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188 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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abrogate
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to abolish, repeal, or nullify
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abstruse
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difficult to understand
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abysmal
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extremely hopeless or wretched; bottomless
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accolade
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award or honor
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acerbic
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bitter, sour, severe
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acumen
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keeness or judgment, mental sharpness
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affable
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easy to talk to; friendly
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afford
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to permit, allow; to enable
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aggregate
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collection of things mixed together, the sum total
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allocate
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to distribute, assign, or allot
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aloof
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standoffish, uninvoloved, keeping one's distance
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ameliorate
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to make better or more tolerable
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anachronistic
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out of place in time or history
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anathema
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something or someone loathed or detested
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ancillary
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subordinate, providing assistance
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annul
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to make void, usually refers to marriage
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anomaly
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an aberration, deviation, or irregularity
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anthropology
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the study of human culture
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antithetical
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in opposition, contrary to
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apostate
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one who deserts his or her professed principles or faith
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apotheosis
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elevation to divine status, the perfect example of something
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appropriate
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to take without permission; to set aside for particular use
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archetype
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an original model or pattern
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ardent
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passsionate
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arsenal
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a storehouse of weapons
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ascertain
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to determine with certainty; to find out definately
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ascetic
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hermitlike; practicing self-denial
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assiduous
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hardworking, diligent, busy
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assuage
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to soothe, pacify, or relieve
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attrition
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gradual wearing away, a natural or expected decrease in size or number
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augury
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an omen, especially good omen
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auspices
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protection, support, sponsorship
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avarice
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greed
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avuncular
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kind, helpful, generous; like a nice uncle
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barometer
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an instrument that measures atmospheric pressure
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beguile
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to delude by guile or craft, to mislead or divert
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behest
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a command or order
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beleaguer
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to surround, besiege, or harass
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belie
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to give false impression, to contradict
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bellicose
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warlike, belligerent
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bequest
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something left to someone in a will
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blithe
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carefree, cheerful
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broach
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to open up a subject, often a delicate one, for discussion
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brusque
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rough and short in manner, blunt, abrupt
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burgeon
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to expand; to flourish
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buttress
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a support for a building or structure; to support
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cabal
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a group of conspriators; the acts of such a group; a clique
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cajole
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to persuade with flattery or gentle urging
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calipers
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a pinching instrument used for determining the thickness of objects or the distance between surfaces
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candor
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sincerity, honesty
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canon
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a rule or law, expecially a religious one; a body of rules or laws; an authoritative list; the set of works by an author that are accepted as authentic
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cantankerous
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ill natured, contentious
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canvass
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to campaign; to seek or solicit orders, votes
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capacitor
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a device that stores energy
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capitulate
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to surrender, give up, or give in
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capricious
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unpredictable, like to change at any moment
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captious
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ill-natured, quarrelsome
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carp
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to complain or find fault in someone
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cartography
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the study and creation of maps
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castigate
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to criticize severly; to chastise
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catalyst
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anyone or anything that makes something happen without being directly involved
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catharsis
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purification that brings emotional relief or renewal
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cavil
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to quibble; to raise trivial objections
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censure
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to condemn severly for doing something bad
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chagrin
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humiliation; embarrassed disappointment
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chicancery
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trickery, deceitfulness, artifice; especially legal or political
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chimerical
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imaginary, give to fantasy
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choleric
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hot-tempered, quick to temper
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circumvent
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to go around
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closefisted
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stingy
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coalesce
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to come together as one, to fuse, to unite
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cogitate
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to ponder, to meditate, to think carefully about
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colloquial
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ordinary, informal in relationship to speech
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conscript
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enlisted, drafted, or enrolled; usually refers to mandatory military service
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corroborate
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to confirm; to bakc up with evidence
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coterie
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a group of close associates; a circle of friends
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coy
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shy, reluctant to make a commitment
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craven
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cowardly, afraid
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curmudgeon
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a greedy, irascible, crotchty old person
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dearth
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a shortage or scarcity of something
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debacle
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a big disaster
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deft
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very skillfull
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dehydrate
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to remove water
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deleterious
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harmful
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demagogue
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a leader of the people, but more a rabble-rouser
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demography
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the statistical study of the characteristics of populations
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desalinate
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to remove salt from something
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desiccate
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to dry out
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diplomatic
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tactful; good at negotiating
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discomfit
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to frustrate, to confuse
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dither
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to vacillate between choices; to tremble with excitement
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diurnal
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occuring every day; occuring during the daytime
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divisive
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creating conflict and disagreement
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draconian
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severe, harsh, cruel
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ebullient
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bubbling with excitement
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eclectic
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drawn from many sources
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effigy
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a likeness of a person, usually one used to express hatred for that person
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egregious
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extremely bad, flagrant
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elliptical
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oval; missing a word or words; obscure
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endemic
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native, restricted to a particular region
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ephemeral
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lasting a very short time
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equine
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relating to horses, horselike
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equivocal
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ambiguous, intentionally confusing, capable of being interpreted in different ways
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ersatz
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serving as a substitute; synthetic, artificial
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etheral
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heavenly, light, insubstantial
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etymology
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the study of words and their meaning
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euphonious
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pleasant sounding, opposite of cacophonous; melodious
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evanescent
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fleeting, vanashing, happening only for the breifest period
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evince
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to demonstrate convincingly; to prove
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execrate
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to curse, denounce
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exhume
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to unbury, to dig out of ground
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exonerate
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to free completely from blame
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expeditious
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prompt, speedy; to expedite
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expiate
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to make amends, to atone
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expunge
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to erase, obliterate, to blot out
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facile
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fluent, skillful in a superficial way
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fecund
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fertile, productive
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fervent
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having intense feeling, enthusiastic, fervid
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feign
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to pretend; to make a false representation of something
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flaccid
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soft and limp
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florid
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very fancy, usuallly refers to intangible objects
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flout
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to disregard something or someone out of disrespect
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ford
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the shallow part of a river; to cross a river at the shallow part
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forensics
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the art or study of argumentations and formal debate
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fortuitous
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accidental, occuring by chance
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fracas
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a big fight
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furrow
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a narrow groove made in the ground; to make wrinkles in the face
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gaffe
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a social blunder, and embarrasing mistake, a faux pas
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galvanize
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to startle into sudden activity; to revitalize
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gastronomy
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the art of eating well
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germane
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relevant, applicable, pertinent
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glower
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to look or stare with sullen dislike or anger
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goldbrick
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to swindle or sell something worthless as if it were valuable; a swindle
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grandiloquent
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using a lot of big, fancy words to sound impressive
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gratutious
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given freely; uncalled for; unjustified; unprovoked
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glut
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surplus, overabundance
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hackneyed
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overused, trite, stale
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halcyon
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peaceful, serene; carefree
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harbringer
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a forerunner, a signal of
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hedonism
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the pursuit of pleasure as a way of life
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hegemony
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leadership, especially of one nation over another
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hermetic
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airtight, impervious to outside influence
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homily
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a sermon
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hubris
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excessive pride
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humanist
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one who has great concern for human welfare, values, and dignity; a student of the classics
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hybrid
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formed, bred, or composed from different elements
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hypodermic
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beneath the skin
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idiosyncratic
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quirky, pecuilar, eccentric
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ignominy
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shame, disrepute, disgrace
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importune
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to beg, urge, or insist persistently
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inane
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silly, senseless
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incantation
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a chant
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incarnate
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in the flest
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incensed
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very angry
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inchoate
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incomplete; only partically formed
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indignant
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angry or insulted,especialy as a refult of something unjust or unworthy
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indolent
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averse to activity; habitually lazy
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ineffable
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incapable of being expressed or described
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inexorable
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relentless, inevitable, unavoidable
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inoculate
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to protect against disease
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insouciant
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nonchalant, lighthearted, carefree
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irascible
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easily angered or provoked; irratable
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jaunt
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a short pleasure trip
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jejune
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lacking maturity or significance; irrelevant
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jettison
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to throw or cast off
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jingoist
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an excessively vigilant patriot; a bellicose chauvinist; a war-mongering nationalist
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jurispurdence
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the study of law
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karma
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consequences of one's actions; fate, destiny
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kudos
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honor, glory, acclaim, compliment
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lambaste
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to assaunt violently with words
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lament
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to mourn
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laudatory
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praising
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lax
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not strict; careless or negligent
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lexicon
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a glossary or dictionary
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limpid
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transparent, clear, lucid
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liniment
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a medicinal liquid or salve for rubbing on the skin
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liquidate
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to get rid of; to settle a debt
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lugubrious
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exaggeratedly mournful
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luminary
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a person who has attained eminence in his/her field
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maudlin
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silly and overly sentimental
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maverick
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a nonconformist; a rebel
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mellifluous
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flowing sweetly, usually refers to sounds or voices
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mendacious
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lying, dishonest
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meritorious
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derserving award or praise
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mirth
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amusement or laughter
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misanthrope
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one who hates people
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mollify
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to soften, sooth, pacify
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moribund
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dying
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