Vocabulary+lists

Vocabulary Lists for AP English 11 Trimester Two 2008 - 09 Study and learn the following words. The quiz dates are indicated above each list. Once you have been quizzed on a list of words, any of those words may appear on future quizzes. For example, the quiz on January 16 may contain words from lists 1 and 2; the quiz on February 27 could contain any of the words on this handout. 2. characterized by a hypocritical concern with virtue or religious devotion; sanctimonious.
 * List 1 – Quiz on Friday, December 19 **
 * 1) Assertion – a declaration or statement
 * 2) Biased - prejudiced
 * 3) Contemptuous – feeling hatred; scornful
 * 4) Convoluted – intricate; complex
 * 5) Indolent - lazy
 * 6) Disparity – inequality in age, rank or degree; difference
 * 7) Embellish – to make beautiful by ornamenting; to decorate
 * 8) Effusive – emotionally unrestrained; gushy
 * 9) Alleviate – to ease a pain or burden
 * 10) Dubious - doubtful
 * 11) Astute – shrewd; clever
 * 12) Ambiguous – open to more than one interpretation
 * 13) Inconsequential - unimportant
 * 14) Assiduous – hard-working
 * 15) Assimilation – to absorb; to make similar
 * 16) Acquired – developed or learned; not naturally occurring
 * 17) Inherent – inborn; built-in
 * 18) Elusive – difficult to capture, as in something actually fleeting
 * 19) Affable – easy-going; friendly, amiable
 * 20) Impinge – hinder; interfere with
 * List 2 – Quiz on Friday, January 16 **
 * 1) aesthetic – having to do with the appreciation of beauty
 * 2) decorous – proper; marked by good taste
 * 3) disparage – to speak of in a slighting way or negatively; to belittle
 * 4) brusque – rudely abrupt
 * 5) deleterious – having a harmful effect; injurious
 * 6) archaic – old-fashioned; characteristic of an earlier period
 * 7) austere – without decoration; strict
 * 8) surreptitiously – done by secretive means
 * 9) innovative – introducing something new
 * 10) candor – sincerity; openness
 * 11) ample – describing a large amount of something
 * 12) exemplary – commendable; worthy of imitation
 * 13) pernicious – causing great harm
 * 14) sardonic – disdainfully or ironically humorous; harsh, bitter, caustic
 * 15) haughty – arrogant, vainly proud
 * 16) jocund – cheerful, merry
 * 17) reticent – reserved; does not speak freely
 * 18) pensive – dreamily or wistfully thoughtful (often marked with some sadness)
 * 19) whimsical – capricious; unpredictable
 * 20) jingoistic – chauvinistic patriotism
 * List 3 – Quiz on Friday, February 6 **
 * 1) nascent – coming into existence; emerging
 * 2) magnanimous – generous, high-minded, noble
 * 3) acerbic – harsh, severe
 * 4) pious – 1. having or showing a dutiful spirit of reverence for God or an earnest wish to fulfill religious obligations.
 * 1) querulous – full of complaints, complaining
 * 2) sanguine – cheerfully optimistic
 * 3) vitriolic - very caustic; scathing
 * 4)  euphoric - a feeling of happiness, confidence, or well-being sometimes exaggerated in pathological states as mania.
 * 5) didactic – intended to instruct
 * 6) exculpate – to free from blame or guilt
 * 7) despotic – exercising absolute power; tyrannical
 * 8) cryptic – difficult to comprehend
 * 9) insipid – uninteresting, unchallenging
 * 10) opulent – exhibiting a display of great wealth
 * 11) egregious – conspicuously bad or offensive
 * 12) asylum – a place of retreat or security
 * 13) disingenuous – not straightforward; crafty
 * 14) ambivalent – simultaneously having opposing feelings; uncertain
 * 15) tenuous – having little substance or strength; shaky; unsure, weak
 * 16) compelling – forceful; urgently demanding attention
 * List 4 – Quiz on Friday, February 27 **
 * 1) consensus – general agreement
 * 2) dogmatic – stubbornly adhering to unproved beliefs
 * 3) innate – possessed from birth; inborn (inherent)
 * 4) amenable - agreeable
 * 5) melancholy – sadness; depression
 * 6) dilettante – one with an amateurish or superficial understanding of a field of knowledge
 * 7) equanimity – the quality of being calm and even-tempered
 * 8) pejorative – describing words or phrases that belittle or speak negatively of someone
 * 9) caustic – bitingly sarcastic or witty
 * 10) insolent – insulting in manner or speech
 * 11) malfeasance – wrongdoing, misconduct
 * 12) hackneyed – worn out through overuse; trite
 * 13) mediocrity – the state or quality of being average; of moderate to low quality
 * 14) harbinger – something that indicates what is to come; a forerunner
 * 15) novel – strikingly new or unusual
 * 16) laudatory – giving praise
 * 17) pragmatic – practical
 * 18) timorous – full of fear, timid
 * 19) obsequious – servile; submissive
 * 20) officious - objectionably aggressive in offering one's unrequested and unwanted services, help, or advice; meddlesome