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words 1
wotd emails, etc.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| umber | dark, yellowish brown; to darken with light brown |
| gage | to pledge; offering a guarantee in good faith; throwing down something as a challenge; gauntlet |
| columbine | servent girl; saucy sweetheart |
| rummy | odd; drunk |
| mizzle | very light rain; to confuse |
| raddle | red ochre; paint with red ochre; to rub away, obscure |
| contemn | to treat with contempt |
| claddagh | ring in the form of two hands clasping a crowned heart |
| dandle | to bounce a toddler on the knee(s) |
| thinko | mistake in thought process; bad reasoning |
| milieu | environment; social setting |
| lenitive | soothing; easing pain or discomfort |
| coup de foudre | love at first sight; thunderbolt |
| scry | to divine the future with crystals or crystal ball |
| atweel | surely |
| raffish | moderately untoward; a rake |
| lunula | crescent-shaped |
| andragogy | methods of teaching adults |
| nepenthe | something that induces forgetting (esp. of pain or sorrow) |
| squamous | having scales; covered in scales |
| aspersion | slander |
| ultradian | having less than a 24 hour circadian rhythm |
| kyoodle | yelp; howl foolishly |
| reticulation | netlike, or network formation |
| piacular | in need of atonement; expiatory |
| expiatory | atoning; recompensatory |
| analgesia | without pain |
| psittacine | relating to parrots |
| tumulus | having mounds |
| interoceptive | awareness of inner bodily functions |
| frieze | band of decoration, usually in low relief |
| megalomania | delusion of great or unlimited power or importance |
| entablature | cornice, fieze, and architrave |
| contumacious | willfully disobedient; stubbornly perverse, rebellious |
| perverse | determined to be counter to what is expected; persistent in what is wrong |
| refractory | impossible to manage; stubbornly disobedient |
| restive | impatient with control, restraint, or delay; restless; uneasy |
| obstreperous | deeply resisting control or restraint; unruly; noisy, clamorous, boisterous |
| boisterous | rough and noisy; noisily jolly or rowdy; unrestrained; rough and stormy |
| obstinate | not yielding to argument, persuasion, or entreaty; stubbornly adhering to an opinion or purpose |
| gauntlet | medieval protective glove; protective glove used in industry; open challenge (to combat) |
| visceral | felt as if within internal organs; not intellectual; unreasoning; crude or elemental emotions |
| infelicitous | inappropriate, not well-timed; awkward; unfortunate |
| inapposite | not apt or pertinent |
| apt | fitted or qualified; having a tendency; keenly intelligent or responsive |
| untoward | difficult to guide, manage, work with; trouble or unhappiness; improper; indecorous |
| appurtenance | accessory object; incidental right attached; subordinate part or adjunct |
| adjunct | something added and not essential; a word (or group) that qualifies or completes the meaning of another; associate or assistant |
| ashram | secluded dwelling of a Hindi sage; religious retreat |
| sibilate | hiss; to utter an initial s or sh sound |
| psychometrics | psychological theory or technique of mental measurements |
| polymorphism | state of existing in or assuming different forms; existence of a species in several different forms |
| tyrosine | phenolic amino acid, precursor of important substances (epinephrine and melanin) |
| serotonin | phenolic amine neurotransmitter, powerful vasoconstrictor, esp. in the brain, blood serum |
| heterozygous | dissimilar pairs of genes for any hereditary characteristic |
| homologous | having the same relative position, value, or structure |
| allele | alternative forms of a gene that may occur at a given locus |
| construct | something constructed by the mind, theoretical entity, working hypothesis; product of ideology, history, or social circumstances |
| pelage | the hairy covering of a mamal |
| secrete | to form and give off; deposit in a hiding place; discharge, generate, or release |
| abridge | shorten by omission of words without sacrifice of sense; reduce in scope |
| abscond | to depart secretly and hide oneself |
| absolve | to set free from an obligation or guilt; pardon or forgive (a sin) |
| absurd | ridiculously unsound, incongruous; no orderly relationship to life; meaningless |
| titfer | hat |
| heritable | genetically transmitted or transmittable from parent to offspring |
| mitotic | cell division; involving prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase |
| blellum | an idle, indiscreet talker (Scottish) |
| habiliment(s) | clothes worn in a specific profession, way of life; accoutrements, trappings |
| dyad | two individuals in a sociologically significant relationship; a meiotic chromosome after separation |
| stentorian | extremely loud, implying great power and range |
| sonorous | producing sound when struck; full or loud in sound; imposing, impressive in effect, style; having a high, indicated degree of resonance |
| clamorous | marked by confused din or outcry (may imply insistence, demand, or protest) |
| vociferous | marked by or given to vehement insistent outcry; vehement shouting or calling out |
| obstreperous | unruly, aggressive noisiness; stubbornly resistant to control; so loud or insistent as to compel attention |
| intractable | not easily governed, managed, directed; not easily manipulated, shaped; not easily relieved, cured |
| recalcitrant | determined resistance; obstinate defiance of authority, restraint; not responsive to treatment |
| contumacious | stubbornly disobedient; rebellious; insubordinate; using harsh language arising from contempt |
| untoward | not favorable; marked by unhappiness; unruly; adverse; unpropitious; improper; undecorous |
| propitious | favorably disposed; being a good omen; tending to favor; likely to have or produce a good result |
| abscission | dropping of leaves; the act or process of cutting off; natural separation of flowers, fruit, or leaves |
| benighted | state of contemptible intellectual, moral ignorance; overtaken by darkness |
| gnathonic | sycophantic; fawning |
| orotund | pompous, bombastic; characterized by strength, richness, clearness, and fullness |
| ham-handed | clumsy, inept, or heavy-handed |
| sequela | abnormal condition resulting from a previous disease |
| agon | contest featuring athletics, drama, music, poetry; conflict, esp. between protagonist and antagonist |
| ineluctable | not able to be avoided or changed |
| nocuous | harmful |
| discomfit | confuse, upset; put into a state of complexity and embarrassment; to frustrate the plans of |
| disconcert | throw into confusion; disturb the composure of |
| decompose | separate into constituant parts, elements; cause to be slowly destroyed, broken down |
| discompose | destroy the composure of; disturb the order of |
| argot | language used by a particular group; vocabulary and idiom peculiar to a particular group |
| idiom | expression that cannot be understood from the meanings of its separate words alone |
| quietism | a religious mysticism where perfection and spiritual peace are attained |
| mores | the customs, values, behaviors that are accepted by a particular group, culture, etc. |
| luteal | of the ductless gland within the ovary, product is progesterone |
| estriol | estrogenic hormone, occurring in the urine during pregnancy |
| diapason | full, rich outpouring of melodious sound; compass of a voice or instrument |
| quorum | number of officers or members of a body when duly assembled is competent to transact business |
| genitive | grammatical case marking a relationship of possessor or source |
| logorrhea | excessive and often incoherent talkativeness or wordiness |
| periphrasis | use of a longer phrasing in place of a shorter form of expression |
| melancholia | a manic-depressive condition of extreme depression, and often hallucinations and delusions |
| quiddity | whatever makes something the type that it is (essence); a trifling point; quibble |
| taradiddle | fib; pretentious nonsense |
| rodomontade | vain boasting or bluster; a bragging speach; rant |
| gasconade | bravado; extravagant boasting |
| extravagant | exceeding the limits of reason or necessity; lacking in moderation, balance, and restraint |
| conscientious | governed by or conforming to the dictates of conscience; meticulous; careful |
| conscience | sense of moral goodness of one's own conduct, intentions, character, with an obligation to do right |
| consarcinate | to patch together |
| blithe | lacking due thought or consideration; happy lighthearted character or disposition |
| frenetic | frenzied; frantic |
| frantic | marked by fast and nervous, disordered, or anxiety-driven activity; emotionally out of control |
| odious | arousing or deserving hatred, repugnance |
| scintillate | emit sparks; emit quick flashes, as if throwing off sparks; sparkle |
| plunderbund | political or business interests, engaged in exploiting the public |
| orexigenic | stimulating the appetite |
| palilogy | repetition of words, esp. for emphasis |
| quincentenary | 500th anniversary |
| arachnophopia | irrational fear of spiders |
| firmament | the vault or arch of the sky; field or sphere of an interest or activity |
| bevy | large group or collection |
| cowl | hood or long-hooded cloak, esp. of a monk; draped neckline; chimney covering; cowling |
| cowling | removable metal covering that houses the engine and sometimes part of the fusillage or nacelle |
| nacelle | streamlined enclosure (as for an engine) on an aircraft |
| gout | mass or aggregate, esp. of something fluid, often gushing or bursting forth |
| sedition | incitement, resistance, insurrection against lawful authority |
| prelapsarian | time or state before the fall of humankind |
| clarion | medieval trumpet with clear, shrill tones |
| shrill | utter or emit an acute piercing sound; scream |
| brio | vigor; vivacity; verve |
| verve | artistic spirit, enthusiasm; vivacity; energy; vitality |
| cow | frighten someone into doing something, using threats or violence |
| cadge | to (try to) get something from someone else without paying for it |
| gnomic | something spoken or written short, mysterious, and not easily understood, but often seems wise |
| trawl | search among many different places in order to find people or information you want |
| forestall | prevent something from happening by acting first |
| atone | do something that shows you are sorry for something bad that you did or failed to do |
| librate | remain poised or balanced; oscillate from side to side |
| hyaloid | glassy or transparent in appearance; hyaline |
| patina | a thin surface layer that develops on something because of use, age, chemical action |
| notionate | fanciful, notional; headstrong, stubborn |
| tump | small rounded hill or mound; a tumulus; a clump of trees, shrubs, or grass |
| axilla | armpit |
| cockrow | dawn |
| resfeber | tangled feelings of fear and excitement before a journey begins |
| numinous | having a deep spiritual quality or connection |
| concordance | agreement (by stipulation, compact, or covenant) |
| craven | lacking courage; contemptibly fainthearted |
| dicrotic | having a double heart beat |
| commodify | to turn into a commodity |
| vulgarian | person lacking cultivation, perception, taste |
| Luddite | one opposed to change, esp. technological |
| bellicose | inclined to quarrels, violence, warfare |
| plutocracy | government by the wealthy; controlling class of the wealthy |
| clavier | an early keyboard instrument |
| lunk | stupid person; dolt |
| zardozi | embroidery worked with gold and silver thread |
| bund | an association, especially a political one |
| meeple | figure used as a playing piece in certain board games |
| evert | turn (a structure or organ) outwards or inside out |
| messan | small pet dog; a lapdog |
| pukka | excellent; appropriate to high or respectable society |
| autocthonous | formed in its present position; indigenous rather than descended from migrants or colonists |
| prolix | containing too many words; tediously lengthy |
| trammels | restrictions or impediments to freedom of action |
| fugue | dreamlike state of altered consciousness that may last for hours or days |
| phare | lighthouse or beacon to guide ships at sea |
| cornpone | rustic; unsophisticated; unleavened maize bread |
| tergiversation | make conflicting or evasive statements; change one's loyalties |
| patzer | a poor player at chess |
| gyan | knowledge, especially spiritual or religious knowledge |
| quip | witty remark; to make a witty remark |
| postern | back or side entrance |
| nostalgia | sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past |
| fecund | producing an abundance of offspring or new growth; highly fertile |
| kiasu | selfish attitude arising from a fear of missing out on something |
| brightwork | polished metalwork on ships or other vehicles |
| crapulous | caused by or showing the effects of alcohol |
| lambent | glowing, gleaming, flickering with a soft radiance |
| rake | move across something with a long sweeping movement, esp. gunfire |
| impugn | dispute the truth, validity, or honesty of a statement or motive; call into question |
| contingent | group of people sharing a common feature, forming part of a larger group |
| sennachie | teller of old tales or legends, esp. Gaelic |
| mana | impersonal supernatural power which can be transmitted or inherited |
| hygge | cosiness, comfortable conviviality engendering feelings of contentment, well-being |
| screed | long speech or piece of writing, typically one regarded as tedious |
| bayou | marshy outlet of a lake or river |
| naevus | birthmark or a mole on the skin, esp. in the form of a raised red patch |
| nary | not any; not one |
| linguaphile | person who loves languages and words |
| cytokines | substances, such as interferon, interleukin, and growth factors, secreted by the immune system |
| thunderstone | various fossils or stones thought to be formerly fallen thunderbolts |
| slainte | expression of friendly feelings toward one's companions before drinking |
| sagamore | (among some North American Indian peoples) a chief |
| rete | elaborate network of blood vessels or nerve cells |
| mugwump | person who remains aloof or independent, especially from party politics |
Created by:
starsail
Popular English Vocabulary sets