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PR Hit Parade 300
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| aberrant | adj. deviating from the norm (n. aberration) |
| abscond | v. depart clandestinely; steal off and hide |
| alacrity | n. great willingness or enthusiasm |
| anomaly | n. deviation from the normal order, form, or rule; abnormality (adj. anomalous) |
| approbation | n. an expression of approval or praisearduous |
| arduous | adj. strenuous; taxing; requiring significant effortassuage |
| assuage | v. ease or lessen; appease or pacify |
| audacious | adj. daring and fearless; recklessly bold (n. audacity) |
| aberrant | adj. deviating from the norm (n. aberration) |
| abscond | v. depart clandestinely; steal off and hide |
| alacrity | n. great willingness or enthusiasm |
| anomaly | n. deviation from the normal order, form, or rule; abnormality (adj. anomalous) |
| approbation | n. an expression of approval or praise |
| arduous | adj. strenuous; taxing; requiring significant effort |
| assuage | v. ease or lessen; appease or pacify |
| audacious | adj. daring and fearless; recklessly bold (n. audacity) |
| austere | adj. without adornment; bare; severely simple; ascetic (n. austerity) |
| axiomatic | adj. taken as a given; possessing self-evident truth (n. axiom) |
| canonical | adj. following or in agreement with accepted, traditional standards (n. canon) |
| capricious | adj. inclined to change one's mind impulsively; erratic; unpredictable |
| censure | v. criticize severely; officially rebuke |
| chicanery | n. trickery or subterfuge |
| connoisseur | n. an informed and astute judge in matters of taste; expert |
| convoluted | adj. complex or complicated |
| disabuse | v. undeceive; set right |
| discordant | adj. conflicting; dissonant or harsh in mind |
| disparate | adj. fundamentally distinct or dissimilar |
| effrontery | n. extreme boldness; presumptuousness |
| eloquent | adj. well-spoken; expressive; articulate (n. eloquence) |
| enervate | v. weaken; reduce in vitality |
| ennui | n. dissatisfaction and restlessness resulting from boredom or apathy |
| equivocate | v. use ambiguous language with a deceptive intent (adj. equivocal) |
| erudite | adj. very learned; scholarly (n. erudition) |
| exculpate | v. exonerate; clear of blame |
| exigent | adj. urgent; pressing; requiring immediate action or attention |
| extemporaneous | adj. improvised; done without preparation |
| filibuster | n. intentional obstruction, esp. using prolonged speechmaking to delay legislative action |
| fulminate | v. loudly attack or denounce |
| ingenuous | adj. artless; frank and candid; lacking in sophistication |
| inured | adj. accustomed to accepting something undesirable |
| irascible | adj. easily angered; prone to temperamental outbursts |
| laud | v. praise highly (adj. laudatory) |
| lucid | adj. clear; easily understood |
| magnanimity | n. the quality of being generously noble in mind and heart, esp. in forgiving (adj. magnanimous) |
| martial | adj. associated with war and the armed forces |
| mundane | adj. of the world; typical of or concerned with the ordinary |
| nascent | adj. coming into being; in early developmental stages |
| nebulous | adj. vague; cloudy; lacking clearly defined form |
| neologism | n. a new word, expression, or usage; the creation or use of new words or senses |
| noxious | adj. harmful; injurious |
| obtuse | adj. lacking sharpness of intellect; not clear or precise in thought or expression |
| obviate | v. anticipate and make unnecessary |
| onerous | adj. troubling; burdensome |
| paean | n. a song or hymn of praise and thanksgiving |
| parody | n. a humorous imitation intended for ridicule or comic effect, esp. in literature and art |
| perennial | adj. recurrent though the year or many years; happening repeatedly |
| perfidy | n. intentional breach of faith; treachery (adj. perfidious) |
| perfunctory | adj. cursory; done without care or interest |
| perspicacious | adj. acutely perceptive; having keen discernment (n. perspicacity) |
| prattle | v. babble meaninglessly; talk in an empty and idle manner |
| precipitate | adj. acting with excessive haste or impulse, v. cause or happen before anticipated or required |
| predilection | n. a disposition in favor of something; preference |
| prescience | n. foreknowledge of events; knowing of events prior to their occurring (adj. prescient) |
| prevaricate | v. deliberately avoid the truth; mislead |
| qualm | n. misgivings; reservations; causes for hesitancy |
| recant | v. retract, esp. a previously held belief |
| refute | v. disprove; successfully argue against |
| relegate | v. forcibly assign, esp. to a lower place or position |
| reticent | adj. quiet; reserved; reluctant to express thoughts and feelings |
| solicitous | adj. concerned and attentive; eager |
| sordid | adj. characterized by filth, grime, or squalor; foul |
| sporadic | adj. occurring only occasionally, or in scattered instances |
| squander | v. waste by spending or using irresponsibly |
| static | adj. not moving, active, or in motion; at rest |
| stupefy | v. stun, baffle, or amaze |
| stymie | v. block; thwart |
| synthesis | n. the combination of parts to make a whole (v. synthesize) |
| torque | n. a force that causes rotation |
| tortuous | adj. winding; twisting; excessively complicated |
| truculent | adj. fierce and cruel; eager to fight |
| veracity | n. truthfulness; honesty |
| virulent | adj. extremely harmful or poisonous; bitterly hostile or antagonistic |
| voracious | adj. having an insatiable appetite for an activity or pursuit; ravenous |
| waver | v. move to and fro; sway; be unsettled in opinion |
| abate | v. lessen in intensity of degree |
| accolade | n. an expression of praise |
| adulation | n. excessive praise; intense adoration |
| ameliorate | v. make better or more tolerable |
| ascetic | n. one who practices rigid self-denial, esp. as an act of religious devotion |
| avarice | n. greed, esp. for wealth (adj. avaricious) |
| aesthetic | adj. dealing with, appreciative of, or responsive to art or the beautiful |
| axiom | n. a universally recognized principle (adj. axiomatic) |
| bucolic | adj. rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants |
| burgeon | v. grow rapidly or flourish |
| cacophony | n. harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance (adj. cacophonous) |
| canon | n. an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature (adj. canonical) |
| castigation | n. severe criticism or punishment (v. castigate) |
| catalyst | n. a substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction without itself changing; a person of thing that causes change |
| caustic | adj. burning or stinging; causing corrosion |
| chary | adj. wary; cautious; sparing |
| cogent | adj. appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing |
| complaisance | n. the willingness to comply with wishes of others (adj. complaisant) |
| contentious | adj. argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement |
| contrite | adj. regretful; penitent; seeking forgiveness (n. contrition) |
| culpable | adj. deserving blame (n. culpability) |
| dearth | n. smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; a lack |
| demur | v. question or oppose |
| didactic | adj. intended to teach or instruct |
| discretion | n. cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible decisions (adj. discreet) |
| disinterested | adj. free of bias of self-interest; impartial |
| dogmatic | adj. expressing a rigid opinion based on unproved or unprovable principles (n. dogma) |
| ebullience | adj. the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings (adj. ebullient) |
| eclectic | adj. composed of elements drawn from various sources |
| elegy | n. a mournful poem, esp. one lamenting the dead (adj. elegiac) |
| emollient | adj. / n. soothing, esp. to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying; an agent that softens of smoothes the skin |
| empirical | adj. based on observation or experiment |
| enigmatic | adj. mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand (n. enigma) |
| ephemeral | lasting or used for only a short period of time |
| esoteric | adj. intended for or understood by a small, specific group |
| eulogy | n. a speech or piece of writing praising somebody/something very much |
| exonerate | v. remove blame |
| facetious | adj. playful; humorous |
| fallacy | n. an invalid or incorrect notion; a mistaken belief (adj. fallacious) |
| furtive | adj. marked by stealth; covert; surreptitious |
| gregarious | adj. sociable; outgoing; enjoying the company of other people |
| harangue | v. / n. deliver a pompous speech or tirade; a long, pompous speech |
| heretical | adj. violating accepted dogma or convention (n. heresy) |
| hyperbole | n. an exaggerated statement, often used as a figure of speech (adj. hyperbolic) |
| impecunious | adj. lacking funds; without money |
| incipient | adj. beginning to come into being or to become apparent |
| inert | adj. unmoving; lethargic; sluggish |
| innocuous | adj. harmless; causing no damage |
| intransigent | adj. refusing to compromise (n. intransigence) |
| morose | adj. unhappy, bad-tempered and not talking very much |
| odious | adj. evoking intense aversion or dislike |
| opaque | adj. impenetrable by light; not reflecting light |
| oscillation | n. the act or state of swinging back and forth with a steady, uninterrupted rhythm (v. oscillate) |
| penurious | adj. penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous |
| pernicious | adj. extremely harmful; potentially causing death |
| inveigle | v. obtain by deception or flattery |
| peruse | v. examine with great care (n. perusal) |
| pious | adj. extremely reverent or devout; showing strong religious devotion (n. piety) |
| precursor | n. one that precedes and indicates or announces another |
| preen | v. dress up; primp; groom oneself with elaborate care |
| prodigious | adj. abundant in size, force, or extent; extraordinary |
| prolific | adj. producing large volumes or amounts; productive |
| putrefy | rot; decay and give off a foul odor (adj. putrid) |
| quaff | v. drink deeply |
| quiescence | n. stillness; motionlessness; quality of being at rest (adj. quiescent) |
| redoubtable | adj. awe-inspiring; worthy of honor |
| sanction | n. / v. authoritative permission or approval; a penalty intended to enforce compliance; give permission or authority to |
| satire | n. a way of criticizing a person, an idea or an institution in which you use humor to show their faults or weaknesses; a piece of writing that uses this type of criticism |
| squalid | adj. sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect (n. squalor) |
| supplant | v. take the place of; supersede |
| torpid | adj. lethargic; sluggish; dormant (n. torpor) |
| ubiquitous | adj. existing everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered; widespread |
| urbane | adj. sophisticated; refined; elegant (n. urbanity) |
| vilify | v. defame; characterize harshly |
| viscous | adj. thick; sticky (n. viscosity) |
| acumen | n. keen, accurate judgement or insight |
| adulterate | v. reduce purity by combining with inferior ingredients |
| amalgamate | v. combine several elements into a whole (n. amalgamation) |
| archaic | adj. outdated; associated with an earlier, perhaps more primitive, time |
| aver | v. state as a fact; declare or assert |
| bolster | v. provide support or reinforcement |
| diatribe | n. a harsh denunciation |
| bombastic | adj. pompous; grandiloquent (n. bombast) |
| dissemble | v. disguise or conceal; mislead |
| eccentric | adj. departing from norms or conventions |
| evanescent | adj. tending to disappear like vapor; vanishing |
| exacerbate | v. make worse or more severe |
| fervent | adj. greatly emotional or zealous (n. fervor) |
| fortuitous | adj. happening by accident or chance |
| germane | adj. relevant to the subject at hand; appropriate in subject matter |
| hackneyed | adj. rendered trite or commonplace by frequent usage |
| halcyon | adj. calm and peaceful |
| hedonism | n. devotion to pleasurable pursuits, esp. to the pleasures of the senses ( a hedonist is someone who purses pleasure) |
| iconoclast | a person who criticizes popular beliefs or established customs and ideas |
| grandiloquence | n. pompous speech or expression (adj. grandiloquent) |
| hegemony | n. the consistent dominance of one state or ideology over others |
| idolatrous | adj. given to intense or excessive devotion to something (n. idolatry) |
| impassive | adj. revealing no emotion |
| imperturbable | adj. marked by extreme clam, impassivity, and steadiness |
| impunity | n. immunity from punishment or penalty |
| implacable | adj. not capable of being appeased or significantly changed |
| infelicitous | adj. unfortunate; inappropriate |
| insipid | adj. without taste or flavor; lacking in spirit; bland |
| loquacious | adj. extremely talkative (n. loquacity) |
| luminous | adj. characterized by brightness and the emission of light |
| malevolent | adj. having or showing often vicious ill will, spite, or hatred (n. malevolence) |
| inchoate | adj. in an initial stage; not fully formed |
| malleable | adj. capable of being shaped or formed; tractable; pliable |
| mendacity | n. the condition of being untruthful; dishonesty (adj. mendacious) |
| meticulous | adj. characterized by extreme case and precision; attentive to detail |
| misanthrope | n. one who hates all other humans (adj. misanthropic) |
| mitigate | v. make or become less severe or intense; moderate |
| obdurate | adj. unyielding; hardhearted; intractable |
| obsequious | adj. exhibiting a fawning attentiveness |
| occlude | v. obstruct or block |
| opprobrium | n. disgrace; contempt; scorn |
| pedagogy | n. the profession or principles of teaching, or instructing |
| pedantic | adj. the parading of learning; excessive attention to minutiae and formal rules |
| penury | n. poverty; destitution |
| pervasive | adj. having the tendency to permeate or spread throughout |
| pine | v. yearn intensely; languish; lose vigor |
| pirate | v. illegally use or reproduce |
| pith | n. the essential or central part |
| pithy | adj. precise and brief |
| placate | v. appease; clam by making concessions |
| platitude | n. a superficial remark, esp. one offered as meaningful |
| plummet | v. plunge or drop straight down |
| polemical | adj. controversial; argumentative |
| prodigal | adj. recklessly wasteful; extravagant; profuse; lavish |
| profuse | adj. given or coming forth abundantly; extravagant |
| proliferate | v. grow or increase swiftly and abundantly |
| queries | n. questions; inquiries; doubts in the mind; reservations |
| querulous | adj. prone to complaining or grumbling; peevish |
| rancorous | adj. characterized by bitter, long-lasting resentment (n. rancor) |
| recalcitrant | adj. obstinately defiant of authority; difficult to manage |
| repudiate | v. refuse to have anything to do with; disown |
| rescind | v. invalidate; repeal; retract |
| reverent | adj. marked by, feeling, or expressing a feeling of profound awe and respect (n. reverence) |
| rhetoric | n. the art or study of effective use of language for communication and persuasion |
| salubrious | adj. promoting health or well-being |
| solvent | adj. able to meet financial obligations; able to dissolve another substance |
| specious | adj. seeming true, but actually being fallacious; misleadingly attractive; plausible but false |
| spurious | adj. lacking authenticity or validity; false; counterfeit |
| subpoena | n. a court order requiring appearance and/or testimony |
| succinct | adj. brief; concise |
| superfluous | adj. exceeding what is sufficient or necessary |
| surfeit | n./v. an overabundant supply; excess; feed or supply to excess |
| tenacity | n. the quality of adherence or persistence to something valued; persistent determination (adj. tenacious) |
| tenuous | adj. having little substance or strength; flimsy; weak |
| tirade | n. a long and extremely critical speech; a harsh denunciation |
| transient | adj. fleeting; passing quickly; brief |
| zealous | adj. fervent; ardent; impassioned; devoted to a cause (cf. zealot) |
| stoic | adj. indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain (stoicism) |
| endemic | adj. characteristic of or often found in a particular locality, region, or people |
| acerbic | adj. having a sour or bitter taste or character; sharp; biting |
| aggrandize | v. increase in intensity, power, influence, or prestige |
| alchemy | n. a medieval science aimed at the transmutation of metals, esp. base metals into gold |
| amenable | adj. agreeable; responsive to suggestion |
| anachronism | n. something or someone out of place in terms of historical or chronological context |
| astringent | adj./n. having a tightening effect on living tissue; harsh; severe |
| bombast | n. self-important or pompous writing or speech (adj. bombastic) |
| contiguous | adj. sharing a border; touching; adjacent |
| convention | n. a generally agreed-upon practice or attitude |
| credulous | adj. tending to believe too readily; gullible (n. credulity) |
| cynicism | n. an attitude or quality of belief that all people are motivated by selfishness (adj. cynical) |
| decorum | n. polite or appropriate conduct or behavior (adj. decorous) |
| derision | n. scorn; ridicule; contemptuous treatment (adj. derisive, v. deride) |
| desiccate | v. dry out or dehydrate; make dry or dull |
| dilettante | n. one with an amateurish or superficial interest in the arts or a branch of knowledge |
| disparage | v. slight or belittle |
| divulge | v. disclose something secret |
| fawn | v. flatter or praise excessively |
| flout | v. show contempt for, as in a rule or convention |
| garrulous | adj. pointlessly talkative, talking too much |
| glib | adj. marked by ease or informality; nonchalant; lacking in depth; superficial |
| hubris | n. overbearing presumption or pride; arrogance |
| imminent | adj. about to happen; impending |
| immutable | adj. not capable of change |
| impetuous | adj. hastily or rashly energetic; impulsive and vehement |
| indifferent | adj. having no interest or concern; showing no bias or prejudice |
| inimical | adj. damaging; harmful; injurious |
| intractable | adj. not easily managed or directed; stubborn; obstinate |
| intrepid | adj. steadfast and courageous |
| laconic | adj. using few words; terse |
| maverick | n. an independent individual who does not go along with a group or party |
| mercurial | adj. characterized by rapid and unpredictable change in mood |
| mollify | v. calm or soothe; reduce in emotional intensity |
| neophyte | n. a recent convert; a beginner; novice |
| obfuscate | deliberately obscure; make confusing |
| obstinate | adj. stubborn; hardheaded; uncompromising |
| ostentatious | adj. characterized by or given to pretentious display; showy |
| pervade | v. permeate throughout (adj. pervasive) |
| phlegmatic | adj. calm; sluggish; unemotional |
| plethora | n. an overabundance; a surplus |
| pragmatic | adj. practical rather than idealistic |
| presumptuous | adj. overstepping due bounds (as of propriety or courtesy); taking liberties |
| pristine | adj. pure; uncorrupted; clean |
| proclivity | n. a natural predisposition or inclination |
| profligate | adj. excessively wasteful; recklessly extravagant (n. profligacy) |
| propensity | n. a natural inclination or tendency, penchant |
| prosaic | adj. dull; lacking in spirit or imagination |
| pungent | adj. characterized by a strong, sharp smell or taste |
| quixotic | adj. foolishly impractical; marked by lofty romantic ideals |
| quotidian | adj. occurring or recurring daily; commonplace |
| rarefy | v. make or become thin, less dense, refine |
| probity | n. adherence to highest principles; complete and confirmed integrity; uprightness |
| recondite | adj. hidden; concealed; difficult to understand; obscure |
| refulgent | adj. radiant; shiny; brilliant |
| renege | v. fail to honor a commitment; go back on a promise |
| sedulous | adj. diligent; persistent; hardworking |
| shard | n. a piece of broken pottery or glass |
| soporific | adj. causing drowsiness; tending to induce sleep |
| sparse | adj. thin; not dense; arranged at widely spaced intervals |
| spendthrift | n. one who spends money wastefully |
| subtle | adj. not obvious; elusive; difficult to discern |
| tacit | adj. implied; not explicitly stated |
| terse | adj. brief and concise in wording |
| tout | v. publicly praise or promote |
| trenchant | adj. sharply perceptive; keen; penetrating |
| unfeigned | adj. genuine; not false or hypocritical |
| untenable | adj. indefensible; not viable; uninhabitable |
| vacillate | v. waver indecisively between one course of action or opinion and another; waver |
| variegated | adj. multicolored; characterized by a variety of patches of different color |
| vexation | n. annoyance; irritation (v. vex) |
| vigilant | adj. alertly watchful (n. vigilance) |
| vituperate | v. use harsh condemnatory language; abuse or censure severely or abusively; berate |
| volatile | adj. readily changing to a vapor; changeable; fickle; explosive (n. volatility) |
| multifarious | of many different kinds; having great variety |
Created by:
jzeller
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