vocab

Strong dislike or hate for something or someone.

Drugs are abhorred by most people because of the destructive addiction that it causes.

Straying from the right or normal way.

Atypical

Abnormal

I don’t intend to suggest that his psychology was in some way aberrant or neurotic.

Deny, renounce

Surrender, relinquish

It would be abnegating the nation’s fundamental commitment to individual rights.

Her powers were abnegated.

Accumulated over a period of time.

Three weeks of accrued vacation time.

The loan increases by the amount of unpaid, accrued interest.

A fear of heights.

Bunjee Jumping is an extremely scary activity for acrophobic people.

Anger and bitterness.

Harsh or biting sharpness especially of words, manner or feelings.

Mordancy

Acidity

She responded with such acrimony that he never brought the subject up again.

Keenness of perception.

Others worry that their mental and hearing acuity might not ever return.

Doing something for the case or task at hand without thinking about wider application or consequences.

Something formed or used for specific immediate needs or problems.

Extempore

Impromptu

Unpremeditated

She was astute enough to quickly conjure up an ad hoc solution to the problem.

The ad hoc set pieces looked almost the same as the original ones that got destroyed in the fire.

A counsel or warning against fault or oversight.

A gentle or friendly rebuke.

Admonishment

Asciidoctor, a Static Site Generator, has great admonition icons for warnings, tips, general notes, cautionary notes and important notes!

A good looking man who makes others attracted to him.

Logan is an adonis, but he is not that great as a person.

Voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than that person’s current spouse or partner.

Infidelity

Unfaithfulness

Ron found out that his wife Lauren had committed adultery.

Being pleasant and at ease in talking to others.

Characterized by ease and friendliness.

Felicitous

Congenial

Easygoing

Laid-back

Cordial

She is a bright and affable person, but every little success she has feels cheapened in comparison with her mother’s overpowering accomplishments.

Someone who does not know or believes that it is impossible to know if God exists.

Something that is not designed for or preferring a particular device or system.

An agnostic person can be both, an atheist or a theist.

Git is an Operating System agnostic software tool.

Fear of open spaces or lonely places.

Being in a deserted place brings out the agoraphobic side of her.

Promptness in response.

Cheerful readiness.

The alacrity with which the mentors agreed to mentor the participants at the hackathon surprised me!

A book published every year that contains facts and information about a particular subject or activity.

An almanac of town news.

An unselfish person who thinks of the need of others.

Benevolent

An altruist always ends up winning in life.

Simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings (such as attraction and repulsion) toward an object, person or action.

Uncertainty as to which approach to follow.

Continual fluctuation (as between one thing and its opposite).

He felt ambivalence toward his powerful father.

They had ambivalence about their goals.

Strongly moved by love and especially sexual love.

Being in love.

Erogenous

Erotic

Sexy

She was amorous of the girl.

She received amorous glances from him.

According to Martin & Miller, the data included amorous communications with numerous women, and more than 200 photographs of women.

Something which is free from echoes and reverberations.

A cent percent anechoic chamber is impossible to build.

The study of man.

The science of human development and history.

Lack of feeling or emotion.

Lack of interest or concern.

Insensibility

Indifference

Drug abuse leads to apathy and depression.

Complete and confident composure or self-assurance.

Poise

Composure

Placidity

Tranquility

She played several roles with equal aplomb.

Stefan Soltesz conducts the excellent chorus and orchestra with aplomb, and television director Brian Large does his usual exemplary job.

Of doubtful authenticity.

True or apocryphal, the story of the invention of the fried Ipswich clam is unabashed gospel for lovers of this regional specialty.

To set a value on.

To evaluate the worth, significance or status of something or someone.

The ring must be appraised by a jeweler before it can be insured.

The results would allow investors to appraise the value of Coinbase shares.

Praise

An act of approving formally or officially.

Commendation

The company has even received the approbation of its former critics.

That plan has the approbation of the school board.

Living a life of forced hardship and abstinence.

Austere

Puritanical

He lived the life of an ascetic, as he abhorred self-indulgence and luxury.

Showing great care, attention and effort.

Sedulous

Harsh pays assiduous attention to his GitHub repositories.

A defect in vision.

Incapacity for differentiation and observation.

Astigmatic fanaticism, a disregard for the facts because one strongly believes in something, is deadly.

Causing a tightening of soft organic tissues.

The medicine checked the discharge of mucus by causing shrinkage of tissue, thus acting as an astringent agent.

(Tongue puckering with sour candy.)

Able to understand a situation quickly and see how to take advantage of it.

Arun Jaitley was a very knowledgeable and astute politician.

Omen

Foretell

Portent

Presage

Ancient augury involved the interpretation of the flight patterns of birds.

Some people believe that a broken mirror is an augury of seven years of bad luck.

An establishment whose main business is a bar for the sale of liquor.

Barroom brawls are not very common.

Jail

Prison

Penitentiary

The queen ordered for Jason to be marched off to the bastille.

To be necessary, proper, or advantageous for something or someone.

Laidback Luke and Selena Gomez behoove me to be better. They are such inspirations!

Custom-made

Dealing in or producing custom-made articles.

A wealthy man who can easily afford bespoke suits.

Bespoke coffee concoctions and healthy food are served all day long.

To talk or act with noisy swaggering threats.

To be windy and boisterous.

To utter with noisy self-assertiveness.

Rant

"I don’t want to hear it!" he blustered.

They do their work without bluster or ostentation.

Resembling or befitting a rude or insensitive person.

Uncouth

Loutish

People with boorish personalities are generally apathetic.

Marked by a concern for material interests and a tendency toward mediocrity.

A middle-class person.

The long boulevards fan out imperially behind a bourgeois couple who share an umbrella.

Muscular strength.

Full strong muscles.

Dr. Banner spent time in the Gamma lab and put together the brains of Bruce and the brawn of the Hulk to create a hybrid.

Rapidly growing, developing or expanding.

Proliferate

The burgeoning factories bereft home labor of their value, thus reducing their income significantly.

A rhythmic sequence or flow of sounds in language.

A regular and repeated pattern of activity.

Oars moved back and forth in smooth cadence.

Adria and Axel found his French cadence difficult to follow.

A misrepresentation intended to harm another person’s reputation.

Vilification

Disparage

He was the target of calumny for his unpopular beliefs.

They uttered calumnies against her.

Miller has waved off that claim as calumny, even though Richardson served as Miller’s faithful No. 2 for more than a decade at Xavier and Arizona.

A false, fabricated or unfounded story.

A baseless rumour.

They regaled everyone with old canards.

Conforming to a general rule or acceptable procedure.

Orthodox

That was a canonical example of scientific progress.

To surrender often after negotiation of terms.

To cease resisting.

Succumb

Concede

Relent

The country still refuses to capitulate despite its weakening army and dwindling resources.

The teacher refused to capitulate: no calculators were to be used during the exam.

To put (a ship or boat) on a beach especially in order to clean, caulk or repair the hull.

To cause to heel over.

She careened unsteadily to the couch after hitting her head.

The sled careened as it barreled down the hill.

To subject to severe punishment, reproof or criticism.

Chastise

Lambaste

Excoriate

Stricture

Reproach

She castigated him for his constant tardiness.

A sudden violent change causing massive destruction.

The hurricane was cataclysmic.

These countries are on the brink of cataclysmic famine.

Rapidity of motion or action.

Astute people generally show a marked celerity.

Celerity of movement is vital in war.

Believing that one’s own country or race is the best.

Believing that women are naturally less important, intelligent or able than men.

Jingoist

It is a deeply chauvinist community where the few women who have jobs are ridiculed.

To make a record or give details of something.

Camila’s chronicles in Trials and Tribulations was an emotional journey for me.

A thing done with ease.

A tight grip.

Something certain to happen.

Pushover

Breeze

Getting into Web Development is a cinch.

A woman who derives pleasure from leading men to their destruction.

Lauren let down her hair and Camila accused her of being like Circe, who turned men into brute beasts and would not let them feel love.

Having a circular or winding course.

Not being forthright or direct in language or action.

Indirect

Roundabout

Her circuitous form of logic was mind-boggling.

A person who claims to be able to see things not visible to ordinary people.

They make prophecies.

It is debatable whether people can be clairvoyants.

Marked by, held in or conducted with secrecy.

Surreptitious

Stealthy

Covert

The clandestine arms deal was exposed.

The fear of closed (confined) spaces or crowded places.

She is so claustrophobic that she uses the stairs in a building rather than the lift to go up and down.

A close and exclusive group or circle of people.

One’s success depends on the people they surround themselves with, so one’s clique is extremely important.

To ponder or meditate on usually intently.

Contemplate

Deliberate

Ruminate

Meditate

Pore over

She was cogitating the possible consequences of my decision.

Corresponding in size, measure, extent, amount or degree.

Proportionate

Because the effects of tobacco are slow and iterative and produce diseases that have other causes and explanations, often later in life, they seldom arouse fear commensurate with their impact.

To feel or express sympathy.

Condole

My circles of real-life and online lesbian friends often commiserate about the lack of exciting, available singles in our area.

Anxiety arising from awareness of guilt.

Distress of mind over an anticipated action or result.

A twinge of misgiving.

Qualm

Demur

Remorse

Misgiving

She cheated without compunction.

She showed no compunction in planning devilish engines of destruction.

Too much pride in oneself.

Being humble and working hard is the way to succeed in life, so conceitedness will lead one nowhere.

Accompanying especially in a subordinate or incidental way.

Something that accompanies or is collaterally connected with something else.

Coexisting

The Lincoln and Johnson plans for settling the problems of peace and freedom never seriously touched on the concomitant problem of equality.

Thinking that one is superior than the others.

Supercilious

Being condescending to juniors or less fortunate is never good, as one can learn something from every person.

Pleasant

Sociable

Having the same nature, disposition or tastes.

Delectable

Felicitous

Satisfying

Affable

They were congenial companions.

Selena may walk up to the stage with the cool strut of a superstar, but off the stage she is warm and congenial.

Something that is existing at or dating from birth.

Being such by nature.

Hereditary

Innate

Inborn

Brea had a congenital heart disease.

To pretend ignorance of or fail to take action against something one ought to oppose.

Conspire

Arnab said that other Media Houses had connived with Sachin and put out false articles to vilify him and his team.

A person who has a lot of knowledge in arts, food, women, drinks, etc…​

A person with a fine taste.

Virtuoso

He looked like the stereotypical connoisseur at the art gallery in his formal coat with a wine glass in his hand.

Extremely skilled and accomplished.

To make (marital union) complete by sexual intercourse.

Finish, complete

Of the highest degree.

Perfect

Proficient

Virtuoso

To thrive in science, you must be both a consummate collaborator and a relentless competitor.

That was a time of consummate cruelty.

Marked by the characteristics of the present period.

Something of the same period as the other.

Modern

Current

Contemporary art is dull.

This book is full of contemporary accounts of the war.

A girl who flirts a lot.

A girl who promises much, but delivers very little.

To vary in correlation with another related variant. (Statistics)

Responsibility for wrongdoing or failure.

Onus

Selena offers a story of mutual culpability and weakness in her song 'Lose You To Love Me' with a kind of grace that gives her the final word.

He refuses to acknowledge his own culpability.

Scarcity

There is never a dearth of opportunities. One just needs to be able to find them.

Marked by propriety and good taste.

Proper

Respectable

Seemly

Ever decorous, she periodically excuses herself to another room rather than allow a guest to witness her blowing her nose.

The oppressively decorous standards of a royal court.

To depreciate something publicly or officially.

To express strong disapproval of something.

Disparage

The government decried the Rs. 500 note to get rid of undeclared money.

Showing or expressing respect and high regard due to a superior or an elder.

He returned early in deference to his parents' wishes.

No longer existing, living or working correctly.

Bust

The nine year old boys were disappointed that their amazing business of making coins was defunct on the first day of production, when their fathers told them that counterfeit coins were illegal.

Something that is harmful often in a subtle or unexpected way.

Pernicious

Cancer is an insidious disease and its deleterious effects on other organs are noticed quite late as well.

Describe or portray in detail.

To mark the outline of something.

The municipal corporation put up lights delineating the street.

The author’s delineation of Camila in the book 'Yellow' is very impressive!

Affected by delirium.

Delirium: An acute mental disturbance characterized by confused thinking and disrupted attention usually accompanied by disordered speech and hallucinations.

Agitated

Hysterical

As the child’s temperature went up, he became delirious and didn’t know where he was.

Pandering to the hatered and prejudices of people to satisfy one’s ulterior motives.

Certain demagogue political parties create a chaos in the society by increasing friction between religious communities to de-stabilize the political party in power.

Show reluctance.

Hesitate

Qualm

Compunction

"There isn’t any too much room in this bungalow as it is," demurred Mr. Pottle.

Shy

Docile

Modest

Reserved

Introverted people are demure.

Lacking a sense of duty.

Voluntarily abandoning something.

A homeless social misfit.

Dilapidated

Vagrant

The town’s derelict was ransacking the garbage can for scraps.

The use of ridicule or scorn to show contempt.

A state of being laughed at or ridiculed.

An object of ridicule or scorn.

Being constantly derided can make a person bitter.

It’s an object of derision more often than praise within the ecosystem.

Lacking something needed or desirable.

Lacking possessions and resources.

Broke

Penury

A lake destitute of fish.

A destitute old man.

Relating to or characteristic of the devil.

Fiendish

Satanic

Luciferian

The diabolical shooter was killed by the police.

A bitter and abusive speech or piece of writing.

Ironic or satirical criticism.

Screed

Rant

Everyone read the diatribe with dismay.

Something that is designed or intended to teach.

Some authors adopt a didactic voice in their stories.

Tending or intended to cause delay.

Characterized by procrastination.

Tardy

Sluggish

The homeowner is claiming that local firefighters were dilatory in responding to the call.

Force, power

To make a dent in.

She succeeded by dint of hard work.

Their attitude toward public transportation can be best summed up by Elon Musk, the guy who is, by dint of his power and influence, somehow treated as the USA’s leading authority on transportation.

A person who is addicted to drinking intoxicating substances like alcohol.

To cause to be in a state of confusion.

Adria found the all the boy’s gregariousness discombobulating.

To throw into confusion.

Confound

Fluster

The housekeeper’s countenance was disconcerting.

Represent something as being of little worth.

Undervalue

Underrate

Vilify

Decry

Calumny

One should never disparage other’s efforts.

Anxiety, agitation

Apprehension

Concern

As updates of the devastation caused by the earthquake poured in, our disquietude only increased.

Lacking restraint.

Debauched

Reprobate

Leading a dissolute lifestyle is not healthy.

Unsettled in opinion.

Giving rise to uncertainty.

Doubtful promise or outcome.

Dubitable

A dubious plan.

The practice is of dubious legality.

Relating to a church especially as an established institution.

Churchly

Ecclesiastical politics caused the Papal schism.

A group of individuals at a particular level or grade in an organization or field of activity.

An arrangement of a body of troops.

A flight formation.

What’s most unusual about Selena—what distinguishes her from other celebrities in her echelon—is the way she’s grown softer, rather than harder, as she’s gotten older. The confidence came first; then came the confidence to let it drop.

Geese flying in echelon.

Degenerate, worn out and weakened.

Sterile

The entire family was effeted after the long travel.

A grave and blatant/glaring error.

Flagrant

Any mistake by oneself, whether inconspicuous or egregious, should be accepted and atoned for in a genuine manner. Honesty is appreciated by people and they do forgive one’s mistakes.

To free from restraint, control or the power of another.

The police emancipated the man from his captors.

To deprive of strength, vigor or spirit.

To deprive of virility or procreative power.

Castrate

Weaken

Enervated

She plays the role of a meek wife who has been emasculated by her domineering wife.

To throw into disorder, conflict, difficulties or confusion.

His stand on this issue has embroiled him in controversy.

Relying on experience, experimentation or observation alone often without due regard for system and theory.

The Empirical Gas Laws have been based solely on observation rather making an attempt to define the theoretical reason these relationships may exist and have thus been named so.

Lacking physical, mental or moral vigor.

To lessen the vitality or strength of.

Dampen

Castrate

Emasculate

Lackadaisical

Languid

A lifetime of working in dreary jobs had enervated her very soul.

The surgery really enervated me for weeks afterwards.

Something hard to understand or explain.

Puzzling, hard to explain person.

Inscrutable

Puzzlement

Riddle

Despite the enigma of the singularity, the big bang theory is unquestionably one of the most successful ideas in the history of science.

Many scholars call it the ultimate enigma of the Nazi era, indeed perhaps of modern history: How did the Holocaust happen? And why in Germany?

Shelter, conceal

Establish, settle

The sculpture is safely ensconced behind glass.

She ensconced himself in front of the television.

Lasting a very short time.

Fugacious

Fleeting

One should look beyond ephemeral pleasures if they want to be successful.

One who enjoys high quality food and drinks.

Chefs are epicures.

A person believing that pleasure, happiness and luxury is the chief good.

Epicureans are usually jolted back to the harsh reality of life.

In the past.

Former

Once

My erstwhile friend ignored me when I ran into her at the mall.

Stop doing something.

Avoid intentionally.

Abrogate

India told Pakistan that there would be no talks between them until they eschewed their terror activities and ceasefire violations.

A deed, a bond, money or a piece of property held in trust by a third party to be turned over to the grantee only upon fulfillment of a condition.

The buyers put their money in the builder’s escrow account.

To take up and support as a cause.

Marry

The new theory has been espoused by many leading physicists.

A person of fine and artistic flair.

A person who is attracted to beautiful things.

Knowing how genuine Marzia Kjellberg is and judging from her videos, clothing line and Instagram Stories, one can glean that she is an esthete person.

To make more violent, bitter or severe.

Aggravate

The new law only exacerbates the problem.

To censure scathingly.

Vituperative

Lambaste

Castigate

The candidates have publicly excoriated each other throughout the campaign.

That which is required in a particular situation.

A state of affairs that makes urgent demands.

Emergency

Contingency

Dunkirk

Exceptionally quick in responding to the exigencies of modern warfare.

A leader must act in any sudden exigency.

Excessively scanty.

Inadequate

Meager

Scanty

Skimpy

Wrest an exiguous existence from the land.

They only found exiguous evidence.

Someone who does not live in their own country.

Migrants are expatriates.

To accelerate the process or progress of something.

The self check-in expedites the aircraft boarding process.

To make amends for something.

Atone

One should try to expiate their sins and mistakes.

Properly explained.

Elucidative

An expository piece on the workings of the internal-combustion engine.

Explain in detail.

Elaborate

They have an annoying habit of expounding on unnecessary things.

Currently existing

This is the only known extant male Rhino.

The act of obtaining something from a person by force, intimidation or undue or illegal power.

Fleecing

Overcharging

He was arrested and charged with extortion.

A political system based on a very powerful leader, state control, and being extremely proud of country and race, and in which political opposition is not allowed. (Source)

A fascist leader is a chauvinist and a dictator.

One who pays a lot much attention to details.

Perfectionist

Meticulous

Pedant

Being fastidious can be detrimental to one’s progress.

Something that relates to a deal with the devil.

Something that compromises moral or ethical values for material gain.

A lot of celebrities partake in Faustian bargains for money.

Not real or genuine.

Insincere

Even the animal rights activists were fooled by the faux furs.

Very well suited or expressed.

Pleasant, delightful

Apt

Palatable

Delectable

Congenial

Affable

A felicitous combination of flavors.

She handled the delicate matter in a most felicitous manner.

Intensity of feeling or expression.

Passion

Booing and cheering with almost equal fervor.

Having a heavy offensive smell.

Stenchy

Putrid

the fetid odor of rotting vegetables.

The quality or state of being faithful. (Antonym of 'infidelity'.)

Accuracy in details.

The degree to which an electronic device accurately produces its effect.

Steadfast (loyal)

The director insisted on total fidelity to the book.

Relating to or befitting a son or daughter.

The new village has a filial relationship with the original settlement.

She felt the pangs of filial guilt and went to her trailer and apologized.

A strange, unimportant and unharming habit.

Idiosyncracies

We all have our own foibles.

Getting straight to the point.

Free from ambiguity or evasiveness.

Notably simple in style or quality.

Honest

Straightforward

Unguarded

I appreciate your forthright explanation of the situation.

Strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage.

Grit

Spunk

Pluck

Everyone in the family was succored by Selena’s fortitude and steadfastness.

Pessimist

Cynic

A futilitarian attitude will get one nowhere in life.

Fear of public speaking.

Glossophobia can be reduced by repeatedly putting oneself in situations that require speaking with the public, like giving talks or acting in a drama.

Talkative

Extrovert

Social

No one doubts the greagariousness of human beings.

Bravado, boasting

Braggadocio

His early career was marked by the sort of gasconade many fans of the NFL had come to adore and many MLB executives and players had come to loathe.

If you believe the gasconade of his memoirs, he pretty much won World War II on his own.

Characterized by happiness, great success and prosperity.

Calm

Placid

Tranquil

A halcyon era following the American Civil War.

The doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life.

Paganism

Their spring break trip to Miami became an exercise in heedless hedonism.

An influence or authority over others.

The social, cultural, ideological or economic influence exerted by a dominant group.

Hegemonic seniors will get their dues for exploiting their juniors.

Up to this or that time.

Yet

Heretofore

Selena revealed some hitherto unknown facets of her life.

A striking or extraordinary person or thing.

Lollapalooza

Doozy

The cricket match was a humdinger! Any team could’ve won till the last two balls of the match!

Something that is offensive to the senses.

Unsavory

Uncongenial

The tearing of the skin in the video game was an icky experience.

A person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions.

Maverick

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, a poet, publisher and political iconoclast who inspired and nurtured generations of San Francisco artists and writers from City Lights, his famed bookstore, died on Monday at his home in San Francisco.

An acutely painful or embarrassing misunderstanding.

Scandal

A confused mass.

Dispute

Tiff

Controversy

The tax imbroglio turned a spotlight on her, who was suddenly under pressure.

Beg for something ceaselessly.

Beseech

Suppliant

The poor man importuned the bank employee for a loan.

Fill something or someone with a particular feeling, quality or idea.

Cuddling imbues one with a comforting and soothing feeling.

Inherent

Being within the limits of possible experience or knowledge. (Antonym of 'transcendent'.)

Intrinsic

Constitutional

Beauty is not something imposed but something immanent.

Her knowledge of the immanent world is astounding!

Given to or characterized by insolent rudeness.

Not restrained within due or proper bounds especially of propriety or good taste.

Irrelevant

Exceeding the bounds of propriety in showing interest or curiosity or in offering advice.

Audacious

Insolent

Cocky

Officious

Intrusive

The Act’s broad support across the political spectrum has been shored up by perceptions of an impertinent company testing the nation’s resolve.

Encroach, infringe

Make an impression.

Have an effect.

To strike or dash especially with a sharp collision.

I heard the rain impinge upon the earth.

Waiting for the germ of a new idea to impinge upon my mind.

Not capable of being appeased, significantly changed or mitigated.

Not placable.

Adamant

Obdurate

He has an implacable hatred for his political opponents.

Oppose or attack someone as false or lacking integrity.

Felix’s motives have been scrutinized and impugned.

Attribute a bad habit or act to someone.

The plaintiff imputed the defendant.

Confined in a jail or prison.

Apprehended

Their law allows convicted felons to vote and run for office unless they are currently incarcerated or if their offenses are fraud-related or constitute a breach of public trust.

Charge someone with a fault or offense.

Charge someone with a crime on the findings of a jury in the due process of law.

Incriminate

Their memoir was an indictment to the British legacy.

Lazy

Torpor

Supine

'Indolent hustle' is an oxymoron.

Ingenuity

Having or showing an unusual aptitude for discovering, inventing or contriving.

Marked by originality, resourcefulness, and cleverness in conception or execution.

Promethean

Innovative

She showed amazing ingenuity in finding ways to cut costs.

Ingenious

Skill or cleverness in devising and designing.

Innovativeness

She showed amazing ingenuity in finding ways to cut costs and be more frugal.

Showing innocent or childlike simplicity and candidness.

Lacking craft or subtlety.

Genuine

Innocent

Simple

Unsophisticated

Her ingenuous thirst for experience.

Ingenuous in their brutality.

To give someone too much work to handle.

To flood an area.

The callcenter was inundated with people asking for technical support during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The river overflowed in the monsoon and inundated the surrounding villages.

To protest or complain bitterly or vehemently.

Gripe

Complain

The Doctor inveighed against the treatment.

They were always inveighing against the high property taxes that they were forced to pay.

Having an enlivening or stimulating effect.

Rejuvenating

After the most invigorating full-body massage of her life, she truly expected someone to start feeding her grapes.

Microsoft released version 7.0 of the Windows Community Toolkit after months of invigorating it with a multitude of improvements and features.

Not readily investigated, interpreted or understood.

Arcane

Recondite

Cryptic

Enigmatic

Indiscernible

Mysterious

She had an inscrutable smile on her face that raised qualms in his mind.

A gradual and cumulative effect.

Cancer is an insidious disease.

The power of Compound Interest is insidious.

Relating to or involving conflict within a group.

Marked by slaughter.

A political party that has suffered because of bitter internecine rivalries.

To tease with taunting words.

To be in accord.

Finally, a story that doesn’t jibe with the facts.

Her constant and unrelenting jibes at him led to him quitting the team.

Believing that one’s country is the best, often shown in enthusiastic support for a war against another country.

Chauvinist

A jingoist and a chauvinist can be the best of friends.

Given to/fond of joking.

Jocular

Ricky Gervais' jocose monologues at the Golden Globe awards make them a less boring affair every year!

A person who can sell out someone close to them for money.

A Judas will always end up unhappy in life, because money is not the panacea for everything.

A massive inexorable (unstoppable) force, campaign, movement, or object that crushes whatever is in its path.

Crusade

Campaign

There was no escaping the juggernaut of hype for the studio’s biggest summer blockbuster.

A group of people united politically.

A group of people controlling a government especially after a revolutionary seizure of power.

This junta is arbitrarily detaining people in night-time raids.

They are supporting the military junta.

To place things side by side (so as to compare them).

Juxtaposing Matisse and Picasso’s paintings would be a good way to see their friendly competition!

The range of perception, understanding, or knowledge.

Range of vision.

The idea was beyond the ken of the shareholders.

Proper or usual state or condition.

Order

Condition

Form

Health

Shape

Since I dropped my food processor, it’s been all out of kilter.

Fate, destiny

He always said that it was kismet that they met at a showing of their favorite movie.

A person with a compulsion to steal, no matter what their financial condition is.

Kleptomania affects her so much that she steals small trinkets, plants and other insignificant things from the places she visits.

Readily open to change.

Readily or continually undergoing chemical, physical or biological change or breakdown.

Unstable

It is a labile mineral.

Arias, an exciting and emotionally labile actor, makes Anna a jittery creature, like a woman in the constant throes of a low-grade fever.

Lacking life, spirit or zest.

Languid

Enervated

Languor

Torpor

Listless

Her teachers did not approve of her lackadaisical approach to homework.

Using or involving the use of a minimum of words.

Can be mysterious or rude sounding.

Concise

Succinct

Pithy

Taciturn

Selena speaks in a surprisingly low, laconic register.

To thrash verbally or physically.

Excoriate

Castigate

Rebuke

Reprimand

Reproach

Tongue-lash

They wrote several letters lambasting the new law.

Drooping or flagging from or as if from exhaustion.

Lacking force or quickness of movement.

Lackadaisical

Enervated

Languorous

Slow

Listless

Weak

The entire film is like a lazy, languid ballad performed by an ensemble of masters.

They proceeded at a languid pace.

It was a hot, languid summer day.

Weakness or weariness of body or mind.

Listless indolence or inertia.

Lackadaisical

Languid

Lassitude

Stupor

Lethargy

Everything is always drenched in heavy yellow sunlight, as if the nation were basking in the languor of eternal late afternoon.

Filled with or showing sexual desire.

Lewd

Salacious

Making lascivious remarks to a coworker is utterly disrespectful and unprofessional.

A condition of weariness and lethargy.

Fatigue

Burnout

Torpor

Languor

Symptoms of the disease include paleness and lassitude.

A reception usually in honor of a particular person.

An embankment for preventing flooding.

Excessive or unseemly frivolity.

Light manner or attitude.

She would tolerate no levity in the classroom.

Obscene

Vulgar

Lascivious

They made lewd remarks to a man at the bar.

Dictionary

Repertoire, inventory

This is a computer term that has entered the general lexicon.

In excess

People who support new, different, progressive, explorative and experimental policies.

Do not forget to apply sunscreen liberally in Egypt to avoid sunburns!

A person who is unrestrained by convention or morality.

Debaucher

Debauchee

Decadent

The legend of Don Juan depicts him as a playboy and libertine.

Sexual drive.

The drug was used to increase libido.

To draw or paint on a surface.

Describe

Delineate

He was limned by a streetlight.

Clear and simple in style.

Marked by transparency.

Absolutely serene and untroubled.

We saw a lot of limpid streams.

Hussein Nasser’s limpid presentation style makes concepts easy to understand.

A resonant or repetitive chant.

A sizable series or set.

The drug has a litany of possible side effects.

A litany of cheering phrases.

A familiar litany of complaints.

The act, process or practice of settling a dispute in a court of law.

An attorney who specializes in the litigation of property disputes.

One can’t realize how much it costs to run one of these litigations. To get a battery of lawyers into a courtroom and do all the planning costs a lot of money.

Clear to the understanding.

Translucent

Having full use of one’s faculties.

Sane

Intelligible

Incandescent

Unequivocal

His lucid history of this grim subject is scrupulously accurate.

Monetary gains

His books share a common theme of lucre.

Laughably stupid

Unreasonable

Ridiculous

Preposterous

Inane

Chauvinists go to ludicrous extremes to justify themselves.

Mournful

Dismal

Bleak

Saturnine

Stygian

Morose

Somber

A comic actor known for their lugubrious manner.

Every episode from there got longer and more lugubrious, weighed down by franchise canon and relentless plot incident.

Marked by cunning, duplicity (double-dealing) or bad faith.

Unethical

Unscrupulous

Crafty

There was a Machiavellian battle for control of the company.

A scheming or crafty action or artful design intended to accomplish some usually evil end.

Plot

Scheme

Conspiracy

Incredibly complicated machinations to assassinate the president that inevitably failed.

A great work

Chef d’oeuvre

The sculptor worked for 15 years on her magnum opus.

Inept

Clumsy

The Governor has been criticized for her maladroit handling of the budget crisis.

The usually unintentionally humorous misuse or distortion of a word or phrase.

Every kid is a virtuoso of language: those monkey-hear toddler approximations, a six-year-old’s idiosyncratic pronunciations, the malapropisms that continue well into adolescence.

Tending to produce death or deterioration.

Evil in nature, influence or effect.

Malevolent

Mean

Spiteful

A highly malignant form of cancer.

She had a powerful and malignant influence.

To pretend or exaggerate incapacity or illness to avoid duty or work.

They suspect that she malingered or faked her physical state and got admitted to a hospital to avoid going to jail.

A fanatic of following discipline.

Stickler for form and ettiquette.

Punctilious

Pedant

A person who cries easily and without much reason.

Over sentimental

Drinking can lead to this as well.

In inebriated states, some people become maudlin.

An independent individual who does not go along with a group or party.

Iconoclastic

Once dismissed as a provincial maverick with a penchant for picking fights and wearing outrageous Carnival costumes, she was catapulted onto the national stage last year.

A collection of wild or foreign animals kept especially for exhibition.

A varied mixture.

Miscellany

A menagerie of rare creatures.

A menagerie of grotesque statues stood in the garden.

Dishonest

Deceitful

She was accused of enabling an incompetent and mendacious President.

Beggar

The wretched mendicants on the streets of Calcutta.

Appearing attractive, but of little or no value.

Gaudy

Flashy

Ostentatious

Meretricious relationships rarely end up being happy ones.

A dessert

Pleasant, soothing, energetic, full of life

Selena spoke in a surprisingly low and laconic register, the opposite of the breathy meringue of her singing voice.

A system in which people are moved into power or are accepted into something based on their merit and abilities.

All systems in today’s world claim to be meritocratic, but with 'correct' contacts and backdoor dealings, is that the case?

Change of position, state or form.

The spread of a disease-producing agency (such as cancer cells) from the initial or primary site of disease to another part of the body.

His own bone marrow was seeded with a metastasis that had migrated from an unknown site somewhere in his body.

Currently there is no inhibitor to arrest metastasis.

Strength of spirit or temperament.

Courage

Endurance

The competition will test her mettle.

A little world.

A small, representative system having analogies to a larger system.

The village is a microcosm of the whole country.

To have a substantial effect; weigh heavily.

His prison record militated against him.

Menacing

Threatening

The Minataur in the Percy Jackson book series was minatory!

A minute or minor detail.

Petty details.

Selena just wanted to hear how the date went, but Camila went on with this minutia about the arch of Lauren’s eyebrows.

He was bewildered by the contract’s minutiae.

One who hates man/mankind.

Humans are social creatures by nature, so misanthropes are quite rare.

A mixture of various things.

A collection of writings on various subjects.

Potpourri

Menagerie

A miscellany of old toys.

One who behaves criminally or viciously.

Villainous

Scoundrel

He supports tough penalties against corporate miscreants.

Hatred of marriages.

To soothe someone.

To reduce the rigidity of something.

To reduce in intensity.

Propitiate

Appease

Assuage

Placate

It was not easy to mollify the grieving.

A lens for one eye.

German Generals used to wear monocles.

Biting and caustic in thought, manner or style.

Snarky

Sardonic

Scathing

Acrimony

Being mordant turns off people.

Ricky Gervais' dry and mordant humour is hilarious!

Having a sullen and gloomy disposition.

Bleak

Dreary

Stygian

Saturnine

Lugubrious

Sullen

Even as tech optimism is obvious, sentiment in much of the rest of the market remains morose.

A single or repeated design or colour.

A usually recurring salient thematic element.

The two works of art share an aesthetic Renaissance motif.

Variegated in color.

Made up of many different people, parts or things.

A mixture especially of incongruous elements.

Jester

Fool

Eclectic

A motley crew of musicians.

Taking unjust advantage of someone.

Exploit

One should not mulct someone who is being nice to them.

A new word, usage or expression.

It inspired endless debate, countless think pieces and a neologism that instantly penetrated mainstream culture.

Beginner

Tyro

Novice

One should never make fun of a neophyte.

Unsure about what to say, think or do.

Perplexed

Bewildered

She was nonplussed for a moment, but her astuteness took over and she gave a perfect reply to win over the judges.

An inference that does not follow from the premise(s).

A statement/response that does not follow logically from or is not clearly related to anything previously said.

We were talking about the new restaurant when she threw in some non sequitur about her dog.

A remedy or medicine of doubtful effectiveness.

A medicine of secret composition recommended by its preparer but usually without scientific proof of its effectiveness.

He was using garlic as a nostrum to prevent disease.

Something of little or no consequence.

Having no force.

Trifling

Inconsequential

Null and void

Invalid

The book is entertaining, but its contributions to the Shakespearean scholarship are nugatory.

Stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing.

Resistant to persuasion or softening influences.

Hardened in feelings.

Thick skinned

Callous

Implacable

She remained obdurate to them suggesting that she should try snorting cocaine.

Insincerely servile in expectance of reward

Fawning

Sycophant

Toady

If a waiter at a restaurant realises that you will tip them well, they will act obsequiously with you by being extra polite and attentive.

Funeral ceremony.

The murder victim’s father was the chief mourner at the obsequies.

Marked by unruly or aggressive noisiness.

Stubbornly resistant to control.

Strident

Clamorous

Unruly

Untoward

Vociferous

A room full of obstreperous children.

To anticipate and prevent or make unnecessary.

Forestall

Stave off

Preclude

The new medical treatment obviates the need for surgery.

Close off, block

Conceal

To come into contact with cusps of the opposing teeth fitting together.

Obstruct

A blood clot had occluded a major artery in her body.

Her teeth do not occlude properly.

Relating to practices connected with supernatural phenomena.

To shut off from view or exposure.

Hidden from view.

Ensconced

The Nazi Party actually began as an occult fraternity, before it morphed into a political party.

Mob rule.

More commonly, ochlocracy functions through the legitimate organs of the state or through other entities, such as businesses and professional associations.

A long and adventurous voyage.

The spiritual odyssey of the deeply religious.

Volunteering one’s services where they are neither asked nor needed.

Too eager to tell people what to do and having too high an opinion of one’s own importance.

Meddlesome

Presumptuous

Impertinent

When we came to the platform on the railway station we were met by the station master, an officious little man with a peaked cap.

Relating to the sense of smell.

A government run by a select few powerful leaders.

An oligarchy rules their nation.

Involving, imposing, or constituting a burden.

Oppressive

Exacting

The pandemic proved to an onerous period for a lot of businesses. A lot of them closed down as well.

An onerous contract/regulation/mortgage.

To express or state opinions.

Weigh in

One can opine about any subject they like.

Something that brings disgrace.

Public disgrace or ill fame that follows from conduct considered grossly wrong or vicious.

They’re going ahead with the plan despite public opprobrium.

Relating to or suggestive of George Orwell or his writings.

Privacy advocates warn that advances in technology and data collection simply make an Orwellian slippery slope even more slippery.

Some critics view knowledge engineering as a threat, as the vanguard of an Orwellian future in which thinking machines take control.

Kiss

To touch at a point where two parts of a curve have a common tangent.

They osculated.

Showing off money, power or possessions to seek attention and appreciation.

Flamboyant

Flashy

Meretricious

A pedant is ostentatious about their learning.

Isolation by society.

Being avoided intentionally by someone.

Outcast

It is incorrect to ostracize people of the LGBTQIA+ community, because 'Love is love'!

Presumptuous

Arrogant

Vainglorious

A director has little patience for overweening actors who think they are above taking advice and criticism.

Someone who has little or no religion and who delights in sensual pleasures and material goods.

A class of society in the Roman empire.

Hedonism

The story was a pagan oral tradition.

Cater to/appeal to certain people or emotions/desires.

Dishonest politicians generally try to pander to the greed and demands of the mob to gain power.

The quality of being careful with money or resources.

The quality or state of being stingy.

Thrifty

Penury

The charity was surprised by the parsimony of some larger corporations.

A blind adherent to a party, faction, cause or person.

Astigmatic partisanship, just like astigmatic fanaticism, is deadly.

Everything that a zealot partisan says should be taken with more than just a pinch of salt.

A stalwart is an unwavering partisan.

Shows off knowledge.

Unnecessarily corrects petty mistakes.

Fastidious

A less knowledgeable but humble person is better than a pedant.

An institution for public offenders.

Bastille

Prison

She was given a penitentiary sentence for assault.

A cramping and oppressive lack of resources.

Extreme and often stingy frugality.

Impoverishment

Destitution

Pecuniary

By the World Bank’s estimate, some 800m people in China have escaped penury in the past four decades.

Unfaithful, disloyal

Untrustworthy

Treacherous

We were betrayed by a perfidious ally.

Characterized by routine or superficiality.

Lacking in interest or enthusiasm.

Mechanical

Nonchalant

Uninterested

Casual

The eight-time Pro Bowl player sometimes goes several weeks without agreeing to do even the most perfunctory post-game interviews.

The point in the orbit of an object (such as a satellite) orbiting the earth that is nearest to the center of the earth.

Highly injurious or destructive.

Deleterious

Baneful

Detrimental

The most pernicious of all the problems was that the league’s new television deal had collapsed and if a replacement could not be found, French domestic soccer was facing ruin.

To cause to be worried or upset.

To throw into confusion.

Disconcerting

Agitate

Unsettle

The loud music in the party greatly perturbed the elderly couple living in a nearby house.

Existing in or spreading through every part of something.

If uncontrolled, Cancer can be a pervasive disease.

A pervasive sense of calm.

A contagious or infectious epidemic disease that is virulent and devastating.

Something that is destructive or pernicious.

Plague

After years of war and pestilence, few people remained in the city.

Insolent or rude in speech or behavior.

Peevish

Grumpy

The petulant child was taught a lesson by her parents.

A postage stamp collector.

The study of language.

The science of liguistics.

Having or showing a slow and stolid temperament.

Unemotional

Stoic

Apathetic

His mother was phlegmatic even when his brother was really ill.

The art of discovering temperament and character from outward appearance.

The facial features held to show qualities of mind or character by their configuration or expression.

He and his son have the same distinctive physiognomy.

Something trivial.

Trifling

Our lives don’t amount to a picayune in the great scheme of things.

They argued over the most picayune details.