ASSIDUOUSLY
Adverb: with great care and perseverance e.g. 'leaders worked assiduously to come up with an acceptable plan.'
DISINGENUOUS
Adjective: insincere; pretending you know less about something than you actually do; giving a false appearance of frankness e.g. 'It was disingenuous of her to claim that she had no financial interest in the case.'
INTREPID
Adjective: fearless, adventurous, undaunted e.g.'The intrepid young boy walked through the dark forest alone to get medical aid for his father.'
INNOCUOUS
Adjective: harmless, inoffensive e.g. 'Although Sarah meant her joke to be innocuous, people around her took it to heart'
NEBULOUS
Adjective: vague, ill - defined, hazy e.g.'Beauty is a nebulous term until it is defined by the beholder.' Also, 'Her answer to the question was nebulous.'
LOQUACIOUS
Adjective: tending to talk a lot, talkative e.g. ' Recognizing the fact that she had the habit of being loquacious, Amy stayed quiet during the meeting'
IGNOMINY
Noun: Public shame or disgrace. Adjective: Ignominous = humiliating e.g.'Ireland's dream of playing in the World Cup 2018 came to an ignominous end last week with their defeat by Denmark'.
SERENDIPITY
Noun: The occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way e.g. 'a fortunate stroke of serendipity'
ASCERTAIN
Verb: to make certain of... e.g. 'The authorities were unable to ascertain the motive for his crime.'
LOGOPHILE
Noun: A lover of words
NEGARIOUS
Adjective: Wicked or criminal, usually referring to an action or activity e.g. ‘The nefarious attack in Las Vegas is tragic and shocking’
SANGUINE
Adjective: Optimistic or positive, especially in an apparently bad or difficult situation e.g. 'Despite the fact that the soldiers had been away at war for eight months they were still sanguine about seeing their families soon'.
PLATITUDE
Noun: A remark or statement especially with a moral content that has been used too often to be interesting, true or thoughtful e.g. (1) 'Jack promised nothing, having too much respect for Michael to offer platitudes'. (2)'The mayor responded to questions with the usual platitudes'.
IDIOM
Noun: a phrase that has a meaning of its own that cannot be understood from the meaning of the individual words e.g. 'over the moon'; 'see the light'; 'by the skin of your teeth'
PROVERB
Noun: a short popular saying that gives advice about how people should behave or that expresses a belief that is generally thought to be true e.g. 'Don't cry over spilled milk.' and 'A stitch in time saves nine.'
APLOMB
Noun: self-confidence or assurance especially when in a demanding situation e.g. 'She handled the awkward meeting with great aplomb.'
SEISMIC
Adjective: (1) relating to earthquakes or other vibrations of earth and its crust e.g. 'Seismic waves caused by earthquakes created a tsunami on the island shore'
(2) of enormous proportions or effect e.g. 'When she heard the news about what happened there was a seismic shift in her attitude'
NEMESIS
Noun: a long-standing rival, an arch enemy; the inescapable agent of someone’s or something’s downfall e.g. ‘Will Harry Potter finally defeat his nemesis Voldemort’? ‘My nemesis was determined to ruin my changes of promotion’
SUPERCILIOUS
Adjective: behaving or looking as though one thinks one is superiour to others e.g. ‘You look down on people with your supercilious attitude’
AUDACITY
Noun: (1) a willingness to take bold risks e.g. ‘He was taken aback at the sheer audacity of the plan’. 2) Rude or disrespectful behaviour e.g. ‘She had the audacity to suggest that he was lying’ Audacious: adjective
VERACITY
Noun: conforming to facts, accuracy, e.g. ‘officials expressed doubts concerning the veracity of the story’
EFFACING
Adjective: not claiming attention for oneself, retiring and modest e.g. 'The captain was typically self-effacing when questioned about the team’s success giving credit to the other players.’
DISCOMBOBULATE
Verb: to disconcert, confuse, disturb
Adjective: disconcerted, confused, disturbed e.g. ‘ The speaker was completely discombobulated by the hecklers’
PERNICIOUS
Adjective: having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way e.g.‘The pernicious effects of poverty’
ARBITRARY
Adjective: (1) based on random choice or personal whim rather than any reason, plan or system e.g. 'He played a few arbitrary notes on the piano to check it out' (2) Using unlimited personal power without considering other people's wishes e.g. 'an arbitrary ruler'
SPURIOUS
Adjective: false or fake, not being what it purports to be.
PERTINENT
Adjective: having a clear and decisive relevance to the matter in hand.
UNREMITTING
Adjective: never relaxing or slackening; incessant; never stopping.
VERACITY
Noun: conformity to facts, accuracy e.g.'Officials expressed doubts concerning the veracity of the story'
SCINTILLATING
Adjective: (1) Sparkling or shining brightly, e.g. 'the scintillating sun'; (2) Brilliantly and excitingly clever or skilful, e.g. 'The audience loved his scintillating wit'
EPIPHANY
Noun: an appearance or manifestation of a divine being; a moment of sudden and great revelation or realisation
ASPIRE
Verb: to long, aim or seek ambitiously, especially for something great or of high value e.g. ' to aspire to be the best you can possibly be'
CENSURE
Verb and Noun: to express severe disapproval of someone or something especially in a formal statement. An adverse judgement, a reprimand
CONCILIATORY
Adjective: intended to pacify or likely to pacify e.g. ‘a conciliatory approach’
GHOUL
Noun: A monster or evil spirit in Arabic mythology associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh.
Adjective: Ghoulish (1) resembling or characteristic of a ghoul e.g. 'a ghoulish mask' (2) morbidly interested in death or disaster e.g. 'she told the story with ghoulish relish'
THWART
Verb: to prevent someone from accomplishing something
FACETIOUS
Adjective: treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humour; flippant
ELITE
Noun: a select group that is superior in terms of ability or qualities to the rest of a group or society. 'Elitist' (adjective) considered superior by others or themselves.
INCLEMENT
Adjective: Of the weather i.e. unpleasantly cold or wet
PROFUSE
Adjective: Very plentiful, abundant e.g. ‘profuse apologies’
DIVERSE
Adjective: Showing a great deal of variety, differing from one another.
DIVERSITY
Noun: The state of being diverse.
INNATE
Adjective: inborn, natural, existing naturally or by heredity rather than being learned through experience/ existing as part of the basic nature of something e.g. 'She has an innate sense of rhythm' / 'her innate capacity for organisation’
TREPIDATION
Noun: A feeling of fear or anxiety about something that may happen
MYRIAD
Noun and Adjecive: An extremely great number of people or things, innumerable
Noun: e.g. 'a myriad of ideas', 'a myriad of choices' Adjective: e.g. 'our myriad problems'
IRREVERENT
Adjective: Showing a lack of respect for people or things that are generally taken seriously.
ADVERSE
Adjective: Preventing success or development; unfavourable or harmful e.g. 'adverse weather conditions'
MALEVOLENT
Noun: 'Having or showing a wish to do evil to others, evil, malicious.'
MANDATE
Noun: 'The authority to carry out a policy, regarded as given by the electorate to a party or candidate that wins an election. ‘He called an election to seek a mandate for his policies’ ‘An official order or commission to do something’ e.g. 'He was given a mandate to seek the release of political prisioners’
INNOCUOUS
Adjective: Harmless, inoffensive, innocent e.g. 'It was an innocuous question’
COMPLEMENT
Verb: To contribute extra features to someone or something in such a way as to improve or emphasize their qualities, e.g. 'The sauce complements the dessert beautifully'.
COMPLEMENT
Noun: A number or quantity of something, especially that required to make a group complete, e.g. 'At the moment we have the full complement of staff'.
PREVALENT
Adjective: Being widespread, very common, a lot of something.
PREVALENCE
Noun: The quality of being widespread
GREGARIOUS
Adjective: Fond of company, sociable
PROHIBIT
Verb: (1) To formally forbid something by law, rule or other authority. (2) To formally forbid someone from doing something (3) To make something impossible, prevent
JEOPARDIZE
Verb: To put someone or something into a situation in which there is a danger of loss, harm or failure.
RECOLLECT
Verb: To succeed in remembering something
RECOLLECTION
Noun: (1) A memory of something e.g. "a recollection of past holidays" and (2) The act or power of recollecting e.g. "He is not, to my recollection, a very good musician"
FLUCTUATE
Verb: To change level, strength or value frequently.
VICINITY
Noun: The area near or surrounding a particular place.
SURREPTITIOUSLY
Verb: Acting in a stealthy, secretive way because the action would not be approved of.
ALIENATE
Verb: Make someone feel isolated or estranged
HYPOTHESIS
Noun: A supposition or proposed explantion made on the basis of limited evidence as a starting point for further investigation.
ARMISTICE
Noun: An agreement made by opposing sides in a war to stop fighting, a truce.
ALOOF
Adjective: Not friendly or forthcoming; cool and distant
COALITION
Noun: A temporary alliance for combined action, especially of political parties forming a government.
ARTICULATE
Adjective: Having or showing the ability to speak fluently and coherently. Verb: to pronounce something clearly and distinctly.
OBSOLETE
Adjective: No longer produced or used. Out of date.
INSIGHT
Noun: The capacity to gain an accurate and deep understanding of someone or something.