Adroit

skillful, clever

Adulterate

to make impure, to contaminate;

impure

Adventitious

accidental; nonessential

Aegis

a shield; protection; sponsorship

Aesthetic

pertaining to beauty

Affectation

a phony attitude; pose

Affinity

an attraction to

Affluence

wealth; richness

Agape

open-mouthed; suprised; agog

Aggrandize

to enlarge; to expand

Altruism

a concern for others; generosity

Ambiguous

open to more than one interpretation

Amoral

lacking a sense of right and wrong

Amorphous

shapeless, formless, vague

Animosity

hatred

Antipathy

an intense dislike

Antithesis

an exact opposite; an opposite extreme

Badinage

playful, teasing talk;

to banter; to tease with playful talk

Banal

common, ordinary

Baroque

overly decorated

Bauble

a showy but useless thing

Bedlam

a noisy uproar; a scene of wild confusion

 Beguile

to deceive; to charm; to enchant

Besiege

to overwhelm; to surround and attack

Besmirch

to make dirty; to stain

Bestial

savage, brutal

Bilious

bad tempered; cross

Blanch

to whiten, to make pale

Bland

mild, tasteless, dull

Blandishment

flattery