Miscellaneous Word List 0401-0500

Front 1

moribund

Back 1

adj. in a dying state; at the point of death; becoming obsolete

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conspectus

Back 2

n. a general sketch or survey of a subject

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missive

Back 3

n. a written message; a letter

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genial

Back 4

adj. friendly; warm; kindly; sympathetically cheerful

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idee fixe

Back 5

n. an idea that dominates the mind; a fixed idea; an obsession

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vivify

Back 6

v. to endue with life; to animate

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slaver

Back 7

v. to slabber or drool

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beau ideal

Back 8

n. a perfect or an idealized type or model

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raffish

Back 9

adj. characterized by or suggestive of flashy vulgarity, crudeness or rowdiness; tawdry; rakish

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lapidary

Back 10

adj. pertaining to the art of cutting stones or engraving on them

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malodorous

Back 11

adj. having a bad odor

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hoi polloi

Back 12

n. the common people generally; the masses

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turbid

Back 13

adj. (1) thick; dense; dark (2) disturbed; confused; disordered

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entreat

Back 14

v. to make an earnest petition or request; to plead; to beseech

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enjoin

Back 15

v. to direct or impose with authority; to order, prohibit or forbid

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hardscrabble

Back 16

adj. yielding a bare or meager living with great labor or difficulty; marked by poverty

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galumph

Back 17

v. to move in a clumsy manner or with a heavy tread

Front 18

malapropism

Back 18

n. the unintentionally humorous miss use of a word

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effete

Back 19

adj. infertile; barren; sterile; worn out; kaputt; overrefined; effeminate; degenerate

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nonplus

Back 20

v./n. to confoud; to perplex; to bewilder

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cogitate

Back 21

v. to ponder; to meditate; to plot

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descry

Back 22

v. to catch sight of; to discern; to detect

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taciturn

Back 23

adj. habitually silent; not inclined to talk

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appurtenance

Back 24

n. an adjunct; an accessory; something added to another

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limpid

Back 25

adj. characterized by clearness or transparency; clear; calm; untroubled; serene; easily understandable

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clerisy

Back 26

n. the well educated class; the intelligensia

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perforce

Back 27

adv. by necessity; by force of circumstance

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animadversion

Back 28

n. harsh criticism or dissaproval

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autochthonous

Back 29

adj. aboriginal; indigenous; native

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roborant

Back 30

adj. strengthening; restoring vigor

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presentiment

Back 31

n. a premonition

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excursus

Back 32

n. a digression

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jocular

Back 33

adj. given to joking or jesting; playful

Front 34

arriviste

Back 34

n. a person who has recently attained success, wealth or high status but not general acceptance or respect; an upstart

Front 35

deign

Back 35

v. to think worthy; to condescend

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toper

Back 36

n. one who drinks frequently or to excess

Front 37

expurgate

Back 37

v. to remove erroneous, vulgar, obscene or otherwise objectionable material

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dyspeptic

Back 38

adj. of or displaying a morose disposition

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septuagenarian

Back 39

n. a person who is between 70 and 80 years old

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obsolescent

Back 40

adj. being in the process of passing out of use; becoming obsolete

Front 41

abecedarian

Back 41

n. one who is learning the alphabet; a beginner

Front 42

rivulet

Back 42

n. a small stream or brook; a streamlet

Front 43

putsch

Back 43

n. a secretly planned and suddenly executed attempt to overthrow a government

Front 44

brio

Back 44

n. enthusiastic vigor; vivacity; liveliness; spirit

Front 45

spoonerism

Back 45

n. the transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words

Front 46

refractory

Back 46

adj. stubborny disobedient; unmanageable; resisting ordinary treatment

Front 47

cavort

Back 47

v. to bound or prance about; to have lively boisterous fun; to behave in a high-spirited festive manner

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bedaub

Back 48

v. (1) to smudge over (2) to overdecorate; to ornament excessively

Front 49

trice

Back 49

n. a very short time; an instant; a moment

Front 50

apostasy

Back 50

n. total desertion or departure from one's faith, principles or party

Front 51

prepotency

Back 51

n. the quality or condition of having superior power, influence or force; predominance

Front 52

argot

Back 52

n. a specialized and often secret vocabulary and idiom peculiar to a group

Front 53

ukase

Back 53

n. in imperial russia, a published proclamation or order having the force of law

Front 54

indigence

Back 54

n. a state of extreme poverty or destitution

Front 55

credulous

Back 55

adj. ready or inclined to believe on slight or uncertain evidence

Front 56

termagant

Back 56

n./adj. a scolding, nagging, bad-tempered woman; a shrew

Front 57

moil

Back 57

v./n. to work with painful effort; to labor; to toil; to drudge

Front 58

pastiche

Back 58

n. a work of art that imitates the style of some previous work

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sapid

Back 59

adj. having a strong pleasant flavor

Front 60

celerity

Back 60

n. quick; swift

Front 61

nonpareil

Back 61

adj./n. having no equal; peerless; something of unequaled excellence

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paroxysm

Back 62

n. a sudden outburst of emotion or action

Front 63

scienter

Back 63

adv. deliberately or knowingly

Front 64

doughty

Back 64

adj. marked by fearless resolution; valiant; brave

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vitiate

Back 65

v. to make faulty or imperfect; to render defective; to impair

Front 66

bombast

Back 66

n. pompous or pretentious speech or writing

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veritable

Back 67

adj. agreeable to truth or to fact; actual; real; true; genuine

Front 68

furtive

Back 68

adj. (1) done by stealth; sly; sneaky (2) given to stealing; thievish

Front 69

insuperable

Back 69

adj. incapable of being passed over, surmounted or overcome

Front 70

delectation

Back 70

n. great pleasure; delight; enjoyment

Front 71

redolent

Back 71

adj. (1) having or exuding fragrance; aromatic (2) serving to bring to mind; evocative

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bon vivant

Back 72

n. a person with refined and sociable taste

Front 73

fecund

Back 73

adj. capable of producing offspring; fruitful; prolific; intellectually productive or inventive

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chortle

Back 74

n./v. to express with a snorting exultant laugh or chuckle

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disconsolate

Back 75

adj. beyond consolatoin; deeply dejected and dispirited; hopelessly sad

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biddable

Back 76

adj. easily led or commanded; obedient

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discomfit

Back 77

v. to make uneasy or perplexed; to upset; to thwart

Front 78

perfunctory

Back 78

adj. done merely to carry out a duty; performed mechanically or routinely; lacking enthusiasm

Front 79

incipient

Back 79

adj. beginning to exist or appear

Front 80

lumpen

Back 80

adj. common; vulgar; a member of the underclass

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epicene

Back 81

adj. having the characteristic of both sexes; sexless; effeminate; unmasculine

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leitmotif

Back 82

n. a dominant recurring theme

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quiescent

Back 83

adj. being in a state of repose; at rest; still; inactive

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fulminate

Back 84

v. to cause to explode; to issue verbal attacks or censures authoritatively or menacingly

Front 85

clamber

Back 85

v./n. to climb with difficulty, or on all fours; to scramble

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invective

Back 86

n./adj. an abusive expression or speech; a vehement verbal attack

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eructation

Back 87

n. the act of belching

Front 88

agon

Back 88

n. a struggle or contest, especially in a literary work

Front 89

disquisition

Back 89

n. a formal discourse on a subject

Front 90

languid

Back 90

adj. slow; lacking vigor; flagging from exhaustion

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dolorous

Back 91

adj. marked by grief or sorrow

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jejune

Back 92

adj. (1) lacking in nutritive value (2) displaying a lack of maturity (3) dull; dry; lacking interest

Front 93

convivial

Back 93

adj. fond of feasting, drinking and company

Front 94

ratiocination

Back 94

n./v. the process of reasoning

Front 95

fractious

Back 95

adj. tending to cause trouble; unruly; irritable; snappish; cranky

Front 96

carom

Back 96

n./v. to strike and rebound; a rebound following a collision

Front 97

phantasmagoria

Back 97

n. a constantly changing scence

Front 98

heterodox

Back 98

adj. contrary to or differing from some acknowledged standard

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sere

Back 99

adj. dry; withered

Front 100

didactic

Back 100

adj. fitted to teach; instructive; inclined to moralize excessively