My Quarter 3 Vocab Mrs. England

Acclaim (n./v.)

praise; applaud

Adamant (adj.)

refusing to change; stubborn, unyielding

Aloof (adj.)

detached; apart; indifferent

Ameliorate (v.)

to make an unpleasant situation better; to improve

Anathema (n.)

a religious curse, or the thing or person being cursed

Apathy (n.)

lack of interest or concern

Ascendence (n.)

domination; controlling power

Ascetic (n./adj.)

a person who rejects physical comfort and luxury for self-discipline

Assuage (v.)

relieve; ease; pacify

Baleful (adj.)

harmful; menacing

Beguile (v.)

to cheat or deceive, usually through charm; to amuse

Bequeath (v.)

to leave behind or hand down through a will; transmit

Cacophony (n.)

harshness of sound; opposite of harmony

Capricious (adj.)

unpredictable

Celerity (n.)

speed

Choler (n.)

anger

Coalesce (v.)

unite; grow together

Concur (v.)

agree

Consummate (v./adj.)

to complete or make whole

Conundrum (n.)

riddle; mystery

Corporeal (adj.)

having to do with the body or the physical world

Cryptic (adj.)

hidden; secret; mysterious

Cursory (adj.)

quickly and incompletely done; superficial

Deprecate (v.)

disapprove; belittle

Despot (n.)

tyrant

Discerning (adj.)

insightful; perceptive

Disparate (adj.)

different

Distended (adj.)

swollen; extended

Eclectic (adj.)

choosing from many different sources; carefully selected

Effervescence (n.)

the quality of being bubbly or full of life

Enervate (v.)

sap the strength; weaken

Enmity (n.)

mutual hatred

Esoteric (adj.)

known to, or understood by, a limited group of people

Ethereal (adj.)

heavenly; fine; delicately beautiful

Expunge (v.)

erase

Extricate (v.)

to free from a trap or difficult situation; to disentangle

Fickle (adj.)

lacking loyalty; unpredictably changeable; erratic

Foment (v.)

to stir into action; rouse; incite

Furtive (adj.)

sneaky; secretive

Germane (adj.)

relevant; fitting

Hackneyed (adj.)

unoriginal; trite

Harangue (n./v.)

a long, lecturing speech

Heresy (n.)

an opinion expressed in defiance of generally accepted ideas

Homage (n.)

respect paid to someone or something; tribute; honor

Imbue (v.)

to fill, as with a strong dye or a strong feeling

Impasse (n.)

a situation from which you can not escape; stalemate

Inane (adj.)

silly; insignificant

Inchoate (adj.)

not yet fully developed

Indict (v.)

charge with a crime; accuse

Indolent (adj.)

lazy

Innate (adj.)

having a quality that arises from within, rather than acquired from the outside; native; inborn

Innocuous (adj.)

harmless, inoffensive

Intrinsic (adj.)

located within the very nature of an object or person; inherent

Jargon (n.)

specialized language used by a particular group

Jettison (v.)

to throw overboard; to disregard

Judicious (adj.)

wise; making good decisions

Juxtapose (v.)

to place side-by-side

Laud (v.)

praise; worship; extol

Lionize (v.)

to put someone onto a pedestal; to treat with great respect

Lugubrious (adj.)

mournful

Malediction (n.)

evil speech; curse

Marred (v./adj.)

spoiled, scratched, blemished

Mendacity (n.)

a lie; false statement

Mollify (v.)

lesson anger; sooth; placate

Nefarious (adj.)

extremely evil

Neophyte (n.)

beginner

Obdurate (adj.)

stubborn; unyielding

Obsequious (adj.)

behaving like a meek, spineless servant; subservient; sycophantic

Obviate (v.)

eliminate the need for something; make unnecessary

Opaque (adj.)

too dark or thick for light to pass through

Parsimony (n.)

stinginess; excessive frugality

Partisan (adj./n.)

blindly devoted to a cause or organization

Perspicacity (n.)

mental sharpness; keen insight; shrewdness

Pious (adj.)

exhibiting religious devotion

Pompous (adj.)

filled with self-importance; arrogance; obnoxiously proud

Precocious (adj.)

mature at a young age

Primordial (adj.)

formed long ago; primitive

Profuse (adj.)

in large amounts or quantities

Puerile (adj.)

childish

Quell (v.)

to calm; pacify

Rebuff (v./n.)

to ignore or reject strongly; snub

Recondite (adj.)

hidden; difficult to understand; profound

Reprimand (v./n.)

scold; criticize

Resign (v.)

give in; acquiesce; relinquish

Reticent (adj.)

quiet; uncommunicative

Sanguine (adj.)

optimistic; cheerful

Scanty (adj.)

small in quantity; insufficient

Sectarian (adj./n.)

limited to the beliefs of a small group, such as a religion sect; narrow in scope

Slough (v./n.)

discard; cast off; shed

Spurious (adj.)

false; fake; misleading

Stoic (n./adj.)

a person who shows no response to pleasure or pain; someone who is impassive

Succor (n./v.)

assistance; relief

Sycophant (n.)

someone who flatters in order to gain favor; wimpy follower

Temper (v./n.)

bring into balance; moderate

Tenuous (adj.)

thin; flimsy

Timorous (adj.)

afraid

Truculent (adj.)

aggressive; savage; cruel

Undulate (v.)

move in a wavy manner

Usurp (v.)

to seize or take over by force

Vacuous (adj.)

empty; stupid; purposeless