AP Lang Justice Unit Vocabulary

Expedient

something done or used to achieve a particular end usually quickly or temporarily

Alacrity

promptness in response; cheerful readiness

Conscientious

exercising attentive care to avoid errors or omissions; concerned with doing something according to one's conscience

Allegiance

devotion or loyalty to a person, group, or cause; fidelity owed by a citizen or noncitizen resident to a sovereign or government

Demagogue

a political leader who appeals to popular prejudices and who makes false claims and promises in order to gain power

Paternalistically

making decisions for others, assuming they cannot make the best choices themselves, think of a “fatherly” figure

Precipitate

to bring about especially abruptly

Vitriolic

marked by a caustic biting quality

Prophetic

of, relating to, or characteristic of a prophet or prophecy, which is a prediction of something to come

Anesthetizing

subject to a loss of sensation with or without loss of consciousness

Inchoate

being only partly in existence or operation; imperfectly formed, incoherent

Carceral

of, relating to, or suggesting a jail or prison

Scion

a descendant of a wealthy, aristocratic, or influential family

Vessel

a container (such as a cask, bowl) for holding something; a person into whom some quality (such as grace) is infused

Incomparable

eminent beyond comparison; matchless

Immutable

not capable of or susceptible to change

Arbitrary

chosen or decided seemingly at random or on a whim rather than in a reasoned or methodical way

Insidious

causing harm in a way that is gradual or not easily noticed; having a gradual and cumulative negative effect

denigrating

tending or serving to insult or belittle someone

Anachronism

an error in chronology