Word Definition Sample Sentence

Living close to a lake means we have an

Abundant Present in large quantities.
abundant supply of water.

Each fall, leaves accumulate in our

Accumulate To gradually collect.
driveway.

Make sure your address is accurate

Accurate Correct; free from errors.
before submitting your online order.

Having 8AM classes means I’m

Accustomed Used to something.
accustomed to getting up early.

When my grandmother died, I acquired

Acquire To come into possession of.
her cookbook collection.

The defendant was adamant that he

Adamant Refusing to change an opinion.
was innocent.

Our house isn’t big, but it’s adequate for

Adequate Enough to suit your needs.
the two of us.

Adjacent Close to or next to. The park is adjacent to the school.

The bike seat may be too high; you’ll

Adjust To change something so it serves its purpose better.
probably need to adjust it.

His height gives him an advantage in

Advantage Something that makes it easier to achieve success.
basketball.

My aunt is a major advocate for

Advocate To publicly support.
women’s’ rights.

I had an adverse reaction to my

Adverse Unfavorable; against one’s desires.
medication and had to stop taking it.

We should aggregate our resources to

Aggregate To combine.
share them more easily.

The salesperson was very aggressive

Aggressive Assertive and pushy. when trying to get us to buy the
television.

The village needs to allocate funds for

Allocate To put aside for a specific purpose.
building the new school.
 If the ATM is broken, an alternative
Alternative Another option or choice.
solution is to stop by the bank.

Someone who is inexperienced or not highly skilled in He’s an amateur soccer player and is
Amateur
a particular area. still learning the rules of the game.

When I asked the HR manager what my

Having several potential meanings; unclear and
Ambiguous chances were of getting the job, she
difficult to understand.
gave me a very ambiguous reply.

My son is very ambitious and hopes to

Ambitious Having large goals.
be a millionaire by the time he’s thirty.

I believe we should amend our country’s

Amend To change for the better; to improve.
tax laws.

Our new apartment has ample space for

Ample Plentiful.
the two of us.

The basketball player is the team’s best

Anomaly Deviation from the norm. free thrower, so his missing both shots
was an anomaly.

The annual company barbeque takes

Annual Occurring yearly.
place every August.

The boy loves to antagonize his little

Antagonize To tease or be hostile towards a person or group.
sister by pulling her hair.

After she got grounded, the teenager

Attitude Manner or feeling. had a bad attitude for the rest of the
day.

Be sure to attribute credit to your

Attribute To give credit.
sources when writing a research paper.

Flipping a coin is an arbitrary way to

Arbitrary Based on a whim or random decision.
make a decision.

After you cross the bridge, there’s an

Arduous Requiring a lot of effort.
arduous walk up the hill.

The mother assuaged her child’s fear of

Assuage To lessen a negative feeling.
the dark.

I assumed he was rich because he

Assume To suppose without solid proof.
worked as a lawyer.
 She augments her regular salary by
Augment To increase or make larger.
babysitting on the weekends.

A benefit of doing homework on Friday

Benefit Something positive or advantageous.
is that your weekend will be free.

Our neighbor berated us after we broke

Berate To scold.
his window playing baseball.

The medal was bestowed upon him by

Bestow To give as a gift.
the president.

He always boasts of his talents after he

Boast To brag or talk with excessive pride.
wins a game.

I gave him a pep talk to boost his self-

Boost To help raise or increase something.
esteem before his speech.

The brash man always asked

Brash Rude and tactless.
inappropriate questions.

It will only have a brief meeting, so

Brief Short (in terms of time).
you’ll still have plenty of time for lunch.

After being away for so long, I expected

Brusque Abrupt to the point of rudeness.
more than her brusque greeting.

The cuckoo clock shop lets off a

Cacophony A harsh, unpleasant mixture of noise.
cacophony every hour.

Cease To stop. I wish they would cease arguing.

Every parent in our district censured the

Censure To express strong disapproval.
education cuts.

Put the historical events in

Chronological Arranged in order of time or date. chronological order to make them
easier to study.

I didn’t understand the instructions, so I

Clarify To make clear; to remove confusion.
asked the teacher to clarify them.

The people on the street eventually

Coalesce To combine or grow together.
coalesced into a group.

The young boy was coerced into stealing

Coerce To force someone to do something against their will.
by his friends.
 Before mountain climbing, you need to
Cognizant Being aware or having knowledge of something.
be cognizant of the risks.

Water molecules show strong cohesion

Cohesion Uniting; becoming one.
when they stick together.

This year Thanksgiving coincided with

Coincide To occur at the same time.
my birthday.

The old building finally collapsed,

Collapse To fall down or break down.
leaving nothing but a pile of rubble.

Collide To hit one another with a forceful impact. The two cars collided on the freeway.

Joining a school play is a big

Commitment Dedication to a cause or activity. commitment. You’ll need to practice
every evening.

The Chinese community in my city is

Community A group of people who live or work together. hosting a New Year celebration next
week.

The mountains concealed the ocean

Conceal To hide.
from view.

He believes women should be paid as

Concur To agree.
much as men, and I concur.

The conflict between the two families

Conflict A disagreement or fight.
has been going on for generations.

You should move your plant to a bigger

Constrain To restrict or repress.
pot, otherwise you’ll constrain its roots.

I spend a lot of time contemplating

Contemplate To consider thoughtfully.
what career I want to have.

My neighbors have been continuously

Continuously To go on without stopping.
blasting their music since last night.

I told the employees that sales were

Contradict To give the opposite opinion. down, but my boss contradicted me and
said sales were actually up.

To give something (usually money or time) to a Every roommate contributes part of his
Contribute
common fund or cause. paycheck to the grocery bill.
 I’ve conveyed my interest in working for
Convey To make known.
that company.

He always takes copious notes during

Copious Abundant.
class to study later on.

Although many employees left the

Core Central; of main importance.
company, the core leadership remained.

Corrode To gradually wear away. The rust corroded the paint on my car.

Trying to carry four grocery bags at once

Cumbersome Burdensome; clumsy
was very cumbersome.

Our school needs to add more music

Curriculum The courses given by a school or program.
courses to its curriculum.

The data from these graphs show that

Data Facts, statistics, or pieces of information.
yearly temperatures are increasing.

After the tree died, its wood began to

Decay To decline in health or excellence.
decay.

He deceived me by pretending to be a
Deceive To trick or mislead.
millionaire.

Decipher To find the meaning of. The spy deciphered the secret code.

He made a declaration to the office that

Declaration An announcement.
he was quitting.

1. To politely refuse.

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2. To deteriorate (especially in terms of health.)

 My attempt at cake degraded into a
Degrade To lower in quality.
crumbly mess.

Let me demonstrate the proper way of

Demonstrate To show.
throwing a football.

Deny To state that something isn’t true. He denied being the robber.

Your shopping sprees have depleted my

Deplete To significantly decrease.
savings.

Please deposit your books in the bin

Deposit To deliver and leave an item.
outside the library.

Bravery is a desirable trait for

Desirable Worth having or wanting.
firefighters to have.

Despise To hate. I despise early morning classes.

The police dog detected the missing

Detect To locate something.
child’s scent.

The warning signs on the house

Deter To discourage.
deterred trespassers.

I decided to deviate from my normal

Deviate To differ from the norm.
route home and took a shortcut.

The coach devised a plan for winning

Devise To plan or create.
the game.

The politician went into a diatribe

Diatribe A sharp criticism or attack.
against her opponent.

The teacher digressed from the lecture

Digress To wander from the main subject.
to discuss the weather.

The student faced the dilemma of

A situation where one must choose between two
Dilemma attending school sick or missing her
difficult choices.
exam.

Sprinkle baking soda on the carpet to

Diminish To shrink or reduce.
diminish the stain.

Dispose To get rid of. I need to dispose of this trash.

 The piece of pie I received was
Disproportionate Too large or small when compared to something else.
disproportionately small.

The protesters disrupted the politician’s

Disrupt To interrupt by causing a disturbance.
speech.

Distort To misrepresent. The camera filter distorted the image.

Distribute the materials evenly among

Distribute To give portions of something.
the class.

Diverse Showing a lot of variety. This city has a very diverse population.

Because of the accident, the police had

Divert To cause a change of course.
to divert traffic down a side street.

The theater has dynamic shows, so you

Dynamic Constantly changing.
never know what you’ll see.

Ease To reduce unpleasantness or difficulty. This prescription will ease your allergies.

Now that I’m following a schedule at

Efficient Maximizing productivity.
work, I’m much more efficient.

Our team lost the match and was

Eliminate To remove.
eliminated from the competition.

The elite detective team were also sent

Elite A select, above-average group.
for when there were big crimes.

Her eloquent writing has gained her

Eloquent Moving speech or writing.
many fans.

To give special importance to when speaking or The teacher emphasized the due date of
Emphasize
writing. the project.

He has endured four knee operations so

Endure To suffer through something difficult with patience.
far.

The falling snow enhanced the beauty

Enhance To intensify or magnify.
of the small village.

Epitome A perfect example of something. The duchess is the epitome of class.

Equivalent Equal. Twenty-four is equivalent to two dozen.

He apologized for his erroneous

Erroneous Incorrect.
statement.
 Try to get an estimate of the number of
Estimate An approximate value.
people attending the concert.

By hiding in the bathroom, we were

Evade To avoid or escape.
able to evade the intruder.

At the end of the class, every student

Evaluate To assess. will evaluate how well the professor
taught.

Facts or information that help prove or disprove

Evidence These fossils are evidence of evolution.
something.

The small school evolved into a world-

Evolve To gradually change.
class institution.

She is an exemplary student, and you

Exemplary Worthy of imitation.
should copy her study habits.

The young boy was excluded from his

Exclude To leave out.
friends’ soccer game.

We may not be able to get in since that

Exclusive Not admitting the majority.
club is very exclusive.

Adding air to bike tires will cause them

Expand To increase in size.
to expand.

The surgeon’s expertise is knee

Expertise Expert knowledge or skill in a particular field.
surgeries.

The company exploited its workers by

Exploit To use selfishly.
making them work long hours.

The emails presented exposed the

Expose To reveal or unmask.
company’s corruption.

If you’re sick on the day the paper is

Extension An act of making something longer. due, the teacher may give you an
extension on the due date.

Extract To get or remove something. The dentist extracted one of my teeth.

Millions of children in Ethiopia died due

Famine A time when there is an extreme lack of food.
to the famine there.
 This study plan you made for me sounds
Feasible Possible to do.
feasible, even with my work schedule.

Remember that life is finite; you’re not

Finite Having an end or limits.
immortal.

I got the diamond for a reduced price

Flaw A feature that ruins the perfection of something.
since the stone had a flaw.

I’m not sure what to wear since the

Fluctuate To change continually. temperature has been fluctuating so
much.

The program is going to focus on

Focus The central point or idea.
environmental issues.

The king decided to fortify the castle

Fortify To strengthen.
walls to protect them during attacks.

Skyscrapers must have a strong

Framework A skeletal structure designed to support something.
framework to support all the floors.

You must stop spending your money on

Frivolous Unnecessary; of little importance
frivolous purchases.

The function of petals is to attract

Function A purpose natural to a person or thing.
insects to the plant.

Learning scales is fundamental to being

Fundamental Of primary importance.
a good piano player.

Be careful to avoid the gap between the

Gap A space in between to objects.
two steps.

Our answering machine is so bad that

Garbled Communication that is distorted and unclear.
people’s voices are always garbled.

The fire generates heat, which keeps

Generate To produce.
the room warm.

The actress had only one small part

Grandiose Pompous; overly important. before she got grandiose ideas of her
fame.

HIs poems contain many hackneyed

Hackneyed Overused and unoriginal.
phrases.
 There was no schedule, so the event
Haphazard Lacking planning.
was very haphazard.

Her comments on my performance

Harsh Not gentle; unpleasant.
were very harsh and not kind at all.

In order to avoid the police, the robbers

Hasty In a hurry.
made a hasty retreat.

The nuclear reactor has a lot of

Hazardous Full of risk.
hazardous waste.

She hesitated before entering the

Hesitate To pause, often due to reluctance.
abandoned building.

In the office hierarchy, the manager is

Hierarchy A ranking system.
higher than the associate.

Her hatred of public transportation is a

Hindrance Something that causes delay or resistance. hindrance when trying to get around
New York City.

Hollow Empty inside. The dead tree is hollow.

The haunted house filled me with

Horror An intense feeling of fear.
horror.

My ex-boyfriend’s new girlfriend was

Hostile Extremely unfriendly.
very hostile towards me.

You’ll need to conduct an experiment to

Hypothesis An unproven idea that attempts to explain something.
test your hypothesis.

Identical Exactly the same. The twins were completely identical.

Because he’d never been able to attend

Illiterate Unable to read.
school, the man was illiterate.

The professor illustrated the lesson with

Illustrate To explain by using an example.
a personal story.

His moving words had a large impact on

Impact Effect or influence.
me.

Drinking alcohol will impair your driving

Impair To worsen.
abilities.
 We will implement the new schedule
Implement To carry out.
starting next semester.

My mother implied that I was the one

Imply To strongly suggest.
who forgot to take out the trash.

After the riots, the mayor imposed a

Impose To force upon.
curfew on the town.

These medical bills are going to

Impoverish To reduce to poverty.
impoverish me.

I hate my job, but the big paychecks are

Incentive A reason to do something.
a good incentive to stick with it.

I can’t sleep because of the dog’s

Incessant Continuing without pause.
incessant barking.

Don’t worry about your grade on this

Incidental A minor part. quiz; it’s only an incidental part of your
grade.

The ringleader incited the soldiers to

Incite To urge on.
rebellion.

Inclination A preference. My inclination is to go to bed early.

The incompetent worker was fired from

Incompetent Incapable; lacking ability.
his job.

His pitching has been very inconsistent

Inconsistent Changing randomly.
all season.

She is an indefatigable hiker and can

Indefatigable Untiring.
walk all day.

She’s the indisputable star of the

Indisputable Not able to be challenged.
basketball team.

The drug was shown to be ineffective at

Ineffective Not producing any major impact.
curing cancer.

Even if you’re healthy, death is

Inevitable Unable to be avoided.
inevitable in the end.

I inferred that she was annoyed based

Infer To guess based on evidence.
on her body language.
 Getting a promotion has really inflated
Inflate To increase in size.
his ego.

The older sister has been a positive

Influence The ability to have an impact of something.
influence on her younger siblings.

This cleaning spray inhibits the growth

Inhibit To hinder or restrain.
of bacteria.

She was the initial president of the

Initial The first.
company.

Congress launched an inquiry after the

Inquiry An investigation to determine the truth.
senator was accused of taking bribes.

You can’t quit. You’re an integral part of

Integral Necessary to complete the whole.
this team.

When making a cake, you need to fully

Integrate To combine.
integrate the wet and dry ingredients.

I need you to interpret this German

Interpret To explain the meaning of something.
speech for me.

To come between people, objects, or an event and When the toddlers couldn’t share their
Intervene
change what is happening. toys, their mothers had to intervene.

The intrepid mountain climber reached

Intrepid Fearless.
the top of Mt. Everest.

The pattern on this blanket is so

Intricate Highly detailed.
intricate.

We found the stranger’s questions too

Invasive Intrusive.
personal and very invasive.

The police are going to investigate the

Investigate To examine or study.
crime scene.

Even though my grandfather seems

Irascible Easy to anger.
irascible, he’s actually very loving.

The use of words to give a meaning opposite to their “I love spending my Friday nights doing
Irony
literal meaning. homework,” she said with irony.

Not sure which direction to go in, he

Irresolute Uncertain.
stood irresolute.
 To be a successful doctor, you’ll need to
Jargon Words specific to a certain job or group.
learn a lot of medical jargon.

The newlyweds jointly opened up a

Jointly Together.
bank account.

My brother has a real knack for solving

Knack A special talent or skill.
tricky math problems.

Labor Work or effort. Building a house requires a lot of labor.

I stayed with the front group of runners

Lag To fall behind. for the first few miles, but after that I
began to lag.

The cartoonist lampooned the

Lampoon To mock or ridicule.
president’s speech.

During winter break, my plants

Languish To become weak; to be neglected. languished since I was visiting my
parents and couldn’t water them.

The professor will give a 30 minute

Lecture A talk given to an audience.
lecture before the quiz.

I’m leery of taking the dark-looking

Leery Wary.
shortcut.

The way he became mayor is

Legitimate Lawful.
completely legitimate.

The judge gave the criminal a lenient

Lenient Merciful; less harsh.
sentence due to his bad childhood.

I don’t have much homework, so it’s

Likely Probable.
likely I’ll be able to go out tonight.

His claims about me are absolutely

Ludicrous Ridiculous.
ludicrous.

She has maintained the same weight

Maintain To continue at the same level.
since high school.

This test is a major part of your final

Major Very important.
grade.
 He tried to manipulate the results of the
Manipulate To influence, especially in an unfair way.
election.

The store’s goal this year is to maximize

Maximize To increase to the greatest possible size.
its profit.

By measuring the tree, I found it was

Measure To find the size and dimensions of something.
seven feet tall.

The meal the chef made was only

Mediocre Ordinary, average.
mediocre.

My mother will mend the hole in my

Mend To fix.
shirt.

Her method for making bread takes

Method A way of doing something.
three days.

Migrate To move from one place to another. Every fall, the geese migrate to Florida.

You need to get a minimum of 70% on

Minimum The smallest or lowest amount possible.
the test to pass the class.

The advertisement for the weight loss

Misleading Giving the wrong idea. pills is very misleading since studies
have shown they’re ineffective.

I need to modify my style so it looks

Modify To change.
more professional.

The boy was morose after hearing he

Morose Gloomy, depressed.
didn’t make the football team.

The negligent babysitter invited her

Negligent Lazy, neglectful. friends over while the children were
upstairs.

I was hurt when my friend greeted me

Nonchalant Indifferent, unexcited.
so nonchalantly.

My dog always obeys me when I ask her

Obey To follow orders or instructions.
to sit.

The spy obtained the secret codes we

Obtain To get.
need.
 The large poster of Michael Jackson
Obvious Easily understood. over her bed made it obvious who her
favorite singer was.

The soccer player blocked her

Opponent Someone on the opposite side for a game or contest.
opponent’s shot at the goal.

For the past ten generations the royal

Oppress To unfairly burden. family has oppressed the peasants by
keeping them in poverty.

The explorers are trying to find the

Origin The source; where something began.
origin of the Nile.

This work of art is a paradigm of the

Paradigm A typical example of something. period; you’ll see many examples of it in
the museum.

The parsimonious woman only donated

Parsimonious Frugal, stingy.
a dollar to charity.

My leg was feeling much better, so I

Partake To join in.
decided to partake in the soccer match.

We can get strawberry ice cream, but

Partial Preferring one option over others.
I’m actually more partial to chocolate.

During the drought, the town had a

Paucity Something existing in very small amounts; scarcity.
paucity of fresh water.

Winning the championship was the

Peak The highest or most important point.
peak of his career.

There are some peripheral fights going

Peripheral Located on the side or edge.
on at the outdoor concert.

Let the maple syrup permeate your

Permeate To penetrate or pass through.
waffles before eating them.

I may have lost my last six games, but I

Persist To continue, especially when facing opposition.
will continue to persist trying to win.

How does your question pertain to the

Pertain Relate.
lecture?

In high school, I went through a phase

Phase A period or stage in a process.
where I only wore black clothes.
 The polls show that my candidate is
Poll A record of opinions or votes.
going to win the election.

Only take one sleeping pill since they’re

Potent Powerful.
very potent.

Your boyfriend is too dramatic. I think

Pragmatic Practical, sensible.
you need a more pragmatic man.

The book is the best I’ve ever read; I

Praise To give approval or admiration.
can’t praise it enough.

The flower girls preceded the bride

Precede To come before.
when they walked down the aisle.

When collecting data, it’s important

Precise Exact. that your measurements are very
precise.

Harvard is one of the most prestigious

Prestigious Having a high reputation.
colleges in the United States.

If more people don’t start washing their

Prevalent Widespread. hands, disease will become more
prevalent.

Maeve’s primary goal in life is to

Primary First; most important.
become a doctor.

Prior to becoming a teacher, Elena

Prior Previous or earlier.
worked as a book editor.

I’m sorry for interrupting; please

Proceed To continue doing something.
proceed with your speech.

Progeny Offspring. The dog’s progeny all have yellow fur.

I’m promoting this new indie movie so

Promote To further to progress of something.
that more people will buy tickets to it.

Dave hopes his new business will

Prosper To do well.
prosper and make him a millionaire.

The twins hated to be apart, so they

Proximity Nearness in time or space. bought houses in close proximity to
each other.
 Nina and her boyfriend always quarrel
Quarrel Disagreement or fight; to have an argument.
over money.

The distance between two things, often the maximum The range of ages at the concert
Range
and the minimum. spanned from 12 to 65.

Archibald was promoted to the rank of

Rank An official position or station.
first captain.

After staying out too late, Grace

Rebuke To sternly disapprove or reprimand.
received a rebuke from her parents.

At the end of his speech, the politician

Recapitulate To give a brief summary. made sure to recapitulate his main
points.

Two days after the flood, the seawater

Recede To retreat.
finally began to recede from our house.

I need to ask Mr. Smith if he’ll

Recommend To present someone with confidence and approval. recommend me for this leadership
position.

Melanie’s father is in charge of

Reform To make changes that improve something.
reforming to school system.

To supervise or control a process so that it functions Ben needs to regulate how much he
Regulate
correctly. eats in order to stay at a healthy weight.

The builders reinforced the house’s

Reinforce To strengthen with added support.
wooden frame with steel beams.

Lydia rejected my invitation to the

Reject To say no to something that is offered.
homecoming dance.

The CEO decided to release the

Release To free; to allow to be known.
company’s profits from last year.

I rely on coffee to get my through my

Rely To depend on.
mornings.

The coach reproached the players for

Reproach To express disapproval or disappointment.
failing to play their best.

The camping trip requires that every

Require To need for a specific purpose. participant bring their own food and
sleeping bag.
 To feel bitterness or anger towards someone or I’ve always resented my sister because
Resent
something. she is my mother’s favorite child.

Due to his declining health, the mayor

Resign To give up an office or position.
decided to resign from office.

Resist the impulse to have ice cream for

Resist To withstand the effect of.
breakfast.

Matt resolved to get better grades next

Resolve To come to a firm decision.
semester by studying every night.

My doctor told me to restrict myself to

Restrict To confine or keep within limits.
one glass of wine a day.

I’ve decided to retain my normal

Retain To continue to do something or keep something.
hairstyle.

1. I felt calmer after the lion retracted

1. To draw back in.
its claws.
Retract 2. To withdraw something after it’s found to be
2. After numerous errors were found,
untrue.
the newspaper retracted the story.

Alexis got out of the car to retrieve the

Retrieve To bring back.
ball her little brother had thrown.

You aren’t expected to actually answer

Rhetorical Used just for style or impact.
rhetorical questions.

The boys’ father was happy to see the

Rigid Stiff; unyielding. base of the treehouse was rigid and
sturdy.

Rotate the sculpture so I can see the

Rotate To turn.
other side.

A retirement fund is one way to

Safeguard Something that serves as protection or ensures safety.
safeguard your finances for the future.

The judges were looking for perfection,

Scrutinize To very carefully examine.
so they scrutinized every entry.

This section of the stadium dressed

Section A part of the whole.
completely in red.
 Jane selected a blue dress to wear to
Select To choose.
the wedding.

Librarians need to know how order

Sequence Things that follow each other in a certain order.
books in the correct sequence.

1. The robbers suffered severe

1. Harsh or strict. consequences for stealing.
Severe
2. Grave, critical. 2. My uncle is currently battling a severe
illness in the hospital.

You don’t need to worry about getting

Shallow Not deep. your dress wet. The water is very
shallow here.

The empty barn gave the men shelter

Shelter To protect from something harmful.
during the storm.

Hopefully this cream will cause my scar

Shrink To become smaller.
to shrink.

The Gettysburg Address was a

Significant Important, noteworthy.
significant event during the Civil War.

A person, place, or thing where something was You shouldn’t use Wikipedia as a source
Source
obtained. when writing school papers.

The farm was almost empty; there were

Sparse Thinly scattered.
just a few sparse trees here and there.

You need to specify which size shirt you

Specify To clearly indicate which one.
want before I can order it.

My sister loves to speculate on the

Speculate To form a theory without strong evidence.
private lives of celebrities.

The hermit lives a solitary existence

Solitary Alone; without others.
deep in the mountains.

After losing the competition, the chess

Somber Gloomy; depressing.
players were very somber.

The mother sang a lullaby to soothe her

Soothe To calm or comfort.
crying baby.
 The shelter was squalid and
Squalid Filthy and unpleasant.
overcrowded.

We’re lucky to live in a country with

Stable Unlikely to change or fail.
such a stable government.

With few new jobs created, the

Stagnant Sluggish, showing little movement. economy has remained stagnant for the
past five years.

The football team will need a good

Strategy A plan to reach a desired outcome.
strategy to win the game tomorrow.

The first king was a good ruler, but

Subsequent Coming after something in time.
subsequent kings have all been corrupt.

If you don’t have sugar, honey makes a

Substitute A person or thing acting in place of another.
good substitute for this recipe.

Maya’s perfume was very subtle; you

Subtle Difficult to notice right away.
had to get close to her to smell it.

Make sure you have sufficient food for

Sufficient Enough to serve a particular purpose.
the camping trip.

The class didn’t have time to read the

Summarize To briefly give the main points. book, so the professor summarized it
for them.

My dad didn’t think we were old

Supervise To oversee work or a process. enough to build the fort on our own, so
he supervised us.

The king was supplanted by his

Supplant To take the place of something else. treacherous younger brother who
locked him in the dungeon.

1. The power outage suspended the

1. To temporarily stop. school concert.
Suspend
2. To hang something from somewhere. 2. The lamp is suspended from the high
ceiling.

The couple became suspicious when

Having the belief that someone is doing something they saw strange men removing their
Suspicious
dishonest or illegal. neighbor’s expensive electronics during
the night.
 I stopped trying to sustain the
Sustain To keep going. friendship after he made fun of how I
looked.

Symbolic Serving as a symbol. A cross is symbolic of Christianity.

The laptop manual is full of technical

Technical Relating to a specific subject or craft. terms only a computer expert can
understand.

Everyone on the train must get off at

Terminal Situated at the end.
the terminal stop.

I tolerate the rude man since he is my

Tolerate To put up with.
husband’s best friend.

Ben’s work is going to transfer him from

Transfer To move from one place to another.
Chicago to Detroit.

The transition from student to

Transition Changing from one state or condition to another. employee can often take awhile to get
used to.

1. The glass vase is completely

1. See-through material. transparent.
Transparent
2. Easy to detect. 2. Her attempt to flatter the movie star
was very transparent.

College tuition prices have gone up in

Tuition The fee for instruction at a school.
recent decades.

The prince’s bodyguards had mastered

Unobtrusive Not attracting attention.
the art of being unobtrusive.

Ian was lucky to walk away from the car

Unscathed Unharmed.
crash unscathed.

Even when she’s having a bad day, my

Upbeat Happy; optimistic.
mom always has an upbeat attitude.

Since I tried my hardest on the exam, I

Unjust Unfair. felt my teacher’s criticism of me was
unjust.

She vacillated between the two dresses

Vacillate To waver or be indecisive.
before finally deciding to wear a skirt.
 The soldiers had valid concerns about
Valid Just; well-founded.
the battles they’d be facing.

Vanish To disappear quickly. The plane vanished behind the clouds.

Vary To be different from something else in a group.

Verdict A judgement or decision. The jury delivered a guilty verdict.

A small trace of something that is disappearing or has The empty castle still had a few vestiges
Vestige
already disappeared. of its former wealth.

The chemist carefully filled the vial with

Vial A small container used to hold liquids.
the bubbling solution.

Mark was vilified by his angry ex-

Vilify To speak poorly of; to slander.
girlfriend.

The puffy wedding dress had

Voluminous Taking up a lot of space.
voluminous sleeves.

I always save my money whereas my

Whereas On the contrary.
brother is constantly in debt.

Wholly Completely. The monk is wholly devoted to his faith.

There is widespread poverty across that

Widespread Occurring over a large region.
country.

Plants will wilt if you don’t water them

Wilt To droop and become limp.
regularly.