princeton hit parade
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- nebulous
- adj. vagues; cloudy; lacking clearly defined form
- astringent
- adj. having a tightening effect on living tissue; harsh; severe
- axiom
- n. a universally recognized principle
- axiomatic
- adj. taken as a given; possessing self-evident truth
- bucolic
- adj. rustic and pastoral; characteristic of rural areas and their inhabitants
- canon
- n. an established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature
- canonical
- adj. following or in agreement with accepted, traditiona standards
- catalyst
- n. a person or thing that causes change
- censure
- v. to criticize severely; to officially rebuke
- chary
- adj. wary; cautious; sparing
- contiguous
- adj. sharing a border; touching; adjacent
- convention
- n. a generally agreed-upon practice or attitude
- credulous
- adj. tending to believe too readily; gullible
- culpable
- adj. deserving blame
- dearth
- n. smallness of quantity or number; scarcity; a lack
- demur
- v. to question or oppose
- dilettante
- n. one with an amateurish or superficial interest in the arts or a branch of knowledge
- discretion
- n. cautious reserve in speech; ability to make responsible decisions
- divulge
- v. to disclose something secret
- eccentric
- adj. departing from norms or conventions
- eloquent
- adj. well-spoken; expressive; articulate
- emollient
- adj. soothing, especially to the skin; making less harsh; mollifying
- enigmatic
- adj. mysterious; obscure; difficult to understand
- ennui
- n. dissatisfaction and restlessness resulting from boredom or apathy
- evanescent
- adj. tending to disappear like vapor; vanishing
- exonerate
- v. to remove blame
- fervent
- adj. greatly emotional or zealous
- filibuster
- n. intentional obstruction, especialy using prolonged speechmaking to delay legislative action
- flout
- v. to demonstrate contempt for, as in a rule or convention
- fulminate
- v. to loudly attack or denounce
- furtive
- adj. marked by stealth; covert; surreptitious
- germane
- adj. relevant to the subject at hand; appropriate in subject manner
- glib
- adj. marked by ease or informality; nonchalant; lacking in depth; superficial
- halcyon
- adj. calm and peaceful
- hegemony
- n. the consistent dominance of one state or ideology over others
- hubris
- n. arrogant presumption or pride
- imminent
- adj. about to happen; impending
- impecunious
- adj. lacking funds; without money
- impetuous
- adj. hastily or rashly energetic; impulsive and vehement
- impunity
- n. immunity from punishment or penalty
- incipient
- adj. beginning to come into being or to become apparent
- infelicitous
- adj. unfortunate; inappropriate
- inimical
- adj. damaging; harmful; injurious
- intrepid
- adj. steadfast and courageous
- inveigle
- v. to obtrain by deception or flattery
- malevolent
- adj. having or showing often vicious ill will, spite, or hatred
- mercurial
- adj. characterized by rapid and unpredictabe change in mood
- nascent
- adj. coming into being; in early developmental stages
- noxious
- adj. harmful; injurious
- obfuscate
- v. to deliberately obscure; to make confusing
- obtuse
- adj. lacking sharpness of intellect; not clear or precise in thought or expression
- odious
- adj. evoke intense aversion or dislike
- paean
- n. a song or hymn of praise and thanksgiving
- pedagogy
- n. the art or profession of training, teaching or instructing
- perfidy
- n. intentional breach of faith; treachery
- pernicious
- adj. extremely harmful; potentially causing death
- pernurious
- adj. penny-pinching; excessively thrifty; ungenerous
- perspicacious
- adj. acutely perceptive; having keen discernment
- peruse
- v. to examine with great care
- pervade
- v. to permeate throughout
- pith
- n. the essential or central part
- pithy
- adj. precise and brief
- polemical
- adj. controversial; argumentative
- prattle
- v. to babble meaninglessly; to talk in an empty and idle manner
- predilection
- n. a disposition in favor of something; preference
- preen
- v. to dress up; to primp; to groom oneself with elaborate care
- prescience
- n. foreknowledge of events; knowing of events prior to their occurring
- proclivity
- n. a natural predisposition or inclination
- prodigious
- adj. abundant in size, force, or extent; extraordinary
- profligate
- adj. excessively wasteful; recklessly extravagant
- profuse
- adj. given or coming forth abundantly; extravagant
- prosaic
- adj. dull; unimaginative
- putrefy
- v. to rot; to decay and give off a foul odor
- quaff
- v. to drink deeply
- qualms
- n. misgivings; reservations; causes for hesitancy
- querulous
- adj. prone to complaining or grumbling; quarrelsome
- quixotic
- adj. foolishly impractical; marked by lofty romantic ideas
- quotididan
- adj. occurring or recurring daily; commonplace
- rancorous
- adj. characterized by bitter, long-lasting resentment
- redoubtable
- adj. awe-inspiring; worthy of honor
- refulgent
- adj. radiant; shiny; brilliant
- renege
- v. to fail to honor a commitment; to go back on a promise
- rhetoric
- n. the art or study of effective use of language for communication and persuasion
- sedulous
- adj. diligent; persistent; hard-working
- solvent
- adj. able to meet financial obligations; able to dissolve another substance
- sordid
- adj. characterize by filth, grime or squalor; foul
- spendthrift
- n. one who spends money wastefully
- squalid
- adj. sordid; wretched and dirty as from neglect
- stoic
- adj. indifferent to or unaffected by pleaure or pain; steadfast
- stupefy
- v. to stun, baffle or amaze
- stymie
- v. to block; thwart
- succinct
- adj. brief; concise
- superfluous
- adj. exceeding what is sufficient or necessary
- supplant
- v. to take the place of; supercede
- surfeit
- v. excess; iverindulgence
- tenacity
- n. the quality of adherence or persistence to something valued
- terse
- adj. brief and concise in wording
- torque
- n. a force that causes rotation
- tout
- v. to publicly praise or promote
- transient
- adj. fleeting; passing quickly; brief
- trenchant
- adj. sharply perceptive; keen; penetrating
- ubiquitous
- adj. existing everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered; widespread
- unfeigned
- adj. genuine; not false or hypocritical
- untenable
- adj. indefensible; not viable; uninhabitable
- urbane
- adj. sophisticated;; refined; elegant
- variegated
- adj. multicolored; characterized by a variety of patches of different color
- vexation
- n. annoyance; irritation
- vigilant
- adj. alertly watchful
- vilify
- v. to defame; to characterize harshly
- virulent
- adj. extremely harmful or poisonous; bitterly hostile or antagonistic