English Vocab Unit 12

Abdicate

(v.) to resign, formally give up an office or a duty; to disown, discard; step down, relinquish, renounce

Bestow

(v.) to give as a gift; to provide with lodgings; grant, confer, lodge, put up

Capacious

(adj.) able to hold much, roomy;spacious, commodious

Caustic

(adj.) able to burn or eat away by chemical action; biting, sarcastic; burning, corrosive, sharp

Crusade

(n.) a strong movement to advance a cause of idea; (v.) to campaign, work vigorously; (n.) campaign, organized movement

Deface

(v.) to injure or destroy the surface or appearance of; to damage the value, influence, or effect of; to face down, outshine; mar, disfigure

Embargo

(n.) an order forbidding the trade in or movement of commercial goods; any restraint or hindrance; (v.) to forbid to enter or leave port; to forbid trade with; (n.) stoppage, ban, boycott

Fallacy

(n.) a false notion of belief; an error in thinking; misconception

Levity

(n.) a lack of seriousness or earnestness, especially about things that should be treated with respect; buoyancy, lightness in weight; giddiness, flippancy, frivolity, fickleness

Mendicant

(n.) beggar; (adj.) depending on begging for a living; (n.) panhandler

Nauseate

(v.) to make sick to the stomach; to fill with disgust; sicken, disgust

Negate

(v.) to nullify, deny, bring to nothing; cancel, invalidate, annul

Pivotal

(adj.) vitally important, essential; crucial, critical, decisive, seminal

Recipient

(n.) one who receives; (adj.) receiving; able or willing to receive; (n.) receiver, beneficiary

Ruse

(n.) an action designed to confuse or mislead, a trick; stratagem, subterfuge, dodge

Teem

(v.) to become filled to overflowing; to be present in large quantities; abound, swarm, overflow

Tenet

(n.) an opinion, belief, or principle held to be true; doctrine, precept

Tractable

(adj.) easily managed, easy to deal with; easily wrought, malleable; submissive, docile, yielding, amenable

Ungainly

(adj.) clumsy, awkward; unwieldy; graceless

Voracious

(adj.) having a huge appetite, greedy, ravenous; excessively eager; gluttonous, insatiable, avid