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High-Frequency Vocab
ISEE test
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| aberrant | different from an accepted norm |
| aberration | deviation from a right, customary, or prescribed course |
| abet | to aid, promote, or encourage an offense |
| abeyance | a state of suspension or temporary inaction |
| abjure | to recant, renounce, repudiate under oath |
| ablution | a washing or cleansing, especially the body |
| abrogate | to abolish, repeal |
| abscond | to depart suddenly and secretly, as for the purpose of escaping arrest |
| abstemious | characterized by self denial or abstinence, as in use of drink or food |
| abstruse | dealing with matters difficult to be understood |
| abut | to touch at the end or boundary line |
| accede | to agree |
| acquiesce | to comply; submit |
| acrid | harshly pungent or bitter |
| acumen | quickness of intellectual insight or discernment; keenness of discrimination |
| adage | an old saying |
| adamant | any substance of exceeding hardness or impenetrability |
| admonition | gentle reproof |
| adumbrate | to represent beforehand in an outline or by emblem |
| affable | easy to approach |
| aggrandize | to cause to appear greatly |
| aggravate | to make heavier, worse, or more burdensome |
| agile | able to move or act quickly, physically, or mentally |
| agog | in eager desire |
| alacrity | cheerful willingness |
| alcove | a covered recess connected with or at the side of a larger room |
| alleviate | to make less burdensome or less hard to bear |
| aloof | not in sympathy with or desiring to associate with others |
| amalgamate | to mix or blend together in a homogeneous body |
| ambidextrous | having the ability of using both hands with equal skill or ease |
| ambiguous | having a double meaning |
| ameliorate | to relieve, as from pain or hardship |
| anathema | anything forbidden, as by social usage |
| animadversion | the utterance of criticism or censure |
| animosity | hatred |
| antediluvian | of or pertaining to the times, things, events before the great flood in the days of Noah |
| antidote | anything that will counteract or remove the effects of poison, disease, or the like |
| aplomb | confidence; coolness |
| apocryphal | of doubtful authority or authenticity |
| apogee | the climax |
| apostate | false |
| apotheosis | deification |
| apparition | ghost |
| appease | to soothe by quieting anger or indignation |
| apposite | appropriate |
| apprise | to give notice to; inform |
| approbation | sanction |
| arboreal | of or pertaining to a tree or trees |
| ardor | intensity of passion or affection |
| argot | a specialized vocabulary for a particular group |
| arrant | notoriously bad |
| ascetic | given to severe self-denial and practicing excessive abstinence and devotion |
| ascribe | to assign as a quality or attribute |
| asperity | harshness or roughness of temper |
| assiduous | unceasing; persistent |
| assuage | to cause to be less harsh, violent, or severe, as excitement, appetite, pain, or disease |
| astringent | harsh in disposition or character |
| astute | keen in discernment |
| atonement | amends, reparation, or expiation made from wrong or injury |
| audacious | fearless |
| augury | omen |
| auspicious | favorable omen |
| austere | severely simple; unadorned |
| autocrat | any one who claims authority or influence |
| auxiliary | one who or that which aids or helps, especially when regarded as subsidiary or accessory |
| avarice | passion for getting and keeping riches |
| aver | to avouch, justify or prove |
| aversion | a mental condition of fixed opposition to or dislike of something |
| avow | to declare openly |
| baleful | malignant |
| banal | commonplace |
| bask | to make warm by genial heat |
| beatify | to make happy |
| bedaub | to smear over, as with something oily or sticky |
| bellicose | warlike |
| belligerent | manifesting a warlike spirit |
| benefactor | a doer of kindly and charitable acts |
| benevolence | any cat of kindness or well-doing |
| benign | good and kind of heart |
| berate | to scold severely |
| bewilder | to confuse the perceptions or judgment of |
| blandishment | flattery intended to persuade |
| blatant | noisily or offensively loud or clamorous |
| blithe | joyous |
| boisterous | unchecked merriment or animal spirits |
| bolster | to support, as something wrong |
| bombast | inflated or extravagant language, especially or unimportant subjects |
| boorish | rude |
| breach | the violation of official duty, lawful right, or a legal obligation |
| brittle | fragile |
| bumptious | full of offensive and aggressive self-conceit |
| buoyant | having the power or tendency to float or keep afloat |
| burnish | to make brilliant or shining |
| cabal | a number of persons secretly united for effecting by intrigue some private purpose |
| cacophony | a disagreeable, harsh, or discordant sound or combination of sounds or tones |
| cajole | to impose on or dupe by flattering speech |
| callow | without experience of the world |
| calumny | slander |
| candid | straightforward |
| cant | to talk in a singsong, preaching tone with affected solemnity |
| capacious | roomy |
| capitulate | to surrender or stipulate terms |
| captious | hypercritical |
| castigate | to punish |
| cataract | opacity of the lens of eye resulting in complete or partial blindness |
| caustic | sarcastic and severe |
| censure | to criticize severely; also, an expression of disapproval |
| centurion | a captain of a company of one hundred infantry in the ancient Roman army |
| chagrin | keen vexation, annoyance, or mortification, as at one's failures or errors |
| chary | careful; wary; cautious |
| chicanery | the use of trickery to deceive |
| circumlocution | indirect or roundabout expression |
| coddle | to treat as a baby or invalid |
| coerce | to force |
| coeval | existing during the same period of time; |
| cogent | appealing strongly to the reason or conscience |
| cogitate | consider carefully and deeply |
| cognizant | taking notice |
| colloquial | pertaining or peculiar to common speech as distinguished from literary |
| collusion | a secret agreement |
| comestible | fit to be eaten |
| commemorate | to serve as a remembrance of |
| complaisance | politeness |
| complement | to make complete |
| comport | to conduct or behave oneself |
| compunction | remorseful feeling |
| conceit | self-flattering opinion |
| conciliatory | tending to reconcile |
| concord | harmony |
| concur | to agree |
| condense | to abridge |
| conflagration | a great fire, as of many buildings, a forest or the like |
| confluence | the place where streams meet |
| congeal | to coagulate |
| conjoin | to unite |
| connoisseur | a critical judge of art |
| console | to comfort |
| conspicuous | clearly visible |
| consternation | panic |
| constrict | to bind |
| consummate | to bring to completion |
| contiguous | touching or joining at the edge or boundary |
| contrite | broken in spirit |
| contumacious | rebellious |
| copious | plenteous |
| cornucopia | the horn of plenty |
| corporeal | of a material nature |
| correlate | to put in some relation of connection |
| corroboration | confirmation |
| counterfeit | made to resemble something else |
| countervail | to offset |
| covert | concealed |
| cower | to crouch down in fear or shame |
| crass | coarse or thick in nature |
| credulous | easily deceived |
| cupidity | avarice |
| cursory | rapid and superficial |
| curtail | to cut off or cut short |
| cynosure | that to which general interest or attention is directed |
| dearth | scarcity |
| defer | to delay or put off |
| deign | to deem worthy of notice or account |
| deleterious | hurtful |
| delineate | to represent by sketch |
| deluge | to overwhelm with a flood of water |
| demagogue | an unprincipled politician |
| denizen | inhabitant |
| denouement | that part of a play or story in which a mystery is cleared up |
| deplete | to reduce or lessen |
| deposition | testimony used as evidence in court |
| deprave | to render as morally bad |
| deprecate | to express disapproval |
| deride | to ridicule |
| derision | ridicule |
| derivative | coming or acquired from some origin |
| descry | to discern |
| desiccant | any remedy which dries up or absorbs moisture |
| desuetude | a state of disuse or inactivity |
| desultory | no connected with what precedes |
| deter | to frighten away |
| dexterity | readiness in any physical activity |
| diaphanous | transparent |
| diatribe | a bitter or malicious criticism |
| didactic | pertaining to teaching |
| diffidence | self-distrust |
| diffident | affected or possessed with self-distrust |
| dilate | to enlarge in all directions |
| dilatory | tending to cause delay |
| disallow | to withhold permission or sanction |
| discomfit | to put to confusion |
| disconcert | to disturb the composure of |
| disconsolate | hopelessly sad |
| discountenance | to look upon with disfavor |
| discredit | to injure the reputation of |
| discreet | judicious |
| disheveled | disordered; untidy |
| dissemble | to hide by pretending something different |
| dissent | disagreement |
| disseminate | to scatter |
| dissolution | a breaking up of a union of persons |
| distraught | bewildered |
| divulge | to tell or make known, as something previously private or secret |
| dogmatic | making statements without arguemnt or evidence |
| dormant | being in a state of sleep |
| dubious | doubtful |
| duplicity | double-dealing |
| earthenware | anything made of clay and baked in a kiln |
| ebullient | showing enthusiasm |
| edacious | given to eating |
| edible | suitable to be eaten |
| educe | to draw out |
| effete | exhausted |
| efficacy | to power to produce an intended effect |
| effrontery | unblushing impudence |
| effulgence | splendor |
| egregious | extreme |
| egress | any place of exit |
| elegy | a lyric poem lamenting the dead |
| elicit | to extract gradually without violence |
| elucidate | to bring out more clearly |
| emaciate | to waste away in flesh |
| embellish | to make beautiful by adding attractive features |
| embezzle | to misappropriate secretly |
| emblazon | to set forth publicly or in glowing terms |
| encomium | a formal expression of praise |
| encumbrance | a troublesome load |
| endemic | peculiar to some specified country or people |
| enervate | to render ineffective or inoperative |
| engender | to produce |
| engrave | to cut or carve in or upon some surface |
| enigma | a riddle |
| enmity | hatred |
| entangle | to involve in difficulties |
| entreat | to ask for or request earnestly |
| Epicurean | indulging to satisfy an appetite |
| epithet | word used adjectivally to describe some quality or attribute of its objects |
| epitome | a simplified representation |
| equable | equal and uniform |
| equanimity | evenness of mind or temper |
| equilibrium | a state of balance |
| equivocal | ambiguous |
| equivocate | to use words of double meaning |
| eradicate | to destroy thoroughly |
| errant | roving or wandering |
| erratic | irregular |
| erroneous | incorrect |
| erudite | very-learned |
| eschew | to keep clear of |
| espy | to keep close watch |
| eulogy | a spoken or written praise of a person's life |
| euphonious | characterized by agreeableness of sound |
| evanescent | fleeting |
| evince | to make manifest or evident |
| evoke | to call or summon forth |
| exacerbate | to make more sharp, severe, or virulent |
| exculpate | to relieve of blame |
| exhaustive | thorough and complete in execution |
| exigency | state of requiring immediate action |
| exorbitant | going beyond usual and proper limits |
| expatiate | to speak or write at some length |
| expedient | contributing to personal advantage |
| expiate | to make satisfaction or amends fro |
| explicate | to clear from involvement |
| expostulate | to discuss |
| expropriate | to deprive of possession |
| extant | still existing and known |
| extempore | without studied or special preparation |
| extenuate | to diminish the gravity or importance of |
| extinct | being of no longer in existence |
| extinguish | to render extinct |
| extirpate | to root out |
| extol | to praise in the highest terms |
| extort | to obtain by violence |
| extraneous | having no essential relation to a subject |
| exuberance | rich supply |
| facetious | amusing |
| facile | not difficult to do |
| factious | turbulent |
| fallacious | illogical |
| fatuous | idiotic |
| fawn | a young deer |
| feint | any sham or deceptive movement |
| felon | a criminal or depraved person |
| ferocity | savageness |
| fervid | intense |
| fervor | ardor or intensity of feeling |
| fidelity | loyalty |
| finesse | subtle contrivance used to gain a point |
| flamboyant | characterized by extravagance and in general by want of good taste |
| flippant | having a light, pert, trifling, disposition |
| florid | flushed with red |
| flout | to treat with contempt |
| foible | a personal weakness or failing |
| foment | to nurse to life or activity |
| foppish | characteristic of one who is unduly devoted to dress |
| forbearance | patient endurance or toleration of offenses |
| forfeit | to lose possession of through failure to fulfill some obligation |
| forgery | counterfeiting |
| forswear | to renounce upon oath |
| fragile | easily broken |
| frantic | frenzied |
| frugal | economical |
| fugacious | fleeting |
| fulminate | to cause to explode |
| fulsome | offensive from excess of praise |
| gainsay | to contradict |
| gamut | the whole range or sequence |
| garrulous | given to constant trivial talking |
| germane | relevant |
| gesticulate | to make gestures or motions, as in speaking |
| glimmer | a fain, wavering, unsteady light |
| gossamer | flimsy |
| gourmand | a connoisseur in the delicacies of the table |
| grandiloquent | speaking in a bombastic style |
| gregarious | sociable, outgoing |
| grievous | creating affliction |
| guile | duplicity |
| gullible | credulous |
| halcyon | calm |
| harangue | a tirade |
| harbinger | one who announces the coming of any person or thing |
| head | adv precipitately, as in diving |
| heinous | odiously sinful |
| heresy | an opinion or doctrine of settled beliefs or accepted principles |
| heterogeneous | consisting of different elements |
| hirsute | having a hairy covering |
| hoodwink | to deceive |
| hospitable | to treat strangers or guests with kindness |
| hypocrisy | extreme insincerity |
| iconoclast | an image-breaker |
| idiosyncrasy | a mental quality or habit peculiar to an individual |
| ignoble | low in character or purpose |
| ignominious | shameful |
| illicit | unlawful |
| imbroglio | a misunderstanding |
| imbue | to dye |
| immaculate | without spot or blemish |
| imminent | dangerous and close at hand |
| immutable | unchangeable |
| impair | to cause to become less or worse |
| impassive | unmoved by or not exhibiting feeling |
| impecunious | having no money |
| impede | to be an obstacle or to place obstacles in the way of |
| imperative | obligatory |
| imperious | insisting on obedience |
| imperturbable | calm |
| impervious | impenetrable |
| impetuous | impulsive |
| impiety | irreverence toward God |
| implacable | incapable of being pacified |
| implicate | to show or prove to be involved in or concerned |
| implicit | implied |
| importunate | urgent in character, request or demand |
| importune | to harass with persistent demands |
| impromptu | anything done or said on the impulse of the moment |
| improvident | lacking foresight |
| impugn | assail with arguments |
| impute | to attribute |
| inadvertent | accidental |
| inane | silly |
| incessant | unceasing |
| inchoate | incipient |
| incipient | initial |
| incite | to rouse to a particular action |
| incongruous | unsuitable for the time, place, or occasion |
| inculcate | to teach by frequent repetitions |
| indelible | that can not be blotted out or removed |
| indigence | poverty |
| indigenous | native |
| indistinct | vague |
| indolence | laziness |
| indolent | habitually inactive or idle |
| indomitable | unconquerable |
| indulgent | yielding to the desires or humor of oneself or those under one's care |
| ineffable | unutterable |
| ineluctable | impossible to avoid |
| inept | not fit or suitable |
| inexorable | unrelenting |
| infuse | to instill, introduce, or inculcate |
| ingenuous | candid, frank, or open in character |
| inimical | adverse |
| innocuous | harmless |
| inscrutable | mysterious or profound |
| insensible | imperceptible |
| insinuate | to imply |
| insipid | tasteless |
| insouciant | nonchalant |
| insurrection | the state of being in active resistance to authority |
| interdict | authoritative act of prohibition |
| interim | time between acts or periods |
| intransigent | not capable of being swayed |
| intrepid | fearless and bold |
| introspection | the act of observing one's own thoughts |
| inundate | to fill with an overflowing abundance |
| inure | to harden or toughen by use |
| invalid | one who is disabled by illness or injury |
| invective | an utterance intended to cast censure |
| inveigh | to utter vehement censure |
| inveterate | habitual |
| invidious | showing or feeling envy |
| invincible | not to overcome |
| iota | small or insignificant mark or part |
| irascible | prone to anger |
| irate | moved to anger |
| ire | wrath |
| irksome | wearisome |
| itinerant | wandering |
| jocular | inclined to joke |
| judicious | prudent |
| junta | a council or assembly that deliberates in secret upon the affairs of government |
| lachrymose | given to shedding tears |
| languid | relaxed |
| lackadaisical | listless |
| lascivious | lustful |
| lassitude | lack of vitality or energy |
| latent | dormant |
| laudable | praiseworthy |
| laudatory | pertaining to, expressing, or containing praise |
| legacy | a bequest |
| levee | an embankment beside a river or stream or an arm of the sea, to prevent overflow |
| levity | frivolity |
| lexicon | a dictionary |
| libel | defamation |
| licentious | wanton |
| lien | a legal claim or hold on a property |
| listless | inattentive |
| lithe | supple |
| loquacious | talkative |
| lugubrious | indicating sorrow, often ridiculously |
| luminary | source of light |
| lustrous | shining |
| malaise | a condition of uneasiness of ill-being |
| malcontent | one who is dissatisfied with the existing sate of affairs |
| malevolence | ill will |
| malign | to speak evil of, especially to do so falsely and severely |
| malleable | pliant or flexible |
| massacre | killing of human beings |
| maudlin | foolishly and tearfully affectionate |
| mawkish | sickening or insipid |
| mellifluous | sweetly or smoothly flowing |
| mendacious | untrue |
| mendicant | beggar |
| meretricious | alluring by false or gaudy show |
| mesmerize | to hypnotize |
| meticulous | over-cautious |
| mettle | courage |
| mettlesome | having courage or spirit |
| microcosm | the world or universe on a small scale |
| mien | the external appearance or manner of a person |
| mischievous | fond of tricks |
| miscreant | a villain |
| miser | a person given to saving and hoarding unduly |
| misnomer | a name wrongly or mistakenly applied |
| moderation | temperance or prohibition |
| modicum | a small or token amount |
| mollify | to soothe |
| molt | to cast off as hair, feathers, etc |
| monomania | the unreasonable pursuit of one idea |
| morbid | caused by or denoting an unsound condition of body or mind |
| mordant | biting |
| moribund | on the point of dying |
| morose | gloomy |
| multifarious | having great diversity or variety |
| mundane | worldly, as opposed to spiritual |
| munificent | generous |
| myriad | a vast indefinite number |
| nadir | the lowest point |
| nefarious | wicked in the extreme |
| negligent | apt to omit what ought to be done |
| neophyte | having the character of a beginner |
| noisome | very offensive, particularly to the sense of smell |
| nostrum | any scheme or recipe of charlatan character |
| noxious | hurtful |
| nugatory | having no power or force |
| obdurate | impassive to feelings of humanity or pity |
| obfuscate | to darken |
| oblique | slanting |
| obsequious | showing a servile readiness to fall in with the wishes or will of another |
| obstreperous | boisterous |
| obtrude | to be pushed or to push oneself into undue prominence |
| obtrusive | tending to be pushed to to push oneself |
| obviate | to clear away or provide for, as an objection or difficulty |
| odious | hateful |
| odium | a feeling of extreme repugnance, or of dislike and disgust |
| officious | inter meddling with what is not one's concern |
| ominous | threatening; portentous |
| onerous | burdensome or oppressive |
| onus | a burden or responsibility |
| opprobrium | the state of being scornfully reproached or accused of evil |
| ossify | to convert into bone |
| ostentation | a display dictated by vanity and intended to invite applause or flattery |
| ostracism | exclusion from favor in society or politics |
| ostracize | to exclude from public or private favor |
| palate | the roof of the mouth |
| palatial | magnificent |
| palliate | to cause to appear less guilty |
| palpable | perceptible by feeling or touch |
| panacea | a remedy or medicine proposed to cure all diseases |
| panegyric | a formal and elaborate eulogy of a person or act |
| panoply | a full set of armor |
| paragon | a model of excellence |
| pariah | a member of a degraded class |
| paroxysm | a sudden outburst of any kind of activity |
| parsimonious | unduly sparing in the use of money |
| partisan | exhibiting undue devotion to a party |
| pathos | the quality that rouses emotion or sympathy |
| paucity | fewness |
| peccadillo | a small breach of propriety or principle |
| pedestrian | one who journeys on foot |
| pellucid | translucent |
| penchant | a bias in favor of something |
| penurious | excessively sparing in the use of money |
| penury | indigence |
| peregrination | a wandering |
| peremptory | precluding question or appeal |
| perfidy | treachery |
| perfunctory | half-hearted |
| peripatetic | walking about |
| perjury | a solemn assertion of a falsity |
| permeate | to pervade |
| pernicious | tending to kill or hurt |
| persiflage | banter |
| perspicacity | acuteness of discernment |
| perturbation | mental excitement or confusion |
| petrify | to convert into a substance or stony harness |
| petulant | displaying impatience |
| phlegmatic | not easily roused to feeling or action |
| physiognomy | to external appearance merely |
| pious | religious |
| pique | to excite a slight degree of anger in |
| placate | to bring from a state of angry or hostile feeling to one of patience or friendliness |
| platitude | a written or spoken statement that is flat, dull, or commonplace. |
| plea | an argument to obtain some desired action |
| plenary | entire |
| plethora | excess |
| plumb | a weight suspended by a line to test the verticality of something |
| plummet | a piece of lead for making soundings, adjusting walls to the vertical |
| poignant | severely painful or acute to the spirit |
| polyglot | speaking several tongues |
| ponderous | unusually weighty |
| portend | to indicate as being about to happen |
| portent | anything that indicates what is about to happen |
| precarious | perilous |
| preclude | to prevent |
| precocious | having the mental faculties prematurely developed |
| predominate | to be chief in importance, quantity, or degree |
| premature | coming too soon |
| presage | to foretell |
| prescience | knowledge of events before they take place |
| presumption | that which may be logically assumed to be true until disproved |
| preternatural | extraordinary |
| prevalent | of wide extent or frequent occurrence |
| prevaricate | to use ambiguous or evasive language for the purpose of deceiving or diverting attention |
| prim | stiffly proper |
| pristine | primitive |
| probity | virtue or integrity tested and confirmed |
| proclivity | a natural inclination |
| procrastination | delay |
| prodigal | one wasteful or extravagant, especially in money or property |
| prodigious | immense |
| profligacy | shameless viciousness |
| profligate | recklessly wasteful |
| profuse | produced or displayed in overabundance |
| prolix | verbose |
| propinquity | nearness |
| propitious | kindly disposed |
| prosaic | unimaginative |
| proscribe | to reject, as a teaching or a practice |
| protuberant | bulging |
| provident | anticipating and making ready for future wants |
| prudence | caution |
| puerile | childish |
| pugnacious | quarrelsome |
| punctilious | strictly observant of the rules or forms prescribed by law or custom |
| pungency | the quality of affecting the sense of smell |
| pusillanimous | without spirit or bravery |
| pyre | a heap of combustibles arranged for burning a dead body |
| qualm | a fit of nausea |
| quandary | a puzzling predicament |
| quibble | an utterly trivial distinction or objection |
| quiescence | being quiet, still, or at rest |
| quixotic | chivalrous or romantic to a ridiculous degree |
| quotidian | of an everyday character; ordinary |
| raconteur | a person skilled in telling a story |
| ramify | to divide into branches or subdivisions |
| rapacious | seize by force |
| raucous | harsh |
| reactionary | pertaining to, of the nature of favoring a reaction |
| rebuff | an unexpected rejection of advances or approaches |
| recalcitrant | marked by stubborn resistance |
| recant | to withdraw formally one's belief |
| reciprocity | equal mutual rights and benefits granted and enjoyed |
| recluse | one who lives in retirement or seclusion |
| recondite | incomprehensible to one of ordinary understanding |
| recrudescent | becoming raw or sore again |
| recuperate | to recover |
| redoubtable | formidable |
| redress | to set right |
| refractory | not amenable to control |
| regale | to give unusual pleasure |
| regicide | the killing of a king |
| reiterate | to say or do again |
| relapse | to suffer a return of a disease after partial recovery |
| remonstrate | to present a verbal or written protest to those who have power to right or prevent a wrong |
| renovate | to restore after deterioration, such as a building |
| repast | a meal |
| repel | to force or keep back in a manner |
| repine | to indulge in fault finding |
| reprobate | one abandoned to depravity and sin |
| repudiate | to refuse to have anything to do with |
| repulsive | grossly offensive |
| requisite | necessary |
| requite | to repay either good or evil, as to another person |
| rescind | to make void |
| resilience | the power of springing back to a former position |
| resonance | able to reinforce sound by sympathetic vibrations |
| respite | interval of rest |
| restive | resisting control |
| retinue | the group of people who accompany an important person during travels |
| revere | to regard with worshipful veneration |
| reverent | humble |
| ribald | indulging in obscenity |
| risible | capable of exciting laughter |
| rotund | round from fullness |
| ruffian | a lawless or recklessly brutal fellow |
| ruminate | to chew over again |
| sagacious | able to discern and distinguish with wise perception |
| salient | standing out prominently |
| salubrious | healthful |
| salutary | beneficial |
| sanction | to approve authoritatively |
| sanguine | cheerfully confident |
| sardonic | scornfully sarcastic |
| satiate | to satisfy fully the appetite of |
| satyr | a very lascivious person |
| savor | to perceive by taste or smell |
| scabbard | the sheath of a sword |
| scintilla | the faintest ray |
| scribble | hasty, careless writing |
| sedulous | persevering in effort or endeavor |
| sequence | the order in which a number or persons, things, or events follow one another in space or time |
| severance | separation |
| shrewd | characterized by skill at understanding and profiting by circumstances |
| sinecure | any position having emoluments with few or no duties |
| sinuous | curving in and out |
| skiff | usually, a a small light boat propelled by oars |
| sluggard | a person habitually lazy or idle |
| solace | comfort in grief, trouble, or calamity |
| solvent | having sufficient funds to play all debts |
| somniferous | tending to produce sleep |
| somnolent | sleepy |
| sonorous | resonant |
| sophistry | reasoning sound in appearance only, especially when designedly deceptive |
| soporific | causing sleep |
| sordid | filthy, morally degraded |
| specious | plausible |
| spurious | not genuine |
| squalid | having a dirty, mean, poverty-stricken appearance |
| stanch | to stop the flowing of |
| stigma | a mark of infamy or token of disgrace |
| stingy | unwilling to spend money |
| stolid | expressing no power of feeling or perceiving |
| submerge | to place or plunge under water |
| subterfuge | evasion |
| succinct | concise |
| sumptuous | rich and costly |
| supercilious | exhibiting haughty and careless contempt |
| superfluous | being more than is needed |
| supernumerary | superfluous |
| supersede | to displace |
| supine | lying on the back |
| supplicate | to beg |
| suppress | to prevent from being disclosed or punished |
| surcharge | an additional amount charged |
| surfeit | to feed to fullness |
| susceptibility | a specific capability of feeling or emotion |
| sybarite | a luxurious person |
| sycophant | a servile flatterer |
| synopsis | a syllabus or summary |
| taciturn | disinclined to conversation |
| taut | stretched tightly |
| temerity | foolhardy disregard of danger |
| terse | pithy |
| timorous | lacking courage |
| torpid | dull |
| torrid | excessively hot |
| tortuous | abounding in irregular bend or turns |
| tractable | easily led or controlled |
| transgress | to break the law |
| transient | one who or that which is only of temporary existence |
| transitory | existing for a short time only |
| travail | hard labor |
| travesty | a grotesque imitation |
| trenchant | cutting deeply and quickly |
| trepidation | nervous feeling |
| trite | made common by frequent repetition |
| truculence | ferocity |
| truculent | spirit of a savage |
| turbid | turmoil |
| turgid | swollen |
| turpitude | depravity |
| tutelage | the act of training |
| tyro | slightly skilled with any profession |
| ubiquitous | being present everywhere |
| ulterior | existing beyond what is obvious |
| umbrage | a sense of injury |
| unctuous | oily |
| undermine | sabotage |
| undulate | to move like a wave or in waves |
| untoward | causing annoyance or hindrance |
| upbraid | to reproach as deserving blame |
| vagary | a sudden desire or action |
| vainglory | excessive vanity |
| valorous | courageous |
| vapid | having lost sparkling quality and flavor |
| variegated | having marks or patches of different colors |
| vehement | very eager or urgent |
| venal | mercenary, corrupt |
| veneer | outside show or elegance |
| venial | that may be pardoned or forgiven |
| veracious | habitually disposed to speak the truth |
| vercity | truthfulness |
| verbiage | use of many words without necessity |
| verbose | wordy |
| verdant | green with vegetation |
| veritable | real; true; genuine |
| vestige | a visible trace or mark of something absent |
| vicissitude | a change, especially a complete change as in fortune |
| vigilance | alert and intent mental watchfulness in guarding against danger |
| vigilant | being alert to insure safety |
| virago | loud talkative women |
| virtu | rare, curious quality |
| visage | the face, countenance, or look of a person |
| vitiate | to contaminate |
| vituperate | to overwhelm with wordy abuse |
| vivify | to endue with life |
| vociferous | making a loud outcry |
| volatile | changeable |
| voluble | having great fluency in speaking |
| wean | to transfer the young from dependence on mother's milk to another form of nourishment |
| whimsical | capricious |
| winsome | attractive |
| zeitgeist | the intellectual and moral tendencies that characterize any age or epoch |