500 advanced Flashcards
abase
Definition: Degrade or humble; to lower in rank, status, or esteem
Usage: After messing up at work, the man faced a thorough abasement from his boss; when he
realized he had forgotten his own wedding anniversary, he further abased himself in front of his wife.
Related Words: Defame (attack the reputation of), Belittle (put down, disparage)
Memory Trick: Abasement means degradation or lowering of status—that is, abasement makes you
feel like you should go hide in a basement.
abeyance
Definition: Temporary suspension, inactivity
Usage: The baseball player’s contract negotiations are in abeyance while doctors try to determine
whether his injuries will heal in time for the season.
Related Words: Hiatus (break or gap in an activity), Dormant (inactive, resting), Deferment or
Deferral (postponement)
More Info: Abeyance generally occurs in the expression “in abeyance.” Real estate is in abeyance
when no one owns it or the owner is unknown.
abscission
Definition: Cutting off; sudden termination; the separation of leaves, petals, or other parts from a
plant or animal
Usage: The abscission of leaves from the trees is normal in fall. / An inflamed appendix calls for an
immediate surgical abscission.
Related Words: Ablation (removal of growths, etc., by surgery or other mechanical means)
More Info: “Ab” means “away.” The “scissio” root in abscission means “cut” and is the same as in
scissors, excise (cut out or censor), and incision (cut into).
abscond
Definition: Depart suddenly and secretively
Usage: A robber absconds with stolen goods. People who eat in a restaurant and run out without
paying—or criminals who jump bail—could also be said to be absconding.
Related Words: Decamp (to depart from camp, or to abscond)
More Info: “Ab” means “away” and the rest of abscond comes from a Latin word meaning “to put.”
abyss
Definition: A deep and vast space or cavity; anything profound or infinite
Usage: Walking a tightrope over an active volcano, the acrobat was terrified of falling into the abyss.
/ Now recovering, the patient remembered her experience with clinical depression as an abyss of
hopelessness.
Related Words: Chasm, Crevasse, Fissure, Gorge are all words for deep openings in the earth, and
can be used metaphorically (a fissure in a personal relationship, the chasm between cultures, etc.).
More Info: The 1989 classic science fiction movie The Abyss is about a diving team that encounters
an underwater alien species.
accede
Definition: Agree, give consent; assume power (usually as “accede to”)
Usage: While the Englishman was a strong believer in democracy, he had to accede that watching
Prince Charles someday accede to the throne would indeed be exciting.
Related Words: Assent also means agree or give in.
More Info: When Prince Charles accedes to the throne, he will be succeeding (taking power after)
Queen Elizabeth.
accretion
Definition: Gradual increase; an added part or addition
Usage: He was pleased by the accretion of money in his portfolio. / Some charitable funds keep the
principal in their accounts untouched and use only the accretion for philanthropic purposes.
Related Words: Augment (grow larger), Agglomerate (form into a mass or cluster, join together)
More Info: Bank accounts accrue interest. Good deeds, ideally, accrue rewards.
acerbic
Definition: Sour; harsh or severe
Usage: Lemons are acerbic. Harsh comments are also acerbic, like putting lemon juice on a wound.
Related Words: Caustic (capable of burning or corroding; extremely critical or sarcastic), Acrid
(sharp or biting, pungent), Astringent (biting, severe; a skin cleaning fluid that clears pores)
More Info: An acerbic taste is sour and an acrid taste is unpleasantly bitter, but when used
metaphorically, both words mean harsh, critical.
acumen
Definition: Keen, quick, accurate insight or judgment
Usage: His political acumen allowed him to bargain behind the scenes and get bills passed despite
being in the minority party.
Related Words: Perspicacity (acuteness of perception)
More Info: Acumen comes from a Latin word for “needle”—hence the idea of being mentally
“sharp.”
adulterate
Definition: Make impure by adding inappropriate or inferior ingredients
Usage: Some bars adulterate top-shelf liquor by pouring cheaper brands into the more expensive
brands’ bottles.
Related Words: Taint (contaminate, corrupt), Debase (reduce in quality or dignity)
More Info: Adulterate is indeed related to adultery (cheating on one’s spouse)—both come from a
Latin word meaning “to defile.”
adumbrate
(verb)
AD-um-brayt or uh-DUM-brayt
Also adumbration (noun)
Definition: Give a rough outline of; foreshadow; reveal only partially; obscure
Usage: When I took on the lead role in the movie, I agreed not to give away the plot, but I suppose I
could give a brief adumbration of the premise.
More Info: Adumbrate contains the root “umbra,” Latin for “shadow.” It may seem that “give an
outline of” and “obscure” are opposites, but think of it this way—to adumbrate is to give a shadowy,
vague picture of something, which could mean giving more information (if starting with nothing) or
obscuring information (if starting with a clear picture) in order to reach that point.
aerie
Definition: Dwelling or fortress built on a high place; the nest of a bird of prey, such as an eagle or
hawk, built on a mountain or cliff
Usage: The billionaire smoked a cigar out his window and watched the riots in the streets below, safe
in the aerie of his penthouse apartment.
Related Words: Stronghold (a well fortified place, especially the central place of a controversial
group, as in “Police raided the smugglers’stronghold.”)
More Info: Aerie may also be spelled aery, eyrie, or eyry. It shares an origin with “airy,” coming
from a Latin word pertaining to an open field.
albeit
Definition: Although, even though
Usage: The village leader was illiterate albeit highly intelligent. / The trip was exciting, albeit brief.
Related Words: Notwithstanding (in spite of, although, all the same—“Notwithstanding the video of
his crime, he was acquitted on a technicality”)
More Info: Albeit is a shortening of “although it be.”
aloof
Definition: Distant physically or emotionally; reserved; indifferent
Usage: Perceiving her parents as cold and aloof, the child was naturally drawn to her warm, genial
aunt.
Related Words: Detached (impartial or aloof), Standof ish (cold, unfriendly)
More Info: A common stereotype is that dogs are af able, while cats are aloof.
amortize
Definition: Gradually pay off a debt, or gradually write off an asset
Usage: A mortgage is a common form of amortized debt—spreading the payments out over as long as
30 years is not uncommon. / On his company balance sheet, Joe amortized the value of his patent,
estimating that the patent’s value as an asset would decline steadily over the course of the year as
competitors patented competing products.
More Info: Amortize contains the root “mort,” meaning death. Amortization is when a financial
obligation dies a long, slow death.
analgesia
Definition: Pain relief; inability to feel pain
Usage: While natural-birth advocates decline analgesia in childbirth, many women are very eager to
take advantage of modern anesthesia. / A disease of the spinal cord can cause analgesia, which can
be dangerous because the patient doesn’t know when he has injured himself.
Related Words: Anodyne (pain relieving medicine or anything that relieves pain)
annul
Definition: Make void or null, cancel, abolish (usually of laws or other established rules)
Usage: Can we appreciate the art of a murderer? For many, the value of these paintings is annulled by
the artist’s crimes.
Related Words: Nullify, Void (synonyms); Abort (stop part way through, remain in an undeveloped
state)
More Info: Most people associate “annul” with marriage—to get an annulment rather than a divorce,
most states require that the marriage have been based on fraud, or that at least one person was not
mentally competent to form a contract.
antithetical
(adj)
an-tih-THET-ick-ull
Also antithesis (noun)
Definition: Directly opposed, opposite; involving antithesis (the rhetorical act of placing two
phrases opposite one another for contrast, as in Love me or hate me)
Usage: Partying all night, every night, is antithetical to one’s academic performance.
Related Words: Deleterious (harmful, unhealthful), Counterproductive (defeating the purpose;
preventing the intended goal), Inimical (unfavorable, harmful)
More Info: Antithesis can be properly understood as “anti” and “thesis”—that is, being against the
“thesis” (main point) of something else. The philosopher Hegel posed a method of achieving truth by
which a thesis and its antithesis are resolved at a higher level of understanding, called synthesis (in
normal speech, synthesis means combination into a unified entity).
apostle
Definition: Pioneer of a reform movement (originally, an early follower of Jesus)
Usage: In the 1980’s, when low-fat diets were all the rage, Dr. Rubens became an apostle of the
Mediterranean diet, high in healthy fats, and traveled the world proselytizing to groups of physicians
and nutritionists.
Related Words: Champion (person who fights for a cause), Expounder (person who presents an idea
in detail), Paladin (leading champion of a cause; trusted military leader)
More Info: When capitalized, “Apostles” usually refers to the original 12 disciples of Jesus. In
lowercase, an “apostle” could be any major Christian missionary, or a spreader of a non-religious
doctrine. Don’t confuse apostle with apostate—the words are near-antonyms.
apprise
Definition: Inform, give notice to
Usage: I can’t believe you failed to apprise me that my child was biting the other children in his
preschool class! If I had known, I could’ve addressed this issue before all the other parents
threatened to sue!
More Info: If you know Spanish or French, this word might remind you of the verb aprender or
apprendre for good reason—both mean “to learn.” Don’t confuse apprise with appraise, which
means “to evaluate or assess the value of,” as in “to have jewelry appraised before selling it at
auction.”
approbation
Definition: Praise or approval, especially formal approval
Usage: In her speech for class president, she won the approbation of her peers by promising not only
to save the prom, but to raise enough money to make it free for everyone.
Related Words: Imprimatur (approval, a mark of approval, or especially a formal body’s approval to
publish a work)
Memory Trick: Approbation begins with the same five letters as its near-synonym approval.
arbiter
Definition: Judge, umpire, person empowered to decide matters at hand
Usage: Professional mediators arbitrate disputes. / The principal said, “As the final arbiter of what
is and is not appropriate in the classroom, I demand that you take down that poster of the rapper Ice-T
and his scantily-clad wife Coco.”
Related Words: Adjudicator (judge or arbitrator, esp. a judge of a competition)
More Info: An arbitrator is officially appointed to settle a dispute; an arbiter is more someone
whose opinion is valued, as in the expression “arbiter of good taste.
ardent
Definition: Very passionate, devoted, or enthusiastic
Usage: He was an ardent heavy metal lover and became offended anytime someone referred to
Poison as a “hair band.” / They were so in love that not even meeting each other’s awful relatives
could dampen their ardor.
Related Words: Fervent, Fervid, and Perfervid all mean “passionate, fiery, deeply enthusiastic” and
come from a common root relating to heat.
More Info: Don’t confuse ardor with arduous, which means very difficult. Ardor comes from a Latin
word meaning “to burn”, which we can think of here in the sense of “burning with passion.”
aseptic
Definition: Free from germs; lacking vitality, warmth, or emotion
Usage: It is very important to perform surgery in an aseptic environment, lest a patient contract sepsis
(a systemic infection) and die. / Not only did Marlene dump Tom via email, but the email was so
aseptic she might as well have been sending an interoffice memo. “That was ice cold,” said Tom.
More Info: A septic tank is a place under a house where sewage is stored. Since putting “a-“ before a
word means “without,” it makes sense that, if septic means “infected or putrefying,” then aseptic
would be the opposite.
aspersions
Definition: Damaging remarks, defamation, slander
Usage: He could no longer work with his duplicitous business partner, who acted friendly to his face
but then spewed aspersions about him behind his back. / If you asperse me one more time, I will sue
you for libel!
Related Words: Slander, Traduce, and Defame all mean “to speak maliciously and falsely of”
More Info: Aspersions is often used in the phrase “to cast aspersions,” which has the sense of
throwing or tossing insults or malicious lies about someone. One additional (rare) meaning of
aspersion is “to sprinkle, such as for baptism.” So, it’s not a long leap to imagine spattering or
sprinkling someone with insults.
assail
Definition: Attack violently, assault
Usage: One strategy for winning in boxing is to simply assail your opponent with so many blows that
he becomes disoriented. / The debate team assailed the opposition with more evidence than they
could respond to.
Related Words: Batter (beat persistently or hard)
More Info: Assail simply means attack, so it can be used metaphorically the same way you would use
attack, such as in “assailing one’s homework with great energy.”
attuned
Definition: In harmony; in sympathetic relationship
Usage: Research shows that new mothers are keenly attuned to their babies’ cries; even those who
were formerly heavy sleepers often find that they now wake up immediately when their babies need
attention. / In the sixth week of Melanie’s foreign study program, she finally attuned herself to life on
a French farm.
More Info: Attuned is almost always followed by “to.”
augury
Definition: Telling the future, such as through supernatural means
Usage: Value investors such as Warren Buffet (who attempt to buy shares in undervalued companies
by analyzing the businesses themselves) consider others’ attempts to “time the market” as mere
augury, equivalent to trying to predict rain by reading tea leaves.
Related Words: Prognosticate and Presage also mean to tell the future.
More Info: An augur or auspex in ancient Rome interpreted omens (sometimes by reading bird
entrails) to help guide the making of public decisions.
august
Definition: Venerable, majestic; inspiring admiration
Usage: “I welcome you to this august institution, where Presidents and Nobel Prize winners have
received the fruits of erudition,” said the university president (rather bombastically) to the new crop
of first-year students.
Related Words: Eminent (prominent, distinguished, of high rank), Venerable (worthy of deep respect,
hallowed, dignified), Olympian (majestic, superior, lofty)
More Info: Emperor Octavian, or Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (an heir to Julius Caesar) was
given the name Caesar Augustus upon taking the throne in 27 B.C.
avarice
Definition: Insatiable greed; a miserly desire to hoard wealth
Usage: It is hard to fathom the sheer avarice of a company that would fraudulently overcharge a
struggling school system for new computers.
Related Words: Cupidity (avarice or other excessive desire), Covetousness (greed), Rapacity or
Rapaciousness (greedy or grasping; living on prey)
axiom
Definition: Self-evident truth requiring no proof; universally or generally accepted principle
Usage: Given the last decade of research into the brain—as well as our own experience trying to
function while deprived of sleep or food—we must take as axiomatic that the brain is influenced by
the body.
Related Words: Maxim (short statement of general truth, proverb), Postulate (self-evident
proposition, such as in math)
More Info: When we say something is axiomatic, we mean that it must be true, in the way that 2+2
must equal 4, or all squares must have four sides
balloon
Definition: Swell or puff out; increase rapidly
Usage: During the dot-com bubble, the university’s investments ballooned to three times their former
value.
Related Words: Distend (swell, expand), Turgid or Tumid (swollen, inflated; or, metaphorically
“inflated,” such as in overblown, pompous speech)
More Info: In finance, a balloon payment is a single payment at the end of a loan or mortgage term that
is much larger than the other payments.
bane
(noun)
BAYN
Also baneful (adj)
Definition: Something that ruins or spoils
Usage: Mosquitoes are the bane of my existence! They just love me, and by “love” I mean ruin my
summer! / The closure of the hospital could not have been more baneful to the already strained
community.
Related Words: The opposite of bane is boon, a benefit or blessing. The words are often used
together to ask a question, as in “The new regulations: bane or boon?”
More Info: Bane can also mean poison, usually as part of more specific names, like wolfsbane or
fleabane. Don’t confuse baneful (destructive, ruinous) with baleful, which means threatening
baying
(adj)
BAY-ing
Also bay (verb)
Definition: Howling in a deep way, like a dog or wolf
Usage: The lonely dog bayed all night. / The mob bayed for the so-called traitors to be put to death.
More Info: Bay comes from an Old French word meant to actually sound like the baying of an animal.
In a related expression, when a person is “at bay” or “brought to bay,” that means that the person is
in a captured position, powerless and unable to flee.
besiege
Definition: Attack, overwhelm, crowd in on or surround
Usage: The regiment was besieged by attackers on all sides and finally surrendered. / I cannot go out
this weekend—I am besieged by homework!
Related Words: Harry (harass or annoy), Hound (harass or pursue relentlessly, as if with hunting
dogs), Beleaguer (surround, as with difficulties or attackers)
More Info: Besiege is equivalent to the expression “lay siege to” (although that expression is used
more in the military sense and less in the metaphorical sense).
bevy
Definition: Group of birds or other animals that stay close together; any large group
Usage: The bar owner cringed when a bevy of women in plastic tiaras came in—“Another drunken
bachelorette party,” he sighed.
Related Words: Covey (a group of birds, or any group), Brood (group of offspring born or hatched at
the same time, esp. birds)
More Info: Bevy is most commonly associated with birds, and often used to describe groups of
people who stick together like a flock of birds—it usually implies a not-very-serious opinion about
the group in question.
bifurcate
Definition: To fork into two branches or divide into two halves
Usage: The medical student carefully bifurcated the cadaver brain, separating it precisely into right
and left hemispheres. / The bifurcate tree stood tall, its two massive branches reaching for the sky.
Related Words: Cleave (split or cut, as in a “meat cleaver”)
More Info: In math, a midpoint bifurcates a line segment. Bifurcate comes from the Latin “furca,”
which also gives us “fork.”
bilk
Definition: Cheat or defraud
Usage: The con artist bilked many elderly people out of their savings, promising to cure illnesses
from diabetes to cancer with only 36 monthly payments of $99.99—for which the victims received
nothing but useless placebo pills.
Related Words: Hoodwink, Swindle, Con, and Fleece are all verbs for cheating others. Fleece is
perhaps more severe, having the connotation of taking everything from the victim, the way one sheers
all of the fleece from a sheep.
More Info: Bilk can also be a noun for the person who cheats others (“I hope that bilk goes to jail!”)
More obscurely, bilk can mean to escape from, frustrate, or thwart. The word comes from the card
game cribbage, where it means to play a card that keeps an opponent from scoring.
blight
Definition: Disease that kills plants rapidly, or any cause of decay or destruction (noun); ruin or
cause to wither (verb)
Usage: Many potato farmers have fallen into poverty as a result of blight killing their crops. / Gang
violence is a blight on our school system, causing innocent students to fear even attending classes. /
Violence has blighted our town.
Related Words: Scourge (punishment, disease, or disaster; a whip or lash), Bane (something that
spoils or ruins, as in “Allergies are the bane of my life.”)
More Info: Blight is often used to describe unidentified plant diseases that mysteriously cause all the
plants to wither—as such, it makes a good metaphor, as in “urban blight,” when everything decays
and goes wrong at once.
blithe
Definition: Joyous, merry; excessively carefree (so as to ignore more important concerns)
Usage: Delighted about making the cheerleading team, she blithely skipped across the street without
looking, and just narrowly avoided being hit by a bus.
Related Words: Jovial (joyous, merry)
More Info: Blithe can be positive or negative—it’s nice to be merry, but not so merry that we
thoughtlessly trample over other people, disobey the rules, etc.
bombastic
Definition: (Of speech or writing) far too showy or dramatic than is appropriate; pretentious
Usage: Professor Knutsen’s friends joked that he became quite bombastic after a few drinks, once
asking a woman in a bar, “Is your daddy an aesthete? Because you are the epitome of ineffable
pulchritude.” She replied, “I’m not impressed by your bombast.”
Related Words: Declamatory (pompous, merely oratorical), Magniloquent and Grandiloquent
(speaking in a lofty, grandiose style)
More Info: The origin of bombastic is related to the idea of being inflated, a metaphor that also
comes into play with the related words turgid and tumid, synonyms that can mean literally inflated
like a balloon, or using language much too fancy for the sentiment or occasion.
bonhomie
Definition: Friendliness, open and simple good heartedness
Usage: By the end of the summer, the campers were overflowing with bonhomie, vowing to remain
Facebook friends forever.
Related Words: Amity (friendship, peaceful agreement)
More Info: Bonhomie is from French—bon homme means “good man.” In English, bonhomie is
pronounced “bon-uh-MEE” or “BON-uh-mee” (somewhat ironically, there is no “homey” in
bonhomie).
brandish
Definition: Shake, wave, or flourish, as a weapon
Usage: The Renaissance Fair ended badly, with one drunken fellow brandishing a sword and refusing
to leave the ladies’ dressing tent.
More Info: Brandish comes from the Germanic “brand,” or sword.
brook
Definition: Suffer or tolerate
Usage: “You will do your homework every night before you go anywhere, you will do your chores,
and you will be home by 9 p.m. I will brook no disobeying of these rules, young man!”
Related Words: Condone (overlook or tacitly approve), Countenance (as a noun: face or facial
expression; as a verb: approve or tolerate)
More Info: Of course, a brook is also a small, freshwater stream. The two “brooks” come from
different origins entirely; brook as a verb comes from a Latin root meaning “enjoy.
burnish
Definition: Polish, make smooth and lustrous
Usage: Mr. Hoffenstotter replaced all of the rustic wood doorknobs with newer models made of
burnished steel. “So shiny,” said his delighted wife.
Related Words: Gilded means covered with a thin layer of gold (and thus looking like solid gold, but
actually only superficially so) and is used as a metaphor for things that look better than they really
are.
More Info: Burnish can also be used as a noun, meaning “luster or shine,” as in “the beautiful burnish
of her hair” or “the burnish of an Ivy League university.”
calumny
Definition: Malicious lie intended to hurt someone’s reputation; the act of telling such lies
Usage: I’ve had enough of your calumnious accusations! Admit that you made up all those wicked
things about me, or I will see you in court when I sue you for slander!
Related Words: Slander is a synonym. Libel is the written version of slander. Traduce, Vilify, and
Defame are verbs meaning “to slander, to damage a person’s reputation with lies.”
chicanery
Definition: Trickery, deception by knowingly false arguments
Usage: The defense lawyer’s strategy for getting her client acquitted by knowingly misinterpreting
words in an obscure precedent was nothing but chicanery. / Nice try, passing off last week’s
homework as this week’s by changing the date at the top. I’ve had enough of your chicanery, young
man!
Related Words: Quibbling (the use of ambiguous, petty, or irrelevant arguments, especially to evade
the real issue), Sophistry (deliberately tricky argumentation)
More Info: Chicanery is from French, hence the pronunciation: shi-KAY-nuh-ry.
circumscribe
Definition: Strictly limit a role, range of activity, or area; in math, to be constructed around so as to
touch as many points as possible
Usage: Suki’s parents circumscribed her after-school activities; she was permitted only to study and
to join organizations directly related to academic subjects. / A square circumscribed in a circle has
all four of its vertices on the circle’s circumference. / Our land is circumscribed by hedges and
fences.
More Info: “Circum” is the Latin root for “around,” and “scribe” for “write.” The “scribe/script” root
also occurs in proscribe (prohibit) and conscript (draft into military service).
circumspect
Definition: Cautious, prudent; careful to consider the circumstances and consequences
Usage: Luann immediately forked over an initiation fee to become a vitamin distributor, but her more
circumspect brother had a list of at least twenty questions he wanted answered before he would
consider joining.
Related Words: Staid (restrained, prim, settled)
More Info: The root “circum” means “around” and “spect” means “see”—thus, circumspect people
“look around” before acting, much as in the idiom “look before you leap.”
clamber
Definition: Climb awkwardly or with difficulty, scramble
Usage: The hiker had spent the last hour plodding lethargically up the side of the mountain, but when
she caught sight of the summit, she excitedly began to clamber up even the steepest inclines.
More Info: Clamber comes from the same root as climb. Don’t confuse it with clamor, which means
“noisy shouting or protest.”
cloying
Definition: Disgustingly or distastefully sweet
Usage: I do like visiting our grandmother, but I can’t stand those cloying movies she watches—last
time it was some heart-tugging story where an orphan saves a suffering pony. / I do like cake, but I
find that honey-covered angel food cake positively cloying.
Related Words: Treacly and Saccharine are synonyms. Maudlin means “overly tearful and
sentimental,” and might also possibly describe the orphan/pony movie described above.
coagulate
Definition: Cause a liquid to become solid or semisolid
Usage: Hemophilia is a medical condition in which the blood doesn’t coagulate, meaning that a
hemophiliac can easily bleed to death from a small wound. / When making jam, use pectin to get the
fruit to coagulate.
Related Words: Curdle also means “go from liquid to solid” but tends to be used to describe milk
spoiling, or metaphorically, as in “Her scream made my blood curdle.” Clot has the same definition
as well, and often describes blood (a blood clot in an artery can cause a heart attack). Some desserts
involve clotted cream.
coda
Definition: Final part of a musical composition; an ending, esp. one that sums up what has come
before
Usage: “You play this middle section twice, then move to the coda,” the music teacher explained to
the child. “The coda always comes last.” / Dropping my purse in a mud puddle right outside my own
front door was a fine coda to a horrible evening.
Related Words: Recapitulation (summary or the act of summing up), Précis (summary or abstract)
More Info: Coda comes from the Latin “cauda,” meaning “tail.” (A caudate animal has a tail and an
acaudate animal lacks one.)
coffer
Definition: Chest for storing valuables; financial resources, a treasury
Usage: The dishonest employee called it “dipping into the company coffers,” but the arresting officer
called it “embezzlement.” / Rather than rent a safety-deposit box, I keep my priceless antique coins in
a coffer here at home.
Related Words: A strongbox is also a chest for storing valuables.
More Info: Coffer comes from the same root as “coffin,” another type of box. When used
metaphorically, coffers is generally used in the plural.
collude
Definition: Conspire; cooperate for illegal or fraudulent purposes
Usage: After two competing software companies doubled their prices on the same day, leaving
consumers no lower-priced alternative, the federal government investigated the companies for
collusion.
Related Words: Cabal (a conspiratorial group)
compendium
Definition: Concise but complete summary; a list or collection
Usage: I could hardly bring my whole collection of poetry books on vacation, so instead, I brought a
lightweight poetry compendium containing a few selections each from thirty or so poets thought to
represent various styles and eras. / This movie review is unusually compendious—although a scant
500 words, it tells every single thing that happens in the entire film.
Related Words: Digest (a periodical containing shortened versions of works published elsewhere),
Recapitulation (summary or the act of summing up), Précis (summary or abstract)
connote
(verb)
cuh-NOTE
Also connotation (adj)
Definition: Suggest or imply in addition to the precise, literal meaning
Usage: The word “titanic” simply means large or majestic, but because of the word’s association
with the sunken ship, “titanic” has a negative connotation to many people.
Related Words: Evoke (call forth, esp. of feelings or imagination)
More Info: A denotation is the literal meaning of a word; a connotation is the feeling that
accompanies that word.
contrite
Definition: Remorseful; feeling sorry for one’s offenses or sins
Usage: He would have punished his son more severely for breaking his car’s windshield in a “rock
throwing contest,” but the boy seemed truly contrite.
Related Words: Penitent is a synonym. Atone means “to make amends for.”
More Info: Interestingly, contrite comes from a Latin root meaning “to grind.” Perhaps hating to admit
we’re wrong is truly universal.
contumacious
Definition: Rebellious; stubbornly disobedient
Usage: The psychologist’s book “Dealing With Your Contumacious Teenager” would have sold many
more copies to parents of rude and rebellious youth if only people knew what “contumacious” meant.
Related Words: Obstreperous, Recalcitrant, and Refractory are synonyms
More Info: Contumacious and contumely are not as closely related as they sound: contumely means
“contemptuous treatment or a humiliating insult.”
coterie
Definition: Close or exclusive group, clique
Usage: The pop star never traveled anywhere without a coterie of assistants and managers.
Related Words: Cabal (conspiracy, group of people who plot), Entourage (group of attendants)
More Info: In French, a coterie was a group of tenant farmers
declaim
Definition: Speak in an impassioned, pompous, or oratorical manner; give a formal speech
Usage: After a drink or two, Gabe will declaim all night about campaign finance reform—you won’t
be able get a word in edgewise in between all his grandstanding and “expertise.”
Related Words: Grandstand (perform showily as if to impress an audience)
More Info: Don’t confuse with disclaim, which simply means “deny, repudiate.”
declivity
Definition: Downward slope
Usage: Not just any declivity can serve as a wheelchair ramp—I’m pretty sure this thing is too steep
to pass regulations.
Related Words: Declination (downward slope, deterioration, deviation from the norm, refusal)
More Info: The opposite of declivity is acclivity, an upward slope.
delimit
Definition: Fix, mark, or define the boundaries of
Usage: The role of an executive coach is delimited by our code of conduct—we may not counsel
people for psychological conditions, for instance.
Related Words: Demarcate (mark the boundaries of, separate)
More Info: Delimit is one of those words where the “de” doesn’t seem to be doing much—the
definition is pretty close to that of limit.
demagogue
Definition: A leader who lies and gains power by arousing the passions and especially prejudices of
the people
Usage: Political demagogues lie and twist the facts, depending more on their natural charisma and
ability to determine exactly what their audience wants to hear than any actual understanding or
perspicacity.
Related Words: A Propagandist or Provocateur influences the public in ways that are probably more
emotional than logical.
More Info: The Greek root “demos,” for “people,” also appears in democracy, demographics, and
demotic (populist, pertaining to the people).
desultory
Definition: Lacking consistency or order, disconnected, sporadic; going off topic
Usage: Lulu said she’d been studying for the GRE for a year, but she had been doing so in only the
most desultory way—a few vocab words here and there, then nothing for a month, and practice tests
whenever she felt like it, which was rarely. / Don’t mind my daughter—there’s no need to let a
toddler’s desultory remarks pull an adult conversation off track.
More Info: Desultory comes from the Latin “desultor,” a circus rider who jumps from one horse to
another.
diaphanous
Definition: Very sheer, fine, translucent
Usage: The wedding dress was a confection of diaphanous silk, made of at least ten layers of the thin
fabric, each layer of which was so fine you could see through it.
Related Words: Gossamer (a fine, filmy cobweb, or a fine, light fabric)
More Info: Diaphanous generally describes fabric or the (beautiful, translucent) wings of certain
insects.
dichotomy
Definition: Division into two parts or into two contradictory groups
Usage: There is a dichotomy in the sciences between theoretical or “pure” sciences such as physics
and chemistry, and the life sciences, which often deal more with classifying than with theorizing.
Related Words: Binary (consisting of or involving two), Duality (a dual state, existence in two parts,
as in “Descartes posited a duality between mind and body”)
More Info: Dichotomy comes from the Greek “dicha” (apart) and “tomos” (cutting).
dictum
Definition: Formal or authoritative pronouncement; saying or proverb
Usage: “A stitch in time saves nine” is an old dictum meaning that it’s easier to solve a problem
before it gets too big. / The king’s dictum stated that each feudal lord must provide a certain number
of soldiers within three weeks’ time.
Related Words: Maxim, Apothegm, and Adage are all words for a proverb, saying, or truism
More Info: The root “dict” comes from “dicere” (to say) and also appears in dictator, dictionary,
indict (connect to a crime), malediction (curse), benediction (blessing), and many others.
dilate
Definition: To become wider or make wider, cause to expand; to speak or write at length, elaborate
upon
Usage: The doctor gave her eye drops to make her pupils dilate. / These dinners at Professor
Hwang’s house usually run rather late—after the meal, he’ll typically dilate on his latest research for
at least an hour.
Related Words: Expatiate (to expand or elaborate on a topic, to explain in detail)
More Info: Dilate is used frequently in medicine—being a certain number of centimeters dilated is an
important part of childbirth.
dilatory
Definition: Slow, late; procrastinating or stalling for time
Usage: Jack was supposed to start his presentation ten minutes ago and he isn’t even here? I’m not
surprised—he’s a dilatory fellow.
Related Words: Tardy (late), Temporize (stall for time)
dirge
Definition: A funeral or mourning song or poem
Usage: It was supposed to be a wedding march, but when the organist started playing, the reluctant
bride thought the song sounded more like a dirge for her former, carefree life.
Related Words: Lament (express sorrow, mourn), Requiem (musical service or hymn for the dead),
Threnody (poem or song of mourning), Elegy (song or poem of sorrow, esp. for a deceased person)
More Info: Dirge is simply a version of the first word (“Direct, O Lord, my God…”) from a Latin
prayer cycle said in the Roman Catholic Church for a deceased person.
disparage
Definition: Belittle, put down; bring shame upon, discredit
Usage: An Ad Hominem attack is a logical fallacy in which the arguer disparages his opponent rather
than addressing the opponent’s ideas. / Your shoplifting arrest has disparaged this family!
Related Words: Denigrate (belittle, attack the reputation of)
More Info: The root “par” means “equal” and appears in peer and parity, meaning “equivalence or
equality,” as well as disparate, meaning “distinct, different.”
disparate
Definition: Distinct, different
Usage: He chose the college for two disparate reasons: the strength of the computer science program,
and the excellence of the hip-hop dance squad.
Related Words: Divergent (different, deviating), Incommensurable (not comparable, totally
disproportionate)
More Info: The root “par” means “equal” and appears in peer and parity, meaning “equivalence or
equality,” as well as disparage, meaning “belittle.”
distaff
Definition: Female, esp. relating to the maternal side of the family; women or women’s work; a staff
that holds wool or flax for spinning
Usage: In completing your medical history, please try to remember which illnesses occurred on the
distaff side of your family. / Medical studies using all male study groups may produce results that
cannot be replicated in distaff subjects.
More Info: If using a word related to spinning wool to mean “women” seems offensive, some would
agree, although the word is generally not offensive when discussing science and medicine; the NY
Times has recently referred to “distaff subjects” in a medical study.
distend
Definition: Swell, expand, stretch, bloat
Usage: The emergency room doctor constantly saw people who came in with distended bellies, sure
that they had appendicitis; usually, it was just gas.
Related Words: Balloon (swell or puff out), Turgid or Tumid (swollen, inflated; or, metaphorically
“inflated,” such as in overblown, pompous speech)
dither
Definition: Act indecisively (verb); a state of fear or trembling excitement
Usage: “Stop dithering,” said the mother to her daughter. “Pick which sweater you want so I can pay
for it and we can get out of here.” / The haunted house brought the children to a dither from which it
was difficult for their parents to calm them down.
Related Words: Vacillate and Equivocate also mean “act irresolutely,” or in common parlance, “flipflop” in making a decision.
More Info: Dither may be related to dodder, meaning to shake or tremble, usually used in the sense of
“a doddering old man.”
diurnal
Definition: Occurring every day; happening in the daytime (rather than at night)
Usage: While many Americans rarely have a sit-down family meal, in many other cultures, dining as a
family is a diurnal affair. / Wall Street is a diurnal neighborhood—hectic in the day, but quiet once
people pile on the rush hour trains to go home.
Related Words: Quotidian (daily; everyday, ordinary)
doff
Definition: Take off (such as clothes), put aside; remove one’s hat as a gesture
Usage: Before the spring break revelers could consider doffing their clothes, they saw the sign: “No
skinny dipping.” / In my grandfather’s day, it was considered polite to doff your hat when a lady
entered the room; to us today, lifting your hat a few inches off your head and then putting it right back
seems to some like a silly way to show respect.
More Info: The opposite of doff is don, to put on. Interestingly, don came into being as a contraction
of “do on.”
droll
Definition: Funny in an odd way
Usage: The play was a droll production—not laugh-out-loud hilarious, but funny especially because it
was so strange. Who’s ever seen a fairy be mistaken for a block of cheese?
Related Words: Waggish (merry, roguish), Risible (laughable, related to laughing), Jocular, Jocund,
or Jocose (jesting, jolly)
More Info: Droll comes from a Middle Dutch word for imp, a mischievous demon
dupe
Definition: Person who is easily fooled or used (noun); to fool or exploit (verb)
Usage: The dashing rogue used flattery and lies to dupe several old ladies out of their money. “I feel
like a total dupe,” said Hazel Rosenbaum, 87. “I thought he and I were going to get married, but he
really just wanted my Social Security checks.”
Related Words: Hoodwink, Bilk, Swindle, Con, and Fleece are all verbs for cheating others. Fleece
is perhaps more severe, having the connotation of taking everything from the victim, the way one
sheers all of the fleece from a sheep.
More Info: Dupe comes from Old French duppe, a bird known for being very stupid. Dupe can also
be a short version of “duplicate,” although this meaning is somewhat informal and less likely on the
GRE.
dyspeptic
Definition: Grumpy, pessimistic, irritable; suffering from dyspepsia (indigestion)
Usage: The dyspeptic professor was so angered by a question from a student who hadn’t done the
homework that he actually stomped out of class.
Related Words: Curmudgeon (bad-tempered, difficult person), Crotchety (grouchy, picky, given to
odd notions), Cantankerous (disagreeable, contentious), Crank (an unbalanced person who is
fanatical about a private, generally petty cause)
More Info: Dyspeptic describes a physical condition but is often used metaphorically; indigestion
does tend to make a person feel irritable. Similarly, myopia describes the physical condition of
nearsightedness, but is often used metaphorically to mean “given to unwisely short-term thinking
echelon
Definition: A level, rank or grade; the people at that level
Usage: Obtaining a job on Wall Street doesn’t guarantee access to the upper echelon of executives,
where multi-million dollar bonuses are the norm. / I’m not sure I’m cut out to analyze poetry; I find it
hard to dig beyond the most accessible echelon of meaning.
Related Words: Stratum (a layer, esp. one of a number of parallel layers, such as in sedimentary rock
or the Earth’s atmosphere; plural is strata, as in “Of all the strata of society, the middle class is the
stratum hit hardest by the recession.”)
More Info: The original meaning of echelon is a formation of troops or war vehicles so as to
resemble steps; similarly, birds flying in such a pattern are flying in echelon.
edify
Definition: Uplift, enlighten, instruct or improve in a spiritual or moral way
Usage: Look, Son, I’m glad that you’re reading, but I really wish you would read something more
edifying than that magazine that gives tips for winning at violent video games.
More Info: Edifying isn’t actually etymologically related to edible, but it’s a good memory trick to
think of something edifying as “food for the soul.”
effigy
Definition: Representation or image of a person, esp. a crude facsimile used to mock a hated person
Usage: The dictator was disturbed to look out the palace window and see himself being burned in
effigy. “That paper mache dummy doesn’t even look like me!” he said.
More Info: A scarecrow is a common type of effigy, intended to scare birds away and keep them
from eating crops. Effigies are often large or life-sized. The expression “burned in effigy” is
sometimes used as hyperbole, as in “After the university president announced a major tuition hike, I
thought the students were going to burn him in effigy.”
egress
Definition: An exit or the action of exiting
Usage: It is against the fire code to put those boxes there—you can’t block a primary or secondary
egress from the building.
Related Words: Outlet can mean an exit or vent, or a means or expression or publication. “You can’t
grill in the house—there’s no outlet for smoke! You obviously need an outlet for your frustrated
desire to be a chef.”
More Info: Egress shares a root with grade, meaning “move or step.” Just as you exit fifth grade to
enter sixth grade, or as the land grades into the sea, egress involves a shift in position. The opposite
of egress is ingress, meaning “entering.”
elegy
Definition: Song or poem of sorrow, esp. for a deceased person
Usage: While composing an elegy is certainly old fashioned, the poet felt that it was a fitting way for
her to honor her father at his funeral.
Related Words: Dirge (a funeral or mourning song or poem), Lament (express sorrow, mourn),
Requiem (musical service or hymn for the dead), Threnody (poem or song of mourning)
encomium
Definition: Warm, glowing praise, esp. a formal expression of praise
Usage: Just after all the encomium at his retirement party, he received a gold watch. / The first draft
of your dissertation is little but encomium of the works of Christopher Marlowe, whereas I’m afraid
that doctoral-level work requires a more nuanced and critical view.
Related Words: Laudation (praise, tribute), Eulogy (a speech of praise or written work of praise,
esp. a speech given at a funeral), Panegyric (formal, lofty, or elaborate praise), Paean (song of
praise, triumph, or thanks)
epicure
(noun)
EPP-ick-yoor
Also epicurean (adj)
Definition: Person with cultivated, refined tastes, esp. in food and wine
Usage: A true epicure, he served only the finest wines, and bragged about how the pancetta was
imported from Italy and the Stilton cheese from the English countryside.
Related Words: Connoisseur (expert, especially in the fine arts; person of educated, refined tastes),
Discriminating (judicious, discerning, having good insight)
More Info: The Epicureans were Greek philosophers who did indeed hold that human pleasure was
the highest good, although they believed that a simple life was key to that pleasure. Don’t confuse
modern epicures with hedonists, or those devoted to pleasure—one way to think of the difference is
that, if your parents are epicures, you probably grew up eating very well, but if your parents are
hedonists, you probably don’t want to know about it.
equanimity
(noun)
eck-wuh-NIM-it-ee or ee-kwuh-NIM-it-ee
Also equanimous (adj)
Definition: Composure, evenness of mind; mental or emotional stability, esp. under stress
Usage: As she had worked for many years in mental hospitals, her equanimity was unparalleled—
you could throw a chair or a bowl of spaghetti at her and she would just say, “Settle down, now.”
Related Words: Sangfroid (calmness, self-possession, esp. under strain), Aplomb (self-possession,
poise, total confidence even under stress), Imperturbable (not able to be upset or agitated, calm)
More Info: Don’t confuse equitable and equity with equanimity and equanimous; the first set is
about equality, the second set about being even-tempered.
erstwhile
Definition: Former, previous (adj); in the past, formerly (adv)
Usage: A novelist and erstwhile insurance salesman, he told us his story of the long road to literary
success, before he was able to quit his day job.
Related Words: Bygone (past, former), Quondam (former, sometime)
More Info: Erstwhile is related to the Old English ere, which means “before.”
ethos
Definition: The character, personality, or moral values specific to a person, group, time period, etc.
Usage: At the prep school, the young man happily settled into an ethos of hard work and rigorous
athletic competition.
Related Words: Disposition (a person’s general or natural mood; tendency), Tenor (general drift,
course, or purpose, as in “the rebellious tenor of the rally”), Penchant and Predilection (“tendency,
preference,” as in a penchant for fast cars, a predilection to get angry easily)
More Info: Ethos is a Greek word meaning “custom or character,” much as it does today.
euphemism
Definition: Substitution of a mild, inoffensive, or indirect expression for one that is considered
offensive or too direct
Usage: Many euphemisms surround death and disease; rather than “Joe died of cancer,” many people
feel better saying “Joe’s suffering is finally over.” / When potty training their children, some parents
use hilarious euphemisms for body parts.
More Info: The antonym of euphemism is dysphemism, an unnecessarily bad name for something. The
internet division of the publishing company dysphemistically referred to the print magazine as the
“dead tree edition.”
exigent
Definition: Requiring immediate attention, action, or aid; excessively demanding
Usage: My boss said she would take me out to lunch and “mentor” me, but that idea always gets
tossed aside in favor of more exigent matters.
Related Words: Dire (causing suffering or fear; ominous; urgent or desperate, as in “a dire emergency
requiring immediate response”)
More Info: Don’t confuse exigent with expedient, which means either “suitable, proper” or
“opportune; effective, often at the expense of ethics or other considerations,” as in “In the face of an
exigent problem, the boss risked a serious lawsuit by doing what was expedient instead of what was
right.”
expedient
Definition: Suitable, proper; effective, often at the expense of ethics or other considerations
Usage: “I need this report by 2pm, and I don’t care what you have to do to make that happen,” said the
boss. “I expect you to deal with it expediently.” / When invited to a wedding you cannot attend, it is
expedient to send a gift.
Related Words: Opportune (suitable, convenient, occurring at an appropriate time)
More Info: Don’t confuse expedient with exigent, “requiring immediate attention, action, or aid.”
extemporaneous
Definition: Done without preparation (esp. of a speech), or with some preparation but no notes;
improvised, done on the spur of the moment
Usage: The way the Public Affairs Forum works is that the moderator will announce a topic, and then
anyone who wishes may speak extemporaneously on that topic for a few minutes—as you can
imagine, our members are very well-read. / Lost in the jungle, the hikers fashioned an
extemporaneous shelter from palm leaves.
Related Words: Impromptu (done with no or little preparation, esp. of musical or other performance),
Ad-lib (improvise; something improvised)
More Info: Extempore is a variant with the same meaning. “Off-the-cuff” is an expression that means
extemporaneous.
faction
Definition: Group or clique within a larger organization; party strife and dissension
Usage: The opposition movement was once large enough to have a chance at succeeding, but it has
since broken into numerous, squabbling factions, each too small to have much impact. / The caucus
began in a spirit of unity but now, sadly, is marked by faction and petty squabbles.
Related Words: Partisan (partial to a particular party, group, etc., esp. in a biased, emotional way),
Cabal (a conspiratorial group)
More Info: Faction contains the root “fact,” meaning “make or do,” also appearing in factory and
factitious (made up).
fallow
Definition: Left unplanted (of land); not in use
Usage: Crop yields were increased substantially when the villagers discovered that leaving a portion
of their fields lie fallow allowed that unused part of the land to become renewed with minerals. / It is
terribly important that we make college affordable for underprivileged students, lest great minds lie
fallow, and the world never benefit from their genius.
Related Words: Another GRE word related to farming is arable, which means “able to be farmed,
fertile,” as in “arable land.”
More Info: Fallow can mean “light yellowish-brown.” Although this seems like a color that an
untended field might turn, this meaning of the word comes from a different origin.
fatuous
Definition: Foolish, silly, esp. in a smug or complacent manner
Usage: Sadly, every philosophy class seems to have one person who responds to every discussion,
from metaphysics to ethics, with the fatuous question, “But what if we don’t really exist?”
Related Words: Inane (lacking sense, silly; empty), Waggish (merry, roguish), Risible (laughable,
related to laughing), Jocular, Jocund, or Jocose (jesting, jolly), Droll (funny in an odd way)
More Info: Don’t confuse fatuous with facetious, meaning “joking, humorous, esp. inappropriately.”
Facetious people can be smartly sarcastic; fatuous people are dull and dim-witted. Fatuous comes
from a word for gaping—as in, having one’s mouth hang open like a very stupid person.
felicitous
Definition: Admirably appropriate, very well-suited for the occasion; pleasant, fortunate, marked by
happiness
Usage: “What a felicitous occasion!” said the new grandfather, arriving at the hospital with an “It’s a
Girl!” balloon. The new father found the balloon remarkably felicitous, especially since the baby’s
gender had been announced less than an hour ago.
Related Words: Apt is a synonym in its meaning of “exactly appropriate” (Apt can also mean
“inclined, having a natural tendency” or “quick to learn”). Fortuitous means “happening by chance,
accidental” and usually also has the meaning of “lucky.”
More Info: Felicity means happiness and can also be a woman’s name, as in the titular character of
the televised drama Felicity (1998–2002).
fervid
Definition: Very hot; heated in passion or enthusiasm
Usage: He is a fervid fan of Virginia Tech football, so much so that we’ve all gotten used to receiving
“Go Hokies!” hats and shirts for every birthday.
Related Words: Ardent (very passionate), Zealous (full of fervor or dedicated enthusiasm for a cause,
person, etc.)
More Info: Like fervid, Fervent and Perfervid also mean “passionate, fiery, deeply enthusiastic” and
come from a common root relating to heat.
fetid
Definition: Stinking; having an offensive smell
Usage: I hate doing your laundry—it’s always full of fetid gym socks.
Related Words: Noisome (disgusting, foul), Noxious (harmful to health; corrupting)
Memory Trick: Fetid looks a little like “feet”—smells like feet, too.
florid
Definition: Reddish or rosy; flowery, showy, or excessively fancy
Usage: His writing was so florid that it was hard for modern readers to understand, and
unintentionally humorous when they did. He once called a woman in a hoop skirt a “confection of
gossamer-clad ephemerality, the bounty of her raiment ringing in my turgid heart like the
tintinnabulation of so many church bells.”
Related Words: Ruddy (having reddish skin, in a manner indicating health), Bombastic (far too showy
or dramatic than is appropriate; pretentious), Turgid and Tumid (inflated like a balloon, or using
language much too fancy for the sentiment or occasion), Declamatory (pompous, merely oratorical),
Magniloquent and Grandiloquent (speaking in a lofty, grandiose style), Rococo (ornate, florid)
More Info: Florid, of course, shares a root with flower.
flout
Definition: Treat with disdain, contempt, or scorn (usually of rules)
Usage: He flouted the boarding school’s curfew so blatantly that, on his way back from a party that
lasted past midnight, he actually stopped by the headmaster’s house to say hello to his daughter.
More Info: Don’t confuse with flaunt, meaning “to show off or parade oneself in a conspicuous way.”
Flout comes from Middle English “flouten,” meaning “to play the flute.” Apparently it was once
possible to play the flute at someone in a jeering way
fluke
Definition: Stroke of luck, something accidentally successful
Usage: It’s amazing that I won the prize during halftime, but I guarantee you, it was just a fluke that I
made that basket—if I tried a thousand more times, I’m sure I couldn’t do it again.
Related Words: Fortuitous (accidental, lucky), Windfall (unexpected, sudden gain or good fortune, as
in “The prize winner’s windfall more than solved his mortgage problem.”)
More Info: A fluke can also be a flatworm (a “liver fluke”), type of fish, anchor blade, barbed
arrowhead, or even a lobe of a whale’s tail. What all of these objects have in common is being flat
(the old Germanic root means flat). The origin of fluke as a “stroke of good luck” is unknown—
having flukes parasitizing your liver, for instance, sounds incredibly un
forage
Definition: Wander in search of; rummage, hunt, make a raid
Usage: It’s important to seal your trash cans tightly in this neighborhood, or else you’ll get raccoons
foraging for food in your backyard.
Related Words: Plunder, pillage, ransack, depredate, and despoil are words that match the meaning
of raiding or looting, although forage is more often used in the gentler sense of poking around the
forest looking for edible plants.
ford
Definition: Place where a river or similar body of water is shallow enough to walk or ride a vehicle
across (noun); to cross at such a place (verb)
Usage: The pioneers made camp near the riverbank, waiting for the rains to die down and the river to
become fordable again. A week later, the waters were shallow enough to ford the river with their
entire caravan—horses, wagons, and all.
Related Words: Traverse (pass over, along, or through; g
forestall
Definition: Delay, hinder, prevent by taking action beforehand
Usage: Our research has been forestalled by a lack of funding; we’re all just biding our time while
we wait for the university to approve our grant proposal.
Related Words: Waylay (attack after lying in wait, intercept unexpectedly), Obviate (prevent, make
unnecessary), Preclude (prevent, make impossible, exclude), Stymie (hinder, thwart)
fortuitous
Definition: Happening by chance; lucky
Usage: It was amazingly fortuitous that the exclusive beach resort had a cancellation for exactly the
weekend she had wanted to get married, allowing her to have the perfect wedding after all.
Related Words: Fluke (stroke of luck, something accidentally successful), Inadvertent (unintentional,
characterized by a lack of attention)
More Info: Fortuitous shares a root with fortune. It usually carries both the sense of “happening
accidentally” and “fortunate,” but can also mean happening by chance in a negative or neutral way
fracas
Definition: Noisy disturbance or fight; brawl
Usage: Rugby is one of the most aggressive of sports—when the players rush to pile on top of the
person with the ball, bones can easily be broken in the fracas.
Related Words: Fray (scuffle, brawl, heated dispute)
More Info: In French, “fracasser” is to shatter; in Italian, “fracassare” is to make an uproar. Those,
and fracas, come from Latin “frangere” (to break), also appearing in frangible, or breakable.
frenetic
Definition: Wildly excited, frantic, distracted
Usage: The advice in the expert’s time management book struck many as unrealistic, as not everyone
can handle the frenetic lifestyle the author espouses: getting up before dawn to begin work before
spending quality time with the kids over breakfast, taking conference calls from the treadmill, etc.
Related Words: Frenzied (wildly excited; violently agitated)
fulminate
Definition: Explode, detonate; attack verbally in a vehement, thunderous way
Usage: Please don’t bring up anything related to gun control around my family, or my dad will
fulminate for hours about the Second Amendment.
Related Words: To rail against or rail at is to issue a bitter denunciation of.
furtive
Definition: Done secretly; stealthy, sly, shifty
Usage: As a spokesperson for a popular diet plan, the actress had to be quite furtive about eating junk
food, even hiding her M&Ms in a breath mint container lest the paparazzi snap photos of the inside of
her car.
Related Words: Clandestine, Covert, and Surreptitious all mean secret, undercover. Furtive contains
the added sense of doing something wrong. For instance, the National Clandestine Service is part of
the CIA, and military units regularly engage in covert operations. It is unlikely, though, that a
government would ever use furtive in the name of its departments or operations, due to the word’s
negative associations. Furtive, in fact, comes from a Latin word for “thief.”
gambol
Definition: Frolic; skip or leap playfully
Usage: Watching the children gambol in the park like frisky little lambs, she wondered how they
could have so much energy.
Related Words: Caper (gambol; or, a prank, trick, or carefree activity), Cavort (prance, make merry),
Lark (merry adventure)
More Info: Gambol comes from the Latin “gamba,” a horse’s leg
garner
Definition: Gather and store; amass, collect
Usage: The publisher sent copies of the soon-to-be-published manuscript to reviewers, hoping to
garner acclaim and publicity for the book.
Related Words: Accrue (increase gradually), Augment (grow larger), Agglomerate (form into a mass
or cluster, join together), Aggregate (gather together, amount to), Consolidate (unite, combine, firm
up—you can consolidate loans or consolidate power)
gestation
Definition: Pregnancy; the period from conception until birth of an animal or (metaphorically) of an
idea or plan
Usage: The gestation period of an elephant is 22 months, more than twice as long as that of human
glacial
Definition: Pertaining to glaciers; cold, icy, slow, unsympathetic
Usage: He had wanted to appear in the singing reality competition his whole young life, but he was
not encouraged by the judges’ glacial response to his audition. The awkward silence was excruciating
as he waited for the stony-faced panel to say anything at all.
Related Words: Frigid (very cold, without human warmth or emotion), Gelid (icy)
glower
Definition: Stare in an angry, sullen way
Usage: He couldn’t figure out why his girlfriend was glowering at him throughout dinner. “Oh,” he
finally realized, “Is it your birthday? Oh, and I forgot you hate seafood. Sorry about the fishsticks.”
Related Words: Lower as a verb means “look angry, appear threatening.” A person can lower (as in
the girlfriend above), or, often, the sky lowers before a storm
gouge
Definition: Scooping or digging tool, like a chisel, or a hole made with such a tool (noun); cut or
scoop out; force out a person’s eye with one’s thumb; swindle, extort money from (verb)
Usage: I was happy with this new video game console for a day or two, until I saw it advertised all
over town for half the price and realized I’d been gouged. / He loves gory horror films, where
people’s eyes are gouged out and gross stuff like that.
Related Words: Rout (dig around, as with a snout; rummage; scoop out or gouge)
graft
Definition: Insert part of a plant into another plant, where it continues to grow; join living tissue
(such as skin) to part of the body where it will continue to live and grow; attach as if by grafting
(verb); the part so grafted (as in a graft of skin); the act of acquiring money or other benefits through
illegal means, esp. by abusing one’s power (noun)
grandstand
Definition: Perform showily in an attempt to impress onlookers
Usage: I was really passionate about the candidate when he spoke at our school, but now that I think
about it, he was just grandstanding. I mean, who could disagree that young people are the future?
And doing a cheer for the environment doesn’t actually signify a commitment to change any public
policies about it.
Related Words: Declaim (speak in an impassioned, pompous, or oratorical manner; give a formal
speech)
grating
Definition: Irritating; harsh or discordant (of a noise); scraping
Usage: Folding jeans at the mall finally became unbearable when her kindly old supervisor was
replaced with a young woman whose grating tone made commands like “Fold faster and then clean
up this display!” sound like nails on a chalkboard.
Related Words: Rasping is a synonym in all senses—irritating, relating to harsh noise, or scraping, as
in “The bottom of the boat rasped the rocky ocean floor.” A person with a sore throat often has a
raspy voice.
grievous
Definition: Causing grief or suffering; very serious, grave; flagrant, outrageous
Usage: While people certainly do injure themselves on hot stoves, such burns rarely compare to the
grievous injuries sustained by people who do not observe safety procedures with twelve-gallon deep
fryers.
Related Words: Dire (causing suffering or fear; ominous; urgent or desperate, as in “a dire emergency
requiring immediate response”)
grouse
Definition: Complain or grumble (verb); a reason for complaint (noun)
hand-wringing
Definition: Grasping, squeezing, etc. of the hands as an expression of nervousness, guilt, etc.; extend
debate over what to do about an issue
hapless
Definition: Unlucky, unfortunate
Related Words: Bootless (useless), Woebegone (beset with woe—that is, grief or distress)
harrow
Definition: Farming tool that breaks up soil (noun); painfully disturb or distress (verb)
hermetic
Definition: Airtight, sealed, isolated; reclusive; pertaining to alchemy, occult
hew
Definition: Strike, chop, or hack (as with an axe, sword. etc.); make or shape something (such as a
statue) with a cutting tool
hotly
Definition: In an intense, fiery, or heated way
husband
Definition: Manage prudently, sparingly, or economically; conserve
idolatry
Definition: Idol worship; excessive or unthinking devotion or adoration
idyllic
Definition: Presenting a positive, peaceful view of rural life (as poetry or prose); pleasant in a
natural, simple way
imbue
Definition: Permeate or saturate, as dye in a fabric; influence throughout
impasse
Definition: Position or road from which there is no escape; deadlock
impassive
Definition: Not having or not showing physical feeling or emotion
imperious
Definition: Commanding, domineering; acting like a high ranking person; urgent
imperturbable
Definition: Calm, not able to be upset or agitated
impervious
Definition: Impenetrable, not able to be harmed or emotionally disturbed
