Gullible

(adj.) easily fooled

1. Gullible people are vulnerable to practical jokes.

Hackneyed

(adj.) commonplace; trite

1. Just when you thought neckties were becoming a hackneyed gift item, along comes the Grateful Dead collection.
2. Have a nice day has become something of a hackneyed expression.

Haggard

(adj.) untamed; having a worn look

1. The lawn in front of the abandoned house added to its haggard look.
2. He looked as haggard as you would expect a new father of quadruplets to look.
3. Just by looking at her haggard features, you can tell she has not slept for many hours.

Halcyon

(adj.) tranquil; happy

1. The old man fondly remembered his halcyon days growing up on the farm.

Hamper

(v.) interfere with; hinder

1. The roadblock hampered their progress, but they knew a shortcut.

Haphazard

(adj.) disorganized; random

1. He constantly misplaced important documents because of his haphazard way of running his office.

Hapless

(adj.) unlucky; unfortunate

1. The hapless team could not win a game.

Harangue

(n; v.) a lengthy, heartfelt speech; to talk or write excitedly

1. We sat patiently and listened to her harangue.
2. When he finally stopped his haranguing, I responded calmly.

Harbor

(n.; v.) a place of safety or shelter; to give shelter or to protect.

1. We stood at the dock as the ship sailed into the harbor.
2. The peasants were executed for harboring known rebels.
3. The rabbits used the shed as a harbor from the raging storm.
4. Her decision to harbor a known criminal was an unwise one.

Harmonious

(adj.) having proportionate and orderly parts

1. The challenge for the new conductor was to mold his musicians' talents into a harmonious orchestra.

Haughty

(adj.) proud of oneself and scornful of others

1. The haughty ways she displayed her work turned off her peers.
2. The haughty girl displayed her work as if she were the most prized artist.

Hedonistic

(adj.) living for pleasure

1. The group was known for its hedonistic rituals.
2. Hot tubs, good food, and a plethora of leisure time were the hallmarks of this hedonistic society.

Heed

(v.) obey; yield to

1. If the peasant heeds the king's commands, she will be able to keep her land.

Hefty

(adj.) heavy or powerful

1. The unabridged dictionary makes for a hefty book.

Heresy

(n.) opinion contrary to popular belief

1. In this town it is considered heresy to want parking spaces to have meters.

Heretic

(n.) one who holds opinion contrary to that which is generally accepted

1. Because he believed the world was round, many people considered Columbus to be a heretic.

Hiatus

(n.) interval; break; period of rest

1. Summer vacation provided a much-needed hiatus for the students.
2. Between graduation and the first day of his new job, Tim took a three-month hiatus in the Caribbean.

Hierarchy

(n.) a system of persons or things arranged according to rank

1. I was put at the bottom of the hierarchy while Jane was put at the top.

Hoary

(adj.) whitened by age

1. The paint had a hoary appearance, as if it were applied decades ago.

Homage

(n.) honor; respect

1. The police officers paid homage to their fallen colleague with a ceremony that celebrated her life.

Homeostasis

(n.) maintenance of stability

1. Knowing the seriousness of the operation, the surgeons were concerned about restoring the patient to homeostasis.

Homily

(n.) solemn moral talk; sermon

1. The preacher gave a moving homily to the gathered crowd.

Hone

(n.; v.) something used to sharpen; to sharpen; to long or yearn for

1. He ran the knife over the hone for hours to get a razor-sharp edge.
2. The apprenticeship will give her the opportunity to hone her skills.
3. The traveler hones for his homeland.

(n.) arrogance

1. Some think it was hubris that brought the president to the point of impeachment.

Humility

(n.) lack of pride; modesty

1. Full of humility, she accepted the award but gave all the credit to her mentor.

Hybrid

(n.) anything of mixed origin

1. The flower was a hybrid of three different flowers.

Hyperbole

(n.) an exaggeration, not to be taken seriously

1. The full moon was almost blinding in its brightness, he said with a measure of hyperbole.

Hypocritical

(adj.) two-faced; deceptive

1. His constituents believed that the governor was hypocritical for calling for a moratorium on "negative" campaigning while continuing to air some of the most vicious ads ever produced against his opponent.
2. Most of his constituents believed the governor was hypocritical for calling his opponent a "mud-slinging hack" when his own campaign had slung more than its share of dirt.

Hypothetical

(adj.) assumed; uncertain; conjectural

1. A hypothetical situation was set up so we could practice our responses.
2. The professor was good at using hypothetical situations to illustrate complicated theories.

Iconoclast

(n.) one who smashes revered images; an attacker of cherished beliefs

1. Nietzche's attacks on government, religion, and custom made him an iconoclast of grand dimension.
2. The iconoclast spoke against the traditions of the holiday.

Ideology

(n.) speculation; representative way of thinking

1. His ideology proved to be faulty.
2. The ideology of business can be found in the new book.
3. He joined the religious group because he agreed with their ideology.

Idiosyncrasy

(n.) any personal peculiarity, mannerism

1. Her tendency to bite her lip is an idiosyncrasy.

Idyll

(n.) a written piece of work describing a peaceful rural scene

1. Reading the idyll made me think of the family farm.

Igneous

(adj.) having the nature of fire; volcanic

1. When the sun shone upon it, the material took on an igneous quality.

Ignoble

(adj.) ordinary; dishonorable;

1. The king was adamant about keeping his son from wedding an ignoble serf.
2. Consciously lying to someone is ignoble.
3. It was ignoble to disgrace the family in front of all of the townspeople.

Ignominious

(adj.) contemptible; disgraced; degrading

1. The behavior was so ignominious he was ashamed to be associated with it.
2. She left him because of his ignominious treatment of her.

Illuminate

(v.) make understandable

1. I asked a classmate to illuminate the professor's far-ranging lecture for me.

Illusive

(adj.) deceiving, misleading

1. It was as illusive as a mirage.

Illusory

(adj.) unreal; false; deceptive

1. He was proven guilty when his alibi was found to be illusory.

Imbue

(v.) to soak or stain; permeate

1. The wound will imbue the shirt in blood.
2. The new day imbued him with a sense of optimism.

(adj.) perfectly clean; correct; pure

1. An immaculate house is free of dust or clutter.

Imminent

(adj.) likely to happen without delay

1. The storm clouds warned of the imminent downpour.

Immune

(adj.) exempt from or protected against something

1. Doesn't everybody wish to be immune from the common cold?

Immutable

(adj.) unchangeable; permanent

1. The ties that bind alumni to their university are immutable.
2. The man's immutable schedule soon became boring.

Impale

(v.) pierce through with, or stick on; something pointed

1. The knight was impaled by the sharp lance.

Impartial

(adj.) unbiased; fair

1. Exasperated by charges to the contrary, the judge reiterated that he had bent over backwards to be impartial in a case that crackled with emotion.

Impasse

(n.) a situation that has no solution or escape

1. The workers and administration were at an impasse in their negotiations.

Impassive

(adj.) showing no emotion

1. Even when his father died he gave an impassive response and walked out tearless.
2. Her expected announcement was met by an impassive facial expression.

Impecunious

(adj.) poor; having no money

1. The Great Depression made family after family impecunious.

Impede

(v.) to stop the progress of; obstruct

1. The rain impeded the work on the building.