- Alloy (verb): to commingle; to debase by mixing with something inferior; unalloyed means pure.
- Appropriate (verb): to take for one’s own use; to confiscate.
- Arrest (verb): to suspend; to engage.
- Arresting (adj.): holding one’s attention (e.g., an arresting portrait).
- August (adj.): majestic, venerable.
- Bent (noun): leaning, inclination, proclivity, tendency.
- Broach (verb): to bring up; to announce; to begin to talk about.
- Brook (verb): to tolerate; to endure; to countenance.
- Cardinal (adj.): major, as in cardinal sin.
- Chauvinist (noun): a blindly devoted patriot.
- Color (verb): to change as if by dyeing; to distort, gloss, or affect.
- Consequential (adj.): pompous, self-important; also, logically following or important.
- Damp (verb): to diminish the intensity or check the vibration of a sound.
- Die (noun): a tool used for shaping, as in a tool-and-die shop.
- Essay (verb): to test or try; to attempt; to experiment.
- Exact (verb): to demand.
- Fell (verb): to cause to fall by striking.
- Fell (adj.): inhumanly cruel.
- Flag (verb): to sag or droop; to become spiritless; to decline.
- Flip (adj.): sarcastic, impertinent (e.g., a flip remark).
- Ford (verb): to wade across the shallow part of a river or stream.
- Grouse (verb): to complain or grumble.
- Guy (noun): a rope, cord, or cable attached to something as a brace or guide; to steady or reinforce.
- Intimate (verb): to imply, suggest, or insinuate.
- List (verb): to tilt or lean to one side.
- Lumber (verb): to move heavily and clumsily.
- Meet (adj.): fitting, proper.
- Milk (verb): to exploit; to squeeze every last ounce.
- Mince (verb): to pronounce or speak affectedly; to euphemize; to tiptoe.
- Nice (adj.): exacting, fastidious, extremely precise.
- Obtain (adj.): to be established, accepted, or customary.
- Occult (adj.): hidden, concealed, beyond comprehension.
- Pedestrian (adj.): commonplace, trite, unremarkable.
- Pied (adj.): multicolored, usually in blotches.
- Pine (verb): to lose vigor (as through grief); to yearn.
- Plastic (adj.): moldable, pliable, not rigid.
- Pluck (noun): courage, spunk, fortitude.
- Prize (verb): to pry, to press or force with a lever; something taken by force.
- Rail (verb): to complain about bitterly.
- Rent (verb): torn (past tense of rend); an opening or tear caused by such.
- Quail (verb): to lose courage; to turn frightened.
- Qualify (verb): to limit.
- Sap (verb): to enervate or weaken the vitality of.
- Sap (noun): a fool or nitwit.
- Scurvy (adj.): contemptible, despicable.
- Singular (adj.): exceptional, unusual, odd.
- Stand (noun): a group of trees.
- Steep (verb): to saturate or completely soak.
- Strut (noun): the supporting structural cross-part of a wing.
- Table (verb): to remove (e.g., a parliamentary motion) from consideration.
- Tender (verb): to proffer or offer.
- Waffle (verb): to equivocate; to change one’s position.
- Wag (noun): wit, joker.
- Abjure (verb): to renounce or reject solemnly; to recant; to avoid.
- Adumbrate (verb): to foreshadow vaguely; to obscure.
- Anathema (noun): a solemn or ecclesiastical curse; a loathed person or thing.
- Anodyne (adj.)/(noun): soothing; something that assuages pain.
- Apogee (noun): farthest or highest point; culmination.
- Apostate (noun): one who abandons long-held beliefs.
- Apotheosis (noun): deification; glorification to godliness.
- Asperity (noun): Harshness of tone or manner.
- Asseverate (verb): To declare or affirm earnestly and with emphasis.
- Assiduous (adj.): Diligent, hard-working, sedulous.
- Augury (noun): An omen or sign; the practice of divining the future.
- Bellicose (adj.): Belligerent, pugnacious, warlike.
- Calumniate (verb): To slander; to make a false accusation.
- Calumny: Slander or aspersion.
- Captious (adj.): Tending to find fault or raise petty objections; calculated to confuse or entrap.
- Cavil (verb): To find fault without good reason.
- Celerity (noun): Swiftness of movement; speed, alacrity.
- Chimera (noun): An illusion; an impossible dream; originally, a mythical fire-breathing creature.
- Contumacious (adj.): Insubordinate, rebellious.
- Contumely: Scorn, insult, aspersion.
- Debacle (noun): A complete failure; fiasco.
- Denouement (noun): The final resolution of a plot or outcome.
- Descry (verb): To catch sight of; to discern or discriminate.
- Desuetude (noun): A state of disuse or inactivity.
- Desultory (adj.): Random; lacking a plan or purpose.
- Diaphanous (adj.): Transparent, light, delicate, or gauzy.
- Diffident (adj.): Reserved, shy, unassuming; lacking self-confidence.
- Dirge (noun): A song of mourning, often sung at funerals.
- Encomium (noun): Warm, glowing praise; eulogy or tribute.
- Eschew (verb): To avoid or shun.
- Excoriate (verb): To criticize harshly; to denounce.
- Execrate (verb): To detest utterly; to curse or declare evil.
- Exegesis (noun): A detailed critical explanation or interpretation, especially of a text.
- Expiate (verb): To atone or make amends for.
- Extirpate (verb): To root out; to destroy completely.
- Fatuous (adj.): Silly, foolish, or inane.
- Fractious (adj.): Irritable and quarrelsome; unruly.
- Gainsay (verb): To deny, dispute, or contradict.
- Heterodox (adj.): Contrary to or differing from established or traditional beliefs.
- Imbroglio (noun): A confused or complicated situation; an entanglement.
- Indefatigable (adj.): Tireless, unflagging in effort.
- Ineluctable (adj.): Inevitable; impossible to avoid or escape.
- Inimitable (adj.): Impossible to imitate; unique.
- Insouciant (adj.): Unconcerned, carefree, or nonchalant.
- Inveterate (adj.): Deep-rooted or habitual.
- Jejune (adj.): Naive, simplistic, uninteresting; also childish or immature.
- Lubricious (adj.): Lewd, wanton; slippery or evasive.
- Mendicant (noun): A beggar or supplicant.
- Meretricious (adj.): Flashy or showy but lacking in authenticity or value.
- Minatory (adj.): Menacing or threatening.
- Nadir (noun): The lowest point.
- Nonplussed (adj.): Perplexed, confused, or bewildered.
- Obstreperous (adj.): Noisy and difficult to control.
- Ossified (adj.): Hardened or inflexible; turned into bone.
- Palliate (verb): To make less severe; to ease symptoms without curing.
- Panegyric (noun): Elaborate praise; eulogy or tribute.
- Parsimonious (adj.): Excessively thrifty; stingy.
- Pellucid (adj.): Transparently clear or easy to understand.
- Peroration (noun): The concluding part of a speech, often rhetorical.
- Plangent (adj.): Resonant and mournful; echoing.
- Prolix (adj.): Excessively wordy or verbose.
- Propitiate (verb): To appease or gain the favor of.
- Puerile (adj.): Childish, immature, or silly.
- Puissance (noun): Strength or power.
- Puissant: Powerful, strong.
- Pusillanimous (adj.): Cowardly or lacking courage.
- Remonstrate (verb): To protest or object.
- Sagacious (adj.): Wise, perceptive, or sound in judgment.
- Salacious (adj.): Lustful or lecherous.
- Salutary (adj.): Beneficial, healthful, or wholesome.
- Sanguine (adj.): Cheerfully optimistic or confident.
- Saturnine (adj.): Gloomy, sullen, or morose.
- Sententious (adj.): Tending to moralize excessively; pithy.
- Stentorian (adj.): Extremely loud or powerful in sound.
- Stygian (adj.): Dark, gloomy, or forbidding.
- Sycophant (noun): A self-serving flatterer; a toady.
- Tendentious (adj.): Biased or partisan.
- Timorous (adj.): Fearful or shy.
- Tyro (noun): A beginner or novice.
- Vitiate (verb): To impair, debase, or spoil; to weaken.
- Voluble (adj.): Fluent, talkative, or easily articulate.
