AP Lang Vocab 3

accost

v: to approach/speak to first; to confront in a challenging or aggressive way

affinity

n: a natural connection to a person, thing, or activity; a relationship, connection

brackish

adj: having a salty taste or unpleasant to drink

carping

adj: tending to find fault, esp in a petty, nasty, or hairsplitting way OR n: petty, nagging criticism

coherent

adj: holding or sticking together; making a logical whole; comprehensible, meaningful

commensurate

adj: equal in size, extent, duration or importance; proportionate; measurable by the same standards

dichotomy

n: a division into 2 contradictory or mutually exclusive parts; branching or forking into an ancestral line

ensconce

v: to settle comfortably + firmly in position; to put or hide in a safe place

faux pas

n: a slip in manners or conduct; a social blunder

iconoclastic

adj: attacking or seeking to overthrow popular or traditional beliefs, ideas, or institutions

incendiary

adj: deliberately setting or causing fires; designed to start fires; tending to stir up strife/rebellion OR n: one who deliberately sets fires; arsonist; one who causes strife

largesse

n: generosity in giving; lavish or bountiful contributions

malleable

adj: capable of being formed into diff shapes; capable of being altered, adapted, influenced

noisome

adj: offensive or disgusting; foul-smelling; harmful or injurious

portentous

adj: foreshadowing an event to come; causing wonder or awe; self consciously weighty, pompous

raconteur

n: a person who tells stories and anecdotes with great skill

tenable

adj: capable of being held or defended

truncate

v: to shorten by or as if by cutting off, lop

unconscionable

adj: not guided or restrained by conscience, prudence, or reason; unscrupulous, immoderate

vacuous

adj: devoid of matter, substance, or meaning; lacking ideas or intelligence; purposeless