Essential Words Set 1

Precarious

unstable, insecure or dangerous; adj.

Conversant

Knowledgeable about or experienced with; having enough knowledge to be able to carry on an intelligent conversation about a topic; adj

Corroborate

support; add evidence to; verb

Cosmopolitan

adj; belonging to the entire world, at home globally; free from local or national prejudices or attachments

Counterproductive

adj; defeating the purpose; preventing the intended goal (feckless and bootless)

Covert

adj; secret, veiled, undercover (clandestine, surreptitious, furtive)

Crafty

adj; cunning, skillful in deception or underhanded schemes (cunning, guileful, wily)

predisposed

adj;having an inclination or tendency beforehand; susceptible

preempt

verb; prevent; take the place of, supplant; take before someone else can (obviate)

presumptuous

adj; too bold or forward; going beyond that which is proper

Presumptive

adj; based on inference or assumption

Pretentious

adj; claiming or demanding a position of importance or dignity, especially when unjustified; showing off, creating a deceptive, false show of worth (ostentatious)

pristine

adj; in an original, pure state; uncorrupted (unadulterated and unsullied)

probity

noun; honesty, integrity (scrupulous, principled, veracious)

prodigal

adj; wasteful, extravagant; giving abundantly, lavish (profligate, wastrel, spendthrift)

prodigious

adj; extraordinarily large, impressive

profligate

adj; completely and shamelessly immoral, or extremely (prodigal, debauched, dissolution)

prohibitive

adj; tending to forbid something, or serving to prevent something

propriety

noun; conforming to good manners or appropriate behavior; justness (genteel, seemly, decorous, mores)

prosaic

adj; dull or ordinary (pedestrian, quotidian, lackluster, humdrum)

proscribe

verb; prohibit, outlaw; denounce; exile or banish (censure, circumscribe)

prudent

adj; wise in practical matters, carefully providing for the future (circumspect, provident)

pugnacious

adj; inclined to fight, combative (belligerent, bellicose, truculent)

qualified

adj; modified, limited, conditional on something else (tentative, temper)

quandary

noun; uncertainty or confusion about what to do, dilemma (mired)

Quibble

verb; make trivial arguments or criticisms, find faults in a petty way, esp. to invade something more important (cavil, carp, peevish)

quotidian

adj; daily; everyday, ordinary (mundane)

relegate

verb; send or commit to an inferior place, rank, condition, etc.; exile, banish; assign to someone else

remedial

adj; providing a remedy, curative; correcting a deficient skill (redress)

replete

adj; supplied in abundance, filled, gorged (surfeit, surplus, plethora)

reproach

verb; blame, disgrace; criticize, express disappointment in (admonish, reprove, upbraid, reprimand, rebuke, excoriate, castigate)

repudiate

verb; reject, cast off, deny that something has authority (recant)

requite

verb; reciprocate, repay or revenge (recompense)

rescind

verb; annul, repeal, make void (negate, nullify)

resolution

noun; the quality of being firmly determined; resolving to do something; a formal judgement, esp. decided by a vote (resolve)

resolve (noun)

firmness of purpose

restive

(adj) impatient or uneasy under the control of another

reticent

(adj) not talking much; private (of a person), restrained, reserved (laconic)

reverent

(adj) feeling or expressing very deep respect and awe (pious)

rife

(adj) happening frequently, abundant, currently being reported (replete, ridden, teeming)

rustic

(adj, noun) relation to country life, unsophisticated, primitive, made of rough wood or a rural/uncultured person

sacrosanct

(adj) sacred, inviolable, not to be trespassed on or violated; above any criticism

salubrious

(adj) healthful, promoting health

sagacious

(adj) wise; showing good judgment and foresight (sapient, prudent, circumspect, perspicacious)

sanguine

(adj) cheerfully optimistic; hopeful; reddish, ruddy

scathing

(adj) severe, injurious; bitterly harsh or critical (as a remark)

sedulous

(adj) persevering, persistent, diligent in one's efforts (assiduous)

sentient

(Adj) conscious; experiencing sensation or perceiving with the senses

solicitous

(adj) concerned or anxious (about another person), expressing care; eager or desirous; very careful

soporific

(adj) causing sleep, sleepy, drowsy; (noun) something that causes sleep