Abjure
to formally reject a belief (recant)
Abrogate
to formally abolish (revoke)
Abstemious
moderate in eating and drinking (ascetic)
Acumen
keen insight (discernment)
Antebellum
before the war (especially the American civil war)
Auspicious
promising success (propitious)
Belie
to be in contradiction with (misrepresent)
Bellicose
eager to fight (pugnacious)
Bowdlerize
to remove objectional content from a written work (expurgate)
Chicanery
artful deception (subterfuge)
Chromosome
threadlike DNA-containing structure
Churlish
lacking manner (boorish)
Circumlocution
indirect expression (rambling)
Circumnavigate
to travel around
Deciduous
shedding seasonally (ephemeral)
Deleterious
harmful to health (injurious)
Diffident
lacking self-confidence (unassertive)
Enervate
to weaken mentally or morally; lacking strength
Enfranchise
to set free; to grant the right to vote
Epiphany
sudden realization
Equinox
day of equal day and night (March 22; September 21)
Euro
official common currency of the EU
Evanescent
fading away
Expurgate
to remove objectionable content from written work
Facetious
joking, often inappropriately
Fatuous
foolish
Feckless
without purpose
Fiduciary
financial person; related to public trust, esp. regarding currency
Filibuster
to obstruct legislation, esp. by long speeches; exceptionally long speech meant to prevent legislation
Gamete
male or female sexual reproductive cell
Gauche
lacking social grace
Gerrymander
to divide a geopolitical region to favor a political party's votership; a redrawing of a region's boundaries
Hegemony
predominant influence of one nation over another
Hemoglobin
oxygen-carrying pigment of red blood cells
Homogeneous
of the same kind; essentially alike
Hubris
excessive pride or self-confidence
Hypotenuse
the side of a right triangle opposite the right angle
Impeach
to accuse (a public official) of misconduct
Incognito
having one's identity concealed
Incontrovertible
not open to question
Inculcate
to teach by repetition (Latin word for trample)
Infrastructure
underlying framework of a system
Interpolate
to estimate the value of; to insert words into the middle of a text
Irony
the use of words to express the opposite of the literal meaning; discrepancy in expected and actual results; discrepancy between character's knowledge and the audience's
Jejune
dull; immature
Kinetic
relating to motion
Kowtow
(Mandarin origins) to act in a servile manner
Laissez Faire
governmental theory stating government shouldn't interfere with economy; to let act in freedom
Lexicon
vocabulary of language or people; book containing words and definitions
Loquacious
talkative
Lugubrious
dismal
Metamorphosis
complete change of substance or appearance
Mitosis
cell division resulting in chromosomes
Moiety
one of two parts of a group or tribe
Nanotechnology
design of tiny things
Nihilism
philosophical rejection of established laws and institutions
Nomenclature
system of names used in particular field or community
Nonsectarian
not limited to specific religious denomination
Notarize
to certify a document with a signature
Obsequious
overly obedient or servile
oligarchy
rule by few
omnipotent
all powerful
orthography
study of how letters are arranged
oxidize
to combine with oxygen; to rust
parabola
mathematical curve
paradigm
a typical example, a system of ideas
parameter
limiting factor or boundary
pecuniary
involving money
photosynthesis
process by which green plants convert CO2 into oxygen
Plagiarize
to copy another person's idea and claim as original
plasma
clear, yellowish fluid component of blood
polymer
strong compound with competing small molecules
precipitous
with excessive or careless speed; very steep
quasar
distant yet high energy astronomical object
quotidian
commonplace; daily
recapitulate
to restate briefly
reciprocal
mutual
reparation
repayment for damage, loss or suffering; sum of money paid by victorious country to the defeated one
respiration
breathing
sanguine
cheerfully optimistic; reddish
Soliloquy
self revealing monologue delivered alone on stage
subjugate
to make submissive or servile
suffragist
an advocate for the right to vote (especially for women)
supercilious
full of comtempt or arrogance
tautology
needless repition of an idea, especially through words
Taxonomy
the study, technique or study of classification
tectonic
of or pertaining to structure
tempestuous
stormy or turbulent
thermodynamics
physics of energy
totalitarian
controlling the freedom, will or thought of others
unctuous
greasy; insincerely pious or moralistic
usurp
to seize and hold without legal right
vacuous
lacking ideas; unitelligent
vehement
with conviction
vortex
whirling mass or air, water, fire or energy
winnow
to separate by fanning; often appears with down
wrought
worked; produced by beating with a hammer
xenophobe
person who fears or hates foreign people or foreign things
yeoman
a worker; manual laborer
ziggurat
ancient Mesopotamian, pyramid-like structure