Sophomore English Vocab

Trepidation

Fear or anxiety about a possible future event.

Catalyst

A person or thing that causes something to happen.

Precipice

A tall, steep rock or cliff.

Diatribe

An insult; a verbal attack against someone or something.

Bastion

An organization, place or person that maintains and protects a particular culture or belief.

Pragmatic

Being realistic or taking practical issues into consideration.

Ubiquitous

Showing up everywhere.

Magnanimous

Generous and forgiving, especially towards an enemy or rival

Meticulous

Precise and careful, with great attention to detail.

Pedantic

Caring too much about specific, inconsequential details, especially in teaching.

Amiable

Nice, friendly

Deferential

Respectful, selfless

Cavalier

Bold, daring

Gregarious

Sociable, talkative

Incisive

Intelligent and clear-thinking

Innate

Something you’re born with

Pretentious

Showing off one’s wealth or talent

Irreverent

Disrespectful to something people take seriously

Eclectic

Deriving from a broad range of sources.

Formative

Influential to one’s development.

Delineate

Describe or portray something in detail.

Proliferate

Increase rapidly in numbers; multiply.

Polarize

Divide into two opposite groups.

Subjugate

Have control over another person.

Devise

Think of; plan

Galvanize

Inspire others to do something.

Mollify

Calm someone down; appease someone’s anger.

Prosecute

Institute legal proceedings against; accuse and bring to court.

Scrutinize

Inspect or examine in great detail.

Validate

Prove something to be correct

Opulent

Fancy, luxurious, wealthy.

Formidable

Intimidating, scary

Juxtaposition

Placing two things next to each other to contrast them.

Incredulous

Refusing to believe something.

Spartan

Simple and severe, lacking comfort.

Arduous

Difficult, requiring much strength and perseverance.

Colloquial

Used in everyday, casual conversations.

Emulate

To imitate something.

Candid

Brutally honest and straightforward.

Complacent

Overly relaxed.

Ambiguous

Unclear, open to interpretation

Clandestine

Secretive, shady

Egregious

Really very terribly horribly bad

Epitome

A perfect example of something

Facetious

Humorous, as a joke

Hubris

Excessive pride or self-confidence

Incongruous

Out of place; unusual compared to its surroundings

Myriad

A great number of something

Obtuse

Taking a while to understand things, or unwilling to do so

Ostentatious

Trying to attract attention by being flashy or obvious

Prognosticate

To predict a future event

Winnow

To reduce to the most valuable part of something.

Eschew

To avoid doing; refrain from

Goad

To annoy someone in order to get them to do something

Digress

To move away from the main subject

Astonish

To surprise or impress someone

Transcend

To go beyond the limits of something abstract

Equivocate

To hide information by speaking ambiguously

Ponder

To think carefully about something

Discern

To perceive or understand something

Avarice

Greed for money or material things

Erudite

Demonstrating one’s knowledge

Fortuitous

Happening unintentionally or by chance

Forbearance

Patience; refraining from action

Indolent

Lazy, unwilling to do anything

Nefarious

Evil or criminal

Puerile

Childish, immature

Reticent

Shy, secretive

Succinct

Expressed quickly and clearly

Vociferous

Passionately and loudly expressing one’s opinion