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313 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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abash
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to make ashamed; to embarass
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abate
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to subside; to reduce
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abdicate
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to step down from a position of power or responsibility
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aberration
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something not typical; a deviation from the standard
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abhor
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to hate very, very much; to detest
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abject
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hopeless; extrememly sad and servile; defeated
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abnegate
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to deny oneself things; to reject; to renounce
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abortive
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unsuccessful
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abridge
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to shorten; to condense
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absolute
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total; unlimited; perfect
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absolve
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to forgive or free from blame: to free from sin; to free from obligation
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abstruse
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hard to understand
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abysmal
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extrememly hopeless or wretched; bottomless
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accolade
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an award; an honor
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accost
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to approach and speak to someone aggressively
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acerbic
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bitter;sour;severe
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acquiesce
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to comply passively; to accept; to assent; to agree
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acrid
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harsh; like acid
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acrimonious
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full of spite; bitter; nasty
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acumen
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keenness of judgment; mental sharpness
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acute
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sharp;shrewd
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adamant
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stubborn; unyielding; completely inflexible
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adherent
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follower; supporter; believer
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admonish
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to scold gently; to warn
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adroit
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skillfull; dexterous; clever; shrewd; socially at ease
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adulation
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wild or excessive admiration; flattery
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adulterate
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to contaminate; to make impure
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adverse
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unfavorable; antagonistic
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averse
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opposed to doing something
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aesthetic
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having to do with artistic beauty; artistic
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affable
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easy to talk to; friendly
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affectation
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unnatural or artificial behavior, usually intended to impress
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affinity
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sympathy; kinship; attraction, similarity
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affluent
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rich; prosperous
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agrarian
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relating to land; relating to the management or farming of land
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aggregate
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sum total; collection of separate things mixed together
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congregate
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get together
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alacrity
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cheerful eagerness or readiness to resond
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allusion
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an indirect reference; a hint
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altruism
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selflessness; generosity; devotion to the interests of others
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ambience
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atmosphere; mood; feeling
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ambiguous
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unclear in meaning; confusing; capable of being interpreted in different ways
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ambivalent
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undecided; having opposed feelings simultaneously
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ameliorate
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to make better of more tolerable
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amenable
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obedient; willing to give in to the wishes of another; agreeable
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amenity
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pleasantness; attractive or comfortable feature
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amiable
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friendly; agreeable
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amnesty
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pardon for a group of people
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amoral
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neither moral or immoral; lacking sense of right or wrong
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amorous
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feeling loving, especially in a sexual sense; in love; relating to love
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amorphous
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shapeless; without a regular or stable shape; bloblike
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anachronism
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something out of place in time or history; an incongruity
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anecdote
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short account of a humorous or revealing incident
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anguish
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agonizing physical or mental pain
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antecedent
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someone or something that went before
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antipathy
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firm dislike
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antithesis
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the direct opposit
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apartheid
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racial segregation
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aphorism
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a brief, witty saying; a proverb
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apocryphal
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dubious authenticity; fictitious; spurious; doubtful origin
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apotheosis
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elevation to divine status; ther perfect example of something
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appease
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to soothe; to pacify by giving in to
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apprehensive
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worried; anxious
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misapprehension
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a misunderstanding
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approbation
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approval; praise
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appropriate
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to take without permission; to set aside for particular use
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misappropriated
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used in the wrong way
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expropriate
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official authority to take possession of property
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aptitude
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capacity for learning; natural ability
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arbiter
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one who decides; a judge
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arbitrary
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random; capricious
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arcane
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mysterious; known only to a select few
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archetype
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original model or pattern
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prototype
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first tentative model that can be improved
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ardent
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passionate; enthusiastic
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arduous
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hard; difficult
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aristocratic
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snobbish; of noble birth
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artifice
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clever tricky
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ascendancy
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supremacy; domination
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ascetic
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hermitlike; practicing self-denial
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assiduous
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hardwordking; busy; diligent
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assimilate
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to take in; absorb; to learn thoroughly
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assuage
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to soothe; pacify; to relieve
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astute
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keen in judgement; shrewd
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attrition
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gradual wearing away; weakening
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audacity
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boldness; reckless daring
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auspicious
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favorable; promising; pointing to a good result
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austere
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stern; forbidding
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autocratic
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extremely bossy; ruling with absolute authority
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autonomous
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acting independently
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avarice
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greed; excessive love of riches
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avow
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to claim; to declare boldly; to admit
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awry
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off course; twisted to one side
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axiom
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widely accepted saying; self-evident rule or truth
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banal
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unoriginal; ordinary
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bane
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poison; torment; cause of harm
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bastion
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stronghold; fortress
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beget
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to create; to lead to; to cause; to give birth to
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belabor
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to go over repeatedly
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beleaguer
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to surround; to harrass
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belie
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to contradict; to give a false impression of
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belligerent
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combative; quarrelsome; waging war
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bemused
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confused; bewildered
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muse
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to think about or ponder
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benefactor
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one who provides help in the form of gift or donation
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malefactor
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person who does bad things
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benevolent
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generous; kind
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malevolent
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means evil, or wishing to do harm
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bequest
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something left to someone in a will
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bereaved
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deprived or left desolate, expecially through dealth
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bereft
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deprived or left desolate, same thing as bereaved
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beset
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to harrass; to surround; same thing as beleaguer
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blasphemy
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profanity, insult to something sacred
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blatant
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unpleasantly or offensively noisy; glaring
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blight
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anything that injures or destroys; a disease in plants
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blithe
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carefree; cheerful
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bourgeois
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middle class; boringly conventional
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brevity
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briefness
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broach
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to open up a subject for discussion, often a delicate subject
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bucolic
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charmingly rural; rustic; countrylike
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bureaucracy
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system of government administration running on lots of rules and filling lots of forms
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burgeon
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to expand; to flourish
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burlesque
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exaggerated imitation; ludicrous imitation
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scrupulous
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strict
careful hesitant for ethical reasons |
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innocuous
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harmless, banal
adj. |
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hedonistic
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pleasure-seeking
indulgent |
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fickle
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unpredictable
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prodigal
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extravagant
wasteful |
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disparate
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different
incompatible |
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diffident
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lacking in self confidence
timid |
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blithe
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carefree, cheerful
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prodigious
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extraordinary
enormous |
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supercilious
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arrogant
snobbish |
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expedient
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providing an immediate advantage
beneficial useful |
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prudent
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careful
having foresight |
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fortuitous
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accidental
occuring by chance |
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pious
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religiously dutiful or hypocritical
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disparage
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to belittle
to say mean things about verb |
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profound
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deep
insightful |
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frivolous
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not serious
with levity |
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vehement
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urgent
passionate |
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flagrant
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shocking
really bad |
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prosaic
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dull
unimaginitive |
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pretentious
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self important
pompous |
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insipid
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dull
banal |
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deride
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to ridicule
to laugh at |
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virulent
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full of hate
poisonous |
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hackneyed
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overused
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venerate
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to revere or worship
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reproach
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to scold
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reticent
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quiet
restrained uncommunicative reluctant to speak about oneself |
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apocryphal
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doubtful origin
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stringent
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strict
restrictive |
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recalcitrant
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stubbornly defiant of authority
adj |
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banal
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ordinary
unoriginal |
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astute
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perceptive
intelligent |
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reprehensible
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worth of blame or censure
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respite
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period of rest or relief
n. |
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pedestrian
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common
ordinary |
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sycophant
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one who sucks up to others
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deference
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submission to anothers will
respect courtesy |
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furtive
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secretive
sly adj. |
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depravity
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moral corruption
extreme wickedness n. |
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heresy
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opinion violently opposed to established beliefs
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contrite
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remorseful
deeply apologetic |
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parsimony
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stinginess
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peripheral
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unimportant
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verbose
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wordy
overly talkitive |
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acquiesce
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to give in or agree
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benefactor
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generous donor
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euphony
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pleasant sound
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blasphemy
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profanity
insult to sacredness |
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amity
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friendship
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compliant
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yielding
submissive |
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hindrance
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an obstruction
annoying interference or delay |
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gravity
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seriousness
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apprehensive
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worried
anxious |
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concilatory
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solving dispute through goodwill
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irascible
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irritable
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denounce
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speak out against
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voluminous
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very large or spacious
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servile
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submissive
like a servant |
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dearth
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scarcity
lack of |
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torpor
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sluggishness
inactivity apathy |
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resignation
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reluctant acceptance of a bad situation
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benevolent
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kind
good hearted generous |
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idiom
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a peculiar expression
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dissent
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disagreement
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engender
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to create or produce
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preclude
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to prevent
make impossible shut out |
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taciturn
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untalkitive by nature
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dogmatic
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arrogantly claiming something is beyond dispute
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tenacious
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hard to defeat
tough |
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ephemeral
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fleeting
not lasting short lived |
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saccharine
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disgustingly or excessively sweet
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bastion
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fortress
stonghold |
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temperate
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moderate
restrained |
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laud (able)
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to praise or applaud
extol |
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cryptic
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mysterious
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incessant
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never ending
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credulous
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gullible
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discord
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disagreement
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complacent
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please with oneself
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caustic
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corrosive
like acid |
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viruouso
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masterful practician in a field such as music
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lax
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careless
relaxed |
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provincial
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narrow
limited in outlook to ones own small corner of the world |
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extraneous
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irrelevant
unnecessary extra unimportant |
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resolute
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firm
unwavering determined |
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novel
|
new
original |
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exemplify
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to serve as an example of
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emulate
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to strive to equal
imitate |
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enthrall
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to thrill
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levity
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lightness
not serious |
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censure
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to condemn severely for doing something bad
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nullify
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to make unimportant
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paucity
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scarcity
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stagnation
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motionless
inactivity n. |
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fervor
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passion
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relegate
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to banish
send away |
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immutable
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unchangeable
permanent |
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didactic
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instructive
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acclaim
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praise
applause |
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incongruous
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not harmonious
not consistent not appropriate |
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congenial
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pleasant
aggreably suitable |
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ambivalent
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undecided
blowing hot and cold |
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sage
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wise
having wisdom from experience |
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ascetic
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to practice self denial
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pragmatic
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practical
down to earth based on experience and not theory |
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acute
|
sharp;shrewd
smart |
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auspicious
|
favorable
promising pointing to a good result |
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vilify
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to say vile things about
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guile
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dishonesty
cunning |
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volition
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will
consious choice |
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languish
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to become weak or depressed
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propriety
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properness
good manners |
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repudiate
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to reject
to deny |
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fastidious
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demanding
meticulous |
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zealous
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enthusiastically devoted to something
fervent |
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contempt
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disgust
loathing |
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trepidation
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fear
nervous trembling n. |
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amass
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accumulate
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heed
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to listen to
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indolence
indolent |
laziness
lazy adj. |
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efface
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to erase
rub away features of something |
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rescind
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to take back formally
to repeal |
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ameliorate
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to make better or more tolerable
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disdain
|
arrogant scorn
contempt disgust |
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extol
|
to praise
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brawn
|
bulk
muscular |
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premise
|
assumption
hypothesis n. |
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omnipotent
|
having great or absolute power
adj. |
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paramount
|
dominant
supreme requiring first consideration adj. |
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rudiment
|
basic element of subject
-ary (adj.) elementary; primitive |
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arduous
|
strenous
exhausting hard to overcome |
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disconcert
|
to agitate
to upset -ing confusing |
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attenuate
|
make thin
reduce in force or value |
|
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ingenuity
|
cleverness
creativity |
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manifest
|
to become visible
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conventional
|
common
customary |
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partisan
|
one who supports a certain person, cause or idea
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contentious
|
quarrelsom
argumentative |
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lament
|
to mourn
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allusion
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indirect reference to something else
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inherent
|
part of the essential nature of something
intrinsic |
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paradox
|
true statement that contradicts itself
unture statement that is logical |
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exposition
|
explaining
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consensus
|
unanimity or near unanimty
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sagacious
|
wise
having wisdom from experience |
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precipitate
|
to cause to happen abruptly
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pervade
|
the spread throughout
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discourse
|
to formally discuss a subject
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sanction
|
authorize
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genial
|
cheerful and pleasant
friendly helpful |
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inert
|
inactive
sluggish |
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placid
|
calm
peaceful |
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exuberant
|
extremely joyful or vigorous
profuse in growth |
|
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impede
|
to hinder or obstruct
to slow something down |
|
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permeate
|
to spread or seep through
to penetrate |
|
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indignant
|
angry as a result to something unjust
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superfluous
|
extra
unnecessary |
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vex
|
to annoy or pester
to confuse |
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bereave
|
to deprive or leave desolate, especially through death
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connoisseur
|
an expert in art or taste
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corroborate
|
to confirm or back up wiht evidence
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frenetic
|
frantic
frenzied |
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polemic
|
powerful argument made in refutation of something
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synthesis
|
combing of parts to form whole
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feasible
|
able to be done or completed
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forbear
|
to refrain from
to abstain |
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vindicate
|
to clear from blame or suspicion
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squalid
|
filthy
repulsive degraded |
|
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inept
|
clumsy
incompetent |
|
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disseminate
|
to scatter or spread widely
|
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eclectic
|
choosing the best from many sources
|
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idyllic
|
charming in a rustic way
naturally peaceful |
|
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pristine
|
original
unspoiled pure |
|
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prodigy
|
extremely talented child
extraordinary accomplishment or occurence |
|
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decorous
|
orderly
in good taste |
|
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infer
|
to conclude
to deduce |
|
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ostentatious
|
showing off
conspicuous |
|
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plumb
|
to measure the depth of something
|
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spurious
|
doubtful
bogus false |
|
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subjugate
|
to enslave
to dominate |
|
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visionary
|
a dreamer, especially about the future
|
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reciprocal
|
mutual or shared
interchangeable |
|
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antipathy
|
firm dislike
hatred |
|
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dissonant
|
in disagreement
inharmonious |
|
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palliate
|
to hide the seriousness of something withexcuses or apologies
|
|
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substantive
|
real
essential solid having substance |
|
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surreptitious
|
sneak
secret |
|
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equivocal
|
ambiguous
intentionally confusing can be interpreted in several ways |
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flippant
|
frivolously shallow and disrespectful
|
