Words beginning with A Flashcards
Abash
To embarrass
Arthur was abashed at a bash when he drank too much and fell in the trash.
Abate
To lessen
Abigail’s sister screamed, “Ab ate all the cookies!” Later, of course, her anger abated.
Abominate
To loathe; hate
The terrorist abominated his enemy Nate so much that he put a bomb in Nate’s boxer shorts.
Abstruse
Profound; difficult to understand
When Abraham Lincoln wrote a confusing peace agreement to end the Cil War, people commented that Abe’s truce was abstruse.
Accentuate
To stress; emphasize
An accent mark accentuates a syllable.
While in New York, it was rude of you to accentuate the fact the Brooklyn people speak with an accent you hate.
Acclivity
Sharp incline of a hill
A cliff is an example of an acclivity.
Accolade
Award; honor
When LL Cool J received an accolade for his acting, he just smiled and asked for a Kool-Aid.
Accost
To approach and speak to
“That snack cost you $3.95!” the salesman said, accosting the costumer who was about to leave without paying.
Acne
Zits
Adroit
Skillful
C3PO is an adroit android.
Adulate
To flatter and praise so much it’s sickening
“Brad, dual eight hundreds on your math and verbal SATs! Your a god!” She adulated.
Adulterate
To make impure
Never trust and adult with you bellybutton lint collection. He will definitely adulterate it.
Adumbrate
To foreshadow by disclosing, only partially
The economic indicators adumbrated that the price of gas would rise to a dumb rate.
Adverse
Hostile; opposed; unfavorable
“It’s tough writing a national anthem during a British attack.” complained Francis Scott Key. “The only light you have is the Rockets’ red glare. You have to add verse user adverse conditions.
Advocate
To urge; recommend
Advertisements advocate products.
Aesthetic
Artistic; pertaining to a sense of what is beautiful
As the tick was sucking blood from my arm I squished it. The dead insect smeared on my arm was not aesthetically pleasing.
Affected
Fake
His affected personality negatively affected out affection.
Affinity
Attraction
There was a natural affinity between him and his new Infiniti.
Affluent
Rich
A flu went around the affluent passengers of the yacht; their diamond tiaras and the Rolexes sparked when the sneezed.
Affray
Public brawl
The frog was afraid to enter the affray.
Agape
Open-mouthed
If you stand agape, there is a gap in your mouth.
Aghast
Horrified
We were aghast when he “passed gas.”
Agile
Able to move in a quick and easy fashion
Age’ll make you less agile.
Alacrity
Cheerful promptness
The empty auditorium was the result of a lack of alacrity among the sleep-deprived students.
Alias
A false name
“Your real name was all I asked for; why did you give me an alias?” The reporter said to Jennifer Lawrence.
Alimentary
Supplying nourishment
When Watson asked, “what’s a ten letter word meaning supplying nourishment?” Sherlock replied, “Alimentary, my dear Watson.”
Abase
Lower; humiliate
“I will not abase myself by going to a base with you on the first date,” she said to Paul.
Allay
To soothe; to make more bearable
He allayed his parents’ fears by getting all A’s on his report card.
Alleged
Stated without proof
It was alleged that he does by falling off a ledge.
Alleviate
To make more bearable
A leaf he ate failed alleviate his hunger, even though it was a large leaf.
Allude
To refer indirectly
Allusion
A reference to something
A lewd person alludes to salacious sexual endeavors.
Altercation
A violent dispute
An altercation broke out when, at the altar, Kate said to her groom, “I don’t.”
Amass
To collect; to get a bunch of
By publishing this book we hope to amass a mass of scores for our readers.
Ambulatory
Able to walk
After he was run over by the ambulance, he was no longer ambulatory.
Ameliorate
To improve a bad situation
Amelia rated her love life as having been ameliorated since last year.
Amity
Peaceful relations; friendship
There was amity between the students at M.I.T and their math professors.
Amnesia
Loss of memory
We forgot out sentence for this word because we have amnesia.
Amok
Freaked out and violently pissed off
The schmuck in the muck got stuck, ran amok, and screamed, “Shucks!”
Amorphous
Shapeless
If you take too much morphine, you’ll feel like an amorphous blob.
Anthropoid
Humanlike
C3PO is and anthropoid droid.
Antipathy
Hatred; aversion; dislike
By this time you should be developing a strong antipathy to studying these words and their ridiculous definitions.
Apathetic
Indifferent; showing lack of interest
Apathy
Indifference; lack of interest
It’s a pathetic thing to be apathetic.
Alex
Tip; peak; summit; way up there
The ape exercised by jumping off the apex of the monkey house in the zoo.
Appease
To soothe; placate
He appeased his parents by eating a piece of slimy okra.
Arbitrary
Chosen at random or without apparent reason
If a college rejects you, it must be because it’s admissions process is arbitrary.
Ardor
Heat; passion; zeal
With ardor she moaned, “You don’t have to be so gentle—ardor, ardor. “
Askew
Crooked; off to one side
Assuage
To ease; pacify
Buying a suede fringed jacket might assuage Donna’s compulsive desire to shop.
Astute
Shrewd; wise; observing
A student must be astute to outwit the Evil Testing Serpent.
Attribute
A characteristic, usually a good one (n.)
To explain be indicating a cause (v.)
In her article on Pamela Anderson, the mean-spirited reporter attributed the actress’ most prominent attribute to plastic surgery.
Atypical
Not typical
Michael Jackson’s looks, voice, clothing, and habits are atypical for an Earthling.
Audacity
Boldness
Their audacity was evident when they published their odd SAT book.
August
Majestic; awe-inspiring
When Cleopatra saw Augustus in all his finery she said, “Aw Gus, you look august.”
Austerity
Severity; strictness
His austerity is actually a rarity; severity is not his specialty.
Averse
Opposed; unwilling
I was averse to writing verse. So at the teacher I did curse. And put mounds of coleslaw I her purse. My verse started well, but then got worse. As I ran out of things that rhymed with -erse.
Avuncular
A funky word meaning, “like an uncle”
This word does not deserve a sentence because only your avuncular Uncle Herbert would ever use it.
Awry
Twisted crooked; out of whack; askew; wrong
“Waiter, there is something awry in my bread,” she complained. “That thing?” He replied. “Why that’s just a rye seed.”
