New Words

Leaven

To influence or cause positive change

Infamy

To be well known for a bad quality or deed

Gratify

To give pleasure or satisfaction

Vindictive

Showing a strong desire for revenge

Jeer

Make rude or mocking remarks

Demur

To raise doubts or objections

Boisterous

Noisy, energetic, and cheerful

Dearth

Scarcity or lack or something

Invigorating

Making one feel strong, healthy, or full of energy.

Deplorable

Deserving strong condemnation; shockingly bad.

Embezzle

To steal or misappropriate money or property entrusted to one's care.

Passage

The right to pass through somewhere

Piscine

Of or concerning fish

Substantiate

Provide evidence to support

Amnesty

Pardon

Baulk

Unwilling to accept an idea

Bowdlerise

To censor

Gambit

A calculated risk taken to gain an advantage

Gaunt

Grim or desolate in appearance

Animosity

Strong Hatred

Bawl

To shout out noisily

Masticate

Chew

Laciniate

Divide into deep narrow irregular segments

Litany

A series of petitions used in church

Amorousness

A strong feeling of love

Infatuation

An intense but short-lived passion for something or someone

Exonerate

To pardon or give amnesty to

Invidious

Likely to incur anger in someone else

Flippant

Not showing a respectful attitude

Vestige

A trace of something that no longer exists

Mendacious

Not telling the truth

Candid

Truthful and straightforward

Disposition

An inherent characteristic of someone

Riled

Annoyed or irritated

Ambivalence

Having mixed feelings

Fortuitous

Happening by chance

Bungling

Carrying out a task clumsily

Profligate

Wasteful

Calypso

Caribbean/Afrobeat style

Blighted

Have a detrimental impact on

Glib

Shallow

Tempestuous

Strong conflicting emotion

Abstruse

Difficult to understand

Illustrious

Well-known and respected

Bellicose

Aggressive

Curtail

Reduce in quantity

Excoriate

To criticise severely

Abrade

Corrode

Sullen

Sulky

Cobbler

Someone who mends shoes

Oxfords

A type of lace-up shoe.

Lapidary

Relating to the refinement of gems.

Haberdasher

Someone who works with linen

Quandary

A practical dilemma

Atelier

A studio

Untoward

Unexpected and inappropriate

Verisimilitude

The appearance of being true

Traduce

To defame someone

Calibre

The quality of someone’s character

Visage

The appearance of a person or an animal

Replete

Well supplied with something

Chary

Suspiciously or tentatively

Decrepit

Worn out

Contumely

Insolent or insulting language

Sobriquet

A nickname

Milieu

A person’s social environment

Penchant

A strong or habitual liking of something

Expedient

Convenient but possibly improper

Dogmas

A set of principles

Dissonance

Lack of agreement

Ethereal

Delicate and light in a surreal manner

Dolorous

Expressing great sorrow or distress.

Domicile

A person’s residence or home

Descerning

Having or showing good judgement

Desuetude

A form or state of disuse

Engender

Cause or give rise to

Eminent

Famous and respected

Exalted

High or powerful

Indigent

Poor or needy

Gauche

Unsophisticated

Erudite

Having or showing great knowledge