Adj

Hidden from sight, difficult or impossible to understand

Astrophysics is a recondite for the majority of the population.

Syn: concealed, abstruse, arcane, esoteric,

Verb

To take up and support as a cause, become attached to

Einstein's theory of relativity has been espoused by many physicists.

Syn: marry, match, wed, support

Noun

One or more words spelled and pronounced alike but with different meaning

Example: There and their

Syn: homophone

Noun

Use of a name for one thing for that of another of which there is an association.

Eg: John Hancock = Signature

Verb/Noun/Adj

Adj: Precisely adapted to a particular need or circumstance

Because there were several winning tickets, splitting the lottery money seemed like a meet solution to the debate.

Syn: proper, codign, applicable, appropriate, fitting

Adj

Inclinced to be merciful, mild

Hawai'i is popular for its clement weather.

Syn: lenient, mild, temperate, equable, mild

Adj

Marked by high spirits

Many people are in jocund spirits around all the holiday cheer.

Syn: blithesome, festive, jocose, mirthful, jovial

Adj/Verb/Noun

AdJ: Lively, lusty

Verb/Noun: To set at an angle, lean

Adj

Offensive to the sense, esp smell

The garbage sat for 3 weeks in the summer sun unabated and produced a noisome odor that disturbed the town a few miles away.

Syn: Odious, noxious, harmful,

Adj

Distasteful by reason of excess, excessively sweet

The goth kids were disgusted by the cloying sentiments of the Mother's Day cards.

Syn: maudlin, mushy, sappy, sugary, sentimental

Adj

Marked by fearless resolution

Though always willing fight, the doughty knights were blostered by their unwavering faith.

Syn: bold, dauntless, brave, intrepid, valiant

Adj/Noun

Marked by outstanding strength and vigor

The stalwart soldiers would follow their leader into any battle or terrain.

Syn: bold, courageous, doughty, dauntless, valiant

Adj

Having a quarrelsome or combative nature

That pugnacious girl is always fighting with her boyfriends over even the smallest matters.

Syn: aggressive, assaultive, combative, discordant, truculent

Noun

An alteration designed to correct or improve

The governor's numerous emendations to the speech completely changed the tone.

Syn: amendment, correction

Adj

Not readily understood or investigated

Before the advent of the particle accelerator, atoms were more inscrutable and left to theory.

Syn: arcane, cryptic, enigmatic, occult, mysterious

Verb

To make obscure or darken

The ghillie suit obfuscated the sniper's silhouette.

Syn: darken, obscure, confuse, opaque, blur

Noun

Promptness in response

The desirous man would date her with alacrity if given the chance.

Syn: eagerness, amenability, willingness

Adj/Adv

Removed or distant either physically or emotionally

The gentleman's formal manner was interrupted as aloof to those that don't know him.

Syn: antisocial, cold, distant, remote, standoffish

Noun

Something misplaced in time

Shakespeare's mention of clocks in Julius Caesar was an anachronism, clocks were not around until much later.

Noun

Friendship

THe YMCA fosters amity between all of its members.

Syn: goodwill, friendship, kindliness

Adj

Marked by restraint, esp related to food or drink

The very skinny man is known for his abstemious diet.

Syn: abstentious, abstinent, sober, temperate

Noun

Solemn oath or urging

The dying GI required an adjuration from his comrades to tell his wife he loved her.

Syn: plea, appeal, desire, petition, pleading, suppliance

Noun

One who assists; Staff officer who assists the comanding officer.

The senator's adjutants were reponsible for writing all of the campaign speeches and booking travel plans.

Syn:  assistants, aides, adjunct, helper, apprentice

Verb

To indicate duties to; give friendly advice or encouragement

My mother admonishes me to call her more. 

Syn: Warn, reprove, rebuke

Adj

Coming from somewhere else, not inherent; arising sporadically

Business ethics is an adventitious notion to many day traders.

Syn: accidental, extrinsic, alien, foreign

Noun/Verb

Intentionalally and directly disrespect or insult

She didn't mean to affront her overally sensitive friend by telling her that guy wasn't right for her.

Syn: Insult, disrespect, offend, wound

Noun

Critical remarks, esp by an holy authority.

The Ayatolla Khomeini heaped anathema upon the great devil, the United States.

Syn: animadversion, curse, ban, imprecation, malison, winze

Adj/Noun/Verb

causing sexual excitment; being without check or limitation

There was a wanton attack on the Canadian embassy.

Syn: lewd, lustful, merciless, inhumane, extravagant,

Adj

Lacking nutritive value, devoid of significance or interest

Always known to be a little jaded, Spero made jejune remarks about the movie.

Syn: arid, colorless, dreary, dull, numbing, stodgy, tedious

Verb

Marked by self-restraint

At work she is staid, but after a few drinks she's dancing on the tables.

Syn: prim, sober, grave, earnest, sedate

Noun

A eulogistic oration or writing

The pround mother offered a panegyric on her son at his wedding.

Syn: formal, praise, accolade, commendation, dithyramb, paean, encomium

Verb

To coax with flattery, act or speak in a flattering manner

They blandished their younger and more naive sorority sister into doing their housework for them.

Syn: cajole, coax, blamey, palaver, wheedle

Adj

Incline to start fights

When asked about the bellicose hockey player, the coach replied, 'well, we didn't hire him for his skating or goal-scoring'

Syn: Aggressive, agnostic, brawly, discordant, pugnacious, truculent

Adj

Habitually complaining

Long car trips always put the kids in querulous moods.

Syn: fretful, whining, crabby

Adj

Marked by swelling

The boxer's lip was tumid after his fight.

Syn: swelling, enlarged, protuberant, turgid, bombastic, tumescent, varicose

Adj

Of keen and farsighted penetration and judgment

The winner of the Presidential nomination is praised for his sagacious grasp of the hopes and anxieties of the public.

Syn: perception, discerning, sage, perceptive

Noun

Good taste and propriety in conduct or appearance

There were high standards of decorum for the black-tie ball.

Syn: orderliness, propriety

Adj

Comfortably or conveniently spacious

Although small from the outside, the Mini Cooper was quite commodious on the inside.

Syn: roomy, ample, capacious, spacious

Noun

A medieval peasant; rude, ill-bred person

The churl that lives in the rural farmhouse never gives candy for Halloween and is rumored to beat his wife and son.

Syn: rustic, hick, clodhopper, rube, yokel

Noun

One who expends resources foolishly and self-indulgently

The wastrel would spend the family fortune without blinking an eye.

Syn: vagabond, prodigal, fritterer, profligate, spendthrift

Adj

disinclined to talk

He is taciturn around all people, even family.

Syn: reticent, laconic, reserved

Adj

soporific, drowsy, sleepy, somnolent, hypnotic

Soliloquy

Noun

Act of talking to oneself

Dramatic monologue that represents a series of unspoken reflections

'Where for art thou' Romeo is a famous Shakespearian soliloqut addressed towards the audience.

Syn: dramaturgy, loge, prestidigitation, proscenium, diva

Adj

Moralistic or preachy

The thief always avoided church because of the sentious sermons, making him fell bad about his trade.

Syn: moralistic, preachy, aphoristic,

Repudiate

Verb

To divorce or separate; to refuse to accept

The Secreatary of Defense repudiated herself from the Cabinet's foreign policy upon leaving office.

Syn: disown, contradict, disaffirm, deny, gainsay, negate, refute

Adj

Displaying ferocity, harsh

The soccer hooligans were truculent towards the opposing team after the match.

Syn: harsh, ferocious, cruel, savage, deadly, destructive

Adj

Adverse in tendency or effect by reason of hostility

The new instituted laws after the terrorist threat were viewed by some as inimical to freedom rather than helpful.

Syn: adversarial, antagonistic, hostile, jaundiced, unfriendly

Adj

Disloyal

it would be perfidious to abandom them on the field.

Syn: disloyal, fickle, recreant, traitorous, faithless

Adj

Hesistant in action or speaking

Though normally boisterous on stage, the actress was diffident in real life.

Syn: hesistant, bashful, coy, demure, withdrawn

Adj

Ready to believe, especially on uncertain evidence

The jury was credulous towards the prosecution in the murder trial because of the violence of the crimes.

Syn: believing, trustworthy,

Verb

To gain or regain favor of

He made an offering of chocolate and flowers to propitiate his angry girlfriend.

Syn: appease, assuage, conciliate, disarm, placate, mollify, pacify

Adj

Containing or made up of different elements, distinct

There are disparate notions of 'old' according to the middled aged and teenagers.

Syn: distinct, different, unique, diverse, other, unlike

Ingenious

Adj

Thirst for knowledge; marked by originality and cleverness in conception

She had an ingenuous way of selling that made her important to the company.

Syn: clever, imaginative, inventive, original

Adj

(lower case) Broad in sympathies, tastes, or interests.

His repetoire of cooking techniques was broad, allowing him to draw upon many culinary traditions to create catholic dishes.

Syn: eclectic, comprehensive, universal, all purpose, unrestricted,

Noun

A strong condemnatory utterance

After a long day dealing with disrespectful prisoners, she finally began laying obloquies on a particularly aggressive batch.

Syn: billingsgate, fulmination, invectice, abuse, vitriol

Noun

A secret group

The dingy bar is the meeting place for a cabal planning the overthrow of government.

Syn: ring, conspiracy, crew, syndicate

Noun

A trick; clever or artful skill

The politician's story was just an artifice to gain voter support.

Syn: trick, decieve, gambit, ploy, scheme, wile

Adj

Coarse, indecent humor

The most ribald scenes in movies are always deleted for network television.

Syn: coarse, rough, crude, offensive