* augury:

/
/':gjr/ n. Syn. omen; prophecy
@
sign of something coming; art or practice of foretelling events by signs or omens
#
He interpreted the departure of the birds as an augury of evil.
/

* august:
/
/:'gst/ a. Syn. impressive; majestic; grand
@ impressive; majestic; inspiring awe or admiration
#
Visiting the palace at Versailles, she was impressed by the august surroundings in which she
found herself.
/

* auspicious:
/
/:'sps/ a. Syn. propitious
@
attended by favorable circumstances; marked by success; prosperous
#
With favorable weather conditions, it was an auspicious moment to set sail.
/

* austere:
/
/'st(r)/ a.
@
strict or severe in discipline; severely simple and unornamented
#
The headmaster's austere demeanor tended to scare off the more timid students, who never
visited his study willingly.
/

* avarice:
/
/'vrs/ n.
@
greediness for wealth; insatiable desire of gain
#
King Midas is a perfect example of avarice, for he was so greedy that he wished everything he
touched would turn to gold.
/

* aver:
/
/'vr(r)/ v. Syn. affirm
@ declare to be true; affirm
#
The witnesses aver that he was holding a gun.
/

* axiom:
/
/'ksm/ n.
@ self-evident truth requiring no proof
#
Before a student can begin to think along the lines of Euclidean geometry, he must accept
certain principle or axiom.
/

* baleful:
/
/'belfl/ a. Syn. deadly; ominous
@
portending evil; harmful in intent or effect.
#
The fortune teller made baleful predictions of terrible things to come.
/

* banal:
/
/b'nrl/;/'benl/ a. Syn. dull; commonplace; trite
@
obvious and dull; commonplace; lacking originality
#
The writer made his comic sketch seem banal.
/

* bane:
/
/ben/ n. Syn. curse
@ something causes misery or death; curse; fatal injury or ruin
#
Lucy's little brother was the bane of her existence: his attempts to make her life miserable
worked so well that she could have poisoned him.
/

* bedizen:
/
/b'dz()n/ v.
@
ornament something in showy, tasteless, or gaudy finery
#
We usually bedizen witch doctors in all their gaudiest costumes.
/

* belie:
/
/b'la/ v. Syn. contradict
@
contradict; give a false impression
#
His coarse, hard-bitten exterior does belie his inner sensitivity.
/

* benign:
/
/b'nan/ a. Syn. kindly; favorable
@ kindly; favorable; not malignant
#
Though her benign smile and gentle bearing made Miss Marple seem a sweet little old lady, in
reality she was a tough-minded lady.
/

* bent:
/
/bnt/ a.
@
determined to do or have
#
We are bent on going to the theater no matter how heavy the snow is.
/

* blithe:
/
/bla/ a. Syn. gay; joyous; heedless
@
gay; joyous; carefree and lighthearted
#
Shelley called the skylark a "blithe spirit" because of its happy song.
/

* boisterous:
/
/'bstrs/ a. Syn. violent; rough; noisy
@ rough and stormy; loud, noisy, and lacking in restraint or discipline
#
The unruly crowd became even more boisterous when he tried to quiet them.
/

* bolster:
/
/'bolst(r)/ v. Syn. support; reinforce
@
support or prop up with or as if with a long narrow pillow or cushion
#
The debaters amassed file boxes full of evidence to bolster their arguments.
/

* bombastic:
/
/bm'bstk/ a. Syn. pompous
@
pompous; using inflated language; high-sounding but with little meaning
#
The biggest military power on Earth was acting belligerent and its president was indulging in
bombastic nationalistic grandstanding.
/

* burgeon:
/
/'brd()n/ v. Syn. thrive; mushroom
@
grow forth; send out buds; grow or develop rapidly
#
In the spring, the plants that burgeon are a promise of the beauty to come.
/