Advanced Vocabulary: Definitions and Usage of Key Words

Accost

To approach and speak to first

Acquisitive

Obsessed with acquiring things

Articulate

Well-spoken, eloquent

Atrophy

To weaken, wither away

Avid

Showing great enthusiasm for something

Bastion

A stronghold; a place where people share common traits or values

Belabor

To repeat a point too often

Cavort

To leap about and play

Celerity

Quickness of movement or action

Coherent

Logical (of an idea); sticking together (of a group, team, etc.)

Congeal

To turn from liquid to solid

Decry

To criticize strongly and publicly

Disarray

A state of great disorder or messiness

Dissemble

To hide your true reasons for doing something

Distraught

Visibly upset

Emulate

To imitate something (as a role model)

Eschew

To choose to avoid (doing something)

Exhume

To dig up a dead body

Flotsam

Wreckage from a shipwreck

Frenetic

Energetic (in a wild way)

Gambit

A scheme or plan to gain a strategic advantage

Germane

Relevant, related (to a topic)

Glean

To gather or collect bit-by-bit

Halcyon

Peaceful, relaxing (describes a time in one's life)

Incarcerate

To put (someone) in jail

Incendiary

Likely to cause fire or explosion

Incumbent

Required, necessary

Jocular

In a joking, humorous mood.

Largesse

Generosity

Ludicrous

Ridiculous, unbelievable

Murky

Unclear; hard to see through (describes liquids or ideas)

Nefarious

Extremely evil

Nettle

To annoy (someone)

Overt

Done in the open (without trying to conceal it)

Piquant

Sharp-smelling (in a good way)

Pusillanimous

Cowardly

Sacrilege

Offensive to a person's beliefs (especially religious beliefs)

Stratagem

A plan or scheme (especially to outwit an opponent)

Substantiate

To provide evidence (to support an idea)

Taciturn

Silent, unwilling to talk

Talisman

A magic object

Undulate

To move back-and-forth like a wave

Verbiage

Excessive and unnecessary words

Viscous

Thick (of a liquid), hard to pour