Essential Vocabulary: 49 Advanced Words and Definitions
Mastering Advanced Vocabulary: A Glossary of 49 Terms
This glossary provides definitions for a collection of advanced and often uncommon words, covering various parts of speech and origins, from religious terminology to descriptive adjectives.
A-C: Zeal, Curses, and Conspiracies
- Alacrity (n)
- Eagerness, zeal, or enthusiasm.
- Anathema (n) / Anathematize (v)
- A curse, a denunciation, or a statement of loathing; to curse or denounce.
- Apostate (n)
- One who forsakes their religion or political party.
- Bonhomie (n)
- A good-hearted nature or cheerful friendliness.
- Bullock (n)
- A castrated bull.
- Chimera (n) / Chimerical (adj)
- A fire-breathing monster with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail; or, something illusory, unreal, fantastic, or imaginary.
- Cogitation (n)
- Concerted thought or reflection.
- Collude (v)
- To act together with a shared understanding; to conspire or join together secretly.
D-F: Slopes, Plunder, and Spirits
- Declaim (v)
- To speak aloud in a formal manner.
- Declivity (n)
- A downward slope; predisposed against.
- Depredations (n)
- The act of preying upon or plundering; robbery; ravage.
- Deputation (n)
- The act of appointing one to work for another; the one appointed to act for another.
- Doctrinaire (n)
- A person who tries to apply theory without proper regard to practical matters.
- Ectoplasm (n)
- The supposedly visible substance of a ghost, spirit, or medium connecting with that world.
- Filament (n)
- A fine thread or fiber.
H-L: Misfortune, Uproar, and Lust
- Hapless (adj)
- Unlucky; unfortunate.
- Hullabaloo (n)
- An uproar; a loud disturbance.
- Imam (n)
- A Muslim leader.
- Imprecation (n)
- A curse.
- Inexorable (adj) / Extorable (adj)
- Unopen to persuasion / open to persuasion.
- Lascivious (adj) / Lasciviously (adv)
- Inclined to lustfulness; done with attention to lustfulness.
- Lepidoptera (n)
- The order of insects comprising butterflies or moths.
- Loll (v)
- To hang, drop, or dangle loosely.
M-P: Prayer, Stubbornness, and the Unusual
- Matins (n)
- Morning prayers.
- Maundering (n)
- Talking or moving in an aimless, unclear way.
- Ministration (n)
- The act of serving or aiding.
- Muezzin (n)
- The crier who, from a minaret or other high part of a mosque, at stated hours five times daily, intones aloud the call summoning Muslims to prayer.
- Mulish (adj)
- Stubborn, like a mule, or obstinate.
- Nodule (n)
- A small knot, node, or knob.
- Nonagenarian (n)
- Someone in their 90s.
- Outré (adj)
- Passing the bounds of what is considered proper or normal; bizarre.
- Pallid (adj)
- Pale.
- Pampa (n)
- The plains or grassy areas (especially in South America).
- Peroration (n)
- A long speech characterized by lofty and pompous language.
- Pierrot (n)
- A male character in certain French pantomime, having a whitened face and wearing a loose, white, fancy costume.
- Primus inter pares (n)
- The first among equals. (Latin phrase)
- Priory (n)
- A religious house where prayer takes place.
- Privation (n)
- Lack of the usual comforts of life; the fact of being deprived.
- Proclivity (n)
- An upward slope; predisposed toward.
- Protean (adj)
- Extremely variable, readily changing different forms.
Q-V: Complaints, Secrets, and Trembling
- Querulous (adj) / Querulously (adv)
- Complaining/ly.
- Retinue (n)
- Entourage; the people attending an important person.
- Rubicund (adj)
- Red or reddish; ruddy.
- Surreptitious (adj)
- Done in secret; stealthy.
- Temerity (n)
- Recklessness or rashness; excessive confidence or boldness.
- Tremulous (adj)
- Characterized by trembling, as from fear, anxiety, or weakness.
- Trilby (n)
- A hat with an indented crown.
- Ululation (n)
- A howl, as a dog or a wolf; a hoot, as an owl.
- Vespers (n)
- Evening prayers.