English 10 Honors Vocab

Front 1

Ambivalent

Back 1

Wavering or uncertain because of an inability to make a choice between two contradictory feelings or viewpoints in regard to a person, a thing, or a course of action

Front 2

Amnesty

Back 2

An official pardon granted to offenders against the government, especially for political offenses

Front 3

Abdicate

Back 3

To give up formally, as an office, duty, power, or claim.

Front 4

Abet

Back 4

To encourage or assist, especially in wrongdoing.

Front 5

Abhor

Back 5

To regard with horror and loathing; to hate intensely.

Front 6

Abject

Back 6

Wretched, miserable; degrading, humiliating.

Mean-spirited; despicable

Complete and unrelieved

Front 7

Absolve

Back 7

To clear of guilt or blame.

Front 8

Acede

Back 8

To yield, to agree to

Front 9

Acclimate

Back 9

To get used to

Front 10

Adjourn

Back 10

1. To close formally

2. To put off to another time: to move to another place

Front 11

Adverse

Back 11

Hostile in purpose or effect; unfavorable

Front 12

Advocate

Back 12

1. To speak or argue in favor of; to give active public support to.

2. A person who pleads in the interest of a cause or individual

Front 13

Affable

Back 13

Courteous and agreeable in manner; easy to talk to or aapproach

Front 14

Affectation

Back 14

A pretentious display of manners or sentiments that are not genuine; a peculiar habit of dress or behavior that has been adopted to impress others

Front 15

Affluent

Back 15

Prosperous, wealthy

Front 16

Aggregate

Back 16

1. The total amount or sum total of the individual parts.

2. To gather or merge into a single whole; to amount to

3. Total, collective

Front 17

Apprehend

Back 17

To arrest or take into custody

To perceive or understand the meaning of

To look forward to with fear

Front 18

Arbitrary

Back 18

Subject to or determined by one's judgement; random

Arrived at by an exercise of will, personal perference, or whim, as opposed to being based on reason or justice

Given to willful decisions or demands: tyrannical or dictatorial

Front 19

Arbitrate

Back 19

To act as an impartial judge in a dispute; to settle

Front 20

Askew

Back 20

Disapprovingly; scornfully

Front 21

Bleak

Back 21

1. Desolate, windswept, and bare
2. Cold and gloomy; unpromising

Front 22

Blight

Back 22

1. To check or destroy the growth of

2. Something that impairs growth or causes ruin.

Front 23

Blithe

Back 23

1. Merry and carefree

2. Overly unconcerned; reckless.

Front 24

Boisterous

Back 24

Noisy and rowdy

Front 25

Bombastic

Back 25

Pompous or inflated in language.

Front 26

Boorish

Back 26

Rude or unrefined.

Front 27

Boycott

Back 27

1. To refuse to buy, use, or deal with as a way to protest some form of behavior.

2. An instance of such treatment.

Front 28

Astute

Back 28

Keen of mind and judgment, especially in practical matters: cunning.

Front 29

Atone

Back 29

To make up for or repent.

Front 30

Atrophy (Noun and Verb)

Back 30

A failure to develop normally; a progressive wasting away or decline.

To waste away.

Front 31

Attrition

Back 31

A gradual wearing down or weakening of resistance resulting from constant friction, pressur, or harassment.

A gradual, often natural decrease in size, strength, or number as a result of resignation, retirement, death, or the like.

Front 32

Augur (Noun and Verb)

Back 32

Someone who can forecast the future by spotting signs or indications of what is to come.

To predict or foretell through signs: to point to or be an omen of.

Front 33

Austere

Back 33

Rigidly severe: severely simple or bare

Front 34

Brash

Back 34

Overly bold, hasty, and thoughtless.

Front 35

Bravado

Back 35

A boastful or swaggering show of false bravery; false courage in general.

Front 36

Brusque

Back 36

Over short or abrupt

Front 37

Bungle

Back 37

To mismanage or make a mess of.

Front 38

Bureaucracy

Back 38

A complicated system of administrative agencies and officials; the officials themselves.

Front 39

Buttress

Back 39

1. A support or reinforcement.

2. To support or reinforce.

Front 40

Cajole

Back 40

To persuade or obtain by flattery or deceit.

Front 41

Callous

Back 41

Unfeeling or insensitive.

Front 42

Banal

Back 42

Made stale by constant use or repitition.

Front 43

Calumny

Back 43

A false statement deliberately made up to injure a person.

Front 44

Candid

Back 44

1. Fair and impartial

2. Frank or outspoken.

3. Informal or unposed.

Front 45

Candid

Back 45

1. Fair and impartial

2. Frank or outspoken.

3. Informal or unposed.

Front 46

Cantankerous

Back 46

Foul-tempered and quarrelsome.

Front 47

Captious

Back 47

1. Quick to find petty faults or raise trifling objections; overly demanding or fussy.

2. Intended to trap, confuse, or show up.

Front 48

Benign

Back 48

Gentle and Kindly

Wholesome or favorable

Front 49

Catholic

Back 49

1. Broad or widely inclusive.

2. General or universal; worldwide.