Comp vocab

Riposte

A quick, clever reply to an insult or criticism.

Chide

scold

Reprehensible

Deserving condemnation

Nuance

A subtle shade of meaning, expression, or sound.

Contrail

A trail of condensed water vapor from an aircraft; a white streak in the sky.

Coerce

To persuade an unwilling person to do something by force or threats.

Rhetoric

The art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing.

Scourge

To cause great suffering to.

Prevail

be victorious.

Boorish

Rough and bad-mannered.

Inherent

natural

Chasm

A deep crack in the earth, rock, or surface.

Modality

manner or method

Meander

To follow a winding course.

Blatant

Done openly without shame.

Negate

To nullify or invalidate.

Status quo

existing state

Sinister

something harmful or evil

Sate

satisfy

Plausible

Seeming reasonable or probable.

Pundit

A critic or expert in a particular subject field.

Refute

To prove a statement or theory to be wrong or false; disprove.

Aglet

The plastic or metal tip on a shoelace.

Sear

To brown or scorch the surface of something with intense heat.

Evocative

Bringing strong images, memories, or feelings to mind.

Exacerbate

To make a problem, bad situation, or negative feeling worse.

Feral

In a wild state, especially after escaping domestication.

Mandatory

Required by law or rules; compulsory.

Credibility

The quality of being trusted or believed in.

Cognitive

Relating to or involving conscious mental activities.

acumen

ability to make good judgement

adamant

stubborn

camaraderie

friendship

clout

influence or power

empathy

ability to understand and share the feelings of another

ostracize

exclude from society or a group

vitriolic

filled with hatred

anomaly

something unusual or unexpected

condone

accept or allow

equivocal

allowing multiple meanings; ambiguous

etymology

the history of a word or phrase

ubiquitous

present appearing or found everywhere

incendiary

designed to cause fires

juxtraposition

two dissimilar things close together

xenophobia

fear of foreigners or strangers

zenith

the highest point of something

alfresco

taking place or located in the open air

bedlam

scene or state of wild uproar or confusion

ephemeral

lasting a very short time

glabella

the flat area of bone between the eyebrows