5000 Collegiate Words with Brief Definitions
Abase
To lower in position, estimation, or the like; degrade.
Abbess
The lady superior of a nunnery.
Abbey
The group of buildings which collectively form the dwelling-place of a society of monks or nuns.
Abbot
The superior of a community of monks.
Abdicate
To give up (royal power or the like).
Abdomen
In mammals, the visceral cavity between the diaphragm and the pelvic floor; the belly.
Abdominal
Of, pertaining to, or situated on the abdomen.
Abduction
A carrying away of a person against his will, or illegally.
Abed
In bed; on a bed.
Aberration
Deviation from a right, customary, or prescribed course.
Abet
To aid, promote, or encourage the commission of (an offense).
Abeyance
A state of suspension or temporary inaction.
Abhorrence
The act of detesting extremely.
Abhorrent
Very repugnant; hateful.
Abidance
An abiding.
Abject
Sunk to a low condition.
Abjure
To recant, renounce, repudiate under oath.
Able-bodied
Competent for physical service.
Ablution
A washing or cleansing, especially of the body.
Abnegate
To renounce (a right or privilege).
Abnormal
Not conformed to the ordinary rule or standard.
Abominable
Very hateful.
Abominate
To hate violently.
Abomination
A very detestable act or practice.
Aboriginal
Primitive; unsophisticated.
Aborigines
The original of earliest known inhabitants of a country.
Aboveboard
Without concealment, fraud, or trickery.
Abrade
To wear away the surface or some part of by friction.
Abrasion
That which is rubbed off.
Abridge
To make shorter in words, keeping the essential features, leaning out minor particles.
Abridgment
A condensed form as of a book or play.
Abrogate
To abolish, repeal.
Abrupt
Beginning, ending, or changing suddenly or with a break.
Abscess
A Collection of pus in a cavity formed within some tissue of the body.
Abscission
The act of cutting off, as in a surgical operation.
Abscond
To depart suddenly and secretly, as for the purpose of escaping arrest.
Absence
The fact of not being present or available.
Absent-minded
Lacking in attention to immediate surroundings or business.
Absolution
Forgiveness, or passing over of offenses.
Absolve
To free from sin or its penalties.
Absorb
To drink in or suck up, as a sponge absorbs water.
Absorption
The act or process of absorbing.
Abstain
To keep oneself back (from doing or using something).
Abstemious
Characterized by self denial or abstinence, as in the use of drink, food.
Abstinence
Self denial.
Abstruse
Dealing with matters difficult to be understood.
Absurd
Inconsistent with reason or common sense.
Abundant
Plentiful.
Abusive
Employing harsh words or ill treatment.
Abut
To touch at the end or boundary line.
Abyss
Bottomless gulf.
Academic
Of or pertaining to an academy, college, or university.
Academician
A member of an academy of literature, art, or science.
Academy
Any institution where the higher branches of learning are taught.
Accede
To agree.
Accelerate
To move faster.
Accept
To take when offered.
Access
A way of approach or entrance; passage.
Accessible
Approachable.
Accession
Induction or elevation, as to dignity, office, or government.
Accessory
A person or thing that aids the principal agent.
Acclaim
To utter with a shout.
Accommodate
To furnish something as a kindness or favor.
Accompaniment
A subordinate part or parts, enriching or supporting the leading part.
Accompanist
One who or that which accompanies.
Accompany
To go with, or be associated with, as a companion.
Accomplice
An associate in wrong-doing.
Accomplish
To bring to pass.
Accordion
A portable free-reed musical instrument.
Accost
To speak to.
Account
A record or statement of receipts and expenditures, or of business transactions.
Accouter
To dress.
Accredit
To give credit or authority to.
Accumulate
To become greater in quantity or number.
Accuracy
Exactness.
Accurate
Conforming exactly to truth or to a standard.
Accursed
Doomed to evil, misery, or misfortune.
Accusation
A charge of crime, misdemeanor, or error.
Accusatory
Of, pertaining to, or involving an accusation.
Accuse
To charge with wrong doing, misconduct, or error.
Accustom
To make familiar by use.
Acerbity
Sourness, with bitterness and astringency.
Acetate
A salt of acetic acid.
Acetic
Of, pertaining to, or of the nature of vinegar.
Ache
To be in pain or distress.
Achillean
Invulnerable.
Achromatic
Colorless,
Acid
A sour substance.
Acidify
To change into acid.
Acknowledge
To recognize; to admit the genuineness or validity of.
Acknowledgment
Recognition.
Acme
The highest point, or summit.
Acoustic
Pertaining to the act or sense of hearing.
Acquaint
To make familiar or conversant.
Acquiesce
To comply; submit.
Acquiescence
Passive consent.
Acquire
To get as one's own.
Acquisition
Anything gained, or made one's own, usually by effort or labor.
Acquit
To free or clear, as from accusation.
Acquittal
A discharge from accusation by judicial action.
Acquittance
Release or discharge from indebtedness, obligation, or responsibility.
Acreage
Quantity or extent of land, especially of cultivated land.
Acrid
Harshly pungent or bitter.
Acrimonious
Full of bitterness.
Acrimony
Sharpness or bitterness of speech or temper.
Actionable
Affording cause for instituting an action, as trespass, slanderous words.
Actuality
Any reality.
Actuary
An officer, as of an insurance company, who calculates and states the risks and premiums.
Actuate
To move or incite to action.
Acumen
Quickness of intellectual insight, or discernment; keenness of discrimination.
Acute
Having fine and penetrating discernment.
Adamant
Any substance of exceeding hardness or impenetrability.
Addendum
Something added, or to be added.
Addle
To make inefficient or worthless; muddle.
Adduce
To bring forward or name for consideration.
Adhere
To stick fast or together.
Adherence
Attachment.
Adherent
Clinging or sticking fast.
Adhesion
The state of being attached or joined.
Adieu
Good-by; farewell.
Adjacency
The state of being adjacent.
Adjacent
That which is near or bordering upon.
Adjudge
To award or bestow by formal decision.
Adjunct
Something joined to or connected with another thing, but holding a subordinate place.
Adjuration
A vehement appeal.
Adjutant
Auxiliary.
Administrator
One who manages affairs of any kind.
Admissible
Having the right or privilege of entry.
Admittance
Entrance, or the right or permission to enter.
Admonish
To warn of a fault.
Admonition
Gentle reproof.
Ado
Unnecessary activity or ceremony.
Adoration
Profound devotion.
Adroit
Having skill in the use of the bodily or mental powers.
Adulterant
An adulterating substance.
Adulterate
To make impure by the admixture of other or baser ingredients.
Adumbrate
To represent beforehand in outline or by emblem.
Advent
The coming or arrival, as of any important change, event, state, or personage.
Adverse
Opposing or opposed.
Adversity
Misfortune.
Advert
To refer incidentally.
Advertiser
One who advertises, especially in newspapers.
Advisory
Not mandatory.
Advocacy
The act of pleading a cause.
Advocate
One who pleads the cause of another, as in a legal or ecclesiastical court.
Aerial
Of, pertaining to, or like the air.
Aeronaut
One who navigates the air, a balloonist.
Aeronautics
The art or practice of flying aircraft
Aerostat
A balloon or other apparatus floating in or sustained by the air.
Aerostatics
The branch of pneumatics that treats of the equilibrium, pressure, and mechanical properties.
Affable
Easy to approach.
Affect
To act upon
Affectation
A studied or ostentatious pretense or attempt.
Affiliate
Some auxiliary person or thing.
Affirmative
Answering yes; to a question at issue.
Affix
To fasten.
Affluence
A profuse or abundant supply of riches.
Affront
An open insult or indignity.
Afire
On fire, literally or figuratively.
Afoot
In progress.
Aforesaid
Said in a preceding part or before.
Afresh
Once more, after rest or interval.
Afterthought
A thought that comes later than its appropriate or expected time.
Agglomerate
To pile or heap together.
Aggrandize
To cause to appear greatly.
Aggravate
To make heavier, worse, or more burdensome.
Aggravation
The fact of being made heavier or more heinous, as a crime, offense, misfortune, etc.
Aggregate
The entire number, sum, mass, or quantity of something.
Aggress
To make the first attack.
Aggression
An unprovoked attack.
Aggrieve
To give grief or sorrow to.
Aghast
Struck with terror and amazement.
Agile
Able to move or act quickly, physically, or mentally.
Agitate
To move or excite (the feelings or thoughts).
Agrarian
Pertaining to land, especially agricultural land.
Aide-de-camp
An officer who receives and transmits the orders of the general.
Ailment
Slight sickness.
Airy
Delicate, ethereal.
Akin
Of similar nature or qualities.
Alabaster
A white or delicately tinted fine-grained gypsum.
Alacrity
Cheerful willingness.
Albeit
Even though.
Albino
A person with milky white skin and hair, and eyes with bright red pupil and usually pink iris.
Album
A book whose leaves are so made to form paper frames for holding photographs or the like.
Alchemy
Chemistry of the middle ages, characterized by the pursuit of changing base metals to gold.
Alcohol
A volatile, inflammable, colorless liquid of a penetrating odor and burning taste.
Alcoholism
A condition resulting from the inordinate or persistent use of alcoholic beverages.
Alcove
A covered recess connected with or at the side of a larger room.
Alder
Any shrub or small tree of the genus Alumnus, of the oak family.
Alderman
A member of a municipal legislative body, who usually exercises also certain judicial functions.
Aldermanship
The dignity, condition, office, or term of office of an alderman.
Alias
An assumed name.
Alien
One who owes allegiance to a foreign government.
Alienable
Capable of being aliened or alienated, as lands.
Alienate
To cause to turn away.
Alienation
Estrangement.
Aliment
That which nourishes.
Alkali
Anything that will neutralize an acid, as lime, magnesia, etc.
Allay
To calm the violence or reduce the intensity of; mitigate.
Allege
To assert to be true, especially in a formal manner, as in court.
Allegory
The setting forth of a subject under the guise of another subject of aptly suggestive likeness.
Alleviate
To make less burdensome or less hard to bear.
Alley
A narrow street, garden path, walk, or the like.
Alliance
Any combination or union for some common purpose.
Allot
To assign a definite thing or part to a certain person.
Allotment
Portion.
Allude
To refer incidentally, or by suggestion.
Allusion
An indirect and incidental reference to something without definite mention of it.
Alluvion
Flood.
Ally
A person or thing connected with another, usually in some relation of helpfulness.
Almanac
A series of tables giving the days of the week together with certain astronomical information.
Aloof
Not in sympathy with or desiring to associate with others.
Altar
Any raised place or structure on which sacrifices may be offered or incense burned.
Alter
To make change in.
Alteration
Change or modification.
Altercate
To contend angrily or zealously in words.
Alternate
One chosen to act in place of another, in case of the absence or incapacity of that other.
Alternative
Something that may or must exist, be taken or chosen, or done instead of something else.
Altitude
Vertical distance or elevation above any point or base-level, as the sea.
Alto
The lowest or deepest female voice or part.
Altruism
Benevolence to others on subordination to self-interest.
Altruist
One who advocates or practices altruism.
Amalgam
An alloy or union of mercury with another metal.
Amalgamate
To mix or blend together in a homogeneous body.
Amateur
Practicing an art or occupation for the love of it, but not as a profession.
Amatory
Designed to excite love.
Ambidextrous
Having the ability of using both hands with equal skill or ease.
Ambiguous
Having a double meaning.
Ambitious
Eagerly desirous and aspiring.
Ambrosial
Divinely sweet, fragrant, or delicious.
Ambulance
A vehicle fitted for conveying the sick and wounded.
Ambulate
To walk about
Ambush
The act or state of lying concealed for the purpose of surprising or attacking the enemy.
Ameliorate
To relieve, as from pain or hardship
Amenable
Willing and ready to submit.
Americanism
A peculiar sense in which an English word or phrase is used in the United States.
Amicable
Done in a friendly spirit.
Amity
Friendship.
Amorous
Having a propensity for falling in love.
Amorphous
Without determinate shape.
Amour
A love-affair, especially one of an illicit nature.
Ampere
The practical unit of electric-current strength.
Ampersand
The character &; and.
Amphibious
Living both on land and in water.
Amphitheater
An edifice of elliptical shape, constructed about a central open space or arena.
Amplitude
Largeness.
Amply
Sufficiently.
Amputate
To remove by cutting, as a limb or some portion of the body.
Amusement
Diversion.
Anachronism
Anything occurring or existing out of its proper time.
Anagram
The letters of a word or phrase so transposed as to make a different word or phrase.
Analogous
Corresponding (to some other) in certain respects, as in form, proportion, relations.
Analogy
Reasoning in which from certain and known relations or resemblance others are formed.
Analyst
One who analyzes or makes use of the analytical method.
Analyze
To examine minutely or critically.
Anarchy
Absence or utter disregard of government.
Anathema
Anything forbidden, as by social usage.
Anatomy
That branch of morphology which treats of the structure of organisms.
Ancestry
One's ancestors collectively.
Anecdote
A brief account of some interesting event or incident.
Anemia
Deficiency of blood or red corpuscles.
Anemic
Affected with anemia.
Anemometer
An instrument for measuring the force or velocity of wind.
Anesthetic
Pertaining to or producing loss of sensation.
Anew
Once more.
Angelic
Saintly.
Anglophobia
Hatred or dread of England or of what is English.
Anglo-Saxon
The entire English race wherever found, as in Europe, the United States, or India.
Angular
Sharp-cornered.
Anhydrous
Withered.
Animadversion
The utterance of criticism or censure.
Animadvert
To pass criticism or censure.
Animalcule
An animal of microscopic smallness.
Animate
To make alive.
Animosity
Hatred.
Annalist
Historian.
Annals
A record of events in their chronological order, year by year.
Annex
To add or affix at the end.
Annihilate
To destroy absolutely.
Annotate
To make explanatory or critical notes on or upon.
Annual
Occurring every year.
Annuity
An annual allowance, payment, or income.
Annunciation
Proclamation.
Anode
The point where or path by which a voltaic current enters an electrolyte or the like.
Anonymous
Of unknown authorship.
Antagonism
Mutual opposition or resistance of counteracting forces, principles, or persons.
Antarctic
Pertaining to the south pole or the regions near it.
Ante
In the game of poker, to put up a stake before the cards are dealt.
Antecede
To precede.
Antecedent
One who or that which precedes or goes before, as in time, place, rank, order, or causality.
Antechamber
A waiting room for those who seek audience.
Antedate
To assign or affix a date to earlier than the actual one.
Antediluvian
Of or pertaining to the times, things, events before the great flood in the days of Noah.
Antemeridian
Before noon.
Antemundane
Pertaining to time before the world's creation.
Antenatal
Occurring or existing before birth.
Anterior
Prior.
Anteroom
A room situated before and opening into another, usually larger.
Anthology
A collection of extracts from the writings of various authors.
Anthracite
Hard coal.
Anthropology
The science of man in general.
Anthropomorphous
Having or resembling human form.
Antic
A grotesque, ludicrous, or fantastic action.
Antichrist
Any opponent or enemy of Christ, whether a person or a power.
Anticlimax
A gradual or sudden decrease in the importance or impressiveness of what is said.
Anticyclone
An atmospheric condition of high central pressure, with currents flowing outward.
Antidote
Anything that will counteract or remove the effects of poison, disease, or the like.
Antilogy
Inconsistency or contradiction in terms or ideas.
Antipathize
To show or feel a feeling of antagonism, aversion, or dislike.
Antiphon
A response or alteration of responses, generally musical.
Antiphony
An anthem or other composition sung responsively.
Antipodes
A place or region on the opposite side of the earth.
Antiquary
One who collects and examines old things, as coins, books, medals, weapons, etc.
Antiquate
To make old or out of date.
Antique
Pertaining to ancient times.
Antiseptic
Anything that destroys or restrains the growth of putrefactive micro- organisms.
Antislavery
Opposed to human slavery.
Antispasmodic
Tending to prevent or relieve non-inflammatory spasmodic affections.
Antistrophe
The inversion of terms in successive classes, as in “the home of joy” and “the joy of home”.
Antitoxin
A substance which neutralizes the poisonous products of micro-organisms.
Antonym
A word directly opposed to another in meaning.
Anxious
Distressed in mind respecting some uncertain matter.
Apathy
Insensibility to emotion or passionate feeling.
Aperture
Hole.
Apex
The highest point, as of a mountain.
Aphorism
Proverb.
Apiary
A place where bees are kept.
Apogee
The climax.
Apology
A disclaimer of intentional error or offense.
Apostasy
A total departure from one's faith or religion.
Apostate
False.
Apostle
Any messenger commissioned by or as by divine authority.
Apothecary
One who keeps drugs for sale and puts up prescriptions.
Apotheosis
Deification.
Appall
To fill with dismay or horror.
Apparent
Easily understood.
Apparition
Ghost.
Appease
To soothe by quieting anger or indignation.
Appellate
Capable of being appealed to.
Appellation
The name or title by which a particular person, class, or thing is called.
Append
To add or attach, as something accessory, subordinate, or supplementary.
Appertain
To belong, as by right, fitness, association, classification, possession, or natural relation.
Apposite
Appropriate.
Apposition
The act of placing side by side, together, or in contact.
Appraise
To estimate the money value of.
Appreciable
Capable of being discerned by the senses or intellect.
Apprehend
To make a prisoner of (a person) in the name of the law.
Apprehensible
Capable of being conceived.
Approbation
Sanction.
Appropriate
Suitable for the purpose and circumstances.
Aqueduct
A water-conduit, particularly one for supplying a community from a distance.
Aqueous
Of, pertaining to, or containing water.
Arbiter
One chosen or appointed, by mutual consent of parties in dispute, to decide matters.
Arbitrary
Fixed or done capriciously.
Arbitrate
To act or give judgment as umpire.
Arbor
A tree.
Arboreal
Of or pertaining to a tree or trees.
Arborescent
Having the nature of a tree.
Arboretum
A botanical garden or place devoted to the cultivation of trees or shrubs.
Arboriculture
The cultivation of trees or shrubs.
Arcade
A vaulted passageway or street; a roofed passageway having shops, etc., opening from it.
Archaic
Antiquated
Archaism
Obsolescence.
Archangel
An angel of high rank.
Archbishop
The chief of the bishops of an ecclesiastical province in the Greek, Roman, and Anglican church.
Archdeacon
A high official administrator of the affairs of a diocese.
Archaeology
The branch of anthropology concerned with the systematic investigation of the relics of man.
Archetype
A prototype.
Archipelago
Any large body of water studded with islands, or the islands collectively themselves.
Ardent
Burning with passion.
Ardor
Intensity of passion or affection.
Arid
Very dry.
Aristocracy
A hereditary nobility
Aristocrat
A hereditary noble or one nearly connected with nobility.
Armada
A fleet of war-vessels.
Armful
As much as can be held in the arm or arms.
Armory
An arsenal.
Aroma
An agreeable odor.
Arraign
To call into court, as a person indicted for crime, and demand whether he pleads guilty or not.
Arrange
To put in definite or proper order.
Arrangement
The act of putting in proper order, or the state of being put in order.
Arrant
Notoriously bad.
Arrear
Something overdue and unpaid.
Arrival
A coming to stopping-place or destination.
Arrogant
Unduly or excessively proud, as of wealth, station, learning, etc.
Arrogate
To take, demand, or claim, especially presumptuously or without reasons or grounds.
Artesian well
A very deep bored well. water rises due to underground pressure
Artful
Characterized by craft or cunning.
Arthurian
Pertaining to King Arthur, the real or legendary hero of British poetic story.
Artifice
Trickery.
Artless
Ingenuous.
Ascendant
Dominant.
Ascension
The act of rising.
Ascent
A rising, soaring, or climbing.
Ascetic
Given to severe self-denial and practicing excessive abstinence and devotion.
Ascribe
To assign as a quality or attribute.
Asexual
Having no distinct sexual organs.
Ashen
Pale.
Askance
With a side or indirect glance or meaning.
Asperity
Harshness or roughness of temper.
Aspirant
One who seeks earnestly, as for advancement, honors, place.
Aspiration
An earnest wish for that which is above one's present reach.
Aspire
To have an earnest desire, wish, or longing, as for something high and good, not yet attained.
Assailant
One who attacks.
Assassin
One who kills, or tries to kill, treacherously or secretly.
Assassinate
To kill, as by surprise or secret assault, especially the killing of some eminent person.
Assassination
Murderer, as by secret assault or treachery.
Assay
The chemical analysis or testing of an alloy ore.
Assent
To express agreement with a statement or matter of opinion.
Assess
To determine the amount of (a tax or other sum to be paid).
Assessor
An officer whose duty it is to assess taxes.
Assets
Property in general, regarded as applicable to the payment of debts.
Assiduous
Diligent.
Assignee
One who is appointed to act for another in the management of certain property and interests.
Assimilate
To adapt.
Assonance
Resemblance or correspondence in sound.
Assonant
Having resemblance of sound.
Assonate
To accord in sound, especially vowel sound.
Assuage
To cause to be less harsh, violent, or severe, as excitement, appetite, pain, or disease.
Astringent
Harsh in disposition or character.
Astute
Keen in discernment.
Atheism
The denial of the existence of God.
Athirst
Wanting water.
Athwart
From side to side.
Atomizer
An apparatus for reducing a liquid to a fine spray, as for disinfection, inhalation, etc.
#