AP Lang Vocab 15-16

Venial: adjective

Venial: adjective

-A petty offense, one that is pardonable

-(of a fault or offense) slight and pardonable

Officious: adjective

-objectionably forward in offering unrequested and unwanted air or advice

-Interfering;meddlesome

-objectionably aggressive in offering one's unrequested and unwanted services, help, or advice

Droll: adjective

-amusing (but in an odd way)

-whimsy, a waggish humor

-amusingly odd or whimsically comical

Altruism: noun

-concern for the welfare of others;selflessness

-when we act to promote someone else's welfare, even at a risk or cost to ourselves.

Machinatism: noun

-an artful device or action, generally with evil intent or goal

-Scheme;conspiracy

Tsunami: noun

-an unusually large wave produced by a seaquake or undersea volcanic eruption

Attrition: adjective

-the act of weakening, exhausting by constant harassment or abuses

-Abrasion;wearing away

-the action or process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness of someone or something through sustained attack or pressure

Vitiate: verb

-to impair the quality of, to invalidate, to corrupt or to pervert

-Invalidate;corrupt

-to make faulty or defective

Cenotaph: noun

-a tomb or monument erected in honor of a person whose body is buried elsewhere

Inveterate: adjective

-habitual, firmly established over a long and persistent period of time

Gambit: noun

-the purpose of a gambit is to gain an advantage, whether at chess or conducting foreign policy

-”the act of tripping”

-Ploy;ruse

Caldron:noun

-a very large kettle

Tyro: noun

-a beginner, a novice, an initiate

Dissipate: verb

-to scatter, dispel, or disperse

Deprecate: verb

-to express serious disapproval, to depreciate, to belittle

-Disapproval;belittle

Attenuate: verb

-to make thin

-a reduction, a lessening

Accolade: noun

-any form of public praise not unlike that accorded knights of old

-award;citation

Supplicate: verb

-to make humble and earnest entreaty, to implore, to beg

-To implore;to beg

-ask or beg for something earnestly or humbly

Maelstrom: noun

-a whirling stream, a whirlpool -a restless, tumultuous state of affairs, topsy-turvy

*emily dickinson poem-maelstrom*

Myriad: adjective

-countless or innumerable