litotes, sesquipedalian, meiosis

philip A.
77 words 1 learner

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. litotes
    understatement for rhetorical effect
  2. sesquipedalian
    a very long word (a foot and a half long)
  3. meiosis
    cell division that produces reproductive cells
  4. exigent
    demanding immediate attention
  5. erstwhile
    belonging to some prior time
  6. ersatz
    an artificial or inferior substitute or imitation
  7. felo-de-se
    a person who kills himself intentionally
  8. sotto voce
    in an undertone
  9. animus
    a feeling of ill will arousing active hostility
  10. torpor
    a state of motor and mental inactivity
  11. callow
    young and inexperienced
  12. craven
    lacking even the rudiments of courage; abjectly fearful
  13. exigency
    a pressing or urgent situation
  14. chiasmus
    inversion in the second of two parallel phrases
  15. wistful
    showing pensive sadness
  16. redoubtable
    inspiring fear
  17. onomatopoeia
    using words that imitate the sound they denote
  18. simile
    a figure of speech expressing a resemblance between things
  19. metaphor
    a figure of speech that suggests a non-literal similarity
  20. artless
    simple and natural; without cunning or deceit
  21. artful
    not straightforward or candid
  22. probity
    complete and confirmed integrity
  23. demode
    out of fashion
  24. plutocracy
    a political system governed by the wealthy people
  25. votive
    dedicated in fulfillment of a vow
  26. insouciance
    a casual or lighthearted feeling of unconcern
  27. roman a clef
    a novel in which actual persons and events are disguised as fictional
  28. antipodal
    relating to or situated at opposite sides of the earth
  29. insouciant
    marked by unconcern
  30. plaintive
    expressing sorrow
  31. trenchant
    having keenness and forcefulness and penetration in thought
  32. truculent
    defiantly aggressive
  33. bloviate
    speak verbosely and windily
  34. harlequin
    a clown or buffoon
  35. riposte
    a counterattack made immediately after successfully parrying
  36. ennui
    the feeling of being bored by something tedious
  37. reverie
    an abstracted state of absorption
  38. shibboleth
    a favorite saying of a sect or political group
  39. nonplussed
    filled with bewilderment
  40. bemuse
    cause to be confused emotionally
  41. fulsome
    unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating
  42. oleaginous
    containing an unusual amount of grease or oil
  43. effete
    excessively self-indulgent, affected, or decadent
  44. antipathy
    a feeling of intense dislike
  45. Zeitgeist
    the spirit of the time
  46. assignation
    a secret rendezvous (especially between lovers)
  47. picaresque
    (of fiction) involving clever rogues or adventurers
  48. perfidy
    an act of deliberate betrayal
  49. putative
    purported
  50. prelapsarian
    of or relating to the time before the Fall of Adam and Eve
  51. exegesis
    an explanation or critical interpretation
  52. apercu
    a short synopsis or outline
  53. doppelganger
    a person who is almost identical to another
  54. aquiline
    curved down like an eagle's beak
  55. pathos
    a quality that arouses emotions, especially pity or sorrow
  56. chimera
    a grotesque product of the imagination
  57. bumptious
    offensively self-assertive
  58. tawdry
    tastelessly showy
  59. omniscience
    the state or quality of having infinite knowledge
  60. philistine
    a person who is uninterested in intellectual pursuits
  61. paean
    a hymn of praise
  62. meritocracy
    a social system in which power goes to superior intellects
  63. tryst
    a secret rendezvous, especially a romantic one
  64. eponym
    the person for whom something is named
  65. coda
    the closing section of a musical composition
  66. ethos
    the distinctive spirit of a culture or an era
  67. oligarchy
    a political system governed by a few people
  68. argot
    a characteristic language of a particular group
  69. Pierrot
    a male character in French pantomime
  70. sui generis
    constituting a class of its own; unique
  71. karma
    effects of one's actions that determine his or her destiny
  72. nonpareil
    model of excellence or perfection of a kind
  73. exiguous
    extremely scanty
  74. exigent
    demanding immediate attention
  75. gibbet
    an instrument of public execution
  76. potation
    the act of drinking (especially an alcoholic drink)
  77. tautology
    useless repetition
Created on Tue Oct 14 15:10:46 EDT 2008 (updated Thu Jun 24 19:17:39 EDT 2010)

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