- aberration
a state or condition markedly different from the norm
- abhor
find repugnant
- acquiesce
agree or express agreement
- alacrity
liveliness and eagerness
- amiable
diffusing warmth and friendliness
- appease
make peace with
- arcane
requiring secret or mysterious knowledge
- avarice
reprehensible acquisitiveness; insatiable desire for wealth
- brazen
unrestrained by convention or propriety
- brusque
marked by rude or peremptory shortness
- cajole
influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
- chide
censure severely or angrily
- circumspect
heedful of potential consequences
- clandestine
conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
- coerce
to cause to do through pressure or necessity
- coherent
marked by an orderly and consistent relation of parts
- complacency
the feeling you have when you are satisfied with yourself
- confidant
someone to whom private matters are told
- connive
form intrigues (for) in an underhand manner
- cumulative
increasing by successive addition
- cynical
believing the worst of human nature and motives
- debase
make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance
- decry
express strong disapproval of
- deferential
showing courteous regard for people’s feelings
- demure
affectedly shy especially in a playful or provocative way
- deride
treat or speak of with contempt
- despot
a cruel and oppressive dictator
- diligent
quietly and steadily persevering in detail or exactness
- elated
exultantly proud and joyful; in high spirits
- eloquent
expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively
- embezzle
appropriate fraudulently to one’s own use
- empathy
understanding and entering into another’s feelings
- enmity
a state of deep-seated ill-will
- erudite
having or showing profound knowledge
- extol
praise, glorify, or honor
- fabricate
put together out of artificial or natural components
- feral
wild and menacing
- forsake
leave someone who needs or counts on you; leave in the lurch
- fractious
easily irritated or annoyed
- furtive
secret and sly or sordid
- gluttony
habitual eating to excess
- gratuitous
unnecessary and unwarranted
- haughty
having or showing arrogant superiority
- hypocrisy
pretending to have qualities or beliefs that you do not have
- impeccable
without fault or error
- impertinent
improperly forward or bold
- implacable
incapable of being appeased or pacified
- implicit
suggested though not directly expressed
- impudent
improperly forward or bold
- incisive
demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
- indolent
disinclined to work or exertion
- inept
generally incompetent and ineffectual
- infamy
a state of extreme dishonor
- inhibit
limit the range or extent of
- innate
present at birth but not necessarily hereditary
- insatiable
impossible to satisfy
- insular
relating to or characteristic of or situated on an island
- intrepid
invulnerable to fear or intimidation
- inveterate
habitual
- jubilant
full of high-spirited delight
- lithe
moving and bending with ease
- lurid
glaringly vivid and graphic; marked by sensationalism
- maverick
someone who exhibits independence in thought and action
- maxim
a saying that is widely accepted on its own merits
- meticulous
marked by precise accordance with details
- modicum
a small or moderate or token amount
- morose
showing a brooding ill humor
- myriad
a large indefinite number
- nadir
the lowest point of anything
- nominal
relating to or constituting or bearing or giving a name
- novice
someone new to a field or activity
- nuance
a subtle difference in meaning or opinion or attitude
- oblivious
lacking conscious awareness of
- obsequious
attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery
- obtuse
of an angle, between 90 and 180 degrees
- panacea
hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases
- parody
a composition that imitates or misrepresents a style
- penchant
a strong liking
- perusal
reading carefully with intent to remember
- plethora
extreme excess
- predilection
a predisposition in favor of something
- quaint
attractively old-fashioned
- rash
imprudently incurring risk
- refurbish
make brighter and prettier
- repudiate
refuse to acknowledge, ratify, or recognize as valid
- rife
excessively abundant
- salient
conspicuous, prominent, or important
- serendipity
good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries
- staid
characterized by dignity and propriety
- superfluous
more than is needed, desired, or required
- sycophant
a person who tries to please someone to gain an advantage
- taciturn
habitually reserved and uncommunicative
- truculent
defiantly aggressive
- umbrage
a feeling of anger caused by being offended
- venerable
profoundly honored
- vociferous
conspicuously and offensively loud
- zenith
the point above the observer directly opposite the nadir
- alliteration
use of the same consonant at the beginning of each word
- assonance
the repetition of similar vowels in successive words
- cliche
a trite or obvious remark
- colloquial
characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation
- emotive
characterized by feeling
- imperative
requiring attention or action
- juxtapose
place side by side
- list
a database containing an ordered array of items
- metaphor
a figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity
- narcissistic
having an inflated idea of one’s own importance
- onomatopoeia
using words that imitate the sound they denote
- oxymoron
conjoining contradictory terms
- repetition
the act of doing or performing again
- rhetorical
relating to using language effectively
- persona
a personal facade that one presents to the world
- personification
attributing human characteristics to abstract ideas
- rhyme
correspondence in the final sounds of two or more lines
- rhythm
an interval during which a recurring sequence occurs
- simile
a figure of speech expressing a resemblance between things
- irony
incongruity between what might be expected and what occurs
- sarcastic
expressing or expressive of ridicule that wounds
- analogy
drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity
- imagery
the ability to form mental pictures of things or events
- hyperbole
extravagant exaggeration
- argue
have a disagreement about something
- conclude
bring to a close
- explain
make plain and comprehensible
- demonstrate
give an exhibition of to an interested audience
- differentiate
acquire a distinct character
- identify
recognize as being
- critique
appraise or judge in an analytical way
- deduce
reason from the general to the particular
- evaluate
estimate the nature, quality, ability or significance of
- prove
establish the validity of something
- assess
estimate the nature, quality, ability or significance of
- examine
observe, check out, and look over carefully or inspect
- distinguish
mark as different
- predict
tell in advance
- propose
present for consideration, examination, or criticism
- integrate
make into a whole or make part of a whole
- discuss
to consider or examine in speech or writing
- illustrate
depict with a visual representation
- outline
the line that appears to bound an object
- apply
employ for a particular purpose
- compose
form the substance of
- state
the way something is with respect to its main attributes
- separate
standing apart; not attached to or supported by anything
- develop
progress or evolve through a process of natural growth
- appraise
consider in a comprehensive way
- select
pick out or choose from a number of alternatives
- perform
get done
- interpret
make sense of; assign a meaning to
- paraphrase
express the same message in different words
- report
to give an account or representation of in words
- prepare
make ready or suitable or equip in advance
- review
look at again; examine again
- classify
arrange or order by categories
- contrast
the opposition or dissimilarity of things that are compared
- debate
a discussion with reasons for and against some proposal
- relate
give an account of
- assert
declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true
- justify
show to be right by providing proof
- invent
come up with after a mental effort
- construct
make by combining materials and parts
- recall
bring to mind
- recite
repeat aloud from memory