1. Abash (v) – embarrass; (she felt terribly abashed when she walked into the wrong hotel room)

2. Accede (v) – agree; (finally acceded to their pleas for more time to complete the project)

3. Accolade (n) – praise; (for their exceptional bravery the firefighters received accolades from both local and national officials)

4. Angst (n) – anxiety; (I cried to myself, feeling an angst of such intense sorrow)

5. Aberrant (adj) – abnormal; (a year of aberrant weather—record rainfall in the summer, record heat in the autumn)

6. Avert (v) – avoid, prevent, forestall; (talks failed to avert a rail strike);

7. Assail (v) - attack, assault; (politicians assailed by the media);

8. Assiduous (adj.) – diligent, Showing great care and perseverance; (she was assiduous in pointing out every feature)

9. Arduous (adj.) – hard, difficult, tough, laborious, hard to accomplish or achieve; (He went through a long and arduous training program.)

10. Abrogate (v) – abolish, cancel, annul, repeal, to treat as nonexistent; (the U.S. Congress can abrogate old treaties that are unfair to Native Americans) ;

11. Abstruse (adj.) – profound, deep, difficult to comprehend; (Her subject matter is abstruse.)

12. Anomaly (adj.) - peculiarity, abnormality, irregularity; (We couldn't explain the anomalies in the test results.)

13. Acquiesce (v) – consent, agree, assent; (apparently the contractor expected me to acquiesce to my own fleecing)

14. Acolyte (n) - follower; (a popular professor dining with a few of her acolytes)

15. Affable (adj.) – friendly, pleasant; (a lively, affable young fellow)

16. Ambivalent (adj.) – indecisive; (Some youngsters are ambivalent about college; they want the education but hate to leave home)

17. Anathema (n) – dislike, denunciation; (a politician who is anathema to conservatives)

18. Apposite (adj.) – Appropriate, proper, pertinent, Apt in the circumstances or in relation to something; (enriched his essay on patriotism with some very apposite quotations from famous people on the subject)

19. Apprehend (v) – arrest, seize; (Within hours, police had apprehended the thief.)

20. Assuage (v) – Soothe, Relieve, Ease; (He couldn't assuage his guilt over the divorce.)

21. Anent (Preposition) – Concerning, About22. Albeit (conjunction) - Although23. Blunt (adj. – direct, insensitive, dull, being

straight-to the point; (He was blunt about needing more privacy.)

24. Bestow (v) – confer, grant, give; (the office was bestowed on him by the chief of state)

25. Baleful (adj.) – threatening, menacing; (Bill shot a baleful glance in her direction)

26. Belligerent (adj.) – hostile, aggressive; (Some people go through life frightening others by their aggressive, belligerent attitudes.)

27. Burgeon (v) - sprout, bud, bloom, flourish; (As a result of just the right role, a hitherto obscure actor can burgeon into stardom).

28. Cadaverous (adj.) – pale, haggard, ghastly; (A tall, cadaverous man led us into the library.)

29. Candid (adj.) – straightforward; (People are often asked for their candid opinion.)

30. Callow (adj.) – immature, inexperienced; (a story about a callow youth who learns the value of hard work and self-reliance);

31. Canard (n) – false rumor, hoax; (Sensational journalism thrives on canard.)

32. Cachet (n) – prestige, stamp, seal; (being rich … doesn't have the cachet it used to).

33. Carnal (adj.) – sensual; (There are those who care only for carnal pleasures.)

34. Captious (adj.) – faultfinding; (Captious critics often overlook the promise shown by young authors.);

35. Caveat (n) – warning; (Corporate controllers and treasurers are fond of caveats against reckless spending.)

36. Chide (v) – scold; (A considerate employer will chide his secretary gently for being occasionally tardy.)

37. Cognizance (adj.) – acknowledgement, recognition, notice; (We will take cognizance of your objections at the proper time.)

38. Compendium (n) – summary; (He published a compendium of folk tales.)

39. Concomitant (n or adj.) – accompanying, concurrent; (an improvement in the facilities led to a concomitant improvement in morale.)

40. Contentious (adj.) – quarrelsome, controversial; (The dispute involves one of the region's most contentious leaders.)

41. Contrite (adj.) – Repentant, Penitent, remorseful; (being contrite is not enough to spare you an arrest if you're caught shoplifting.)

42. Credulous (adj.) – trustful, gullible; (Few people are credulous enough to believe such nonsense.)

43. Circumscribe (v) – restrict, limit, bound; (their movements were strictly monitored and circumscribed.)

44. Circumspect (adj.) – cautious, prudent, careful; (she has a reputation for being quiet and circumspect in investigating charges of child abuse.)

45. Cogent (adj.) – convincing, logical; (he results of the DNA fingerprinting were the most cogent evidence for acquittal.)

46. Clandestine (adj.) – covert, secret, stealthy; (I took a clandestine peek at the price tag on the diamond necklace.)

47. Dauntless (adj.) – fearless; (dauntless bravery)

48. Dearth (n) – scarcity; (There is a dearth of good news in the newspaper these days.)

49. Debase (v) – degrade; (The governor debased himself by lying to the public.)

50. Debilitate (v) – weaken; (a woman who felt chronically debilitated for years.)

51. Deem (v) – consider, regard; (The principal will take whatever action she deems appropriate in this case.)

52. Denigrate (v) – defame, slander, vilify, belittle; (Her story denigrates him as a person and as a teacher.)

53. Digress (v) – deviate, depart; (He digressed so often that it was hard to follow what he was saying.)

54. Disdain (n) – scorn, despise, contempt; (He regarded their proposal with disdain.)

55. Dogged (adj.) – persistent, determined; (There are those who, despite logical arguments on the other side, stick to their opinions with dogged conviction.)

56. Duplicity (n) – deceitfulness, bad faith; (The duplicity of the participants in the Quiz Show shocked the public when it was exposed.)

57. Enucleate (v) – explain; 58. Extant (adj.) – existing, surviving, existent;

(There are few extant records from that period.)

59. Exculpate (v) – acquit, vindicate; (The court exculpated him after a thorough investigation.)

60. Elicit (v) – evoke61. Emulate (v) – imitate

62. Enmity (n) – hostility, antagonism63. Envisage (v) – imagine64. Eschew (v) – avoid, shun65. Equitable (adj.) – fair, equal, just66. Exacerbate (v) – aggravate67. Exigency (n) – urgency68. Exuberant (adj.) – enthusiasm69. Facet (n) – aspect, phase70. Germane (adj.) – relevant71. Debunk – disprove72. Obviate (adj) – remove/avoid73. Obstinate – stubborn74. Indubitable – unquestionable, undoubted75. Skullduggery – trickery76. Ineluctable – inevitable, unavoidable77. paroxysm – outburst78. interdict – prohibit79. Hiatus – gap80. Harbinger – forerunner81. Illicit – illegal82. Hypothesis – theory83. Ignominy – disgrace84. Impute – ascribe, attribute85. Impugn – challenge 86. Implicit – implied87. Inclement – harsh88. Incredulous – skeptical89. Increment – increase90. Incumbent – obligatory91. Indolent – lazy92. Innate – inherent93. Intrepid – bold94. Inundate – overwhelm95. Iterate – repeat96. Sine qua non – essential97. Nugatory – ineffective98. Generic – general99. Genesis – beginning100. Feisty – quarrelsome