| Abhor |
to feel hatred or loathing for (verb) (ab-hor) |
My landlord abhors all the texts he receives from me. |
| Bigot |
narrow-minded, prejudiced person (noun) (bi-get) |
Many believe Trump is a bigot. |
| Covert |
hidden; undercover; sheltered (adjective) (ko-vert) |
The military is involved in many covert operations. |
| Debility |
weakness; incapacity (noun) (di-bi-le-te) |
Old age is not automatic debility. |
| Epistle |
a letter, especially a formal or elegant letter (noun) (i-pi-sel) |
The council received an epistle from the mayor. |
| Furtive |
hidden and secret; expressive of stealth (adjective) (fer-tiv) |
They exchanged furtive smiles, both thinking the same thing. |
| Garble |
distort; confuse; muddle (verb) (gar-bel) |
Politicians often garble the true story to persuade others. |
| Hiatus |
a break or interruption in continuity (noun) (hahy-ey-tuhs) |
I decided to take a hiatus from work when my mom passed away. |
| Intransigent |
stubborn; unyielding; uncompromising (adjective) (in-tran-se-jent) |
The intransigent child kept yelling at his mom. |
| Jaundiced |
exhibiting or influenced by envy, distaste, or hostility (adjective) (jon-dest) |
He opened one eye enough to give me a jaundiced look. |
| Kaput |
incapacitated or destroyed (adjective) (ka-poot) |
The phone is kaput after being dropped in the pool. |
| Lassitude |
lack of energy; weariness (noun0 (la-se-tood) |
The patient complained of headache, nausea, and lassitude. |
| Mercurial |
volatile; changeable (adjective) (mer-kyur-e-el) |
He had a mercurial temper. |
| Nettle |
annoy; aggravate (verb) (net-tel) |
It nettles him that his coworker got a promotion before he did. |
| Officious |
domineering; intrusive; meddlesome (adjective) (e-fi-shes) |
My officious dad always gives unasked advice. |
| Phlegmatic |
calm; imperturbable (adjective) (fleg-ma-tik) |
Jamie Fraser is a phlegmatic man—nothing could phase him. |
| Quandary |
a state of perplexity or doubt (noun) (kwan-de-re) |
We face a constant quandary when it comes to tutoring international students. |
| Redolent |
smelling of; giving off odors (adjective) (re-de-lent) |
The air is redolent of coffee. |
| Spurious |
false; fake (adjective) (spyur-e-es) |
The relic, after being studied further, was found to be spurious. |
| Touting |
to make much of; promote (verb) (taut) |
The company is running advertisements touting the drug’s effectiveness. |
| Upbraid |
scold; tell off; reprimand (verb) (up-braid) |
Her dad upbraided her for sneaking out of the house past curfew. |
| Verbosity |
using too many words (noun) (ver-ba-se-te) |
My professor’s verbosity causes me to fall asleep in class. |
| Waffle |
talk nonsense (verb) (wa-fel) |
My friend waffled when I brought up the government. |
| Xerophyte |
a plant adapted to surviving with little water (noun) (zir-e-fite) |
Rosemary is a xerophyte. |
| Yatter |
idle talk; chatter (noun) (yat-er) |
Weddings are filled with yatter about the newly weds. |
| Zany |
crazy; wacky (adjective) (za-ne) |
My zany uncle kept making inappropriate jokes at the table. |
| Acclimate |
get used to a certain environment (verb) (ak-luh-meyt) |
When I went to Florida, my hair had to acclimate to the humidity. |
| Bemoan |
regret strongly (verb) (bih-mohn) |
She bemoaned eating the chicken at the restaurant as she sat on the bathroom floor. |
| Confound |
bewilder; confuse; puzzle (verb) (kuh n-found) |
The modern artwork confounded him. |
| Dispassionate |
unaffected by strong emotion or prejudice (adjective) (dis-pash-uh-nit) |
The soldier became more dispassionate as the war went on. |
| Exorbitant |
greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation (adjective) (ig-zawr-bi-tuh nt) |
Americans have the most exorbitant diet of all countries. |
| Foible |
a minor weakness or peculiarity in someone’s character (noun) (foi-buh l) |
A lack of humility is his foible. |
| Garner |
gather; collect; acquire (verb) (gar-ner) |
He garnered more evidence to support his theory. |
| Hasten |
to move or act quickly; rush; accelerate (verb) (hay-sen) |
His death was hastened by alcohol abuse. |
| Immutable |
unchanging; permanent (adjective) (im-myu-te-bul) |
Alter what is changeable and accept what is immutable. |
| Jaded |
tired; bored; worn out (adjective) (ja-ded) |
The jaded mule collapsed while pulling the cart. |
| Knotty |
complex; difficult to solve (adjective) (na-te) |
He always expresses his views on the knotty issues of our nation. |
| Laconic |
using few words; to the point; concise (adjective) (ley-ka-nik) |
Business messages should be laconic. |
| Maverick |
loner; an independent individual (noun) (mav-rik) |
Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is considered a maverick. |
| Noxious |
harmful; poisonous; lethal (adjective) (nok-shes) |
Mixing bleach and ammonia can cause noxious fumes. |
| Overt |
obvious; not hidden (adjective) (o-vert) |
The man smiled in return but gave no overt sign of knowing the woman. |
| Polemical |
causing debate or argument; controversial (adjective) (pe-le-mi-kel) |
Abortion is a polemical subject in the United States. |
| Quotidian |
daily; routine (adjective) (kwo-ti-de-en) |
I must have my quotidian coffee in the morning. |
| Reprehensible |
shameful; very bad (adjective) (re-pri-hen(t)-se-bel) |
Your behavior towards your brother was truly reprehensible. |
| Staid |
dull; sober; serious (adjective) (stayd) |
He often appears staid, but once you get to know him, he is very charming and funny.
|
| Timorous |
cowardly; fearful; timid (adjective) (ti-me-res) |
The kitten was shy and timorous. |
| Unwitting |
not deliberate; not knowing (adjective) (un-wi-ting) |
She was an unwitting victim of fraud. |
| Venial |
minor; unimportant; pardonable (adjective) (ve-ne-el) |
Forgetting to take out the trash is a venial mistake but forgetting to feed the dog
is not.
|
| Wax |
to increase; to grow (verb) (waks) |
The army quickly waxed to 200,000 soldiers. |
| Xanthic |
of, relating to, or tending toward a yellow color (adjective) (zan(t)-thik) |
The mountain looked a little xanthic during sunset. |
| Yuppie |
a young college-educated adult who is employed in a well-paying profession and who
lives and works in or near a large city (noun) (ye-pe)
|
Being a yuppie is an admirable goal. |
| Zip |
to move, act, or function with speed and vigor (verb) (zip) |
The waitress zipped around the restaurant, taking orders and pouring water. |
