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319 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; extremely 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
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absolve
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to forgive or free from blame; to free from sin; to free from an obligation
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abstinent
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abstaining; voluntarily not doing something, especially something pleasant that is bad for you or has a bad reputation
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abstract
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theoretical; impersonal
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abstruse
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hard 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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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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sour; severe; like acid in temper, mood, or tone
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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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harshly pungent; bitter
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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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address
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to speak to; to direct one's attention to
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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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skillful; 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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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; attraction; kinship; similarity
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affluent
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rich; prosperous
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agenda
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program; the things to be done
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aggregate
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sum total; a collection of separate things mixed together
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agnostic
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one who believes that the existence of a god can be neither proven nor disproven
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agrarian
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relating to land; relating to the management or farming of land
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alacrity
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cheerful eagerness or readiness to respond
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allege
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to assert without proof
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alleviate
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to relieve, usually temporarily or incompletely; to make bearable; to lessen
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allocate
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to distribute; to assign; to allot
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alloy
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a combination of two or more things, usually metals
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allusion
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an indirect reference; a hint
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aloof
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uninvolved; standing off; keeping one's distance
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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 or 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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an official pardon for a group of people who have violated a law or policy
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amoral
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lacking a sense of right and wrong; neither good nor bad, neither moral no immoral; without moral feelings
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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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analogy
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a comparison of one thing to another; similarity
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anarchy
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absence of government or control; lawlessness; disorder
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anecdote
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a 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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animosity
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resentment; hostility; ill will
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anomaly
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an aberration; an irregularity; a deviation
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antecedent
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someone or something that went before; something that provides a model for something that came after it
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antipathy
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firm dislike; a dislike
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antithesis
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the direct opposite
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apartheid
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the former policy of racial segregation and oppression in the Republic of South Africa
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apathy
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lack of interest; lack of feeling
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aphorism
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a brief, often witty saying; a proverb
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apocalypse
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a prophetic revelation, especially one concerning the end of the world
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apocryphal
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of dubious authenticity; fictitious; spurious
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apotheosis
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elevation to divine status; the 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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appreciate
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to increase in value
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apprehensive
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worried; anxious
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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 a particular use
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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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archaic
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extremely old; ancient; outdated
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archetype
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an original model or pattern
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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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of noble birth; snobbish
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artful
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crafty; wily; sly
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artifice
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a clever trick; cunning
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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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hardworking; busy; quite diligent
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assimilate
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to take in; to absorb; to learn thoroughly
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assuage
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to soothe; to pacify; to ease the pain of; to relieve
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astute
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shrewd; keen in judgment
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atheist
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one who does not believe in the existence of any god or divine being
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attrition
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gradual wearing away, weakening, or loss; a natural or expected decrease in numbers or size
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audacity
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boldness; reckless daring; impertinence
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augment
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to make bigger; to add to; to increase
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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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unadorned; stern; forbidding; without excess
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autocratic
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ruling with absolute authority; extremely bossy
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autonomous
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acting independently
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avarice
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greed; excessive love or riches
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avow
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to claim; to declare boldly; to admit
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avuncular
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like an uncle, especially a nice uncle
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awry
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off course; twisted one side
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axiom
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a self-evident rule or truth; a widely accepted saying
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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; fortified place
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beget
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to give birth to; to create; to lead to; to cause
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belabor
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to go over repeatedly or to an absurd extent
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beleaguer
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to surround; to besiege; to harass
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belie
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to give a false impression of; to contradict
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belittle
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to make to seem little; to put someone down
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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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benefactor
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one who provides help, especially in the form of a gift or donation
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benevolent
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generous; kind; doing good deeds
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benign
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gentle; not harmful; kind; mild
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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, especially through death
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beset
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to harass; to surround
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blasphemy
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irreverence, an insult to something held sacred; profanity
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blatant
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unpleasantly or offensively noisy; glaring
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blight
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a disease in plants; anything that injured or destroys
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blithe
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carefree; cheerful
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bourgeois
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middle class, usually in a pejorative sense; boringly conventional
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bovine
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cow related; cowlike
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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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a system of government administration consisting of numerous bureaus or offices, especially one run according to inflexible and inefficient rules; any large administrative system characterized by inefficiency
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burgeon
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to expand; to flourish
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burlesque
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a ludicrous, mocking, lewd imitation
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cacophony
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harsh-sounding mixture of words, voices, or sounds
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cadence
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rhythm; the rise and fall of sounds
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cajole
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to persuade someone to do something he or she doesn't want to do
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callow
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immature
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candor
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truthfulness; sincere honesty
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capitalism
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an economic system in which businesses are owned by private citizens and in which the resulting products and services are sold with relatively little government control
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capitulate
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to surrender; to give up or give in
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capricious
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unpredictable; likely to change at any moment
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caricature
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a portrait or description that is purposely distorted or exaggerated, often to prove some point about its subject
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castigate
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to criticize severely; to chastise
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catalyst
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in chemistry, something that changes the rate of a chemical reaction without itself being changed
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categorical
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unconditional; absolute
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catharsis
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purification that brings emotional relief and renewal
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catholic
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universal; embracing everything
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caustic
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like acid; corrosive
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celibacy
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abstinence from sex
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censure
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to condemn severely for doing something bad
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cerebral
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brainy; intellectually refined
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chagrin
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humiliation; embarrassed disappointment
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charisma
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a magical-seeming ability to attract followers or inspire loyalty
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charlatan
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fraud; quack; con man
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chasm
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a deep, gaping hole; a gorge
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chastise
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to inflict punishment on; to discipline
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chicanery
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trickery; deceitfulness; artifice, especially legal or political
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chimera
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a illusion; a foolish fancy
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choleric
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hot-tempered; quick to anger
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chronic
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constant; lasting a long time; inveterate
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chronicle
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a record of events in order of time; a history
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circuitous
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roundabout, not following a direct path
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circumlocution
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an indirect expression use of wordy or evasive language
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circumscribe
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to draw a line around; to set the limits; to define; to restrict
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circumspect
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cautious
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circumvent
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to frustrate as though by surrounding
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civil
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polite; civilized; courteous
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clemency
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mercy; forgiveness; mildness
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cliche
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an overuse saying or idea
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clique
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an exclusive group bound together by some shared quality or interest
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coalesce
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to come together as one; to fuse; to unite
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coerce
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to force someone to do or not to do something
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cogent
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powerfully convincing
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cognitive
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dealing with how we know the world around us through our senses; mental
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cognizant
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aware; conscious
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coherent
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holding together; making sense
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colloquial
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conversational; informal in language
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collusion
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conspiracy; secret cooperation
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commensurate
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equal; proportionate
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compelling
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forceful; causing to yield
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compendium
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a summary; an abridgment
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complacent
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self-satisfied; overly pleased with oneself; contented to a fault
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complement
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to complete or fill up; to be the perfect counterpart
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complicity
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participation in wrongdoing; the act of being an accomplice
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comprehensive
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covering or including everything
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comprise
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to consist of
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conciliatory
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making peace; attempting to resolve a dispute through goodwill
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concise
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brief and to the point; succinct
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concord
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harmony; agreement
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concurrent
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happening at the same time; parallel
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condescend
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to stoop to someone else's level, usually ally in an offensive way; to patronize
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condone
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to overlook; to permit to happen
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conducive
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promoting
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confluence
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a flowing together, especially of rivers; the place where they begin to flow together
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congenial
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agreeably suitable; pleasant
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congenital
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describing a trait or condition acquired between conception and birth; innate
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congregate
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to come together
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conjecture
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to guess; to deduce or infer on slight evidence
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conjure
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to summon or bring into being as if by magic
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connoisseur
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an expert, particularly in matters of art or taste
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consecrate
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to make or declare sacred
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consensus
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unanimity or general agreement
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consonant
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harmonious; in agreement
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construe
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to interpret
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consummate
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perfect; complete; supremely skillful
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contiguous
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side by side; adjoining
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contingent
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dependent; possible
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contrite
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admitting guilt; especially feeling remorseful
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contrived
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artificial; labored
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conventional
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common; customary; unexceptional
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convivial
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fond of partying; festive
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copious
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abundant; plentiful
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corollary
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something that follows; a natural consequence
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corroborate
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to confirm; to back up with evidence
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cosmopolitan
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at home in many places or situations; internationally sophisticated
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countenance
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face; facial expression, especially an encouraging one
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coup
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a brilliant victory or accomplishment; violent overthrow
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covenant
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a solemn agreement; a contract; a pledge
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covert
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secret; hidden
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covet
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to wish for enviously
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credulous
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eager to believe; gullible
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criterion
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standard; basis for judgment
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cryptic
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mysterious; mystifying
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culinary
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relating to cooking or the kitchen
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culminate
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to climax; to reach full effect
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culpable
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deserving blame; guilty
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cursory
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hasty; superficial
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curtail
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to shorten; to cut short
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cynic
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one who deeply distrust human nature
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daunt
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to make fearful; to intimidate
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dearth
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lack; scarcity
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debacle
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violent breakdown; sudden overthrow; overwhelming defeat
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debauchery
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wild living; excessive intemperance
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debilitate
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to weaken; to cripple
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decadent
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decaying or decayed, especially in terms of morals
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decimate
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to kill or destroy a large part of
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decorous
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proper; in good taste; orderly
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deduce
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to conclude form the evidence; to infer
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defame
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to libel or slander; to ruin the good name of
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deference
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submission to another's will; respect; courtesy
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definitive
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conclusive; providing the last word
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degenerate
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to break down; to deteriorate
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deleterious
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harmful
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delineate
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to describe accurately; to draw in outline
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delude
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to deceive
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deluge
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a flood; an inundation
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demagogue
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a leader of the people, but more a rabble rouser
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denizen
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inhabitant
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depravity
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extreme wickedness of corruption
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deprecate
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to express disapproval of
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deride
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to ridicule; to laugh at contemptuously
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derogatory
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disapproving; degrading
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desiccate
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to dry out
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despondent
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extremely depressed; full or despair
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despot
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an absolute ruler; an autocrat
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destitute
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extremely poor; utterly lacking
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desultory
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without a plan or purpose; disconnected; random
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dextrous
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skillful; adroit
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dialectical
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relating to discussions; relating to the rules and methods of reasoning
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dictum
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an authoritative saying; an adage
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didactic
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intended to teach; morally instructive; pedantic
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diffident
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timid; lacking in self-confidence
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digress
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to stray from the main subject
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dilettante
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someone with superficial knowledge of the arts; an amateur; a dabbler
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discern
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to have insight; to see things clearly; to discriminate; to differentiate
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discreet
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prudent; judiciously reserved
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discrete
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unconnected; separate; distinct
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discriminate
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to notice or point out the difference between two or more things; to discern; to differentiate
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disdain
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arrogant scorn; contempt
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disinterested
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not taking sides; unbiased
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disparage
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to belittle; to say uncomplimentary things about, usually in a somewhat indirect way
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disparate
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different; incompatible; unequal
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disseminate
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to spread the seeds of something; to scatter; to make widely known
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dissipate
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to thin out, drift away, or dissolve; to cause to thin out, drift away, or dissolve; to waste or squander
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dissolution
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the breaking up or dissolving of something into parts; disintegration
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distend
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to swell; to extend a great deal
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distinguish
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to tell apart; to cause to stand out
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docile
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easily taught; obedient; easy to handle
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doctrinaire
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inflexibly committed to a doctrine or theory without regard to its practicality; dogmatic
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dogmatic
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arrogantly assertive of unproven ideas; stubbornly claiming that something is beyond dispute
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domestic
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having to do with the household or family; not foreign
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dormant
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inactive; as though asleep; asleep
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dubious
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full of doubt; uncertain
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duplicity
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the act of being two-faced; double-dealing; deception
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ebullient
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boiling; bubbling with excitement
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eccentric
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not conventional; a little kooky; irregular
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eclectic
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choosing the best from many sources; drawn from many sources
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edify
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to enlighten; to instruct, especially in moral or religious matters
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efface
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to erase; rub away the features of
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effusion
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a pouring forth
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egalitarian
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believing in the social and economic equality of all people
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egocentric
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selfish
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egregious
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extremely bad; flagrant
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elicit
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to bring out; to call forth
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elliptical
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oval; missing a word or words; obscure
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elusive
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hard to pin down; evasive
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emigrate
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to leave a country permanently
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eminent
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well-known and respected; standing out from all others in quality or accomplishment; outstanding
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empirical
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relying on experience or observation; not merely theoretical
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emulate
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to strive to equal or excel, usually through imitation
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encroach
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to make gradual or stealthy inroads into; to trespass
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endemic
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native; indigenous
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enervate
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to reduce the strength or energy of, especially to do so gradually
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enfranchise
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to grant the privileges of citizenship, especially the right to vote
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engender
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to bring into existence; to create; to cause
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enigma
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a mystery
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enormity
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extreme evil; a hideous offense; immensity
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ephemeral
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lasting a very short time
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epigram
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a brief and usually witty or satirical saying
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epitome
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a brief summary that captures the meaning of the whole; the perfect example of something; a paradigm
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equanimity
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composure; calm
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equitable
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fair
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equivocal
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ambiguous; intentionally confusing; capable of being interpreted in more than one way
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erudite
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scholarly; deeply learned
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