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198 words 9 learners

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  1. bristle
    a stiff hair
  2. curtail
    terminate or abbreviate before its intended or proper end
  3. repudiate
    refuse to acknowledge, ratify, or recognize as valid
  4. debility
    the state of being weak in health or body
  5. resplendent
    having great beauty
  6. braggart
    a very boastful and talkative person
  7. hidebound
    stubbornly inflexible and narrow-minded
  8. languish
    become feeble
  9. pontificate
    administer a pontifical office
  10. decoy
    something used to lure fish or other animals
  11. erratic
    liable to sudden unpredictable change
  12. retraction
    a disavowal or taking back of a previous assertion
  13. titter
    laugh nervously
  14. broach
    bring up a topic for discussion
  15. deference
    courteous regard for people's feelings
  16. hoary
    having gray or white hair as with age
  17. brusque
    rudely abrupt or blunt in speech or manner
  18. espouse
    choose and follow a theory, idea, policy, etc.
  19. hone
    sharpen with a whetstone
  20. poseur
    a person who habitually pretends to be something he is not
  21. posterity
    all future generations
  22. legion
    a large military unit
  23. posthumous
    occurring or coming into existence after a person's death
  24. rigor
    excessive sternness
  25. burgeon
    grow and flourish
  26. potable
    suitable for drinking
  27. ominous
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
  28. transcribe
    write out, as from speech or notes
  29. demur
    politely refuse or take exception to
  30. liniment
    a topical liquid that relieves muscle stiffness and pain
  31. ruse
    a deceptive maneuver, especially to avoid capture
  32. lithe
    moving and bending with ease
  33. saccharin
    a crystalline substance 500 times sweeter than sugar
  34. cajole
    influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
  35. deplore
    express strong disapproval of
  36. depravity
    moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral principles
  37. execrable
    unequivocally detestable
  38. lofty
    of imposing height; especially standing out above others
  39. exegesis
    an explanation or critical interpretation
  40. precept
    a rule of personal conduct
  41. ordain
    invest with ministerial or priestly authority
  42. cantankerous
    stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate
  43. truant
    one who is absent from school without permission
  44. ludicrous
    inviting ridicule
  45. capitulate
    surrender under agreed conditions
  46. ossify
    become bony
  47. tumult
    a state of commotion and noise and confusion
  48. carping
    persistent petty and unjustified criticism
  49. desist
    stop performing some action
  50. impromptu
    with little or no preparation or forethought
  51. lummox
    an awkward, foolish person
  52. turpitude
    a corrupt or depraved or degenerate act or practice
  53. despondent
    without or almost without hope
  54. lynch
    kill without legal sanction
  55. catharsis
    purging the body to stimulate evacuation of the bowels
  56. incarceration
    the state of being imprisoned
  57. overwrought
    deeply agitated especially from emotion
  58. caucus
    meet to select a candidate or promote a policy
  59. incessant
    uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing
  60. savant
    a learned person
  61. unctuous
    unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating
  62. palisade
    a strong fence made of stakes driven into the ground
  63. devour
    eat immoderately
  64. extradite
    hand over to the authorities of another country
  65. celerity
    a rate that is rapid
  66. malady
    impairment of normal physiological function
  67. unfettered
    not bound or restrained, as by shackles and chains
  68. scuttle
    move about or proceed hurriedly
  69. unfrock
    divest of the frock; of church officials
  70. malefactor
    someone who has committed a crime
  71. digress
    wander from a direct or straight course
  72. falter
    move hesitatingly, as if about to give way
  73. proclivity
    a natural inclination
  74. dike
    a barrier constructed to contain the flow of water
  75. indifferent
    marked by a lack of interest
  76. unwitting
    not aware or knowing
  77. dilatory
    wasting time
  78. malleable
    capable of being shaped or bent
  79. sequester
    keep away from others
  80. prodigious
    great in size, force, extent, or degree
  81. serendipity
    good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries
  82. anthology
    a collection of selected literary passages
  83. inductee
    a person admitted into an organization or social group
  84. parched
    extremely thirsty
  85. upshot
    a phenomenon that is caused by some previous phenomenon
  86. indulgent
    given to yielding to the wishes of someone
  87. pariah
    a person who is rejected from society or home
  88. serrated
    notched like a saw with teeth pointing toward the apex
  89. diorama
    a three-dimensional representation of a scene
  90. inebriation
    a temporary state resulting from excessive consumption of alcohol
  91. ineffable
    defying expression or description
  92. marsupial
    a mammal the female of which has a pouch carrying the young
  93. utilitarian
    having a useful function
  94. proletarian
    belonging to or characteristic of the working class
  95. skirmish
    a minor short-term fight
  96. parry
    impede the movement of
  97. proponent
    a person who argues for a cause or puts forward an idea
  98. smelt
    extract by heating, as a metal
  99. inexorable
    impossible to prevent, resist, or stop
  100. maverick
    someone who exhibits independence in thought and action
  101. prosaic
    lacking wit or imagination
  102. smorgasbord
    a collection containing a variety of sorts of things
  103. flagrant
    conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible
  104. solace
    comfort offered to one who is disappointed or miserable
  105. vapid
    lacking significance or liveliness or spirit or zest
  106. pathos
    a quality that arouses emotions, especially pity or sorrow
  107. prosody
    the study of poetic meter and the art of versification
  108. discursiveness
    the quality of being discursive
  109. mellow
    having a full and pleasing flavor through proper aging
  110. prostration
    the action of lying face downward
  111. soothsayer
    someone who makes predictions of the future
  112. venal
    capable of being corrupted
  113. mercenary
    a person hired to fight for another country than their own
  114. peccadillo
    a petty misdeed
  115. protege
    a person who receives support from an influential patron
  116. veneer
    coating consisting of a thin layer of wood
  117. artifice
    the use of deception or trickery
  118. provincial
    associated with an administrative district of a nation
  119. venial
    warranting only temporal punishment
  120. disseminate
    cause to become widely known
  121. speckled
    having a pattern of dots
  122. diurnal
    having a daily cycle or occurring every day
  123. puerile
    displaying or suggesting a lack of maturity
  124. fractious
    easily irritated or annoyed
  125. spurious
    plausible but false
  126. milieu
    the environmental condition
  127. purloin
    make off with belongings of others
  128. insipid
    lacking interest or significance or impact
  129. mire
    a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
  130. staid
    characterized by dignity and propriety
  131. colloquial
    characteristic of informal spoken language or conversation
  132. dotard
    someone whose age has impaired his or her intellect
  133. percipient
    characterized by ease and quickness in perceiving
  134. staunch
    firm and dependable especially in loyalty
  135. vilification
    slanderous defamation
  136. atrophy
    a decrease in size of an organ caused by disease or disuse
  137. drawl
    a slow speech pattern with prolonged vowels
  138. perdition
    the place or state in which one suffers eternal punishment
  139. stereotype
    a conventional or formulaic conception or image
  140. drivel
    saliva spilling from the mouth
  141. quaint
    attractively old-fashioned
  142. quaint
    attractively old-fashioned
  143. stevedore
    a laborer who loads and unloads ships at a waterfront
  144. galleon
    a large square-rigged sailing ship with three or more masts
  145. drone
    make a monotonous low dull sound
  146. demeanor
    the way a person behaves toward other people
  147. maneuver
    a military training exercise
  148. demur
    politely refuse or take exception to
  149. decorum
    propriety in manners and conduct
  150. garble
    distort or make false by mutilation or addition
  151. momentous
    of very great significance
  152. quarry
    animal hunted or caught for food
  153. stoke
    (of a fire) stir up or tend
  154. balk
    refuse to proceed or comply
  155. garner
    assemble or get together
  156. inveterate
    habitual
  157. moratorium
    suspension of an ongoing activity
  158. moribund
    being on the point of death
  159. pernicious
    exceedingly harmful
  160. gaunt
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
  161. persnickety
    characterized by excessive attention to trivial details
  162. irascible
    quickly aroused to anger
  163. rancor
    a feeling of deep and bitter anger and ill-will
  164. rant
    talk at length in a noisy, excited, or angry manner
  165. bastion
    projecting part of a rampart or other fortification
  166. personable
    pleasant in manner and appearance
  167. ratify
    approve and express assent, responsibility, or obligation
  168. raucous
    unpleasantly loud and harsh
  169. congeal
    solidify, thicken, or come together
  170. effusive
    uttered with unrestrained enthusiasm
  171. raze
    tear down so as to make flat with the ground
  172. nebulous
    lacking definite form or limits
  173. egregious
    conspicuously and outrageously bad or reprehensible
  174. consecrate
    give entirely to a specific person, activity, or cause
  175. digress
    wander from a direct or straight course
  176. regress
    go back to a previous state
  177. egress
    the act or means of going out
  178. gratis
    costing nothing
  179. gratuitous
    unnecessary and unwarranted
  180. jaded
    exhausted
  181. emaciated
    very thin, especially from disease or hunger or cold
  182. gritty
    composed of or covered with small particles
  183. jaunt
    a journey taken for pleasure
  184. red tape
    needlessly time-consuming procedure
  185. emancipate
    free from slavery or servitude
  186. guffaw
    a burst of loud and hearty laughter
  187. nomadic
    relating to persons or groups who travel in search of food or work
  188. redolent
    having a strong pleasant odor
  189. wily
    marked by skill in deception
  190. pillage
    steal goods; take as spoils
  191. wispy
    thin and weak
  192. contusion
    an injury in which the skin is not broken
  193. referendum
    a legislative act referred for approval to a popular vote
  194. bequeath
    leave or give, especially by will after one's death
  195. zany
    ludicrous or foolish
  196. corpulent
    excessively large
  197. corrugated
    shaped into alternating parallel grooves and ridges
  198. hallowed
    worthy of religious veneration
Created on Wed Nov 20 22:40:01 EST 2013 (updated Thu Nov 21 06:45:37 EST 2013)

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