Question | Answer |
Raconteur (noun) | witty, skillful storyteller |
Raiment (noun) | clothing |
Ramification (noun) | implication; consequence |
Rarefied (adj) | refined |
Rationale (noun) | fundamental reason |
Rebus (noun) | puzzle in which pictures or symbols represent words |
Recluse (noun) | person who lives in solitude (often) and in seclusion |
Refractory (adj) | stubborn; unmanageable; resisting ordinary methods of treatment |
Refract (verb) | deflect sound or light |
Regale (verb) | to entertain |
Reparation (noun) | amends; compensation |
Repine (verb) | fret; complain |
Reprise (noun) | repetition, esp. of a piece of music |
Reproach (verb) | to find fault with; blame |
Reprobate (noun) | morally unprincipled person |
Resolution (noun) | determination; resolve |
Resolve (noun) | determination; firmness of purpose |
Riposte (noun) | a retaliatory action or retort |
Rococo (adj) | excessively ornate; highly decorated; style of architecture in 18th century Europe |
Rubric (noun) | title or heading; category; established mode of procedure or conduct; protocol |
Rue (verb) | to regret |
Ruse (noun) | trick; crafty stratagem; subterfuge |
Rail (verb) | to complain about bitterly |
Rancorous (adj) | characterized by bitter, long-lasting resentment |
Rarefy (verb) | to make or become thing; less dense; to refine |
Recalcitrant (adj) | obstinately defiant of authority; difficult to manage |
Recant (verb) | to retract, esp. a previously held belief |
Recondite (adj) | hidden; concealed; difficult to understand; obscure |
Redoubtable (adj) | awe-inspiring; worthy of honor |
Refulgent (adj) | radiant; shiny; brilliant |
Refute (verb) | to disprove; to successfully argue against |
Relegate (verb) | to forcibly assign, esp. to a lower place or position |
Remonstrate (verb) | to protest, to object |
Renege (verb) | to fail to honor a commitment; to go back on a promise |
Rent (verb) | torn (past tense of rend); an opening or tear caused by such |
Repudiate (verb) | to refuse to have anything to do with; to disown |
Rescind (verb) | to invalidate; to repeal; to retract |
Reticent (adj) | quiet; reserved; reluctant to express thoughts and feelings |
Reverent (adj) | marked by feeling, or expressing a feeling of profound awe and respect |
Rhetoric (noun) | the art or study of effective use of language for communication and persuasion |
Sage (adj) | wise |
Sanction (noun) | approval; ratification; permission or penalization |
Sardonic (adj) | cynical; scornfully mocking |
Sartorial (adj) | pertaining to tailors |
Satiate (verb) | to satisfy |
Saturate (verb) | to soak thoroughly; imbue throughout |
Satyr (noun) | creature that is half man, half beast with horns and legs of a goat; it's a follower of Dionysos, a lecher |
Savor (verb) | to enjoy; have a distinctive flavor and smell |
Schematic (adj) | relating to or in the form of an outline or diagram |
Secrete (verb) | produce and release substance into organism |
Sedition (noun) | behavior prompting behavior |
Seismic (adj) | relating to earthquakes; earthshaking |
Sensual (adj) | relating to the senses; gratifying the physical senses, esp. sexual appetites |
Sensuous (adj) | relating/operating to and through the senses |
Sentient (adj) | aware; conscious; able to perceive |
Servile (adj) | submissive; obedient |
Sextant (noun) | navigation tool that determined latitude and longitude |
Simian (adj) | apelike; relating to apes |
Simile (noun) | comparison of one thing with another using "like" or "as" |
Sinecure (noun) | well-paying job or office that requires little or no work |
Sinuous (adj) | winding; intricate; complex |
Skeptic (noun) | one who doubts |
Sobriety (noun) | seriousness |
Sodden (adj) | thoroughly soaked; saturated |
Soliloquy (noun) | literary or dramatic speech by one character, not addressed to others |
Somatic (adj) | relating to/affecting the body; corporeal |
Spectrum (noun) | band of colors produced when sunlight passes through a prism; broad range of related topics, ideas, or objects |
Spendthrift (adj) | wasteful and extravagant |
Squalor (noun) | filthy, wretched condition |
Staccato (adj) | marked by abrupt, clear-cut sounds |
Stanch (verb) | to check or stop the flow of |
Stigma (noun) | mark of disgrace or inferiority |
Stint (verb) | to be sparing |
Stint (noun) | period of time spent doing something |
Stipulate (verb) | to specify as an essential condition |
Stolid (adj) | having or showing little emotion |
Stratified (adj) | arranged in layers |
Striated (adj) | marked with thin, narrow grooves or channels |
Stricture (noun) | something that restrains; negative criticism |
Strident (adj) | loud; harsh; unpleasantly noisy |
Stultify (verb) | to impair or reduce to uselessness |
Subside (verb) | to settle down; grow quiet |
Substantiate (verb) | to support with proof or evidence |
Substantive (adj) | essential; pertaining to substance |
Subsume (verb) | to include; incorporate |
Subversive (adj) | intended to undermine or overthrow, esp. an established government |
Subversive (noun) | person intending to undermine something |
Succor (noun) | relief; help in time of distress or want |
Suffrage (noun) | the right to vote |
Sundry (adj) | various |
Supersede (verb) | to replace, esp. to displace as inferior or antiquated |
Supine (adj) | lying on the back; marked by lethargy |
Suppliant (adj) | beseeching |
Supplicant (noun) | one who asks humbly and earnestly |
Supposition (noun) | the act of assuming to be true or real |
Syllogism (noun) | a form of deductive reasoning that has a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion |
Sylvan (adj) | related to the woods or forest |
Sagacious (adj) | having sound judgement; perceptive, wise; like a sage |
Salacious (adj) | lustful, lascivious, bawdy |
Salubrious (adj) | promoting health or well-being |
Salutary (adj) | remedial, wholesome, causing improvement |
Sanction (noun/verb) | authoritative permission or approval; a penalty intended to enforce compliance; to give permission or authority to |
Sanguine (adj) | cheerful, confident, optimistic |
Sap (verb) | to enervate or weaken the vitality of |
Sap (noun) | a fool or nitwit |
Satire (noun) | a literary work that ridicules or criticizes a human vice through humor or derision |
Saturnine (adj) | gloomy, dark, sullen, morose |
Scurvy (adj) | contemptible, despicable |
Sedulous (adj) | diligent, persistent, hard-working |
Sententious (adj) | aphoristic or moralistic; epigrammatic; tending to moralize excessively |
Shard (noun) | a piece of broken pottery or glass |
Singular (adj) | exceptional, unusual, odd |
Solicitous (adj) | concerned and attentive; eager |
Solvent (adj) | able to meet financial obligations; able to dissolve another substance |
Soporific (adj) | causing drowsiness; tending to induce sleep |
Sordid (adj) | characterized by filth, grime, or squalor; foul |
Sparse (adj) | thin; not dense; arranged at wildly spaced intervals |
Specious (adj) | seeming true, but actually being fallacious; misleadingly attractive; plausible but false |
Spendthrift (noun) | one who spends money wastefully |
Sporadic (adj) | occurring only occasionally, or in scattered instances |
Spurious (adj) | lacking authenticity or validity; false; counterfeit |
Squalid (adj) | sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect |
Squander (verb) | to waste by spending or using irresponsibly |
Stand (noun) | a group of trees |
Static (adj) | not moving, active, or in motion; at rest |
Steep (verb) | to saturate or completely soak, as in to let a tea bag steep |
Stentorian (adj) | extremely loud and powerful |
Stoic (adj) | indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; steadfast |
Strut (noun) | the supporting structural cross-part of a wing |
Stupefy (verb) | to stun, baffle, or amaze |
Stygian (adj) | gloomy, dark |
Stymie (verb) | to block; to thwart |
Subpoena (noun) | a court order requiring appearance and/or testimony |
Subtle (adj) | not obvious; elusive; difficult to discern |
Succinct (adj) | brief; concise |
Superfluous (adj) | exceeding what is sufficient or necessary |
Supplant (verb) | to take the place of; to supersede |
Surfeit (verb) | an overabundant supply; excess; to feed or supply to excess |
Sycophant (noun) | toady, servile, self-seeking flatterer; parasite |
Synthesis (noun) | the combination of parts to make a whole |