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Sacrosanct (n)
extremely sacred; beyond criticism
Many people considered Mother Teresa to be sacrosanct and would not tolerate any criticism of her.
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Sagacious (adj)
shrewd; wise
Owls have a reputation for being sagacious, perhaps because of their big eyes, which resemble glasses.
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Salient (adj)
prominent; of notable significance
His most salient characteristic is his tendency to dominate every conversation.
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Salubrious (adj)
healthful
Rundown and sickly, Rita hoped that the fresh mountain air would have a salubrious effect on her health.
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Sanguine (adj)
ruddy; cheerfully optimistic
A sanguine person thinks the glass is half full, whereas a depressed person thinks it's half empty.
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Sardonic (adj)
cynical; scornfully mocking
Isabella was offended by the sardonic way in which her date made fun of her ideas and opinions.
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Satiate (v)
to satisfy full or overindulge
His desire for power was so great that nothing less than complete control of the country could satiate it.
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Scintilla (n)
trace amount
This poison is so powerful that no more than a scintilla is needed to kill a horse.
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Sedition (n)
behavior that promotes rebellion or civil disorder against the state
Li was arrested for sedition after he gave a fiery speech in the main square.
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Sentient (adj)
aware; able to perceive
The anesthetic didn't work, and I was still sentient when the dentist started drilling.
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Seraphic (adj)
angelic; sweet
Selena's seraphic appearance belied her nasty, bitter personality.
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Sinecure (n)
a well-paying job or office that requires little or no work
The corrupt mayor made sure to set up all his relatives with sinecures within the administration.
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Slake (v)
to calm down or moderate
In order to slake his curiosity, Bryan finally took a tour backstage at the theater.
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Sobriquet (n)
nickname
One of Ronald Reagan's sobriquets was "The Gipper."
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Solecism (n)
grammatical mistake; blunder in speech
"I ain't going with you," she said, obviously unaware of her solecism.
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Soporific (adj)
causing sleep or lethargy
The movie proved to be so soporific that soon loud snores could be heard form throughout the cinema.
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Spartan (adj)
highly self-disciplined; frugal; austere
When he was in training, the athlete preferred to stay in a spartan room, so he could shut out all distractions.
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Specious (adj)
deceptively attractive; seemingly plausible but fallacious
The student's specious excuse for being late sounded legitimate, but was proved otherwise when his teacher called his home.
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Sportive (adj)
frolicsome; playful
The lakeside vacation meant more sportive opportunities for the kids than the wine tour through France.
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Stasis (n)
a state of static balance or equilibrium; stagnation
The rusty, ivy-covered WWII tank had obviously been in stasis for years.
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Stentorian (adj)
extremely loud
Cullen couldn't hear her speaking over the stentorian din of the game on TV.
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Stigma (n)
a mark or discredit
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne was required to wear the letter A on her clothes as a public stigma for her adultery.
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Stolid (adj)
unemotional; lacking sensitivity
The prisoner appeared stolid and unaffected by the judge's harsh sentence.
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Stratagem (n)
trick designed to deceive an enemy
The Trojan Horse must be one of the most successful military stratagems used throughout history.
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Sublime (adj)
lofty or grand
The music was so sublime that it transformed the rude surroundings into a special place.
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Sully (v)
to tarnish; taint
With the help of a public relations firm, he was able to restore his sullied reputation.
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Supplant (v)
to replace (another) by force; to take the place of
The overthrow of the government meant a new leader to supplant the tyrannical former one.
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Surfeit (n)
excessive amount
Because of the surfeit of pigs, pork prices have never been lower.
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Surly (adj)
rude and bad-tempered
When asked to clean the windshield, the surly gas station attendant tossed a dirty rag at the customer and walked away.
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Sybarite (n)
a person devoted to pleasure and luxury
A confirmed sybarite, the nobleman fainted at the thought of having to leave his place and live in a small cottage.
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Sycophant (n)
a self-serving flatterer; yes-man
Dreading criticism, the actor surrounded himself with admirers and sycophants.
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Symbiosis (n)
cooperation; mutual helpfulness
The rhino and the tick-eating bird live in symbiosis; the rhino provides the bird with ticks to eat and the bird rids the rhino of parasites.
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Syncopation (n)
temporary irregularity in musical rhythm
A jazz enthusiast will appreciate the use of syncopation in this musical genre.
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Tacit (adj)
done without using words
Although not a word was said, everyone in the room knew that a tacit agreement had been made about what course of action to take.
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Taciturn (adj)
silent; not talkative
The clerk's taciturn nature earned him the nickname Silent Bob.
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Talon (n)
claw of an animal, especially a bird of prey
A vulture holds its prey in its talons while it dismembers it with its beak.
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Tangential (adj)
digressing; diverting
Your argument is interesting, but it's tangential to the matter at hand, so I suggest we get back to the point.
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Tawdry (adj)
gaudy, cheap, or showy
The performer changed into her tawdry, spangled costume and stepped out onto the stage to do her show.
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Terrestrial (adj)
earthly; down-to-earth; commonplace
Many "extraterrestrial" object turn out to be terrestrial in origin, as when flying saucers turn out to be normal airplanes.
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Tirade (n)
long, harsh speech or verbal attack
Observers were shocked at the manager's tirade over such a minor mistake.
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Toady (n)
one who flatters in the hope of gaining favors
The king was surrounded by toadies who rushed to agree with whatever outrageous thing he said.
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Tome (n)
book, usually large and academic
The teacher was forced to refer to various tomes to find the answer to the advanced student's question.
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Torpor (n)
extreme mental and physical sluggishness
After surgery, the patient's torpor lasted several hours until the anesthesia wore off.
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Transitory (adj)
temporary; lasting a brief time
The reporter lived a transitory life, staying in one place only long enough to cover the current story.
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Trenchant (adj)
acute, sharp, or incisive; forceful; effective
Tyrone's trenchant observations in class made him the professor's favorite student.
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Turgid (adj)
swollen as from a fluid; bloated
In the process of osmosis, water passes through the walls of turgid cells, ensuring that they never contain too much water
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Tyro (n)
beginner; novice
An obvious tyro at salsa, Millicent received no invitations to dance.
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Umbrage (n)
offense; resentment
The businessman took umbrage at the security guard's accusation that he had shoplifted a packet of gum.
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Unconscionable (adj)
unscrupulous; shockingly unfair or unjust
After she promised me the project, the fact that she had gave it to someone else is unconscionable.
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Unequivocal (adj)
absolute; certain
The jury's verdict was unequivocal: the organized crime boss would be locked up for life.
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Upbraid (v)
to scold sharply
The teacher upbraided the student for scrawling graffiti all over the walls of the school.
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Usury (n)
the practice of lending money at exorbitant rates
The moneylender was convicted to usury when it was discovered that he charged 50% interest on all his loans.
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Vacillate (v)
to physically sway or to be indecisive
The customer held up the line as he vacillated between ordering chocolate-chip or rocky-road ice cream.
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Variegated (adj)
varied; marked with different colors
The variegated foliage of the jungle allows it to support thousands of different animals.
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Venerable (adj)
respected because of age
All of the villager sought the venerable woman's advice whenever they had a problem.
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Venerate (v)
to respect deeply
In a traditional Confucian society, the young venerate their elders, deferring to the elder's wisdom and experience.
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Veracity (n)
with truth and accuracy
She had a reputation for veracity, so everyone trusted her description of events.
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Verbose (adj)
wordy
The professor's answer was so verbose that his student forgot what the original question had been.
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Verdant (adj)
green with vegetation; inexperienced
He wandered deep into the verdant woods in search of mushrooms and other edible flora.
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Vernal (adj)
related to spring; fresh
Bea basked in the balmy vernal breezes, happy that winter was coming to an end.
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Vestige (n)
a trace; remnant
Vestiges of the former tenant still remained in the apartment, though he hadn't lived there for years.
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Vex (v)
to annoy; irritate; puzzle; confuse
The old man who loved his peace and quiet was vexed by his neighbor's loud music.
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Vicissitude (n)
a change or variation; ups and downs
Investors must be prepared for vicissitudes of the stock market.
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Vim (n)
vitality and energy
The vim with which she worked so early in the day was explained why she was so productive.
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Viscous (adj)
thick and adhesive; like a slow-flowing fluid
Most viscous liquids, like oil or honey, become even thicker as they are cooled down.
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Vituperate (v)
to abuse verbally; berate
Vituperating someone is never a constructive way to effect change.
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Volatile (adj)
easily aroused or changeable; lively or explosive
His volatile personality made it difficult to predict his reaction to anything.
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Voluble (adj)
talkative; speaking easily; glib
The voluble man and his reserved wife proved the old saying that opposite's attract.
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Wan (adj)
sickly pale
The sick child had a wan face, in contrast to her rosy-cheeked sister.
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Wanton (adj)
undisciplined; unrestrained; reckless
The townspeople were outraged by the wanton display of disrespect when they discovered the statue of the town founder covered in graffiti.
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Waver (v)
to fluctuate between choices
If you waver too long before making a decision about which testing site to register for, you may not get your first choice.
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Whimsical (adj)
lightly acting in a fanciful or capricious manner; unpredictable
The ballet was whimsical, delighting the children with its imaginative characters and unpredictable sets.
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Wily (adj)
clever; deceptive
Yet again, the wily coyote managed to elude the ranchers who wanted to capture it.
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Winsome (adj)
charming; happily engaging
Lenore gave the doorman a winsome smile, and he let her pass in front of the line.
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Wizened (adj)
shriveled; whithered; wrinkled
The wizened old man was told that the plastic surgery necessary to make him look young again would cost more money than he could imagine.
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Wraith (n)
a ghost or specter; a ghost of a living person seen just before his or her death
Gideon thought he saw a wraith late one night as he sat vigil outside his great uncle's bedroom door.
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Xenophobia (n)
a fear or hatred of foreigners or strangers
Countries in which xenophobia is prevalent often have more restrictive immigration policies than countries that are more open to foreign influences.
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Yoke (v)
to join together
As soon as the farmer had yoked his oxen together, he began to plow the fields.
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Zeal (n)
passion; excitement
She brought her typical zeal to the project, sparking enthusiasm in the other team members.
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Zealot (n)
someone passionately devoted to a cause
The religious zealot had no time for those who failed to share his strong beliefs.
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Zenith (n)
the point of culmination; peak
the diva considered her appearance at the Metropolitan Opera the zenith of her career.
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Zephyr (n)
a gentle breeze; something airy or unsubstantial
The zephyr from the ocean made the intense heat on the beach bearable for the sunbathers.
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