Vocab Unit #1 – All Types of People
1. amateur: (n) a person who engages in some art, science, sport, etc.
for the pleasure of it rather than for money;
nonprofessional;
(adj) of or done by amateurs; amateurish
2. assassin: (n) one who kills someone of importance
3. bachelor: (n) an unmarried man
4. bursar: (n) a treasurer at a college or similar institution
5. cynic: (n) one who is critical of society; one who believes that
people are motivated in all their actions only by
selfishness; one who is sarcastic or sneering; one who
denies the sincerity of people’s motives and actions
6. dupe: (n) one who is easily fooled
(v) to deceive by trickery; to fool or cheat
7. feminist: (n) one who strives for equality for women
8. journalist: (n) one whose occupation consists of gathering,
writing, editing, and publishing the news
9. miser: (n) one who is stingy
10. nomad: (n) member of a tribe or group with no permanent home
11. orator: (n) an eloquent public speaker
12. orthodontist: (n) a dentist whose specialty is straightening teeth
13. traitor: (n) one who betrays his or her country, a cause, or friend
14. tyrant: (n) a cruel, obsessive ruler
15. virtuoso: (n) one who displays great technical skill in some fine art
Eng II Vocab Unit #2 – An Interesting Combination of Words
1. absurd: (adj) so clearly untrue or unreasonable as to be laughable or
ridiculous
2. arable: (adj) suitable for plowing, hence producing crops
3. bibliography: (n) a list of sources of information on a given subject,
period, etc.
4. commiserate: (v) to condole (to express sympathy) or sympathize with
5. deceive: (v) to make a person believe what is not true; to delude; to mislead;
6. fatal: (adj) important in its outcome; fateful; decisive; resulting in
death; very destructive; disastrous
7. foster: (v) to bring up with care; rear; to help grow or develop; to
stimulate
8. glimmer: (v) to give a faint, flickering light; to appear or be seen
faintly or dimly
(n) a faint, flickering light
9. meticulous: (adj) extremely or excessively careful about details; finicky
10. publicize: (v) to give publicity to; to draw attention to
11. rave: (v) to talk incoherently or wildly, as in a delirious or demented
state;
(adj) enthusiastic, glowing
12. restrict: (v) to keep within certain limits; to put limitations on; to confine
13. rustic: (n) a country person, esp. one regarded as unsophisticated,
simple, or awkward
(adj) of or living in the country
14. serpentine: (adj) of or like a serpent; coiled or twisted; winding
(n) something that twists or coils like a snake
15. subdue: (v) to bring into subjection; to conquer; to control; to make
less intense; to reduce; to diminish
Eng II Vocab Unit #3 – All in the Family1. adoption: (n) taking another into one’s own family by legal process
2. akin: (adj) related through a common ancestor; having similar
qualities; similar
3. clan: (n) social group bearing the same family name and having a
common ancestor; a group of; clique; set
4. fraternal: (adj) characteristic of a brother; brotherly
5. generation: (n) average period (about 30 yrs.) between the birth of
one group and that of the next
6. heritage: (n) birthright; something handed down from one’s
ancestors or the past, such as property or a characteristic
7. kin: (n) relatives; family; kinfolk; kindred
8. lineage: (n) direct descent from an ancestor
9. maternal: (adj) of, like, or characteristic of a mother; motherly
10. matriarch: (n) a mother who rules her family or tribe; highly
respected elderly woman
11. paternal: (adj) of, like, or characteristic of a father; fatherly
12. patriarch: (n) the father or ruler of a family or tribe;
man of great age or dignity
13. relative: (adj) related to each other; relevant, connected with
14. sibling: (n) one of two or more persons born of the same parent(s)
15. spouse: (n) partner in marriage, one’s husband or wife
Eng II Vocab Unit #4 – Skilled – or not so Skilled
1. adroit: (adj) skillful in a physical or mental way; clever; expert
2. anarchist: (n) a person who believes in or advocates anarchy or the
complete absence of government
3. astute: (adj) having or showing a clever or shrewd mind; wily
4. competent: (adj) well qualified; capable; fit; sufficient; able
5. crafty: (adj) subtly deceitful; sly; cunning; artful
6. crass: (adj) grossly stupid or dull; tasteless, insensitive, or coarse;
money-grubbing, blatantly materialistic
7. endowed: (v) provided with some talent, quality, etc.; gave money or
property so as to provide an income for a college,
hospital, etc.
8. exemplary: (adj) serving as a model or example; worth imitating;
serving as a warrant or deterrent; illustrative
9. expertise: (n) the skill, knowledge, judgment of an expert
10. imaginative: (adj) having, using, or showing imagination; having
great creative powers; given to imagining
11. inept: (adj) not suitable to the purpose; unfit; clumsy or bungling
12. insufficient: (adj) not enough; inadequate; not sufficient
13. masterful: (adj) having or showing the ability of an expert; fond of
acting the part of a master
14. outcast: (n) a person or thing cast out or rejected, as by society
15. skillful: (adj) having or showing skill; accomplished
Eng II Vocab Unit #5 – Here, There, and Everywhere
1. abound: (v) to be plentiful, to exist in large numbers or amounts
2. accessible: (adj) easy to approach or enter; obtainable
3. clutter: (n) a number of things scattered in disorder; jumble
4. copious: (adj) very plentiful; abundant; wordy, full of information
5. cosmopolitan: (adj) common or representative of all or many parts of the world
6. domestic: (adj) having to do with home or housekeeping
7. legendary: (adj) based on, of, or presented in legends; remarkable
8. longevity: (n) great span of life; length or duration of life
9. plague: (n) contagious epidemic that is deadly; calamity; scourge
(v) to afflict; to vex; to harass; to torment
10. proximity: (n) state or quality of being near; nearness in time, space
11. random: (adj) lacking aim or method; purposeless; not uniform
12. teem: (v) to be full; to pour; to abound; to swarm
13. tether: (n) a rope or chain fastened to an animal to keep it within certain bounds; the limit of
one’s abilities or resources
14. trek: (n) journey; migration; a short trip on foot
(v) to travel slowly and laboriously
15. waif: (n) a person without home or friends
Eng II Vocab Unit #6 – Smart – or not so Smart1. acute: (adj) having a sharp point; keen or quick of mind; shrewd
2. brilliant: (adj) possessing keen intelligence, great talent, or skill
3. buffoon: (n) a person who is always trying to be funny; clown
4. dense: (adj) slow to understand; thick
5. impostor: (n) a person who deceives or cheats others, especially by
pretending to be someone or something he/she is not
6. incisive: (adj) sharp; keen; penetrating; cutting into
7. inventive: (adj) skilled in inventing; creative
8. judicious: (adj) having, applying, or showing sound judgment; wise
and careful
9. prodigy: (n) a person, thing, or act so extraordinary as to inspire
wonder, especially a child of highly unusual talent or genius
10. quack: (n) an untrained person who practices medicine fraudulently
11. rational: (adj) derived from reasoning; not foolish or silly; sensible
12. sage: (n) a very wise man, especially an elderly man widely
respected for his wisdom, experience, and judgment
13. savvy: (adj) shrewdness or understanding; know-how
14. vigilant: (adj) staying watchful and alert to danger or trouble
15. witty: (adj) having, showing, or characterized by wit; cleverly
amusing
Eng II Vocab Unit #7 – A Bit Different 1. adolescent: (n) a teenaged person
2. convict: (n) a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court
(v) to prove (a person) guilty
3. despot: (n) an absolute ruler; king with unlimited powers
4. eerie: (adj) strange; odd; weird
5. fanatic: (adj) unreasonably enthusiastic; overly zealous
(n) a person whose extreme zeal goes beyond reason
6. fugitive: (n) person who flees, or has fled, from danger, justice, etc.
7. lame duck: (n) an elected official whose term extends beyond the time of the election at which he/she was not reelected
8. maestro: (n) a master in any art; esp. a great composer or conductor
9. maverick: (n) an unbranded animal; a person who takes an independent stand, as in politics, refusing to conform to a party or group
10. parasite: (n) a person who lives at the expense of another without making any useful contribution or return; hanger-on
11. serf: (n) a person in feudal servitude, bound to his master’s land
12. turncoat: (n) a person who goes over to the opposite side; traitor
13. wanton: (adj) undisciplined; unrestrained; recklessly ignoring justice, decency, morality, etc.
14. xenophobe: (n) one who fears or hates strangers, foreigners, or anything foreign or strange
15. zany: (adj) comical in an extravagantly ludicrous manner; foolish
Eng II Vocab Unit #8 – How, or not How, to Say It
1. conversant: (adj) familiar or acquainted with, esp. as a result of study or experience
2. curt: (adj) brief, esp. to the point of rudeness; terse or brusque; blunt
3. debate: (v) to discuss opposing reasons; to argue
4. dialogue: (n) a talking together; conversation; interchange of ideas
5. digress: (v) to turn aside; esp. to depart temporarily from the main subject in talking or writing; to ramble
6. disclaim: (v) to give up or renounce an claim to or connection with
7. dissuade: (v) to turn a person aside by persuasion or advice
8. feud: (n) a bitter, long-continued, and deadly quarrel, esp. between clans or families
9. forthright: (adj) outspoken; frank; direct; straightforward
10. interrupt: (v) to break into or in upon a discussion, train of thought, etc.
11. mediate: (v) to be in an intermediate position or location; to be an intermediary between persons or sides
12. paraphrase: (n) a rewording of the meaning expressed in something spoken or written
13. quibble: (v) to evade the truth of the point in discussion by hedging
14. retort: (v) to turn an insult, epithet, deed, etc. back upon the person from whom it came; to answer in kind
15. verbose: (adj) using or containing too many words; long-winded
Eng II Vocab Unit #9 – Gone!
1. abdicate: (v) to give up formally (a high office, a throne, authority); to
surrender or repudiate (a right, responsibility)
2. abstain: (v) to hold oneself back: to voluntarily do without
3. annihilate: (v) to destroy completely; to put out of existence
4. depression: (n) low spirits; gloominess; dejection; a decrease in force
5. dismantle: (v) to strip of covering; to take apart
6. dissolve: (v) to make or become liquid; to melt; to break up
7. eject: (v) to throw out; to cast out; to expel
8. elude: (v) to avoid or escape from by quickness, cunning, etc.
9. erode: (v) to eat into; to wear away; to disintegrate
10. kleptomaniac: (n) one who has an abnormal, persistent impulse or
tendency to steal, not prompted by need
11. lack: (n) to fact or condition of not having enough; shortage
(v) to be in need; to fall short
12. penury: (n) lack of money, property, or necessities; extreme poverty
13. porous: (adj) full of tiny openings through which fluids, light, or air may
pass
14. purge: (v) to cleanse or rid of impurities, foreign matter, or undesirable
elements; to cleanse of guilt or sin
15. ransack: (v) to search thoroughly; to examine every part of in searching;
to pillage; to rob