Vocabulary List #12

(v) to renounce under oath; to abandon forever; to abstain from
syn:renounce, disavow
Galileo was forced to abjure the theory that the earth turns around the sun.

(adj) bent or twisted in shape or condition; dryly humorous
syn:askew, sardonic
His remark about my chances of winning the contest was wry and sarcastic.

(adj) apelike; relating to apes
syn:anthropoid, primate

(adj) marked by the tendency to point out trivial faults; intended to confuse an argument
syn: critical, censorious
The captious middle-school clique included all the mean girls from our class who have nothing nice to say about anyone, not even themselvesRead more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_would_you_use_captious_in_a_sentence#ixzz1JKaV45PC

(adj) stubbornly persevering
syn: tenacious, obstinate
The man tried,but with all his might he could not budge the dogged mule.

(adj) ancient, primitive
syn: primordial, original

(adj) loud, harsh, unpleasantly noisy
syn: grating, shrill, discordant
As the flames grew higher, we heard a strident call for help.

(adj)ill-tempered; sickly, ailing
syn:pale, feeble, peevish
Molly's bilious demeanor made her ill-suited for a job in customer service, and she was let go from the position after two weeks.

(adj)lying face downward in adoration or submission
syn: submissive
.They reached the throne of their king, and prostrated themselves in awe and fear.

(adj) in direpair, run down
syn: decayed, fallen into partial ruin

(n)a closed committee within a political party; a private committee meeting
syn:aeembly, convention

(adj)influential in an original way, providing
basis for further development
syn: original, generative
The invention of the cell phone was a seminal development in mass communications

(v) to turn aside, especially from the main point; to stray from the subject
syn: deviate, wander

(adj)limited in outlook, narrow, unsophisticated
syn: unpolished, unrefined
Jim's outlook was very childish and provincial.

(adj)having to do with needless repetition, redundancy
syn: verbose, wordy

(adj) like an uncle in behavior, especially kindness and warmth

(v)to declare to be true, to affirm
syn:assert, attest

(adj)gaudy, cheap, showy
syn: flashy, chintzy

(v) to trim off excess, reduce
syn: peel, clip

(adj)fictional, relating to imaginative creation
syn: not genuine

(v) to send into exile, banish; assign
syn: consign, classify, refer

(adj) quarrelsome, disagreeable, belligerent
syn: argumentative, fractious, litigious

(v) to explain or describe in detail
syn: elucidate, elaborate

(n) a compact or close-knit body of people, animals or things
syn: mass, legion