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Abase (v)
to humble; digrace
My intention was not to abase the comedian.
synonyms: demean; humiliate
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Abate (v)
to reduce in amount, degree, or severity
As the hurricane's force abated the winds dropped and the sea became calm.
Synonyms: ebb; lapse; let up; moderate; relent; slacken; subside; wane
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Abdicate (v)
to give up position, right, or power
With the angry mob clamoring outside the palace, the king abdicated his throne and fled.
Synonyms: cede; relinquish; resign; quit; yield
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Aberrant (adj)
deviating from what is normal or expected
Since he had been a steady, cheerful worker for many years, his fellow postal workers did not expect his aberrant burst of rage.
Synonyms: abnormal; anomalous; deviant; divergent; errant; irregular
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Abeyance (n)
temporary suppression or suspension
The baseball game was held in abeyance while it continued to rain.
Synonyms; deferral; delay; dormancy; postponement; remission
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Abjure (v)
to reject; abandon formally
The spy abjured his allegiance to the United States when he defected to Russia.
Synonyms: forswear; recall; recant; take back
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Abscond (v)
to leave secretly
The patron absconded from the restaurant without paying his bill by sneaking out the back door.
Synonyms: decamp; escape; flee
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Abstain (v)
to choose not to do something
Before the medical procedure you must abstain from eating.
Synonyms: forbear; refrain; withold
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Abstemious (adj)
moderate in appetite
Because Alyce is a vegetarian, she was only able to eat an abstemious meal at the Texas steakhouse.
Synonyms: abstinent; continent; self-restraining; sober; temperate
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Abyss (n)
an extremely deep hole
The submarine dove into the abyss to chart the previously unseen depths.
Synonyms: chasm; void
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Accretion (n)
a growth in size; an increase in amount
The committee's strong fund-raising efforts resulted in an accretion in scholarship money.
Synonyms: accumulation; buildup
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Acidulous (adj)
sour in taste or manner
The acidulous taste of the spoiled milk made the young boy's lips pucker.
Synonyms: acerbic; acetous; biting; piquant; pungent; tart
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Acme (n)
highest point; summit; the highest level or degree attainable
Just when he reached the acme of his power, the dictator was overthrown.
Synonyms: apex; peak; summit
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Adulterate (v)
to make impure
The restaurant made his ketchup last longer by adulterating it with water.
Synonyms: debase; doctor; load
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Advocate (v)
to speak in favor of
The vegetarian advocated a diet containing no meat.
Synonym: back; champion; support
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Aerie (n)
a nest built high in the air; an elevated, often secluded dwelling
Perched high among the trees, the eagle's aerie was filled with eggs.
Synonyms: perch; stronghold
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Aesthetic (adj)
concerning the appreciation of beauty
The aesthetic movement regarded the pursuit of beauty to be the only true purpose of art.
Synonyms: artistic; tasteful
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Affected (adj)
phony; artificial
The affected hairdresser spouted French phrases, though she had never been to France.
Synonyms; insincere; pretentious; put-on
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Aggrandize (v)
to increase in power, influence and reputation
The supervisor sought to aggrandize himself by claiming that the achievements of his staff were actually his own.
Synonyms: amplify; apotheosize; augment; dignify; elevate; enlarge; ennoble; exalt; glorify; magnify; swell; uplift; wax
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Amalgamate (v)
to combine; to mix together
Giant Industries amalgamated with Mega Products to form Giant-Mega Products incorporated.
Synonyms: admix; blend; coalesce; combine; commingle; commix; compound; fuse; intermingle; intermix; merge; mingle; mix; unite
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Ambiguous (adj)
doubtful or uncertain; can be interpreted several ways
The directions he gave were so ambiguous the we disagreed on which way to turn.
Synonyms: cloudy; doubtful; dubious; equivocal; indeterminate; nebulous;obscure; unclear; vague
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Ameliorate (v)
to make better; to improve
The doctor was able to ameliorate the patient's suffering using painkillers.
Synonyms: amend; better;improve; pacify; upgrade
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Alacrity (n)
speed or quickness
The restaurant won a reputation for fine service since the wait staff responded to their clients' requests with alacrity.
synonyms: dispatch; haste; swiftness
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Amortize (v)
to diminish by installment payments
While college students are notorious for accumulating credit card debt, they are not as well known for amortizing it.
Synonyms: convivialty
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Alleviate (v)
To make more bearable
Taking aspirin helps to alleviate a headache.
Synonyms: allay; assuage; comfort; ease; lessen; lighten; mitigate; palliate; relieve
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Amulet (n)
ornament worn as a charm against evil spirits
Though she claimed it was not because of superstition, Vivian always wore an amulet around her neck.
Synonyms: fetish; talisman
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Anachronism (n)
something out of place in time
- The aged hippie used anachronistic phrases like "groovy" and "far out" that had not been popular for years.
- synonyms; archaism; incongruity
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Analgesia (n)
a lessening of pain without loss of consciousness
After having her appendix removed, Tatiana welcomed the analgesia that the painkillers provided.
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Analogous (n)
similar or alike in some way; equivalent to
His mother argued that not going to college was analogous to throwing his life away
Synonyms: alike; comparable; corresponding; equivalent; homogeneous; parallel; similar
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Anodyne (n)
something that calms or soothes pain
The anodyne massage helped remove the knots from the lawyer's tense shoulders.
Synonyms: narcotic; nepenthe; opiate
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Anomaly (n)
deviation from what is normal
Albino animals may display too great an anomaly in their coloring to attract normally colored mates.
Synonyms: aberrant; aberration; abnormality; deviance; deviation; irregularity; preternaturalness
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Antagonize (v)
to annoy or anger
The child discovered that he could antagonize the cat by pulling it's tail.
Synonyms: clash; conflict; incite; irritate; oppose; pester; provoke; vex
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Antipathy (n)
extreme dislike
The antipathy between fans of the rival soccer teams made the game even more electrifying to watch.
Synonyms: abhorrence; animosity; animus; antagonism; aversion; dislike; enmity; hatred; hostility; loathing; repellence; repugnance; repulsion; revulsion
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Apathy (n)
lack of interest or emotion
The apathy of voters is so great that less than half the people who are eligible to vote actually bother to do so.
Synonyms; coolness; disinterest; disregard; impassivity; indifference; insensibility; lassitude; lethargy; listlessness; phlegm; stolidity; unconcern; unresponsiveness
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Apocryphal (adj)
of questionable authority
There is no hard or authoritative evidence to support the apocryphal tales that link the Roswell, New Mexico, incident to a downed UFO.
Synonyms: disputed; doubtful; fictitious; fraudulent
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Apostate (n)
one who renounces a religious faith
So that he could divorce his wife, the king scoffed at the church docrines and declared himself an apostate.
Synonyms: defector; deserter; traitor
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Approbation (n)
approval and praise
The approbation that Jerry Lewis had received in France included a medal from the ministry of culture.
Synonyms: acclaim; adulation; applause; commendation; compliments; exalt; extol; hail; kudos; praise
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Arbitrary (adj)
determined by chance or impulse
When you lack the information to judge what to do next, you will be forced to make an arbitrary decision.
Synonyms; changeable; erratic; indiscriminate; random; wayward
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Arbitrate (v)
to judge a dispute between two opposing parties
Since the couple could not come to an agreement, a judge was forced to arbitrate their divorce proceedings.
Synonyms: adjudge; adjudicate; determine; intermediate; intervene; judge; moderate; referee; rule
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Archaic (n)
ancient; old-fashioned
Her archaic Commodore computer could not run the latest software.
Synonyms: ancient; antediluvian; antique; archaic; bygone; dated; dowdy; fusty; obsolete; old-fashioned; outdated; outmoded; passé; prehistoric; stale; superannuated; superseded; vintage
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Ardor (n)
intense and passionate feeling
Bishop's ardor for landscape was evident when he passionately described the beauty of the scenic Hudson Valley.
Synonyms: devotion; enthusiasm; fervency; fervidity; fervidness; fervor; fire; passion; zeal; zealousness
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Articulate (adj)
able to speak clearly and expressively
She is extremely articulate when it comes to expressing her pro-labor views; as a result, unions are among her strongest supporters.
Synonyms: eloquent; expressive; fluent; lucid; silver-tongued; smooth-spoken
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Arrogate (v)
to claim without justification; to claim for oneself without right
Gretchen watched in astonishment as he boss arrogated the credit for her brilliant work on the project.
Synonyms: appropriate; presume; take
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Assuage (v)
to make something unpleasant less severe
Like many people, Philip Larkin used alcohol to assuage his sense of meaninglessness and despair.
Synonyms: allay; alleviate; appease; comfort; conciliate; ease; lighten; mitigate; mollify; pacify; palliate; placate; propitiate; relieve; soothe; sweeten
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Assail (v)
to attack; assault
The foreign army will try to assail our bases, but they will not be successful in their attack.
Synonyms: beset; strike; storm
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Attenuate (v)
to reduce in force or degree; weaken
The Bill of Rights attenuated the traditional power of government to change laws at will.
Synonyms: debilitate; devitalize; dilute; enervate; enfeeble; rarefy; sap; thin; undermine; undo; unnerve; water; weaken
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Audacious (adj)
fearless and daring
The audacious peasant dared to insult the king's mother.
Synonyms; adventuresome; aggressive; assertive; bold; brave; courageous; daring; dauntless; doughty; fearless; gallant; game; heroic; intrepid; mettlesome; plucky; stout; stouthearted; unafraid; undaunted; valiant; valorous; venturesome; venturous
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Augury (n)
prophecy; prediction of events
Troy hoped the rainbow was an augury of the good things to come.
Synonyms: auspices; harbinger; omen; portent; presage
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August (adj)
dignified; grandiose
The august view of the Grand Teton summit took my breath away.
Synonyms: admirable; awesome; grand; majestic
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Austere (adj)
severe or stern in appearance; undecorated
The lack of decoration makes Zen temples seem austere to the untrained eye.
Synonyms: bleak; dour; grim; hard; harsh; severe
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Axiom (n)
premise; postulate; self-evident truth
Halle lived her life based on the axioms her grandmother had passed on to her.
Synonyms: adage; apothegm; aphorism; maxim; rule
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Banal (adj)
predictable; clichéd; boring
His conversation consisted of banal phrases like "Have a nice day" or "Another day, another dollar."
Synonyms: bland; bromidic; clichéd; commonplace; fatuous; hackneyed; innocuous; insipid; jejune; musty; platitudinous; prosaic; quotidian; shopworn; stale; stereotypic; threadbare; timeworn; tired; trite; vapid; worn-out
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Belfry (n)
bell tower; room in which the bell is hung
The town was shocked when a bag of money was found stashed in the old belfry of the church.
Synonyms: spire; steeple
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Bevy (n)
group
As predicted, a bevy of teenagers surrounded the rock star's limousine.
Synonyms: band; bunch; gang; pack; troop
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Bifurcate (v)
to divide into two parts
The large corporation just released a press statement announcing its plans to bifurcate.
Synonym: bisect
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Bilk (v)
to cheat; defraud
When the greedy salesman realized that his customer spoke poor French, he bilked the tourist out of 20 euros.
Synonyms: beat; defraud; diddle; gyp; overreach
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Blight (v)
to afflict; destroy
The farmers feared that the night's frost would blight the potato crops entirely.
Synonyms: damage; plague
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Blithe (adj)
joyful, cheerful, or without appropriate thought
Summer finally came, and the blithe students spent their days at the beach.
Synonyms: carefree; lighthearted; merry
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Bolster (v)
to support; prop up
The presence of giant footprints bolstered the argument that Bigfoot was in the area.
Synonyms: brace; buttress; crutch; prop; stay; support; sustain; underpinning; uphold
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Bombastic (adj)
pompous in speech and manner
Mussolini's speeches were mostly bombastic; his boasting and outrageous claims had no basis in fact.
Synonyms: bloated; declamatory; fustian; grandiloquent; grandiose; high-flown; magniloquent; orotund; pretentious; rhetorical; self-important
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Bonhomie (n)
good-natured geniality; atmosphere of good cheer
The aspects of her job she loved most were the flexible hours and the pleasant bonhomie in the office.
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Boor (n)
crude person, one lacking in manners or taste
"That utter boor ruined my recital with his constant guffawing!" wailed the pianist.
Synonyms: clod; lout; oaf; vulgarian; yahoo
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Burgeon (v)
to grow and flourish
Faulkner neither confirmed nor denied stories about himself, allowing rumor to burgeon where it would.
Synonyms: bloom flourish prosper; thrive
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Burnish (v)
to polish
He burnished the silver coffee pot until it shone brightly
Synonyms: buff; luster; polish; scour
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Cabal (n)
a secret group seeking to overturn something
The boys on the street formed a cabal to keep girls out of their tree house.
Synonyms: camp; clan; clique; coterie; in-group; mafia; mob; ring
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Cacophony (n)
harsh, jarring noise
The junior high orchestra created an almost unbearable cacophony as they tried to tune their instruments.
Synonyms: chaos; clamor; din; discord; disharmony; noise
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Calumny (n)
a false malicious accusation; misrepresentation
The unscrupulous politician used calumny to bring down his opponent in the senatorial race.
Synonyms: defamation; libel; slander
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Canard (n)
a lie
That tabloid's feature story about a goat giving birth to a human child was clearly a canard.
Synonyms: falsehood; falsity; fib; misrepresentation; prevarication; tale; untruth
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Candid (adj)
impartial, and honest in speech
The observations of a child can be charming since they are candid and unpretentious
Synonyms: direct; forthright; frank; honest; open; sincere; straight; straightforward; undisguised
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Capricious (adj)
changing one's mind quickly and often
Queen Elizabeth I was quite capricious; her courtiers could never be sure which one would catch her fancy.
Synonyms: arbitrary; chance; changeable; erratic; fickle; inconstant; mercurial; random; whimsical; willful
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Cartography (n)
science or art of making maps
Gail's interest in cartography may stem from the extensive traveling as a child.
Synonyms: charting; surveying; topography
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Castigate (v)
to punish or criticize harshly
Martina castigated her boyfriend for not remembering her birthday.
Synonyms: admonish; chastise; chide; rebuke; reprimand; reproach; reprove; scold; tax; upbraid
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Catalyst (n)
something that brings about a change in something else
The imposition of harsh taxes was the catalyst that finally brought on the revolution.
Synonyms: accelerator; goad; impetus; impulse; incentive; motivation; spur; stimulant
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Catholic (adj)
universal; broad and comprehensive
Hot tea with honey is a catholic remedy for a sore throat.
Synonyms: extensive; general
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Caustic (adj)
biting in wit
Dorothy Parker gained her caustic reputation from her cutting, yet witty, insults.
Synonyms: acerbic; biting; mordant; trenchant
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Chaos (n)
great disorder or confused situation
In most religious traditions, God created an ordered universe from chaos.
Synonyms: clutter; confusion; disarrangement; disarray; disorder; disorderliness;disorganization; jumble; mess; muddle; scramble; snarl; topsy-turviness; turmoil
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Chauvinist (n)
someone prejudiced in favor of a group to which he or she belongs
The attitude that men must be obeyed since they are inherently superior to women is common among male chauvinists.
Synonyms: biased; colored; one-sided; partial; partisan; prejudicial; prepossessed; tendentious
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Chicanery (n)
deception by means of craft or guile
Dishonest used-car salesmen often use chicanery to sell their beat-up old cars.
Synonyms: artifice; conniving; craftiness; deception; deviousness; misrepresentation; pettifoggery; shadiness; sneakiness; sophistry; subterfuge; underhandedness
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Circumspect (adj)
cautious; aware of potential consequences
She was very circumspect in her language and behavior when first introduced to her fiancée's parents.
Synonyms: alert; cautious; heedful; mindful; prudent; solicitous; vigilant; wary
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Cloying (adj)
sickly sweet; excessive
When Enid and Jay first started dating, their cloying affection towards one another often made their friends ill.
Synonyms: excessive; fulsome
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Coalesce (v)
to grow together to form a single whole
The sun and planets eventually coalesced out of a vast cloud of gas and dust.
Synonyms: amalgamate; blend; coalesce; condense; consolidate; fuse; unite
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Coffer (n)
stongbox; large chest for money
The bulletproof glass of the coffer is what keeps the crown jewels secure.
Synonyms; treasury; chest; exchequer; war chest
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Cogent (adj)
convincing and well-reasoned
Swayed by the cogent argument of the defense, the jury had no choice but to acquit the defendant.
Synonyms; convincing; persuasive; solid; telling; valid
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Collusion (n)
collaboration; complicity; conspiracy
It came to light that the police chief and the mafia had a collusion in running the numbers racket.
Synonyms: connivance; intrigue; machination
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Condone (v)
to overlook, pardon, or disregard
Some theorists believe that failing to prosecute minor crimes is the same as condoning an air of lawlessness.
Synonyms: exculpate; excuse; pardon; remit
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Connoisseur (n)
a person with expert knowledge or discriminating tastes
Dr. Crane was a connoisseur of fine food and wine, drinking and eating only the best.
Synonyms: authority; epicure; expert; gastronome; gourmet
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Contrite (adj)
deeply sorrowful and repentant for a wrong
After three residents were mugged in the lobby while the watchman was away from his post, he felt very contrite.
Synonyms: apologetic; regretful; remorseful
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Contumacious (adj)
rebellious
The contumacious teenager ran away from home when her parents told her she was grounded.
Synonyms: factious; insubordinate; insurgent; mutinous;rebellious; seditious
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Convoluted (adj)
intricate and complicated
Although many people bought the professor's book, few people could follow its convoluted ideas and theories.
Synonyms: Byzantine; complex elaborate; intricate; knotty; labyrinthine; perplexing; tangled
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Corroborate (v)
to support with evidence
All the DA needed were fingerprints to corroborate the witness's testimony that he saw the defendant in the victim's apartment.
Synonyms: authenticate; back; buttress; confirm; substantiate; validate; verify
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Cosset (v)
to pamper; treat with great care
Marta just loves to cosset her first and only grandchild.
Synonyms: cater to; cuddle; dandle; fondle; love; pamper; pet; spoil
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Coterie (n)
an intimate group of persons with a similar purpose
Angel invited a coterie of fellow stamp enthusiasts to a stamp-trading party
Synonyms: clique; set
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Craven (adj)
lacking courage
The craven lion cringed in the corner oh his cage, terrified of the mouse
Synonyms: fainthearted; spineless; timid
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Credulous (adj)
too trusting; gullible
Although some 4-year-olds believe in the Tooth Fairy, only the most credulous 9-year-olds also believe in her.
Synonyms: naive; susceptible; trusting
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Crescendo (n)
steadily increasing in volume or force
The crescendo of tension became unbearable as Evel Knievel prepared to jump his motorcycle over the school buses.
Synonyms: acme; capstone; climax; crest; culmen; culmination; meridian; peak
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Cupidity (n)
greed; strong desire
The thief stared at the shining jewels with cupidity in his gleaming eyes.
Synonyms: avarice; covetousness; rapcity
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Curmudgeon (n)
cranky person, usually old
Ernesto was a notorious curmudgeon who snapped at anyone who disturbed him for any reason.
Synonyms: crab; coot; grouch
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