iconoclast

When the pope decided that celibacy should no longer be required of the clergy, protesters outside his window yelled "down with the iconoclast" while the pope screamed, "I cannot last."

ignoble

In Orwell's Animal Farm, the ignoble pig nobles ruin the backyard utopia.

ignominious

They suffered an ignominious defeat.

ignominy

He couldn't bear the ignominy of getting a 600 on the SAT. 

imbue

If you imbibe the meanings of all these words you will be imbued with wisdom.

imminent

I'm in entertainment and my curtain call is imminent.

about to occur; impending

Note: Don't confuse imminent with eminent, which means "famous."

immutable

"A fat person uses more soap than skinny person" is one of the immutable laws of physics.

impale

The imp paled when we took a spike and impaled the mushroom he was sitting on.

impasse

If you are trying to pick someone up, and none of your passes is working, you have reached an impasse.

impassive

"It looks as if I've reached an impasse." Bart muttered impassively as he slammed into the brick wall on his skateboard.

impeccable

Woody is not an impeccable woodpecker; he is always making mistakes.

impending

The dwarf cowered behind Snow White, sensing imp-ending doom.

imperious

The emperor was imperious.

impropriety

Howard Stern was fined by the FCC for his impropriety.

impugn

impunity

"You will not have impunity if you impugn my character with such impudence," shouted Michael at Manek when Manek suggested that he was speaking oddly.

incessant

Her incessant chatter forced me to throw her into a cesspool.

inchoate

His plan to trek to Saudi Arabia was inchoate; he was still only in Kuwait.

incite

As soon as the guys from My Chemical Romance came back in sight, their groupies' cheering incited the crowd to ignite their lighters and demand an encore.

incognito

The president mingled with the people incognito to find out what they really thought.

incommodious

His apartment was so incommodious there was no room for a comode.

incontrovertible

"The evidence is incontrovertible," the lawyer concluded. "The sunburn on your bald head proves that you drive a convertible."

incubus

The SAT is an incubus that hovers in the minds of high school students.

indolence

If you study with indolence, they will send you a note of condolence with your score report.

indomitable

He was the best dominoes player around; he was virtually indomitable.

inept

The inept astronomy student thought that unicorns live on Neptune.

infer

It can be inferred that people dressed in fur are not animal rights activists.

ingenious

ingenuous

Remember these words in this way: Ingenious has an i, like genius, and it also expresses the main qualities of a genius. Baby geniuses frquently discover ingenious ideas in ingenuous ways. (It also helps if you know that disingenuous means crafty, not innocent or straightforward.)

innate

The malice in Nate is innate. He's been nasty since birth.

insatiable

You must develop an insatiable desire to learn more and more vocabulary words.

inscrutable

The Sweedish furniture manufacturer's instructions on how to unscrew the table were inscrutable.

insensate

Inhaling too much incense could make you pass out and lie insensate on the floor.

insidious

The Evil Testing Serpent uses insidious techniques to torture students.

working or speading stealthily; sneaking inside to do something bad

Note: Do not confuse with INVIDIOUS.

insipid

The insipid innkeeper stayed in, sipped wine, and slept.

intangible

You can't touch the tangent of Π/2, it's intangible.

invective

If you favorite television show gets taken off the air, you should complain to the producers with inventive invective until they release the series on DVD.

invidious

The critics of MTV were concerned about the invidious images in videos.

irascible

The irascible rascal threw her eraser.