English Vocab

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Specious

Back 1

1. apparently good or right though lacking real merit; superficially pleasing or plausible: specious arguments.
2. pleasing to the eye but deceptive.

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Spurious

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1. not genuine, authentic, or true; not from the claimed, pretended, or proper source; counterfeit.
2. Biology. (of two or more parts, plants, etc.) having a similar appearance but a different structure.
3. of illegitimate birth; bastard.

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Tautology

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1. (logic) a statement that is necessarily true; "the statement 'he is brave or he is not brave' is a tautology"
2. useless repetition; "to say that something is 'adequate enough' is a tautology"

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Prurient

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1. Inordinately interested in matters of sex; lascivious.
2.
1. Characterized by an inordinate interest in sex: prurient thoughts.
2. Arousing or appealing to an inordinate interest in sex: prurient literature.

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Mordant

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1. sharply caustic or sarcastic, as wit or a speaker; biting.
2. burning; corrosive.
3. having the property of fixing colors, as in dyeing.

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Vicarious

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1. performed, exercised, received, or suffered in place of another: vicarious punishment.
2. taking the place of another person or thing; acting or serving as a substitute.
3. felt or enjoyed through imagined participation in the experience of others: a vicarious thrill.
4. Physiology. noting or pertaining to a situation in which one organ performs part of the functions normally performed by another.

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Lubricious

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1. having a smooth or slippery quality; "the skin of cephalopods is thin and lubricious"
2. characterized by lust; "eluding the lubricious embraces of her employer"; "her sensuous grace roused his lustful nature"; "prurient literature"; "prurient thoughts"; "a salacious rooster of a little man"

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Etiology

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1. Pathology.
a. the study of the causes of diseases.
b. the cause or origin of a disease.
2. the study of causation.
3. any study of causes, causation, or causality, as in philosophy, biology, or physics.

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Moribund

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1. in a dying state; near death.
2. on the verge of extinction or termination.
3. not progressing or advancing; stagnant: a moribund political party.

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Indigent

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1. lacking food, clothing, and other necessities of life because of poverty; needy; poor; impoverished.
2. Archaic.
a. deficient in what is requisite.
b. destitute (usually fol. by of).

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Axiomatic

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Of, relating to, or resembling an axiom; self-evident: "It's axiomatic in politics that voters won't throw out a presidential incumbent unless they think his challenger will clean house"

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Intemperate

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1. given to or characterized by excessive or immoderate indulgence in alcoholic beverages.
2. immoderate in indulgence of appetite or passion.
3. not temperate; unrestrained; unbridled.
4. extreme in temperature, as climate.

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Aspersion

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1. a damaging or derogatory remark or criticism; slander: casting aspersions on a campaign rival.
2. the act of slandering; vilification; defamation; calumniation; derogation: Such vehement aspersions cannot be ignored.
3. the act of sprinkling, as in baptism.

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Superannuated

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1. retired because of age or infirmity.
2. too old for use, work, service, or a position.
3. antiquated or obsolete: superannuated ideas.

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Pestiferous

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1.
1. Producing or breeding infectious disease.
2. Infected with or contaminated by an epidemic disease.
2. Morally evil or deadly; pernicious.
3. Bothersome; annoying.

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Pernicious

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1. causing insidious harm or ruin; ruinous; injurious; hurtful: pernicious teachings; a pernicious lie.
2. deadly; fatal: a pernicious disease.
3. Obsolete. evil; wicked.

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Ignominious

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1. marked by or attended with ignominy; discreditable; humiliating: an ignominious retreat.
2. bearing or deserving ignominy; contemptible.

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Paroxysm

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1. any sudden, violent outburst; a fit of violent action or emotion: paroxysms of rage.
2. Pathology. a severe attack or a sudden increase in intensity of a disease, usually recurring periodically.

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Epiphany

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1. (initial capital letter) a Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles in the persons of the Magi; Twelfth-day.
2. an appearance or manifestation, esp. of a deity.
3. a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.
4. a literary work or section of a work presenting, usually symbolically, such a moment of revelation and insight.

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Putative

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commonly regarded as such; reputed; supposed: the putative boss of the mob.

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Aphorism

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a terse saying embodying a general truth, or astute observation, as “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely” (Lord Acton).

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Obstreperous

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1. resisting control or restraint in a difficult manner; unruly.
2. noisy, clamorous, or boisterous: obstreperous children.

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Salubrious

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1. promoting health; healthful; "a healthy diet"; "clean healthy air"; "plenty of healthy sleep"; "healthy and normal outlets for youthful energy"; "the salubrious mountain air and water"- C.B.Davis; "carrots are good for you" [syn: healthy]
2. favorable to health of mind or body; "not the most salubrious campsite"; "one of the less salubrious suburbs"

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Penurious

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1. extremely stingy; parsimonious; miserly.
2. extremely poor; destitute; indigent.
3. poorly or inadequately supplied; lacking in means or resources.

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Parsimonious

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Excessively sparing or frugal.

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Omniscient

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1. having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things.

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Invidious

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1. calculated to create ill will or resentment or give offense; hateful: invidious remarks.
2. offensively or unfairly discriminating; injurious: invidious comparisons.
3. causing or tending to cause animosity, resentment, or envy: an invidious honor.

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Apotheosis

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1. Exaltation to divine rank or stature; deification.
2. Elevation to a preeminent or transcendent position; glorification: "Many observers have tried to attribute Warhol's current apotheosis to the subversive power of artistic vision" (Michiko Kakutani).
3. An exalted or glorified example: Their leader was the apotheosis of courage.

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Concupiscence

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1. sexual desire; lust.
2. ardent, usually sensuous, longing.

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Benighted

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1. intellectually or morally ignorant; unenlightened: benighted ages of barbarism and superstition.
2. overtaken by darkness or night.

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Punctiliousness

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1. Strictly attentive to minute details of form in action or conduct. See Synonyms at meticulous.
2. Precise; scrupulous.

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Evanescence

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the event of fading and gradually vanishing from sight; "the evanescence of the morning mist"

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Opprobrious

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1. Expressing contemptuous reproach; scornful or abusive: opprobrious epithets.
2. Bringing disgrace; shameful or infamous: opprobrious conduct.

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Vituperative

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marked by harshly abusive criticism; "his scathing remarks about silly lady novelists"; "her vituperative railing" [syn: scathing]

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Pachyderm

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1. any of the thick-skinned, nonruminant ungulates, as the elephant, hippopotamus, and rhinoceros.
2. an elephant.
3. a person who is not sensitive to criticism, ridicule, etc.; a thick-skinned person.

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Diaphanous

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1. very sheer and light; almost completely transparent or translucent.
2. delicately hazy.

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Allegory

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1. a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material forms; figurative treatment of one subject under the guise of another.
2. a symbolical narrative: the allegory of Piers Plowman. Pilgrim's Progress, Leviathan.

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Palaver

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1. a conference or discussion.
2. a long parley, esp. one between primitive natives and European traders, explorers, colonial officials, etc.
3. profuse and idle talk; chatter.
4. persuasive talk; flattery; cajolery.
–verb (used without object)
5. to talk profusely and idly.
6. to parley or confer.
–verb (used with object)
7. to cajole or persuade.

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Epidemic

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1. Also, ep·i·dem·i·cal. (of a disease) affecting many persons at the same time, and spreading from person to person in a locality where the disease is not permanently prevalent.
2. extremely prevalent; widespread.
–noun
3. a temporary prevalence of a disease.
4. a rapid spread or increase in the occurrence of something: an epidemic of riots.

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Endemic

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1. natural to or characteristic of a specific people or place; native; indigenous: endemic folkways; countries where high unemployment is endemic.
2. belonging exclusively or confined to a particular place: a fever endemic to the tropics.
–noun
3. an endemic disease.

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Prosaic

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1. commonplace or dull; matter-of-fact or unimaginative: a prosaic mind.
2. of or having the character or form of prose rather than poetry.

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Panegyric

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1. a lofty oration or writing in praise of a person or thing; eulogy.
2. formal or elaborate praise.

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Irredentist

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1. (usually initial capital letter) a member of an Italian association that became prominent in 1878, advocating the redemption, or the incorporation into Italy, of certain neighboring regions (Italia irredenta) having a primarily Italian population.
2. a member of a party in any country advocating the acquisition of some region included in another country by reason of cultural, historical, ethnic, racial, or other ties.
–adjective
3. pertaining to or supporting such a party or its doctrine.

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Imbroglio

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1. a misunderstanding, disagreement, etc., of a complicated or bitter nature, as between persons or nations.
2. an intricate and perplexing state of affairs; a complicated or difficult situation.
3. a confused heap.

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Antebellum

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before or existing before the war, esp. the American Civil War.

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Nadir

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1. Astronomy A point on the celestial sphere directly below the observer, diametrically opposite the zenith.
2. The lowest point: the nadir of their fortunes.

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Abstemious

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1. sparing or moderate in eating and drinking; temperate in diet.
2. characterized by abstinence: an abstemious life.
3. sparing: an abstemious diet.

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Truculence

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1. fierce; cruel; savagely brutal.
2. brutally harsh; vitriolic; scathing: his truculent criticism of her work.
3. aggressively hostile; belligerent. obstreperous and defiant aggressiveness.

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Incipient

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Beginning to exist or appear: detecting incipient tumors; an incipient personnel problem.

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Pantheon

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1. Pantheon A circular temple in Rome, completed in 27 B.C. and dedicated to all the gods.
2. A temple dedicated to all gods.
3. All the gods of a people considered as a group: Jupiter is head of the Roman pantheon.
4. A public building commemorating and dedicated to the heroes and heroines of a nation.
5. A group of persons most highly regarded for contributions to a field or endeavor: the pantheon of modern physics.

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Impecunious

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having little or no money; penniless; poor.

Front 52

Meliorism

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the doctrine that the world tends to become better or may be made better by human effort.

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Syncretism

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1. the attempted reconciliation or union of different or opposing principles, practices, or parties, as in philosophy or religion.
2. Grammar. the merging, as by historical change in a language, of two or more categories in a specified environment into one, as, in nonstandard English, the use of was with both singular and plural subjects, while in standard English was is used with singular subjects (except for you in the second person singular) and were with plural subjects.

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Syncretic

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1. relating to a historical tendency for a language to reduce its use of inflections; "modern English is a syncretic language"
2. of or characterized by syncretism

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Anathema

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1. a person or thing detested or loathed: That subject is anathema to him.
2. a person or thing accursed or consigned to damnation or destruction.
3. a formal ecclesiastical curse involving excommunication.
4. any imprecation of divine punishment.
5. a curse; execration.

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Apoplexy

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1. Sudden impairment of neurological function, especially that resulting from a cerebral hemorrhage; a stroke.
2. A sudden effusion of blood into an organ or tissue.
3. A fit of extreme anger; rage: "The proud . . . members suffered collective apoplexy, and this year they are out for blood" (David Finch).

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Liturgy

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1. a Christian sacrament commemorating the Last Supper by consecrating bread and wine [syn: Holy Eucharist]
2. a rite or body of rites prescribed for public worship

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profane

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1. characterized by irreverence or contempt for God or sacred principles or things; irreligious.
2. not devoted to holy or religious purposes; unconsecrated; secular (opposed to sacred).
3. unholy; heathen; pagan: profane rites.
4. not initiated into religious rites or mysteries, as persons.
5. common or vulgar.
–verb (used with object)
6. to misuse (anything that should be held in reverence or respect); defile; debase; employ basely or unworthily.
7. to treat (anything sacred) with irreverence or contempt; violate the sanctity of: to profane a shrine.

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erstwhile

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1. former; of times past: erstwhile friends.

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Peculation

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the fraudulent appropriation of funds or property entrusted to your care but actually owned by someone else [syn: embezzlement]

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crabbed

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1. grouchy; ill-natured; irritable; churlish.
2. perverse; contrary; obstinate.
3. hard to understand; intricate and obscure.
4. difficult to read or decipher, as handwriting.

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solicitous

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1. anxious or concerned (usually fol. by about, for, etc., or a clause): solicitous about a person's health.
2. anxiously desirous: solicitous of the esteem of others.
3. eager (usually fol. by an infinitive): He was always solicitous to please.
4. careful or particular: a solicitous housekeeper.

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feckless

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1. ineffective; incompetent; futile: feckless attempts to repair the plumbing.
2. having no sense of responsibility; indifferent; lazy.

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lugubrious

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mournful, dismal, or gloomy, esp. in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner: lugubrious songs of lost love.

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opalescent

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1. exhibiting a play of colors like that of the opal.
2. having a milky iridescence.

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ersatz

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1. serving as a substitute; synthetic; artificial: an ersatz coffee made from grain.
–noun
2. an artificial substance or article used to replace something natural or genuine; a substitute.

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didactic

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1. intended for instruction; instructive: didactic poetry.
2. inclined to teach or lecture others too much: a boring, didactic speaker.
3. teaching or intending to teach a moral lesson.
4. didactics, (used with a singular verb) the art or science of teaching.

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revanchist

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1. an advocate or supporter of a political policy of revanche, esp. in order to seek vengeance for a previous military defeat.
–adjective
2. of or pertaining to a political policy of revanche.
3. of or pertaining to revanchists or revanchism.

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solicitude

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1. the state of being solicitous; anxiety or concern.
2. solicitudes, causes of anxiety or care.
3. an attitude expressing excessive attentiveness: to show great solicitude about his wife's health.

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venal

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1. willing to sell one's influence, esp. in return for a bribe; open to bribery; mercenary: a venal judge.
2. able to be purchased, as by a bribe: venal acquittals.
3. associated with or characterized by bribery: a venal administration; venal agreements.

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iridescent

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1. Producing a display of lustrous, rainbowlike colors: an iridescent oil slick; iridescent plumage.
2. Brilliant, lustrous, or colorful in effect or appearance: "The prelude was as iridescent as a prism in a morning room" (Carson McCullers).

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Eschatology

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1. any system of doctrines concerning last, or final, matters, as death, the Judgment, the future state, etc.
2. the branch of theology dealing with such matters.

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Insidious

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1. intended to entrap or beguile: an insidious plan.
2. stealthily treacherous or deceitful: an insidious enemy.
3. operating or proceeding in an inconspicuous or seemingly harmless way but actually with grave effect: an insidious disease.

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mellifluous

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1. sweetly or smoothly flowing; sweet-sounding: a mellifluous voice; mellifluous tones.
2. flowing with honey; sweetened with or as if with honey.

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convalescence

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1. Gradual return to health and strength after illness.
2. The period needed for returning to health after illness.

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insipid

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1. without distinctive, interesting, or stimulating qualities; vapid: an insipid personality.
2. without sufficient taste to be pleasing, as food or drink; bland: a rather insipid soup.