Vocabulary

Week of March 5Study for Quiz

Renounce

• give up claim: to give up formally a claim, title, position, or right

• reject belief: to reject or disavow a belief or theory

• stop doing something: to give up a habit, pursuit, or practice

Truculent

• fierce; cruel; savagely brutal

• brutally harsh; vitriolic; scathing: his truculent criticism of her work

• aggressively hostile; belligerent

Nefarious

• evil: utterly immoral or wicked

Complacency

• A feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction, especially when coupled with an unawareness of danger, trouble, or controversy.

Vehemence

• Characterized by forcefulness of expression or intensity of emotion or conviction

• fervid: a vehement denial

Innocuous

• unlikely to offend: not intended to cause offense or provoke a strong reaction and unlikely to do so

• harmless: harmless in effect

Obsequious

• submissive: excessively eager to please or obey

• fawning

• annoying teacher’s pet

Malevolence

• ill will ; malice; hatred

Alacrity

• eager readiness

Canonical

• relating to, or forming a canon – what a lousy definition

• conforming to a general rule or acceptable procedure : orthodox

• of or relating to a clergyman

Berate

• scold: to scold somebody vigorously and at length

Incontrovertible

• certain, undeniable, and not open to question

Polarize• cause division of opinion: to make the

differences between groups or ideas ever more clear-cut and extreme, hardening the opposition between them, or become ever more clear-cut and extreme in this way

Axioms• a self-evident truth that requires no proof

• a universally accepted principle or rule

• a proposition that is assumed without proof

Unbridled

• freely and openly expressed

Predicated

• to proclaim; declare; affirm; assert

Opaque

• not transparent or translucent; impenetrable to light

Circuitous

• lengthy because very indirect

Affable

• easygoing: good-natured, friendly, and easy to talk to

Ardent

• having, expressive of, or characterized by intense feeling

• Passionate

• fervent: an ardent vow; ardent love

Vaunted

• boasted about or praised in an ostentatious way

Beguiled

• charm somebody: to win and hold somebody's attention, interest, or devotion

• deceive somebody: to mislead or deceive somebody

• cheat somebody: to rob somebody of something, or cheat somebody out of something

Enervated

• weakened or exhausted physically, mentally, or morally

Castigated

• to criticize or reprimand severely

• to punish in order to correct

Exonerated

• to clear, as of an accusation; free from guilt or blame

Filial

• of, pertaining to, or befitting a son or daughter: filial obedience

• noting or having the relation of a child to a parent

Tacit

• implied but not expressed: understood or implied without being stated openly

Prescient

• knowing in advance: having or showing knowledge of actions or events before they take place