AP English Literature – Summer Vocabulary 2025

Flashcards covering every bold vocabulary term and its key synonyms from pages 2–6 of the AP English Literature summer reading packet.

Proscribe

to forbid or prohibit, especially by law

Debauch

to corrupt morally; lead into drunken or sensual excess

Debauchery

excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures; immoral living

Profligacy

reckless extravagance or shamelessly immoral behavior

Licentious

sexually unrestrained; lacking moral discipline

Prurient

having or encouraging an excessive interest in sexual matters

Salacious

lewd or obscene; arousing sexual desire

Demagogue

a political leader who gains support by appealing to emotions and prejudices rather than reason

Demagoguery

the practices or rhetoric of a demagogue; manipulative populist appeals

Umbrage

offense or annoyance

Travail

painful or laborious effort; hardship

Veracity

truthfulness; conformity to facts

Veracious

truthful; honest

Voracious

ravenously hungry; having an insatiable appetite or eagerness

Rapacious

aggressively greedy or grasping

Rapacity

extreme greed for wealth or plunder

Encomium

a formal expression of high praise

Plaudits

enthusiastic approval or applause

Accolades

awards or expressions of praise

Laudation

the act of praising; commendation

Panegyric

a formal or elaborate praise, often in speech or writing

Banal

lacking originality; trite

Prosaic

dull, ordinary, unimaginative

Dereliction

willful neglect of duty or obligation

Derelict

(adj.) abandoned or neglected; (n.) a homeless or jobless person

Travesty

a grotesque or absurd imitation; a mockery

Anathema

something or someone intensely disliked or forbidden

Perfidy

deliberate breach of faith; treachery

Perfidious

disloyal; deceitful

Treachery

betrayal of trust

Treacherous

dangerously unstable or deceitful

Ignominy

public shame or disgrace

Ignominious

deserving or causing disgrace or shame

Pyrrhic

describing a victory won at such great cost it equals defeat

Surfeit

an excessive amount of something

Dour

relentlessly severe, stern, or gloomy

Slothful

lazy; indolent

Sloth

habitual laziness; one of the seven deadly sins

Pithy

concise and forcefully expressive

Terse

brief and to the point

Laconic

using very few words

Orotund

pompous or bombastic in style; full-sounding

Bloviate

to speak pompously and at great length

Bombastic

high-sounding but with little meaning; inflated

Nemesis

a long-standing rival; an inescapable agent of downfall

Acquisitive

excessively interested in acquiring money or material things

Pariah

an outcast

Paradigm

a typical example or model

Ebullient

cheerful and full of energy

Ebullience

lively enthusiasm

Culpable

deserving blame

Culpability

responsibility for a fault or wrong

Exculpate

to clear from blame

Exonerate

to absolve from blame for a fault or wrongdoing

Recondite

little-known; difficult to understand

Arcane

understood by few; mysterious or secret

Esoteric

intended for or understood by a small, specialized group

Abstruse

hard to understand; recondite

Obscure

not clearly expressed or easily understood; hidden

Peremptory

insisting on immediate obedience; not open to appeal

Countermand

to revoke or cancel an order

Pertinacious

stubbornly persistent; holding firmly to an opinion

Lambent

softly glowing or flickering

Peccadillo

a minor offense or fault

Cupidity

eager or excessive desire for wealth; greed

Tawdry

showy but cheap and of poor quality

Meretricious

apparently attractive but having no real value; gaudy

Internecine

mutually destructive; deadly to both sides

Imbroglio

a complicated, confusing situation

Impetus

a driving force; stimulus

Perspicacious

having keen insight and understanding

Confluence

the junction of two or more streams; a coming together

Effluence

outflow, especially of waste into water

Simplistic

treating complex issues as if they are simple

Ablutions

ritual washings or cleansing of the body

Abstemious

marked by restraint, especially in eating or drinking

Amulet

an object worn to protect against evil or danger

Talisman

a lucky charm believed to confer protection or power

Mitigate

to make less severe; alleviate

Alleviate

to reduce pain or trouble; ease

Analogous

comparable in certain respects; similar

Apparition

a ghostly figure; an unexpected appearance

Specter

a haunting or disturbing ghost

Wraith

a pale, shadowy specter or phantom

Parse

to analyze sentence structure; examine closely

Peruse

to read thoroughly and carefully

Artifice

clever or crafty skill; trickery

Ruse

a deceptive maneuver or trick

Machination

a crafty scheme

Stratagem

a plan or scheme, especially to outwit an opponent

Ploy

a cunning plan or action

Gambit

a calculated move or opening tactic

Admonish

to warn or reprimand gently but earnestly

Exhort

to urge strongly

Importune

to press with persistent requests; beg insistently

Atrophy

to waste away from disuse; decline

Attenuate

to weaken or reduce in force or intensity

Guile

sly or cunning intelligence

Guileless

innocent and without deception

Disingenuous

pretending to be innocent while knowing the truth; insincere