Example: "After being overthrown and abased, the deposed leader offered to bow down to his conqueror."
abate (v.) to reduce, lessen
Example: "The rain poured down for a while, then abated."
abdicate (v.) to give up a position, usually one of leadership
Example: "When he realized that the revolutionaries would surely win, the king abdicated his throne."
abduct (v.) to kidnap, take by force
Example: "The evildoers abducted the fairy princess from her happy home."
aberration (n.) something that differs from the norm
Example: "In 1918, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series, but the success turned out to be an aberration, and the Red Sox have not won a World Series since."
abet (v.) to aid, help, encourage
Example: "The spy succeeded only because he had a friend on the inside to abet him."
A (continued)
abhor (v.) to hate, detest
Example: "Because he always wound up kicking himself in the head when he tried to play soccer, Oswald began to abhor the sport."
abide (v.) 1. to put up with
Example: "Though he did not agree with the decision, Chuck decided to abide by it."
to remain
Example: "Despite the beating they’ve taken from the weather throughout the millennia, the mountains abide."
abject (adj.) wretched, pitiful
Example: "After losing all her money, falling into a puddle, and breaking her ankle, Eloise was abject."
abjure (v.) to reject, renounce
Example: "To prove his honesty, the President abjured the evil policies of his wicked predecessor."
abnegation (n.) denial of comfort to oneself
Example: "The holy man slept on the floor, took only cold showers, and generally followed other practices of abnegation."
abort (v.) to give up on a half-finished project or effort
Example: "After they ran out of food, the men, attempting to jump rope around the world, had to abort and go home."
A (continued)
abridge (v.) 1. to cut down, shorten
Example: "The publisher thought the dictionary was too long and abridged it."
shortened
Example: "Moby-Dick is such a long book that even the abridged version is longer than most normal books."
abrogate (v.) to abolish, usually by authority
Example: "The Bill of Rights assures that the government cannot abrogate our right to a free press."
abscond (v.) to sneak away and hide
Example: "In the confusion, the super-spy absconded into the night with the secret plans."
absolution (n.) freedom from blame, guilt, sin
Example: "Once all the facts were known, the jury gave Angela absolution by giving a verdict of not guilty."
abstain (v.) to freely choose not to commit an action
Example: "Everyone demanded that Angus put on the kilt, but he did not want to do it and abstained."
abstruse (adj.) hard to comprehend
Example: "Everyone else in the class understood geometry easily, but John found the subject abstruse."
accede (v.) to agree
Example: "When the class asked the teacher whether they could play baseball instead of learn grammar they expected him to refuse, but instead he acceded to their request."
accentuate (v.) to stress, highlight
Example: "Psychologists agree that those people who are happiest accentuate the positive in life."
A (continued)
accessible (adj.) obtainable, reachable
Example: "After studying with SparkNotes and getting a great score on the SAT, Marlena happily realized that her goal of getting into an Ivy-League college was accessible."
acclaim (n.) high praise
Example: "Greg’s excellent poem won the acclaim of his friends."
accolade (n.) high praise, special distinction
Example: "Everyone offered accolades to Sam after he won the Nobel Prize."
accommodating (adj.) helpful, obliging, polite
Example: "Though the apartment was not big enough for three people, Arnold, Mark, and Zebulon were all friends and were accommodating to each other."
accord (n.) an agreement
Example: "After much negotiating, England and Iceland finally came to a mutually beneficial accord about fishing rights off the cost of Greenland."
accost (v.) to confront verbally
Example: "Though Antoinette was normally quite calm, when the waiter spilled soup on her for the fourth time in 15 minutes she stood up and accosted the man."
accretion (n.) slow growth in size or amount
Example: "Stalactites are formed by the accretion of minerals from the roofs of caves."
acerbic (adj.) biting, bitter in tone or taste
Example: "Jill became extremely acerbic and began to cruelly make fun of all her friends."
acquiesce (v.) to agree without protesting
Example: "Though Mr. Correlli wanted to stay outside and work in his garage, when his wife told him that he had better come in to dinner, he acquiesced to her demands."
acrimony (n.) bitterness, discord
Example: "Though they vowed that no girl would ever come between them, Biff and Trevor could not keep acrimony from overwhelming their friendship after they both fell in love with the lovely Teresa."
acumen (n.) keen insight
Example: "Because of his mathematical acumen, Larry was able to figure out in minutes problems that took other students hours."
acute (adj.) 1. sharp, severe
Example: "Arnold could not walk because the pain in his foot was so acute."
having keen insight
Example: "Because she was so acute, Libby instantly figured out how the magician pulled off his “magic.”"
adamant (adj.) impervious, immovable, unyielding
Example: "Though public pressure was intense, the President remained adamant about