Barron's 3500 words

  1. Ovoid (adj)
    egg-shaped
  2. Palate (n)
    roof of the mouth; sense of taste
  3. Palette (n)
    board on which a painter mixes pigments
  4. Palimpsest (n)
    parchment used for second time after original writing has been erased
  5. Pall (v)
    to grow tiresome
  6. Pallet (n)
    small, poor bed
  7. Paltry (adj)
    insignificant; petty; trifling
  8. Panacea (n)
    cure-all
  9. Parable (n)
    short, simple story teaching a moral
  10. Parity (n)
    equality; close resemblance
  11. Parlance (n)
    language; idiom
  12. Parochial (adj)
    narrow in outlook; provincial; related to parishes
  13. Paroxysm (n)
    fit for attack of pain, laughter, rage
  14. Parquet (n)
    floor made of wood strips inlaid in a mosaic-like pattern
  15. Pastoral (adj)
    rural
  16. Patent (adj)
    open for the public to read; obvious
  17. Pathos (n)
    tender sorrow; pitty; quality in art or literature that produces these feelings
  18. Patois (n)
    local or provincial dialect
  19. Patrician (adj)
    noble; aristocratic
  20. Paucity (n)
    sarcacity
  21. Pecuniary (adj)
    pertaining to money
  22. Pedagogue (n)
    teacher
  23. Pedagogy (n)
    teaching
  24. Pell-mell (adv)
    in confusion; disorderly
  25. Pellucid (adj)
    transparent; limpid; easy to understand
  26. Penitent (adj)
    repentant
  27. Pensive (adj)
    dreamily thoughtful; thoughful with a hint of sadness; contemplative
  28. Penumbra (n)
    partial foreshadow (in an eclipse)
  29. Perdition (n)
    damnation; complete ruin
  30. Peremptory (adj)
    demanding and leaving no choice
  31. Perennial (n)
    something long-lasting
  32. Perigee (n)
    Point of the moon's orbit when it's nearest earth
  33. Pernicious (adj)
    very destructive
  34. Peroration (n)
    conclusion of an oration
  35. Perquisite (n)
    any gain above stipulated salary
  36. Perspecuity (n)
    clearness of expression
  37. Perspicuous (adj)
    clearly expressed
  38. Pert (adj)
    impertinent; forward
  39. Pertinacious (adj)
    stubborn; persistent
  40. Pertinent (adj)
    suitable; to the point
  41. Pervasive (adj)
    spread throughout
  42. Perverse (adj)
    stubbornly wrongheaded; wicked and unacceptable
  43. Perversion (n)
    corruption; turning from right to wrong
  44. Petulant (adj)
    touchy; peevish; bitchy
  45. Pharasical (adj)
    pertaining to the Pharisees; self-righteous; hypocritical
  46. Philanderer (n)
    faithless lover; flirt
  47. Philology (n)
    study of language
  48. Piebald (adj)
    of different colors; spotted; mottled
  49. Piecemeal (adv)
    one part at a time; gradually
  50. Pied (adj)
    variegated; multicolored
  51. Pillory (n, v)
    • (n) wooden frame that hold the neck and wrists
    • (v) punish by placing in pillory
  52. Pinion (v)
    to restrain
  53. Piquant (adj)
    pleasantly tart-tasting; stimulating
  54. Pique (n, v)
    • (n) iriitation; resentment
    • (v) to provoke; arouse; annoy
  55. Piscatorial (adj)
    pertaining to fishing
  56. Pith (n)
    core or marrow; essence; substance
  57. Pittance (n)
    a small allowance or wage
  58. Plaintive (adj)
    mournful
  59. Plait (v)
    to braid; intertwine
  60. Platonic (adj)
    purely spiritual; theoretical; without sensual desire
  61. Plaudit (n)
    enthusiastic approval; round of applause
  62. Plenary (adj)
    complete; full
  63. Plenitude (n)
    abundance; completeness
  64. Pluck (n)
    courage
  65. Plumb (v, adj)
    • (v) examine critically to understand; measure depth
    • (adj) vertical
  66. Plutocracy (n)
    society ruled by the wealthy
  67. Poignancy (n)
    quality of being deeply moving; keeness of emotion
  68. Polemical (adj)
    aggressive in verbal attack; disputa-tious
  69. Polity (n)
    form of government or nation state
  70. Pomposity (n)
    self-important behavior (adj, pompous)
  71. Ponderous (adj)
    weighty; unwieldy
  72. Pontifical (adj)
    pertaining to a bishop or pope; pompous or pretentious
  73. Pore (v)
    to study industriously; ponder; scrutinize
  74. Portend (v)
    foretell; presage
  75. Portent (n)
    sign; omen; forewarning
  76. Posterity (n)
    descedants; future generations
  77. Postulate (n)
    self-evident truth
  78. Poultice (n)
    soothing applicationapplied to sore and inflamed portions of the body
  79. Pragmatist (n)
    practical person
  80. Prate (v)
    to speak foolishly; boast idly
  81. Preamble (n)
    introductory statement
Author
tragik151
ID
73658
Card Set
Barron's 3500 words
Description
words I didnt know (word list 34-36)
Updated