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Abate
To lessen in intensity or degree
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Accolade
An expression or praise
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Adulation
Excessive praise; intense adoration
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Aesthetic
Dealing with, appreciative or, or responsive to art or the beautiful
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Ameliorate
To make better or more tolerable
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Ascetic
One who practices rigid self-denial, esp. as an act of religious devotion
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Avarice
Greed, esp. for wealth
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Axoim
A universally recognized principle
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Burgeon
To grow rapidly or flourish
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Bucolic
Rustic and pastoral; characteristic or rural areas and their inhabitants
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Cacophony
Harsh, jarring, discordant sound; dissonance
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Canon
An established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature
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Castigation
Severe criticism or punishment
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Catalyst
A substance that accelerates the rate of a chemical reaction without itself changing; a person or thing that causes change
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Caustic
Burning or stinging; causing corrosion
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Chary
Wary; cautious; sparing
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Cogent
Appealing forcibly to the mind or reason; convincing
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Complaisance
The willingness to comply with the wishes or others
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Contentious
Argumentative; quarrelsome; causing controversy or disagreement
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Contrite
Regretful; penitent; seeking forgiveness
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Dearth
Smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; a lack
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Demur
To question or oppose
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Didactic
Intended to teach or instruct
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Discretion
Cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible decisions
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Disinterested
Free of bias or self-interest; impartial
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Dogmatic
Expressing a rigid opinion based on unproved or unprovable principles
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Ebullience
The quality to lively or enthusiastic expression of thoughts and feelings
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Eclectic
Composed of elements drawn from various sources
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Elegy
A mournful poem, esp. one lamenting the dead
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Emollient
Soothing, esp. to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying; an agent that softens or smoothes the skin
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Empirical
Based on observation or experiment
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Enigmatic
Mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand
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Ephemeral
Brief; fleeting
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Esoteric
Intended for or understoof by a small, specific group
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Eulogy
A speech honoring the dead
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Exonerate
To remove blame
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Facetious
Playful; humorous
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Fallacy
An invalid or incorrect notion; a mistaken belief
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Furtive
Marked by stealth; covert; surreptitious
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Gregarious
Sociable; outgoing; enjoying the company of other people
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Harangue
To deliver a pompous speech or tirade; a long, pompous speech
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Heretical
Violating accepted dogma or convention
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Hyperbole
An exaggerated statement, often used as a figure of speech
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Impecunious
Lacking funds; without money
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Incipient
Beginning to come into being or to become apparent
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Inert
Unmoving; lethargic; sluggish
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Innocuous
Harmless; causing no damage
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Intransigent
Refusing to compromise
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Inveigle
To obtain by deception or flattery
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Morose
Sad; sullen; melancholy
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Odious
Evoking intense aversion or dislike
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Opaque
Impenetrable by light; not reflecting light
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Oscillation
The act or state of swinging back and forth with a steady, uninterrupted rhythm
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Penurious
Penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous
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Pernicious
Extremely harmful; potentially causing death
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Peruse
To examine with great care
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Pious
Extremely reverent or devout; showing strong religious devotion
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Precursor
One that precedes and indicates or announces another
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Preen
To dress up; to primp; to groom oneself with elaborate care
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Prodigious
Abundant in size, force, or extent; extraordinary
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Prolific
Producing large volumes or amounts; productive
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Putrefy
To rot; to decay and give off a foul odor
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Quiescence
Stillness; motionlessness; quality of being at rest
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Redoubtable
Awe-inspiring; worthy of honor
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Sanction
Authoritative permission or approval; a penalty intended to enforce compliance; to give permission or authority to
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Satire
A literary work that ridicules or criticizes a human vice through humor or derision
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Squalid
Sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect
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Stoic
Indifferent to or unaffected by pleasure or pain; steadfast
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Supplant
To take the place of; supersede
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Torpid
Lethargic; sluggish; dormant
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Ubiquitous
Existing everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered; widespread
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Urbane
Sophisticated; refined; elegant
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Vilify
To defame; to characterize harshly
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