AP Lit Vocab list 1

Aphorism

1: a concise statement of a principle 2 : a terse formulation of a truth or sentiment : ADAGE

Avaricious

greedy of gain: excessively acquisitive especially in seeking to hoard riches synonyms see COVETOUS

Banal

lacking originality, freshness, or novelty: TRITE synonyms see INSIPID

Boorish

resembling or befitting a boor (as in crude insensitivity)
synonyms BOORISH, CHURLISH, LOUTISH, CLOWNISH mean uncouth in manners or appearance. BOORISH implies rudeness of manner due to insensitiveness to others' feelings and unwillingness to be agreeable

Cache

1 a: a hiding place especially for concealing and preserving provisions or implements b: a secure place of storage 2: something hidden or stored in a cache)

Capricious

governed or characterized by caprice : IMPULSIVE, UNPREDICTABLE synonyms see INCONSTANT)

Cerebral

appealing to intellectual appreciation <cerebral drama> b: primarily intellectual in nature <a cerebral society>

Credulous

ready to believe especially on slight or uncertain evidence <accused of swindling credulous investors>)

Desultory

1: marked by lack of definite plan, regularity, or purpose <a dragged-out ordeal of...desultory shopping � Herman Wouk> 2 : not connected with the main subject 3 : disappointing in progress, performance, or quality <a desultory fifth place finish> <a desu

Disparity

1 : containing or made up of fundamentally different and often incongruous elements 2 : markedly distinct in quality or character

Egregious

CONSPICUOUS; especially : conspicuously bad : FLAGRANT <egregious errors>

Enigma

1 : an obscure speech or writing 2 : something hard to understand or explain 3 : an inscrutable or mysterious person synonyms see MYSTERY

Facetious

1 : joking or jesting often inappropriately : WAGGISH <just being facetious> 2 : meant to be humorous or funny : not serious <a facetious remark> synonyms see WITTY

Facile

1 a (1): easily accomplished or attained <a facile victory> (2): SHALLOW, SIMPLISTIC <I am not concerned...with offering any facile solution for so complex a problem � T. S. Eliot> b: used or comprehended with ease c: readily manifested and often lacking

garrulous

1 : given to prosy, rambling, or tedious loquacity : pointlessly or annoyingly talkative 2 : WORDY 1 <garrulous speeches> )

Gregarious

1 a: tending to associate with others of one's kind : SOCIAL b: marked by or indicating a liking for companionship : SOCIABLE c: of or relating to a social group

Guile

1: deceitful cunning: DUPLICITY

Halcyon

2 a: CALM, PEACEFUL b: HAPPY, GOLDEN c: PROSPEROUS, AFFLUENT

Hirsute

1 : HAIRY 1 2 : covered with coarse stiff hairs <a hirsute leaf>

Iconoclast

1: a person who destroys religious images or opposes their veneration 2: a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions

Incipient

beginning to come into being or to become apparent <an incipient solar system> <evidence of incipient racial tension> [HINT: if it helps, think INCEPTION]

Jurisprudence

1: the science or philosophy of law2 a: a system or body of law b: the course of court decisions

Laconic

using or involving the use of a minimum of words : concise
to the point of seeming rude or mysterious synonyms see CONCISE

Libido

1 : instinctual psychic energy that in psychoanalytic theory is derived from primitive biological urges (as for sexual pleasure or self-preservation) and that is expressed in conscious activity 2 : sexual drive

Maudlin

1 : drunk enough to be emotionally silly 2 : weakly and effusively sentimental

Mendacity

1 : the quality or state of being mendacious [mendacious means- given to or characterized by deception or falsehood or divergence from absolute truth <mendacious tales of his adventures>] 2 : LIE

Meretricious

1: of or relating to a prostitute: having the nature of prostitution <meretricious relationships> 2 a: tawdrily and falsely attractive <the paradise they found was a piece of meretricious trash � Carolyn See> b: superficially significant : PRETENTIOUS <sc

Misanthrope

person who hates or distrusts humankind

Nebulous

1 : of, relating to, or resembling a nebula : NEBULAR 2 : INDISTINCT, VAGUE

Neophyte

1: a new convert: PROSELYTE 2: NOVICE 1 3 : TYRO, BEGINNER

Kerfuffle

chiefly British : DISTURBANCE, FUSS

Honeyfuggle

to deceive by flattery or sweet talk; to swindle or cheat

Lagniappe

Pronunciation: \?lan-?yap,
: a small gift given a customer by a merchant at the time of a purchase; broadly : something given or obtained gratuitously or by way of good measure

Yegg

[slang] person who breaks open safes, a burglar