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260 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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holocaust
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noun widespread destruction by fire
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chagrin
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noun distress of mind caused by humiliation, disappointment, or failure
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vacillate
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verb to waver to waver in decision or in opinion
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catharsis
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noun a purging, a cleansing, a spiritual purification
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ennui
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noun listlessness, dissatisfaction usually results from boredom
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caveat
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noun a warning or caution
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caprice
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noun a sudden and unpredictable change or turn of mind
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palliate
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verb to cover by excuses and/or apologies
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assuage
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verb to ease his or her pain
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axiom
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a self- evident truth
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foible
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noun a fault, a minor flaw in character
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fortnight
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noun two weeks
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ecdysiast
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noun a stripper
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grotesque
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adjective bizarre, departing from normal
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fickle
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adjective casually changeable
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fulminate
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verb to send forth censures
censures are harsh critism |
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dotage
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noun a state of feeblemindedness especially in old age
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expurgate
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verb to remove which is morally harmful
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specious
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adjective deceptively attractive
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ostracize
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verb to ban from a group by popular consent
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turgid
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adjective to be swollen
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calumniate
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verb to utter false charges
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chimera
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noun an illusion of the mind
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nirvana
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noun an ideal condition of rest, harmony
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avuncular
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adjective characteristics of an uncle
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alpha and omega
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noun the beginning and the end
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nebulous
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adjective hazy, vague, indistinct
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bane
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noun something or someone noxious, poisonous
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imprecation
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noun to invoke evil upon to curse
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frenetic
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adjective frenzied, frantic
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centotaph
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noun a tomb or momument erected in honor of a person whose body is buried elsewhere
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unctuous
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adjective oily, greasy
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vicissitude
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noun one of the sudden or unexpected turns often encountered in one's life
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titillate
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verb to excite pleasurably, agreeably
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moribund
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adjective at the point of death
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badinage
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noun light playful banter
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sesquipedalian
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noun/adjective a word that is unusually long or a person who uses long words
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extirpate
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verb to wipe out to pull up by the root leaving no trace
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apotheosis
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noun perfect example
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swastika
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noun good luck charm
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apocalypse
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noun a prophetic revelation, a discovery
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inimical
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adjective hostile, unfriendly
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vagary
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noun unpredictable action or notion
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austere
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adjective stern
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parochial
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adjective confined or restricted as if within the border of a parish
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demagogue
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noun people who use popular prejudices and false claims and promises to further thier own goal
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truckle
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verb to submit to yeild
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torpor
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noun lacking in energy
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licentious
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adjective free of civilized restraint
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charisma
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noun a person favored by the crowd
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vestige
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noun a trace or something left by something vanished or lost
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peremptory
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adjective absolute, final
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audacious
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adjective bold, adventurous
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monolithic
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adjective massive whole
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obelisk
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noun a four sided monolithic stone pillar
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akimbo
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adjective/adverb hands on hips
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cursory
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adjective hastily not thorough
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eponym
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noun something named after a person
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penchant
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noun a strong taste or liking for
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asinine
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adjective jackass
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penury
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noun poverty
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explicate
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verb to give a detailed explanation
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obfuscate
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verb to make obscure
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excoriate
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verb to censure in a scathing manner
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impugn
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verb being called into question
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cozen
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verb to decieve by petty trickery
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emulate
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verb to strive to equal or to excel
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obtuse
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adjective lacking sharpness of the mind
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adamant
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adjective unyeilding, inflexible,
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virulent
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adjective bitterly hostile
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exurb
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noun areas found outside a city
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exult
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verb leaping up caused by joy
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euphemism
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noun a substitute word or noun expression that is used to avoid a word or expression that might offend some individual
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flatulent
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adjective to be pompous
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facade
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noun putting on a false front
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euphoria
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noun a feeling of great happiness of well being
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expatiate
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verb to speak or to write at great length
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heinous
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adjective shockingly evil
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exigency
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noun a pressing urgent situation
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exculpate
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verb to clear from alleged fault or blame
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anachronism
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noun a person or thing which is chronlogically out of place
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poltergeist
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noun a noisy ghost held responsible for unexplained rapping
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histrionic
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adjective theatrical
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bellwether
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noun a leader
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banal
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adjective deviod of freshness unoriginal
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exude
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verb to ooze out
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catholic
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adjective broad in sympathies, interest
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pontiff
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noun leader of the catholic church/ to speak in a pompous manner
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brogue
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noun s grip or hold aka an irish brogue
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idiosyncracy
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noun physiological or temperamental characteristics perculiar to an indiviual
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aegis
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noun protection
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coruscate
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verb to give forth flashes of light
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quintessence
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noun purest essence of
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nepotism
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noun a favor for a family memember
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rue
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noun/verb to regret, or to repent
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ephemeral
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adjective short lived
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sub rosa
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adverb privately, confidentially in secret
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recondite
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adjective not easily understood
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pogrom
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noun an organized massacure of defenseless people
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poignant
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adjective painfully moving
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carouse
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verb to drink excessively and then to induldge om drunken merrymaking
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pastiche
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noun a hodgepodge
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acrimony
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noun sharpness or harshness
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bifurcate
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verb to divide into two parts or branches
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spurious
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adjective not genuine not authentic
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asperity
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noun ill-temper, irritability, sharpness of tone
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sycophant
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noun apple polisher
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clairvoyant
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noun able to see thing that are not visible
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carnal
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adjective sensual, fleshy
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anthology
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noun collection of literary, musical, or artistic works
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harass
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verb to torment without letup
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mordant
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adjective in the nature of being caustic sharp or biting
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debilitate
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verb to weaken
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manifest
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verb/noun/adjective/adverb a list of cargo/ to spread/
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decadent
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adjective a period of decline or decay
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vicarious
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adjective experiencing through imagination
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trepidation
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noun a state of alarm or fear
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melee
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noun s confused struggle, jumble
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implacable
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adjective not to be calmed
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nexus
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noun a link or connection
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contumacy
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noun stubborn resistance to authority
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convivial
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adjective good company, friendly
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indomitable
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adjective unconquerable, incapable of being subdued
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millennium
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noun a period of one thousand years
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emasculate
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verb to weaken
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disgress
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verb to go off topic
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kaleidoscope
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noun constantly changing sets of colors
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jargon
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noun gibberish and vocab to a particular trade
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humor
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noun high and healthy spirits
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aberrant
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adjective departure from a normal abnormal
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animostity
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noun an active display of ill will or hatred
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antemeridian
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noun AM
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ecumenical
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adjective universal
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travail
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noun pain or suffering resulting from mental or physical anguish
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pernicious
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adjective deadly
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nostrum
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noun quack remedy
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epitaph
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noun carved or written writing found on gravestones
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feckless
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adjective lacking in purpose, ineffective, careless
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splenetic
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adjective ill tempered peevish spiteful
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pusillanimous
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adjective cowardly
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venial
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adjective a petty offense one that is pardonable
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officious
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adjective nosy
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droll
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adjective amusing in an odd way
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altruism
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concern for the welfare of others
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machination
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noun an artful device or action generally with evil intent as a goal, evil scheme
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tsunami
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noun an unusually large wave producved by a seaquake
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attrition
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noun the act of weaking exhausting by constant harassment or abuses
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vitiate
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verb to impair the quality of to invalidate
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cenotaph
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noun a tomb erected in honor of a person whose body is buried elsewhere
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inveterate
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adjective habitual, firmly established over a long and persistent period of time...veterans are old
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gambit
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noun calculated move intened to score
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caldron
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noun a very large kettle
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tyro
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noun a begininer
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dissipate
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verb to scatter dissipate money
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deprecate
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verb to express serious dissaproval to depreciate to be little
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attenuate
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verb to reduce in force. intensity, quality
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accolade
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noun any form of public praise
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supplicate
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verb to beg
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maelstrom
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noun whirlpool, uproar
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myriad
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adjective countless in numbers
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janus-faced
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adjective two faced decietful
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milquetoast
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noun a person who doesn not ahve a strong back bone
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jabberwock
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noun to speak rapidly and indistinctly almost incomprehensibly
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shangri-la
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noun a remote paradise
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lothario
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noun a charming younf man who seduces and decieves women
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braggadocio
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noun empty boasting
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lethargy
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noun abnormal drowsiness
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bacchanalia
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noun excessive indulgence in like drugs or alchol
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pyrrhic victory
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noun a victory that is too costly to the victor
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chauvinism
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noun a prejudiced belief in the superiority of ones group
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babbitt
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noun a conforming person who adopts ready-made values of the middle class
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malaprop
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noun ludicrously humorous misuse of language
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pandemonium
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noun chaos
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spoonerism
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noun a transpostoin of letters from two words crooks and nannies instead of nooks and crannies
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philistine
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noun ignorant people especially middle class with no cultural values
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sadistic
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adjective one who must derive pleasure from inflicting pain
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panglossian
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noun, adjective blindly expecting a favorable outcome or naively dwelling on hopeful aspects overly optimistic
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martinet
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noun a person who demands absolute adherence to rules
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cross or pass the rubicon
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a limit when passed permits no return
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machivellian
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adjective guile and deceit were the end justifies the means
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benedict
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noun recently married man who was thought to be a confirmed bachelor
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nemesis
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noun an opponent or rival whom a person cannot defeat
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serendipity
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noun good things happen by chance serendipitous accident
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charlatan
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noun a pretender
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quisling
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noun a traitor
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nirvana
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noun an extinguishing of all care, pain , joy
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hobson's choice
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noun a choice made freely that offers no real alternative
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armageddon
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noun any great and decisive battle
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gerrymander
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noun a division of an area into voting districts so that one party gains a distinct advantage over another
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macabre
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adjective dark humor
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mnemonics
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noun assisting or intened to assist memory
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billingsgate
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noun use of course language
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cupidity
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noun inordinate desire an excessice eagerness especially to gain whealth
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guillotine
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noun a device having a very sharp blade that was used to behead people
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pander
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verb to provide gratification for anothers desires
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tenebrous
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adjective dark and gloomy
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plutocracy
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noun goverment by the wealthy
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gorgon
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noun an ugly repulsive woman
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limbo
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an intermediate place or state
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procrustean
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adjective an arbitrary standard at which conformity is forced
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marathon
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noun any long contest with endurance as the primary factor
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stygian
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adjective sense of infernal gloom
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tawdry
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adjective cheap showy lacking in good taste
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calliope
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noun a keyboard instrument using steam
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apochrypha
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noun doubtful accuracy apochryphal adjective form
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byzantine
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adjective highly complicated intricate and involved
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mesmerize
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verb to spell bind
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halloween
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noun all hallows eve
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vandal
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noun mischeiveoiuos destruction or damage to property
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bowdlerize
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very to expurgate
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protean
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adjective changeableness
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Cassandra
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noun a person who prophesies doom or disaster
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maudlin
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adjective crying at the slightest thing
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parthian shot
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noun to make a sharp telling remark or point as one is leaving
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argonaut
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noun an adventurer someone on a quest
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utopia
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noun a place of perfection in every aspect
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tantalize
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verb to torment tense
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pharisee
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noun self righteous
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quixotic
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adjective impractically idealistic or foolishly chivalrous
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roentgen
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noun a measire of raditatoin
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myrmidon
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noun a person who executes his masters orders without questioning them
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peripatetic
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adjective th walk about
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narcissism
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noun excessive love or admiration for ones self
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tarantella
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noun a dance made up of whilrling steps
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panacea
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noun universal cure
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stentorian
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adjective those who have loud deep voices
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sisyphean
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adjective requiring contuned effor oftentimes without results that can justify the resources put into that effor
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sword of damocles
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noun an impenging disaster or threat of a calmitious
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bedlam
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a place or situation of noisy uproar and condfusion
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pandora's box
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that which is the souce of many difficulties none of which could have been forseen
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philippic
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noun put you down with nasty cursewords
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draconian
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adjective harsh and sevierve
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rodomonatde
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noun pretentious cockyness empty boasitng
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epicure
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noun a refined taste for the arts and culinary
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caesarean section
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noun a method of delivery of the baby
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sybarite
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noun a person who is devoted to luxury
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shylock
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noun a lender of money at unlawfully exorbitant interest rates
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somniloquy
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noun talking in ones sleep
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lilliputian
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adjective or noun narrow or petty
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pollyanna
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noun and adjective overly optimistic
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hades
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noun hell
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jacquard
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noun elaborately heavy cloth
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odyessey
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noun hard jurneys
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gargantuan
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adjective of enormous giagantic size
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stoicism
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noun a person who is able to endure pain
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herculean
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adjective possess exceptional strength, courage, size
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kafkaesque
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adjective is surreal and usually accompanied by a sense of impending danger
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halcyon
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adjective peaceful
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mercurial
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adjective swift changeable
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junoesque
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adjective idea of stately bearing a beauty that is both imposing and esthetic
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achilles' heel
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noun an area or part perhaps even a feature that is exclusively or at the least especially vulnerable
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titan
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noun a person or thing of colossal dimensions, strength, or influence
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galvanize
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verb to arouse to awareness or actiion
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flora and fauna
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noun anything that can be found on earth excluding minerals ores etc
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euthanasia
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noun a good death
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boycott
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verb to join in refusing to deal with or patronize a seller employer or any other person
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laconic
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adjective the sparing use of language
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colossus
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noun anyhting of gigantice size or power
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solecism
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noun an incorrect use of language
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babble
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noun unintelligible language gibberish or confusiong
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