Sparknotes 250 Hardest Words

John S. (United States of America)
246 words 39 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. abjure
    formally reject or disavow a formerly held belief
  2. abrogate
    revoke formally
  3. acerbic
    sour or bitter in taste
  4. acrimony
    a rough and bitter manner
  5. acumen
    shrewdness shown by keen insight
  6. adumbrate
    describe roughly or give the main points or summary of
  7. alacrity
    liveliness and eagerness
  8. anathema
    a formal ecclesiastical curse accompanied by excommunication
  9. antipathy
    a feeling of intense dislike
  10. approbation
    official acceptance or agreement
  11. arrogate
    seize and take control without authority
  12. ascetic
    someone who practices self denial as a spiritual discipline
  13. aspersion
    a disparaging remark
  14. assiduous
    marked by care and persistent effort
  15. blandish
    praise somewhat dishonestly
  16. boon
    something that is desirable, favorable, or beneficial
  17. brusque
    rudely abrupt or blunt in speech or manner
  18. burnish
    polish and make shiny
  19. buttress
    a support usually of stone or brick
  20. cacophony
    loud confusing disagreeable sounds
  21. cajole
    influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
  22. calumny
    a false accusation of an offense
  23. capricious
    determined by chance or impulse rather than by necessity
  24. clemency
    leniency and compassion shown toward offenders
  25. cogent
    powerfully persuasive
  26. concomitant
    following or accompanying as a consequence
  27. conflagration
    a very intense and uncontrolled fire
  28. contrite
    feeling or expressing pain or sorrow
  29. conundrum
    a difficult problem
  30. credulity
    tendency to believe readily
  31. cupidity
    extreme greed for material wealth
  32. cursory
    hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough
  33. decry
    express strong disapproval of
  34. defile
    make dirty or spotty
  35. deleterious
    harmful to living things
  36. demure
    shy or modest, often in a playful or provocative way
  37. deprecate
    express strong disapproval of; deplore
  38. deride
    treat or speak of with contempt
  39. desecrate
    violate the sacred character of a place or language
  40. desiccated
    thoroughly dried out
  41. diaphanous
    so thin as to transmit light
  42. diffident
    showing modest reserve
  43. discursive
    tending to cover a wide range of subjects
  44. dissemble
    behave unnaturally or affectedly
  45. dither
    be undecided or uncertain
  46. ebullient
    joyously unrestrained
  47. effrontery
    audacious behavior that you have no right to
  48. effulgent
    radiating or as if radiating light
  49. egregious
    conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible
  50. enervate
    weaken physically, mentally, or morally
  51. ephemeral
    anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day
  52. eschew
    avoid and stay away from deliberately
  53. evanescent
    short-lived; tending to vanish or disappear
  54. evince
    give expression to
  55. exculpate
    pronounce not guilty of criminal charges
  56. execrable
    unequivocally detestable
  57. exigent
    demanding immediate attention
  58. expiate
    make amends for
  59. expunge
    remove by erasing or crossing out or as if by drawing a line
  60. extant
    still in existence; not extinct or destroyed or lost
  61. extol
    praise, glorify, or honor
  62. fallacious
    containing or based on incorrect reasoning
  63. fastidious
    giving careful attention to detail
  64. fatuous
    devoid of intelligence
  65. fecund
    capable of producing offspring or vegetation
  66. feral
    wild and menacing
  67. fetid
    offensively malodorous
  68. florid
    elaborately or excessively ornamented
  69. fractious
    easily irritated or annoyed
  70. garrulous
    full of trivial conversation
  71. grandiloquence
    high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation
  72. gregarious
    temperamentally seeking and enjoying the company of others
  73. hackneyed
    repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
  74. hapless
    unfortunate and deserving pity
  75. harangue
    a loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion
  76. hegemony
    the dominance or leadership of one social group over others
  77. iconoclast
    someone who attacks cherished ideas or institutions
  78. ignominious
    deserving or bringing disgrace or shame
  79. impassive
    having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
  80. imperious
    having or showing arrogant superiority
  81. impertinent
    improperly forward or bold
  82. impervious
    not admitting of passage or capable of being affected
  83. impetuous
    characterized by undue haste and lack of thought
  84. impinge
    infringe upon
  85. implacable
    incapable of being appeased or pacified
  86. impudent
    improperly forward or bold
  87. inchoate
    only partly in existence; imperfectly formed
  88. incontrovertible
    impossible to deny or disprove
  89. indefatigable
    showing sustained enthusiasm with unflagging vitality
  90. ineffable
    defying expression or description
  91. inexorable
    impossible to prevent, resist, or stop
  92. ingenuous
    lacking in sophistication or worldliness
  93. inimical
    tending to obstruct or cause harm
  94. iniquity
    absence of moral or spiritual values
  95. insidious
    working or spreading in a hidden and usually injurious way
  96. intransigent
    impervious to pleas, persuasion, requests, or reason
  97. inure
    cause to accept or become hardened to
  98. invective
    abusive language used to express blame or censure
  99. inveterate
    habitual
  100. jubilant
    full of high-spirited delight
  101. juxtaposition
    the act of positioning close together
  102. laconic
    brief and to the point
  103. languid
    lacking spirit or liveliness
  104. largess
    liberality in bestowing gifts
  105. latent
    potentially existing but not presently evident or realized
  106. legerdemain
    an illusory feat
  107. licentious
    lacking moral discipline
  108. limpid
    clear and bright
  109. maelstrom
    a powerful circular current of water
  110. magnanimous
    noble and generous in spirit
  111. malediction
    the act of calling down a curse that invokes evil
  112. malevolent
    wishing or appearing to wish evil to others
  113. manifold
    many and varied; having many features or forms
  114. maudlin
    very sentimental or emotional
  115. mawkish
    very sentimental or emotional
  116. mendacious
    given to lying
  117. mercurial
    liable to sudden unpredictable change
  118. modicum
    a small or moderate or token amount
  119. morass
    a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
  120. multifarious
    having many aspects
  121. munificence
    liberality in bestowing gifts
  122. myriad
    a large indefinite number
  123. nadir
    the lowest point of anything
  124. nascent
    being born or beginning
  125. nefarious
    extremely wicked
  126. neophyte
    a participant with no experience with an activity
  127. obdurate
    stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing
  128. obfuscate
    make obscure or unclear
  129. oblique
    slanting or inclined in direction or course or position
  130. obsequious
    attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery
  131. obstreperous
    noisily and stubbornly defiant
  132. obtuse
    of an angle, between 90 and 180 degrees
  133. odious
    extremely repulsive or unpleasant
  134. officious
    intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner
  135. opulent
    rich and superior in quality
  136. ostensible
    appearing as such but not necessarily so
  137. palliate
    lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of
  138. pallid
    pale, as of a person's complexion
  139. panacea
    hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases
  140. paragon
    a perfect embodiment of a concept
  141. pariah
    a person who is rejected from society or home
  142. parsimony
    extreme stinginess
  143. pathos
    a quality that arouses emotions, especially pity or sorrow
  144. paucity
    an insufficient quantity or number
  145. pejorative
    expressing disapproval
  146. pellucid
    transmitting light; able to be seen through with clarity
  147. penurious
    excessively unwilling to spend
  148. perfidious
    tending to betray
  149. perfunctory
    hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough
  150. pernicious
    exceedingly harmful
  151. perspicacity
    the ability to assess situations or circumstances shrewdly
  152. pertinacious
    stubbornly unyielding
  153. petulance
    an irritable feeling
  154. pithy
    concise and full of meaning
  155. platitude
    a trite or obvious remark
  156. plethora
    extreme excess
  157. polemic
    a verbal or written attack, especially of a belief or dogma
  158. portent
    a sign of something about to happen
  159. precocious
    characterized by exceptionally early development
  160. prescient
    perceiving the significance of events before they occur
  161. primeval
    having existed from the beginning
  162. probity
    complete and confirmed integrity
  163. proclivity
    a natural inclination
  164. propensity
    a natural inclination
  165. propitious
    presenting favorable circumstances
  166. prosaic
    lacking wit or imagination
  167. proscribe
    command against
  168. protean
    taking on different forms
  169. prurient
    characterized by lust
  170. puerile
    displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity
  171. pugnacious
    ready and able to resort to force or violence
  172. pulchritude
    physical beauty, especially of a woman
  173. punctilious
    marked by precise accordance with details
  174. quagmire
    a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
  175. querulous
    habitually complaining
  176. quixotic
    not sensible about practical matters
  177. rancor
    a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
  178. rebuke
    an act or expression of criticism and censure
  179. recalcitrant
    stubbornly resistant to authority or control
  180. rectitude
    righteousness as a consequence of being honorable and honest
  181. replete
    filled to satisfaction with food or drink
  182. reprobate
    a person without moral scruples
  183. reprove
    reprimand, scold, or express dissatisfaction with
  184. repudiate
    refuse to acknowledge, ratify, or recognize as valid
  185. rescind
    cancel officially
  186. restive
    in a very tense state
  187. ribald
    humorously vulgar
  188. rife
    excessively abundant
  189. ruse
    a deceptive maneuver, especially to avoid capture
  190. sacrosanct
    treated as if holy and kept free from violation or criticism
  191. sagacity
    the trait of having wisdom and good judgment
  192. salient
    conspicuous, prominent, or important
  193. sanctimonious
    excessively or hypocritically pious
  194. sanguine
    confidently optimistic and cheerful
  195. scurrilous
    expressing offensive, insulting, or scandalous criticism
  196. serendipity
    good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries
  197. servile
    submissive or fawning in attitude or behavior
  198. solicitous
    full of anxiety and concern
  199. somnolent
    inclined to or marked by drowsiness
  200. spurious
    plausible but false
  201. staid
    characterized by dignity and propriety
  202. stolid
    having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
  203. stupefy
    make someone dazed or foolish
  204. surfeit
    indulge (one's appetite) to satiety
  205. surmise
    infer from incomplete evidence
  206. surreptitious
    marked by quiet and caution and secrecy
  207. sycophant
    a person who tries to please someone to gain an advantage
  208. tacit
    implied by or inferred from actions or statements
  209. taciturn
    habitually reserved and uncommunicative
  210. tantamount
    being essentially equal to something
  211. temerity
    fearless daring
  212. tenuous
    lacking substance or significance
  213. timorous
    shy and fearful by nature
  214. torpid
    in a condition of biological rest or suspended animation
  215. tractable
    easily managed
  216. transient
    lasting a very short time
  217. transmute
    change or alter in form, appearance, or nature
  218. trenchant
    having keenness and forcefulness and penetration in thought
  219. truculent
    defiantly aggressive
  220. turgid
    ostentatiously lofty in style
  221. turpitude
    a corrupt or depraved or degenerate act or practice
  222. ubiquitous
    being present everywhere at once
  223. unctuous
    unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating
  224. undulate
    move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion
  225. upbraid
    express criticism towards
  226. usurp
    seize and take control without authority
  227. vacillate
    be undecided about something
  228. vacuous
    devoid of matter
  229. vapid
    lacking significance or liveliness or spirit or zest
  230. variegated
    having an assortment of colors
  231. venerate
    regard with feelings of respect and reverence
  232. veracity
    unwillingness to tell lies
  233. verdant
    characterized by abundance of vegetation and green foliage
  234. vex
    disturb, especially by minor irritations
  235. vicarious
    experienced at secondhand
  236. vicissitude
    a variation in circumstances or fortune
  237. vilify
    spread negative information about
  238. viscous
    having a relatively high resistance to flow
  239. vitriolic
    harsh, bitter, or malicious in tone
  240. vituperate
    spread negative information about
  241. wanton
    a lewd or immoral person
  242. winsome
    charming in a childlike or naive way
  243. wistful
    showing pensive sadness
  244. wizened
    lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness
  245. zenith
    the highest point of something
  246. zephyr
    a slight wind
Created on Mon Sep 10 18:17:48 EDT 2012

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