Fatuous

(adj.) silly, foolish (He considers himself a serious poet, but in truth, he only writes fatuous limericks.)

Blandish

(v.) to coax by using flattery (Rachel's assistant tried to _______ her into accepting the deal.)

Deleterious

(adj.) harmful

Effrontery

(n.) impudence, nerve, insolence (When I told my aunt that she was boring, my mother scolded me for my ______.)

Grandiloquence

(n.) lofty, pompous language (The student thought her _________________ would make her sound smart, but neither the class nor the teacher bought it.)

Ignominious

(adj.) humiliating, disgracing (It was really _________ to be kicked out of the dorm for having an illegal gas stove in my room.)

Latent

(adj.) hidden, but capable of being exposed (Sigmund's dream represented his _______ paranoid obsession with other people's shoes.)

Maelstrom

(n.) a destructive whirlpool which rapidly sucks in objects

Abjure

(v.) to reject, renounce (To prove his honesty, the President ______ the evil policies of his wicked predecessor.)

Cacophony

(n.) tremendous noise, disharmonious sound (The elementary school orchestra created a ________ at the recital.)

Harangue

1. (n.) a ranting speech; 2. (v.) to give such a speech

Munificence

(n.) generosity in giving (The royal family's _________ made everyone else in their country rich.)

Abrogate

(v.) to abolish, usually by authority (The Bill of Rights assures that the government cannot ________ our right to a free press.)

Boon

(n.) a gift or blessing (The good weather has been a _____ for many businesses located near the beach.)

Capricious

(adj.) subject to whim, fickle (The young girl's _______ tendencies made it difficult for her to focus on achieving her goals.)

Decry

(v.) to criticize openly (The kind video rental clerk ______ the policy of charging customers late fees.)

Ebullient

(adj.) extremely lively, enthusiastic (She became ______ upon receiving an acceptance letter from her first-choice college.)

Florid

(adj.) flowery, ornate (The writer's _____ prose belongs on a sentimental Hallmark card.)

Garrulous

(adj.) talkative, wordy (Some talk show hosts are so ______ that their guests can't get a word in edgewise.)

Hapless

(adj.) unlucky (My poor, ______ family never seems to pick a sunny week to go on vacation.)

Impetuous

(adj.) rash; hastily done (Hilda's hasty slaying of the king was an _______, thoughtless action.)

Juxtaposition

(n.) the act of placing two things next to each other for implicit comparison (the interior designer admired my ___________ of the yellow couch and green table.)

Malevolent

(adj.) wanting harm to befall others (The ______ old man sat in the park all day, tripping unsuspecting passersby with his cane.)

Legdermain

(n.) deception, sleight-of-hand (Smuggling the French plants through customs by claiming that there were fake was a remarkable bit of _______)

Acerbic

(adj.) biting, bitter in tone or taste (Jill became extremely _________ and began to cruelly make fun of all her friends.)

Brusque

(adj.) short, abrupt, dismissive (The captain's _________ manner offended the passengers.)

Cajole

(v.) to urge, coax (Fred's buddies _________ him into attending the bachelor party.)

Defile

(v.) to make unclean, impure (She __________ the calm of the religious building by playing her banjo.)

Effulgent

(adj.) radiant, splendorous (The golden palace was ___________.)

Fecund

(adj.) fruitful, fertile (The _____ tree bore enough apples to last us through the entire season.)

Gregarious

(adj.) drawn to the company of others, sociable (Well, if you're not ________, I don't know why you would want to go to a singles party!)

Iconoclast

(n.) one who attacks common beliefs or institutions (Jane goes to one protest after another, but she seems to be an ____________ rather than an activist with a progressive agenda.)

Jubilant

(adj.) extremely joyful, happy (The crowd was __________ when the firefighter carried the woman from the flaming building.)

Largess

(n.) the generous giving of lavish gifts (My boss demonstrated great __________ by giving me a new car.)

Magnanimous

(adj.) noble, generous (Although I had already broken most of her dishes, Jacqueline was __________ enough to continue letting me use them.)

Hackneyed

(adj.) unoriginal, trite (A girl can only hear "I love you" so many times before it begins to sound _______ and meaningless.)

Acrimony

(n.) bitterness, discord (Though they vowed that no girl would ever come between them, Biff and Trevor could not keep acrimony from overwhelming their friendship after they both fell in love with the lovely Teresa.)

Buttress

(v.)/(n.) 1. to support, hold up 2. something that offers support (The column buttresses the roof above the statue.)

Calumny

(n.) an attempt to spoil someone else's reputation by spreading lies (The local official's ______ ended up ruining his opponent's prospect of winning the election.)

Deride

(v.) to laugh at mockingly, scorn (The bullies _________ the foreign student's accent.)

Enervate

(v.) to weaken, exhaust (Writing these sentences ____________ me so much that I will have to take a nap after I finish.)

Feral

(adj.) wild, savage (That beast looks so _________ that I would fear being alone with it.)

Impassive

(adj.) stoic, not susceptible to suffering (Stop being so _______; it's healthy to cry every now and then.)

Licentious

(adj.) displaying a lack of moral or legal restraints (Marilee has always been fascinated by the ________ private lives of politicians.)

Maudlin

(adj.) weakly sentimental (Although many people enjoy romantic comedies, I usually find them _______ and shallow.)

Obdurate

(adj.) unyielding to persuasion or moral influences (The _________ old man refused to take pity on the kittens.)

Paragon

(n.) a model of excellence or perfection (The mythical Helen of Troy was considered a _________ of female beauty.)

Querulous

(adj.) whiny, complaining (If deprived of his pacifier, young Brendan becomes __________.)