Vocabulary Words #8 (Honors Option)

plucky- having or showing pluck or courage; brave


corpulent- large or bulky of body; portly; stout; fat.


malaise- a condition of general bodily weakness or discomfort, often marking the onset of a disease.

indolent- having or showing a disposition to avoid exertion; slothful

volatile- tending or threatening to break out into open violence; explosive


quixotic- extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable


tutelage- the act of guarding, protecting, or guiding; office or function of a guardian; guardianship

balustrade- a railing with supporting balusters

flying buttresse- An external, arched support for the wall of a church or other building. Flying buttresses were used in many Gothic cathedrals; they enabled builders to put up very tall but comparatively thin stone walls, so that much of the wall space could be filled with stained-glass windows. The cathedrals of Chartres and Notre Dame de Paris were built with flying buttresses.




eidetic-of, pertaining to, or constituting visual imagery vividly experienced and readily reproducible with great accuracy and in great detail.

Vocabulary Words #7 (Honors Option)

mugwump- a person who is unable to make up his or her mind on an issue, esp. in politics; a person who is neutral on a controversial issue.

muliebrity- womanly nature or qualities.


chevron- a badge consisting of stripes meeting at an angle, worn on the sleeve by noncommissioned officers, police officers, etc., as an indication of rank, service, or the like.

eristic- a person who engages in disputation; controversialist.

perpend- a large stone passing through the entire thickness of a wall.


vamoose- to leave hurriedly or quickly; decamp.

iatrogenic- Induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially of an infection or other complication of treatment.


jnana- knowledge acquired through meditation and study as a means of reaching Brahman


fatuous- foolish or inane, esp. in an unconscious, complacent manner; silly.


doff- to remove or take off, as clothing.

Vocabulary Words #6 (Honors Option)

indemnification- something that serves to indemnify; compensation.


sultry- oppressively hot and close or moist; sweltering: a sultry day.


raze- to tear down; demolish; level to the ground: to raze a row of old buildings.


quell- to suppress; put an end to; extinguish


mollify- to soften in feeling or temper, as a person; pacify; appease.


licentious- going beyond customary or proper bounds or limits; disregarding rules

rectify- to make, put, or set right; remedy; correct

cognizance- awareness, realization, or knowledge; notice; perception

pluralism- a theory that there is more than one basic substance or principle.

tier- one of a number of galleries, as in a theater

Vocabulary Words #5 (Honors Option)

disport- to divert or amuse (oneself).



transmogrify- to change in appearance or form, esp. strangely or grotesquely; transform.


oneiric- of or pertaining to dreams.

pelf- money or wealth, esp. when regarded with contempt or acquired by reprehensible means.


bloviate- To discourse at length in a pompous or boastful manner

neologism- the introduction or use of new words or new senses of existing words.

dishabille- the state of being dressed in a careless, disheveled, or disorderly style or manner; undress.

ne plus ultra- the most intense degree of a quality or state.


trammel- a hindrance or impediment to free action; restraint

gubernatorial- of or pertaining to a state governor or the office of state governor

Vocabulary Words #4 (Honors Option)

hubris- excessive pride or self-confidence; arrogance.

popinjay- a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter


superfluous- being more than is sufficient or required; excessive.

neophyte- a person newly converted to a belief, as a heathen, heretic, or nonbeliever; proselyte.

portentous- marvelous; amazing; prodigious.

sylvan- of, pertaining to, or inhabiting the woods.


impecunious- having little or no money; penniless; poor.



lucre- monetary reward or gain; money


defenestrate- To throw out of a window.


exiguous- scanty; meager; small; slender

Vocabulary Words #3 (Honors Option)

bourgeoisie- In general, the middle class. Applied to the Middle Ages, it refers to townspeople, who were neither nobles nor peasants. In Marxism it refers to those who control the means of production and do not live directly by the sale of their labor. Karl Marx distinguished between the “haute” (high) bourgeoisie (industrialists and financiers) and the “petite” (small or “petty”) bourgeoisie (shopkeepers, self-employed artisans, lawyers). Marxism postulates a fundamental conflict between the interests of the bourgeoisie and those of the propertyless workers, the proletariat.


proletariat- the class of wage earners, esp. those who earn their living by manual labor or who are dependent for support on daily or casual employment; the working class.

stop-loss- designed or planned to prevent continued loss, as a customer's order to a broker to sell a stock if its price declines to a specific amount.

elucidate- to provide clarification; explain.


elusive- eluding clear perception or complete mental grasp; hard to express or define: an elusive concept.

profligate- utterly and shamelessly immoral or dissipated; thoroughly dissolute.

chasm- a deep opening in the earth's surface


fulminate- to explode with a loud noise; detonate


ostentatious- characterized by or given to pretentious or conspicuous show in an attempt to impress others: an ostentatious dresser.

obfuscate- to confuse, bewilder, or stupefy.

Vocabulary Words #2 (Honors Option)

ego- the “I” or self of any person; a person as thinking, feeling, and willing, and distinguishing itself from the selves of others and from objects of its thought.


subjectivity- of, relating to, or constituting a subject

metacognition- awareness and understanding one's thinking and cognitive processes; thinking about thinking


epistemology- a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge.

mollify- to soften in feeling or temper, as a person; pacify; appease

abrogate- to abolish by formal or official means; annul by an authoritative act; repeal: to abrogate a law.


bureaucracy- the body of officials and administrators, esp. of a government or government department.


viscosity- the property of a fluid that resists the force tending to cause the fluid to flow.

filibuster- the use of irregular or obstructive tactics by a member of a legislative assembly to prevent the adoption of a measure generally favored or to force a decision against the will of the majority.

reconcile- to bring into agreement or harmony


vilify- to speak ill of; defame; slander.

aggregate- formed by the conjunction or collection of particulars into a whole mass or sum; total; combined: the aggregate amount of indebtedness.