v. lower; degrade; humiliate.

Sentence: Anna expected to have to curtsy to the King of Siam; when told to cast herself down on the ground before him, however, she refused to abase herself.

abasement - n.

v. embarrass.

Sentence: He was not at all abashed by her open admiration.

v. subside or moderate.

Sentence: Rather than leaving immediately, they waited for hte storm to abase. 

v. shorten.

Sentence: Because we were running out of the time, the lecturer had to abbreviate her speech. 

v. renounce; give up.

Sentence: When Edward VIII abdicated the British throne, he surprised the entire world. 

adj. abnormal or deviant.

Sentence: Given the aberrant nature of the data, we came to doubt the validity of the entire experiment. 

n. abnormality; departure from the norm; mental irregularity or disorder.

Sentence: It remains the consensus among investors on Wall Street that current high oil prices are a temporary aberration and that we shall soon see a return to cheap oil. 

v. assist, usually in doing something wrong; encourage.

Sentence: She was unwilling to abet him in the swindle he had planned. 

n. suspended action.

Sentence: the deal was held in abeyance until her arrival. 

abhor

v. detest; hate.

Sentence: She abhorred all forms of bigotry.

abhorrence - n. 

adj. wretched; lacking pride.

Sentence: On the streets of New York the homeless live in abject poverty, huddling in doorways to fine shelter from the wind. 

v. renounce upon oath; disavow.

Sentence: Pressure from university authorities caused the young scholar to abjure his heretical opinions.

abjuration - n.

n. washing

Sentence: His daily ablutions were accompanied by loud noises that he humorously labeled "Opera in the Bath." 

n. renunciation; self-sacrifice.

Sentence: Though Rudolph and Duchess Flavia loved one another, their love was doomed, for she had to wed the king; their act of abnegation was necessary to preserve the kingdom. 

v. cancel; put an end to.

Sentence: The president of the college refused to abolish the physical education requirement.

abolition - n. 

adj. detestable; extremely unpleasant; very bad.

Sentence Mary liked John until she learned he was also dating Susan; then she called him an abominable young man, with abominable taste in women. 

v. loathe; hate.

Sentence: Moses scolded the idol worshippers in the tribe because he abominated the custom. 

adj., n. being the first of its kind in a region; primitive; native.

Sentence: Her studies of the primitive art forms of the aboriginal Indians were widely reported in the scientific journals.

aborigine - n. 

adj. unsuccessful; fruitless.

Sentence: Attacked by armed troops, the Chinese students had to abandon their abortive attempt to democratize Beijing peacefully.

abort - v. 

adj. rubbing away; tending to grind down.

Sentence: Just as abrasive cleaning powders can wear away a shiny finish, abrasive remarks can wear away a listener's patience.

abrade - v. 

v. condense or shorten.

Sentence: Because the publishers felt the public wanted a shorter version of War and Peace, the proceeded to abridge the novel. 

v. abolish.

Sentence: The king intended to abrogate the decree issued by his predecessor. 

n. removal by cutting off, as in surgery; separation.

Sentence: Gas gangrene spreads so swiftly and is so potentially deadly that doctors advise abscission of the gangrenous tissue. When a flower or leaf separates naturally from teh parent plant, this process is called abscission or leaf fall. 

v. depart secretly and hide.

Sentence: The teller who absconded with the bonds went uncaptured until someone recognized him from his photograph on America's Most Wanted. 

adj. complete; totally unlimited; certain.

Sentence: Although the King of Siam was an absolute monarch, he did not want to behead his unfaithful wife without absolute evidence of her infidelity. 

v. pardon (an offense).

Sentence: The father confessor absolved him of his sins.

absolution - n. 

v. refrain; withhold from participation.

Sentence: After considering the effect of alcohol on his athletic performance, he decided to abstain from drinking while he trained for the race.

adj. sparing in eating and drinking; temperate.

Sentence: Concerned whether her vegetarian son's abstemious diet provided him with sufficient protein, the worried mother pressed food on him. 

n. restraint from eating or drinking.

Sentence: The doctor recommended total abstinence from salted foods.

abstain - v. 

adj. theoretical; not concete; nonrepresentational.

Sentence: To him, hunger was an abstract concept; he had never missed a meal. 

adj. obscure; profound; difficult to understand.

Sentence: Baffled by the abstruse philosophical texts assigned in class, Dave asked Lexy to explain Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. 

adj. coarsely insulting; physically harmful.

Sentence: An abusive parent damages a child both mentally and physically. 

v. border upon; adjoin.

Sentence: Where our estates abut, we must build a fence. 

adj. bottomless.

Sentence: His arrogance is exceeded only by his abysmal ignorance. 

n. enormous chasm; vast, bottomless pit.

Sentence: Darth Vader seized the evil emperor and hurled him into the abyss. 

adj. related to a school; not practical or directly useful.

Sentence: The dean's talk about reforming academic policies was only an academic discussion; we knew little, if anything, would change. 

v. agree.

Sentence: If I accede to this demand for blackmail, I am afraid that I will be the victim of future demands. 

v. move faster.

Sentence: In our science class, we learn how falling bodies accelerate.

adj. easy to approach; obtainable.

Sentence: We asked our guide whether the ruins were accessible on foot. 

v. applaud; announce with great approval.

Sentence: The sportscasters acclaimed every American victory in the Olympics and decried every American defeat.

acclamation - n. 

v. adjust to climate or environment; adapt.

Sentence: One of the difficulties of our present air age is the need of travelers to acclimate themselves to their new and often strange environments. 

n. sharp upslope of a hill.

Sentence: The car could not go up the acclivity in high gear. 

n. award of merit.

Sentence: In Hollywood, an "Oscar" is the highest accolade. 

v. oblige or help someone; adjust or bring into harmony; adapt.

Sentence: Mitch always did everything possible to accommodate his elderly relatives, from driving them to medical appointments to helping them with paperwork.  

n. partner in crime.

Sentence: Becuase he had provided the criminal with the lethal weapon, he was arrested as an accomplice in the murder. 

n. agreement.

Sentence: She was in complete accord with the verdict.

v. approach and speak first to a person.

Sentence: When the two young men accosted me, I was frightened because I thought they were going to attack me. 

v. equip.

Sentence: The fisherman was accoutred with the best that the sporting goods store could supply.

accountrement - n. 

n. growth; increase.

Sentence: Over the years Bob put on weight; becuase of this accretion of flesh, he went from size M to size XL.

accrete - v. 

v. come about by addition.

Sentence: You must pay the interest that has accrued on your debt as well as the principal sum.

accrual - n. 

adj. bitter or sour in nature; sharp and cutting.

Sentence: Noted for her acerbic wit and gossiping, Alice Roosevelt Longworth had a pillow in her home embroidered with the legend "If you can't say something good about someone, sit right here by me."

n. bitterness of speech and temper.

Sentence: The meeting of the United Nations Assembly was marked with such acerbity that observers held little hope of reaching any useful settlement of the problem. 

adj. vinegary.

Sentence: The salad had an exceedingly acetic flavor. 

adj. slightly sour; sharp; caustic.

Sentence: James was unpopular because of his sarcastic and acidulous remarks. 

v. recognize; admit.

Sentence: Although I acknowledge that the Beatles' tunes sound pretty dated nowadays, I still prefer them to the gangsta rap songs my brothers play. 

n. peak; pinnacle; highest point.

Sentence: Welles's success in Citizen Kane marked the acme of his career as an actor; never again did he achieve such popular acclaim. 

n. science of sound; quality that makes a room easy or hard to hear in.

Sentence: Carnegie Hall is liked by music lovers because of its fine acoustics. 

v. assent; agree passively.

Sentence: Although she appeared to acquiesce to her employer's suggestions, I could tell she had reservations about the changes he wanted made.

acquiescence - n.

acquiescent - adj. 

n. deliverance from a charge.

Sentence: His acquittal by the jury surprised those who had thought him guilty.

acquit - v. 

adj. sharp; bitterly pungent.

Sentence: The acrid odor of burnt gunpowder filled the room after the pistol had been fired. 

adj. bitter in words or manner.

Sentence: The candidate attacked his opponent in highly acrimonious terms.

acrimony - n. 

n. fear of heights.

Sentence: A born salesman, he could convince someone with a bad case of acrophobia to sign up for a life membership in a sky-diving club. 

adj. calculating; pertaining to insurance statistics.

Sentence: According to recent actuarial tables, life expectancy is greater today than it was a century ago. 

v. motivate.

Sentence: I fail to understand what actuated you to reply to this letter so nastily. 

n. sharpness.

Sentence: In time his youthful acuity of vision failed him, and he needed glasses. 

n. mental keenness.

Sentence: Her business acumen helped her to succeed where others had failed. 

adj. quickly perceptive; keen; brief and severe.

Sentence: The acute young doctor realized immediately that the gradual deterioration of her patient's once-acute hearing was due to a chronic illness, not an acute one. 

n. wise saying; proverb.

Sentence: There is much truth in the old adage about fools and their money. 

adj. hard; inflexible.

Sentence: In this movie Bronson played the part of a revenge-driven man, adamant in his determination to punish the criminals who destroyed his family.

adamancy - n. 

v. alter; modify.

Sentence: Some species of animals have become extinct becuase they could not adapt to a changing environment. 

n. addition; appendix to book.

Sentence: Jane's editor approved her new comparative literature text but throught it would be even better wtih an addendum on recent developments in literary criticism. 

n. compulsive; habitual need.

Sentence: His addiction to drugs caused his friends much grief. 

v. muddle; drive crazy; become rotten.

Sentence: This idiotic plan is confusing enough to addle anyone.

addled - adj. 

v. direct a speech to; deal with or discuss.

Sentence: Due to address the convention in July, Brown planned to address the issue of low-income housing in his speech.

adj. expert at.

Sentence: She was adept at the fine art of irritating people.

also n. 

v. stick fast.

Sentence: I will adhere to this opinion until proof that I am wrong is presented.

adhesion - n.

adherence - n. 

n. supporter; follower.

Sentence: In the wake of the scandal, the senator's one-time adherents quietly deserted him. 

adj. adjoining; neighboring; close by.

Sentence: Philip's best friend Jason lived only four houses down the block, near but not immediately adjacent. 

n. something (generall nonessential or inferior) added on or attached.

Sentence: Although I don't absolutely need a second computer, I plan to buy a laptop to serve as an adjunct to my desktop model.

also adj. 

n. solumn urging.

Sentence: Her adjuration to tell the truth did not change the witnesses' testimony.

adjure - v. 

n. staff officer assisting the commander; assistant.

Sentence: Though Wellington delegated many tasks to the chief adjutant, Lord Fitzroy Somerset, Somerset was in no doubt as to who made all major decisions. 

v. warn; reprove.

Sentence: When her courtiers questioned her religious beliefs, Mary Stuart admonished them, declaring that she would worship as she pleased.

v. decorate.

Sentence: Wall paintings and carved statues adorned the temple.

adornment - n. 

adj. skillful.

Sentence: Her adroit handling of the delicate situation pleased her employers. 

n. flattery; admiration.

Sentence: The rock star thrived on the adulation of his groupies and yes-men.

adulate - v. 

v. make impure by adding inferior or tainted substances.

Sentence: It is a crime to adulterate foods without informing the buyer; when consumers learned that Beechnut had adulterated its apple juice by mixing the juice with water, they protested vigorously.

adulteration - n. 

n. arrival.

Sentence: Most Americans were unaware of the advent of the Nuclear Age until the news of Hiroshima reached them. 

adj. accidental; casual.

Sentence: She found this adventitious meeting with her friend extremely fortunate.

n. opponent; enemy.

Sentence: Batman struggled to save Gotham city from the machinations of his wicked adversary, the Joker. 

adj. unfavorable; hostile.

Sentence: The recession had a highly adverse effect on Father's investment portfolio; he lost so much money that he could no longer afford the butler and the upstairs maid. 

n. poverty; misfortune.

Sentence: We must learn to meet adversity gacefully. 

v. refer (to).

Sentence: Since you advert to this matter so frequently, you must regard it as important. 

n. support; active pleading on behalf of someone or something.

Sentence:  No threats could dissuade Bishop Desmond Tutu from his advocacy of the human rights of black South Africans.

v. urge; please for.

Sentence: The abolitionists advocated freedom for the slaves.

also n. 

n. shielded; defense.

Sentence: Under the aegis of the Bill of Rights, we enjoy our most treasured freedoms.

adj. artistic; dealing with or capable of appreciating the beautiful.

Sentence: The beauty of Tiffany's stained glass appealed to Alice's aesthetic sense.

aesthete - n. 

adj. easily approachable; warmly friendly.

Sentence: Accustomed to cold, aloof supervisors, Nicholas was amazed at how affable his new employer was.

affability - n. 

adj. artificial; pretended; assumed in order to impress.

Sentence: His affected mannerisms - his "Harvard" accent, his air of boredom, his use of obscure foreign words - bugged us: he acted as if he thought he was too good for his old high school friends.

affectation - n. 

n. written statement made under oath.

Sentence: the court refused to accept her statement unless she presented it in the form of an affidavit.

n. joining; associating with.

Sentence: His affiliation with the political party was of short duration for he soon disagreed with his colleagues.

n. kinship.

Sentence: She felt an affinity with all who suffered; their pains were her pains.

n. positive assertion; confirmation; solemn pledge by one who refuses to take an oath.

Sentence: Despite Tom's affirmations of innocence, Aunt Polly still suspected he had eaten the pie.

v. attach or add on; fasten.

Sentence: First the registrar had to affix his signature to the license; then he had to affix his official seal.

n. state of distress; cause of suffering.

Sentence: Even in the midst of her affliction, Elizabeth tried to keep up the spirits of those around her.

n. abundance; wealth.

Sentence: Foreigners are amazed by the affluence and luxury of the American way of life.

n. insult; offense; intentional act of disrespect.

Sentence: When Mrs. Proudie was not seated beside the Archdeacon at the head table, she took it as a personal affront and refused to speak to her hosts for a week.

also v. 

adj. openmouthed.

Sentence: She stared, agape, at the many strange animals in the zoo.

n. items of business at a meeting.

Sentence: We had so much difficulty agreeing upon an agenda that there was very little time for the meeting.

n. collection; heap.

Sentence: It took weeks to assort the agglomeration of miscellaneous items she had collected on her trip.

v. increase or intensify; raise in power, wealth, rank or honor.

Sentence: The history of the past quarter century illustrates how a President may aggrandize his power to act aggressively in international affairs without considering the wishes of Congress.

v. gather; accumulate.

Sentence: Before the Wall Street scandals, dealers in so-called junk bonds managed to aggregate great wealth in short periods of time.

also adj.

aggregation - n. 

n. attacker.

Sentence: Before you punish both boys for fighting, see whether you can determine which one was the aggressor.

adj. horrified; dumbfounded.

Sentence: Miss Manners was aghast at the crude behavior of the fraternity brothers at the annual toga party.

n. nimbleness.

Sentence: The agility of the acrobat amazed and thrilled the audience.

v. stir up; disturb.

Sentence: Her fiery remarks agitated the already angry mob.

n. one who is skeptical of the existence of a god or any ultimate reality.

Sentence: Agnostics say we can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God; we simple have no way to know.

also adj. 

adj. highly excited; intensely curious.

Sentence: We were all agog at the news that the celebrated movie star was giving up his career in order to enter a monastery.

adj. pertaining to land or its cultivation.

Sentence: As a result of its recent indurstrialization, the country is gradually losing its agrarian traditions.

n. cheerful promptness; eagerness.

Sentence: Phil and Dave were raring to get off to the mountains; they packed up their ski gear and climbed into the van with alacrity.

n. medieval form of speculative thought that aimed to transform base metals (lead or copper) into silver or gold and to discover a means of prolonging life.

Sentence: Although alchemy anticipated science in its belief that physical reality was determined by an unvarying set of natural laws, the alchemist's experimental method was hardly scientific.

n. nook; recess.

Sentence: Though their apartment lacked a full-scale dining room, an alcove adjacent to the living room made an adequate breakfast nook for the young couple.

n. an assumed name.

Sentence: John Smith's alias was Bob Jones.

also adv. 

v. make hostile; separate.

Sentence: Her attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith in each other.

adj. supplying nourishment.

Sentence: The alimentary canal in our bodies is so named because digestion of foods occurs there. When asked for the name of the digestive tract, Sherlock Holmes replied, "Alimentary, my dear Watson."

n. payments made to an ex-spouse after divorce.

Sentence: Because Tony had supported Tina through medical school, on their divorce he asked the court to award him $500 a month in alimony.

v. calm; pacify.

Sentence: The crew tried to allay the fears of the passengers by announcing that the fire had been controlled.

v. state without proof.

Sentence: Although it is alleged that she has worked for the enemy, she denies the allegation and, legally, we can take no action against her without proof.

allegation - n.  

n. loyalty.

Sentence: Not even a term in prison could shake Lech Walesa's allegiance to Solidarity, the Polish trade union he had helped to found.

n. story in which characters are used as symbols; fable.

Sentence: Pilgrim's Progress is an  allegory of the temptations and victories of the human soul.

allegorical - adj. 

v. relieve.

Sentence: This should alleviate the pain; if it does not, we shall have to use stronger drugs.

n. repetition of beginning sound in poetry.

Sentence: "The furrow followed free" is an example of alliteration.

v. assign.

Sentence: Even though the Red Cross had allocated a large sum for the relief of the sufferers of the disaster, many people perished.

n. a misture as of metals.

Sentence: Alloys of gold are used more frequently than the pure metal.

v. mix; make less pure; lessen or moderate.

Sentence: Our delight at the Mets' victory was alloyed by our concern for Al Laites, who injured his pitching arm in the game.

v. refer indirectly.

Sentence: Try not to mention divorce in Jack's presence because he will think you are alluding to his marital problems with Jill.

v. entice; attract.

Sentence: Allured by the song of the sirens, the helmsman steered teh ship toward the reef.

also n. 

n. indirect reference.

Sentence: When Amanda said to the ticket scalper, "One hundred bucks? What do you want, a pound of flesh?" she was making an allusion to Shakespeare's Merchange of Venice.

adj. pertaining to soil deposits left by running water.

Sentence: The famers found the alluvial deposits at the mouth of the river very fertile.

adj. apart; reserved.

Sentence: Shy by nature, she remained aloof while all the rest conversed.

adv. upward.

Sentence: The sailor climbed aloft into the rigging.

n. noisy quarrel; heated dispute.

Sentence: In that hot-tempered household, no meal ever came to a peaceful conclusion; the inevitable altercation sometimes even ended in blows.

adj. unselfishly generous; concerned for others.

Sentence: In providing tutorial assistance and college scholarships for hundreds of economically disadvantaged youths, Eugene Lang performed a truly altruistic deed.

altruism - n. 

v. combine; unite in one body.

Sentence: The unions will attempt to amalgamate their groups into one national body.

v. collect.

Sentence: The miser's aim is to amass and hoard as much gold as possible.

n. female warrior.

Sentence: Ever since the days of Greek mythology we refer to strong and aggressive women as amazons. 

adj. capable of using either hand was equal ease.

Sentence: A switch-hitter in baseball should be naturally ambidextrous.

n. environment; atmosphere.

Sentence: She went to the restaurant not for the food but for the ambience.

adj. unclear or doubtful in meaning.

Sentence: His ambiguous instructions misled us; we did not know which road to take.

ambiguity - n. 

n. the state of having contradictory or conflicting emotional attitudes.

Sentence: Torn between loving the parents one minute and hating them the next, she was confused by the ambivalence of her feelings.

ambivalent - adj. 

n. moving at an easy pace.

Sentence: When she first mounted the hourse, she was afraid to urge the animal to go faster than a gentle amble.

also v. 

n. food of the gods.

Sentence: Ambrosia was supposed to give immortality to any human who ate it.

adj. able to walk; not bedridden.

Sentence: Calvin was a highly ambulatory patient; not only did he refuse to be confined to bed, but also he insisted on riding his skateboard up and down the halls.

v. improve.

Sentence: Many social workers have attempted to ameliorate the conditions of people living in the slums.

adj. readily managed or willing to be led; answerable or accountable legally.

Sentence: Although the ambassafor was usually amenable to friendly suggestions, he balked when we hinted he should pay his parking tickets. As a foreign diplomat, he claimed he was not amenable to minor local laws.

v. correct; change, generally for the better.

Sentence: Hoping to amend his condition, he left Vietnam for the United States.

n. convenient features; courtesies.

Sentence: In addition to the customary amenities for the business traveler - fax machines, modems, a health club - the hotel offers the services of a butler versed in the social amentities.

adj. agreeable; lovable; warmly friendly.

Sentence: In Little Women, Beth is the amiable daughter whose loving disposition endears her to all who know her.

adj. politely friendly; not quarrelsome.

Sentence: Beth's sister Jo is the hot-tempered tomboy who has a hard time maintaining amicable relationships with those aorund. Jo's quarrel with her friend Laurie finally reaches an amicable settlement, but not because Jo turns amiable overnight.

adj. wrong; faulty.

Sentence: Seeing her frown, he wondered if anything was amiss. 

also adv. 

n. friendship.

Sentence: Student exchange programs such as the Experiment in International Living were established to promote international amity. 

n. loss of memory.

Sentence: Because she was suffering from amnesia, the police could not get the young girl to identify herself.

n. pardon.

Sentence: When his first child was born, the king granted amnesty to all in prison.

adj. nonmoral.

Sentence: The amoral individual lacks a code of ethics; he cannot tell right from wrong. The immoral person can tell right from wrong; he chooses to do something he knows is wrong.

adj. moved by sexual love; loving.

Sentence: "Love them and leave them" was the motto of the amorous Don Juan.

adj. formless; lacking shape of definition.

Sentence: As soon as we have decided on our itinerary, we shall send you a copy; right now, our plans are still amorphous.

adj. able to live both on land and in water.

Sentence: Frogs are classified as amphibian. also N. 

n. oval building with tiers of seats.

Sentence: The spectators in the amphitheater cheered the gladiators.

adj. abundant.

Sentence: Bond had ample opportunity to escape. Why, then, did he let us capture him?

v. broaden or clarify by expanding; intensify; make stronger.

Sentence: Charlie Brown tried to amplify his remarks, but he was drowned out by jeers from the audience. Lucy was smarter: she used a loudspeaker to amplify her voice.

v. cut off part of body; prune.

Sentence: When the doctors had to amputatate Ted Kennedy's leg to prevent the spread of cancer, he did not let the loss of his leg keep him from participating in sports.

amok

(also amuck) 

adv. in a state of rage.

Sentence: The police to be called in to restrain him after he ran amok in the department store.

n. charm; talisman.

Sentence: Around her neck she wore the amulet that the witch doctor had given her.

n. somehting or someone misplaced in time.

Sentence: Shakespeare's reference to clocks in Julius Caesar is an anachronism; no clocks existed in Caesar's time.

anachronistic - adj. 

adj. causing insensitivity to pain.

Sentence: The analgesic qualities of this lotion will provide temporary relief.

adj. comparable.

Sentence: She called our attention to the things that had been done in an analogous situation and recommended that we do the same.

n. similarity; parallelism.

Sentence: A well-known analogy compares the body's immune system with an army whose defending troops are the lymphocytes or white blood cells.

n. person who seeks to overturn the established government; advocate of abolishing authority.

Sentence: Denying she was an anarchist, Katya maintained she wished only to make changes in our government, not to destroy it entirely.

n. absence of governing body; state of disorder.

Sentence: The assassination of the leaders led to a period of anarchy. 

n. solemn curse; someone or something regarded as a curse.

Sentence: The Ayatolla Khomeini heaped anathema upon the "the Great Sata," that is, the United States. To the Ayatolla, America and the West were anathema; he loathed the democratic nations, cursing them in his dying words.

anathematize - v. 

n. family descent.

Sentence: David can trace his ancestry as far back as the seventeenth century, when one of his ancestors was a court trumpeter somewhere in Germany.

ancestral - adj. 

v. secure or fasten firmly; be fixed in place.

Sentence: We set the post in concrete to anchor it in place.

anchorage - n. 

adj. serving as an aid or accessory; auxiliary.

Sentence: In an ancillary capacity Doctor Watson was helpful; however, Holmes could not trust the good doctor to solve a perplexing case on his own.

also n. 

n. short account of an amusing or interesting event.

Sentence: Rather than make concrete proposals for welfare reform, President Regan told anecdotes about poor people who became wealthy despite their impoverished backgrounds.

n. condition in which blood lacks red corpuscles.

Sentence: The doctor ascribes her tiredness to anemia.

anemic - adj. 

n. substance that removes sensation with or without loss of consciousness.

Sentence: His monotonous voice acted like an anesthetic; his audience was soon asleep.

anesthesia - n. 

n. acute pain; extreme suffering.

Sentence: visiting the site of the explosion, the president wept to see the anguish of the victims and their families.

adj. sharp-cornered; stiff in manner.

Sentence: Mr. Spock's features, though angular, were curiously attractive in a Vulcan way.

n. critical remark.

Sentence: He resented the animadversions of his critics, particularly because he realized they were true. 

adj. lively; spirited.

Sentence: Jim Carey's facial expressions are highly animated: when he placed Ace Ventura, he was practically rubber-faced.

n. active enmity.

Sentence: He incurred the animosity of the ruling class because advocated limitations of their power.

n. hostile feeling or intent.

Sentence: The animus of the speaker became obvious to all when he began to indulge in sarcastic and insulting remarks.

n. records; history.

Sentence: In the annals of this period, we find no mention of democratic movements.

v. reduce brittleness and improve toughness by heating and cooling.

Sentence: After the glass is annealed, it will be less subject to chipping and cracking.

v. attached; take possession of.

Sentence: Mexico objected to the United States' attempts to annex the territory that later became the state of Texas.

v. destroy.

Sentence: The enemy in its revenge tried to annihilate the entire population.

v. comment; make explanatory notes.

Sentence: In the appendix to the novel, the critic sought to annotate many of the more esoteric references.

n. yearly allowance.

Sentence: The annuity she set up with the insurance company supplements her social security benefits so that she can live very comfortably without working. 

v. make void.

Sentence: the parents of the eloped couple tried to annul the marriage.

n. drug that relieves pain; opiate.

Sentence: His pain was so great that no anodyne could relieve it.

v. consecrate.

Sentence: The prophet Samuel anointed David with oil, crowning him king of Israel.

adj. abnormal; irregular.

Sentence: She was placed in the anomalous position of seeming to approve procedures that she despised. 

n. irregularity.

Sentence: A bird that cannot fly is an anomaly.

n. state of being nameless; anonymousness.

Sentence: The donor of the gift asked the college not to mention her by name; the dean readily agreed to respect her anonymity. 

n. hostility; active resistance.

Sentence: Barry showed his antagonism toward his new stepmother by ifnoring her whenever she tried talking to him.

antagonistic - adj. 

v. precede.

Sentence: the invention of the radiotelegraph anteceded the development of television by a quarter of a century.

n. preceding events or circumstances that influence what comes later; ancestors or early background.

Sentence: Susi Bachofer's ignorance of her Jewish background had its antecedents in the chaos of World War II. Smuggled out of Germany and adopted by a Christian family, she knew nothing of her birth and antecedents until she was reunited with her Jewish family in 1989. 

adj. antiquated; extremely ancient.

Sentence: Looking at his great-aunt's antique furniture, which must have been cluttering up her attic since before Noah's flood, the young heir exclaimed, "Heavens! How positively antediluvian!" 

n. song of praise or patriotism.

Sentence: Let us now all join in singing the antional anthem.

n. book of literary selections by various authors.

Sentence: This anthology of science fiction was compiled by the late Isaac Asimov.

anthologize - v. 

adj. manlike.

Sentence: The gorilla is the strongest of the anthropoid animals.

also n. 

n. student of the history of the history and science of humankind.

Sentence: Anthropologists have discovered several relics of prehistoric humans in this area.

adj. having human form or characteristics.

Sentence: Primitive religions often have deities with anthropomorhic characteristics. 

adj. extravagantly odd.

Sentence: Putting on an antic disposition, Hamlet acts so odd that the Danish court thinks him mad.

also n. 

n. letdown in thought or emotion.

Sentence: After the fine performance in the first act, the rest of the play was an anticlimax.

anticlimatic - adj. 

n. remedy to counteract a poison or disease.

Sentence: When Marge's child accidentally swallowed some cleaning fluid, the local poison control hotline instructed Marge how to administer the antidote. 

n. aversion; dislike.

Sentence: Tom's extreme antipathy for disputes keeps him from getting into arguments with his temperamental wife. Noise in any form is antipathetic to him. Among his other antipathies are honking cars, boom boxes, and heavy metal rock. 

adj. obsolete; outdated.

Sentence: Accustomed to editing his papers on word processors, Philip thought typewriters were too antiquated for him to use. 

n. substance that prevents infection.

Sentence: It is advisable to apply an antiseptic to any wound, no matter how slight or insignificant.

also adj. 

n. contrast; direct opposite of or to.

Sentence: This tyranny was the antithesis of all that he had hoped for, and he fought it with all his strength.

antithetical or antithetic - adj. 

n. iron block used in hammering out metals.

Sentence: After heating the iron horseshoe in the forge, the blacksmith picked it up with his tongs and set it on the anvil. 

n. lack of caring; indifference.

Sentence: A firm believer in democratic government, she could not understand the apathy of people who never bothered to vote.

apathetic - adj. 

v. imitate or mimic.

Sentence: In the comedy Young Frankenstein, when the servant Igor limps off, saying, "Walk this way," the hero apes him, hobbling after Igor in an imitation of his walk. 

n. opening; hole.

Sentence: She discovered a small aperture in the wall, through which the insects had entered the room. 

n. tip; summit; climax.

Sentence: At the apex of his career, the star received offers of leading roles daily; two years later, he was reduced to taking bit parts in B-movies. 

n. loss of speech due to injury or illness.

Sentence: After the automobile accident, the victim had periods of aphasia when he could not speak at all or could only mumble incoherently. 

n. pithy maxim or saying.

Sentence: An aphorism is usually philosophic or scientific, as compared to an adage, which is usually more homely and concrete. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" is an aphorism. "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink" is an adage.

aphoristic - adj. 

n. a place where bees are kept.

Sentence: Although he spent many hours daily in the apiary, he was very seldom stung by a bee. 

n. poise; assurance.

Sentence: Gwen's aplomb in handling potentially embarrassing moments was legendary around the office; when one of her clients broke a piece of her best crystal, she coolly picked up her own goblet and hurled it into the fireplace. 

adj. prophetic; pertaining to revelations.

Sentence: The crowd jeered at the street preacher's apocalyptic predictions of doom. The Apocalypse or Book of Revelations of Saint John prophesies the end of the world as we know it and foretells marvels and prodigies that signal the coming doom.

apocalypse - n. 

adj. spurious; not authentic; invented rather than true.

Sentence: Although many versions exist of the famous story of Emerson's visit to Thoreau in jail, in his writings Thoreau never mentions any such visit by Emerson, and so the tale is most likely apocryphal. 

n. highest point.

Sentence: When the moon in its orbit is furthest away from the earth, it is at its apogee. Discouraged by the apparent deterioration of America's space program, the science columnist wondered whether the golden age of space travel had reached its apogee with the Apollo 11 moon landing and would never again achieve such heights.

adj. having an aversion or lack of concern for political affairs.

Sentence: It was hard to remain apolitical during the Vietnam War; even people who generally ignored public issues felt they had to take political stands. 

n. one who writes in defense of a cause or institution.

Sentence: Rather than act as an apologist for the current regime in Beijing and defend its brutal actions, the young diplomat decided to defect to the West. 

n. one who abandons his religious faith or political beliefs.

Sentence: Because he switched from one party to another, his former friends shunned him as an apostate.  An apostle passionately adheres to a belief or cause; an apostate passionately renounces or abandons one.

apostasy - n. 

n. druggist.

Sentence: In Holland, apothecaries still sell spices as well as ointments an dpills. 

n. pithy, compact saying.

Sentence: Proverbs are apothegms that have become familiar sayings. 

n. elevation to godhood; an ideal example of something.

Sentence: The Roman empress Livia envied the late emperor Augustus his apotheosis; she hoped that on her death she, too, would be exalted to the ranks of the gods. The hero of the novel Generation X was the apotheosis of a slacker, the quintessential example of a member of his generation. 

v. dismay; shock.

Sentence: We were appalled by the horrifying conditions in the city's jails. 

n. ghost; phantom.

Sentence: On the castle battlements, an apparition materialized and spoke to Hamlet, warning him of his uncle's treachery. In Ghostbusters, hordes of apparitions materialized, only to be dematerialized by the specialized apparatus wielded by Bill Murray. 

v. pacify or soothe; relieve.

Sentence: Tom and Jody tried to appease the crying baby by offering him one toy after another. However, he would not calm down until they appeased his hunger by giving him a bottle.

appeasement - n. 

n. name; title.

Sentence: Macbeth was startled when the witches greeted him with an incorrect appellation. Why did they call him Thane of Cawdor, he wondered, when the holder of that title still lived? 

v. attach.

Sentence: When you append a bibliography to a text, you have created an appendix. 

n. diligent attention.

Sentence: Pleased with how well Tom had whitewashed the fence, Aunt Polly praised him for his application. (Tom had applied himself to applying the paint.)

apply - v. 

adj. appropriate; fitting.

Sentence: She was always able to find the apposite phrase, the correct expression for every occasion. 

v. estimate value of.

Sentence: It is difficult to appraise old paintings; it is easier to call them priceless.

appraisal - n. 

v. to be thankful for; increase in worth; be thoroughly conscious of.

Sentence:  Little Orphan Annie truly appreciated the stocks Daddy Warbucks gave her, whose value appreciated considerably over the years.

v. arrest (a criminal); dread; perceive.

Sentence: The police will apprehend the culprit and convict him before long. 

adj. fearful; discerning.

Sentence: His apprehensive glances at the people who were walking in teh street revealed his nervousness. 

v. inform.

Sentence: When NASA was apprised of the dangerous weather conditions, the head of the space agency decided to postpone the shuttle launch. 

n. approval.

Sentence: Wanting her parents' regard, she looked for some sign of their approbation. Benjamin Franklin, that shrewd observer of mankind, once wrote, "We must not in the course of public life expect immediate approbation and immediate grateful acknowledgement of our services." 

v. acquire; take possession of for one's own use.

Sentence: The ranch owners appropriated the lands that had originally been set aside for the Indians' use. 

n. subordinate possessions.

Sentence: He bought the estate and all its appurtenances. 

adj. to the point and timely.

Sentence: When Bob spoke out against drunk driving, some of our crowd called him a spoilsport, but the rest of us found his comments extremely apropos. 

prep. with reference to; regarding.

Sentence: Apropos the waltz, the dance has its faults. 

n. fitness; talent.

Sentence: The American aviator Bessie Coleman grew up in Waxahatchie, Texas, where her mathematical aptitude freed her from working inteh cotton fields with her twelve brothers and sisters. 

adj. curved, hooked.

Sentence: He can be recognized by his aquiline nose, curved like the beak of the eagle.

n. style of decoration involving intertwined plants and abstract curves; ballet position with one leg supporting the weight of the body, while the other leg is extended in back.

Sentence: Because the Koran prohibits the creation of human and animal images, Moorish arabesques depict plants but no people. The statue of winged Mercury stands poised on one foot, frozen in an eternal arabesque. 

adj. fit for growing crops.

Sentence: The first settlers wrote home glowing reports of the New World, praising its vast acres of arable land ready for the plow. 

n. person with power to decide a matter in dispute; judge.

Sentence: As an arbiter in labor disputes, she has won the confidence of the workers and the employers. 

adj. unreasonable or capricious; tyrannical.

Sentence: The coach claimed the team lost because the umpire made some arbitrary calls. 

v. act as a judge.

Sentence: She was called upon to arbitrate the dispute between the union and the management. 

n. place where different varieties of trees and shrubs are studied and exhibited.

Sentence: Walking along the treelined paths of the arboretum, Rita noted poplars, firs, and some particularly fine sycamores. 

n. a covered passageway, usually lined with shops.

Sentence: The arcade was popular with shoppers because it gave them protection from the summer sun and the winter rain. 

adj. secret; mysterious; known only to the initiated.

Sentence: Secrete brotherhoods surround themselves with arcane rituals and trappings to mystify outsiders.  So do doctors. Consider the arcane terminology they use and the impression they try to give that what is arcane to us is obvious to them.

n. study of artifacts and relics of early mankind.

Sentence: The professor of archaeology headed an expedition to the Gobi Desert in search of ancient ruins. 

adj. antiquated.

Sentence: "Methinks," "thee," and "thou" are archaic words that are no longer part of our normal vocabulary. 

n. prototype; primitive pattern.

Sentence: The Brooklyn Bridge was the archetype of the many spans that now connect Manhattan with Long Island and New Jersey. 

n. group of closely located islands.

Sentence: When he looked at the map and saw the archipelagoes in the South Seas, he longed to visit them. 

n. public records; place where public records are kept.

Sentence: These documents should be part of the archives so that historians may be able to evaluate them in the future. 

n. heat; passion; zeal.

Sentence: Katya's ardor was contagious; soon all her fellow demonstrators were busily making posters and handing out flyers, inspired by her ardent enthusiasm for the cause.

ardent - adj. 

adj. hard; strenuous.

Sentence: Her arduous efforts had sapped her energy. 

n. slang.

Sentence: In the argot of the underworld, she "was taken for a ride." 

n. operatic solo.

Sentence: At her Metropolitan Opera audition, Marian Anderson sang an aria from Norma. 

adj. dry; barren.

Sentence: The cactus has adapted to survive in an arid environment. 

n. hereditary nobility; privileged class.

Sentence: Americans have mixed feelings about hereditary aristocracy: we say all men are created equal, but we describe particularly outstanding people as natural aristocrats. 

n. fleet of warships.

Sentence: Queen Elizabeth's navy was able to defeat the mighty armada that threatened the English coast. 

adj. fragrant.

Sentence: Medieval sailing vessels brought aromatic herbs from China to Europe. 

v. charge in court; indict.

Sentence: After his indictment by the Grand Jury, the accused man was arraigned in the County Criminal Court. 

v. marshal; draw up in order.

Sentence: His actions were bound to array public sentiment against him.

also n. 

v. clothe; adorn.

Sentence: She liked to watch her mother array herself in her finest clothes before going out for the evening.

also n. 

n. being in debt.

Sentence: Because he was in arrears with his car payments, the repo men repossessed his Porsche. 

v. stop or check; seize or capture (the attention).

Sentence: According to Connolly's "Theory of Permanent Adolescence," the triumphs and disappointments that boys experience at the great British public schools are so intense as to dominate their lives and to arrest their development.