Comprehensive Vocabulary Builder

Verbs with Negative Connotations

• Defile: To make foul, dirty, or unclean.
• Decry: To publicly denounce or condemn.
• Abet: To encourage or assist someone to do something wrong, especially to commit a crime.
• Debase: To reduce in quality or value; to degrade.
• Denounce: To publicly declare to be wrong or evil.
• Botch: To carry out (a task) badly or carelessly.
• Cringe: To bend one's head and body in fear or apprehension or in a servile manner.
• Connive: To conspire to do something immoral, illegal, or harmful.
• Begrudge: To envy someone the possession or enjoyment of something; to give reluctantly.
• Depredate: To plunder or lay waste.
• Cloy: To sicken or disgust with an excess of sweetness, richness, or sentiment.
• Abase: To behave in a way that degrades or demeans (someone).
• Bemoan: To express discontent or sorrow over (something).
• Bristle: To react angrily or defensively.
• Cower: To crouch down in fear.
• Adduce: To cite as evidence.
• Deplore: To feel or express strong disapproval of (something).
• Assail: To make a concerted or violent attack on.

Words Not Fitting This Category:

• Captivate: To attract and hold the attention of; charm.
• Debunk: To expose the falseness or hollowness of (a myth, idea, or belief).

Terms Associated with Religion

• Apostasy: The abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief.
• Canon: A general law, rule, principle, or criterion by which something is judged; a collection or list of sacred books accepted as genuine.
• Cherub: A winged angelic being described in biblical tradition as attending on God.
• Cloister: A covered walk in a monastery, convent, college, or cathedral, typically with a wall on one side and a colonnade open to a quadrangle on the other.
• Benediction: The utterance or bestowing of a blessing, especially at the end of a religious service.
• Advent: The arrival of a notable person, thing, or event; the first season of the Christian church year, leading up to Christmas.
• Denomination: A recognized autonomous branch of the Christian Church or of any other religion.
• Deity: A god or goddess.

Words Not Fitting This Category:

• Aboriginal: Inhabiting or existing in a land from the earliest times or from before the arrival of colonists; indigenous.
• Bivouac: A temporary camp without tents or cover, used especially by soldiers or mountaineers.

Legal Terminology & Courtroom Vocabulary

• Arrears: Money that is owed and should have been paid earlier.
• Abet: To encourage or assist someone to do something wrong, especially to commit a crime.
• Sanction: A threatened penalty for disobeying a law or rule; official permission or approval for an action.
• Opposition: Resistance or dissent, expressed in action or argument.
• Affidavit: A written statement confirmed by oath or affirmation, for use as evidence in court.
• Arraign: To call or bring (someone) before a court to answer a criminal charge.
• Decree: An official order issued by a legal authority.
• Acquit: To free (someone) from a criminal charge by a verdict of not guilty.
• Ratify: To sign or give formal consent to (a treaty, contract, or agreement), making it officially valid.
• Advocate: A person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy; to publicly recommend or support.
• Bona Fide: Genuine; real.
• Delinquent: (Typically of a young person) tending to commit crime, particularly minor crime; (of a sum of money) overdue.

Words Not Fitting This Category:

• Mosaic: A picture or pattern produced by arranging together small colored pieces of hard material, such as stone, tile, or glass.
• Apparition: A ghost or ghostlike image of a person.
• Congeal: To solidify or coagulate, especially by cooling.

Vocabulary of Wealth, Greed & Possessions

• Booty: Goods or valuables seized by force, especially in war; plunder.
• Glutton: An excessively greedy eater.
• Amass: To gather together or accumulate (a large amount or number of valuable material or things) over a period of time.
• Accouterments: Additional items of dress or equipment, or other items carried or worn by a person or used for a particular activity.
• Appraise: To assess the value or quality of.
• Bauble: A small, showy trinket or decoration.
• Accrue: (Of a sum of money or benefits) to be received by someone in regular or increasing amounts over time.
• Deficit: The amount by which something, especially a sum of money, is too small.
• Prosperous: Successful in material terms; flourishing financially.
• Capital: Wealth in the form of money or other assets owned by a person or organization or available for a purpose such as starting a company or investing.
• Acquisitive: Excessively interested in acquiring money or material things.
• Contraband: Goods that have been imported or exported illegally.

Words Not Fitting This Category:

• Antipodal: Relating to or situated on the opposite side of the earth.
• Crevice: A narrow opening or fissure, especially in a rock or wall.
• Corrugated: (Of a material, surface, or structure) shaped into alternate ridges and grooves.

Adjectives Describing Comments & Replies

• Apropos: Very appropriate to a particular situation.
• Degrading: Causing a loss of self-respect; humiliating.
• Brusque: Abrupt or offhand in speech or manner.
• Trivial: Of little value or importance.
• Harsh: Unpleasantly rough or jarring to the senses; cruel or severe.
• Apt: Appropriate or suitable in the circumstances.
• Contemptuous: Showing contempt; scornful.
• Callous: Showing or having an insensitive and cruel disregard for others.
• Cavalier: Showing a lack of proper concern; offhand.
• Cordial: Warm and friendly.
• Articulate: Having or showing the ability to speak fluently and coherently.
• Demure: (Of a woman or her behavior) reserved, modest, and shy.
• Crass: Lacking sensitivity, refinement, or intelligence.
• Apposite: Remarkably appropriate to the situation.
• Zany: Amusingly unconventional and idiosyncratic.
• Vague: Of uncertain, indefinite, or unclear character or meaning.
• Wary: Feeling or showing caution about possible dangers or problems.
• Bland: Lacking strong features or characteristics and therefore uninteresting.

Words Not Fitting This Category:

• Commodious: Roomy and comfortable.
• Rotund: (Of a person) plump; (of speech or literary style) pompous or bombastic.

Vocabulary Application Questions

• If the court expunges your criminal record, will there be permanent evidence of your past misdeeds readily available to the public? (No)
• Would it be considered an impressive thing for a student to be involved in a conspicuous contretemps directly in front of the high school principal? (No)
• Is it a good idea to study your vocabulary words in a cursory manner? (No)
• If a student insisted she could master vocabulary by memorizing only synonyms, without studying context or example sentences, would Ms. Seuk look askance at her? (Yes)
• If Uncle Johnny can't get up from the sofa because he just drank four bottles of soju and a six-pack of beer all by himself, would it be correct to say he's in a drunken stupor? (Yes)
• Does the idiom "to ruffle someone's feathers" mean to irritate someone? (Yes)
• Are raucous sounds generally considered to be harmonious to the ear? (No)
• Is it a good idea to prevaricate when it comes to your college applications and interviews? (No)
• If a dessert—or a dream—is described as cloyingly sweet, is that generally considered to be a negative thing? (Yes)
• Do demure people have the tendency to swagger and strut? (No)

Common Phrases & Idioms

• Anathema to: Something or someone that one vehemently dislikes.
• Conversant with: Familiar with or knowledgeable about something.
• Deem something [adjective] / to be [adjective]: To regard or consider something in a specified way.
• In abeyance: In a state of temporary disuse or suspension.
• In concert with: In cooperation or agreement with.
• Consign something to someone/something: To hand over or deliver something formally.
• Deign to: To do something that one considers to be beneath one's dignity.
• Champion (a cause): To support the cause of; defend.
• Under the auspices of: With the support, patronage, or sponsorship of.