AP LANG MIDTERM

Acerbic

Negative: harsh or severe, as of temper or expression

Accusatory

Negative: containing or expressing accusation

Admonitory

Negative: tending or serving to admonish, warning

Ambivalent

Neutral: having mixed feelings about someone or something; being unable to choose between two (usually opposing) courses of action.

Amused

Positive: pleasurably entertained, occupied, or diverted.

Apathetic

Neutral: having or showing little emotion

Apologetic

Neutral/Negative: regretfully acknowledging or excusing an offense or failure

Apprehensive

Negative: uneasy or fearful about something that might happen

Authoritative

Positive/Neutral/Negative: having due authority; having the sanction or weight of authority.

Bitter

Negative: characterized by intense antagonism or hostility.

Capricious

Neutral/Negative: subject to, led by, or indicative of a sudden, odd notion or unpredictable change; erratic.

Caustic

Negative: severely critical or sarcastic

Cautionary

Negative: offering or serving as a warning

Cheerful

Positive: noticeable happy and optimistic

Compassionate

Positive: feeling or showing sympathy, compassion, and concern for others.

Concerned

Negative: worried, troubled, or anxious

Contemplative

Neutral: given to or characterized by contemplation.

Conciliatory

Positive: intended to resolve a disagreement, end conflict, or gain goodwill by showing a willingness to make concessions or find common ground

Condescending

Negative: showing or implying a usually patronizing descent from dignity or superiority.

Critical

Negative: finding fault, or expressing disapproval towards something

Cynical

Negative: distrusting or disparaging the motives of others; like or characteristic of a cynic.

Deferential

Positive/neutral: showing deference, respectful

Dejected

Negative: depressed in spirits; disheartened; low-spirited.

Detached

Neutral: impartial or objective; disinterested; unbiased, uninvolved.

Didactic

Neutral: intended for instruction; instructive.

Diplomatic

Neutral: skilled in dealing with sensitive matters or people, of or relating to diplomacy

Disdainful

Negative: full of or showing disdain, scornful

Disgruntled

Negative: displeased and discontented; sulky; peevish

Disgusted

Negative: to offend the good taste, moral sense, etc., of; cause extreme dislike or revulsion in.

Distressed

Negative: showing or suffering from distress, worried or upset

Droll

Positive: amusing in an odd way; whimsically humorous; waggish

Earnest

Positive: serious and zealous in intention, purpose, or effort, showing depth and sincerity of feeling.

Elegiac

Negative: expressing sorrow or lamentation.

Exasperated

Negative: feeling or expressing extreme annoyance or irritation.

Facetious

Neutral: lacking serious intent; concerned with something nonessential, amusing, or frivolous.

Factual

Neutral: of or relating to facts

Fearful

Negative: causing or apt to cause fear

Fervent

Positive: having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit, feeling, enthusiasm

Flippant

Neutral: frivolously disrespectful, shallow, or lacking in seriousness; characterized by levity

Frustrated

Negative: having a feeling of or filled with frustration; dissatisfied

Grave

Negative: serious or solemn

Harsh

Negative: grim or unpleasantly severe; stern; cruel; austere.

Haughty

Negative: disdainfully proud; scornfully arrogant; snobbish;

Hopeless

Negative: providing no hope, beyond optimism

Humorous

Positive: characterized by humor, funny, comical

Indifferent

Neutral: without interest or concern; not caring; apathetic

Indignant

Negative: feeling, characterized by, or expressing strong displeasure at something considered unjust, offensive, insulting, or base

Informal

Neutral: without formality or ceremony, casual

Inspiring

Positive: inspirational, giving positive or hopeful feelings

Irate

Negative: enraged, angry

Irked

Negative: irritate, annoy

Ironic

Neutral: of, relating to, or tending to use irony or mockery

Jingoistic

Neutral: militantly nationalistic or chauvinistic

Joyous

Positive: joyful; happy; jubilant

Laudatory

Positive: containing or expressing praise

Lugubrious

Negative: mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner

Macabre

Negative: gruesome and horrifying; ghastly; horrible, of, pertaining to, dealing with, or representing death, especially its grimmer or uglier aspect.

Maudlin

Neutral: tearfully or weakly emotional; foolishly sentimental

Mocking

Negative: showing ridicule, contempt, or derision

Mock-serious

Neutral: humorous pretense of seriousness.

Mystified

Neutral: expresses perplexity, bewilderment, and confusion through one's voice or expression, often to the point of not understanding something or someone

Nostalgic

Positive: experiencing or exhibiting nostalgia, a sentimental or wistful yearning for the happiness felt in a former place, time, or situation

Objective

Neutral: not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased

Optimistic

Positive: disposed to take a favorable view of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome

Passionate

Neutral: having, compelled by, or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling; fervid.

Patriotic

Neutral: expressing or inspired by patriotism

Patronizing

Negative: displaying or indicative of an offensively condescending manner.

Pedantic

Neutral: overly concerned with minute details or formalisms, especially in teaching.

Pessimistic

Negative: pertaining to or characterized by pessimism or the tendency to expect only bad outcomes; gloomy; joyless; unhopeful

Petulant

Negative: moved to or showing sudden, impatient irritation, especially over some trifling annoyance

Playful

Positive: pleasantly humorous or jesting

Pompous

Neutral: characterized by an ostentatious display of dignity or importance

Pretentious

Negative: characterized by assumption of dignity or importance, especially when exaggerated or undeserved.

Reflective

Neutral: given to, marked by, or concerned with meditation or deliberation

Regretful

Negative: full of regret; sorrowful because of what is lost, gone, or done.

Remorseful

Negative: full of remorse

Resigned

Neutral: submissive or acquiescent

Reverent

Positive: conveys deep respect, admiration, and awe toward a person or thing, often accompanied by solemnity and seriousness

Sardonic

Negative: characterized by bitter or scornful derision; mocking; sneering; cynical

Sarcastic

Neutral/negative: of, relating to, or characterized by sarcasm

Satirical

Neutral: of, pertaining to, containing, or characterized by satire.

Scathing

Negative: bitterly severe, as a remark

Scornful

Negative: full of scorn; derisive; contemptuous

Self-pitying

Negative: excessive, self-indulgent unhappiness over one's own misfortunes, accompanied by a feeling that one has suffered more than is fair or reasonable

Sentimental

Positive: expressive of or appealing to sentiment, especially the tender emotions and feelings, as love, pity, or nostalgia

Solemn

Negative: gravely or somberly impressive; causing serious thoughts or a grave mood.

Spiritual

Neutral: of or relating to spirits or to spiritualists; supernatural or spiritualistic.

Sympathetic

Neutral/positive: characterized by, proceeding from, exhibiting, or feeling sympathy; sympathizing; compassionate.

Threatening

Negative: tending or intended to menace

Urgent

Neutral: conveys a sense of pressing importance, requiring immediate action or attention

Vituperative

Negative: characterized by or of the nature of vituperation( verbal abuse)

Wistful

Neutral: characterized by melancholy or longing

Alliteration

The repetition of sounds, especially initial consonant sounds in two or more neighboring words used to reinforce meaning, unify ideas, supply a musical sound, and/or echo the sense of the passage.

Allusion

A direct or indirect reference to something which is presumably commonly known, such as an event, book, myth, place, or work of art. Allusions can be historical, literary, religious, topical, or mythical.

Analogy

A similarity or comparison between two different things or the relationship between them.

Anaphora

The repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences, used to create emphasis and rhythm.

Anecdote

A brief, engaging narrative about a specific, often personal, event or episode used to illustrate a point, inject humor, or provide a specific kind of evidence for an argument

Antithesis

A rhetorical device where two opposing ideas are placed side-by-side in a balanced, parallel structure to emphasize their contrast

Assonance

The repetition of vowel sounds within nearby words to create a musical or rhythmic effect, enhance emotional tone, and emphasize themes

Discourse

Any written or spoken communication, often specifically to the modes of discourse—Narration, Description, Exposition, and Persuasion/Argumentation