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Conciliatory
kon SIL ee uh tor ee
Appeasing; soothing; showing willingness to reconcile
After arguing endlessly with them for weeks, Connie switched to a more conciliatory tone with her parents once prom season arrived.
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Credible
KRED uh bul
Capable of being believed; plausible
The shock but credible report of mice in the kitchen kept Eddie up all night.
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Exonerate
eg ZON er ayt
To free from blame
Xena was exonerated of all charges.
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Incontrovertible
in kahn truh VERT uh bul
Indisputable; not open to question
The videotape of the robbery provided incontrovertible evidence against the suspect - he was obviously guilty.
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Indict
in DITE
To officially charge with wrongdoing or a crime
President Nixon's aids were indicted during the Watergate scandal.
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Litigious
luh TIJ us
Prone to engage in lawsuits
Letitia was a litigious little girl; at one point, she tried to sue her dog.
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Partisan (adj.)
PAR tiz un
Devoted to or biased in support of a party, group, or cause
Today's partisan politics are so antagonistic that it's difficult to reach a successful compromise on any issue.
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Parity
PA ruh tee
Equality, as in amount, status, or value (antonym: disparity)
The judges at the Olympics must score each athlete's performance with parity; such impartial treatment is hard since one always wants to root for one's own country.
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Rectitude
REK ti tood
Moral uprightness; righteousness
Thanks to his unerring sense of fairness and justice, Viktor was a model of moral rectitude; his hometown even erected a statue in his honor.
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Remiss
ree MISS
Lax in attending to duty; negligent
Cassie was remiss in fulfilling her Miss America duties; she didn't even come close to ending world hunger.
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Repudiate
ree PYOO dee ayt
To reject the validity or authority of
I repudiated the teacher's arguments about Empress Wu Zetian's reputation by showing him that the reports of her cruelty were from unreliable sources.
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Sanctimonious
sank ti MO nee us
Feigning piety or righteousness
The sanctimonious scholar had actually been plagiarizing other people's work for years.
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Scrupulous
SKROO pyoo lus
Principled, having a strong sense of right and wrong; conscientious and exacting
Evan's scrupulous behavior began to annoy his friends when he called the cops on them for toilet papering their teacher's house.
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Solicitous
so LIS it us
Concerned
The parents asked solicitous questions about the college admissions officer's family.
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Sophistry
SAHF is tree
Plausible but misleading or fallacious argument
The professor's sophistry misled the sophomore into incorrect beliefs.
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Substantiate
sub STAN shee ayt
To support with proof or evident; verify
The argument was substantiated by clear facts and hard evidence.
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Veracity
vuh RA si tee
Adherence to the truth; truthfulness
Since Vera was known for her veracity, it came as a complete shock when her family found out she'd lied on her application.
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Vindicate
VIN dih kayt
To free from blame
Mrs. Layton was finally vindicated after her husband admitted to the crime.
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Cajole
kuh JOL
To urge with repeated appeals, teasing, or flattery
The sweet-talking senior cajoled an impressionable junior into seeing The Lord of the Rings for the tenth time.
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Chicanery
chik AY ner ee
Trickery
The candidate accused his debate opponent of resorting to cheap chicanery to sway the electorate.
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Obsequious
ob SEEK wee us
Fawning and servile
Kevin was so obsequious that even his teachers were embarrassed; as a result, his sucking up rarely led to better grades.
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Sycophant
SIK uh fent
Insincere, obsequious flatterer
Siggie is such a sycophant; he slyly sucks up to his teachers, and reaps the rewards of his behavior.
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Altruism
AL troo iz im
Unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness
Alta, a model of altruism, gave her movie ticket to someone who needed it more.
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Eminent
EM uh nent
Distinguished; prominent
Emeril Lagasse is one of the most eminent chefs working today; every TV watcher knows how well-known and highly regarded he is.
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Empathy
em puh THEE
Identification with and understanding of another's situation, feelings, and motives.
Emily is one of my most empathetic friends; she can always relate to my emotions.
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Extol
ek STOL
To praise highly
Tollivan extolled the virtues of the troll while his teacher looked on amazed.
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Laudatory
LAW duh tor ee
Full of praise
The principal's speech was laudatory, congratulating the students on their SAT scores.
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Magnanimous
mag NAN im us
Courageously or generously noble in mind and heart
The magnanimous prince cared deeply for his country and its people.
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Philanthropic
fil un THROP ik
Humanitarian; benevolent; relating to monetary generosity
Phil was a philanthropic soul, always catering to the needy and the underprivileged.
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Reciprocate
ree SIP ro kayt
To mutually take or give; to respond in kind
The chef reciprocated his rival's respect; they admired each other so much that they even traded recipes.
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Defunct
duh FUNKT
No longer existing or functioning
The theory that the world was flat became defunct when Magellan sailed to the West and didn't fall of the earth.
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Eradicate
er RAD i kayt
To get rid of as if by tearing it up by the roots; abolish
Radcliffe did her best to eradicate the radishes from her farm.
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Expurgate
ek spur GAYT
To remove objectionable content before publication or release
The Chinese government expurgates nearly all obscene matter form the nation's Internet.
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Extirpate
ek stir PAYT
To destroy
While the family was on vacation, the termites practically extirpated the house.
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Quell
KWEL
To put down forcibly; suppress
Nell quelled the fight over the quiches by throwing it out the window - she had long given up on reasoning with her sisters.
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Raze
RAYZ
To level to the ground; demolish
It is difficult to raze a city building without demolishing other structures around it.
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Squelch
SKWELCH
To crush as if by trampling; squash
Sam wanted to keep squash as pets, but Quentin squelched the idea.
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Supplant
suh PLANT
To usurp the place of, especially through intrigue or underhand tactics.
The ants prepared to supplant the roaches as the dominant insect in the kitchen; their plan was to take the roaches by surprise and drive them out.
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Stymie
STY mee
To thwart or stump
Stan was stymied by the Sudoku puzzle; he just couldn't solve it.
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Abase
uh BAYS
To lower in rank, prestige, or esteem
Bayard's withering restaurant review was an attempt to abase his former friend, the owner.
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Deride
duh RIDE
To mock contemptuously
Derrick was derided for wearing two different colored socks, but he couldn't help it - it was laundry day.
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Derogatory
duh RAH guh tor ee
Insulting or intended to insult
The unethical politician didn't just attack his opponent's views; he also made derogatory remarks about the other candidate's family and personal hygiene.
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Disparage
dis PAR uj
To speak of negatively; to belittle
Wanda disparaged Glen by calling him a cheat and a liar.
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Effrontery
eh FRON ter ee
Brazen boldness; presumptuousness
The attorney's effrontery in asking such personal question so shocked Esther that she immediately ran from the office.
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Ignominy
IG nuh mi nee
Great personal dishonor or humiliation; disgraceful conduct
Ignacio felt great ignominy after the scandal broke.
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Impugn
im PYOON
To attack as false or questionable
Instead of taking the high road, the candidate impugned his opponent's character.
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Mar
MAR
To damage; especially in a disfiguring way
The perfect day was marred by the arrival of storm clouds.
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Pejorative (adj.)
puh JOR uh tiv
Disparaging, belittling, insulting
Teachers should refrain from using pejorative terms such as numbskull and idiot to refer to other teachers.
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Vex
VEKS
To annoy or bother; to perplex
Bex's mom was vexed when Bex was very vague about for whereabouts for the evening.
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Vindictive
vin DIK tiv
Disposed to seek revenge; revengeful; spiteful
Vincenzo was very vindictive; when someone hurt him, he responded by vigorously plotting revenge.
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