100 Words

Word	type	meaning	usage
aberration	n	something that differs from the norm	In 1974, Poland won the World Cup, but the success turned out to be an aberration, and Poland have not won a World Cup since"
abhor	v	to hate, detest	Because he always wound up getting hit in the head when he tried to play cricket, Marcin began to abhor the sport"
acquiesce	v	to agree without protesting	Though Mr"
alacrity	n	eagerness, speed	For some reason, Simon loved to help his girlfriend whenever he could, so when his girlfriend asked him to set the table he did so with alacrity"
amiable	adj	friendly	An amiable fellow, Neil got along with just about everyone"
appease	v	to calm, satisfy	When Jerry cries, his mother gives him chocolate to appease him"
arcane	adj	obscure, secret, known only by a few	The professor is an expert in arcane Kashubian literature"
avarice	n	excessive greed	The banker’s avarice led him to amass an enormous personal fortune"
brazen	adj	excessively bold, brash, clear and obvious	Critics condemned the writer’s brazen attempt to plagiarise Frankow-Czerwonko’s work"
brusque	adj	short, abrupt, dismissive	Simon’s brusque manner sometimes offends his colleagues"
cajole	v	to urge, coax	Magda's friends cajoled her into drinking too much"
callous	adj	harsh, cold, unfeeling	The murderer’s callous lack of remorse shocked the jury"
candor	n	honesty, frankness	We were surprised by the candor of the politician’s speech because she is usually rather evasive"
chide	v	to voice disapproval	Hania chided Gregory for his vulgar habits and sloppy appearance"
circumspect	adj	cautious	Though I promised Marta’s father I would bring her home promptly by midnight, it would have been more circumspect not to have specified a time"
clandestine	adj	secret	Announcing to her boyfriend that she was going to the library, Maria actually went to meet George for a clandestine liaison"
coerce	v	to make somebody do something by force or threat	The court decided that David Beckham did not have to honor the contract because he had been coerced into signing it"
coherent	adj	logically consistent, intelligible	William could not figure out what Harold had seen because he was too distraught to deliver a coherent statement"
complacency	n	self-satisfied ignorance of danger	Simon tried to shock his friends out of their complacency by painting a frightening picture of what might happen to them"
confidant	n	a person entrusted with secrets	Shortly after we met, he became my chief confidant"
connive	v	to plot, scheme	She connived to get me to give up my plans to start up a new business"
cumulative	adj	increasing, building upon itself	The cumulative effect of hours spent using the World English website was a vast improvement in his vocabulary and general level of English"
debase	v	to lower the quality or esteem of something	The large raise that he gave himself debased his motives for running the charity"
decry	v	to criticize openly	Andrzej Lepper, the leader of the Polish Self Defence party decried the appaling state of Polish roads"
deferential	adj	showing respect for another’s authority	Donata is always excessively deferential to any kind of authority figure"
demure	adj	quiet, modest, reserved	Though everyone else at the party was dancing and going crazy, she remained demure"
deride	v	to laugh at mockingly, scorn	The native speaker often derided the other teacher’s accent"
despot	n	one who has total power and rules brutally	The despot issued a death sentence for anyone who disobeyed his laws"
diligent	adj	showing care in doing one’s work	The diligent researcher made sure to double check her measurements"
elated	adj	overjoyed, thrilled	When he found out he had won the lottery, the postman was elated"
eloquent	adj	expressive, articulate, moving	The best man gave such an eloquent speech that most guests were crying"
embezzle	v	to steal money by falsifying records	The accountant was fired for embezzling €10,000 of the company’s funds"
empathy	n	sensitivity to another’s feelings as if they were one’s own	I feel such empathy for my dog when she’s upset so am I!"
enmity	n	ill will, hatred, hostility	John and Scott have clearly not forgiven each other, because the enmity between them is obvious to anyone in their presence"
erudite	adj	learned	My English teacher is such an erudite scholar that he has translated some of the most difficult and abstruse Old English poetry"
extol	v	to praise, revere	Kamila extolled the virtues of a vegetarian diet to her meat-loving boyfriend"
fabricate	v	to make up, invent	When I arrived an hour late to class, I fabricated some excuse about my car breaking down on the way to work"
feral	adj	wild, savage	That beast looks so feral that I would fear being alone with it"
flabbergasted	adj	astounded	Whenever I read an Agatha Christie mystery novel, I am always flabbergasted when I learn the identity of the murderer"
forsake	v	to give up, renounce	I won't forsake my conservative principles"
fractious	adj	troublesome or irritable	Although the child insisted he wasn’t tired, his fractious behaviour - especially his decision to crush his jam sandwiches all over the floor - convinced everyone present that it was time to put him to bed"
furtive	adj	secretive, sly	Claudia’s placement of her drugs in her sock drawer was not as furtive as she thought, as the sock drawer is the first place most parents look"
gluttony	n	overindulgence in food or drink	Helen’s fried chicken tastes so divine, I don’t know how anyone can call gluttony a sin"
gratuitous	adj	uncalled for, unwarranted	Every evening the guy at the fish and chip shop gives me a gratuitous helping of vinegar"
haughty	adj	disdainfully proud	The superstar’s haughty dismissal of her co-stars will backfire on her someday"
hypocrisy	n	pretending to believe what one does not	Once the politician began passing legislation that contradicted his campaign promises, his hypocrisy became apparent"
impeccable	adj	exemplary, flawless	If your grades were as impeccable as your brother’s, then you too would receive a car for a graduation present"
impertinent	adj	rude, insolent	Most of your comments are so impertinent that I don’t wish to dignify them with an answer"
implacable	adj	incapable of being appeased or mitigated	Watch out: once you shun Grandmother’s cooking, she is totally implacable"
impudent	adj	casually rude, insolent, impertinent	The impudent young woman looked her teacher up and down and told him he was hot"
incisive	adj	clear, sharp, direct	The discussion wasn’t going anywhere until her incisive comment allowed everyone to see what the true issues were"
indolent	adj	lazy	Why should my indolent children, who can’t even pick themselves up off the sofa to pour their own juice, be rewarded with a trip to Burger King?"
inept	adj	not suitable or capable, unqualified	She proved how inept she was when she forgot two orders and spilled a pint of cider in a customer’s lap"
infamy	n	notoriety, extreme ill repute	The infamy of his crime will not lessen as time passes"
inhibit	v	to prevent, restrain, stop	When I told you I needed the car last night, I certainly never meant to inhibit you from going out"
innate	adj	inborn, native, inherent	His incredible athletic talent is innate, he never trains, lifts weights, or practices"
insatiable	adj	incapable of being satisfied	My insatiable appetite for blondes was a real problem on my recent holiday in Japan!"
insular	adj	separated and narrow-minded; tight-knit, closed off	Because of the sensitive nature of their jobs, those who work for MI5 must remain insular and generally only spend time with each other"
intrepid	adj	brave in the face of danger	After scaling a live volcano prior to its eruption, the explorer was praised for his intrepid attitude"
inveterate	adj	stubbornly established by habit	I’m the first to admit that I’m an inveterate cider drinker—I drink four pints a day"
jubilant	adj	extremely joyful, happy	The crowd was jubilant when the firefighter carried the woman from the flaming building"
knell	n	the solemn sound of a bell, often indicating a death	Echoing throughout our village, the funeral knell made the grey day even more grim"
lithe	adj	graceful, flexible, supple	Although the dancers were all outstanding, Joanna’s control of her lithe body was particularly impressive"
lurid	adj	ghastly, sensational	Barry’s story, in which he described a character torturing his neighbour's tortoise, was judged too lurid to be published on the English Library's website"
maverick	n	an independent, nonconformist person	John is a real maverick and always does things his own way"
maxim	n	a common saying expressing a principle of conduct	Ms"
meticulous	adj	extremely careful with details	The ornate needlework in the bride’s gown was a product of meticulous handiwork"
modicum	n	a small amount of something	Refusing to display even a modicum of sensitivity, Magda announced her boss’s affair to the entire office"
morose	adj	gloomy or sullen	David’s morose nature made him very unpleasant to talk to"
myriad	adj	consisting of a very great number	It was difficult to decide what to do on Saturday night because the city presented us with myriad possibilities for fun"
nadir	n	the lowest point of something	My day was boring, but the nadir came when my new car was stolen"
nominal	adj	trifling, insignificant	Because he was moving the following week and needed to get rid of his furniture more than he needed money, Kim sold everything for a nominal price"
novice	n	a beginner, someone without training or experience	Because we were all novices at archery, our instructor decided to begin with the basics"
nuance	n	a slight variation in meaning, tone, expression	The nuances of the poem were not obvious to the casual reader, but the teacher was able to point them out"
oblivious	adj	lacking consciousness or awareness of something	Oblivious to the burning smell emanating from the kitchen, my father did not notice that the rolls in the oven were burned until much too late"
obsequious	adj	excessively compliant or submissive	Donald acted like Susan’s servant, obeying her every request in an obsequious manner"
obtuse	adj	lacking quickness of sensibility or intellect	Political opponents warned that the prime minister’s obtuse approach to foreign policy would embroil the nation in mindless war"
panacea	n	a remedy for all ills or difficulties	Doctors wish there was a single panacea for every disease, but sadly there is not"
parody	n	a satirical imitation	A hush fell over the classroom when the teacher returned to find Magdalena acting out a parody of his teaching style"
penchant	n	a tendency, partiality, preference	Fiona’s dinner parties quickly became monotonous on account of her penchant for Indian dishes"
perusal	n	a careful examination, review	The actor agreed to accept the role after a three-month perusal of the movie script"
plethora	n	an abundance, excess	The wedding banquet included a plethora of oysters piled almost three feet high"
predilection	n	a preference or inclination for something	James has a predilection for eating toad in the whole with tomato ketchup"
quaint	adj	charmingly old-fashioned	Mary was delighted by the quaint bonnets she saw in Romania"
rash	adj	hasty, incautious	It’s best to think things over calmly and thoroughly, rather than make rash decisions"
refurbish	v	to restore, clean up	After being refurbished the old Triumph motorcycle commanded the handsome price of $6000"
repudiate	v	to reject, refuse to accept	Tom made a strong case for an extension of his curfew, but his mother repudiated it with a few biting words"
rife	adj	abundant	Surprisingly, the teacher’s writing was rife with spelling errors"
salient	adj	significant, conspicuous	One of the salient differences between Alison and Helen is that Alison is a couple of kilos heavier"
serendipity	n	luck, finding good things without looking for them	In an amazing bit of serendipity, penniless Mark found a $50 bill on the back seat of the bus"
staid	adj	sedate, serious, self-restrained	The staid butler never changed his expression no matter what happened"
superfluous	adj	exceeding what is necessary	Samantha had already won the campaign so her constant flattery of others was superfluous"
sycophant	n	one who flatters for self-gain	Some see the people in the cabinet as the Prime Minister’s closest advisors, but others see them as sycophants"
taciturn	adj	not inclined to talk	Though Magda never seems to stop talking, her brother is quite taciturn"
truculent	adj	ready to fight, cruel	This club doesn’t really attract the dangerous types, so why was that bouncer being so truculent?"
umbrage	n	resentment, offence	He called me a lily-livered coward, and I took umbrage at the insult"
venerable	adj	deserving of respect because of age or achievement	The venerable High Court judge had made several key rulings in landmark cases throughout the years"
vex	v	to confuse or annoy	My boyfriend vexes me by pinching my bottom for hours on end"
vociferous	adj	loud, boisterous	I’m tired of his vociferous whining so I’m breaking up with him"
wanton	adj	undisciplined, lewd, lustful	Joanna’s wanton demeanor often made the frat guys next door very excited"
zenith	n	the highest point, culminating point	I was too nice to tell Emily that she had reached the absolute zenith of her career with that one top 10 hit of hers"