(ULTIMATE) AP LANG VOCAB

aberration

noun – deviating from the right path or usual course of action/ a mental disorder, especially of a minor or temporary nature. "We were convinced that Ed’s poor test marks were an aberration and that he would do better the next time."

belittle

verb – to make something seem less important. "The purpose of much campaign oratory is to belittle your opponent’s record."

cache

noun – a hiding place/ something hidden in a hiding place. Police searched in vain for "the cache of jewels which the thieves had skillfully concealed."

dearth

noun – shortage. "The dearth of citrus fruits led to a host of illnesses."

ebb

verb – to decline. Investors watched their fortunes ebb as the stock market plunged to a new low

facilitate

verb – to make easy/ to bring about. "To facilitate our move, the company sent a crew to crate all of the furniture."

galvanize

verb – to arouse suddenly/ to startle. It took a mishap at Chernobyl to galvanize the peace movement into protesting vigorously.

hackneyed

adjective – used too often/trite/ commonplace. Creative writers cringe when they hear egregiously hackneyed expressions.

iconoclast

noun – a person who attacks cherished beliefs or established institutions. When she shook up the conservative firm, Gloria earned the reputation of being an iconoclast.

jargon

noun – the specialized vocabulary of members of a group. The club members adopted a jargon that made them feel exclusive.

kindle

verb – to ignite/to arouse or inspire/ to catch fire/ to become aroused. With the wind blowing furiously, Ted found it difficult to kindle a fire.

labyrinth

noun- a maze/ a complicated, perplexing arrangement or course of affairs. Once inside the cave, the searchers were confronted with a labyrinth that defied them to find the route to the wounded explorer.

malicious

adjective- spiteful/ intentional mischievous or harmful. The malicious man lead the widow through a labyrinth or schemes to deprive her of her fortune.

nomenclature

noun – a systematic naming in an art or science. The nomenclature can be quickly mastered by using memory devices.

obliterate

verb – to blot out leaving no traces/ to destroy. The authorities feared that the heavy rain would obliterate all signs of the escaped prisoner.

abstinence

noun – the giving up of certain pleasures such as food or drink. Myra’s abstinence from cake, candy, and ice cream led to a dramatic weight loss.

bequeath

verb – to leave money or property by a will/to pass along. The austere, old tightwad would not bequeath even one penny to charity.

cacophony

noun- discord/harsh sound. While we sought harmony, our enemies were pleased with cacophony.

debilitate

verb – to weaken. The cruel jailer starved his prisoners in order to debilitate them.

eclectic

adjective – consisting of selections from various sources. With an eclectic interest in books, Sheila collected everything from Shakespeare to Superman.

fallacy

noun – false idea/mistaken belief. The economist revealed the fallacy in the government’s proposal.

garbled

adjective – confused/ mixed up. The garbled message failed to facilitate the ambulance’s arrival.

haphazard

adjective – not planned/ random. Taking haphazard aim, the hunter committed a fatal error.

immaterial

adjective – insignificant/ unimportant. The prosecutor objected to the attorney’s exhibit, disparaging it as amateurish and immaterial.

judicious

adjective – wise careful/ showing sound judgment, prudent. Gary thought it more judicious to speak to his mother rather than his father about extending his curfew time.

lackluster

adjective – lacking brightness/ dull/ lacking liveliness, vitality, or enthusiasm. His lackluster response to our suggestions made us lose our initial enthusiasm.

marred

verb – injured spoiled/ damaged/ disfigured. The fight in the corridor marred Lorna’s otherwise perfect record as a model student.

nonchalance

noun – carelessness/ lack of interest or concern. Edward’s nonchalance about his studies made it difficult to lampoon him about his poor showing in the midterm exams.

obscure

adjective – not clear or distinct/ hidden/ remote/ not well known. Far from the well traveled highway was an obscure village that seemed to belong to another age.

painstaking

adjective – very careful, diligent. Researchers are engaged in a painstaking effort to find a vaccine against the AIDS virus.

abstract; adjective

theoretical, not applied or practical; not concrete; hard to understand. I prefer realistic art to abstract paintings, which are totally confusing to me.

bizarre; adjective

strikingly odd in appearance or style; grotesque. The beggar’s bizarre street behavior alerted the police to question her.

cajole; verb

to persuade by pleasant words or false promises. First he tried to cajole the witness into testifying, then he used threats.

decadence; noun

decay; decline. Many sermons tend to focus on the moral decadence in our time.

efface; verb

to wipe out; to erase. A devious attempt to efface the signature didn’t fool the bank teller.

fastidious; adjective

hard to please; dainty in taste. Everett was so fastidious that his messy fraternity brothers refused to room with him.

garner; verb

to gather and store away; to collect. By paying close attention, you may be able to garner some information will elucidate the situation.

hedonist; noun

one who lives solely for pleasure. Abandoning her lifestyle as a hedonist, Maria entered a convent.

imminent; adjective

about to occur. The ominous clouds told us that a storm was imminent.

laconic; adjective

brief or terse in speech; using few words. The tense situation called for a laconic reply, not a lengthy exposition.

meager; adjective

thin; lean; of poor quality or small amount. The visiting team lampooned the meager dinner served by their hosts.

obsolete; adjective

out-of-date. Propeller planes have become obsolete.

pariah; noun

an outcast. The Western mind finds it difficult to accept the idea of a pariah class.

quandary; noun

condition of being doubtful or confused. The benefits and dangers of a nuclear plant leave us in a quandary.

raconteur; noun

a person skilled at telling stories or anecdotes. Comedians and masters of ceremonies must be consummate raconteurs.

acclaim;

noun - loud applause; approval. Jonas Salk won great acclaim for his medical discoveries.

blithe;

adjective - happy and cheerful; gay. Lori's blithe attitude toward her terrible predicament was bizarre indeed.

callous;

adjective - unfeeling; insensitive. It was a surprise to see the tears flowing from someone we had considered to be callous.

deference;

noun - great respect. Out of deference to my father, we never smoked in the house.

effervescent;

adjective - lively; giving off bubbles. Because I do not enjoy carbonated drinks, I do not like the effervescent quality of ginger ale.

fervor;

noun - intense emotion; great warmth of feeling. Alicia does her volunteer work with tremendous fervor.

garrulous;

adjective - talkative. Nothing galvanizes me into leaving a beauty parlor as much as a garrulous hairdresser.

heretic;

noun - a person who upholds religious doctrines contrary to the established beliefs of his church. Severely chastised for being a heretic, brother Vincent was asked to leave the monastery.

immutable;

adjective - never changing. My father's immutable optimism can be traced back to the pleasant atmosphere in my grandmother's home.

lampoon;

noun - strong, satirical writing, usually attacking or ridiculing someone. The college quarterly featured a lampoon of fraternity hazing.

meandering;

verb - winding back and forth; rambling. Meandering through the crowded streets of a foreign city is my idea of a tourist's delight.

officious;

adjective - meddling; giving unnecessary or unwanted advice or services. Mr. Klar's officious manner helped him gain friends easily but lose them in short order.

parsimonious;

adjective - too thrifty; stingy. Dickens' Scrooge, before his metamorphosis, is regarded as the prototype of the parsimonious man.

querulous;

adjective - peevish; faultfinding; expressing or suggestive of complaint. We tend to turn a deaf ear to querulous demands for attention.

rancor;

noun - deep spite or malice; strong hate or bitter feeling. A forgiving heart will save you from the corrosive effects of rancor.

acquiesce; verb

to accept the conclusions or arrangements of others; to accede; to give consent by keeping silent. The president said that we will never acquiesce to the demands of the terrorists.

bombastic; adjective

high-sounding; marked by use of language without much real meaning. The citizens failed to be aroused by their mayor’s bombastic speech.

capitulate; verb

to surrender; to cease resisting. Colonel Leeds was adamant in his decision not to capitulate under any terms.

deflate; verb

to let air out of; to reduce in size or importance. The boss’s criticism deflated John’s ego.

egregious; adjective

extraordinarily bad. An egregious bookkeeping error cost our company $1,000,000.

fitful; adjective

spasmodic; intermittent. Monte’s fitful sleep tended to exacerbate his normal irritability.

gratuitous; adjective

freely given; unnecessary; uncalled-for. Hillary’s gratuitous suggestion was rejected by the other guests who blithely ignored it.

hierarchy; noun

organization by rank, class, or grade. In the company’s hierarchy, I’m the low man on the totem pole.

impartial; adjective

fair; just; showing no favoritism. An impartial attorney was asked to serve as a judge in the dispute.

lassitude; noun

state or feeling of being tired and listless; weariness. Lassitude comes from a feeling of hopelessness.

meticulous; adjective

very careful about details; fussy. Sidney was meticulous about his clothing but quite sloppy about his room.

opportunist; noun

one who takes advantage of any opportunity without regard for moral principles. The opportunist is so anxious to get ahead that he is ready to ignore the needs, feelings, and welfare of his fellow man.

partisan; noun

on who strongly supports a party or cause; characteristic of a guerilla fighter. A partisan of the animal rights cause, John believes all use of animals for testing should be banned.

quixotic; adjective

idealistic and utterly impractical. It is quixotic to think that we can ignore the environmental consequences of pollution.

raze; verb

to tear down completely; to destroy. The corporation voted to raze the decaying structure and replace it with a modern skyscraper.

admonish; verb

to advise against something; to warn; to scold gently; to urge strongly. This is the last time I plan to admonish you about coming late to work.

buffoon; noun

a clown; someone who amuses with tricks and jokes. After Bert had a few drinks, he became a willing buffoon at the party.

capricious; adjective

changeable, fickle. Our weather is so capricious that it’s difficult to make weekend plans.

delineate; verb

to describe in words; to sketch. When challenged to delineate Sam’s crass behavior, we were speechless.

elucidate; verb

to make clear. Public relations experts were hired to elucidate the chairman’s position.

flagrant; adjective

outrageous; glaringly offensive. After having been accused of a flagrant misuse of company funds, the treasurer resigned.

guile; noun

crafty deceit; cunning. Many clever figures from Greek mythology relied upon guile as an expedient.

homogeneous; adjective

similar; uniform in nature. The Shore Road finds that homogeneous grouping of pupils facilitates learning.

impassive; adjective

without feelings or emotion; insensible. Good poker players are supposed to maintain impassive appearances.

latent; adjective

present but invisible or inactive; lying hidden and undeveloped. Marilyn’s latent charm came to the fore after she got a few tactful pointers from her sister.

mitigate; verb

to make or to become milder or less severe; to moderate. The doctor assured Mrs. Shiller that the medicine would mitigate her pain in a short time.

opulent; adjective

wealthy; abundant. The opulent family chose to spend money for the public benefit rather than for private indulgences.

paucity; noun

scarcity; smallness in number or amount. The paucity of rain in the Midwest will cause a serious food shortage in the months to come.

rebuff; verb

to refuse in a sharp or due way; to snub; to drive or beat back. It was sheer luck that the outnumbered patrol was able to rebuff the enemy attack.

sagacious; adjective

very wise or shrewd. Glen turned to his father for advice, for he knew him to be sagacious and understanding.

advocate; verb

to support; to be in favor of. Because the candidate may advocate many new social programs, he is being called a big spender.

carping; adjective

complaining. His carping criticism of the book was upsetting to the author.

demeanor; noun

behavior. When the twins adopted a conciliatory tone, Sal’s demeanor changed abruptly.

elusive; adjective

hard to grasp; baffling. The philosopher’s main point was so elusive that we never did fully comprehend it.

fledgling; adjective

newly developed; little known. Luckily, the fledgling pilot’s egregious blunder was discovered before the plane departed.

gullible; adjective

easily deceived. The con man told a flagrant lie but the gullible investors swallowed it.

hyperbole; noun

an exaggerated statement used as a figure of speech for rhetorical effect. Ione uses hyperbole when galvanizing her sales force into a frenzy of selling.

imperturbable; adjective

not easily excited or disturbed. We couldn’t believe that Rafael would be that imperturbable in the midst of a riot.

laudable; adjective

worthy of praise. The board rewarded Ellen’s laudable achievements by promoting her to chief executive officer.

morose; adjective

gloomy; bad-tempered. Joan’s morose nature makes her always expect the worst.