Study Guide: Iolani School Elective Vocabulary List 1
1 abolish vt. to put an end to; to eliminate. Slavery in America was officially abolished in 1863.
2 acrimonious adj. bitter, resentful. The acrimonious controversy destroyed some friendships.
3 affront vt. to offend. The guest’s jokes about the food affronted his hosts. n. an open insult or indignity. His jokes about the food were an affront to his hosts.
4 ameliorate vt. to relieve, as from hardship. Reduced taxes ameliorated economic conditions.
5 apocryphal (uh-POCK-ruh-phul) adj. of doubtful authenticity; fake. Biographers must distinguish true stories from apocryphal ones.
6 arsenal n. collection, esp. of military arms. The US agreed to reduce its nuclear arsenal.
7 auspicious adj. promising success. Fine weather in the spring is auspicious for farmers.
8 brevity n. shortness, conciseness. A poem of such brevity is a bad choice for a speech contest.
9 burgeon vt. to sprout, bloom, flourish. Wildflowers burgeoned as spring turned to summer.
10 catastrophic adj. disastrous. Allowing Hitler to gain power was a catastrophic error.
11 circumlocution n. wordy, roundabout language. The circumlocution in the report confused me.
12 cogent (CO-jint) adj. convincing, logical. The attorney made a cogent case for her client.
13 conspirator n. one who cooperates in an unlawful purpose. Conspirators plotted a revolution.
14 convoluted adj. twisted or coiled. His confusing logic is as convoluted as a pretzel.
15 debunk vt. to expose as false. Doctors debunked the claims of the company promoting a Spam diet.
16 denounce vt. to criticize publicly. The angry player denounced the firing of his coach.
17 despondency n. dejection, hopelessness. Disappointment in love caused his despondency.
18 din n. continued noise, esp. of many sounds. Racing fans love the din of the drag strip.
19 distraught adj. 1. deeply distressed. He tried to comfort the distraught widow. 2. insane.
20 drivel n. nonsense. A book review called his poems childish drivel. vi. to talk nonsense.
21 egregious (e-GREE-jus) adj. conspicuously bad. Amputating the wrong leg is an egregious error.
22 embezzle vt. to take property in one’s care falsely for oneself. The treasurer embezzled company funds.
23 enigma n. mystery; something hard to understand. The origin of language is an enigma.
24 espouse vt. 1. to support. The farmer espoused the cause of conservation. 2. to marry.
25 exculpate vt. to free from guilt. He made excuses to exculpate himself for missing curfew.
26 exploit (EX-ploit) n. famous or heroic deed. Hercules performed great exploits. (ex-PLOIT) vt. 1. to use productively. Hawaii businesses exploit our favorable location. 2. to take unfair advantage of. Cheap magazines exploited the movie star’s image to sell copies.
27 fanatical adj. blindly enthusiastic. The fanatical patriots think their country can do no wrong.
28 flout vt. to treat with open disrespect (not to be confused with flaunt, to show off). Unafraid of his weak parents, he flouted their rules.
29 germane adj. relevant. The Chaplain found a Biblical verse germane to his sermon’s theme.
30 heir n. one who inherits. The son of the CEO is the heir to his fortune.
31 hyperbole (hy-PER-bo-lee) n. intentional overstatement. “I’m starving” is a hyperbole.
32 imperious adj. commanding, arrogant. The spoiled child was imperious toward playmates.
33 incarcerate vt. to imprison. Police incarcerated the suspects.
34 incumbent adj. lying in place, esp. holding an office. The incumbent mayor was reelected. n. one holding an office. Voters reelected the incumbent.
35 infringe vi. to encroach or trespass upon. Computer hackers can infringe upon your privacy. vt. to encroach on. The court ruled that the company had infringed the inventor’s patent.
36 intercede vt. to mediate between disagreeing parties. Counselors do not intercede in petty quarrels.
37 irrational adj. not governed by or according to reason. Love makes wise people do irrational things.
38 laudable adj. deserving praise. The Headmaster said our canned food drive was laudable.
39 malady n. illness. Doctors could not diagnose the mysterious malady.
40 mentor n. a wise teacher or guide. A veteran was the beginner’s mentor. vt. to teach or guide.
41 navigable adj. deep and wide enough for passage. Dredging made the canal navigable.
42 opaque adj. blocking light; hard to see through or understand. My shower door is opaque.
43 pariah (pa-RYE-uh) n. an outcast. The snobs made people without BMWs feel like pariahs.
44 peccadillo n. a minor offense. She notices her date’s peccadilloes, like ordering his meal first.
45 peruse vt. to read or study. He spent hours perusing books in aisles of Borders.
46 poacher n. one who hunts or fishes illegally; trespasser. Poachers put traps in the duke’s wood.
47 premature adj. occurring before something is ready. With no diagnosis, a prescription is premature.
48 prevarication n. lying, falsehood. My prevarication did not fool my parents.
49 prostrate adj. lying flat, as in adoration or submission. The prostrate captives begged for mercy. vt. to put (oneself) in a prostrate position.
50 raucous adj. harshly loud and disorderly (not to be confused with ruckus, “commotion”). Hearing raucous shouts, the police raided the party.
51 recollect (RECK-o-lect) vt. to remember. I cannot recollect what I ate for dinner on Tuesday.
52 relegate vt. to banish or assign to an inferior position. The coach relegated a starter to the second string.
53 repast n. meal. After a repast to restore their energy, they continued their journey.
54 rhetoric n. 1. the art of speaking or writing persuasively. Voice, style and tone are concepts in rhetoric. 2. impressive but insincere language. The political speech was nothing but rhetoric.
55 salubrious adj. promoting health. Daily swimming is a salubrious habit.
56 serrated adj. notched or toothed like a saw. A serrated knife is good for cutting bread.
57 soporific adj. (SOP-er or SOAP-er) 1. causing sleep. Gentle songs have a soporific effect on babies. 2. relating to sleep. n. a soporific agent.
58 sterile adj. 1. unable to produce life. Radiation made the lab rats sterile. 2. not stimulating. Blank walls make a room seem sterile. 3. free from microorganisms. Nurses use sterile needles.
59 superficiality n. shallowness; concern with surfaces. Having only skimmed the reading, I tried to dazzle my teacher with big words, but his questions exposed the superficiality of my understanding.
60 tawdry adj. gaudy, cheap. The cheap hotel had tawdry furnishings.
61 tirade n. long, angry, critical speech. When the phone bill arrived, my dad went into a tirade.
62 trite adj. dull and unoriginal. The movie was full of trite jokes that made no one laugh.
63 unflappable adj. calm, self-controlled. With unflappable poise, he delivered a flawless speech.
64 vacillation n. wavering, hesitation. Tired of his vacillation, she married someone else.
65 wrest vt. to pull or gain by force. I could not wrest the Frisbee from the dog’s jaws.
