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135 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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adduce
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to offer as example or proof
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adjure
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to command solemnly; to advise earnestly; beg
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adumbrate
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to intimate or foreshadow; to obscure
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aestivate (estivate)
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to spend the summer in an inactive state
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allegory
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symbolic expression/description
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ambergris
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a product of sprerm whales used in the manufacture of perfume
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amphora
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a two handled Greek jar
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anathema
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a ban or curs; a denunciation accompanied by excommunication
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andiron
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metal support used for holidng logs in a hearth
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androphodia
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the fear of men
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anodyne
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a pain reliever
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aphelion
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the point in a planet's orbit farthest from the sun
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apocalyptic
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of, or ralting to, a revelation or discovery
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apocryphal
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of doubtful authenticity; spurious
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apogee
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the point in a satellite's orbit that is farthest from the center of the earth
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archon
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the chief magistrate in ancient Athens; any ruler
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artifice
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cleverness; ingenuity
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astrophobia
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fear of lightening
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attenuate
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to less in amount, force, or value; to weaken
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audacity
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daring spirit
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austral
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southern (antonym: borreal)
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axiom
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a self-evident rule or truth; a widely accepted saying
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bellicose
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inclined to start wars or fights (antonym: pacific)
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benison
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spoken blessing
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bifurcate
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divided in two branches; forked
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boreal
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northern (antonym: austral)
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bromidic
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lacking originality; trite
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brontophobia
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the fear of thunder
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bucolic
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pastoral
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bumptious
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aggressive and assertive in an offensive way (antonym: shy/self-effacing)
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burgeon
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to grow or flourish
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burnoose
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a hooded Arabic cloak
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cassock
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a loose robe worn by priests
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cabal
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group united to plot, esp. the overthrow of authority
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cajole
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persuade or coax
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caliber
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diameter of the bore of a gun
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gauge
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size of a shotgun; measure of the interior diameter of the barrel
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calumny
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a lie told to damage another's reputation; slander
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canonical
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orthodox; authoriatative
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catptious
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critical; fault-finding
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carp
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to complain
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bathos
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snetimetalism; pverdone pathos; tritness; anticlimax
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pathos
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something that evokes pity, compassion or sorrow
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catholic
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universal (antonym: provincial; parochial)
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caustic
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acrid;biting
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cavil
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to raise trivial objections; to nitpick
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dross
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waste material from molten metal
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slage
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scoria; refuse from the melting of metals or reducation of ore
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tailings
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waste material from the preparation of ores/grains
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chartreuse
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yellow-green
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chauvinism
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excessive or blind patriotism
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chicanery
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trickery; artful deception
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chimerical
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fantastically visionary; wildly fanciful
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choleric
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easily angered or irritated
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Cimmerian
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1. (adj) shrouded by gloom and darkness 2. (n) a mythical people descibed by Homer as dwelling in gloom
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stygian
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1. dark and gloomy 2 relating to the Styx (river of the underworld)
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circumlocution
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indirect expression; wordy or evasive language
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cloy
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to satiate
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glut
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to over supply; to satiate
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coalesce
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to grow together; to unite into a whole
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coda
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a passage that concludes a musical or literary work
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contumacious
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rebellious; stubbornly disobient; renegad
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conundrum
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a puzzle or riddle
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cynophobia
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fear of dogs
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cynosure
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the center of interest
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dearth
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sever shortage
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debilitate
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to weaken (antonym: invigorate)
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debonair
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suave; courteous; sophisticated
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deciduous
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falling off a shedding at a certain season; ephemeral; not permanent
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declaim
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to make a bombastic speech
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defalcate
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to embezzle; abscond with money
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deliquesce
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to melt away or dissolve; to become soft, esp. with age
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depredate
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to lay waste; plunder
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desiccate
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to dry out
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diatribe
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bitter denunciation (antonym: panegyric)
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didactic
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intended to teach, moralize, preach
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dilletante
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one who is involved in a variety of things, none seriously; dabbler
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diminution
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a decrease; lessing
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dint
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a force; a power
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discomfit
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to confuse; deject; frustrate; deceive
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disingenuous
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lacking in candor
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disinterested
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unbiased
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dissemble
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to feign or pretend
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djellabah
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a loosepfitting gown worn in N. Africa (see also burnoose)
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doggerel
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comic, loose verse
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doughty
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fearless; valiant
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dour
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subbornly unyielding; uninviting
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draconian
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sever (as a code of laws); cruel
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dray
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vehicle used to haul goods
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teamster
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professional truck driver
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ductile
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malleable
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effervescent
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lively; bubbly (antonym: effete)
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effluvium
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a disagreeable or noxious vapor; escaping gas
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egregious
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conspicuosly bad; flagrant
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elan
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dash; vigourous spirit
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encomium
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formal expression of praise
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endue
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to provide; endow
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enervate
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to exhause, weaken, unnerve (antonym: invigorate)
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engender
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to bring into being; produce
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eptiome
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typical or ideal situation
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equivocal
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ambiguous; deliberately confusing; able to be interpreted in more than one way
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euphemism
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1. substitution of a positive expression for something that may be interpreted as negative or distateful; 2. the expression that is substituted
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excoriate
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to wear off the skin
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exculpate
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to exonerate; clear of guilt/blame
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exegesis
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an interpretation of a text
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expiate
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to make amends for
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explicate
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explain
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extirpate
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to destroy completely
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fagoting
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a type of embroidery
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feckless
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worthless; feeble
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vapid
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flat; uninteresting; insipid
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flibbertigibbet
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female fool
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fractious
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quarrelsome
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fricative
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forcing air thru a constricted passage
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fugacious
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disappearing after a short time; short-lived; evanescent
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fulminate
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to denouce; send forth invectives; to explode
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fulsome
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1. abundant: copious; 2. morrally offensive; disgusting
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glabrous
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smoth; referring to a surface without hair or projections (antonym: hirsute)
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hirsute
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hairy (antonym: glabrous)
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griffin
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mythical animal having the head and wings of an eagle and the body na dlegs of a lion
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chimera
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1. fire-breathing monster with the head of a lion, the body of a goat, and the tail of a serpent; 2. illuion or mental fabrication
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minotaur
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monster, half man and half bull, confined in a labyrinth
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hackneyed
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overused; trite; commonplace
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Hellene
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native or inhabitant of Greece
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hermeneutics
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study of principles of interpretation (e.g., of the Bible)
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hermetic
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sealed off from external influence; airtight; abstruse or occult
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herpetophobia
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the fear of snakes
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hoarty
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gray or white with age
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homonyms
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words that are spelled alike with different meanings
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hyaline
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transparent or almost so; glassy
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hyperbole
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exaggeration
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hypertrophy
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exaggerated increas of complexity
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hypocritical
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pretending to have qualities or virues that are not possessed; dissembling
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hypothetical
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based on conjecture; conditional
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empirical
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based on expertise, oberservation or experimental evidence
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