Advanced Words Flashcards
Annul
Make void or null, cancel, abolish (usually of laws or other established rules)
Anodyne
Medicine that relieves pain; soothing, relieving pain
Antedate
Be older than, precede in time; assign to an earlier date
Antithetical
Directly opposed, opposite; involving antithesis (the rhetorical act of placing two phrases opposite on another for contrast, as in love me or hate me)
Apostate
Person who deserts a party, cause, religion, etc.
Apostle
Pioneer of a reform movement (originally, an early follower of Jesus)
Apposite
Highly appropriate, suitable, or relevant
Apprise
Inform, give notice to
Approbation
Praise or approval, especially formal approval
Appropriate
Set aside or authorize (such as money) for a particular purpose; take for one’s own use
Arbiter
Judge, umpire, person empowered to decide matters at hand
Ardent or ardor
Very passionate, devoted, or enthusiastic
Arrogate
Claim or take presumptuously or without the right to do so
Ascribe
Assign or credit to a certain cause or source
Aseptic
Free from germs
Asperity
Rigor, severity; harshness or sharpness of tone; roughness of surface
Aspersions
Damaging remarks, defamation, slander
Assail
Attack violently, assault
Assiduous
Persevering, diligent, constant
Attenuate
Weaken or thin out
Attuned
In harmony; in sympathetic relationship
Augury
Telling the future, such as through supernatural means
August
Venerable, majestic; inspiring admiration
Avarice
Insatiable greed; a miserly desire to hoard wealth
Axiom
Self-evident truth requiring no proof; universally or generally accepted principle
Balloon
Swell or puff out; increase rapidly
Banal
Lacking freshness and originality; cliché
Bane
Something that ruins or spoils
Baying
Howling in a deep way, like a dog or wolf
Beneficent
Doing good
Bent
Personal inclination or tendency
Besiege
Attack, overwhelm, crowd in on or surround
Bevy
Group of birds or other animals that stay close together; any large group
Bifurcate
To fork into two branches or divide into two halves
Bilk
Cheat or defraud
Blight
Disease that kills plants rapidly, or any cause of decay or destruction; ruin or cause to wither
Blithe
Joyous, merry; excessively carefree
Bombastic
(Of speech or writing) far too showy or dramatic than is appropriate; pretentious
Bonhomie
Friendliness, open and simple good heartedness
Brandish
Shake, wave, or flourish, as a weapon
Brook
Suffer or tolerate
Bucolic
Suggesting a peaceful and pleasant view of rural life
Burnish
Polish, make smooth and lustrous
Calumny
Malicious lie intended to hurt someone’s reputation; the act of telling such lies
Canard
Rumor, a false or baseless story
Cardinal
Chief, most important
Catholic
Universal, broad-minded
Chicanery
Trickery, deception by knowingly false arguments
Circumscribe
Strictly limit a role, range of activity, or area; in math, to be constructed around so as to touch as many points as possible
Circumspect
Cautious, prudent; careful to consider the circumstances and consequences
