| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
to deny oneself (something desired); to give up or reject as an act of self-denial | abnegate The monks chose to abnegate all worldly pleasures in pursuit of spiritual enlightenment. |
to formally renounce a belief, cause, or claim under oath | abjure The heretic was forced to abjure his controversial teachings before the tribunal. |
to leave hurriedly and secretly, typically to escape custody or avoid detection | abscond The treasurer managed to abscond with the organization's funds before anyone noticed. |
indulging only very moderately in food and drink; temperate | abstemious Despite the lavish buffet, the health-conscious executive remained abstemious. |
the ability to make good judgements and quick decisions; keen insight | acumen Her business acumen helped the startup grow from a garage operation into a global brand. |
to increase the power, status, or wealth of; to make appear greater | aggrandize The dictator built enormous monuments solely to aggrandize himself and his regime. |
a thing belonging to or surviving from an earlier period; outdated | anachronism The horse-drawn carriage was a charming anachronism in the modern city center. |
something that soothes or relieves pain; unlikely to cause offence | anodyne The politician offered only anodyne remarks, carefully avoiding any controversy. |
ridiculously old-fashioned; belonging to a time before the biblical flood | antediluvian The company's antediluvian computer systems desperately needed upgrading. |
the highest point in the development of something; the pinnacle | apotheosis Many consider the symphony to be the apotheosis of the composer's artistic career. |
approval or praise formally or officially expressed | approbation The proposal received the approbation of the entire board of directors. |
an elaborate or ornate design or pattern, often in art or ballet | arabesque The dancer held a perfect arabesque, her form silhouetted against the stage lights. |
old-fashioned and no longer in ordinary use; characteristic of an earlier historical period | archaic The document was written in archaic language that few modern readers could understand. |
harshness or sharpness of tone, manner, or temper; roughness of a surface | asperity She responded with unexpected asperity, startling everyone in the meeting room. |
an attack on the reputation or character of someone; a damaging remark | aspersion Casting aspersions on a colleague without evidence is both unprofessional and harmful. |
to reduce the force, effect, or value of something; to weaken | attenuate The thick walls helped attenuate the sound of traffic from the busy street outside. |
inspiring awe or admiration; respected and impressive | august The august institution had been a center of learning for over five centuries. |
conducive to success; favorable and promising | auspicious The sunny weather on opening day was considered an auspicious sign for the festival. |
to state or assert to be the case; to declare positively | aver The witness continued to aver that she had seen the suspect at the scene. |
demonstrating aggression and willingness to fight; warlike | bellicose The nation's bellicose foreign policy alarmed its neighbors and trading partners. |
a flattering or pleasing statement used to persuade someone gently | blandishment No amount of blandishment could convince the stubborn negotiator to change his position. |
showing a casual and cheerful indifference considered to be improper | blithe Her blithe disregard for the rules eventually led to serious consequences. |
to tolerate or endure something, typically used in negative constructions | brook The headmistress would brook no dissent from her staff on matters of discipline. |
to polish (a surface) until it shines; to make more attractive, appealing, or impressive | burnish The campaign was designed to burnish the company's tarnished public image. |
the deliberate making of false and malicious statements to damage someone's reputation | calumny The politician dismissed the accusations as nothing but calumny spread by his opponents. |
a false story deliberately spread as if it were true; a fabricated report | canard The claim that the product causes illness turned out to be a complete canard. |
bad-tempered, argumentative, and uncooperative; grumpy | cantankerous The cantankerous landlord refused every reasonable request from his tenants. |
given to making trivial and often unfounded objections; fault-finding | captious The captious reviewer seemed determined to find flaws in an otherwise flawless performance. |
to rebuke or censure someone harshly, especially in a formal or public setting | castigate The press was quick to castigate the minister for the ill-advised comments. |
sarcastic in a scathing and burning way; corrosive and biting | caustic Her caustic wit could reduce even the most confident speakers to silence. |
to make petty or unnecessary objections; to quibble | cavil Rather than addressing the substance of the proposal, the critic chose to cavil about minor details. |
a feeling of annoyance and distress caused by humiliation or disappointment | chagrin Much to her chagrin, the award went to her less experienced colleague. |
a person displaying aggressive or exaggerated loyalty to a particular cause | chauvinist The corporate chauvinist refused to acknowledge any merit in the competitor's approach. |
rude in a mean-spirited and surly way; boorish and ill-mannered | churlish It would be churlish to refuse such a generous and heartfelt offer of help. |
the use of many words where fewer would do; indirect and evasive language | circumlocution The witness's circumlocution frustrated the judge, who demanded a straight answer. |
to restrict or define the limits of something; to enclose within bounds | circumscribe The new regulations will circumscribe the authority of local officials. |
secret or illegal cooperation or conspiracy to deceive others | collusion The investigation revealed collusion between the company and government regulators. |
willing to please others; obliging and eager to satisfy | complaisant The complaisant host agreed to every request, no matter how unreasonable. |
a feeling of guilt or moral scruple that prevents wrongdoing | compunction The swindler showed no compunction about defrauding elderly victims of their savings. |
a large destructive fire; a blaze that causes extensive damage | conflagration The conflagration spread rapidly through the dry forest, consuming thousands of acres. |
showing great skill and flair; complete and perfect in every respect | consummate She is a consummate professional who handles even the most stressful situations with grace. |
stubbornly or wilfully disobedient to authority; rebellious | contumacious The contumacious defendant refused to rise when the judge entered the courtroom. |
insulting language or treatment; insolent or disdainful rudeness | contumely The workers endured years of contumely from their overbearing supervisor. |
friendly, lively, and enjoyable in atmosphere; fond of feasting | convivial The convivial atmosphere at the dinner party put all the guests at ease. |
capable of being corrected, reformed, or improved | corrigible Fortunately, most of the errors in the manuscript were easily corrigible. |
to treat with excessive indulgence and care, as if overly precious; to spoil with attention | cosset The youngest child was cosseted by the entire family, never left wanting for anything. |
a small group of people with shared interests or tastes; an exclusive circle | coterie The artist was part of a coterie of avant-garde painters who met every Friday. |
to admit as acceptable or give approval to; to tolerate officially | countenance The principal refused to countenance any form of bullying in the school. |
lacking courage; contemptibly timid and cowardly | craven His craven refusal to stand up for his colleagues cost him their respect. |
greed for money or possessions; excessive desire for wealth | cupidity The banker's cupidity led him to embezzle millions from unsuspecting clients. |
a bad-tempered and difficult person, especially an older one | curmudgeon Beneath the exterior of a curmudgeon, he was actually quite generous and warm-hearted. |
a sudden and complete disaster or fiasco; a total collapse | debacle The product launch turned into a debacle when the software crashed on live television. |
polite and restrained in behavior; dignified and proper | decorous The guests maintained decorous behavior throughout the state banquet. |
no longer existing, functioning, or in operation; dead or obsolete | defunct The once-popular magazine has been defunct since the early 2000s. |
to raise objections or show reluctance; to hesitate or protest mildly | demur When asked to work overtime without pay, she politely but firmly demurred. |
to unfairly belittle or malign someone's reputation or character; to defame | denigrate He took every opportunity to denigrate the achievements of his predecessors. |
the final outcome or ending of a story or sequence of events, especially one that resolves the plot | denouement The novel's surprising denouement left readers debating its meaning for weeks. |
a ruler who holds absolute power, typically one who exercises it cruelly | despot The people finally revolted against the despot who had oppressed them for decades. |
light, delicate, and translucent; almost transparent | diaphanous The bride wore a diaphanous veil that caught the light beautifully. |
a forceful and bitter verbal attack against someone or something | diatribe The columnist launched a lengthy diatribe against the proposed housing development. |
slow to act; tending to waste time or cause delay | dilatory The company's dilatory response to the safety complaint drew regulatory scrutiny. |
to persuade someone that an idea or belief is mistaken; to correct a false impression | disabuse The training seminar sought to disabuse new recruits of common misconceptions about the role. |
to make someone feel uneasy or embarrassed; to thwart or defeat | discomfit The unexpected question from the audience seemed to discomfit the otherwise confident speaker. |
to conceal one's true motives or feelings behind a false appearance | dissemble The spy had to dissemble constantly, hiding her true identity from everyone around her. |
the closing down or dismissal of an assembly or partnership; decomposition | dissolution The dissolution of the partnership left both parties scrambling to divide their assets. |
rigidly adhering to a set of principles regardless of circumstances | doctrinaire The doctrinaire minister refused to consider any policy that conflicted with party ideology. |
having or showing tenacity and grim persistence; stubbornly determined | dogged Her dogged pursuit of the truth eventually uncovered a massive cover-up. |
excessively harsh and severe, especially of laws or punishments | draconian The new sentencing guidelines were criticized as draconian by civil liberties groups. |
affected, overrefined, and ineffectual; no longer capable of productive action | effete The once-powerful empire had grown effete, unable to respond to threats on its borders. |
insolent or impertinent boldness; audacious nerve | effrontery She had the effrontery to demand a raise after being caught falsifying her timesheets. |
shining brightly; radiant and gleaming with light | effulgent The effulgent sunset painted the sky in shades of gold and crimson. |
having the quality of softening or soothing the skin; something that calms | emollient The diplomat's emollient words helped ease tensions during the heated summit. |
to cause someone to feel drained of energy or vitality; to weaken | enervate The oppressive heat seemed to enervate everyone, leaving the whole office sluggish. |
a feeling of listlessness and dissatisfaction arising from boredom | ennui A profound ennui settled over him during the long, uneventful winter months. |
to ask someone earnestly and anxiously to do something; to beg or plead fervently | entreat She entreated the committee to reconsider its decision before it was too late. |
even-tempered and calm; not easily disturbed or angered | equable His equable temperament made him an ideal mediator during office disputes. |
to use vague language so as to avoid committing oneself; to be deliberately unclear | equivocate When pressed for a direct answer, the candidate continued to equivocate. |
straying from the proper course or standards; misbehaving | errant The errant knight had abandoned his sworn duties in favor of personal glory. |
former; of a previous time or era | erstwhile The erstwhile allies now found themselves on opposing sides of the conflict. |
to deliberately avoid using or participating in; to abstain from | eschew The philosopher urged his students to eschew material excess in favor of intellectual pursuit. |
meriting great respect or high regard; worthy and commendable | estimable The professor was an estimable scholar whose contributions shaped the entire field. |
soon passing out of sight, memory, or existence; quickly fading | evanescent The morning mist was evanescent, vanishing completely by the time the sun rose. |
to censure or denounce someone harshly and publicly; to berate severely | excoriate The editorial went on to excoriate the administration for its handling of the crisis. |
to show or declare that someone is not guilty of wrongdoing; to clear of blame | exculpate New forensic evidence helped exculpate the wrongly convicted man. |
of extremely poor quality; utterly detestable or contemptible | execrable The food at the banquet was so execrable that most guests left their plates untouched. |
pressing; demanding immediate attention or action | exigent The exigent circumstances required the team to work through the night to meet the deadline. |
to speak or write about a topic at considerable length, covering every detail | expatiate The lecturer loved to expatiate on minor historical details for hours on end. |
to erase or remove completely, especially from an official record; to delete entirely | expunge The court ordered the arrest to be expunged from his record after he was acquitted. |
to remove matter thought to be objectionable from a text; to censor | expurgate The publisher chose to expurgate the novel, removing all passages deemed offensive. |
still in existence; surviving; not destroyed or lost | extant Only a handful of the composer's original manuscripts are still extant. |
to destroy or wipe out completely, down to the very root; to exterminate | extirpate The campaign aimed to extirpate corruption at every level of the government. |
silly and pointless; devoid of intelligence or meaning | fatuous The executive's fatuous suggestion to "just try harder" infuriated the exhausted team. |
displaying exaggerated flattery or affection; sycophantic and obsequious | fawning The fawning courtiers competed to shower the king with the most elaborate compliments. |
lacking initiative or strength of character; irresponsible and worthless | feckless The feckless administration failed to prepare for a crisis that everyone had predicted. |
well chosen or suited to the circumstances; pleasingly apt | felicitous The speaker's felicitous choice of words turned a routine address into a memorable one. |
agitation and excitement among a group causing unrest and upheaval | ferment The nation was in a state of political ferment following the disputed election results. |
a young bird that has just grown feathers; new and inexperienced | fledgling The fledgling democracy struggled to establish stable institutions in its early years. |
to instigate or stir up (trouble, unrest, or rebellion); to provoke deliberately | foment Foreign agents attempted to foment discord among the country's ethnic groups. |
patient self-control; restraint and tolerance under provocation | forbearance The teacher showed remarkable forbearance in dealing with the most difficult pupils. |
to deny or contradict a fact or statement; to speak against | gainsay The evidence is so overwhelming that no one can gainsay the researcher's conclusions. |
the highest point of achievement or excellence; the culmination of a process | acme The composer reached the acme of her career with a symphony that redefined the genre. |
leadership or dominance, especially by one country or social group over others | hegemony The nation's cultural hegemony was reflected in the global spread of its language and media. |
a person new to a subject, skill, or activity; a novice or newly initiated member | neophyte The neophyte struggled to keep up with experienced colleagues during her first week. |
beginning to come into being or to become apparent; in an initial stage | inchoate Her inchoate ideas about the novel gradually took shape over months of reflection. |
just beginning to develop; in the earliest stage of existence | incipient Doctors detected the incipient signs of the disease before symptoms fully manifested. |
impossible to avoid, escape, or resist; certain to happen or occur | ineluctable The passage of time and the changes it brings are ineluctable facts of human existence. |
not suited or appropriate for a particular occasion; inapt or awkward | infelicitous His infelicitous remarks at the memorial service offended nearly everyone in attendance. |
tending to obstruct or cause harm; hostile or unfriendly | inimical The harsh climate proved inimical to the settlers' attempts at farming. |
impossible to understand or interpret; mysterious and enigmatic | inscrutable The diplomat's inscrutable expression gave no hint of her position on the treaty. |
showing a casual lack of concern; carefree and indifferent | insouciant Her insouciant attitude toward deadlines frustrated her more disciplined colleagues. |
hard to control, manage, or deal with; stubbornly resistant to guidance or discipline | intractable The negotiators faced an intractable dispute that had resisted resolution for decades. |
vehemently abusive and critical language directed against someone | invective The debate descended into personal invective rather than a discussion of policy. |
unable to act decisively; hesitant and uncertain | irresolute The leader's irresolute response to the crisis allowed the situation to deteriorate. |
moving from place to place rather than settling permanently; nomadic | itinerant The itinerant musician performed in a different town each night across the countryside. |
affected by bitterness, resentment, or cynicism; having a distorted outlook | jaundiced Years of political corruption left the journalist with a jaundiced view of public officials. |
given to weeping; tearful or mournful | lachrymose The lachrymose film left half the audience reaching for tissues by the final scene. |
to publicly criticize someone or something by using ridicule or satire | lampoon The comedian's sketch ruthlessly lampooned the political establishment. |
the state or feeling of tiredness and lack of energy; listlessness | languor A heavy languor settled over the town during the long, humid afternoons of summer. |
tending or too ready to go to law to settle disputes | litigious The company operated in an increasingly litigious environment where lawsuits were commonplace. |
looking sad and gloomy; mournful and sorrowful | lugubrious The conductor's lugubrious rendition of the requiem brought a sombre hush over the hall. |
giving out or reflecting bright light; shining and radiant | luminous The author's luminous prose transformed an ordinary story into something transcendent. |
the quality of being generous and forgiving, especially toward a rival or enemy | magnanimity The victor showed great magnanimity by pardoning those who had fought against him. |
a person who pretends to be ill or incapacitated to avoid duty or work | malingerer The sergeant suspected the soldier was a malingerer faking injury to avoid deployment. |
a strict disciplinarian, especially in the armed forces or a workplace | martinet The office manager was a martinet who enforced every rule with rigid precision. |
apparently attractive but having in reality no value or integrity; superficially plausible but actually wrong | meretricious The meretricious advertising campaign promised results that the product could never deliver. |
the social environment or setting in which something occurs or develops | milieu The artist thrived in the creative milieu of 1920s Paris. |
expressing or conveying a threat; ominously hostile in tone | minatory The manager's minatory tone during the meeting left the staff feeling anxious and uneasy. |
the lowest point in the fortunes of a person or organization; the opposite of the peak | nadir The company's stock price reached its nadir during the financial crisis of 2008. |
just beginning to develop and grow; emerging | nascent The nascent democracy faced enormous challenges in establishing rule of law. |
causing repeated annoyance or minor difficulty; vexing and troublesome | nettlesome The nettlesome border dispute had plagued relations between the two countries for decades. |
to render unclear or unintelligible; to make something harder to understand | obfuscate The witness attempted to obfuscate the facts by giving rambling and contradictory answers. |
not straightforward or direct; slanting or at an angle | oblique The professor made only oblique references to the scandal, never addressing it head-on. |
noisy and difficult to control; boisterous and unruly | obstreperous The obstreperous crowd drowned out the speaker's attempts to restore order. |
asserting one's authority or intruding in others' affairs in an annoyingly domineering way | officious The officious clerk insisted on checking every document three times, delaying the entire process. |
involving an amount of effort or difficulty that is oppressively burdensome | onerous The new regulations imposed onerous requirements on small businesses already struggling to survive. |
expressing scorn, harsh criticism, or abusive disgrace | opprobrious The politician's opprobrious remarks about his opponents shocked even his own supporters. |
to move or swing back and forth at a regular speed; to waver between extremes | oscillate The committee continued to oscillate between the two proposals without reaching a decision. |
having a narrow or limited outlook, especially focused on a local area; unsophisticated | parochial His parochial perspective prevented him from appreciating the broader cultural significance of the artwork. |
a sudden, uncontrollable attack or spasm, especially of strong emotion or disease | paroxysm The audience erupted in a paroxysm of laughter at the comedian's unexpected punchline. |
relating to or consisting of money; monetary in nature | pecuniary The lawsuit sought pecuniary damages to compensate the victims for their financial losses. |
complete and final ruin, especially eternal punishment after death for the wicked | perdition The preacher warned that a life of vice would lead to eternal perdition. |
traveling from place to place, especially working or based in various locations for short periods | peripatetic The peripatetic consultant spent most of his year traveling between client offices in different cities. |
easily irritated or annoyed; childishly sulky or bad-tempered | petulant The petulant child stomped his feet and refused to eat dinner. |
a person who is hostile or indifferent to culture and the arts; uncultured | philistine His colleagues considered him a philistine for dismissing classical music as boring noise. |
to attack or ridicule publicly; to expose someone to public contempt | pillory The tabloids rushed to pillory the celebrity after the scandal broke. |
having a loud, reverberating, and often mournful sound | plangent The plangent notes of the cello echoed through the empty cathedral. |
of or like a sign that something momentous or calamitous is likely to happen; ominously significant | portentous The gathering storm clouds seemed portentous, as though nature itself sensed the coming conflict. |
done, made, or acting suddenly and without careful consideration; hasty | precipitate The manager's precipitate decision to lay off staff created chaos throughout the organization. |
to speak or act in an evasive way; to avoid telling the whole truth | prevaricate The executive continued to prevaricate when pressed for details about the financial irregularities. |
the quality of having strong moral principles; integrity and uprightness | probity The judge was known for her probity and was trusted by both prosecution and defense. |
a tendency or inclination toward a particular thing; a natural leaning | proclivity His proclivity for risk-taking eventually caught up with him in the stock market. |
to win or regain the favor of a deity, spirit, or person; to appease or pacify | propitiate The ancient ritual was designed to propitiate the gods and ensure a bountiful harvest. |
tending or able to change frequently or easily; versatile and adaptable | protean The protean actor transformed himself completely for each role, becoming unrecognisable. |
the place of origin or earliest known history of something | provenance The museum meticulously verified the provenance of every artwork before adding it to the collection. |
relating to or involving boxing or fist fighting; combative | pugilistic The senator's pugilistic debating style, full of verbal jabs and counter-punches, made for gripping television. |
a soft, boggy area of land that gives way underfoot; a difficult or precarious situation | quagmire The military intervention quickly turned into a political quagmire with no clear exit strategy. |
in a state of inactivity or dormancy; quiet and still | quiescent The volcano had been quiescent for centuries before suddenly erupting with devastating force. |
occurring or recurring daily; ordinary and everyday | quotidian She found beauty in the quotidian routines of domestic life that others overlooked. |
a person who tells anecdotes in a skillful and amusing way | raconteur The elderly professor was a gifted raconteur whose stories captivated students for hours. |
aggressively greedy and grasping, especially for wealth or resources; exploitative | rapacious The rapacious corporation stripped the region of its natural resources without regard for the environment. |
to express sharp disapproval or criticism of someone because of their behavior | rebuke The judge sternly rebuked the lawyer for attempting to mislead the jury. |
little known; dealing with very profound or specialized subject matter | recondite The scholar's recondite analysis of medieval tax codes appealed to only a handful of specialists. |
inspiring fear or respect through being impressively large, powerful, or capable; formidable | redoubtable The redoubtable chess champion had not lost a tournament match in over five years. |
to make a forcefully reproachful protest; to argue in strong opposition | remonstrate Citizens gathered at city hall to remonstrate against the proposed demolition of the historic building. |
filled or well-supplied with something; abundantly provided | replete The banquet table was replete with exotic dishes from a dozen different cuisines. |
an unprincipled person; someone of highly immoral character | reprobate The charming reprobate managed to talk his way out of trouble time and again. |
feeling nervous, unable to keep still, or resistant to being controlled; uneasy | restive The restive crowd grew increasingly impatient as the delayed concert still showed no signs of starting. |
to reduce costs or spending in response to economic difficulty; to cut back | retrench Facing declining revenue, the company was forced to retrench by closing several regional offices. |
regarded as sacred and immune from criticism; too important to be violated or changed | sacrosanct In the family, Sunday dinner together was sacrosanct and no excuse for absence was accepted. |
conducive to health or well-being; wholesome | salubrious The doctor recommended relocating to a more salubrious climate to aid the patient's recovery. |
making a show of being morally superior to others; hypocritically pious or devout | sanctimonious The sanctimonious politician lectured others on ethics while secretly accepting bribes. |
relating to tailoring, clothes, or style of dress | sartorial His sartorial elegance was legendary; he never appeared in public without a perfectly tailored suit. |
tending to induce drowsiness or sleep; tediously boring or monotonous | soporific The professor's soporific lectures sent half the class into a stupor before the first hour was over. |
having a deceptive, superficial plausibility, especially in an argument that seems sound but isn't | specious The defendant's specious alibi fell apart under cross-examination. |
a person who spends money in an extravagant and irresponsible way | spendthrift The spendthrift heir burned through the family fortune in less than a decade. |
not genuine or authentic; false or fabricated, though often resembling the real thing | spurious The researcher retracted the paper after it was revealed that the data was spurious. |
calm, dependable, and showing little emotion or animation; unemotional | stolid The stolid farmer weathered each setback without complaint, simply returning to his work. |
loud, harsh, and grating; urgently and obtrusively expressed | strident The strident tone of the editorial alienated readers who might otherwise have been sympathetic. |
fond of sensuous luxury or pleasure; self-indulgent | sybaritic The sybaritic lifestyle of the ancient Roman elite included lavish banquets and perfumed baths. |
expressing or intending to promote a particular cause or point of view; biased | tendentious The documentary was widely criticized as tendentious, presenting only evidence that supported its thesis. |
very hot and dry; intensely passionate, fervent, or emotionally charged | torrid The torrid summer of that year broke temperature records across the entire continent. |
easy to control, manage, or influence; docile and amenable to guidance | tractable The new employee proved tractable and eager to learn, quickly adapting to the team's methods. |
a false, absurd, or distorted representation of something; a mockery or parody | travesty The hastily organized event was a travesty that bore no resemblance to the elegant gala that had been promised. |
excessively or ingratiatingly flattering; oily and sycophantic | unctuous The salesman's unctuous manner made potential buyers suspicious rather than reassured. |
to scold someone severely; to find fault with angrily | upbraid The coach upbraided the team for their lacklustre performance in the first half. |
to wrongfully take over a position of authority or leadership, especially by force | usurp The ambitious general plotted to usurp the throne while the king was away at war. |
exhibiting different colors, especially as irregular patches or streaks; diverse and varied | variegated The variegated foliage of the garden displayed a stunning array of greens, reds, and golds. |
the appearance of being true or real; the quality of seeming lifelike | verisimilitude The historical novel achieved remarkable verisimilitude, making readers feel transported to another era. |
to make someone feel annoyed, frustrated, or worried, especially with trivial matters | vex The constant bureaucratic delays continued to vex the researchers trying to obtain their permits. |
a change of circumstances or fortune, typically one that is unwelcome or unpleasant | vicissitude The autobiography chronicled the many vicissitudes of a life lived across four continents. |
to abuse or censure severely or abusively; to berate with harsh language | vituperate The critic did not merely disagree but proceeded to vituperate the author in the harshest possible terms. |
an extremely confused, complicated, or embarrassing situation; a messy entanglement | imbroglio The diplomatic imbroglio over fishing rights threatened to derail the broader trade negotiations. |
not feeling or showing emotion; unmoved and calm in the face of difficulty | impassive The defendant remained impassive as the verdict was read, betraying no hint of emotion. |
having little or no money; penniless and poor | impecunious The impecunious artist survived on the generosity of patrons who believed in his talent. |
to ask someone pressingly and persistently for or to do something; to beg urgently | importune Lobbyists continued to importune the senator for a meeting despite her repeated refusals. |
to dispute the truth, validity, or honesty of a statement or motive; to call into question | impugn The lawyer sought to impugn the credibility of the key witness during cross-examination. |
exemption from punishment or freedom from the harmful consequences of an action | impunity The dictator violated human rights with total impunity, knowing no court would hold him accountable. |
unable to be corrected, improved, or reformed; incurable | incorrigible The incorrigible optimist refused to see any situation as hopeless, no matter how dire. |
a denoting or relating to a period of great peace, happiness, and prosperity; calm and tranquil | halcyon Retirees often look back on their youth as a halcyon period free from worry or responsibility. |
a forerunner of something; a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another | harbinger The first crocus of spring is often seen as a harbinger of warmer days ahead. |
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