completely honest, straightforward

Sentence Example: Because Candace was candid about the fact that she was unable to study, the teacher allowed her to take a make-up exam.

inference, guesswork

Sentence Example: At this point, Kayla's hypothesis about single-cell biorhythms is still conjecture; she doesn't have conclusive evidence.

instructive

The tapes were entertaining and didactic; they both amused and instructed the children.

a mild, indirect, or vague term substituting for a harsh, blunt, or offensive term.

Sentence Example: "To pass away" is a commonly used euphemism for dying.

to infer or estimate by extending or projecting known information

Sentence Example: Seeing the wrecked bike and his daughter's skinned knees, Alex extrapolated that she had had a biking accident.

lacking cohesion or connection

Maury's sentences were so incoherent that nobody could understand a word

to introduce or communicate stealthily

Sentence Example: Sean insinuated that Peyton stole the candy bar, but he never came out and said it.

easily understood; clear

Sentence Example: Our teachr provides lucid explanations of even the most difficult conspets so that we can all understand them.

the art of using language effectively and persuasively

Sentence Example: Since they are expected to make speeches, most politicians and lawyers are well versed in the art of rhetoric.

quickness, accuracy, and keenness of judgement or insight

Sentence Example: The judgement or opinion of someone who lacks acumen will most likely not be highly regarded.

dexterous, deft

An adroit balloon animal maker, Adrianna became popular at children's parties.

to find out, as through investigation or experimentation

Sentence Example: My mother had long suspected my dog; after a week of gathering evidence, we ascertained that Toto had indeed chewed up her favorite pair of shoes.

shrewd, clever

Sentence Example: Stuart is financially astute; he invests wisely and never falls for scams.

careful; prudent; discreet

Sentence Example: Ned's circumspect manner makes him a wise appointment to the diplomatic corps.

to scatter widely, as in sowing seed

Sentence Example: The news about Dave's embarrassing moment at the party disseminated quickly through the school; byt he end of the day, everyone knew what had happened. 

deep, extensive learning

Sentence Example: Professor Rudy's erudition was such that she could answer any question her students put to her.

the application of scientific principles to agriculture, especially to animal breeding

Sentence Example: After years of practicing animal husbandry, Bob was finally able to create a breed of dog that actually walked itself.

excessively concerned with book learning and formal rules

Sentence Example: Pedro's pedantic tendencies prompted him to remind us constantly of all the grammatical rules we were breaking.

insightful; shrewd

Sentence Example: Persephone's perspicacious mind had solved so many cases that the popular private investigator was able to retire early.

practical

Sentence Example: Never one for wild and unrealistic schemes, Matt took a pragmatic approach to research.

exhibiting unusually early intellectual aptitude or maturity

Sentence Example: Bobby Fisher's precocious intellect made him one of the world's best chess players before he could even drive.

formal proposal

Sentence Example: Before writing my thesis, I had to submit a detailed prospectus to the department for approval.

basic; elementary; in the earliest stages of development

Sentence Example: Josh's rudimentary golf skills were easil overpowered by Tiger Woods's amazing performance on the green.

difficult to understand

Sentence Example: Abby found her professor's lecture on non-Euclidean geometry abstruse; she doubted anyone else in the class could understand it either.

emotionally hardened; unfeeling

Sentence Example: Callie's callous remark about her friend's cluttered room really hurt his feelings.

intricate; complex

Sentence Example: The directions were convulated; we became hopelessly lost.

a puzzle, mystery, or riddle

Sentence Example: The emu was an enigma; you could never tell what it was thinking

difficult to understand; impenetrable

Sentence Example: The ancient poet's handwriting was so inscrutable that even the most prominent Latin scholars could not read the manuscript. 

inclined to keep silent; reserved

Sentence Example: Rosanna's reticent behavior caused the interviewer to think her incapable of conversing with other students.

unemotional; serious

Sentence Example: Mr. Estado was well known for his staid demeanor; he stayed calm even when everyone else celebrated the team;s amazing victory.

known or understood by only a few

Sentence Example: The dusty archive includes an arcane treasure trove of nautical charts from the Age of Discovery.

to absorb or become absorbed; to make or become similar

Sentence Example: Keisha assimilated so quickly at her new school that she was named head of the social committee a month after enrolling.

independece; self-determination

Sentence Example: Candice gained autonomy upon moving out of her parents' house into her own apartment.

worldly; widely sophisticated

Emily was surprisingly cosmopolitan considering that she had never left her tiny hometown in Norway.

something that comes from another source

Sentence Example: Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent are derivative spin-offs of the original Law and Order drama series.

intended for or understood only by a small group

Lilly's play is extremely esoteric; someone not raised in Estonia would find it difficult to follow.

a clusy social error, a faux pas

Sentence Example: Jeffery committed the gaffe of telling his date that he had gone out with her sister the night before.

characteristic peculiar to an individal or group

Sentence Example: She had many idiosyncrasies, one of which was washing her socks in the dishwasher.

isolated, narrow or provincial

Sentence Example: The family was so insular that no one else could get near them.

adhering to the traditional and established, especialy in religion

Sentence Example: My father held an orthodox view of baseball; he believed that the field should be outside and made of real grass.

one who has the power and position to rule over others; monarch

Sentence Example: An omnipotent potentate is a person to be reckoned with; great power in the hands of a great leader is a powerful combination.

to scold, rebuke, or harshly criticize

Sentence Example: Mr. Castle preferred not to castigate student misbehavior publicly; instead, he would quietly send the troublemaker to the principal's office.

to issue official blame

Sentence Example: In recent years, the FCC has censured networks for the provocatice antics of SUper Bowl halftime acts; what goes on during the game, howveer, usually escapes the organization's notice.

to condemn openly

Sentence Example: In many powerful speeches throughout his lifetime, Matin Luther King Jr. denounced racism as immoral.

seeking or preferring seclusion or isolation

Sentence Example: Our neighbors were quite reclusive, hardly ever emerging from behind the closed doors of their home.

to retire from; give up or abandon

Sentence Example: Ricky relinquished his career in order to search for the source of the world's best relish.

to give up (a title, for example), especially by formal announcement 

Sentence Example: Nancy renounced her given name and began selling records under the moniker "Betsey Ann."

marked by harshly abusive condemnation

Sentence Example: The vituperative speech was so cruel that the members left feeling completely abused.

to draw a circle around; to restrict

Sentence Example: The archaeologist circumscribed the excavation area on the map.

sharing an edge or boundary; touching

Sentence Example: The continental United States consistes of 48 contiguous states.

appeasing; soothing; showing willingness to reconcile

Sentence Example: After arguing endlessly with them for weeks, Connie switched to a more conciliatory tone with her parents once prom season arrived.

capable of being believed; plausible

Sentence Example: the shocking but credible report of mice in the kitchen kept Eddie up all night.

to free from blame

Sentence Example: Xena was exonerated of all criminal charges and released from prison.

indisputable; not open to question

Sentence Example: The videotape of the robbery proved incontrovertible evidence against the suspect; he was obviously guilty.

to officially charge with wrongdoing or crime

Sentence Example: President Nixon was indicted during the Watergate scandal.

prone to engage in lawsuits

Layla was a litlgous little girl; at one point, she even tried to sue her dog.

equality, as in amount, status, or value (antonym: disparity)

The judges at the Olympics must score each athlete's performance with parity; such impartial treatment is difficult since one always wants to root for one's own country.

devoted to or biased in support of a party, cause or group

Sentence Example: Today's partisan politics are so antagonistic that it's difficult to reach a successful compromise on any issue.

moral uprightness; righteosness

Sentence Example: Thanks to his unerring sense of fairness and justice, Viktor was a model of moral rectitude; his hometown even erected a statue in his honor.

lax in attending to duty; negligent

Cassie was remiss in fulfilling her Miss America duties; she didn't even come close to ending world hunger.

to reject the validity or authority of 

Sentence Example: I repudiated the teacher's argumetns about Empress Wu Zetian's reputation by showing him that the reports of her cruelty were from unreliable sources.

feigning pity or righteousness

Sentence Example: The sanctimonious scholar had actually been plagarizing other people's work for years.

principled, having a strong sense of right and wrong; conscientious and exacting

Sentence Example: Evan's scrupulous behavior begn to annoy his friends when he called the cops on them for toilet papering their teacher's house.

concerned

Sentence Example: The parents asked solicitous questions about the college admissions officer's family.

plausible but misleading or fallacious argument

Sentence Example: The professor's sophistry misled the sophomore into incorrect beliefs.

to support with proof or evidence; verify

Sentence Example: The argument was substantiated by clear facts and hard evidence.

adherence to the truth; truthfulness

Sentence Example: Since Vera was known for her veracity, it came as a complete shock when her family found out she'd lied on her application.

to free from blame

Sentence Example: Mrs. Layton was finally vindicated after her husband admitted to the crime.

to urge with repeated appeals, teasing, or flattery

Sentence Example: The sweet-talking senior cajoled an impressionable junior into seeing Lord of the Rings for the tenth time.

trickery

Sentence Example: The candidate accused his debate opponent of resorting to cheap chicanery to sway the electorate.

excessively compliant

Sentence Example: Kevin was so obsequious that even his teachers were embarrassed; as a result his sucking up rarely led to him having better grades.

insincere, obsequious flatterer

Sentence Example: Siggie is such a sycophant; he slyly sucks up to his teachers and reaps the rewards of his behavior.

unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness

Sentence Example: Alta, a model of altruism, gave her lunch money to a homeless woman who needed it more. 

distinguished; prominent

Sentence Example: Emeril Lagasse is one of the most prominent chefs working today; every TV-watcher knows how well known an highly regarded he is.

identification with and understanding another's situation, feelings, and motive

Sentence Example: Emily is one of my most empathetic friends; she can always relate to my emotions.

to praise highly

Sentence Example: Talia extolled the virtues of the troll while her teacher looked on, amazed.

full of praise

Sentence Example: The principal's speech was laudatory, congratulating the students on their SAT scores.

high minded, noble

The magnanimous prince cared deeply for his country and its people.

humanitarian; benevolent; relatin to monetary generosity

Sentence Example: Phil was a philanthropic soul, always catering to the needy and the underprivileged.

to mutually take or give; to respond in kind

Sentence Example: The chef reciprocated his rival's respect; they admired each other so much that they even shared recipes.

defunct

no longer existing or functioning

Sentence Example: The theory that the world was flat became defunct when Magellan sailed to the West and didn't fall off the Earth.

to get rid of as if by tearing up by the roots, abolish

Sentence Example: Radcliffe did her best to eradicate the radishes from her farm.

to remove objectionable content before publication or release

Sentence Example: The Chinese government expurgates nearly all obscene matter from the nation's Internet.

to destroy

Sentence Example: While the family was on vacation, the termites practically extirpated the house. 

to put down forcibly; suppress

Sentence Example: Nell quelled the fight over the quiche by throwing it out the window--she had long give up on reasoning with her sisters.

to level to the ground; demolish

Sentence Example: It is difficult to raze a city building without demolishing other structures around it.

to crush as if by trampling; squash

Sentence Example: Sam wanted to keep squash as pets, but Quentin squelched the idea.

to thwart or stump

Sentence Example: Stan was stymied by the Sudoku puzzle; he just couldn't solve it.

to usurp the place of, especially through intrigue or underhanded tactics

Sentence Example: The ants prepared to supplant the roaches as the dominant insect in the kitchen; their plan was to take the roaches by surprise and drive them out.

to lower in rankl prestige, or esteem

Sentence Example: Bayard's withering restaurant review was attempt to abas his former friend, the owner.

to mock contemptuously

Sentence Example: Derrick was derided for wearing two different colored socks, but he couldn't help it--it was laundry day.

insuting or intended to insult

Sentence Example: The unethical politician didn't just attack his opponent's views; he also made derogatory remarks about the candidate's family and personal hygiene. 

to speak of negatively; to belittle

Sentence Example: Wanda disparaged Glen by calling him a cheat and a liar.

brazen boldness; presumptuousness

Sentence Example: The attorney's effrontery in asking such personal questions so shocked Esther that immediately left the office.

shame

Enrique felt great ignominy after the scandal broke. 

to attack as false or questionable

Sentence Example: Instead of taking the high road, the candidate impugned his opponenet's character.

to damage, especially in a  disfiguring way

The perfect day was marred by the arrival of storm clouds.

disparaging, belitting, insulting

Sentence Example: Teachers should refrain from using pejorative terms such as numbskull and jackass to refer to other teachers. 

to annoy or bother; to perplex

Sentence Example: Anna's mother was vexed when Anna was very vague about her whereabouts for the evening. 

disposed to seek revenge; revengeful; spiteful

Vincent was very vindictive; when someone hurt him , he responded by vigorously plotting revenge.

given to pompous speech or writing

Sentence Example: The principal's bombastic speech bombed in the eyes of the students; it only furthered their impression of him as a pompous jerk.

intense enthusiasm

Sentence Example: A sence of ebullience swept over the lacrosse fans crowd when their team won the game.

to ornament or decorate; to exaggerate

Sentence Example: One can never trust that Arwen's stories are realistic; her details are almost always so embellished that her experiences sound more interesting than they really are.

exceeding all bounds, as of custom or fairness

Sentence Example: I wanted to buy a a Porsche, but the price was exorbitant, so instead I purchased a used mail truck.

full of unrestrained enthusiasm or joy

Sentence Example: William was exuberant when he found out he'd gotten into the college of his choice.