100 Word Vocab Test

Copious

Abundant, plentiful

Surreptitious

acting in a sly secretive manner

Edification

enlighten or instruct

Tenacious

tough, stubborn

Spurious

Not genuine, false

Enigma

Mystery

Gregarious

Sociable; enjoying the company of other people; tending to live in group

Benevolent

kind; generous; organized to do things for other people

Intrepid

fearless, bold, adventurous

Tumulus

a mound of earth and stones raised over a grace or graves; also known as barrows, burial mounds, or kurgans

Undulations

a rising and falling in waves; vibration; the pulsation caused by the

Mawkish

sad or romantic in a foolish or exaggerated way

Deleterious

harmful, often in a subtle or unexpected way

Apathy

showing or feeling no interest, enthusiasm, or concern

Feckless

weak, ineffective, worthless, irresponsible

Diffident

lacking confidence& not feeling comfortable around people& very careful about acting or speaking

Kismet

fate

Terse

to the point, concise; brief and direct in a way that seems unfriendly

Scrupulous

diligent, thorough, and extremely attentive to details

Hubris

exaggerated pride or self confidence

Enervate

to weaken mentally or morally or wear down

Evanescent

tending to vanish like vapor; fleeting or temporary

Facetious

Cleverly amusing in tone with a hint of sarcasm

Filibuster

a tactic for delaying legislation by making long speeches

Gauche

lacking social polish, tacky, rude, graceless, foolish

Assuage

make an unpleasant feeling less intense or to satisfy an appetite or a desire

Malevolent

having or show a wish to do evil

Nebulous

lacking definition or define content; vague

Sojourn

a temporary stay; stays somewhere temporarily

Taciturn

uncommunicative, reserved, talks little

Anachronism

representing someone as existing or something as happening in other than chronological, proper, or historical order

Bellicose

having or showing a ready disposition to fight; eager for war

Chicanery

the use of tricks to deceive someone

Abate

To put an end to; to cause to cease; to become null and void

Circumlocution

an indirect way of expressing something; going round and round to get to the point

Venerable

accorded a great deal of respect, especially because of age, wisdom or character

Tactful

having a sense of what is considerate in dealing with others

Elucidate

Make something clear; explain

Vindicate

Show to be right by providing justification or proof

Pragmatic

dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations

Reclusive

Withdrawn from society; seeking solitude

Impetuous

characterized by undue haste and lack of thought

Opulent

Rich and superior in quality

Ostentatious

Intended to attract notice and impress others

Prudent

Marked by sound judgment; showing care for the future

Wary

Marked by keen caution and watchful prudence

Simile

A figure of speech in which the words like or as are used to compare two apparently dissimilar items The comparison surprises the reader into a fresh perception by finding an unexpected likeness

Metaphor

A figure of speech in which one thing is spoken of as though it were something else (Differs from simile in that is does not use like or as to show the comparison)

Personification

A type of figurative language in which a nonhuman subject is given human characteristics

Alliteration

The repetition of initial consonant sounds/Used to give emphasis to words, to imitate sounds, and to create musical effects

Allusion

A reference to a well known person, place, event, literary work, or work of art

Transient

Lasting a very short time

Nonchalant

Marked by blithe unconcern

Parched

Dried out by heat or excessive exposure to sunlight

Perfidious

Tending to betray

Consonance

repetition of final consonant sounds in stressed syllables that end with different vowel sounds

Assonance

Repetition of similar vowel sound in stressed syllables that end with different consonant sounds

Theme

Central idea of a work

Stanza

A group of lines in a poem that is separated from other stanzas by space

Free verse

Poems that do not follow specific set patterns

Allay

To calm a strong emotion like anger, fear, or suspicions To relieve or reduce pain

Adroit

endowed with physical or mental skills - ingenious, nimble, skillful

Adage

a short traditional saying that expresses something accepted as a general truth

A cappella

music without accompaniment from musical instrument

Accolade

an expression of high praise or esteem

Sonnet

a 14 line poem - usually written in iambic pentameter that follows a definite rhyme scheme

Blank Verse

a poem written in unrhymed iambic pentameter - which means that each line contains ten syllables and every other syllable is stressed This pattern best captures the way we talk

Monologue

a long speech made by one character

Soliloquy

a speech given by a character alone on stage that reveals the character's thoughts and feelings

Aside

A statement made by a character in a play that's intended to be heard by the audience but not by the other characters on the stage

Accentuate

stress or single out as important

Pulverize

make into a powder by breaking up or cause to become dust

Hypocrisy

pretending to have qualities or beliefs that you do not have

Despondent

without or almost without hope

Deign

Do something that one considers to be below one's dignity

Oxymoron

A combination of words, or parts of words, that contradict each other Examples& "deafening silence," "honest thief," "wise fool," and "bittersweet"

Dramatic Irony

A contradiction between what a character thinks and what the audience knows to be true For example if a character tries desperately to crack a safe when the audience already knows the safe is empty - this causes dramatic irony causing humor or tension

Situational Irony

This occurs when events in a story go directly against the expectations of the main characters or the reader Examples the good guy loses; a firehouse burns

al Irony

This occurs when you say one thing but you actually mean something else - sometimes referred to as sarcasm Your mom says she's taking you out to McDonalds for a hamburger happy meal and you say "oh joy!" when really you stopped liking happy meals ten years ago

Foil

A character who provides a contrast to another character In Romeo and Juliet, the fiery temper of Tybalt serves as a foil to the good nature of Benvolio

Acumen

shrewdness shown by keen insight

Auspicious

favorable circumstances and good luck

Belie

be in contradiction with; characteristics which inadvertently hide the truth

Coalesce

To come together in a mass or a whole, to merge or combine into one whole

Eclectic

deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources

Fatuous

silly, foolish; lacking intelligence

Impunity

exemption from punishment or freedom from the injurious consequences of an action

Inculcate

Teach and impress by frequent repetitions

Jejune

Lacking interest or significance or impact; naive, simplistic, and superficial

Kowtow

Bend the knees and bow in a servile manner

Logy

dull and heavy in motion - sluggish or groggy

Meander

To follow a winding course; to wander at random

Nonpareil

having no equal

Oscillate

To move or swing forth at regular speed; To waver between extremes of opinion, action, or quality

Mercurial

A person subject to unpredictable changes of mood or mind; also - a drug or compound made of mercury and of the planet Mercury

Petulant

Childishly sulky or bad&tempered

Repose

freedom from activity, to lie at rest, to lie dead

Revenant

one who returns after a lengthy absence or death

Xenophobia

a fear of foreigners or strangers

Ziggurat

A rectangular tiered temple or terraced mound