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abstract theoretical; lacking substance
acclaim praise; applause; admiration
acquiesce to agree finally
adversary an opponent; enemy
advocate to speak in favor of; to support
aesthetic having to do with art or beauty
alleviate to lighten or relieve
ambiguous having more than one meaning; vague
ambivalent undecided
amiable friendly
anarchy lack of government; chaos
antagonism opposition; hostility; resistance
apathy lack of emotion or interest
apprehensive fearful; worried
arbitrary subject to individual judgement
arrogant feeling superior to others; snooty
articulate speaking well
assess to estimate the value of; to measure
astute perceptive; crafty
atrophy to waste away from lack of use
augment to add; to increase; to make bigger
austere severe; without frills
authentic real; genuine
authoritarian like a dictator
banal common; dull; ordinary
belittle to put down; to disparage
benevolent kind; good-hearted; generous
benign harmless
biased not neutral; prejudiced
brevity the quality of being brief
candid honest; frank
caustic burning; uncomplimentary
censor one who deletes objectionable matter
censure to blame; to criticize
compatible able to coexist; harmonious
complacent smug; self-satisfied; overly confident
compliant submissive; obedient
compromise to settle by concession or surrender
conciliate to soothe; to end a dispute; to reconcile
condescend to talk down to
condone to forgive; to overlook
conspicuous easily seen; out in the open
contemporary living at the same time; modern
contempt disdain
conventional ordinary; customary
deference a show of respect
denounce to speak out against; to condemn
deplete to use up; to reduce
depravity moral corruption
deride (derision) to ridicule; to make fun of
deter to prevent; to stop; to keep from doing something
didactic instructive
diligent hard-working
discern to distinguish one thing from another
discord disagreement (the opposite of concord)
discriminate to differentiate; to make a clear distinction
disdain contempt; intense dislike
disparage to speak badly of; to belittle
disparity inequality; difference
dispassionate free from passion or spirit
dissent disagreement
diverse varied
dogmatic stubbornly opinionated
dubious doubtful; unclear
eccentric odd; unusual; quirky
eloquence speaking well
elusive (elude) tough to catch; hard to pin down
endorse to approve or give one’s support to
enduring lasting
engender to create; to produce
enhance to make better; to augment
ephemeral short-lived; fleeting; transitory
erratic irregular; without direction
euphony pleasant sound (opposite of cacophony)
exhaustive thorough; complete
expedient useful for achieving a desired result
expedite to make faster or easier
extol to praise
extraneous irrelevant; extra; unnecessary
facilitate to make easier; to help
fallacious (fallacy) false
fanatic one who is extremely devoted to a cause or idea
fastidious not easy to please; overly critical
fervor passion; zeal
flagrant shocking; outstandingly bad
frivolous not serious; trivial; silly
futile hopeless
gravity (grave) seriousness
guile cunning; deceitfulness
heed to listen to
heresy an opinion violently opposed to established beliefs
hypocritical insincere
illuminate to light up; make clear
immune safe from harm; protected
impartial unbiased; neutral
inadvertent without intention
incessant unceasing; never ending
inclined tending toward one direction
incoherent jumbled; impossible to understand; chaotic
indifferent not caring one way or the other; lacking a preference
indolence laziness
indulgent pampering oneself; satisfying desires
inevitable unavoidable; bound to happen
infamous notorious; scandalous
inferred derived by reasoning; implied as a conclusion
innovate to be creative; to introduce something new
insipid bland; boring; tasteless
instigate to start
intangible abstract; not able to be touched
ironic satiric; unexpected
irrational unreasonable
languid slow; tired; drooping; weak
laud to praise
lethargic tired; languid; weak
levity humor
lucid (elucidate) clear; easy to understand
miser one who saves greedily
mitigate to make milder or less severe
monotonous without variety; tiresomely uniform
negligence carelessness; neglect; indifference
novel new; unusual
objective without bias (as opposed to subjective)
obscure unclear; clouded; partially hidden; hard to understand
perceptive having keen understanding; discerning
phenomenon an observable fact or outcome
philanthropy a desire to help people; gifts to charities
pious (piety) deeply religious
pragmatic practical
prodigal extravagant; wasteful
profound deep; insightful (the opposite of superficial)
provincial narrow-minded; unsophisticated
provocative exciting; attracting attention
redundant extra; unnecessary; superfluous
refute to disprove
relegate to dismiss to an inferior position
relevant pertinent; important to know
reprehensible shameful; bad
resignation the acceptance of a situation (secondary meaning)
resolution determination (also: solution to a problem)
reticent quiet; uncommunicative
revere to worship; honor
rigor harshness or severity
scanty inadequate; minimal
servile overly submissive; cringing; like a servant
skeptical doubting (the opposite of gullible)
solemn serious; grave
solicit to ask for; to seek
solitude the state of being alone
stagnant not moving
static stationary; not moving
subtle not obvious; hard to spot
superficial on the surface; shallow
taciturn quiet; saying little
tedious boring
temper to moderate; to soften (secondary meaning)
tentative not final
tranquility calmness
trivial unimportant; insignificant
uniform constant; without variety
vacillate to waver between choices
valid founded on fact or evidence
virtue moral excellence
virtuoso an accomplished musician
virulent very harmful (like a virus)
vital essential; necessary
vulnerable capable of being harmed

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