arduous

(adj.)

hard; strenuous

Her arduous efforts had sapped her engergy.

aria

(n.)

operatic solo

The lady sang an aria at Phantom of the Opera.

aromatic

(adj.)

fragrant

Medieval sailing vessels brought aromatic herbs from China to Europe.

arousal

(n.)

awakening; provocation

A good stripper makes her money on her ability to cause an arousal.

arraign

(v.)

charge in court; indict

After his indictment, the accused man was arraigned in the local court.

array

(v.)

marshal; draw up in order

His actions were bound to array the public sentiment against him.

array

(v.)

clothe; adorn

On special occasions, I would array myself in my finest clothes.

arrears

(n.)

being in debt

The man was arrears with his rent for his apartment.

arrest

(v.)

stop or slow down; catch someone's attention

As I fell due to a damaged parachute, a tree arrested my plummet.

arrogance

(n.)

pride; haughtiness

She thought she was better than everyone else; her arrogance was through the roof.

arsenal

(n.)

storage place for military equipment

The military soldiers keeps the guns in their arsenal.

articulate

(adj.)

effective; distinct

The business man's speeches were very articulate, so he often got his way.

artifice

(n.)

deception; trickery

Guerilla warfare requires mastery in artifice.

artisan

(n.)

manually skilled worker; craftsman

The artisan was skilled in locksmithing

artless

(adj.)

without guile; open and honest

At a naive age, even lawyers were once artless.

ascendancy

(n.)

controlling influence; domination

Religion is the practice of maintaining ascendancy over the followers.

ascertain

(v.)

find out for certain

Please ascertain the present address.

ascetic

(adj.)

practicing self-denial; austere

Many drug addicts attempt to be ascetic but they can't resist.

ascribe

(v.)

refer; attribute; assign

I can ascribe no motive for her acts.

aseptic

(adj.)

preventing infection; having a cleansing effect

The hospital provides aseptic items to keep people healthy.

ashen

(adj.)

ash-colored

After working in the chimney, the mans face was ashen.

asinine

(adj.)

stupid

Keep your asinine comments to yourself please.

askance

(adj.)

with a sideways or indirect look

Confused, I gave the lady an askance look.

askew

(adj.)

crookedly; slanted; at an angle

That line you drew is askew.

asperity

(n.)

sharpness of temper

Her asperity is the main reason she has no friends.

aspersion

(n.)

slander; slur; derogatory remark

Aspersions were conventional in the times of slavery.

aspirant

(n.)

seeker after position or status

I am an aspirant for public office.

aspire

(v.)

seek to attain; long for

I aspire to become a musician.

assail

(v.)

assault

He was assailed with questions after his lecture.

assay

(v.)

analyze; evaluate

The teachers assayed my presentation.

assert

(v.)

agree; accept

It gives me great pleasure to assent to your request.

assert

(v.)

declare or state with confidence; put oneself forward boldly

To make it to the front of the crowd, one has to be assertive.

assessment

(n.)

evaluation; judgment

My teachers provide an assessment of my work online.

assiduous

(adj.)

dilligent

I wish I was more assiduous when it came to doing homework.

assuage

(v.)

ease or lessen (pain); satisfy (hunger); soothe (anger)

Richard tried to assuage his headache.

catechism

(n.)

book for religious instruction; instruction by question and answer

The pupils learned through catechism.

categorical

(adj.)

without exceptions; unqualified; absolute

If you fight, you will be expelled; this is a categorical rule.

cater to

(v.)

supply something desired

The chef catered to my needs.

catharsis

(n.)

purging or cleansing of any passage of the body

After a long night of drinking, I need a good catharsis.

caucus

(n.)

private meeting of members of a party to select officers or determine policy.

The house held a caucus to decide if the new law should be passed.

caulk

(v.)

make watertight by filling in the cracks

With little time, the sailors had to caulk the ship.

caustic

(adj.)

burning; sarcastically biting

The critic's caustic comments angered the actor.

cavalcade

(n.)

procession; parade

The cavalcade of Canterbury pilgrims was a motley group. 

cavalier

(adj.)

offhand or casual

Celebrities try to act in a cavalier manner.

cavil

(v.)

make frivolous comments

It really bugs me when you cavil about unimportant details.

cede

(v.)

yeild to; surrender formally

I was forced to cede to my parents' authority.

celebrated

(adj.)

famous; well-known

Martin Luther King Jr. is a very celebrated figure.

celerity

(n.)

speed; rapidity

I love to feel the celerity of the car when I drive.

celestial

(adj.)

heavenly; relating to the sky

Galileo explored the celestial mysteries.

censor

(n.)

overseer of morals; person who reads to eliminate inappropriate remarks

The censors take all the humor out of tv shows.

censorious

(adj.)

critical

These people are so censorious but never present a solution to the problem.

centrifugal

(adj.)

radiating; departing from the center

Drying machines remove moisture by centrifugal force.

centripetal

(adj.)

tending towards the center

Does centripetal force bring orbiting bodies to earth's surface.

cerebral

(adj.)

pretaining to the brain or intellect

The heroes of Dumb and Dumber were poorly equipped for cerebral pursuits.

cerebration

(n.)

thought

Trig problems require a lot of cerebration.

certitude

(n.)

certainty

He did well on his SAT, but there was no certitude he would go to Harvard.

cessation

(n.)

stoppage

There will be a cessation in traffic due to construction.

cession

(n.)

yielding to another; ceding

There was a cession between Alaska and the United States.

chafe

(v.)

warm by rubbing; make sore (by rubbing)

In the extreme cold, he chafed his hands over the fire.

chaff

(n.)

worthless products of an endeavor

Seperate the wheat from the chaff and throw out the chaff.

chaffing

(adj.)

bantering; joking

Chad's flippant, chaffing remarks really annoy me.

chagrin

(n.)

humiliation; injured pride; disappointment

I was filled with chagrin when I was caught stealing from my mothers purse.