Mood, tone, emotions, nuance

Svetlana S. (Canada)
Words I enjoy or look up on this site; words that can be selected to embody an precise (but often abstract) mood, tone, emotion or nuance.
156 words 90 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. abdicate
    give up power, duties, or obligations
  2. abrogate
    revoke formally
  3. accede
    yield to another's wish or opinion
  4. acquiesce
    agree or express agreement
  5. acumen
    shrewdness shown by keen insight
  6. adulation
    exaggerated flattery or praise
  7. aficionado
    a serious devotee of some activity, genre, or performer
  8. aground
    with the bottom lodged on land
  9. allay
    lessen the intensity of or calm
  10. ameliorate
    make better
  11. amiable
    diffusing warmth and friendliness
  12. amicable
    characterized by friendship and good will
  13. anomalous
    deviating from the general or common order or type
  14. approbation
    official acceptance or agreement
  15. arcane
    requiring secret or mysterious knowledge
  16. aromatic
    having a strong pleasant odor
  17. artful
    not straightforward or candid
  18. ashen
    pale from illness or emotion
  19. assuage
    provide physical relief, as from pain
  20. asymptotic
    relating to or of the nature of an asymptote
  21. audacious
    disposed to venture or take risks
  22. bemused
    perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements
  23. benevolent
    showing or motivated by sympathy and understanding
  24. bifurcate
    split or divide into two
  25. bombastic
    ostentatiously lofty in style
  26. burgeon
    grow and flourish
  27. cachet
    an indication of approved or superior status
  28. cathartic
    emotionally purging
  29. circuitous
    deviating from a straight course
  30. circumspect
    careful to consider potential consequences and avoid risk
  31. clandestine
    conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
  32. conducive
    tending to bring about; being partly responsible for
  33. dalliance
    the act of delaying and playing instead of working
  34. deleterious
    harmful to living things
  35. demarcate
    set, mark, or draw the boundaries of something
  36. demure
    shy or modest, often in a playful or provocative way
  37. derivation
    the source or origin from which something comes
  38. diminutive
    very small
  39. discordant
    not in agreement or harmony
  40. dulcet
    pleasing to the ear
  41. duplicitous
    marked by deliberate deceptiveness
  42. elemental
    of or being the essential or basic part
  43. elusive
    skillful at evading capture
  44. emanate
    give out, as breath or an odor
  45. ephemeral
    anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day
  46. epitome
    a standard or typical example
  47. exigent
    demanding immediate attention
  48. exquisite
    delicately beautiful
  49. extol
    praise, glorify, or honor
  50. fractious
    easily irritated or annoyed
  51. frenetic
    fast and energetic in an uncontrolled or wild way
  52. furtive
    secret and sly
  53. gentility
    elegance by virtue of fineness of manner and expression
  54. gestalt
    a whole that cannot be described as a sum of its parts
  55. gesticulate
    show, express, or direct through movement
  56. gratuitous
    unnecessary and unwarranted
  57. hedonistic
    devoted to pleasure
  58. heuristic
    a commonsense rule to help solve some problem
  59. hubris
    overbearing pride or presumption
  60. idyllic
    charmingly simple and serene
  61. illustrative
    clarifying by use of examples
  62. impeccable
    without error or flaw
  63. imperative
    requiring attention or action
  64. impervious
    not admitting of passage or capable of being affected
  65. implacable
    incapable of being appeased or pacified
  66. imprudent
    not sensible, responsible, or wise
  67. inception
    an event that is a beginning
  68. incessant
    uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
  69. incipient
    only partly in existence; imperfectly formed
  70. incisive
    demonstrating ability to recognize or draw fine distinctions
  71. indelible
    not able to be forgotten, removed, or erased
  72. indomitable
    impossible to subdue
  73. inexorable
    impossible to prevent, resist, or stop
  74. inexplicable
    incapable of being explained or accounted for
  75. inextricable
    incapable of being disentangled or untied
  76. infuse
    fill, as with a certain quality
  77. insatiable
    impossible to fulfill, appease, or gratify
  78. insinuation
    an indirect (and usually malicious) implication
  79. insouciant
    marked by unconcern
  80. inspirit
    infuse with spirit
  81. insular
    relating to or characteristic of or situated on an island
  82. interstitial
    of or relating to small spaces between things
  83. intransigence
    stubborn refusal to compromise or change
  84. intrepid
    invulnerable to fear or intimidation
  85. iteration
    the act or process of doing or saying again
  86. jingoism
    fanatical patriotism
  87. jubilant
    full of high-spirited delight
  88. kismet
    fate or fortune
  89. lascivious
    driven by lust
  90. lexicon
    a reference book containing an alphabetical list of words
  91. lithe
    moving and bending with ease
  92. loquacious
    full of trivial conversation
  93. lucidity
    freedom from obscurity of expression; comprehensibility
  94. macabre
    shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
  95. malign
    speak unfavorably about
  96. mercurial
    liable to sudden unpredictable change
  97. meticulous
    marked by precise accordance with details
  98. modicum
    a small or moderate or token amount
  99. mollify
    cause to be more favorably inclined
  100. myopic
    unable to see distant objects clearly
  101. myriad
    a large indefinite number
  102. nefarious
    extremely wicked
  103. nostalgic
    unhappy about being away and longing for familiar things
  104. obfuscate
    make obscure or unclear
  105. obscurity
    the state of being indistinct due to lack of light
  106. obsequious
    attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery
  107. obstreperous
    noisily and stubbornly defiant
  108. onomatopoeia
    using words that imitate the sound they denote
  109. palatial
    relating to or being a large and stately residence
  110. panacea
    hypothetical remedy for all ills or diseases
  111. panoply
    a complete and impressive array
  112. parsimony
    extreme stinginess
  113. pedantic
    marked by a narrow focus on or display of learning
  114. penchant
    a strong liking or preference
  115. penultimate
    next to the last
  116. perfunctory
    hasty and without attention to detail; not thorough
  117. piecemeal
    one thing at a time
  118. placate
    cause to be more favorably inclined
  119. platitude
    a trite or obvious remark
  120. plethora
    extreme excess
  121. pollyannaish
    pleasantly (even unrealistically) optimistic
  122. precipitous
    extremely steep
  123. predilection
    a predisposition in favor of something
  124. prescient
    perceiving the significance of events before they occur
  125. proclivity
    a natural inclination
  126. prodigious
    great in size, force, extent, or degree
  127. prognosticate
    make a prediction about; tell in advance
  128. provincial
    associated with an administrative district of a nation
  129. purview
    the range of interest or activity that can be anticipated
  130. putative
    purported
  131. quaint
    attractively old-fashioned
  132. quintessential
    representing the perfect example of a class or quality
  133. quixotic
    not sensible about practical matters
  134. reminiscent
    serving to bring to mind
  135. render
    give or supply
  136. resplendent
    having great beauty
  137. rudimentary
    being in the earliest stages of development
  138. ruminate
    reflect deeply on a subject
  139. salacious
    suggestive of or tending to moral looseness
  140. sardonic
    disdainfully or ironically humorous
  141. seismic
    subject to or caused by an earthquake or earth vibration
  142. seismograph
    an instrument for measuring movements of the ground
  143. seminal
    influential and providing a basis for later development
  144. serendipity
    good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries
  145. soporific
    inducing sleep
  146. stoicism
    an indifference to pleasure or pain
  147. succinct
    briefly giving the gist of something
  148. surreal
    characterized by fantastic and incongruous imagery
  149. surreptitious
    marked by quiet and caution and secrecy
  150. taciturn
    habitually reserved and uncommunicative
  151. ubiquitous
    being present everywhere at once
  152. untenable
    incapable of being defended or justified
  153. urbane
    showing a high degree of refinement
  154. veracity
    unwillingness to tell lies
  155. vernacular
    the everyday speech of the people
  156. vitriol
    abusive or venomous language to express blame or censure
Created on Mon Oct 19 21:23:30 EDT 2009

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