Vocabulary Enrichment: Essential Words for Effective Communication

Incarcerate

To imprison, confine, jail

Indulgent

Lenient, characterized by excess generosity; overly tolerant

Illicit

Forbidden by law; improper; unauthorized

Inundate

To cover by overflowing; to flood; to overwhelm (as if by a flood)

Inscrutable

Mysterious or obscure; hard to grasp; not easily understood

Intercede

To plead, or petition, on another's behalf

Irrevocable

Not capable of being retracted, recalled, or withdrawn; unalterable

Impair

To make worse; to damage or weaken

Incorrigible

Incapable of being reformed or improved; very bad

Impassive

Having, or revealing, no emotion; Still or motionless

Ludicrous

Ridiculous, laughable, absurd

Litigation

A legal proceeding in a court; a judicial contest to determine and enforce legal rights

Magnanimous

Generous in overlooking insult or injury by others; rising above pettiness

Munificent

Extremely generous, lavish

Menial

Of or suited to a servant; servile; a domestic servant; a servile person

Maimed

Badly injured, perhaps with amputation

Mollify

To ease a burden; make less painful; to comfort; To appease, gain the good will of

Nadir

The point in the celestial sphere directly below the observer and opposite the zenith; the lowest point possible

Obsequious

Too ready to please, praise, or obey; service, fawning

Obnoxious

Very disagreeable; highly offensive; hateful

Proponent

One who argues in support of something

Patrimony

An inheritance from one's father or ancestors; any heritage or legacy

Punctilious

Paying attention to the fine details of etiquette; meticulous; scrupulous; very exact

Precarious

Showing unusually early development, mature or advanced for one's age

Propitious

Auspicious, favorable

Perfidious

Deliberately faithless; treacherous

Primordial

From earliest times; primitive; fundamental; original

Pervade

To extend all over; to spread or be diffused throughout

Prevaricate

To evade the truth

Pestilence

A contagious and often fatal disease that spreads rapidly

Profuse

Very abundant; given or flowing freely

Promulgation

A public statement about something that is happening or going to happen; making widespread

Retrospect

Reviewing the past; considering past events

Refute

Prove to be false or incorrect

Rampant

Growing without check or restraint; flourishing; widespread

Recant

To reject a belief or withdraw something previously said

Retaliate

To do something harmful or negative to get revenge for some harm; to fight back or respond in kind to an injury or affront