VocabMaster Data File V1.0 d verbose using too many words A verbose speaker is likely to put everyone to sleep.  despicable contemptible, deserving to be despised He was the most despicable character I ever met.  ecstatic overwhelming, overpowering The glorious victory brought with it ecstatic joy.  homogeneous alike, uniform, of same kind Some teachers favor homogeneous grouping of students.  ludicrous ridiculously humorous, funny He found himself in a most ludicrous situation, and he just couldn't stop laughing.  chronic continuing for a long time, continious He found no relief for his chronic ailment.  animated full of life, spirit, or action Animated cartoons are shown to the children every Saturday.  retract to draw back, to withdraw, to take back He was willing to retract the statement he made yesterday.  deviation departure from, winding, turning away Any deviation from the original plans will involve great expense.  spontaneous acting from a natural impluse; produced within of its own energy When she had finished speaking, the applause was thundering and spontaneous.  duplicity double dealing, deception Honesty and duplicity are impossible companions.  ductile capable of being easily bent, drawn thin with ease The ductile strength of material can be tested by pulling the material apart.  dual of two; having or composed of two parts; double; twofold Vehicles intended for operator instruction are usually equipped with dual controls.  sophisticated worldly wise, made wise through experience The plain-looking coed appeared quite sophisticated when dressed for a cocktail party.  distraught mentally agitated, crazed, distracted The mother was distraught by the absense of her daughter.  skeptical doubtful, unbelieving He no longer was skeptical when he saw what they were talking about.  dissemble to disguise, to pretend, to simulate He attempted to dissemble his fears by singing a lively song.  sinister corrupt, promising evil, wicked From the way things are going he knows that sinister forces are at work.  simulated assumed like appearance, feigned, pretended He simulated interest even though he was bored.  shoddy of inferior material; lacking the quality claimed; sham They have been selling us these shoddy products long enough; from now on we go elseware.  frustration defeat, discouragement Because things did not go his way he yielded to frustration.  nostalgic tending to make one think of home or other past pleasant situations The haunting melody aroused nostalgic memories for him.  modulate to regulate or adjust sounds; vary the key or electrical frequency of No other actor could express so many moods by merely modulating his voice.  momentous of great moment, very important In crossing the Rubicon, Julius Caesar made a momentous decision insignificant communal pertaining to all, partcipated in jointly by whole community To have a clean city demands a communal effort.  cacophony unpleasant, harsh, discordant sound The cacophony of a band not in tune may hurt your ears.  stark stiff, rigid, bare, unadorned We must at some point in time face the stark reality to be able to cope with the situation.  edification improvement or instruction He did that for our edification, not our amusement.  ebullient boiling up, bubbling, effervescent Ebullient spirits denote a jolly person.  spurious not genuine, counterfeit Spurious money is not easily detected by everyone.  sporadic occuring occasionally, irregularly He made sporadic attempts at studying, but never succeeded in these attempts.  dissuade to turn aside from, to keep from doing It was hard to dissuade him from doing what he planned.  doleful sad, sorrowful, mournful That doleful look on his face aroused my sympathy.  soporific causing sleepiness Complete quiet has a soporific effect upon him.  derogatory detracting, lessening, pulling down The derogatory remarks were resented by the students.  gouge to make grooves or holes in; to scoop out; dig or force out As she fell, the broken broomhandle gouged her arm.  destitution poverty, state of being poor, lack of means of subsistence Social Security aims at avoiding destitution amongst the aged.  anomaly deviation from rule, irregularity, misnaming He was an anomaly - a man who ate merely to have something to do.  dilate to open wide, to enlarge Medicines are used to dilate the pupil of the eye before an eye examination.  diffident unduly timid, shy He was diffident in his request for a raise.  resuscitate to restore from apparent death They failed to resuscitate the man who had been overcome by smoke.  sobriety temperateness, habitual moderation Sobriety in all things is a desirable characteristic.  exorbitant too expensive, going beyond limits That is an exorbitant price to ask for that object.  sheen shine, luster, brightness The sheen of the satin costumes added beauty to the pageant.  solicitous showing care, attention, concern; full of anxious desire In trying to answer the questions the boy was annoyed by the solicitous prompting of his mother.  precocious developed ahead of time, mentally advanced A precocious child will give answers to questions that seem beyond her ability.  animadversion an unfavorable remark; adverse criticism; blame He was less concerned over the animadversions of the board than over the jokes his colleagues made about the plan.  parochialism narrowness of interest, pertaining to particular community Isolationists were charged with parochialism.  disheveled disarranged, untidy, tousled, rumpled His disheveled hair betrayed the emotional crisis he had just been through.  sinecure position with little or no responsibility His position as vice-president is no sinecure for he actually functions.  reticent inclined to remain silent, uncommunicative A reticent person will never a question in class.  lucid clear, shining, bright The lucid tones of the speaker's voice carried to all corners of the auditorium.  malign spoke evil of, defamed, slandered He was tempted to malign his opponents in order to win votes.  disparaging depreciating, lessening in rank He delighted in making disparaging remarks about others.  aridity dryness, barrenness The aridity of the soil prevented the development of the crops.  mollify soften, allay someone's rage Your excuses mollify the teacher's anger.  shrew a scolding, brawling woman The man married the girl although he knew she was a shrew; he hoped to tame her.  verdant green with growing Verdant hillsides attract the botanist at all times.  modicum a small quantity or portion Everyone wants a modicum of praise for the good deeds he performs.  descried spied a distant object, discovered, saw He descried a horseman approaching the group at full gallop.  specious apparently just or correct, actually not so He can give the most specious excuses for his absences.  flout mock, insult, scoff The principal ordered him not to flout the order of his teacher.  dulcet melodious, soft, soothing The dulcet tones of the organ were most pleasing.  edict public notice issued by official authority The mayor published an edict concerning the disposal of trash.  staid dignified, sober, sedate A staid old maid will seldom change her mind.  scathing injurious, cutting, withering Scathing remarks seldom, if ever, do any good.  devoid without, lacking He is devoid of a sense of humor.  dilettante a dabbler, an amateur He was dilettante in the field of art.  diminutive a shortening, an abbreviation Bill is the diminutive of William.  zenith summit, peak, top He reached the zenith of his career when he was elected president.  squalid mean, poor, dirty The authorities were told about the squalid conditions of the homes.  truculent displaying fierceness, savage, cruel, defiant His truculent reply scared the class; they asked no more questions.  brazen sounding harsh, shameless That was a brazen lie he told to get that job.  acrimonious sharp, harsh, bitter The teacher refrained from making an acrimonious remark at the student.  divulge to make public, to reveal We should never divulge a secret.  spasmodic jerky, intermittent, fitful He cannot be relied upon because he is too spasmodic in doing his work.  retrench to reduce, to curtail, to economize As his bank account began to dwindle, he knew he had to retrench on expenditures.  apparition ghost, specter, phantom, appearance The apparition was seen by three small children.  verbiage wordiness Verbiage characterizes all his speeches.  polyglot speaking several languages Polyglot population of our large cities get along nicely.  buttress projecting support of wall or building, support, prop The flying buttress in architecture indicates a special type of structure.  shibboleth criterion, test He was subjected to ridicule because of his ignorance of that social shibboleth.  soiree evening party, gathering The soiree at the fraternity house was the outstanding social function of the year.  dromedary Arabian or one-humped camel The dromedary can travel swiftly and is used for racing.  stentorian extremely loud The sergeant's stentorian command was readily heard by all.  diatribe prolonged discussion, abusive speech The senator's diatribe against the proposal showed that he was prejudiced.  rococo fancy style of ornamentation with curves and shell work The rococo design of the funiture was distasteful to the prospective buyer.  mordant biting; caustic; sarcastic Her feelings were deeply hurt by his well-intended, but mordant, observations.  turgid inflated, swollen, raging Turgid waters below the falls resembled a pot of boiling water.  trenchant cutting, incisive, having sharp point His trenchant sword found its way to the heart of his opponent.  epoch a time or event which marks a relatively new development The atomic bomb is an epoch-making discovery.  refulgent shining, radiant, glowing The refulgent moon completed the setting for the romantic episode.  compunction uneasiness from a sense of guilt, penitence He had no feeling of compunction about avoiding a duty.  gamut entire range, extent of He ran the gamut of crime before he was caught.  seraphic angelic, heavenly The seraphic countenances of the little children caused him great joy.  chicanery trickery, sharp practice, deception He is adept in political chicanery.  limpid clear, transparent He drank the cool water from the limpid stream.  alabaster white, translucent, hard substance The precious ointment was placed in an alabaster jar.  crustacean having a crust like shell Lobsters and shrimps are crustaceans.  somnambulist one who walks and performs other actions during sleep A somnambulist is capable of doing almost impossible things.