Words Every 12th Grader Should Know How to Spell (master list)

Steve J.
210 words 0 learners

Learn words with Flashcards and other activities

Definition First
Print Flashcards

Other learning activities

Answer a few questions about each word. Use this to prep for your next quiz! Compete with other teams in real time to see who answers the most questions correctly! Test your spelling acumen. Read the definition, listen to the word and try spelling it!

Teaching tools

Create and assign quizzes to your students to test their vocabulary. Assign learning activities including Practice, Vocabulary Jams and Spelling Bees to your students, and monitor their progress in real-time.

Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. clientele
    customers collectively
  2. illustrious
    widely known and esteemed
  3. cognizant
    having or showing knowledge or understanding or realization
  4. circumspect
    careful to consider potential consequences and avoid risk
  5. nefarious
    extremely wicked
  6. necessitate
    require as useful, just, or proper
  7. auspicious
    indicating favorable circumstances and good luck
  8. avow
    declare or affirm solemnly and formally as true
  9. maul
    injure badly
  10. homonym
    a word pronounced or spelled the same with another meaning
  11. diabolical
    showing cunning or ingenuity or wickedness
  12. resplendent
    having great beauty
  13. obituary
    a notice of someone's death
  14. negotiate
    discuss the terms of an arrangement
  15. doctrine
    a belief accepted as authoritative by some group or school
  16. reprove
    reprimand, scold, or express dissatisfaction with
  17. prosperity
    the condition of having good fortune
  18. frugal
    avoiding waste
  19. euphemism
    an inoffensive expression substituted for an offensive one
  20. emulate
    strive to equal or match, especially by imitating
  21. extenuating
    partially excusing or justifying
  22. narcotic
    a drug that produces numbness or stupor
  23. eulogy
    a formal expression of praise for someone who has died
  24. longevity
    the property of having lived for a considerable time
  25. momentum
    the product of a body's mass and its velocity
  26. adversary
    someone who offers opposition
  27. exonerate
    pronounce not guilty of criminal charges
  28. lobbyist
    someone who is employed to persuade how legislators vote
  29. anachronistic
    chronologically misplaced
  30. aesthetic
    characterized by an appreciation of beauty or good taste
  31. incongruous
    lacking in harmony or compatibility or appropriateness
  32. digression
    a message that departs from the main subject
  33. mystical
    beyond ordinary understanding
  34. celestial
    relating to or inhabiting a divine heaven
  35. ephemeral
    anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day
  36. sequester
    keep away from others
  37. certitude
    complete assurance or confidence
  38. insurmountable
    not capable of being overcome
  39. hackneyed
    repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
  40. clairvoyant
    someone who can perceive things not present to the senses
  41. contemptuous
    expressing extreme scorn
  42. Machiavellian
    of or relating to amoral or conniving political principles
  43. trite
    repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
  44. hedonist
    someone motivated by desires for sensual pleasures
  45. accolade
    a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction
  46. lassitude
    a feeling of lack of interest or energy
  47. trifling
    not worth considering
  48. obnoxious
    causing disapproval or protest
  49. loquacious
    full of trivial conversation
  50. surreptitious
    marked by quiet and caution and secrecy
  51. fortuitous
    lucky; occurring by happy chance
  52. amicable
    characterized by friendship and good will
  53. poignancy
    a quality that arouses emotions, especially pity or sorrow
  54. stagnant
    not growing or changing; without force or vitality
  55. prudent
    marked by sound judgment
  56. anecdote
    short account of an incident
  57. ostentatious
    intended to attract notice and impress others
  58. voyeuristic
    of viewers who enjoy seeing the sex acts or organs of others
  59. querulous
    habitually complaining
  60. innumerable
    too many to be counted
  61. quagmire
    a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot
  62. shrewd
    marked by practical hardheaded intelligence
  63. procrastinate
    waste time or postpone doing what one should be doing
  64. inconsequential
    lacking worth or importance
  65. synecdoche
    using part of something to refer to the whole thing
  66. substantiate
    establish or strengthen as with new evidence or facts
  67. delirious
    experiencing hallucinations
  68. punitive
    inflicting punishment
  69. raconteur
    a person skilled in telling anecdotes
  70. mundane
    found in the ordinary course of events
  71. demagogue
    a leader who seeks support by appealing to popular passions
  72. nonchalant
    marked by casual unconcern or indifference
  73. pugnacious
    ready and able to resort to force or violence
  74. tenacious
    stubbornly unyielding
  75. condescending
    characteristic of those who treat others with arrogance
  76. parsimony
    extreme stinginess
  77. maladroit
    not quick or skillful in action or thought
  78. benevolent
    showing or motivated by sympathy and understanding
  79. superficial
    of, affecting, or being on or near the surface
  80. exasperation
    actions that cause great irritation
  81. unerring
    always accurate or correct
  82. camaraderie
    the quality of affording easy familiarity and sociability
  83. subtle
    difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
  84. exemplary
    worthy of imitation
  85. stupefy
    make someone dazed or foolish
  86. compromise
    an accommodation in which both sides make concessions
  87. jubilation
    a feeling of extreme joy
  88. conformist
    someone who follows established standards of conduct
  89. disdain
    lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
  90. ultimate
    furthest or highest in degree or order; utmost or extreme
  91. intuitive
    spontaneously derived from or prompted by a natural tendency
  92. asylum
    a shelter from danger or hardship
  93. censure
    harsh criticism or disapproval
  94. unkempt
    not properly maintained or cared for
  95. spendthrift
    someone who spends money freely or wastefully
  96. assiduous
    marked by care and persistent effort
  97. arid
    lacking sufficient water or rainfall
  98. transcribe
    write out, as from speech or notes
  99. reconciliation
    the reestablishment of cordial relations
  100. intrepid
    invulnerable to fear or intimidation
  101. rouse
    cause to become awake or conscious
  102. reclusive
    withdrawn from society; seeking solitude
  103. congregation
    the act of assembling
  104. deleterious
    harmful to living things
  105. vociferous
    conspicuously and offensively loud
  106. jargon
    technical terminology characteristic of a particular subject
  107. vindicate
    show to be right by providing justification or proof
  108. boudoir
    a lady's bedroom or private sitting room
  109. spiteful
    showing malicious ill will and a desire to hurt
  110. lateral
    situated at or extending to the side
  111. divergent
    tending to move apart in different directions
  112. ptomaine
    any of various amines (such as putrescine or cadaverine) formed by the action of putrefactive bacteria
  113. wend
    direct one's course or way
  114. panorama
    the visual perception of a region
  115. zealot
    a fervent and even militant proponent of something
  116. mitochondrion
    part of a cell involved in energy production
  117. vitality
    the property of being able to survive and grow
  118. oblivion
    the state of being disregarded or forgotten
  119. wary
    marked by keen caution and watchful prudence
  120. subside
    wear off or die down
  121. ordinance
    an authoritative rule
  122. tirade
    a speech of violent denunciation
  123. ultimatum
    a final peremptory demand
  124. patron
    someone who supports or champions something
  125. pulverize
    make into a powder by breaking up or cause to become dust
  126. antediluvian
    of or relating to the period before the biblical flood
  127. tier
    one of two or more layers one atop another
  128. phenomenal
    exceedingly or unbelievably great
  129. quell
    suppress or crush completely
  130. zloty
    the basic unit of money in Poland
  131. tart
    tasting sour like a lemon
  132. vex
    disturb, especially by minor irritations
  133. vulgar
    of or associated with the great masses of people
  134. raillery
    light teasing
  135. adversity
    a state of misfortune or affliction
  136. venerate
    regard with feelings of respect and reverence
  137. tenacity
    persistent determination
  138. eleemosynary
    generous in assistance to the poor
  139. adulation
    exaggerated flattery or praise
  140. somber
    serious and gloomy in character
  141. tentative
    hesitant or lacking confidence; unsettled in mind or opinion
  142. bourgeoisie
    a socioeconomic group that is neither wealthy nor poor
  143. whet
    sharpen by rubbing
  144. stereotype
    a conventional or formulaic conception or image
  145. consanguineous
    related by blood
  146. silhouette
    a filled-in drawing of the outline of an object
  147. steadfast
    marked by firm determination or resolution; not shakable
  148. antipyretic
    preventing or alleviating fever
  149. narcissistic
    having an inflated idea of one's own importance
  150. simultaneous
    occurring or operating at the same time
  151. vile
    morally reprehensible
  152. rogue
    a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
  153. spoonerism
    transposition of initial consonants in a pair of words
  154. psalmody
    the act of singing psalms or hymns
  155. serendipity
    good luck in making unexpected and fortunate discoveries
  156. stolid
    having or revealing little emotion or sensibility
  157. sanctimonious
    excessively or hypocritically pious
  158. zabaglione
    light foamy custard-like dessert served hot or chilled
  159. solitude
    a state of social isolation
  160. revoke
    cancel officially
  161. revere
    regard with feelings of respect
  162. acquiescence
    agreement with a statement or proposal to do something
  163. skirmish
    a minor short-term fight
  164. coulomb
    a unit of electrical charge equal to the amount of charge transferred by a current of 1 ampere in 1 second
  165. faience
    glazed earthenware decorated with opaque colors
  166. prophylactic
    preventing or contributing to the prevention of disease
  167. prose
    ordinary writing as distinguished from verse
  168. couturier
    someone who designs clothing
  169. jodhpurs
    flared pants ending at the calves and worn with riding boots
  170. usurp
    seize and take control without authority
  171. vernacular
    the everyday speech of the people
  172. novice
    someone new to a field or activity
  173. parched
    extremely thirsty
  174. miasma
    an unwholesome atmosphere
  175. vitriolic
    harsh, bitter, or malicious in tone
  176. pulchritude
    physical beauty, especially of a woman
  177. oriflamme
    an inspiring symbol or ideal that serves as a rallying point in a struggle
  178. lavaliere
    jeweled pendant worn on a chain around the neck
  179. virtuoso
    someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field
  180. reorganize
    organize anew
  181. sagacity
    the trait of having wisdom and good judgment
  182. circuitous
    deviating from a straight course
  183. sear
    become superficially burned (also figurative)
  184. reputable
    held in high esteem and honor
  185. impute
    attribute or credit to
  186. sluggish
    moving slowly
  187. rostrum
    a platform raised above the surrounding level
  188. cholangitis
    inflammation of the bile ducts
  189. banausic
    (formal) ordinary and not refined
  190. rueful
    feeling or expressing pain or sorrow
  191. abstinence
    the trait of refraining from something, especially alcohol
  192. dentifrice
    a substance for cleaning the teeth
  193. remittance
    a payment of money sent to a person in another place
  194. infinitesimal
    immeasurably small
  195. anonymous
    having no known name or identity or known source
  196. rift
    a narrow fissure in rock
  197. spurious
    plausible but false
  198. restrained
    under control
  199. precocious
    characterized by exceptionally early development
  200. discredit
    the state of being held in low esteem
  201. sporadic
    recurring in scattered or unpredictable instances
  202. resilient
    recovering readily from adversity, depression, or the like
  203. enhance
    increase
  204. convergence
    the act of coming closer
  205. qualm
    uneasiness about the fitness of an action
  206. squander
    spend thoughtlessly; throw away
  207. empathy
    understanding and entering into another's feelings
  208. slothful
    disinclined to work or exertion
  209. stability
    the quality or attribute of being firm and steadfast
  210. tedious
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
Created on Fri Aug 18 22:22:17 EDT 2023

Sign up now (it’s free!)

Whether you’re a teacher or a learner, Vocabulary.com can put you or your class on the path to systematic vocabulary improvement.