AP Lit Vocab #4

  1. entreat-earnestly request or petition

     1. At the supermarket, the child first entreated his mother for the candy bar, then cried for it.

  1. churlish-boorish, vulgar

     1. The wild cowboys’ churlish behavior offended the townspeople’s gentile behavior.

  1. coeval-of the same time period

     1. Scientists assert that the two ancient coeval civilizations though thousands of miles apart were aware of each other.

  1. inimical-unfriendly or hostile

     1. The stranger’s inimical voice made me wonder if I had done something wrong.

  1. dilatory-tending to delay or procrastinate

     1. The teacher warned the dilatory students that any paper turned in after the deadline would be an instant failure.

  1. anecdote-a short account of an incident

     1. New parents often share anecdotes about their children.

  1. promulgate-to announce or to make officially known

     1. During the drought, the city promulgated strict rules about water usage.

  1. livid-extremely angry

     1. When I was brought home by the police my father was livid; he yelled at me for hours.

  1. lurid-shocking or explicit

     1. The lurid crime appeared in every newspaper in the city.

  1. puerile-childish or juvenile

     1. Uncle Joe refused to tolerate his teenage nephew’s puerile attitude.

  1. inveigh-to protest or disapprove angerly

     1. Irene inveighed against her company’s hiring of a former competitor for a prominent position.

  1. ameliorate-make better, to improve

     1. The manager asked for suggestions that might ameliorate working conditions at the factory.

  1. renunciation-rejection or refusal to acknowledge

     1. Members of the club responded to Bill’s renunciation of the doctrine and asked him to leave.

  1. vitiate-to corrupt morally or to contaminate

     1. Mark claims that prisons simply vitiate the spirits of the inmates.

  1. profligate-waste and immoral

     1. The young heir lived a profligate life of alcohol, excess, and greed.

  1. otiose-useless or futile

     1. The director decided to remove the otiose scenes that increase the length of the movie but failed to add to the suspense.

  1. lionize-to assign great social importance to or to treat as a celebrity

     1. The public lionized the boy for saving the child from the burning building.

  1. recalcitrant-stubbornly resistant or showing opposition

     1. The recalcitrant child kicked and screamed when the barber tried to give him his first haircut.

  1. pander-to exploit the weaknesses of others or to cater to the vices of others

     1. The trendy clothing store pandered to materialistic clients by selling shotty clothing at outrageous prices.

  1. aleatory-dependent on luck or chance

     1. Because of the uncertain weather forecast, the success of the company picnic is completely aleatory.

  1. asperity-roughness or harshness or severity

     1. The teacher felt bad after his asperity made a student cry.

  1. unimpeachable-unquestionable or beyond doubt

     1. The internet is not an unimpeachable source of information for academic research.

  1. allay-to relieve, to alleviate

     1. Mom tried to allay my fear of flying by reading favorable airline statistics.

  1. exegesis-a explanation of a text; or a critical interpretation

     1. The students read an exegesis of MacBeth to understand the play better.

  1. penultimate-next to last

     1. The penultimate step before graduation would be to pass the final examinations.

  1. bumpkin-an unsophisticated, awkward person

     1. Pickpockets often prey on bumpkins who forget to protect their wallets while visiting the city.

  1. pervasive-spreading throughout or permeating

     1. In two days everyone in the town had heard the pervasive news.

  1. provocative-tending to excite or stimulate

     1. The daughter considered her mother’s short skirt too provocative.

  1. recrimination-counter accusation

     1. The burglar had the nerve to express recrimination against the homeowner for hitting him with a shovel.

  1. soporific-tending to induce sleep

     1. I stopped reading the soporific novel and found a more exciting one.

  1. hortatory-encouraging or inciting

     1. The troops cheered during the general’s hortatory speech.

  1. toady-a person who flatters for personal gain

     1. The toady followed the queen around agreeing with every idiotic thing she said.