| unflinching | resolute |
| Ordnance | Ordnance is another word for military supplies, like guns, rockets, or armor. When a country is at war, it needs a lot of ordnance. |
| bellwether | Use the word bellwether to indicate someone or something that takes the lead in a group or movement. |
| persnickety | Persnickety is a lively, fancy word for “fussy.” If you've sent your salad back to the kitchen three times, you might be a persnickety eater. |
| hock | pawn |
| unprepossessing | If you find someone to be unprepossessing, you find them unattractive. Not that they're ugly, mind you! Just unprepossessing. |
| devolve | You've probably heard that organisms evolve over time. Well, life is complicated, and sometimes things devolve instead — to devolve is to get worse instead of better. |
| moiety | A moiety is one of two equal parts. If you cut a sandwich in half, you can have one moiety for lunch and give the other moiety to a pigeon. |
| Peremptory | Peremptory comments are like orders. If you say something in a peremptory manner, you want people to stop what they’re doing and do what you say. Peremptory comments put an end to a discussion, and that’s final! |
| sentience | The ability to feel and perceive is sentience. |
| avowal | avowal
An avowal is an affirmation of the truth of what you believe. |
| conflagration | uncontrolled fire |
| virtuous | moral excellence |
| contend | struggle, claim |
| opprobrium | Disgrace arising from exceedingly shameful conduct; ignominy. |
| phenotype | Whereas the "genotype" is the genetic makeup of an organism, the phenotype is how genetic and environmental influences come together to create an organism’s physical appearance and behavior. |
| asperity | harshness |
| scrounge | looking for food, forage for something |
| trundled | move slowly or heavily |
| abiotic | In science, anything abiotic is not alive. Abiotic factors in an ecosystem are things like temperature, ocean currents, and humidity. |
| sophomoric | Anything sophomoric is foolish and immature. |
| gibbet | pillory, gallows, for hanging |
| keenly | Keenly is used to describe things that are intense or deeply perceptive. If you're keenly aware that your sister is grouchy in the morning, you'll steer clear of her until lunch time. |
| crenellated | To fortify a wall with battlements (holes or notches used for shooting at an approaching enemy) is to crenellate it. If you crenellate the cardboard towers, your model of a medieval castle will look more realistic. |
| archness | Archness is a quality of being cheeky or playful in a way that's almost rude. If your philosophy professor cracks a lot of jokes during her lecture on ethics, you might comment on her archness. |
| renaissance | A resurgence of excitement or interest in something is a renaissance. My sister is hoping for a renaissance of disco — she's been practicing her dance moves! |
| scrawny | bony, skinny |
| gibbet | gallows |
| propitiate | If you forgot flowers on your Mom's birthday, you can still propitiate her by sending a bouquet the next day. Propitiate means to appease someone or make them happy by doing a particular thing. Handy strategy for lovers, too |
| Agitprop | Agitprop appears to be art but is actually political propaganda. A movie that embraces an extreme political position could be called agitprop. |
| guttered | flickered, wavered |
| apoplectic | Someone who is apoplectic is not just mad — they're so filled with rage, they can barely communicate. If your mother is apoplectic, you'd better hope it isn't over something you did. |
| avarice | greed |
| commensurate | The word commensurate has to do with things that are similar in size and therefore appropriate. Many people think the death penalty is a commensurate punishment for murder. In other words, the penalty fits the crime. |
| exhort | thoroughly encourage |
| omniscient | knowing everything. |
| solute | Solute is just a few letters short of solution, a substance that is dissolved in liquid. In science classes, a solute might be part of your experiment. |
| opposite of neonatal | geriatric |
| abbot | An abbot is the head of a monastery |
| rubric | A rubric is a heading or a category in a chart, or a rule of conduct. A teacher's grading rubrics may include participation, homework completion, tests, quizzes, and papers. |
| Imposition | Imposition means you force something |
| squalid | neglected |
| inexorable | inflexible |
| divot | A piece of turf torn up by a golf club in striking a ball |
| innocuous | harmless |
| dissimulate | hide from other people |
| expiate | Expiate means to make amends or atone for a wrong you or someone else has committed. |
| alfresco | fresh air |
| probative | furnishing evidence or proof |
| pellucid | A sentence that teaches a new vocabulary word should always be pellucid, that is, its style and meaning should be easily understandable so that you can derive the definition from the sentence. |
| compilicity | Complicity is involvement in a wrongful act — like when you drove your newly-turned-vegetarian friend to a fast food joint so that she could scarf down a hamburger. |
| Bedizen | Bedizen means to decorate yourself or something else to the max — in an over-the-top flashy style. Picture big jewels and gold bling. |
| dissipated | If your Great Aunt Maude tells you you've become a dissipated bum, she means you don't think of anything but how much fun you're having. If you got a summer job and stopped playing arcade games all day, she might change her tune. |
| malefactor | Someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime. |
| dissever | To dissever is to separate or divide something. If you spend too much time staring at screens, you might want to dissever yourself from technology and go camping this weekend. |
| vivacious | A vivacious person is lively and spirited: a vivacious dancer might do a back-flip off the wall and then jump into the arms of her partner. |
| grungy | dirty |
| betide | befall, happen;
I waited with beating heart, as yet not knowing what would betide |
| wheedle | To wheedle is to sweet talk, or flatter someone in the hopes of getting something in return. You might try to wheedle a meter maid into not giving you a parking ticket. Good luck with that. |
