50 Lit Vocab Words

apprehension

(n.) fear

fervor

(n.) enthusiasm, spirit, eagerness

pragmatic

(adj.) practical, sensible, wise

pretentious

(adj.) ambitious, snobby, ostentatious

nefarious

(adj.) very wicked

enervate

(v.) to weaken, to disable

opulence

(n.) wealth

banal

(adj.) common, ordinary, trite

deprecate

(v.) to disapprove of, belittle, disagree

exacerbate

(v.) to make worse

aloof

apart, away, reserved, uninterested

succinct

brief, contract

prevalent

widespread, accepted, familiar

resilient

(having the) power to bounce back

loquacious

talkative, chatty

avert

to turn away, to avoid, to prevent

explicit

specific, clear, definite

dubious

doubtful

incisive

cutting, sharp

preclude

to make impossible, to prevent

antagonistic

hostile, opposed, resisting

impede

to hinder, to block, to delay

reciprocate

to repay, to give back

egregious

gross, shocking

presumptuous

rude in a forward manner, arrogant

retract

to withdraw, to take back

trivial

insignificant, petty, unimportant

tawdry

cheap, gaudy

infer

to deduce, to conclude

candor

directness, frankness

veracious

truthful

articulate

effective, distinct

emulate

to imitate, to follow, to copy

perfunctory

superficial, incomplete, fake

frugal

careful with money, thrifty

incidental

not essential, minor

elusive

confusing, hard to understand

pugnacious

warlike, combative, ready to fight

urchin

mischievous child

inundate

to overflow, to flood

eclectic

broad, diverse

bolster

to support

placate

to pacify, to calm

composure

mental calmness

inconsequential

trivial, lacking importance

vacuous

thoughtless, meaningless, empty

surreptitious

secret

vilify

to slander, to abuse, to scandalize

relevance

closely connected, appropriate

solemn

serious, formal