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My Words 259 words

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  1. arboreal
    resembling a tree in form and branching structure
  2. portmanteau word
    a new word formed by joining two others and combining their meanings
  3. commiserate
    to feel or express sympathy or compassion
  4. periphrastic
    roundabout and unnecessarily wordy
  5. ambagious
    roundabout and unnecessarily wordy
  6. curacao
    flavored with sour orange peel
  7. pot-au-feu
    traditional French stew of vegetables and beef
  8. exorbitant
    greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation
  9. exonerate
    pronounce not guilty of criminal charges
  10. secede
    withdraw from an organization or communion
  11. ecstasy
    a state of elated bliss
  12. celluloid
    highly flammable substance made from cellulose nitrate and camphor; used in e.g. motion-picture and X-ray film; its use has decreased with the development of nonflammable thermoplastics
  13. obbligato
    a part of the score that must be performed without change or omission
  14. bellwether
    sheep that leads the herd often wearing a bell
  15. virga
    light wispy precipitation that evaporates before it reaches the ground (especially when the lower air is low in humidity)
  16. oriflamme
    an inspiring symbol or ideal that serves as a rallying point in a struggle
  17. benthic
    of or relating to or happening on the bottom under a body of water
  18. supernumerary
    more than is needed, desired, or required
  19. oneiric
    of or relating to or suggestive of dreams
  20. fungible
    of goods or commodities; freely exchangeable for or replaceable by another of like nature or kind in the satisfaction of an obligation
  21. flocculent
    having a fluffy character or appearance
  22. moue
    a disdainful grimace
  23. caryatid
    a supporting column carved in the shape of a person
  24. wysiwyg
  25. gouache
    an opaque watercolor prepared with gum
  26. laconic
    brief and to the point; effectively cut short
  27. brindle
    having a grey or brown streak or a pattern or a patchy coloring; used especially of the patterned fur of cats
  28. calico
    coarse cloth with a bright print
  29. bolo
    a cord fastened around the neck with an ornamental clasp and worn as a necktie
  30. bric-a-brac
    miscellaneous curios
  31. derangement
    a state of mental disturbance and disorientation
  32. semaphore
    an apparatus for visual signaling with lights or mechanically moving arms
  33. naivety
    lack of sophistication or worldliness
  34. scythe
    an edge tool for cutting grass; has a long handle that must be held with both hands and a curved blade that moves parallel to the ground
  35. torrid
    characterized by intense emotion
  36. firedrake
    a creature of Teutonic mythology; usually represented as breathing fire and having a reptilian body and sometimes wings
  37. quarantine
    isolation to prevent the spread of infectious disease
  38. meronym
    a word that names a part of a larger whole
  39. lutetium
    a trivalent metallic element of the rare earth group; usually occurs in association with yttrium
  40. loquacious
    full of trivial conversation
  41. caesura
    a break or pause (usually for sense) in the middle of a verse line
  42. bodkin
    a dagger with a slender blade
  43. Mayday
    an internationally recognized distress signal via radiotelephone (from the French m'aider)
  44. hawse
    the hole that an anchor rope passes through
  45. habanera
    a Cuban dance in duple time
  46. theophany
    a visible (but not necessarily material) manifestation of a deity to a human person
  47. dour
    showing a brooding ill humor
  48. quid pro quo
    something for something; that which a party receives (or is promised) in return for something he does or gives or promises
  49. cantaloupe
    a variety of muskmelon vine having fruit with a tan rind and orange flesh
  50. muskmelon
    any of several varieties of vine whose fruit has a netted rind and edible flesh and a musky smell
  51. seraglio
    living quarters reserved for wives and concubines and female relatives in a Muslim household
  52. Main Street
    any small town (or the people who inhabit it); generally used to represent parochialism and materialism (after a novel by Sinclair Lewis)
  53. balalaika
    a stringed instrument that has a triangular body and three strings
  54. nonplussed
    filled with bewilderment
  55. rescission
    (law) the act of rescinding; the cancellation of a contract and the return of the parties to the positions they would have had if the contract had not been made
  56. sagacity
    the mental ability to understand and discriminate between relations
  57. poteen
    unlawfully distilled Irish whiskey
  58. pablum
    worthless or oversimplified ideas
  59. cachexia
    any general reduction in vitality and strength of body and mind resulting from a debilitating chronic disease
  60. deja vu
    the experience of thinking that a new situation had occurred before
  61. sprachgefuhl
    an intuitive feeling for the natural idiom of a language
  62. cognate
    related by blood
  63. cognate word
    a word is cognate with another if both derive from the same word in an ancestral language
  64. kowtow
    bend the knees and bow in a servile manner
  65. usury
    the act of lending money at an exorbitant rate of interest
  66. minuend
    the number from which the subtrahend is subtracted
  67. clabber
    raw milk that has soured and thickened
  68. ballistic
    relating to or characteristic of the motion of objects moving under their own momentum and the force of gravity
  69. buckaroo
    local names for a cowboy (`vaquero' is used especially in southwestern and central Texas and `buckaroo' is used especially in California)
  70. outre
    conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual
  71. burgeon
    grow and flourish
  72. prescience
    the power to foresee the future
  73. lugubrious
    excessively mournful
  74. algometer
    device for measuring pain caused by pressure
  75. incandescent
    emitting light as a result of being heated
  76. de rigueur
    required by etiquette or usage or fashion
  77. tamarind
    long-lived tropical evergreen tree with a spreading crown and feathery evergreen foliage and fragrant flowers yielding hard yellowish wood and long pods with edible chocolate-colored acidic pulp
  78. aspartame
    an artificial sweetener made from aspartic acid; used as a calorie-free sweetener
  79. steadfast
    marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakable
  80. carioca
    a lively ballroom dance that resembles the samba
  81. wincey
    a plain or twilled fabric of wool and cotton used especially for warm shirts or skirts and pajamas
  82. janissary
    a loyal supporter
  83. cantata
    a musical composition for voices and orchestra based on a religious text
  84. saponaceous
    resembling or having the qualities of soap
  85. mise en scene
    arrangement of scenery and properties to represent the place where a play or movie is enacted
  86. desperado
    a bold outlaw (especially on the American frontier)
  87. galosh
    a waterproof overshoe that protects shoes from water or snow
  88. mahimahi
    large slender food and game fish widely distributed in warm seas (especially around Hawaii)
  89. facula
    a bright spot on a planet
  90. argosy
    one or more large merchant ships
  91. malapropism
    the unintentional misuse of a word by confusion with one that sounds similar
  92. chateau
    an impressive country house (or castle) in France
  93. sansevieria
    grown as a houseplant for its mottled fleshy sword-shaped leaves or as a source of fiber
  94. toponym
    the name by which a geographical place is known
  95. sempiternal
    having no known beginning and presumably no end
  96. collocate
    have a strong tendency to occur side by side
  97. pelisse
    a sleeveless cape that is lined or trimmed with fur
  98. flannel
    a soft light woolen fabric; used for clothing
  99. ternion
    the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
  100. cardinal
    a variable color averaging a vivid red
  101. puce
    a color varying from dark purplish brown to dark red
  102. remora
    marine fishes with a flattened elongated body and a sucking disk on the head for attaching to large fish or moving objects
  103. balmoral
    a sturdy laced walking shoe
  104. stellar
    being or relating to or resembling or emanating from stars
  105. asunder
    into parts or pieces
  106. deign
    do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
  107. Mesopotamia
    the land between the Tigris and Euphrates; site of several ancient civilizations; part of what is now known as Iraq
  108. Tigris
    an Asian river; a tributary of the Euphrates River
  109. Euphrates
    a river in southwestern Asia; flows into the Persian Gulf; was important in the development of several great civilizations in ancient Mesopotamia
  110. cicerone
    a guide who conducts and informs sightseers
  111. gustatory
    of or relating to gustation
  112. gustation
    the faculty of distinguishing sweet, sour, bitter, and salty properties in the mouth
  113. parley
    a negotiation between enemies
  114. parlay
    stake winnings from one bet on a subsequent wager
  115. plebeian
    of or associated with the great masses of people
  116. proletarian
    belonging to or characteristic of the proletariat
  117. patrician
    a person of refined upbringing and manners
  118. stammel
    a coarse woolen cloth formerly used for undergarments and usually dyed bright red
  119. coetaneous
    of the same period
  120. prevaricate
    be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information
  121. macrame
    a relatively coarse lace; made by weaving and knotting cords
  122. mayonnaise
    egg yolks and oil and vinegar
  123. apodictic
    of a proposition; necessarily true or logically certain
  124. coruscate
    reflect brightly
  125. verbolatry
    the worship of words
  126. logomach
    someone given to disputes over words
  127. slub
    soft lump or unevenness in a yarn; either an imperfection or created by design
  128. quadrillion
    the number that is represented as a one followed by 15 zeros
  129. epistemic
    of or relating to epistemology
  130. exiguous
    extremely scanty
  131. Albion
    archaic name for England or Great Britain; used poetically
  132. sprog
    a new military recruit
  133. embargo
    a government order imposing a trade barrier
  134. kibosh
    stop from happening or developing
  135. serrate
    notched like a saw with teeth pointing toward the apex
  136. conga
    a Latin American dance of 3 steps and a kick by people in single file
  137. actinic
    relating to or exhibiting actinism
  138. actinism
    the property of radiation that enables it to produce photochemical effects
  139. dodecagon
    a twelve-sided polygon
  140. carapace
    hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles
  141. supervene
    take place as an additional or unexpected development
  142. crenel
    one of a series of rounded projections (or the notches between them) formed by curves along an edge (as the edge of a leaf or piece of cloth or the margin of a shell or a shriveled red blood cell observed in a hypertonic solution etc.)
  143. shibboleth
    a manner of speaking that is distinctive of a particular group of people
  144. fulsome
    unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech
  145. oleaginous
    containing an unusual amount of grease or oil
  146. gainsay
    take exception to
  147. pillory
    a wooden instrument of punishment on a post with holes for the wrists and neck; offenders were locked in and so exposed to public scorn
  148. threnody
    a song or hymn of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person
  149. triptych
    art consisting of a painting or carving (especially an altarpiece) on three panels (usually hinged together)
  150. palaver
    loud and confused and empty talk
  151. dipsomaniac
    a person who drinks alcohol to excess habitually
  152. anathema
    a formal ecclesiastical curse accompanied by excommunication
  153. bete noire
    a detested person
  154. furlough
    a temporary leave of absence from military duty
  155. countenance
    the appearance conveyed by a person's face
  156. jingoistic
    fanatically patriotic
  157. architrave
    the molding around a door or window
  158. furlough
    a temporary leave of absence from military duty
  159. tergiversate
    be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information
  160. augury
    an event that is experienced as indicating important things to come
  161. contrapuntal
    having two or more independent but harmonically related melodic parts sounding together
  162. polyglot
    a person who speaks more than one language
  163. franchise
    a statutory right or privilege granted to a person or group by a government (especially the rights of citizenship and the right to vote)
  164. ha-ha
    a loud laugh that sounds like a horse neighing
  165. bimanual
    requiring two hands or designed for two people
  166. stevedore
    a laborer who loads and unloads vessels in a port
  167. effervescence
    the process of bubbling as gas escapes
  168. bromidic
    given to uttering bromides
  169. platitudinous
    dull and tiresome but with pretensions of significance or originality
  170. canoodle
    fondle or pet affectionately
  171. satrap
    a governor of a province in ancient Persia
  172. congeries
    a sum total of many heterogenous things taken together
  173. bollard
    a strong post (as on a wharf or quay or ship for attaching mooring lines)
  174. madrigal
    an unaccompanied partsong for 2 or 3 voices; follows a strict poetic form
  175. polysemy
    the ambiguity of an individual word or phrase that can be used (in different contexts) to express two or more different meanings
  176. kibble
    an iron bucket used for hoisting in wells or mining
  177. kittiwake
    small pearl-grey gull of northern regions; nests on cliffs and has a rudimentary hind toe
  178. parvenu
    a person who has suddenly risen to a higher economic status but has not gained social acceptance of others in that class
  179. nouveau-riche
    characteristic of someone who has risen economically or socially but lacks the social skills appropriate for this new position
  180. twain
    two items of the same kind
  181. legerdemain
    an illusory feat; considered magical by naive observers
  182. perpetrator
    someone who perpetrates wrongdoing
  183. nimbus
    a dark grey cloud bearing rain
  184. sessile
    attached directly by the base; not having an intervening stalk
  185. pedunculate
    having or growing on or from a peduncle or stalk
  186. Polaroid
    (trade mark) a plastic film that can polarize a beam of light; often used in sunglasses to eliminate glare
  187. halberd
    a pike fitted with an ax head
  188. obscurantism
    a policy of opposition to enlightenment or the spread of knowledge
  189. dissimulation
    the act of deceiving
  190. dissembling
    pretending with intention to deceive
  191. stalwart
    having rugged physical strength; inured to fatigue or hardships
  192. ducat
    formerly a gold coin of various European countries
  193. vindication
    the act of vindicating or defending against criticism or censure etc.
  194. binomial
    (mathematics) a quantity expressed as a sum or difference of two terms; a polynomial with two terms
  195. antipyretic
    preventing or alleviating fever
  196. febrifuge
    any medicine that lowers body temperature to prevent or alleviate fever
  197. dyspepsia
    a disorder of digestive function characterized by discomfort or heartburn or nausea
  198. margay
    small spotted wildcat found from Texas to Brazil
  199. primogeniture
    right of inheritance belongs exclusively to the eldest son
  200. effendi
    a former Turkish term of respect; especially for government officials
  201. arbitrage
    a kind of hedged investment meant to capture slight differences in price; when there is a difference in the price of something on two different markets the arbitrageur simultaneously buys at the lower price and sells at the higher price
  202. binomial
    (mathematics) a quantity expressed as a sum or difference of two terms; a polynomial with two terms
  203. coxswain
    the helmsman of a ship's boat or a racing crew
  204. boatswain
    a petty officer on a merchant ship who controls the work of other seamen
  205. schwa
    a neutral middle vowel; occurs in unstressed syllables
  206. tangram
    a Chinese puzzle consisting of a square divided into seven pieces that must be arranged to match particular designs
  207. mizzen
    fore-and-aft sail set on the mizzenmast
  208. epilation
    loss of hair; the result of removing hair
  209. monstrance
    (Roman Catholic Church) a vessel (usually of gold or silver) in which the consecrated Host is exposed for adoration
  210. hegemony
    the dominance or leadership of one social group or nation over others
  211. oenophile
    someone who appreciates wine
  212. peccary
    nocturnal gregarious pig-like wild animals of North America and South America
  213. undecagon
    an eleven-sided polygon
  214. diffident
    showing modest reserve
  215. intransigent
    impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, reason
  216. adamantine
    consisting of or having the hardness of adamant
  217. enfranchise
    grant freedom to; as from slavery or servitude
  218. saccade
    an abrupt spasmodic movement
  219. fulminate
    cause to explode violently and with loud noise
  220. Juggernaut
    a crude idol of Krishna
  221. purview
    the range of interest or activity that can be anticipated
  222. smorgasbord
    a collection containing a variety of sorts of things
  223. apostate
    not faithful to religion or party or cause
  224. fulminate
    cause to explode violently and with loud noise
  225. ordinance
    an authoritative rule
  226. mawkish
    effusively or insincerely emotional
  227. prostrate
    stretched out and lying at full length along the ground
  228. ratiocinative
    based on exact thinking
  229. ratiocinate
    reason methodologically and logically
  230. coloratura
    singing with florid ornamentation
  231. propitious
    presenting favorable circumstances; likely to result in or show signs of success
  232. senescence
    the property characteristic of old age
  233. hexadecimal
    of or pertaining to a number system having 16 as its base
  234. vaticinate
    predict or reveal through, or as if through, divine inspiration
  235. detritus
    loose material (stone fragments and silt etc) that is worn away from rocks
  236. spectral
    resembling or characteristic of a phantom
  237. loquat
    evergreen tree of warm regions having fuzzy yellow olive-sized fruit with a large free stone; native to China and Japan
  238. compendium
    a publication containing a variety of works
  239. rapporteur
    a recorder appointed by a committee to prepare reports of the meetings
  240. vicissitude
    a variation in circumstances or fortune at different times in your life or in the development of something
  241. erasure
    deletion by an act of expunging or erasing
  242. tantamount
    being essentially equal to something
  243. entomology
    the branch of zoology that studies insects
  244. anaerobic
    not aerobic
  245. horology
    the art of designing and making clocks
  246. protean
    taking on different forms
  247. bezique
    a card game played with a pack of forty-eight cards (two of each suit for high cards); play resembles whist
  248. remonstrate
    argue in protest or opposition
  249. embrasure
    an opening (in a wall or ship or armored vehicle) for firing through
  250. duel
    a prearranged fight with deadly weapons by two people (accompanied by seconds) in order to settle a quarrel over a point of honor
  251. peduncle
    stalk bearing an inflorescence or solitary flower
  252. aureate
    elaborately or excessively ornamented
  253. deprecate
    express strong disapproval of; deplore
  254. luau
    an elaborate Hawaiian feast or party (especially one accompanied by traditional foods and entertainment)
  255. maharanee
    a great rani; a princess in India or the wife of a maharaja
  256. salver
    a tray (or large plate) for serving food or drinks; usually made of silver
  257. oleaginous
    containing an unusual amount of grease or oil
  258. fulsome
    unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech
  259. acceptation
    acceptance as true or valid