Acmehigh point; zenith Ajarslightly open Apexhigh point; pinnacle; zenith Avidpassionate; ardent Banea cause for ruin

Barda poet Bentan inclination or propensity; a leaning toward Bevya large group Bilkto steal; to embezzle Boona sudden gain; a windfall Boora rude person Curtterse; abrupt; brief, bordering on rudeness Deftskillful; adept Direserious, urgent Divaa female singer; a prima donna Doltan obtuse person Dupeto trick Fawnto flatter subserviently Foilto baffle a plan; to thwart

4-letter words Gaita manner or rate of walking Galea strong wind; gust Garbclothing; attire Glibeaseful with speaking, storytelling Glutto oversupply; to stuff Gurua learned person who has followers Hackhackneyed, trite, stale; to chop Hailto praise Halehealthy Heedto listen to advice; to consider Honeto sharpen Icona religious image or symbol Iotaa very small amount Keensharp-minded; acute Laudto praise; to adulate Loomto come into view, usually in a threatening manner

Mirea swamp pit; mud; a quagmire Mockto poke fun at; to scoff at Moltto shed hair, feathers, shell, or horns Onusa duty or burden Opusa great work, usually of music Oustto forcibly remove a ruler from power Pactan agreement, contract; a compact Swayinfluence, control, dominion Tactfinesse in dealing with people; diplomacy Tomea very big book Toutto flaunt Tyroa beginner; a neophyte; a fledgling Voidto cancel; to nullify Warycautious; chary Whetto sharpen; to stimulate an interest in Wilycrafty, sly

Difficult Words Aestheteone who appreciates and seeks Breadtha range or scope beauty, art, or pleasure. Brook (v.)to endure; to put up with Alacritycheerful readiness Bungleto botch; to mess up Aphorisma wise saying; an adage; a maxim Byzantineornate, fancy Appropriate (v.)to take anothers property Celeritycheerful speed as ones own Cerebralintellectual Arableable to be cultivated; farmable Chagrinembarrassment Arborealrelating to trees Circumscribeddefined or limited; isolated Asyluma safe place to practice ones religion Cloyingoversweet; saccharine or follow ones convictions Confoundto confuse; to perplex; to befuddle Auspiciousforetelling well for the future Conjecturea guess Avant-gardecutting-edge; new; Constituentsvoters experimental Consummatecomplete; perfect Behemotha huge animal; something of great Convolutedcomplicated, complex size or power Cruderude; lacking refinement Bequesta gift upon ones death Curtailto cut short; abridge

Debasedmorally low; base Decoroushaving propriety Denudedmade ineffective or infertile Desultoryaimless; lacking a plan or purpose Didacticrelating to instruction, lecturing Dilatorylacking goals or purpose; aimless Dinnoise Dirgea funeral song Discomfitedembarrassed; disconcerted Discretionarybased on personal choice; showing prudence Disingenuousdishonest; crafty Disposedbehaviorally inclined Divineheavenly; godly Edificea building Effigya crude likeness of a loathed person Egregiousblatantly wrong Elusivehard to grasp; escaping; evasive Emollienta soothing lotion Empiricalbased on data, evidence, and/or experiments Enervateto drain of energy; to weaken Enfranchiseto free from slavery; to bestow the right to vote Epitaphwords inscribed on a tomb Espouseto support Expurgateto delete obscene or other undesirable material from a text Extantexisting Fabricationa lie Facileeasy Felicitoussuitable; pleasant Feralsavage; wild Galvanizeto incite; to arouse to action Gauntthin; haggard Gingerlycarefully Grovelto beg or plead; to crawl; to behave subordinately Haplessill fated; unfortunate; unlucky Harbingera messenger; an omen Hermeticsealed in an airtight manner Histrionicover theatrical; melodramatic Hubrisexcessive pride Inanimatenot living Incantationa calling out for inspiration or guidance; an invocation Inchoatenot fully formed Incisiveharsh; cutting; vitriolic Incumbentone who holds political office

Indelibleunable to be erased; permanent Ineffableincapable of expression in words Inexorablesteadfast; resolute Inflammatorylikely to excite rage or disorder Insularisolated; remote Intemperateexcessive; immoderate Interlocutorone who participates in conversation or dialogue Intractablehard to manage or control Jadedbored from too much pleasure or overindulgence Jingoismaggressive touting of ones patriotism Juggernautrelentless force Juxtaposeto place things side by side for the sake of comparing Kineticrelating to motion and energy Legiona very large number Leviathona sub aquatic, mythological sea creature; something huge Licentiousmorally lax Meleea hand-to-hand fight involving several participants Milieuenvironment Myopicshort-sighted Naivetelack of experience or sophistication Nihilisma philosophical belief involving the rejection of established values and morality Nondescriptfeatureless; hard to describe Nonplussedconfused to the point of being unable to act or speak Obfuscateto obscure the meaning of Obligedforced; made to do something because of conscience or obligation Obliqueindirect; slanted Olfactoryrelating to the sense of smell Onerousburdensome Opprobriumdisgrace, disapproval Ostensibleapparent Panaceaa cure-all Partisanbiased; opinionated Pathosempathy; sympathetic pity Pedagogicrelating to education; instructive Pedanticnarrowly or pretentiously learned Perfidiousdisloyal; traitorous Petulantirritable Plauditsapplause; praise

Pontificateto speak in a supercilious and self-important manner Pragmatista practical person Precepta rule of behavior or action Precipitateto hurry up; to make happen before planned Prescienceadvance knowledge; foresight; anticipation Probityhonesty; integrity Profligateextravagant to a fault; prodigal Proliferateto reproduce or multiply quickly Promulgateto make known, formally, a law or set of beliefs Proselanguage ordinarily used in speaking or writing; writing that is not poetry Prototypea model; an archetype; a first specimen Prowessvalor, skill Punditserudite (learned, scholarly) persons Qualmdoubt; hesitation; uneasiness Quibbleto find fault with Quixoticromantic or dreamy Refractorystubborn Relegateto demote to an inferior position Reprehensibleworthy of blame Rescindto take back; to withdraw Retrogradegoing backward and therefore not progressing Sanctimoniouspretending to be religious Sanction (v.)to approve Scrupulousvery conscientious Serendipityfaculty of benefiting (e.g., finding valuable objects) by random chance Sophistrydeceptive thinking; invalid arguments Spatean outpouring Speciousfalse, not authentic; spurious Steadfastnessloyalty, resolve Stupefyto stun Subterfugedeception Supplantto replace; to substitute for Surfeit (n.)a surplus, an oversupply Sybaritea pleasure-loving person Synergisticworking together and having a greater combined effect because of simultaneous operation Table (v.)to set aside an issue to be discussed at a later time Tawdrycheap-looking; gaudy

Temerityreckless boldness Temper (v.)to lessen the severity of Threadbarevery worn; shabby Treacherydisloyalty, perfidy Truculentbelligerent Turgidswollen; pompous Unctuousinky, oily Unheraldedunannounced Untenableunable to be defended Upstarta rebel, an insurgent; a maverick Utopianrelating to a perfect society; idealistic Vauntto brag or boast Venialforgivable; pardonable Verdantgreen, lush Verisimilitudeprobability; something that has the appearance of truth Vestigialextremely small Victualsfood Vignettea brief written description Virilemanly, strong Visceralrelating to the abdomen; instinctive rather than reasoned Vitiateto impair; to render ineffective Vitriolicharsh, biting, caustic Vocationa profession to which one feels called to carry out, especially a religious calling Watersheda defining moment; a turning point Waylayto ambush Wheedleto cajole or coax Wilysly Windfallan unexpected gain or boon Winsomeattractive Witticisma clever remark Xenophobicfearful of foreigners Zephyra light breeze