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annamika
GRE Study words
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| banal | trite and unoriginal |
| aphorism | statement of general truth |
| ameliorate | improve or make better |
| cloying | too sweet or excessively flattering |
| euphony | pleasing combination of sounds |
| cacophony | mixture of harsh or discordant sounds |
| cogent | clean and to the point; appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing |
| ephemeral | short-lived, transitory |
| dearth | lack of something |
| abjure | swear away: renounce |
| intransigent | not flexible; not able to be swayed; stubborn |
| elucidate | make clear |
| iconoclast | one who smashes revered images; an as attacker of cherished beliefs |
| adumbrate | foreshadow vaguely, intimate, suggest, or outline sketchily |
| alacrity | eager and enthusiastic willingness |
| anachronism | something or someone out place in terms of historical or chronological context |
| anathema | a solemn or ecclesiastical (religious) curse; accursed or thoroughly loathed person or thing |
| anodyne | soothing, assuages or allays pain, comforts |
| antipathy | aversion, dislike |
| antithetical | diametrically opposed, as in antithesis |
| apocryphal | of dubious authenticity or origin; spurious |
| apostate | one who abandons long-held religious or political convictions, a betrayer of a cause |
| apotheosis | deification, glorification to godliness, the perfect example |
| apposite | appropriate, pertinent, relevant, apropos |
| apprise | give notice to inform |
| approbation | an expression of approval or praise |
| arcane | mysterious, abstruse, esoteric, knowable only to initiates |
| arrant | impudent; in every way; being completely such, bare-faced, utter |
| errant | itinerant; travel from place to place |
| ascetic | one who practices rigid self-denial, especially as an act of religious devotion, austere, stark |
| asperity | severity, rigor, roughness, harshness, acrimony, irritability |
| aspersion | an act of defamation or maligning |
| assiduous | diligent, hard working |
| assuage | to ease or lesson; to appease or pacify |
| astringent | having a tightening affect on living tissue; harsh; severe |
| attenuate | to rarefy, weaken or make thinner, lessen |
| augury | omen, portent, the reading of omens |
| august | majestic, venerable |
| auspice | protection or support, patronage |
| austere | without adornment, bare, severely simple, ascetic |
| avarice | greed, especially for wealth |
| bedizen | to adorn especially in cheap, showy manner, festoon, caparison |
| bellicose | belligerent, pugnacious, warlike |
| blandish | to coax with flattery, toad or fawn |
| brandish | to shake or wave menacingly |
| blithe | carefree, merry |
| bombastic | pompous, grandiloquent |
| brook | tolerate, endure, countenance |
| bucolic | rustic and pastoral, characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants |
| burgeon | grow rapidly or flourish |
| burnish | to polish or rub to a shine |
| byzantine | labyrinthine, complex |
| cadge | to sponge, beg or mooch |
| calumniate | to slander, make a false accusation |
| canon | an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature |
| capricious | inclined to change one's mind impulsively, erratic, unpredictable |
| cardinal | of basic importance or consequence; primary |
| castigation | severe criticism or punishment |
| causality | the relationship between cause and effect |
| censure | to criticize severely, to officially rebuke |
| chary | wary, cautious, sparing |
| chasten | to chastise or correct, subdue |
| chicanery | trickery or subterfuge |
| chimera | an illusion |
| choleric | tending toward anger |
| churlish | boorish, vulgar, loutish, difficult and intractable |
| coda | concluding section to a musical or literary piece, something that concludes or completes |
| commensurate | matching, corresponding, or proportionate in degree, size, amount or other property |
| complaisance | the willingness to comply with the wishes of others |
| contemn | to scorn or despise |
| contrite | regretful, penitent, seeking forgiveness |
| corrigible | capable of being set right, correctable, reparable |
| countenance | approve of or tolerate |
| cozen | to deceive, beguile, hoodwink |
| craven | contemptibly, fainthearted, pusillanimous |
| credulous | tending to believe too readily, gullible |
| damp | to diminish the intensity or check something, such as a sound or feeling |
| deleterious | injurious; harmful |
| demur | to question or oppose |
| denigrate | blacken, belittle, sully, defame, disparage |
| denouement | an outcome or solution; the unravelling of a plot |
| depredate | to plunder, pillage, ravage or destroy; to exploit in a predatory manner |
| derision | scorn, ridicule, contemptuous treatment |
| desiccate | to dry out or dehydrate, to make dry or dull |
| desuetude | disuse |
| desultory | random; thoughtless; marked by a lack of plan or purpose |
| detraction | slandering, verbal attack, aspersion |
| diaphanous | transparent; gauzy |
| diatribe | a harsh denunciation |
| didactic | intended to teach or instruct |
| diffident | reserved, shy, unassuming, lacking in self-confidence |
| dilatory | causing delay, procrastination |
| dilettante | one with an amateurish or superficial interest in the arts or a branch of knowledge |
| din | a loud sustained noise |
| dirge | a mournful song or poem for the dead |
| disabuse | to undeceive, to set right |
| discomfit | to defeat, put down |
| discordant | conflicting, dissonant or harsh in sound |
| disparate | fundamentally distinct or dissimilar |
| dissemble | to disguise or conceal; to mislead |
| dissonance | lack of harmony; conflict |
| distrait | distracted, absent-minded, especially due to anxiety |
| doggerel | trivial, poorly constructed verse |
| dross | slag, waste or foreign matter, impurity, surface scum |
| dulcet | melodious, harmonious, mellifluous |
| ebullience | the quality of lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings |
| edifying | enlightening informative |
| efficacy | the ability to produce and intended result |
| effrontery | extreme boldness; presumptuousness |
| effusive | gushing; excessively demonstrative |
| elegy | a mournful poem, especially one lamenting the dead, any mournful writing or piece of music |
| encomium | glowing and enthusiastic praise, panegyric, tribute, eulogy |
| endemic | characteristic of or often found in a particular locality, region or people, restricted to or peculiar in that region; indigenous |
| enervate | to weaken; to reduce in vitality |
| engender | to cause, produce, give rise up |
| enigmatic | mysterious, obscure, difficult to understand |
| ennui | dissatisfaction, and restlessness resulting from boredom or apathy |
| enormity | excessive wickedness, evilness |
| ephemeral | brief, fleeting, short-lived |
| epicure | one devoted to sensual pleasure particularly food and drink; gourmand, sybarite |
| episodic | loosely connected, not flowing logically, occurring at intervals |
| epithet | disparaging word or phrase |
| epitome | embodiment; quintessence |
| equanimity | composure, self-possession |
| equable | level; not able to be easily disturbed |
| equivocate | to use ambiguous language with a deceptive intent |
| erudite | very learned; scholarly |
| eschew | to shun or avoid |
| esoteric | intended for or understood by a small specific group |
| essay | to test or to try; attempt, experiment |
| estimable | worthy, formidable |
| evanescent | tending to disappear like vapor; vanishing |
| evince | to show clearly, to indicate |
| exact | to demand, call for require, take |
| excoriate | to censure scathingly, to upbraid |
| exculpate | exonerate; to clear of blame |
| exemplar | typical or standard specimen; paradigm model |
| exhort | to incite, to make urgent appeals |
| exigent | urgent, pressing, requiring immediate action or attention |
| expatiate | discuss or write about at length; to range freely |
| expiate | to atone or make amends for |
| expurgate | to remove obscenity, purify, censor |
| extant | existing, not destroyed or lost |
| extemporaneous | improvised, done without preparation |
| extirpate | to destroy, exterminate, cut out, pull out by the roots |
| facetious | playful; humorous; not serious |
| fallacy | an invalid or incorrect motion, a mistaken belief |
| fatuous | silly, inanely foolish |
| feckless | ineffectual; irresponsible |
| felicitous | apt; suitably expressed, well chosen, apropos, delightful |
| fell | a barren or stony hill; an animal's hide |
| fervent | greatly emotional or zealous |
| fetter | to shackle, put in chains, restrain |
| filigree | an ornamental work, especially of delicate lace-like patterns, resembling such as a pattern |
| flag | to sag or droop, to become spiritless, to decline |
| flip | sarcastic, impertinent |
| florid | flushed with color, ruddy, ornate |
| flout | to demonstrate contempt for |
| foment | to stir up, incite, rouse |
| forbearance | patience, willingness to wait |
| forestall | to act in a way to hinder, exclude or prevent an action, to circumvent or thwart |
| forswear | to renounce, disallow, repudiate |
| fortuitous | happening by fortunate accident or chance |
| fracas | a noisy fight or quarrel, brawl |
| fractious | quarrelsome, rebellious, unruly, cranky |
| froward | intractable, not willing to yield or comply, stubbornly disobedient |
| fulminate | to attack loudly or denounce |
| furtive | marked by stealth; covert; surreptitious |
| gainsay | to deny, dispute, contradict, oppose |
| gambol | to kip about playfully, frolic |
| garner | to gather and save, store up, acquire |
| garrulous | pointlessly talkative, talking too much |
| gauche | crude, awkward, tasteless |
| glib | marked by ease or informality, nonchalant, lacking in depth, superficial |
| grandiloquence | pompous speech or expression |
| grouse | complain or grumble |
| guile | trickery, duplicity, cunning |
| guy | a rope or cord attached to something as a brace or guide |
| hackneyed | rendered trite or commonplace by frequent usage |
| halcyon | calm and peaceful, prosperous |
| harangue | to deliver a loud, pompous speech or tirade |
| harrow | to distress, create stress or torment |
| hedonism | devotion to pleasurable pursuits, especially to the pleasures of the senses. |
| hegemony | the consistent dominance or influence of one group, state or ideology over others |
| heretical | violating accepted dogma or convention, unorthodox |
| hermetic | airtight, impervious to outside influence |
| heterodox | unorthodox, heretical, iconoclastic |
| hirsute | hairy, shaggy |
| hubris | arrogant presumption or pride |
| hyperbole | and exaggerated statement often used as a figure of speech |
| idolatrous | given to intense or excessive devotion to something |
| idyll | a carefree, light-hearted pastoral or romantic episode or experience; a literary or musical piece describing such |
| ignominious | shameful, dishonorable, ignoble, undignified, disgraceful |
| imbroglio | difficult or embarrassing situation |
| imminent | about to happen, impending |
| immutable | not capable of change |
| impecunious | lacking funds; without money |
| imperious | commanding, masterful, arrogant, domineering, haughty |
| imperturbable | marked by extreme calm, impassivity, and steadiness |
| implacable | not capable of being appeased or significantly changed |
| importune | to ask incessantly |
| imprudent | shamelessly bold, insolent, impertinent |
| impugn | attack or assail verbally, censure, execrate, deny |
| impunity | immunity from punishment, penalty or harm |
| impute | to attribute to a cause or source, ascribe, assign as a characteristic |
| inchoate | in an initial stage, not fully formed |
| incipient | beginning to come into being or to become apparent |
| indolent | lazy, listless, torpid |
| ineluctable | certain, inevitable |
| inert | unmoving, lethargic, sluggish, not reactive chemically |
| ingenuous | artless, frank and candid, lacking in sophistication |
| inimical | damaging, harmful, injurious, hostile, unfriendly |
| inimitable | one of a kind, peerless |
| iniquity | wickedness, gross injustice |
| innervate | supply with nerves, energize |
| innocuous | harmless,; causing no damage |
| inscrutable | incapable of being discovered or understood, mysterious |
| insensible | unconscious, unresponsive, unaware, unaffected, numb |
| insipid | without taste or flavor, lacking in spirit, dull |
| insouciant | unconcerned, carefree, nonchalant |
| insular | parochial, narrow-minded, like an island |
| interdict | prohibit, forbid, ban, halt |
| intimate | imply, suggest or insinuate |
| intractable | not easily managed or directed |
| intrepid | steadfast, courageous |
| inured | accustomed to accepting something undesirable |
| inveigh | to attack verbally, denounce, deprecate |
| inveigle | to obtain by deception or flattery |
| inveterate | deep rooted, ingrained, habitual |
| invidious | tending to arouse envy or ill will in others |
| irascible | easily angered, prone to temperamental outbursts |
| itinerate | to travel from place to place |
| jejune | vapid, uninteresting; childish, immature; lacking nutrition |
| jibe | agree, to be in accord |
| jocose | given to joking; humorous |
| labile | readily open to change, unstable |
| lachrymose | causing tears, tearful, showing sorrow |
| laconic | using few words, terse |
| lassitude | listlessness, languor, weariness |
| libertine | someone unrestrained by mortality or convention or leading a dissolute life |
| limn | to draw, outline in detail |
| limpid | transparent, serene, clear and simple in style, untroubled |
| list | to tilt or lean to one side |
| loquacious | extremely talkative |
| lucid | intelligible, sound, clear |
| magnanimity | the quality of being generously noble in mind and heart, especially forgiving |
| malevolent | having or showing often vicious ill will, spite or hatred |
| maligner | to feign illness as to avoid work |
| malleable | capable of being shaped or formed, easily influenced |
| martinet | a rigid disciplinarian |
| maunder | to talk or move aimlessly, mutter |
| mellifluous | sweetly flowing, usually used to describe words or sounds |
| mendacity | the condition of being untruthful, dishonesty |
| mendicant | beggar, supplicant |
| mercurial | characterized by rapid and unpredictable change in mood |
| meretricious | tawdry, pretentious, attractive but false, showy, having to do with prostitution |
| mettlesome | courageous, high-spirited |
| militate | to have weight or bearing on, to argue against |
| minatory | menacing, threatening |
| mince | pronounce or speak affectedly or too carefully, euphemize, take tiny steps, tiptoe |
| misanthrope | one who hates humankind |
| misogynist | one who hates women |
| mitigate | to make or become less severe or intense, moderate |
| mollify | to calm or soothe, reduce in emotional intensity |
| morose | sad, sullen, melancholy |
| multifarious | varied, motley, greatly diversified |
| nadir | low point, perigee |
| nascent | coming into being; in early developmental stages |
| natty | trimly neat and tidy, dapper |
| nebulous | vague, cloudy, lacking clearly defined form |
| neologism | a new word, expression, or usage; the creation or use of new words or senses |
| neophyte | a recent convert; a beginner; novice |
| nexus | a connection, tie, or link; center or focus |
| nice | exacting, extremely or even excessively precise; done with delicacy or skill |
| noisome | offensive, especially to one's sense of smell, fetid |
| nonplussed | baffled, in a quandary, at a loss for what to day, do or think |
| nostrum | cure-all, placebo, questionable remedy |
| noxious | harmful, injurious |
| obdurate | unyielding, hardhearted, inflexible |
| obeisance | gesture that expresses deference, such as a bow or curtsy |
| obfuscate | to deliberately obscure, to make confusing |
| obsequious | exhibiting a fawning attentiveness; subservient |
| obstinate | stubborn. hardhearted; uncompromising; |
| obstreperous | noisy, loudly stubborn, boisterous |
| obtain | to be established, accepted, or customary, prevail |
| obtuse | lacking sharpness of intellect, not clear or precise in thought or expression |
| obviate | anticipate and make unnecessary |
| occlude | to obstruct or block |
| occult | hidden, concealed, beyond comprehension |
| odious | hateful; arousing strong feelings of dislike |
| officious | meddlesome, pushy in offering one's services where they are unwanted |
| onerous | troubling, burdensome |
| opaque | impermeable by light; dense in mind |
| opprobrium | disgrace, contempt, scorn |
| ossified | change into bone; made rigidly conventional and unreceptive to change |
| ostensible | seeming, appearing as such professed |
| overweening | presumptuously arrogant, overbearing, immoderate |
| paean | a strong or expression of praise and thanksgiving |
| palliate | to make something appear less serious, gloss over, mitigate |
| pandemic | widespread; occurring over a large area or affecting an unusually large percentage of the population. |
| panegyric | formal expression of praise |
| paradigm | something that serves as a model, example, or pattern; the framework of assumptions and understanding shared by a group of discipline that shapes its worldview |
| paradox | a contradiction; a seemingly self-contradictory statement that seems true nonetheless |
| paragon | something regarded as a model of excellence or perfection in some way |
| pariah | an outcast, a rejection and despised person |
| parody | a humorous imitation intended for ridicule or comic effect, especially in literature and art, also something so bad as to be potentially mistaken for an intentional mockery |
| parry | to block or evade, or ward off, as a blow |
| parsimonious | cheap, miserly |
| partisan | one-sided, committed to a party, biased or prejudiced |
| paucity | scarcity, a lacking of |
| peccadillo | a slight offense, literally, a minor sin |
| pedantic | ostentatious display of learning, excessive attention to minutiae and formal rules, unimaginative |
| pedestrian | commonplace, trite, unremarkable |
| penchant | strong inclination, a liking |
| penurious | penny-pinching; excessively thrifty,; ungenerous |
| peremptory | admitting of no contradiction, putting an end to further debate, haughty, imperious |
| perfidy | intentional breach of faith, treachery |
| perfunctory | cursory, done without care or interest |
| peripatetic | itinerant, traveling, nomadic |
| pernicious | extremely harmful, potentially causing death |
| perspicacious | acutely perceptive, having keen discernment |
| peruse | to examine with great care |
| pervade | to permeate throughout |
| petrous | like a rock, hard, stony |
| petulant | impatient, irritable |
| philanthropic | humanitarian; benevolent |
| philistine | a crass individual guided by material rather than intellectual or artistic values |
| phlegmatic | calm, sluggish, unemotional, stoic |
| picaresque | involving clever rogues or adventurers |
| pied | multicolored, usually in blotches |
| pillory | to punish, hold up to public scorn |
| piquant | agreeably pungent, spicy, stimulating |
| pique | resentment, feeling of irritation due to hurt pride |
| pirate | to use or reproduce illegally |
| pith | the essential or central part |
| placate | to appease, to calm by making concessions |
| plaintive | mournful, melancholy, sorrowful |
| plangent | pounding, thundering, resounding |
| plastic | moldable, pliable, not rigid |
| platitude | a superficial or trite remark, especially one offered as meaningful |
| plethora | an overabundance, a surplus |
| pluck | courage, spunk, fortitude |
| plumb | tho measure the depth, to examine critically |
| plummet | to plunge or to drop straight down |
| poignant | distressing, pertinent, touching, stimulation, emotional |
| polemical | controversial, argumentative |
| pragmatic | practical rather than idealistic |
| prate | chatter, babble |
| prattle | to babble meaninglessly; to talk in an empty and idle manner |
| precarious | uncertain, risky, dangerous |
| precept | rule establishing standards of conduct, a doctrine that is taught |
| precipitate | acting with excessive haste or impulse |
| precursor | something that precedes and indicates or announces another |
| predilection | a disposition in favor of something, preference |
| preempt | to replace, to supersede, to appropriate |
| preen | to dress up, primp, groom oneself with elaborate care |
| prescience | knowing of events prior to their occurring |
| presumptuous | overstepping bounds, as of propriety or courtesy; taking liberties |
| prevaricate | to deliberately avoid the truth, mislead |
| prize | to pry, press or force with a lever |
| probity | adherence to highest principles uprightness |
| proclivity | a natural predisposition or inclination |
| prodigal | recklessly wasteful, extravagant, profuse, lavish |
| prodigious | abundant in size, force, or extent, extraordinary |
| profligate | excessively wasteful, recklessly extravagant |
| prolix | long winded, verbose |
| propinquity | nearness in time or place, affinity of nature, kinship |
| propitiate | to appease or pacify |
| propitious | auspicious, favorable |
| propriety | appropriateness; conformity with standards of acceptable behavior |
| prosaic | dull, unimaginative |
| proscribe | to outlaw or prohibit |
| Provident | frugal, looking into the future |
| puerile | childish, immature |
| pugnacious | contentious, quarrelsome, given to fighting, belligerent |
| punctilious | precise, paying attention to trivialities, especially in regard to etiquette |
| pundit | an authority on a subject, one who gives opinions |
| pungent | characterized by strong, sharp smell or taste, penetrating to the point |
| pusillanimous | coward, craven |
| putrefy | to rot, decay and give off a foul odor, become gangrenous |
| quaff | to drink deeply |
| quail | to shrink back in fear, lose courage |
| qualify | to limit |
| qualms | misgivings, reservations, causes for heistancy |
| queries | questions, inquiries, reservations |
| querulous | prone to complaining or grumbling, quarrelsome |
| quiescence | stillness, motionlessness, quality of being quiet |
| quotidian | occurring or recurring daily, commonplace |
| rail | to complain about bitterly |
| ramify | to be divided or subdivided, branch out |
| rancorous | characterized by bitter, long-lasting resentment |
| rapacious | voracious, greedy, plundering, subsisting on prey |
| rarefy | to make or become thin, less dense, refine |
| rebus | riddle, a representation of words by pictures or symbols that sound like the words |
| recalcitrant | obstinately defiant of authority or guidance, difficult to manage |
| recapitulate | to summarize, to repeat concisely |
| recondite | hidden, concealed, difficult to understand, obscure |
| reconnoiter | to engage in a reconnaissance, make a preliminary inspection of |
| recumbent | leaning, resting, prone |
| redolent | fragrant, suggestive or evocative |
| redoubtable | awe-inspiring, worthy of honor |
| refulgent | radiant, shiny, brilliant |
| refute | to disprove, successfully argue against |
| regale | to delight or entertain, feast |
| relegate | to forcibly assign, especially to a lower place of position |
| remonstrate | to protest, object |
| rent | torn, split apart, pierced as by sound |
| repine | to feel or express dejection or discontent, long for |
| repudiate | to refuse to have anything to do with, disown |
| rescind | to invalidate, repeal, retract |
| resolute | adamant, steadfast, determined |
| reticent | quiet, reserved, reluctant to express thoughts and feelings |
| reverent | marked by, feeling, or expressing a feeling of profound awe and respect |
| rhetoric | the art or study of effective use of language for communication and persuasion |
| risible | hilarious, provoking laughter |
| rubric | authoritative rule, heading, title or category |
| rue | regret, feel remorse |
| sagacious | having sound judgement, perceptive, wise |
| salacious | appealing to or causing sexual desire, bawdy |
| salient | prominent, protruding, conspicuous, highly relevant |
| salubrious | promoting health or well-being |
| salutary | remedial, wholesome, causing improvement |
| sanctimony | self-righteousness, pretended piety |
| sanction | authoritative permission or approval; a penalty intended to enforce compliance |
| sanguine | cheerful, confident, optimistic |
| sap | to enervate or weaken the vitality of |
| satiate | to overindulge, satisfy or excess |
| satire | a literary work that ridicules or criticizes human vice through humor or derision |
| saturnine | gloomy, dark, sullen, morose |
| scurvy | contemptible, despicable |
| sedulous | diligent, persistent, hard-working |
| seine | a large net hung out and dragged to catch fish |
| sere | withered, arid |
| seminal | like a seed, constituting a source originative |
| shard | a piece of broken pottery or glass, any small piece or part |
| simper | to smirk, to say something with a silly, coy smile |
| sinecure | position requiring little or no work and usually providing an income |
| singular | exceptional, unusual, odd |
| sinuous | winding, curvy, moving lithely, devious |
| slake | to satisfy, quench, lessen the intensity of |
| sodden | soaked or drenched, unimaginative, dull |
| solder | to weld, fuse or join, as with a soldering gun |
| solicitous | concerned and attentive, eager |
| solvent | able to meet financial obligations |
| sophistry | fallacious reasoning; plausible but faulty logic |
| sophomoric | exhibiting immaturity, lack of judgement, pretentious |
| soporific | causing drowsiness, tending to induce sleep |
| sordid | characterized by filth, grime, or squalor, foul |
| specious | seeming true, but actually false, misleadingly attractive |
| splenetic | bad-tempered, irritable |
| sporadic | occurring only in occasionally, or in scattered instances |
| spurious | lacking authenticity or validity, false, counterfeit |
| squalid | sordid, wretched and dirty as from neglect |
| squander | to waste by spending or using irresponsibly |
| stanch | to stop the flow of a fluid |
| static | not moving, active or in motion; at rest |
| steep | to saturate or completely soak |
| stentorian | extremely loud and powerful |
| stint | to restrain, be sparing or frugal |
| stoic | indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain, steadfast |
| stolid | calm, impassive |
| striated | striped, grooved, or banded |
| strut | a structural support used to brace a framework |
| stupefy | to stun, baffle, or amaze |
| stymie | to block, thwart |
| subpoena | a court order requiring appearance and/or testimony |
| subtle | not obvious, elusive, difficult to discern, crafty or sly |
| succinct | brief, concise |
| succor | assistance, relief in time of distress |
| sundry | various, miscellaneous, separate |
| supercilious | disdainful, arrogant, haughty, characterized by haughty scorn |
| superfluous | exceeding what is sufficient or necessary |
| supine | inactive, lying on one's back apathetic, mentally or morally slack |
| supplant | to take the place of, supersede |
| suppliant | asking humbly, beseeching |
| supplicant | beggar, one who prays or begs for something |
| surfeit | to feed or supply in excess |
| sycophant | someone who tries to flatter or please for personal gain, parasite |
| synthesis | the combination of parts to make a whole |
| table | to remove from consideration |
| taciturn | not talkative, silent |
| talisman | something believed to have magic power or bestow good luck |
| tautology | repetition, a redundancy, a circular argument |
| tawdry | cheap, gaudy, showy, tacky, indecent |
| tenacity | the quality of adherence or persistence to something valued |
| tendentious | biased, showing marked tendencies |
| tender | offer formally |
| tenuous | having little substance or strength, flimsy, weak |
| terse | brief and concise in wording |
| timorous | timid, fearful, diffident |
| tirade | a long and extremely critical speech, harsh denunciation |
| toady | sycophant, flatterer, yes-man |
| torpid | lethargic, sluggish, dormant |
| torque | a force that causes rotation |
| torrid | scorching, ardent, passionate, hurried |
| tortuous | winding, twisting, excessively complicated |
| tout | publicly praise or promote |
| tractable | docile, obedient, easily led |
| transient | fleeting, passing quickly, brief |
| travesty | mockery, caricature, parody |
| trenchant | sharply perceptive, keen, penetrating, biting, clear cut |
| truculent | fierce, scathing, eager to fight |
| turbid | muddy, having sediment stirred up, clouded to the point of being opaque |
| turgid | swollen, bloated, pompous, excessively ornate |
| turpitude | depravity, baselessness |
| tyro | novice, beginner or learning |
| ubiquitous | existing everywhere at the time, constantly encountered, widespread |
| umbrage | offense, resentment |
| undulate | to move in wavelike fashion fluctuate |
| unfeigned | genuine, not false or hypocritical |
| untenable | indefensible, not viable, uninhabitable |
| untoward | troublesome, unruly, unseemly, adverse |
| upbraid | to scold, censure, rebuke, chastise |
| urbane | sophisticated, refined, eloquent |
| usury | charging an exorbitant or illegal rate of interest |
| vaunt | to brag or boast |
| venal | capable of being bought or bribed, mercenary |
| venerate | to revere |
| veracity | truthfulness, honesty |
| verisimilitude | appearing true or real |
| veritable | authentic, real, genuine |
| vexation | annoyance, irritation |
| vigilant | alertly watchful |
| vilify | to defame, characterize harshly |
| virulent | extremely harmful or poisonous, bitterly hostile, or antagonistic |
| viscus | thick, sticky |
| vitiate | to reduce the value of, debase, spoil, make ineffective |
| vituperate | to use harsh condemnatory language; abuse or censure severely |
| volatile | readily changing to vapor; changeable, fickle, explosive |
| voracious | having an insatiable appetite for an activity or pursuit, ravenous |
| waft | light breeze, puff |
| waver | to move to and fro, to sway; to be unsettled in opinion |
| welter | to writhe, to toss about to be in turmoil |
| wend | to go, proceed, walk |
| whet | to sharpen or stimulate |
| whimsical | imaginative, unpredictable |
| zealous | fervent, ardent, impassioned |