Advanced Words Set 3

dissolution (dissolute)

(noun) dissolving,t he state of having been dissolved; breaking bonds or breaking up of a group of people; death, disintegration; sinking into extreme hedonism, vice and degradation

distaff

(adj) female, especially relating to the maternal side of the family; (noun) women or women's work, a staff that holds wool or flax for spinning

distend

(verb) swell, expand, stretch, bloat (balloon, turgid, tumid)

dither

(verb) act indecisively; (noun) a state of fear or trembling excitement (vacillate, equivocate)

diurnal

(adj) occurring every day; happening in the daytime (Rather than at night) (quotidian)

doctrinaire

(noun) person who applies doctrine in an impractical or rigid and close-minded way; (adj) merely theoretical, impractical or fanatical about other people accepting one's ideas (dogmatic)

doff

(verb) take off (such as clothes), put aside; remove one's hat as a gesture

dovetail

(verb) join or fit together (converge)

droll

(adj) funny in an odd way (waggish, risible, jocular, jocund, jocose)

dupe

(noun) person who is easily fooled or used; (verb) to fool or exploit (hoodwink, bilk, swindle, con, fleece)

duplicity (duplicitous)

(noun) deceit, double-dealing, acting in two different ways for the purpose of deception (dissembling, prevaricating, disingenuous)

dyspeptic

(adj) grumpy, pessimistic, irritable; suffering from dyspepsia/indigestion (curmudgeon, crotchety, cantankerous, crank)

ebullient

(adj) very enthusiastic, lively, excited; bubbling as though being boiled (exuberant)

echelon

(noun) a level, rank or grade; the people at that level (stratum)

edify (edifying)

(verb) uplift, enlighten, instruct or improve in a spiritual or moral way

effigy

(noun) representation or image of a person, especially a crude facsimile used to mock a hated person

effrontery

(noun) shameless boldness (audacious, insolent, brazen)

egress

(verb) the action of exiting; (noun) an exit (outlet)

elegy

(noun) song or poem of sorrow, especially for a deceased person (dirge, lament, requiem, threnody)

encomium

(noun) warm, glowing praise, especially a formal expression of praise (laudation, eulogy, panegyric, paean)

endemic

(adj) native, local; natural, specific to, or confined to a particular place

engender

(verb) produce, give rise to, cause to exist; procreate (beget)

epicure (epicurean)

(noun) person with cultivated, refined taste, especially in food and wine (connoisseur, discriminating)

equanimity (equanimous)

(noun) composure, evenness of mind; mental or emotional stability especially under stress (sangfroid, aplomb, imperturbable)

equivocate

(verb) use unclear language to deceive or avoid committing to a position (ambivalent, vacillate, waffle, hedge, dither, palter, tergiversate)

ersatz

(adj) artificial, synthetic; being an inferior substitute (apocryphal, faux, bogus, specious)

erstwhile

(adj) former, previous; (adv) in the past, formerly [bygone, quondam]

euphony

(noun) pleasing or sweet sound, especially as formed by a harmonious use of words (dulcet, mellifluous)

exigent

(adj) requiring immediate attention, action or aid; excessively demanding (dire)

expedient

(adj) suitable, proper; effective, often at the expense of ethics or other considerations (opportune)

expurgate

(Verb) censor; remove objectionable or offensive parts (bowdlerize, expunge)

extemporaneous

(adj) done without preparation (especially of a speech) or with some preparation but no notes; improvised, done on the spur of the moment (impromptu, ad-lib)

fallow

(adj) left unplanted (of land); not in use

arable

(adj) able to be farmed, fertile

fastidious

(adj) excessively particular, difficult to please; painstaking, meticulous, requiring excessive attention to detail (meticulous, exacting)

fatuous

(adj) foolish, silly, especially in a smug or complacent manner (inane, waggish, risible, droll, jocular)

fecund (fecundity)

(adj) fruitful, fertile; capable of abundantly producing offspring, vegetation or create/intellectual work

felicitous

(adj) admirably appropriate, very well-suited for the occasion; pleasant, fortunate, marked by happiness

fervid

(adj) very hot; heated in passion or enthusiasm (ardent, zealous)

fetid

(adj) stinking; having an offensive smell (noisome, noxious)

fledgling

(noun) a young bird that has recently gotten its feathers, an inexperienced person; (adj) new or inexperienced (tyro)

florid

(adj) reddish or rosy; flowery, showy or excessively fancy (ruddy, bombastic, turgid, declamatory, magniloquent, grandiloquent, rococo)

flout

(verb) treat with disdain, contempt or scorn (usually of rules)

fluke

(noun) stroke of luck, something accidentally successful (fortuitous, windfall)

forage

(verb) wander in search of; rummage, hunt, make a raid (plunder, pillage, ransack, depredate, despoil)

ford

(noun) place where a river or similar body of water is shallow enough to walk or ride a vehicle across; (verb) to cross at such a place (Traverse)

forestall

(verb) delay, hinder, prevent by taking action beforehand (waylay, obviate, preclude, stymie)

fracas

(noun) noisy disturbance or fight; brawl (fray)

fractious

(adj) unruly, troublemaking; irritable (obstreperous, refractory, captious)

frenetic

(adj) wildly excited, frantic, distracted (frenzied)