Aberrant

Straying from the normal or usula path;

abnormal

Abstemious

Sparing use of food or drinks

Acerbic

Bitter or sour in taste or manner

Alacrity

Cheerful promptness or speed

(n)

Allude

To refer indirectly to something

Allusion

An indirect reference (often literary);

a hint

Altruism

Devotion to the welfare of others and not onself

Amalgam

A mixture or combination (often of metals)

Amalgamate

To mix, merge, or combine

Amelioriate

To improve or make better

Anachronism

Out of place in time (like an airplane in 1400's)

Anamoly

An oddity, inconsistency;

a deviation from the norm

Antipathy

A natural dislike or reugnance

(n)

Apposite

Strikingly appropriate; relevent

Arcane

Obscure; secret; mysterious

Archetype

the first model from which others are copied;

prototype

Arduous

Extremely difficult, strenuous

Arid

Extremely dry, parched;

Unimaginative, barren

Articulate

Expressed wtih clarity;

clear, distinct;

skillful with words

Aescetic

Rigorously abstinent

(adj)

Aesetic

One who leads a life of self denial

(n)

Aspersion

Slanderous statement;

a damaging or derogatory crticism

Assiduous

Carefully attentive;

industrious

Assuage

To relieve;

make less severe

Astringent

A substance that contracts bodily tissues

(n)

Astringent

Stern, tightening, austere;

causing contraction

(adj)

Atrophy

To waste away as from lack of use;

to wither

Attenuate

to weaken or dilute

to make thin or slender;

Autocrat

An absolute ruler

Baleful

harmful or malignant in intent or effect;

portending evil; ominous

Banal

Trite; Without freshness or originality

Beneficient

Conferring benefits; kindly, doing good

Bilateral

pertaining to or affecting both sides;

having two sides

Bombast

pompous speech; pretentious words

(n)

Burgeon

to grow or develop quickly

Cacophany 

a harsh, inharmonious collection of sounds;

dissonance 

Cant 

Insincere or hypocritical statements of high ideals; the jargon of a particular group of occupation 

Caprice 

A sudden unpredictable or whimsical change

(n) 

Catharsis 

a purging or relieving of the body or soul 

Chicanery 

Trickery or deception 

Churlishness 

Crude or surly behavior; behavior of a peasant 

Circumlocution 

A roundabout or indirect way of speaking; not to the point 

Cloture 

A parlimentary procedure to end debate and begin to vote

(n) 

Cloying 

Too sugary; to sentimental or flattering

(adj) 

Coda 

in music, a concluding passage 

Codify 

To organize laws or rules into a systematic collection (code) 

Cogent 

convincing; appealing to the intellect or powers of reasoning

Cogitate 

to think hard, ponder, meditate 

(v) 

Cognitive 

possessing the power to think or meditate; meditateive; capable of perception

(adj) 

Cognizant 

Aware of; perceptive 

Coherent 

connected; logical; consistent 

Cohesion 

the act of sticking together

(n) 

Comeliness 

Beauty; attractiveness in appearance or behavior

(n) 

Commodious 

spacious, roomy

(adj) 

Complaisance 

(n)

Compliant 

complying; obeying; yeilding 

Connotative 

Containing associated meanings in addition to the primary one.

(adj) 

Constrain 

To force, compel;

restrain 

Contentiouus 

quarrelsome 

Contiguous 

touching; or adjoining and close but not touching

(adj) 

Contravene 

to act contrary to (like a law); to contradict in argument, gainsay 

Conundrum 

a puzzle or riddle 

Converge 

to move toward one point (opposite: diverge) 

Coterie 

a clique; a group who meet frequently, usually socially 

Crass 

gross; stupid, unrefined 

Debacle 

disaster; collapse 

Debilitate 

to enfeeble; to wear out 

Decorous 

Characterized by or exhibiting decorum; proper

Deleterious 

harmful; hurful; noxious 

Denigrate 

To attack the character or reputation of;

to speak ill of; defame

Deprecate 

To express disapproval of; to protest against 

Deride 

to riddicule, mock 

Derision 

The act of mocking, mockery 

Diatribe 

A bitter or abusive speech 

Dichotomy 

A division into two parts 

Diffident 

timid; lacking self-confidence

(adj) 

Diffuse 

To spread or scatter widely 

Discourse 

To converse; to communicate in orderly fasion 

Disingenuous 

Not frank or candid; deceivingly simple

(adj) 

(opposite: ingenuous) 

Disinterested 

neutral; unbiased 

Disparate 

Fundamentally distinct or different in kind; entirely dissimilar

(adj) 

Disputatious 

arguementative 

Dissemble 

to give a false or misleading appearance; conceal the truth or real nature of; 

Dissonance 

musical discord;

a mingling of in harmoniuos sounds

Dissonant 

not in harmony; in dissagreement

(adj) 

Ebullience

an overflowing of high spirits;

bubbly; efferevescence

(n) 

Ellipsis 

omission of words that would make the meaning clear

(n) 

Elucidate 

to make clear; to explain 

Emollient 

softening or soothing to the skin; having power to soften or relax living tissues

(adj) 

Encomium 

warm, glowing praise; high praise

(n) 

Endemic 

native to a particular area or people

(adj) 

Enervate 

to weaken; to deprive of nerve or strength 

Engender 

to produce, cause, or give rise to: Hatred engenders violence.

Ephemeral 

very short-lived; lasting only a short time 

Eulogy 

words of praise, especially for the dead 

Evanescent 

vanashing quickly; dissipating like a vapor 

Exigent 

requiring immediate action; urgent

(adj) 

Extemporize 

to improvise; to make it up as you go along 

Extrapolate 

to estimate the value of something beyond the scale; to infer what is unkown from something known 

Facetious 

joking in an awkward or improper manner 

Feign 

pretend 

Gainsay 

to speak against; to contradict or deny 

Garrulous 

extremely talkative 

iconoclast 

one who smashes revered images; an attacker of cherished beliefs 

Impassive 

showing no emotion 

Imperturbable 

calm, not easily excited 

Impervious 

impenatrable; not allowing anything to pass through; unaffected 

Implacable 

unwilling to be pacified or appeased 

Impugn 

to attack with words; to question the truthfullness or integrity 

Inchoate 

not yet fully formed; rudimentary 

Incisive 

getting to the heart of things; to the point 

Incredulous 

skeptical or unbelieving 

Indigenous 

native to a region, inborn or innate 

Inept 

incompetent; clumsy 

Inert 

lacking power 

Ingenuous 

candid, sincere, free from restraint 

Inherent 

part of the essential character; intrinsic 

Insipid 

boring, flat, dull, not interesting 

Intractable 

stubborn or obstinate; not easily taught or disciplined 

Intransigent 

refusing to agree or compromise; uncompromising; inflexible

Intrepid 

fearless or bold 

Irascible 

prone to anger, easily angered 

Laconic 

sparing of words, terse 

Loquacious 

very talkative; garrulous 

Luminous 

emitting light; shining;

also enlightened or intelligent 

Macerate 

to soften by steeping in liquid (including stomach juices) 

Maculate 

to stain, spot, defile 

Magnanimity 

a quality of nobleness of mind, disdaining meanness or revenge 

Malevolent 

wishing evil

(adj) 

Malign 

to speak evil of 

Malign 

having an evil dispotition towards others

(opposite: benign) 

(adj) 

Malleable 

easy to shape or form 

Misanthrope 

a hater of mankind 

Obdurate 

stubborn 

Obsequiuos 

servilely attentive; fawning

(adj) 

Obviate 

to make unnecessary 

Ossify 

to turn to bone; harden 

Palpable 

touchable; clear, obvious 

Panegyric 

high praise 

Paradigm 

A set of assumptions, concepts, values, and practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality

Also- model, prototype, pattern 

Paradox 

a tenet that is seemingly contradictory or false but is actually true 

Parsimonious 

very frugal; unwilling to spend 

Pedantic 

Ostentatious or showy in one's learning; emphasising minutae or form in scholarhsip or teaching 

Penurious 

stingy, miserly

(adj) 

Perfunctory 

done in a routine, mechanical way, without interest 

Petulant

peevish; cranky; rude 

Placate 

to appease or pacify 

Plethora 

a superabundance 

Prevaricate 

to speak equivocally or evasively, i.e., to lie 

Pristine 

primitive, pure, uncorrupted 

Propensity 

an inclination; a natural tendency toward;
a liking for 

Putrefacation 

a smelly mass that is the docomposition of organic matter 

the state of being putrified 

Putrefy 

to decompose; to rot 

Quiescence

state of being at rest or without motion (n)

Rancor

enmity; strong ill will (n)

Recalcitrant

stubbornly rebellious

Recondite

hard to understand; characterized by profound scholarship

Redundant

superflous; exceeding what is needed

Sagacious

wise

Salubrious

promoting good health

Sinuous

full of curves; twisting and turning

Specious

plausible, but deceptive

Spurious

false; bogus

Squalid

filthy; wretched

Subjugate

to dominate or enslave

Sycophant

a flatterer of important people

Taciturn

inclined to silence; speaking little

Tenuous

thin, slim, delicate; weak

Tortuous

full of twists and turns; not straightfoward; possibly deceitful

Tractable

easily managed (opposite: intractable)

Truculent

fierce, savage, cruel

 Ubiquitous

omnipresent; present everywhere

Vacuous

stupid, dull; empty-headed

Viscous

thick and sticky (said of fluids)

Welter

a confused mass; turmoil (n)

rolling about as in the sea (v)