Dr. Hood's Exam Vocabulary, Semester 1, 2007-2008
| adverse (adj); adversely (adv); adversity (n) | 1/ acting against or in a contrary direction; against; antagonistic; 2/ opposed to one’s interests, especially unfavorable; causing harm, harmful |
| ambiguity (n); ambiguous (adj); ambiguously (adv) | 1/ doubtfulness or uncertainty especially from obscurity or indistinctness; doubtfulness or uncertainty as regards interpretation 2/ capability of being understood in two or more possible ways |
| ambivalence (n); ambivalent (adj); ambivalently (adv) | 1/ simultaneous and contradictory attitudes or feelings (such as attraction and repulsion) toward an object, person, or action; 2/ A/ continual fluctuation (as between one thing and its opposite); B/ uncertainty or indecisiveness as to which approach to follow |
| anachronistic (adj); anachronistically (adv); anachronous (adj); anachronously (adv); anachronism (n) | 1/ of an error in time or time sequence, especially a time misplacing of persons, events, objects; or customs in regard to each other; 2/ of a person or thing that is out of place in terms of time, especially of one from an earlier age that is incongruous with the present |
| catharsis (n); cathartic (adj); cathartically (adv) | 1/ a purifying or cleansing of the emotions; 2/ a release of emotional tension, as after an overwhelming experience, that restores or refreshes the spirit |
| countenance (v); countenance (n) | 1/ to extend approval or toleration to; to sanction or to condone |
| cynicism (n); cynical (adj); cynically (adv); cynic (n) | an attitude of scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the integrity or professed motives of others; a belief that human conduct is motivated by self-interest |
| discretion (n); discreet (adj); discreetly (adv); discreetness (n) | 1/ discernment or good judgment in conduct and speech; prudence; ability to make responsible decisions; 2/ individual choice or judgment; power of free decision or latitude of choice within legal bounds; 3/ unpretentiousness; modesty; 4/ unobtrusiveness |
| disdain (n or v); disdainful (adj); disdainfully (adv) | a feeling of contempt for someone or something regarded as inferior or unworthy |
| dissipate (v); dissipation (n); dissipating or dissipated (adj); dissipater (n) | 1/ to cause to spread thin and gradually vanish; 2/ A. to spend or expend intemperately and wastefully; to squander; B. to use up, especially recklessly; to exhaust; to waste; 3/ to cause to lose (energy, for instance) irreversibly; 4/ to break up and scatter or vanish |
| elusive (adj); elusively (adv); elude (v); elusiveness (n) | 1/ tending to escape capture, perception, comprehension, or memory; 2/ difficult to describe or define |
| epigraph (n) | 1/ an inscription on a building or stone; 2/ a quotation at the beginning of a work of literature, setting forth a theme |
| epiphany (n); epiphanic (adj) | 1/ (capitalized) the Christian celebration on January 6, when the Magi arrived at Jesus’ birthplace; 2/ a manifestation of a divine being; 3/ a sudden realization of the essence or meaning of something; a comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization |
| epitomize (v); epitome (n); epitomized (adj) | 1/ to represent or to be an example of a class or type; to be a typical or ideal example; 2/ to summarize briefly |
| ethereal (adj); ethereally (adv); ethereality (n); etherealization (n); etherealize (v) | 1/ A. of or relating to the regions beyond the earth; B. celestial, heavenly; C. unworldly, spiritual; 2/ A. lacking material substance; characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; B. marked by unusual delicacy or refinement |
| evocative (adj); evocatively (adv); evocativeness (n); evoke (v) | tending to call forth or up strong images, memories, or feelings |
| expedite (v); expedited (adj); expediter or expeditor (n); related words = expeditious (adj), expeditiously (adv); expeditiousness (n) | 1/ to execute efficiently and promptly; 2/ to accelerate the process or progress of; to speed up; 3/ to issue officially; to dispatch |
| ignominy (n); ignominious (adj); ignominiously (adv) | 1/ deep personal dishonor or humiliation and disgrace; 2/ disgraceful or dishonorable conduct, quality, or action |
| imminent (adj); imminently (adv); imminence (n) | ready to take place, especially hanging over one’s head in a threatening way; about to occur; impending |
| inexorable (adj); inexorably (adv); inexorability or inexorableness (n) | relentless; not capable of being persuaded, moved, or stopped |
| mundane (adj); mundanely (adv); mundanity or mundaneness (n) | 1/ of, relating to, or characteristic of the world; 2/ characterized by the practical, transitory, and ordinary; commonplace |
| nuance (n); nuanceful or nuanced (adj) | 1/ a subtle or slight degree of distinction or variation; 2/ a subtle quality; nicety; 3/ sensibility to, awareness of, or ability to express delicate shadings (as of meaning, feeling, or value) |
| ominous (adj); ominously (adv); ominousness (n) | 1/ menacing; threatening; 2/ being or exhibiting an omen, especially foreboding or foreshadowing evil |
| oppressive (adj); oppressively (adv); oppress (v); oppression or oppressiveness (n) | 1/ unreasonably burdensome or severe; 2/ tyrannical; exercising power arbitrarily and often unjustly; 3/ overwhelming or depressing to the spirit or senses |
| palpable (adj); palpably (adv); palpability (n) | 1/ capable of being handled, touched, or felt; 2/ easily perceptible; 3/ easily perceptible by the mind; manifest |
| pious (adj); piously (adv); piety (n); piousness (n) | 1/ having or showing religious reverence; 2/ A. conspicuously devout; B. marked by false devoutness; hypocritically devout; 3/ devotional; 4/ professing or exhibiting a strict, traditional sense of virtue and morality; 5/ deserving commendation; worthy |
| poignant (adj); poignantly (adv); poignancy (n) | 1/ pungently pervasive; 2/ A. painfully affecting to the feelings; deeply affecting, touching; B. designed to make an impression; cutting; 3/ pleasantly stimulating; being to the point (apt) |
| precipitously (adv); precipitous (adj); precipitousness (n); precipitate (v); precipitate (adj); precipitately (adv); precipice (n) | 1/ falling, flowing, or rushing with steep descent; 2/ exhibiting violent or unwise speed; extremely rapid, hasty, or abrupt |
| prowess (n) | 1/ superior or extraordinary skill or ability; 2/ superior strength, courage, or daring |
| rectitude (n); rectitudinous (adj); rectitudinously (adv) | 1/ moral uprightness; righteousness; moral integrity; 2/ the quality or condition of being correct in judgment; 3/ the quality of being straight |
| reminiscent (adj); reminiscently (adv); reminiscence (n); reminisce (v) | 1/ tending to remind, suggestive; 2/ marked by or given to recalling a past experience or memory |
| resonance (n); resonate (v); resonant (adj); resonantly (adv); resonator (n) | 1/ richness or significance, especially in evoking a strong emotion or association; 2/ continuation of sound; 3/ intensity or richness of sound |
| tangible (adj); tangibly (adv); tangibility (n); tangibleness (n) | 1/ A. capable of being perceived by the sense of touch; palpable; B. substantially real; material; 2/ capable of being precisely identified or realized by the mind; 3/ capable of being appraised at an actual or approximate value |
| tantalize (v) | to tease or torment by or as if by presenting something desirable to the view but continually keeping it out of reach |
| tenuous (adj); tenuously (adv); tenuousness (n) | 1/ long and thin; slender; 2/ have a thin consistency; dilute; 3/ have little substance; flimsy or weak |
| transcend (v); transcendent (adj); transcendently (adv); transcendence (n) | 1/ A/ to rise above or to go beyond the limits of; B/ to triumph over the negative restrictive aspects of; to overcome; to surpass C/ to exist or be prior to, beyond, and above (the universe or material existence); 2/ to outstrip or outdo in some attribute, quality, or power; to rise above or extend notably beyond ordinary limits |
| trite (adj); tritely (adv); triteness (n) | not fresh; unoriginal; lacking power to elicit interest through repetition or overuse |
| unencumbered (adj); encumber (v); encumbrance (n) | unburdened; unhindered |
| visceral (adj); viscerally (adv); viscera (n) | 1/ felt in or as if in the gut; deep; profound; 2/ instinctive; unreasoning; 3/ dealing with crude or elemental emotions |
| volition (n) | the power or faculty or process or experience of choosing or determining; will |