Vocab Words

Absolute: complete; total; free from restriction

Absorb: to soak up a liquid

Absorb: to be completely engrossed or engaged in an activity

Acute: sharp or severe; intense (especially pain)

Acute: serious or crucial; critical

Acute: sharp or penetrating in insight or perception

Affect: to influence or produce an effect

Affect: the perceived or outward display of emotions in a person

Affect: to pretend or counterfeit

Agitate: to physically move or toss about

Agitate: to make mentally upset or anxious

Agitate: to campaign or arouse public concern

Allow: to permit

Allow: to admit or concede

Apartment: not a rented dwelling, but a room

Art: skill, craft, talent, or cunning

Base: the founding platform or support for a structure

Base: the source of power or authority for a politician or figure of authority

Base: low or mean; the worst and most ungenerous aspects

Blunt: not sharp or pointed; dull-edged

Blunt: very direct and forceful; not subtle or tactful

Buckle: a fastener that connects items, usually clothing

Buckle: to collapse inward due to excessive force or pressure

Chaise: an open carriage pulled by a horse

Channel: a pathway or canal

Channel: a defined frequency for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic signals like radio or TV

Channel: to direct or focus energy or effort in a certain direction

Check: to examine or assess

Check: to restrict or restrain; to pull back

Check: a restraint or limit on something

Clash: disagreement or conflict

Clash: to come into conflict or engage in disagreement

Clip: to trim or cut

Clip: to quickly strike or impact

Clip: anything trimmed or made shorter

Clip: a pace; a fast speed

Command: to order or be in charge

Command: the state of being in charge of something

Command: to be in a position of power because of location; to look over or survey as if in a position of power

Command: to demand or compel respect or authority

Commission: a mission or job, often for a soldier

Commission: an officer's position or rank

Concentration: a large amount of something; having great density

Concentration: the ability to focus and be mentally sharp

Concentration: an area of focus or effort, especially in one's academic or professional career

Core: of central or vital importance

Core: the central component of something, especially of fruit

Core: to remove the central element of something

Credit: the ability or rating of one's ability to borrow money

Credit: to believe or find believable

Critical: essential or vital to something

Critical: negative; finding fault

Critical: characterized by serious intellectual engagement and questioning

Cultivate: to grow or nurture, as in a plant or crop

Cultivate: to nurture in a metaphorical sense; to encourage or develop

Culture: the concrete expression of a society's beliefs and values, especially in art, literature, and music

Culture: to nurture or grow something, especially microscopic organisms

Culture: a particular type of microscopic organism

Depress: to make someone sad or despairing

Depress: to press or activate a button or switch

Device: an item that achieves a certain purpose, especially electronic or mechanical

Device: a tricky scheme

Device: a literary trope or figural element to achieve a specific purpose

Digest: to process food in the stomach

Digest: to understand or comprehend over time

Digest: a compressed or abridged version of something

Dim: not bright; tending toward darkness

Dim: to darken or make less bright

Dim: not smart; not mentally bright

Discipline: the quality of being exacting and precise; following a strict regimen

Discipline: to punish or correct

Discipline: an area of professional or academic study

Distracted: inattentive; unable to concentrate

Distracted: mentally disturbed; insane

Divert: to cause to change course

Divert: to entertain or amuse

Divert: something entertaining

Due: owed at the present time

Due: appropriate or fitting

Due: expected or anticipated

Due: a fee or obligation that must be paid

Due: directly or exactly

Due: owing to or because of

Due: to give what justice demands

Due: to earn respect because of hard work or effort

Dull: not sharp; not able to cut efficiently

Dull: not intellectually sharp

Dull: boring

Engage: to occupy or attract the attention or efforts of someone

Engage: to be occupied or involved in

Engage: in mechanics, to interlock or cause to become interlocked, as gears

Execute: to carry out, as an order

Execute: to perform, as a role

Execute: to put to death, especially by the state

Exponent: an advocate or supporter; a proponent

Express: to put into words

Express: to send by express mail

Express: to press or squeeze out

Express: clearly indicated or directly stated

Fancy: to imagine

Fancy: something imagined; an illusion of the senses

Fancy: to desire or like

Fancy: a whim; transient inclination

Figure: a form or shape

Figure: a body

Figure: a number

Figure: a symbol

Figure: to suppose

Figure: to compute or calculate

Fine: satisfactory

Fine: of an excellent or high quality

Fine: delicate or subtle

Fine: delicate in structure or texture; opposite of coarse

Finish: to accomplish or carry out fully

Finish: completion or end

Finish: a surface coating, as in woodworking

Finish: educational or social polish

Fix: to repair

Fix: to make firm or stable; to attach or fasten or implant firmly

Flag: the symbol of a nation or group represented in cloth

Flag: to wane in vigor, energy, or activity

Forge: to create

Forge: to falsify

Forge: to move forward

Forge: to create using fire and hammer, as in metal work

Fortnight: fourteen nights; a period of two weeks

Fortune: wealth or riches

Fortune: luck, fate, or chance

Foundation: the solid base on which a structure is built

Foundation: the act of building on a firm structure

Foundation: the act of establishing on a permanent basis

Foundation: the basis of something; the underlying principle

Foundation: a cosmetic to cover the face

Gay: merry or happy

Gay: bright or showy

Gay: noble or excellent

Grace: elegance or beauty in form, manner, movement, or action

Grace: a manifestation of favor, especially given by a superior

Grace: a short prayer before a meal

Grace: refined and elegant behavior

Grace: the condition of being favored

Gross: large or coarse; unrefined; with reference to bulk

Hand: handwriting

Host: a person who receives or entertains guests; a moderator for a program

Host: an animal or plant from which a parasite obtains nutrition

Host: a multitude

Impertinent: rude

Impertinent: not pertinent; irrelevant

Intense: of an extreme kind; excessive; very deep

Intense: existing or occurring in a high or extreme degree

Intercourse: any kind of dealings; often interpersonal though not necessarily sexual

Let: to allow or permit

Let: to rent out, as a house

Liquor: any liquid, not necessarily alcoholic

Mien: face, countenance, or appearance; manner

Nature: disposition of mind or temper; essential characteristics or qualities of a person

Obscure: unclear or vague

Obscure: not well known; uncertain

Obscure: to conceal; to make unclear

Paint: to put on makeup

Paint: to depict

Patronize: to behave in a condescending manner toward

Patronize: to frequent as a customer

Peculiar: strange or unusual

Peculiar: particular; unique; usually used with "to"

Perverse: inclined to go against expectations

Phaeton: an open carriage pulled by two horses

Plain: simple; undecorated

Plain: clear; understandable

Plain: not beautiful; homely

Proprietary: right or proper in terms of etiquette; decorum

Reflect: to cast back light, heat, sound, etc. from a surface

Reflect: to mirror

Reflect: to give a particular aspect or impression; appropriately represent; indicate

Reflect: to think, ponder, or meditate

Rent: past tense of rend; to tear

Rent: a large tear, often in or resembling one in fabric

Retire: to go in for the evening; to go to bed

Sensible: able to sense or perceive; being perceptive

Sex: gender, especially female

Singular: unprecedented, unusual, eccentric, or exceptional

Stir: to move or rise

Stir: to arouse strong feelings in; to excite

Toilet: a dressing table for applying makeup and jewelry and for fixing hair

Toilet: the act of dressing at such a table

Try: to attempt; to test

Try: to subject someone to trial

Try: to make great demands on a person or quality

Vex: to annoy or frustrate someone; to irritate

Vulgar: common or crude, not necessarily disgusting

Wit: the powers of the mind, intellect, humor

Wit: having such qualities; to be a wit

Withdraw: to leave

Against the clock: in a great hurry, as fast as possible

All walks of life: all social, economic, and ethnic groups

Any port in a storm: when you're in trouble, any solution or way out is good enough, even if you don't particularly like it

Bank on: to be so sure of something that one can trust it; to rely on or depend on someone or something

Beg to differ: to disagree with someone; to state one's disagreement in a polite way

Beside oneself: in an extreme state of emotion; often though not always negative

Beyond the pale: unacceptable or outlawed, typically outside the boundaries of morality and good judgment

Break new ground: to begin to do something that no one has done before; to pioneer something

By the by: an interjection meant to casually introduce or emphasize information in a conversation; on a side note; incidentally

Came about: to happen; to take place

Grass before breakfast: a duel fought at first light (dawn)

He worships his creator: a way of saying someone worships himself, typically seen with the phrase "self-made man"

Hush-hush: secret; confidential

In view of / In light of: in consideration of something; because of something

Land sakes / law sakes alive / man alive: "my goodness!"; a way of expressing surprise

Mad as a hatter: completely crazy, mentally ill, someone behaving irrationally

Not to know someone from Adam: to not know someone; to be unable to recognize someone since you have never met them

Penny dreadful: cheap popular literature typically published weekly, usually gruesome stories focusing on criminals or detectives

To be of a certain age: refers to people who are not young; a more polite way of calling someone old or middle aged

To that end: for that reason; to achieve that goal