Lit Terms
Allegory: a tale in prose or verse in which characters, actions, or settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities; a story that uses symbols to make a point
Alliteration: the repetition of similar initial sounds, usually consonants, in a group of words
Allusion: a reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work that a writer expects a reader to recognize
Ambiguity: something uncertain as to interpretation
Anachronism: something that shows up in the wrong place or the wrong time
Analogy: a comparison made between two things to show the similarities between them
Analysis: a method in which a work or idea is separated into its parts, and those parts given rigorous and detailed scrutiny
Anaphora: a device or repetition in which a word or words are repeated at the beginning of two or more lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences
Anecdote: a very short story used to illustrate a point
Antagonist: a person or force opposing the protagonist in a drama or narrative
Antithesis: a balancing of one term against another for emphasis or stylistic effectiveness
Aphorism: a terse, pointed statement expressing some wise or clever observation about life
Apologia: a defense or justification for some doctrine, piece of writing, cause, or action; also apology
Apostrophe: a figure of speech in which an absent or dead person, an abstract quality, or something inanimate or nonhuman is addressed directly
Argument(ation): the process of convincing a reader by proving either the truth or the falsity of an idea or proposition; also, the thesis or proposition itself
Assumption: the act of supposing, or taking for granted that a thing is true
Audience: the intended listener or listeners
Characterization: the means by which a writer reveals a character’s personality
Chiasmus: a reversal in the order off words so that the second half of a statement balances the first half in inverted word order
Circumlocution: a roundabout or evasive speech or writing, in which many words are used but a few would have served
Classicism: art, literature, and music reflecting the principles of ancient Greece and Rome: tradition, reason, clarity, order, and balance
Cliché: a phrase or situation overused within society
Climax: the decisive point in a narrative or drama; the pint of greatest intensity or interest at which plot question is answered or resolved
Colloquialism: folksy speech, slang words or phrases usually used in informal conversation
Comedy: originally a nondramatic literary piece of work that was marked by a happy ending; now a term to describe a ludicrous, farcical, or amusing event designed provide enjoyment or produce smiles and laughter
Conflict: struggle or problem in a story causing tension
Connotation: implicit meaning, going beyond dictionary definition
Contrast: a rhetorical device by which one element (idea or object) is thrown into opposition to another for the sake of emphasis or clarity
Denotation: plain dictionary definition
Denouement: loose ends tied up in a story after the climax, closure, conclusion
Dialect: the language of a particular district, class or group of persons; the sounds, grammar, and diction employed by people distinguished from others.
Dialectics: formal debates usually over the nature of truth.
Dichotomy: split or break between two opposing things.
Diction: the style of speaking or writing as reflected in the choice and use of words.
Didactic: having to do with the transmission of information; education.
Dogmatic: rigid in beliefs and principles.
Elegy: a mournful, melancholy poem, especially a funeral song or lament for the dead, sometimes contains general reflections on death, often with a rural or pastoral setting.
Epic: a long narrative poem unified by a hero who reflects the customs, mores, and aspirations of his nation of race as he makes his way through legendary and historic exploits, usually over a long period of time (definition bordering on circumlocution).
Epigram: witty aphorism.
Epitaph: any brief inscription in prose or verse on a tombstone; a short formal poem of commemoration often a credo written by the person who wishes it to be on his tombstone.
Epithet: a short, descriptive name or phrase that may insult someone’s character, characteristics
Euphemism: the use of an indirect, mild or vague word or expression for one thought to be coarse, offensive, or blunt.
Evocative (evocation): a calling forth of memories and sensations; the suggestion or production through artistry and imagination of a sense of reality.
Exposition: beginning of a story that sets forth facts, ideas, and/or characters, in a detailed explanation.
Expressionism: movement in art, literature, and music consisting of unrealistic representation of an inner idea or feeling(s).
Fable: a short, simple story, usually with animals as characters, designed to teach a moral truth.
Fallacy: from Latin word “to deceive”, a false or misleading notion, belief, or argument; any kind of erroneous reasoning that makes arguments unsound.
Falling Action: part of the narrative or drama after the climax.
Farce: a boisterous comedy involving ludicrous action and dialogue.
Figurative Language: apt and imaginative language characterized by figures of speech (such as metaphor and simile).
Flashback: a narrative device that flashes back to prior events.
Foil: a person or thing that, by contrast, makes another seem better or more prominent.
Folk Tale: story passed on by word of mouth.
Foreshadowing: in fiction and drama, a device to prepare the reader for the outcome of the action; “planning” to make the outcome convincing, though not to give it away.
Free Verse: verse without conventional metrical pattern, with irregular pattern or no rhyme.
Genre: a category or class of artistic endeavor having a particular form, technique, or content.
Gothic Tale: a style in literature characterized by gloomy settings, violent or grotesque action, and a mood of decay, degeneration, and decadence.
Hyperbole: an exaggerated statement often used as a figure of speech or to prove a point.
Imagery: figures of speech or vivid description, conveying images through any of the senses.
Implication: a meaning or understanding that is to be arrive at by the reader but that is not fully and explicitly stated by the author.
Incongruity: the deliberate joining of opposites or of elements that are not appropriate to each other.
Inference: a judgement or conclusion based on evidence presented; the forming of an opinion which possesses some degree of probability according to facts already available.
Irony: a contrast or incongruity between what is said and what is meant, or what is expected to happen and what actually happens, or what is thought to be happening and what is actually happening.
Interior Monologue: a form of writing which represents the inner thoughts of a character; the recording of the internal, emotional experience(s) of an individual; generally the reader is given the impression of overhearing the interior monologue.
Inversion: words out of order for emphasis.
Juxtaposition: the intentional placement of a word, phrase, sentences of paragraph to contrast with another nearby.
Lyric: a poem having musical form and quality; a short outburst of the author’s innermost thoughts and feelings.
Magic(al) Realism: a genre developed in Latin America which juxtaposes the everyday
with the marvelous or magical.
Metaphor(extended, controlling, and mixed): an analogy that compare two different things imaginatively.
Extended: a metaphor that is extended or developed as far as the writer wants to take it.
Controlling: a metaphor that runs throughout the piece of work.
Mixed: a metaphor that ineffectively blends two or more analogies.
Metonymy: literally “name changing” a device of figurative language in which the name of an attribute or associated thing is substituted for the usual name of a thing.
Mode of Discourse: argument (persuasion), narration, description, and exposition.
Modernism: literary movement characterized by stylistic experimentation, rejection of tradition, interest in symbolism and psychology
Monologue: an extended speech by a character in a play, short story, novel, or narrative poem.
Mood: the predominating atmosphere evoked by a literary piece.
Motif: a recurring feature (name, image, or phrase) in a piece of literature.
Myth: a story, often about immortals, and sometimes connected with religious rituals, that attempts to give meaning to the mysteries of the world.
Narrative: a story or description of events.
Narrator: one who narrates, or tells, a story.
Naturalism: extreme form of realism.
Novelette/Novella: short story; short prose narrative, often satirical.
Omniscient Point of View: knowing all things, usually the third person.
Onomatopoeia: use of a word whose sound in some degree imitates or suggests its meaning.
Oxymoron: a figure of speech in which two contradicting words or phrases are combined to produce a rhetorical effect by means of a concise paradox.
Pacing: rate of movement; tempo.
Parable: a story designed to convey some religious principle, moral lesson, or general truth.
Paradox: a statement apparently self-contradictory or absurd but really containing a possible truth; an opinion contrary to generally accepted ideas.
Parallelism: the principle in sentence structure that states elements of equal function should have equal form.
Parody: an imitation of mimicking of a composition or of the style of a well-known artist.
Pathos: the ability in literature to call forth feelings of pity, compassion, and/or sadness.
Pedantry: a display of learning for its own sake.
Personification: a figure of speech attributing human qualities to inanimate objects or
abstract ideas.
Plot: a plan or scheme to accomplish a purpose.
Poignant: eliciting sorrow or sentiment.
Point of View: the attitude unifying any oral or written argumentation; in description, the physical point from which the observer views what he is describing.
Postmodernism: literature characterized by experimentation, irony, nontraditional forms, multiple meanings, playfulness and a blurred boundary between real and imaginary.
Prose: the ordinary form of spoken and written language; language that does not have a regular rhyme pattern.
Protagonist: the central character in a work of fiction; opposes antagonist.
Pun: play on words; the humorous use of a word emphasizing different meanings or applications.
Purpose: the intended result wished by an author.
Realism: writing about the ordinary aspects of life in a straightfoward manner to reflect life as it actually is.
Refrain: a phrase or verse recurring at intervals in a poem or song; chorus.
Requiem: any chant, dirge, hymn, or musical service for the dead.
Resolution: point in a literary work at which the chief dramatic complication is worked out; denouement.
Restatement: idea repeated for emphasis.
Rhetoric: use of language, both written and verbal in order to persuade.
Rhetorical Question: question suggesting its own answer or not requiring an answer; used in argument or persuasion.
Rising Action: plot build up, caused by conflict and complications, advancement towards climax.
Romanticism: movement in western culture beginning in the eighteenth and peaking in the nineteenth century as a revolt against Classicism; imagination was valued over reason and fact.
Satire: ridicules or condemns the weakness and wrong doings of individuals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general.
Scansion: the analysis of verse in terms of meter.
Setting: the time and place in which events in a short story, novel, play, or narrative poem occur.
Simile: a figure of speech comparing two essentially unlike things through the use of a specific word of comparison.
Soliloquy: an extended speech, usually in a drama, delivered by a character alone on stage.
Spiritual: a folk song, usually on a religious theme.
Speaker: a narrator, the one speaking.
Stereotype: cliché; a simplified, standardized conception with a special meaning and appeal for members of a group; a formula story.
Stream of Consciousness: the style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a character’s thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images, as the character experiences them.
Structure: the planned framework of a literary selection; its apparent organization.
Style: the manner of putting thoughts into words; a characteristic way of writing or speaking.
Subordination: the couching of less important ideas in less important structures of language.
Surrealism: a style in literature and painting that stresses the subconscious or the nonrational aspects of man’s existence characterized by the juxtaposition of the bizarre and the banal.
Suspension of Disbelief: suspend not believing in order to enjoy it.
Symbol: something which stands for something else, yet has a meaning of its own.
Synesthesia: the use of one sense to convey the experience of another sense.
Synecdoche: another form of name changing, in which a part stands for the whole.
Syntax: the arrangement and grammatical relations of words in a sentence.
Theme: main idea of the story; its message(s).
Thesis: a proposition for consideration, especially one to be discussed and proved or disproved; the main idea.
Tone: the devices used to create the mood and atmosphere of a literary work; the author’s perceived point of view.
Tongue in Cheek: a type of humor in which the speaker feigns seriousness; also called “dry” or “dead pan”
Tragedy: in literature: any composition with a somber theme carried to a disastrous conclusion; a fatal event; protagonist usually is heroic but tragically (fatally) flawed
Understatement: opposite of hyperbole; saying less than you mean for emphasis
Vernacular: everyday speech
Voice: The textual features, such as diction and sentence structures, that convey a writer’s or speaker’s pesona.
Zeitgeist: the feeling of a particular era in history
AP Vocabulary
adumbrate - verb give to understand; describe roughly or briefly or give the main points or summary of
apotheosis - noun the elevation of a person (as to the status of a god); model of excellence or perfection
of a kind; one having no equal
ascetic - adj. practicing great self-denial; pertaining to or characteristic of an ascetic or the practice of
rigorous self-discipline; noun someone who practices self denial as a spiritual discipline
bauble - noun a mock scepter carried by a court jester; cheap showy jewelry or ornament on clothing
beguile - verb attract; cause to be enamored; influence by slyness
burgeon - verb grow and flourish
complement - noun something added to complete or make perfect; either of two parts that mutually
complete each other
contumacious - adj. willfully obstinate; stubbornly disobedient
curmudgeon - noun a crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas
didactic - adj. instructive (especially excessively)
disingenuous - adj. not straightforward or candid; giving a false appearance of frankness
exculpate - verb pronounce not guilty of criminal charges
faux pas – noun social blunder
fulminate - verb cause to explode violently and with loud noise; come on suddenly and intensely; criticize severely
fustian - noun a strong cotton and linen fabric with a slight nap; pompous or pretentious talk or writing
hauteur - noun overbearing pride evidenced by a superior manner toward inferiors
inhibit - verb limit the range or extent of; to put down by force or authority
jeremiad - noun a long and mournful complaint
opportunist - adj. taking immediate advantage, often unethically, of any circumstance of possible
benefit; noun a person who places expediency above principle
unconscionable - adj. greatly exceeding bounds of reason or moderation; lacking a conscience
accoutrements – noun personal clothing, accessories, ect.
apogee - noun a final climactic stage
apropos - adj. of an appropriate or pertinent nature; adv. by the way; at an opportune time
bicker - noun a quarrel about petty points; verb argue over petty things
coalesce - verb fuse or cause to grow together; mix together different elements
contretemps - noun an awkward clash
convolution - noun the action of coiling or twisting or winding together; a convex fold or elevation in the surface of the brain
cull - noun the person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality; verb remove something that has been rejected; look for and gather
disparate - adj. including markedly dissimilar elements; fundamentally different or distinct in quality or kind
dogmatic - adj. characterized by assertion of unproved or unprovable principles; relating to or involving
dogma; of or pertaining to or characteristic of a doctrine or code of beliefs accepted as authoritative
licentious - adj. lacking moral discipline; especially sexually unrestrained
mete - noun a line that indicates a boundary
noxious - adj. injurious to physical or mental health
polemic - adj. of or involving dispute or controversy; noun a controversy (especially over a belief or dogma); a writer who argues in opposition to others (especially in theology)
populous - adj. densely populated
probity - noun complete and confirmed integrity; having strong moral principles
repartee - noun adroitness and cleverness in reply
supervene - verb take place as an additional or unexpected development
truncate - adj. terminating abruptly by having or as if having an end or point cut off; verb make shorter as if by cutting off; approximate by ignoring all terms beyond a chosen one; replace a corner by a plane
unimpeachable - adj. beyond doubt or reproach; completely acceptable; not open to exception or
reproach; free of guilt; not subject to blame
accolade - noun a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction
acerbity - noun a sharp sour taste; a sharp bitterness; a rough and bitter manner
attrition - noun the act of rubbing together; wearing something down by friction; a wearing down to weaken or destroy; sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation; the wearing down of rock particles by friction due to water or wind or ice; erosion by friction
bromide - noun any of the salts of hydrobromic acid; formerly used as a sedative but now generally
replaced by safer drugs; a trite or obvious remark
chauvinist - noun an extreme bellicose nationalist; a person with a prejudiced belief in the superiority of his or her own kind
chronic - adj. being long-lasting and recurrent or characterized by long suffering
expound - verb add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing; state
factionalism – adj. self-interested; partisan
immaculate - adj. completely neat and clean; free from stain or blemish; without fault or error
imprecation - noun the act of calling down a curse that invokes evil (and usually serves as an insult); a slanderous accusation
ineluctable - adj. impossible to avoid or evade: "inescapable conclusion"
mercurial - adj. changeable; volatile; fickle; flighty; erratic
palliate - verb provide physical relief, as from pain; lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of
protocol - noun code of correct conduct; forms of ceremony and etiquette observed by diplomats and heads of state;
resplendent - adj. having great beauty and splendor
stigmatize - verb mark with a stigma or stigmata; to accuse or condemn or openly or formally or brand as disgraceful
sub rosa - noun confidentially; secretly; privately
vainglory - noun outspoken conceit
vestige - noun an indication that something has been present
volition - noun the act of making a choice; the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention
apposite - adj. being of striking appropriateness and pertinence
augur - noun (ancient Rome) a religious official who interpreted omens to guide public policy; verb predict from an omen; indicate by signs
bilk - verb evade payment to; cheat somebody out of what is due, especially money; escape, either physically or mentally; hinder or prevent (the efforts, plans, or desires) of
charisma - noun a personal attractiveness or interestingness that enables you to influence others
debilitate - verb make weak
execrable - adj. deserving a curse; unequivocally detestable; of very poor quality or condition
impinge - verb impinge or infringe upon; advance beyond the usual limit
labyrinth - noun maze
narcissism - noun an exceptional interest in and admiration for yourself
niggardly - adj. petty or reluctant in giving or spending
pastiche - noun a work of art that imitates the style of some previous work; a musical composition consisting of a series of songs or other musical pieces from various sources
precarious - adj. affording no ease or reassurance; not secure; beset with difficulties; dangerously insecure; fraught with danger
rapport - noun a relationship of mutual understanding or trust and agreement between people
utilitarian - adj. having a useful function; having utility often to the exclusion of values; noun someone who believes that the value of a thing depends on its utility
vacuous - adj. devoid of matter; void of expression; devoid of significance or point; devoid of intelligence
vagary - noun an unexpected and inexplicable change in something (in a situation or a person's behavior, etc.)
viable - adj. capable of life or normal growth and development; capable of being done with means at hand and circumstances as they are
xenophobia - noun an irrational fear of foreigners or strangers
zany - adj. like a clown; ludicrous, foolish; noun a buffoon in one of the old comedies; imitates others for ludicrous effect; a man who is a stupid incompetent fool
zealot - noun an excessively zealous person; fanatic
apostate - adj. not faithful to religion or party or cause; noun a disloyal person who betrays or deserts his cause or religion or political party or friend etc.
bravado - noun a swaggering show of courage
consensus - noun agreement in the judgment or opinion reached by a group as a whole
constrict - verb become tight or as if tight; squeeze or press together
dichotomy - noun being twofold; a classification into two opposed parts or subclasses
effusive - adj. extravagantly demonstrative; uttered with unrestrained enthusiasm
euphoria - noun a feeling of great (usually exaggerated) elation
gothic - adj. characterized by gloom and mystery and the grotesque
impasse - noun a situation in which no progress can be made or no advancement is possible
lugubrious - adj. excessively mournful
metamorphosis - noun a complete change of physical form or substance; a striking change in
appearance or character or circumstances
mystique - noun an aura of heightened value or interest or meaning surrounding a person or thing
non sequitur – noun a statement containing an illogical conclusion.
parlous - adj. fraught with danger
punctilio - noun strict observance of formalities; a fine point of etiquette or petty formality
quagmire - noun a soft wet area of low-lying land that sinks underfoot; a difficult situation to escape.
quixotic - adj. not sensible about practical matters; unrealistic
raconteur - noun a person skilled in telling anecdotes
sine qua non – noun an indispensable condition, element, or factor; something essential.
vendetta - noun a feud in which members of the opposing parties murder each other
acumen - noun a tapering point; shrewdness shown by keen insight
adjudicate - verb bring to an end; settle conclusively; put on trial or hear a case and sit as the judge at the trial of
anachronism - noun an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred
apocryphal - adj. being of questionable authenticity; of or belonging to the Apocrypha
disparity - noun inequality or difference in some respect
dissimulate - verb hide (feelings) from other people
empirical - adj. derived from experiment and observation rather than theory; relying on medical quackery
flamboyant - adj. richly and brilliantly colorful; elaborately or excessively ornamented
fulsome - adj. unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech
immolate - verb offer as a sacrifice by killing or by giving up to destruction
imperceptible - adj. impossible or difficult to perceive by the mind or senses
lackey - noun a male servant (especially a footman); a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage
liaison - noun a channel for communication between groups; a usually secretive or illicit sexual
relationship
monolithic - adj. characterized by massiveness and rigidity and total uniformity; imposing in size or bulk or solidity
mot juste.- the exact, appropriate word
nihilism - noun complete denial of all established authority and institutions; the delusion that things (or everything, including the self) do not exist; a sense that everything is unreal
patrician - adj. belonging to or characteristic of the nobility or aristocracy; noun a person of refined upbringing and manners; a member of the aristocracy
propitiate - verb make peace with
sic - adv. intentionally so written (used after a printed word or phrase); verb urge a dog to attack someone
sublimate - adj. made pure; noun the product of vaporization of a solid; verb direct energy or urges into useful activities
beatitude - noun one of the eight sayings of Jesus at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount; in Latin each saying begins with `beatus' (blessed); a state of supreme happiness
bete noire – noun a person or thing especially disliked or dreaded; bane; bugbear
bode - verb indicate by signs
dank - adj. unpleasantly cool and humid
ecumenical - adj. of worldwide scope or applicability
fervid - adj. extremely hot; characterized by intense emotion
fetid - adj. offensively malodorous
gargantuan - adj. of great mass; huge and bulky
heyday - noun the period of greatest prosperity or productivity
incubus - noun a male demon believed to lie on sleeping persons and to have sexual intercourse with
sleeping women; someone who depresses or worries others; a situation resembling a terrifying dream
infrastructure - noun the basic structure or features of a system or organization
inveigle - verb influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
kudos - noun an expression of approval and commendation
lagniappe - noun a small gift (especially one given by a merchant to a customer who makes a purchase)
prolix - adj. tediously prolonged or tending to speak or write at great length
protégé - noun a person who receives support and protection from an influential patron who furthers the protege's career
prototype - noun a standard or typical example
sycophant - noun a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage
tautology - noun useless repetition; (logic) a statement that is necessarily true
truckle - noun a low bed to be slid under a higher bed; verb yield to out of weakness; try to gain favor by cringing or flattering
aberration - noun an optical phenomenon resulting from the failure of a lens or mirror to produce a good image; a disorder in one's mental state; a state or condition markedly different from the norm
ad hoc - adj. concerned or dealing with a specific subject, purpose, or end
bane - noun something causes misery or death
bathos - noun triteness or triviality of style; a change from a serious subject to a disappointing one; insincere pathos
cantankerous - adj. having a difficult and contrary disposition; stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate
casuistry - noun moral philosophy based on the application of general ethical principles to resolve moral dilemmas; argumentation that is specious or excessively subtle and intended to be misleading
de facto – noun in fact; in reality
depredation - noun an act of plundering and pillaging and marauding; (usually plural) a destructive
action
empathy - noun understanding and entering into another's feelings
harbinger - noun an indication of the approach of something or someone; verb foreshadow or presage
hedonism - noun the pursuit of pleasure as a matter of ethical principle
lackluster - adj. lacking luster or shine; lacking brilliance or vitality
malcontent - adj. discontented as toward authority; noun a person who is discontented or disgusted
mellifluous - adj. pleasing to the ear
nepotism - noun favoritism shown to relatives or close friends by those in power (as by giving them jobs)
pander - noun someone who procures customers for whores (in England they call a pimp a ponce); verb arrange for sexual partners for others; yield (to); give satisfaction to
peccadillo - noun a petty misdeed
piece de resistance – the most noteworthy or prized feature; aspect; ect.
remand - noun the act of sending an accused person back into custody to await trial; verb lock up or
confine, in or as in a jail
syndrome - noun a complex of concurrent things; a pattern of symptoms indicative of some disease
abeyance - noun temporary cessation or suspension
ambivalent - adj. uncertain or unable to decide about what course to follow
beleaguer - verb surround so as to force to give up; annoy persistently
carte blanche – noun unconditional authority; full discretionary power
cataclysm - noun an event resulting in great loss and misfortune; a sudden violent change in the earth's surface
debauch - noun a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity; verb corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality
éclat - noun brilliant or conspicuous success or effect; ceremonial elegance and splendor; enthusiastic approval
fastidious - adj. giving careful attention to detail; hard to please; excessively concerned with cleanliness; having complicated nutritional requirements; especially growing only in special artificial cultures
gambol - verb play boisterously
imbue - verb suffuse with color; fill, soak, or imbue totally; spread or diffuse through
inchoate - adj. only partly in existence; imperfectly formed
lampoon - noun a composition that imitates somebody's style in a humorous way; verb ridicule with satire
malleable - adj. capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out; easily influenced
nemesis - noun something causes misery or death
opt - verb select as an alternative; choose instead; prefer as an alternative
philistine - noun a person who is uninterested in intellectual pursuits
picaresque - adj. involving clever rogues or adventurers especially as in a type of fiction
queasy - adj. causing or fraught with or showing anxiety; feeling nausea; feeling about to vomit; causing or able to cause nausea
refractory - adj. temporarily unresponsive or not fully responsive to nervous or sexual stimuli; not responding to treatment; stubbornly resistant to authority or control
savoir-faire - noun social skill
abortive - adj. failing to accomplish an intended result
bruit - verb tell or spread rumors
contumelious - adj. arrogantly insolent
dictum - noun an authoritative declaration; an opinion voiced by a judge on a point of law not directly bearing on the case in question and therefore not binding
ensconce - verb fix firmly
iconoclastic - adj. destructive of images used in religious worship; said of religions, such as Islam, in which the representation of living things is prohibited; characterized by attack on established beliefs or institutions
in medias res – in the middle
internecine - adj. characterized by bloodshed and carnage for both sides; (of conflict) within a group or organization
maladroit - adj. unskillful; awkward
maudlin - adj. effusively or insincerely emotional
modulate - verb vary the frequency, amplitude, phase, or other characteristic of; vary the pitch of one's speech
portentous - adj. of momentous or ominous significance; puffed up with vanity; ominously prophetic
prescience - noun the power to foresee the future
quid pro quo – noun one thing in return for another
salubrious - adj. favorable to health of mind or body; promoting health; healthful
saturnalia – unrestrained revelry; orgy
touchstone - noun a basis for comparison; a reference point against which other things can be evaluated
traumatic - adj. psychologically painful
vitiate - verb make imperfect; corrupt morally or by intemperance or sensuality
waggish - adj. witty or joking
aficionado - noun a serious devotee of some particular music genre or musical performer; a fan of bull fighting
browbeat - verb discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate; be bossy towards
commensurate - adj. corresponding in size or degree or extent
diaphanous - adj. so thin as to transmit light
emolument - noun compensation received by virtue of holding an office or having employment (usually in the form of wages or fees)
foray - noun an initial attempt; a sudden short attack; verb briefly enter enemy territory; steal goods; take as spoils
genre - noun a class of art
homily - noun a sermon on a moral or religious topic
immure - verb lock up or confine, in or as in a jail
insouciant - adj. marked by blithe unconcern
matrix - noun an enclosure within which something originates or develops (from the Latin for womb)
obsequies – noun funeral rite or ceremony
panache - noun distinctive and stylish elegance
persona - noun a personal facade that one presents to the world
philippic - noun a speech of violent denunciation
prurient - adj. characterized by lust
sacrosanct - adj. must be kept sacred
systemic - adj. affecting an entire system
tendentious - adj. having or marked by a strong tendency especially a controversial one
vicissitude - noun a change or variation occurring in the course of something
affinity - noun a natural attraction or feeling of kinship
bilious - adj. relating to or containing bile; irritable as if suffering from indigestion
cognate - adj. having the same ancestral language; related in nature; noun a word is cognate with
another if both derive from the same word in an ancestral language
corollary - noun (logic) an inference that follows directly from the proof of another proposition; a practical consequence that follows naturally
cul de sac - noun a street with only one way in or out; a passage with access only at one end
derring-do - noun brave and heroic deeds
divination - noun a prediction uttered under divine inspiration
elixir - noun a substance believed to cure all ills
folderol - noun nonsensical talk or writing
gamut - noun a complete extent or range
hoi polloi – the common people; the masses
ineffable - adj. too sacred to be uttered; defying expression or description
lucubration - noun laborious cogitation
mnemonic - noun a device used to aid recall
obloquy - noun blame, or abusive language aimed at a person or thing
parameter - noun limits or boundaries; guidelines
pundit - noun a learned person, expert, or authority
risible - adj. arousing or provoking laughter
symptomatic - adj. relating to or according to or affecting a symptom or symptoms; characteristic or indicative of e.g. a disease
volte-face - noun a major change in attitude or principle or point of view
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