

(v.) to set apart as holy or sacred, sanctify, consecrate; to honor greatly, revere

harbinger

(n) a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another; a forerunner; (v) to signal the approach of

idiosyncrasy

(n.) a peculiarity that serves to distinguish or identify

imbue

(v.) to soak or stain thoroughly; to fill the mind

inane

(adj.) silly, empty of meaning or value

lampoon

(n.) a malicious satire; (v.) to satirize, ridicule

maudlin

(adj.) excessively or effusively sentimental

mundane

(adj.) earthly, worldly, relating to practical and material affairs; concerned with what is ordinary

protocol

(n.) customs and regulations dealing with official behavior and etiquette, as in a court or among diplomats;

pusillanimous

(adj.) contemptibly cowardly or mean-spirited

rapacity

(n.) inordinate greed; the disposition to obtain one's desires by force, extortion, or plunder

vagary

(n.) an unpredictable, erratic, or seemingly purposeless action, occurrence, or notion

wizened

(adj.part.) dry, shrunken, and wrinkled (often as the result of aging)