Advanced Vocabulary Flashcards: Definitions and Usage of 30 Words

Apoplectic

Overcome with anger, extremely indignant

Assiduous

Showing great care and perseverance

August

Respected and impressive - marked by majestic dignity or grandeur

Belie

Fail to give a true notion or impression of (something); disguise or contradict

Cabal

A secret political clique or faction

Ebullient

Cheerful and full of energy

Elucidate

Make something clear, explain

Enmity

The state or feeling of being actively opposed or hostile to someone or something

Ennui

A feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from a lack of occupation or excitement

Eschew

Deliberately avoid using; abstain from

Extrapolate

Extend the application of (a method or conclusion) to an unknown situation by assuming that existing trends will continue

Impervious

Not allowing fluid to pass through; unable to be affected by

Incongruous

Not in harmony or keeping with the surroundings or other aspects of something

Inexorable

Impossible to stop or prevent

Mitigate

Make less severe, serious, or painful

Obfuscate

Render obscure, unclear, or unintelligible

Ostensibly

Apparently or purportedly, but perhaps not actually

Pernicious

Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way

Pontificate

Expressing oneself in a way that is considered annoyingly pompous

Prevaricate

To speak or act in an evasive way

Prolific

Intellectually productive; producing or capable of producing abundantly

Pugnacious

Eager or quick to argue, quarrel, or fight

Salient

Most noticeable or important; prominent or conspicuous

Scrupulous

Diligent, thorough, and extremely attentive to details

Sibilant

Making or characterized by a hissing sound

Specious

Superficially plausible, but actually wrong; having a false look of truth or genuineness

Superfluous

Unnecessary, more than enough, redundant

Supplication

The action of asking or begging for something earnestly or humbly

Surfeit

An excessive amount of something

Trepidation

A feeling of fear or agitation about something that may happen

Unassailable

Unable to be attacked, questioned, or defeated

Unctuous

(Of a person) excessively or ingratiatingly flattering; oily

Untenable

(Especially of a position or view) not able to be maintained or defended against attack or objection

Vapid

Offering nothing that is stimulating or challenging

Vociferous

(Of a person or speech) passionate and loud - so loud or insistent as to demand action