Hard Words 2

Abscond

To run off and hide

Accentuate

To stress, highlight

Ambivalent

Having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone

Antagonize

To cause someone to become hostile

Apathy

A lack of feeling, emotion, or interest

Apostasy

The denial of God and the repudiation of faith

Apprehensive

Uneasy or fearful about something that might happen

Arraign

To bring before a court to face charges

Attrition

A natural loss of individuals

Bashful

Shy, excessively timid

Befuddled

Confused

Beleaguer

To besiege by encircling (as with an army); to harass

Cessation

A stopping, either final or temporary

Chastice

Rebuke or reprimand severely

Circumvent

To get around; to bypass

Clemency

Mercy

Clinch

To make certain or final; settle, secure

Coalesce

Come together and form one mass or whole

Coalition

A combination, union, or merger for some specific purpose

Coerce

To force by using pressure, intimidation, or threats

Collude

Conspire; cooperate for illegal or fraudulent purposes

Complicit

Being an accomplice in a wrongful act

Concession

Something given up or yielded

Concoct

To prepare by combining ingredients, make up (as a dish); to devise, invent, fabricate

Conspire

to plan together secretly to do something wrong or illegal

Contemptuous

Feeling hatred; scornful

Contention

heated disagreement

Counterintuitive

Goes against your gut feeling or common sense

Depravity

Moral corruption, a wicked or perverse act

Despondent

Sad, without hope, discouraged

Deviant

Differing from the norm

Digress

To stray from the main subject

Disgruntled

Angry or dissatisfied

Disparity

Inequality; difference

Disperse

Distribute or spread over a wide area

Dissent

To disagree

Doozy

Something outstanding or unique of its kind

Dreary

Bleak, and lifeless; depressing

Dwindle

To diminish gradually in size, amount, or strength

Egregious

Extremely bad

Elicit

To draw forth, bring out from some source

Emanate

To come out from a source

Encapsulate

to express the most important parts of something in a few words, a small space, or a single object, sum up

Enthuse

To cause or become extremely excited

Espouse

To support

Evocative

Bringing strong images, memories, or feelings to mind

Exorbitant

Unreasonably high

Extraneous

Coming from the outside, foreign; present but not essential, irrelevant

Flagrant

Extremely or deliberately shocking or noticeable

Frivolous

Lacking in seriousness or importance

Sumptuous

Extravagantly splendid or costly; luxurious

Swindle

To cheat someone out of money or property

Transgression

A violation of a law, command, or duty

Unconscionable

Not guided by conscience; morally wrong, unjust, unreasonable

Unequivocal

Clear, obvious

Unscrupulous

Dishonest; not guided or controlled by moral principles

Vagrant

A wandering homeless person

Vitriolic

Filled with bitter criticism or malice

Welch

To break a promise, go back on an agreement, or fail to pay a debt

Wince

To draw back suddenly, as though in pain or fear, flinch

Woozy

Unsteady, dizzy, or dazed

Yap

To talk a lot, especially about unimportant or silly things, or to make a sharp, high bark like a small dog

Furtive

Secret, stealthy

Futile

Useless; pointless

Gaggle

A flock of geese on the ground or water, or a noisy, disorganized group of people.

Giddy

Feeling dizzy or lightheaded, or being overwhelmingly silly, happy, and excited.

Ignominious

Deserving or causing public disgrace or shame

Impede

To slow the progress of

Impediment

A barrier; obstruction

Implicate

To show to be involved with something, especially something dishonest or illegal

Implicit

Implied though not plainly expressed

Indignant

Feeling or showing anger or annoyance at what is perceived as unfair treatment

Inference

A conclusion one can draw from the presented details.

Inimitable

Impossible to imitate or copy

Innocuous

Not harmful or offensive

Intrepid

Very brave, fearless

Irreverent

Not showing proper respect

Languish

To become weak or feeble; to lose strength

Mangle

To injure very seriously by cutting, tearing, crushing, etc

Mingle

To mix or combine

Mitigate

Make less severe, serious, or painful

Oblivious

Totally unaware

Obsequious

Obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree

Ostracize

To exclude from a group

Palpable

Able to be touched or felt

Paltry

An amount or thing is too small, poor, or worthless to matter

Pensive

Thoughtful; melancholy

Pert

High-spirited; lively; bold, saucy; jaunty

Platitudes

A remark or statement, especially one with a moral content, that has been used too often to be interesting or thoughtful.

Plight

A dangerous, difficult, or otherwise unfortunate situation

Pontificate

Speak pompously or dogmatically

Precarious

Dangerous; risky; lacking in security or stability

Precipice

A very steep cliff; the brink or edge of disaster

Precipitous

Rapid, uncontrolled

Predicament

A difficult, unpleasant, or embarrassing situation

Predisposed

Having an inclination or tendency beforehand; susceptible

Presumptuous

Assuming too much; arrogant

Procurement

Purchases inputs such as raw materials, resources, equipment, and supplies

Prognostic

Forecast, prediction

Quaint

Charmingly old-fashioned