Bland

Adjective

Mild or gentle

The doctor prescribed a bland diet for her patient with ulcers.

Lacking interest or liveliness 

The bland lecture put the students to sleep

Bizarre

Adjective

Weird or fantastic

  The bizarre lights in the night sky disappeared as quickly as they appeared.

Verb

To engage in petty quarrelling

The couple bickered over whose turn it was to feed the dog.

Adjective

Gentle and kindly

My sweet and benign grandma made chocolate chip cookies.

Wholesome and favorable

 His time away at college had a benign effect on his personality.

Adjective

Warring, warlike, hostile

 The belligerent student refused to obey the teacher’s directions.

Noun

A group engaged in a war

  The belligerents during the Civil War were theUnionand the Confederacy.

Adjective

Made stale by constant repetition

 The short story was flat and banal.  That’s surprising, since the writer was the talented John Green.

Badger

Verb

 To tease, to annoy, to torment

The annoying student badgered the teacher with silly questions.

Avarice

Noun

Excessive greed

The avarice of factory owners during the Industrial Revolution knew no limits.

Avid

Adjective

Eager, anxious, enthusiastic

He is an avid fan of the Minnesota Vikings

Verb

To puzzle completely

We were baffled by Scott's decision to eat a bag of chips that did not belong to him.

To prevent from achieving a goal

The police were baffled in their attempts to find the missing wheel of cheese.