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Quiz yourself by thinking what should be in each of the black spaces below before clicking on it to display the answer.
        Help!  

Word
Definition
Imperious   Commanding  
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Improvidence   shortsightedness; a failure to provide for future needs or events: "I weep bitter tears for my unpardonable xxx"; "the childlike xxx of this age and people."  
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Inchoate   In an initial or early stage; incomplete; disorganized  
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Ingenuous   unsophisticated; artless; straightforward; candid  
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Insipid   lacking zest or excitement; dull  
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Intransigent   Stubborn; immovable; unwilling to change  
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laconic   using few words; terse  
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noisome   Offensive to the point of arousing disgust, harmful: "a xxx odor.""xxx fumes."  
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aberrant   deviating from the norm; not following the normal or correct way; deviating from the usual or natural type; atypical; abnormal or deviant  
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abscond   to depart clandestinely; to steal away and hide; go away suddenly and secretly esp. in order to avoid arrest; to depart secretly and hide oneself; to go away suddenly ( to avoid arrest)  
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adulterate   to reduce purity by combining with inferior ingredients; make poorer in quality by adding another substance; to corrupt, debase, or mak impure by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance or element stickler  
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amenable   agreeable; responsive to suggestion; readily managed; willing to be led; (of people) willing to be influenced or controlled (by something)  
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approbation   an expression of approval or praise; approval; consent; commendation, praise  
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arduous   strenuous, taxing, requiring significant effort; needing much effort or energy; laborious; hard to accomplish or achieve; difficult; steep, difficult ascent; laborious  
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chicanery   deception by trickery  
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bombastic   pompous, gradiloquent; pompous and empty  
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bucolic   rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants; of country life or the countryside; rustic  
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cacophony   harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance; loud unpleasant mixture of discordant sounds  
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canon   an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature; a regulation or dogma decreed by a church council  
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canonical   following or in agreement with orthodox requirements; appearing in a biblical canon; of or relating to or required by canon law  
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castigation   severe criticism or punishment  
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censure   to criticize severely; to officially rebuke; to find fault with and criticize as blameworthy  
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chary   wary; cautious; careful; wary shy; timid  
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cogent   appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing; convincing; strong  
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contentious   argumentative, quarrelsome, causing controversy, or disagreement; strife; quarrelsome  
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contrite   Feeling regret and sorrow for one's sins or offenses: (>zerknirscht<):"a xxx heart"  
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culpable   deserving blame  
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demur   to question or oppose  
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discordant   conflicting, dissonant; nor in agreement: "views discordant with present-day ideas";"seemingly discordant facts"  
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disparage   to slight or belittle; suggest; to depreciate by an indirect means; speak slightingly about  
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disparate   fundamentally distinct or dissimilar: "such xxx attractions as grand opera and game fishing"; "xxx ideas"  
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dissemble   to disguise or conceal to mislead; hide or disguise ("I xxx my hatred of the Fox")  
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divulge   to disclose something secret; to make known (as a confidence or secret)  
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dogmatic   Characterized by an authoritative, arrogant assertion of unproved or unprovable principles.("xxx writings" "I protest strongly against the entirely dogmatic assertion")  
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ebullience   the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings; high spirits; exhilaration; exuberance  
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effrontery   extreme boldness; presumptuousness; rudeness without shame; impertinence; impudence; arrogance  
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enervate   to weaken; to reduce in vitality; cause to lose strength or energy  
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enigmatic   mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand; of relating to, or resembling an enigma; mysterious  
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ennui   dissatisfaction and restlessness resulting from boredom or apathy; a feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom  
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equivocate   speak in an ambiguous way to hide the truth or mislead people  
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evanescent   tending to disappear like vapor; vanishing; quickly fading; soon disappearing from memory; tending to vanish like vapor  
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exculpate   exonerate; to clear of blame; to clear from alleged fault or gulit; free somebody from blame  
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exigent   urgent, pressing, requiring immediate action or attention  
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extemporaneous   improvised; done without preparation; spoken or done without preparation; extempore  
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facetious   playful; humorous; intended to be amusing, often inappropriately; joking or jesting often inappropriately; waggish  
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fallacy   an invalid or incorrect notion; a mistaken belief  
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filibuster   intentional obstruction, especially using prolonged speech making to delay legislative action  
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flout   to demonstrate contempt for, as in a rule or convention; to treat with disdain, scorn, or contempt; scoff at; mock  
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fortuitous   happening by fortunate accident or chance; happening by chance or coincidence  
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fulminate   to loudly attach or denounce; protest strongly and loudly; to send forth censures or invectives  
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glib   marked by ease or informality; nonchalant; lacking in depth; superficial; ready and smooth but not sincere; marked by ease and fluency in speaking or writing often to the point of being insincere or deceitful  
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grandiloquence   pompous speech or expression  
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halcyon   peaceful; Prosperous;"a xxx atmosphere""the xxx days of the clipper trade"  
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harangue   to deliver a pompous speech or tirade; to address in a ranting way  
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heretical   violating accepted dogma or convention; unorthodox  
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iconoclast   one who attacks or undermines traditional conventions or institutions  
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idolatrous   given to intense or excessive devotion to something; worshiping idols  
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imperturbable   marked by extreme calm, impassivity and steadiness; not easily troubled or worried; calm; marked by extreme calm, impassivity, and steadiness; serene  
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impetuous   hastily or rashly energetic; impulsive and vehement; acting or done quickly and with little thought or care; rash or impulsive  
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impunity   immunity from punishment or penalty; with impunity with freedom from punishment or injury  
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incipient   beginning to come into being or to become apparent; in its early stages; beginning to happen  
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infelicitous   unfortunate; inappropriate; not appropriate in application or expression  
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inimical   damaging; harmful; malevolent  
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intractable   not easily managed or directed; stubborn; obstinate; uruly; refractory; stubborn  
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inured   accustomed to accepting something undesirable; adapted  
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inveigle   To win over by coaxing, flattery, or artful talk: "xxx a free pass to museum.","We will xxx ladies fair, and wed them in our secret cavern."  
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irascible   easily angered; prone to temperamental outbursts; marked by hot temper and easily provoked by anger  
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maverick   an independent individual who does not go along with a group o party; unbranded calf; unorthodox person; rebel; nonconformist  
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mendacity   the condition of being untruthful; disnhonesty  
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mollify   to calm or soothe; to reduce in emotional intensity; lessen the anger of somebody; make calmer; soothe  
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neophyte   a recenet convert; a beginner; novice  
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obdurate   unyielding; hardhearted; intractable; impossible to change; stubborn; resistant to persuasion or softening influences  
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obfuscate   to deliberately obscure; to make confusing; to make obscure or unclear; deliberately make something confused or difficult to understand  
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obtuse   lacking sharpness of intellect; not clear or precise in thought or expression; slow to understand; stupid  
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obviate   to anticipate and make unnecessary; remove something; get rid of; to anticipate and prevent (as a situation) or make unnecessary (as an action)  
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occlude   to obstruct or block; to close up or block off; obstruct  
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onerous   troubling; burdensome; needing effort; burdensome  
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opprobrium   disgrace, contempt; scorn  
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ostentatious   characterized by or given to pretentiousness; characterized by or given to pretentious or conspicuous show in an attempt to impress others  
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penurious   penny pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous; very poor; stingy  
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penury   poverty; destitution; extreme poverty  
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perfidy   intentional breach of faith; treachy; the quality or state of being faithless or disloyal; treachery; breaking of faith  
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pernicious   1. deadly;2. extremely harmful,(a xxx virusxxx rumor)  
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perspicacious   acutely perceptive; having keen discernment; having or showing great insight or judgement; discerning; keen  
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peruse   to examine with great care; to examine or consider with attention and in detail; study; read something, especially carefully and thorougly  
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pith   the eessential or central part; soft spongy substance that fills the stems of certain plants, essentail part, force, soft liquid substance  
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pithy   precise and brief; concise and full of meaning; terse, having substance and point; tersely cogent  
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polemical   controversial; argumentative; argued  
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prattle   to babble meaninglessly; to talk in an empty and idle manner  
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preen   to dress up; primp  
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prescience   foreknowledge of events; knowing of events prior to their occuring  
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presumptuous   too bold or self confident; overstepping due bounds (as of propriety or courtesy taking liverties)  
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prevaricate   to deliberately avoid the truth; to mislead  
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probity   adherence to highest principles uprightness; quality of being honest and trustworthy; integrity  
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prodigal   recklessly wasteful; extravagant profuse; lavish  
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prodigious   abundant in size, force, or extent; extraordinary  
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profilgate   excessively wasteful; recklessly extravagant; prodigal  
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prosaic   dull; unimaginative; uninspired  
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putrefy   to rot; decay; give off foul odor  
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quaff   to drink deeply  
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qualm   misgiving; reservation; causign of hestiancy; temporary feeling of sickness  
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querulous   prone to complaining or grumbling; quarrelsome  
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quiescence   the state or quality of being in repose or at rest“the volcano erupted after centuries of xxx”“leaned her head against the wall in fatigued xxx”  
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quixotic   foolishly impractical; marked by lofty romantic ideals; noble, unselfish or gallant in an extravagant or impractical way; generous  
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rancorous   characterized by bitter, long lasting resentment; bitterness; spitefulness  
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recalcitrant   obstinately defiant of authority; difficult to manage; resisting authoring or discipline; disobedient  
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recast   to cast again or anew; to form, fashion, or arrange again, cast or fashion anew; put something into a new form  
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receptive   able or quick to receive new ideas, suggestions, etc.  
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recidivism   a tendency to relapse into a previous condition or mode of behavior; especially: relapse into criminal behavior; relapse into antisocial or criminal behavior  
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waver   to hesitate or to tremble  
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wretched   extremely pitiful or unfortunate  
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aberrant   deviating from normal or correct.  
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abscond   to leave secretly and hide, often to avoid the law.  
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advocate   to speak, plead, or argue for a cause, or in another’s behalf.  
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aggrandize   to make greater, to increase, thus, to exaggerate.  
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amalgamate   to unite or mix.  
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ambiguous   vague; subject to more than one interpretation  
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ambrosial   extremely pleasing to the senses, divine (as related to the gods) or delicious  
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anachronism   a person or artifact appearing after its own time or out of chronological order  
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attenuate   weaken  
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aver   declare  
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barefaced   unconcealed, shameless, or brazen  
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blandishment   speech or action intended to coax someone into doing something  
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bombast   pompous speech  
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breach   a lapse, gap or break, as in a fortress wall. To break or break through.  
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burgeon   to grow or flourish; a bud or new growth  
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buttress   to support. a support  
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cadge   to get something by taking advantage of someone ("schnorren"): "xxx money for liquor"  
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complaisant   willingly compliant or accepting of the status quo  
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conflagration   a great fire  
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corporeal   of or having to do with material, as opposed to spiritual; tangible.  
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corporal   of the body: a non-commissioned officer ranked between a sergeant and a private.  
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craven   cowardly; a coward  
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culpable   deserving of blame  
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deference   submission or courteous yielding:  
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deprecation   belittlement:"He xxx her contribution"  
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depredation   plundering; destructive action:"the normal xxxs of time"  
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descry   to discover by looking carefully:"I xxx a message of hope in her words"  
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desiccate   to dry out thoroughly  
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diffident   lacking self-confidence, modest  
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disabuse   to free a person from falsehood or error:  
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disparaging   belittling  
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dispassionate   calm; objective; unbiasedb  
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dissemble   to conceal one's real motive, to feign  
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dogged   stubborn or determined:  
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dogmatic   relying upon doctrine or dogma, as opposed to evidence  
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efficacy   effectiveness; capability to produce a desired effect  
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effluent   the quality of flowing out. something that flows out, such as a stream from a river  
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emollient   softening; something that softens  
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emulate   to strive to equal or excel  
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encomium   a formal eulogy or speech of praise  
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endemic   prevalent in or native to a certain region, locality, or people:  
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enervate   to weaken or destroy the strength or vitality of:  
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ephemeral   lasting for only a brief time, fleeting  
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equivocal   ambiguous; unclear; subject to more than one interpretation -- often intentionally so:  
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eulogy   a spoken or written tribute to the deceased  
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exacerbate   to increase the bitterness or violence of; to aggravate:  
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exculpate   to demonstrate or prove to be blameless:  
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explicit   fully and clearly expressed  
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extant   in existence, still existing: The only extant representative of that species."  
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fawn   to seek favor or attention; to act subserviantly  
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fervid   fervent highly emotional; hot:  
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floundering   struggling:  
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gossamer   fine cobweb on foliage; fine gauzy fabric; very fine:  
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guile   skillful deceit: (v. bequile; adj: beguiling. Note, however, that these two words have an additional meaning: to charm (v.) or charming (adj:), while the word guile does not generally have any such positive connotations)  
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guileless   honest; straightforward  
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hapless   unfortunate  
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headlong   headfirst; impulsive; hasty. impulsively; hastily; without forethought:  
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iconoclast   one who attacks traditional ideas or institutions or one who destroys sacred images  
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impecunious   penniless; poor  
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imperious   commanding  
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improvidence   an absence of foresight; a failure to provide for future needs or events:  
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inchoate   in an initial or early stage; incomplete; disorganized:  
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indelible   permanent; unerasable; strong:  
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ineffable   undescribable; inexpressible in words; unspeakable  
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ingenious   clever:  
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ingenuous   unsophisticated; artless; straightforward; candid:  
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inhibit   to hold back, prohibit, forbid, or restrain  
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insensible   numb; unconscious: unfeeling; insensitive:  
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insipid   lacking zest or excitement; dull  
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insular   of or pertaining to an island, thus, excessively exclusive:  
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intransigent   stubborn; immovable; unwilling to change:  
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irascible   prone to outbursts of temper, easily angered  
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laconic   using few words; terse:  
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leviathan   giant whale, therefore, something very large  
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misogynist   one who hates women  
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nefarious   wicked, evil:  
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noisome   harmful, offensive, destructive:  
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obdurate   hardened against influence or feeling; intractable.  
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obviate   to prevent by anticipatory measures; to make unnecessary:  
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occlude   to close or shut off; to obstruct  
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ossified   turned to bone; hardened like bone; Inflexible:  
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panegyric   =a writing or speech in praise of a person or thing  
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peccadillo   a small sin or fault  
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pedantic   showing a narrow concern for rules or formal book learning; making an excessive display of one's own learning:  
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perfidious   deliberately treacherous; dishonest  
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petulant   easily or frequently annoyed, especially over trivial matters; childishly irritable  
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ponderous   slow and laborious because of weight: "xxx prehistoric beasts"; "a xxx speech"  
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precipice   cliff with a vertical or nearly vertical face; a dangerous place from which one is likely to fall; metaphorically, a very risky circumstance  
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precipitate   to fall; to fall downward suddenly and dramatically; to bring about or hasten the occurrence of something: "  
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prevaricate   to stray away from or evade the truth:  
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prodigal   rashly wasteful:  
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propitiate   to conciliate; to appease:  
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Pulchritudinous   beautiful  
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pusillanimous   cowardly, timid, or irreselute; petty:  
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quiescence   inactivity; stillness; dormancy  
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rarefy   to make or become thin; to purify or refine  
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reproof   the act of censuring, scolding, or rebuking.  
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rescind   to repeal or annul  
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sagacious   having a sharp or powerful intellect or discernment.  
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sanguine   cheerful; confident:"sanguine temper"  
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sate   to satisfy fully or to excess  
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saturnine   having a gloomy or morose temperament  
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sedulous   diligent; persevering; persistent: "they still treated me with the same xxx attention as before"  
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specious   seemingly true but really false; deceptively convincing or attractive:  
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temperate=   exercising moderation and self-denial; calm or mild  
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tirade (diatribe)   an angry speech:  
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tortuous   twisted; excessively complicated: Note: Don't confuse this with torturous.  
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tractable   ability to be easily managed or controlled:  
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turpitude   depravity; baseness:  
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tyro   beginner; person lacking experience in a specific endeavor  
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vacuous   empty; without contents; without ideas or intelligence:  
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venerate   great respect or reverence:  
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verbose   wordy  
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viscous   slow moving; highly resistant to flow  
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voracious   craving or devouring large quantities of food, drink, or other things.  
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waver   to hesitate or to tremble  
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wretched   extremely pitiful or unfortunate  
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recondite   obscure; little known: "xxx matters"  
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redoubtable   awe-inspiring; worthy of honor; “born of a xxx family”"The xx Ms. Robinson"  
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refulgent   radiant; shiny; brilliant; gloriously bright; shining  
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renege   to fail or honor a commitment; to go back on a promise; fail to keep a promise; one's word, etc.  
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repudiate   to refuse to have anything to do with; disown; to refuse to accept, especially; to reject as unauthorized or as having no binding force; disown  
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rescind   to invalidate; to repeal; to retract; cancel or repeal (a law, contract etc.) annul  
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retinue   group of attendants accompanying an important person; a group of retainers or attenddants  
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retrench   make economies or reduce expenses; to cut out; excise  
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reverent   marked by, feeling or expressing profound awe and respect; feeling or showing reverence  
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salubrious   promoting health or well-being; (esp of the climate) health-giving; favorable to or promoting health or well-being  
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vacillate   to waver indecisively between one course of action or opinion and another; keep changing one's mind; move backwards and forwards between two emotions  
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veracity   truthfulness; honesty; truth  
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vilify   to defame; to characterize harshly; salnder, say evil things  
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virulent   extremely harmful or poisonous; bitterly hostile or antagonistic; extremely harmful or deadly  
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viscous   thick, stick  
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vituperate   to use harsh, condemnatory language; curse, abuse in words  
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voracious   having an insatiable appetite for an actiivty or pursuit; ravenous  
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sedulous   diligent, persistent; hardworking  
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solicitious   concerned and attentive; eager; full of concerns or fears; apprehensive  
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specious   seeming true, but actually being fallacious, misleading attractive  
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spurious   lacking authenticity or validity; false; not genuine, authentic, or true  
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stupefy   to stun, baffle, or amazie  
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stymie   to block; thwart; to hinder, obstruct, or block  
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supplant   to take the place of; supersede  
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surfeit   excess; overindulgence; satiate  
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tenacity   firmness; persistency; adhesiveness  
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terse   brief and concise in wording; using few words; curt  
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tirade   a long and extremely critical speech; a harsh denunciation; long angry speech of criticism or accusation  
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torpid   lethargic; sluggish; dormant; sleeping  
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tortuous   winding; twisting; excessively complicated  
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trout   to publicly priase or promote; tr to get people to buy (one's good or services) esp in a annoyling insistent way  
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trenchant   sharply preceptive keen penetrating; strongly and effectively expressed  
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truculent   fierce and cruel; eager to fight  
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unfeigned   genuine  
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untenable   indefnesible; that cannot be defedned; not viable  
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urbane   sophisticated; refiend; elegant  
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foment   agitate, stir up ("you xxx class hatred")  
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expletive   swearword expressing emotion rather than meaning ("it was a mere xxx, but it came from his soul")  
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depreciate   To xxx is to assign a lower than customary value to someone or something: "Some musicologists depreciate Liszt's compositions."  
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desolate   unpopulated. "xxx patch of earth"  
🗑
abase   lower; degrade; humiliate  
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abash   embarrass  
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abate   to lessen, to subside  
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abdication   giving up control authority  
🗑
abet   help/encourage somebody (in doing wrong)  
🗑
abeyance   suspended action  
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abidance   the state of abiding; abode; continuance; compliance (with)  
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abject   hopeless, most unfortunate or miserable  
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abjure   promise or swear to give up  
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abraded   rubbed off worn away by friction  
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abrogate   repeal or annul by authority  
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absonous   inharmonious, incongruous, discordant  
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abstruse   difficult to comprehend, obscure, esoteric, recondite  
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abut   border on  
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acarpous   worn out, effete, no longer fertile  
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accolade   praise, approval, encomium  
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Created by: holtkl
Popular English Vocabulary sets