WordlyWise 5-6

acrimony

n. bitterness or sharpness of temper, manner or speech; hostility

affinity

n. attraction for someone or something, feel the need to care for them

ambivalent

adj. having mixed feelings about something; indecisive

cessation

n. a stopping of something, final or temporary

emaciated

adj. very thin from lack of nourishment; scrawny

enclave

n. a region that belongs to a larger territory

engender

v. to produce

exacerbate

v. to make more severe; violent

illicit

adj. not allowed; unlawful

indigenous

adj. naturally living or growing in a certain area; native

inexorable

adj. not to be stopped by plea; relentless

infatuated

adj. filled with excessive love or desire

insatiable

adj. never satisfied; greedy

poignant

adj. painfully moving, affecting, or touching

proselytize

v. to persuade someone to convert to a faith, belief, or cause

ameliorate

v. to make/become better; to improve

baleful

adj. Expressing hatred or evil; harmful, ominous

berate

v. to criticize vigorously; to scold

circumvent

v. to avoid through craftiness

compunction

n. a feeling of uneasiness/anxiety caused by guilt

condone

v. to accept without punishment; pardon, excuse

diminutive

adj. very small; tiny

euphemism

n. a term used to avoid directly naming something which is considered offensive

expendable

adj. able to be used up and then discarded/replaced

heresy

n. an opinion that is contradictory; especially which contradicts religious teachings

infirmity

n. physical or mental weakness

profane

v. to treat with scorn

1. adj. discrespectful of sacred things

2. adj. not connected with religion; worldly

recompense

v. to pay or compensate

n. payment, compensation

repast

n. food and drink; a meal

servitude

n. a lack of freedom; forced labor