High School Word Definitions

Definition:

To regard with horror or detestation; to shrink back with shuddering from; to feel excessive repugnance toward; to detest to extremity; to loathe.

Example:

“I absolutely abhor being stuck in traffic jams”

Definition:

Difficult to comprehend or understand.

Definition:

Quickness of perception or discernment; penetration of mind; the faculty of nice discrimination.

Definition:

Receiving others kindly and conversing with them in a free and friendly manner; friendly, courteous, sociable.

Definition:

A chronological mistake; the erroneous dating of an event, circumstance, or object.

Definition:

One who lived prior to Noah's Flood.

Definition:

A large cushion or pillow.

Definition:

(of a person, their language or writing) showy in speech and given to using flowery or elaborate terms; grandiloquent; pompous

Definition:

(usually in the plural) The middle class.

Definition:

The quality of being brief in duration.

Definition:

A mix of discordant sounds; dissonance.

Definition:

Close friendship in a group of friends or teammates.

Definition:

A spontaneous or unposed photograph.

Example:

“His portraits looked stiff and formal but his candids showed life being lived.”

Definition:

Impulsive and unpredictable; determined by chance, impulse, or whim

Example:

“I almost died in a capricious winter storm.”

Definition:

Any of many flowering perennial plants, of the genus Chrysanthemum, native to China, that have showy radiate heads.

Definition:

To restrain by force, especially by law or authority; to repress; to curb.

Definition:

A period or condition when food is rare and hence expensive; famine.

Definition:

Rubble, wreckage, scattered remains of something destroyed.

Definition:

Harmful often in a subtle or unexpected way.

Example:

“deleterious effects”

Definition:

A political orator or leader who gains favor by pandering to or exciting the passions and prejudices of the audience rather than by using rational argument.

Definition:

(authorship, often used metaphorically) The conclusion or resolution of a plot.

Definition:

Enthusiastic; high-spirited.

Definition:

(of a liquid) Giving off bubbles; fizzy.

Definition:

The quality of artistry and persuasiveness in speech or writing.

Definition:

Identification with or understanding of the thoughts, feelings, or emotional state of another person.

Example:

“She had a lot of empathy for her neighbor; she knew what it was like to lose a parent too.”

Definition:

Something which lasts for a short period of time.

Definition:

An esoteric doctrine or treatise; esoteric philosophy.

Definition:

The face of a building, especially the front view or elevation.

Definition:

Excessively particular, demanding, or fussy about details, especially about tidiness and cleanliness.

Definition:

Happening by chance; coincidental, accidental.

Definition:

Avoiding unnecessary expenditure either of money or of anything else which is to be used or consumed; avoiding waste.

Definition:

Excessively or tiresomely talkative.

Definition:

Protective armor for the hands, formerly thrown down as a challenge to combat.

Definition:

Friendly and cheerful.

Definition:

(of a person, their language or writing) given to using language in a showy way by using an excessive amount of difficult words to impress others; bombastic; turgid

Definition:

An impassioned, disputatious public speech.

Definition:

Conveying in demeanour the assumption of superiority; disdainful, supercilious.

Definition:

Domination, influence, or authority over another, especially by one political group over a society or by one nation over others.

Definition:

A gap in a series, making it incomplete.

Definition:

One who destroys religious images or icons, especially an opponent of the Orthodox Church in the 8th and 9th centuries, or a Puritan during the European Reformation.

Definition:

Marked by shame or disgrace.

Definition:

Making arbitrary decisions, especially in an impulsive and forceful manner.

Definition:

Something that impels; a stimulating factor.

Example:

“The outbreak of World War II in 1939 gave a new impetus to receiver development.”

Definition:

To cause to exist; to call into being.

Definition:

Carelessness, heedlessness, indifference, or casual unconcern

Definition:

(collective) Items that have been or are about to be ejected from a boat or balloon.

Definition:

Cheerful and good-humoured; jolly, merry.

Definition:

To place side by side, especially for contrast or comparison.

Definition:

A tube of mirrors containing loose coloured beads etc. that is rotated to produce a succession of symmetrical designs.

Definition:

Relating to motion

Definition:

Using as few words as possible; pithy and concise.

Definition:

Sleight of hand; "magic" trickery.

Definition:

Lightness of manner or speech, frivolity; lack of appropriate seriousness; inclination to make a joke of serious matters.

Definition:

A lucid dream.

Definition:

Producing a surplus; profitable.

Definition:

A clever scheme or artful plot, usually crafted for evil purposes.

Definition:

Noble and generous in spirit.

Example:

“He thinks himself ardent, impulsive, passionate, magnanimous — capable of boundless enthusiasm for an idea or a sentiment.”

Definition:

An unbranded range animal.

Definition:

Flowing like honey.

Definition:

A piece of artwork created by placing colored squares (usually tiles) in a pattern so as to create a picture.

Definition:

Sinful, villainous, criminal, or wicked, especially when noteworthy or notorious for such characteristics.

Example:

“Aliens have a nefarious connotation in many science fiction books.”

Definition:

Casually calm and relaxed.

Example:

“We handled the whole frenetic situation with a nonchalant attitude.”

Definition:

A minor distinction.

Definition:

To make dark; overshadow

Definition:

Obedient; compliant with someone else's orders or wishes.

Definition:

Stubbornly adhering to an opinion, purpose, or course, usually with implied unreasonableness; persistent.

Definition:

Attended by, or making, a loud and tumultuous noise; boisterous.

Definition:

The property of a word of sounding like what it represents.

Definition:

An area of darkness; a place or region with no light.

Definition:

A remedy believed to cure all disease and prolong life that was originally sought by alchemists; a cure-all.

Definition:

A pattern, a way of doing something, especially a pattern of thought, a system of beliefs, a conceptual framework.

Example:

“Thomas Kuhn's landmark “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions” got people talking about paradigm shifts, to the point the word itself now suggests an incomplete or biased perspective.”

Definition:

Causing much harm in a subtle way.

Definition:

Of acute discernment; having keen insight; mentally perceptive.

Definition:

Of a weapon, etc.: sharp-pointed; keen.

Definition:

A performance of or skill in performing magic or conjuring tricks with the hands.

Example:

“My favorite prestidigitation was when he pulled the live dove out of that tiny scarf.”

Definition:

A state of not knowing what to decide; a state of difficulty or perplexity; a state of uncertainty, hesitation or puzzlement.

Definition:

A subduing.

Definition:

Often complaining; suggesting a complaint in expression; fretful, whining.

Definition:

Of the nature of a quintessence (in all senses); ultimate.

Definition:

Possessing or acting with the desire to do noble and romantic deeds, without thought of realism and practicality; exceedingly idealistic.

Definition:

A person who is recalcitrant.

Definition:

A meeting or date.

Example:

“I have a rendezvous with a friend in three weeks.”

Definition:

To repeal, annul, or declare void; to take (something such as a rule or contract) out of effect.

Example:

“The agency will rescind the policy because many people are dissatisfied with it.”

Definition:

Keeping one's thoughts and opinions to oneself; reserved or restrained.

Definition:

The art of using language, especially public speaking, as a means to persuade.

Definition:

The act of a character speaking to themselves so as to reveal their thoughts to the audience.

Example:

“At the end of the second act the main villain gave a soliloquy detailing his plans to attack the protagonist.”

Definition:

Filthiness and degradation, as from neglect or poverty

Definition:

Proponent of stoicism, a school of thought, from in 300 B.C.E. up to about the time of Marcus Aurelius, who holds that by cultivating an understanding of the logos, or natural law, one can be free of suffering.

Definition:

Stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert (especially movements).

Definition:

One who uses obsequious compliments to gain self-serving favor or advantage from another; a servile flatterer.

Definition:

Silent; temperamentally untalkative; disinclined to speak.

Example:

“The two sisters could hardly have been more different, one so boisterous and expressive, the other so taciturn and calm.”

Definition:

Thin in substance or consistency.

Example:

“Far from being amicable, the numbers seemed to turn their backs on each other, and I couldn't find a pair with even the most tenuous connection.”

Definition:

A long, angry or violent speech; a diatribe.

Definition:

Cruel or savage.

Example:

“The truculent soldiers gave us a steely-eyed stare.”

Definition:

Being everywhere at once: omnipresent.

Example:

“To Hindus, Jews, Christians, and Muslims, God is ubiquitous.”

Definition:

Showing strong feelings; passionate; forceful or intense.

Definition:

The property of seeming true, of resembling reality; resemblance to reality, realism.

Definition:

Regular change or succession from one thing to another, or one part of a cycle to the next; alternation; mutual succession; interchange.

Definition:

Charming, engaging, winning; inspiring approval and trust, especially if in an innocent manner.

Definition:

Full of zeal; ardent, fervent; exhibiting enthusiasm or strong passion.