Group 40

Adulate

praise someone excessively

Anathema

a thing someone intensely dislikes

Anomaly

a thing not normal or expected

Assiduous

showing great care and perseverance

Blandish

coax with kind words or flattery

Circumlocution

use of many words to be evasive

Contentious

likely to cause an argument

Defer

postpone; submit to one’s wishes

Disparage

treat as weak, bad, or unimportant

Emanate

spread out or originate from

Esoteric

likely understood by few people

Fawn

give exaggerated flattery for favor

Gingerly

showing great care or caution

Homonym

similar words with differing meanings

Impudent

not showing respect for another

Ingenuous

innocent, naïve, or trusting

Irrefutable

impossible to deny or disprove

Linger

stay somewhere longer than needed

Meticulous

showing great attention to detail

Nugatory

of no value or importance

Panacea

a solution for all difficulties

Phenomenon

a thing observed but hard to explain

Prerogative

a right exclusive to a certain class

Pusillanimous

lacking courage or determination

Repent

express sincere regret

Spurious

something fake or false

Surmise

assume truth without evidence

Transpose

transfer to a different place

Verbatim

in exactly the same words first used

Zenith

highest point or state of