100 Words Every College Students Should Know

Abrogate

to cancel, destroy, revoke, or void

Acerbic

sharp, biting, or acid in temper, expression, or tone

Acrimony

bitter, harsh, or biting sharpness

Acumen

quickness of perception or discernment (understanding)

Adumbrate

to sketch, outline in a shadowy way

Ameliorate

to make or grow better

Aphorism

a tensely phrased statement of a truth or opinion; an adage

Apocryphal

of doubtful authority or authenticity

Allegory

the representation of abstract ideas or principles by characters, figures, or events in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form

Arcane

understood by only a few

Avarice

an excessive desire of gain; greediness

Banal

commonplace; trivial

Bifurcate

to divide into two parts or branches

Binary

characterized by or consisting of two parts or components

Bi-polar

having two opposite or contradictory ideas

Cadre

a core or nucleus of trained or otherwise qualified personnel around which an organization is formed

Capricious

whimsical; changeable

Carpe diem

seize the moment

Caveat

a warning or caution

Chicanery

the use of trickery to deceive

Chortle

to utter, or express with, a snorting, exultant laugh or chuckle

Codicil

an amendment to an existing will

Collegial

characterized by or having authority vested equally among colleagues

Concatenation

a chain; a succession

Consanguineous

related by blood, descended from the same ancestor

Demagogue

a leader who tries to stir up people by appeals to emotion, prejudice, etc., in order to achieve power

Diction

the choice and use of words in speech or writing

Didactic

conveying instruction; teaching some moral lesson

Dilatory

inclined to put off what ought to be done at once

Disingenuous

not straightforward or candid; insincere or calculating

Eclectic

made up of or combining elements from varying sources

E.g.

exempli gratia (for example)

Egalitarian

favoring social equality

Ellipsis

Omission or suppression of parts of words or sentences with a mark or series of marks (... or *** for example)

Ephemeral

short lived

Equivocate

to be deliberately ambiguous or unclear

Erudite

characterized by extensive reading or knowledge; well instructed; learned

Ethereal

characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; intangible

Euphemism

a mild or vague word or phrase replacing one considered harsh or offensively direct

Exiguous

extremely scanty (bare)

Facetious

tongue-in-cheek-advice" characterized by wit and pleasantry

Fait accompli

an accomplished and presumably irreversible deed or fact

Finite

having bounds

Forbearance

patience; good-natured tolerance of delay or incompetence

Fortuitous

happening by chance

Halcyon

peaceful, undisturbed, and happy

Hyperbole

extravagant exaggeration

Iconoclast

one who attacks and seeks to overthrow traditional or popular ideas of institutions

i.e.

id est (that is)

Inane

without contents, empty; void of sense or intelligence; purposeless; pointless; useless

Inchoate

partially but not fully in existence or operation

Indolent

avoiding labor and exertion; lazy

Ken

perception; understanding; knowledge

Levity

frivolity (not serious or sensible)

Lexicon

a stock of terms used in a particular profession, subject or style; a vocabulary

Limited liability companies

(LLC) combine the liability protection of a coorporation with the tax benefits and simplicity of a partnership

Logomachy

argument over the definition of words

Loquacious

very talkative

Metaphor

a figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them

Milieu

environment; setting

Myopic

lack of discernment or long-range perspective in thinking or planning

NB

nota bene (Latin meaning note well); used to direct attention to something particularly important

Nefarious

wicked in the extreme

Obviate

to prevent by interception

Patrician

a person of refined upbringing, manners and taste

Pecuniary

relating to money

Pedantic

characterized by a narrow, often ostentatious concern for book learning and formal rules

Pejorative

disparaging, belittling

Pernicious

deadly

Plenary

full; entire; complete

Prevaricate

to depart from or evade the truth

Probity

honesty, uprightness

Proclivity

a natural inclination; predisposition

Puerile

displaying a lack of maturity

Pusillanimous

lacking in courage and resolution

Renege

to go back on a promise or commitment

Requisite

necessary; indispensable

Res Ipsa Loquitur

the thing speaks for itself

Reticent

inclined to keep quiet

Salient

noticeable; also, projecting; also, leaping

Sardonic

bitterly sarcastic

Scintilla

a minute amount; an iota or trace

Simile

a word or phrase by which anything is likened to something else; it's often introduced by "like" or "as

Sine qua non

an indispensable thing

Sojourn

a temporary stay; a brief period of residence

Specious

apparently right; superficiallly fair, just, or correct, but not so in reality; appearing well at first view; plausible

Succinct

brief, concise

Supercilious

lofty with pride

Superfluous

more than is wanted or is sufficient

Syllogism

logic: a form of deductive reasoning consisting of a major premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion

Symbiotic

a relationship of mutual benefit or depencence

Syntax

the study of the rules whereby words or other elements of sentence structure are combined to form grammatical sentences

Tautological

needless repetition of the same sense in different words; redundancy

Ubiquitous

being everywhere

Unilateral

having only one side

Verve

energy and enthusiasm in the expression of ideas

Vilify

to make vicious and defamatory statements about

Visceral

course, base, instinctive

Vitiate

to make faulty or imperfect

Vociferous

making a loud outcry