English II Honors Vocabulary

ebullient adj. 1. boiling, agitated 2. exuberant.

harbinger n. a person or thing that comes before to announce or give an indication of what follows; herald.

hasten v. / haste n. cause to move quickly, urge on, quicken, hurry.

iconoclastic adj./ iconoclasm n. characterized by attack on established beliefs or institutions.

infelicity n. / infelicitous adj. a state of being unhappy or unfortunate; an instance of unhappiness or misfortune; the quality of NOT being appropriate to an occasion or circumstance.

latitudinarian adj. holding or expressing broad or tolerant views, especially on religion; 2. any of a group of Anglican Christians active from the 17th through the 19th century who were opposed to dogmatic positions of the Church of England.

lyrical adj. / lyricicm n. 1. the character or quality of subjectivity and sensuality of expression, especially in the arts; 2. the quality or state of being melodious; melodiousness; 3. an intense outpouring of exuberant emotion.

overweening adj. 1. presumptuously arrogant; overbearing; 2. excessive; immoderate.

paragon n. 1. a pattern or model of excellence; 2. a person who is an exemplar of a virtue or a model of character.

liquidate v. 1. clear away, resolve; pay (a debt); 2. put an end to or get rid of, esp. by violent means; wipe out 3. convert to liquid (monetary) assets.

acolyte n. 1. one who assists the celebrant in the performance of liturgical rites. 2. a devoted follower or attendant.

acerbic adj. sour or bitter, as in taste, character, or tone.

festoon v./ n. to decorate, adorn. 2. a decorative chain or strip hanging between two points.

dragoon n. / v. 1. orig. a mounted infantryman in the household troops of the British army; a rough, fierce man; 2. set dragoons upon; force, drive, persecute or oppress by rigorous or harassing measure.

fricative n. consonant characterized by frictional passage of expired breath through a narrowing at some point in the vocal tract.

garish adj. 1. excessively bright; glaring, tacky. 2. excessively ornate or elaborate, as buildings or writings.

louche adj. of questionable taste or morality.

usurp v. appropriate or take over (a right, prerogative, etc.) wrongfully; esp. seize or assume (another’s position or authority) by force.

leery adj. 1. knowing, sharp, street-wise; 2. shy, doubtful, suspicious, wary.

humor n. mental disposition, temperament, mood.

ordure n. filth, dirt, excrement, dung; moral defilement, corruption, obscene language or action.

offal n. 1. the edible parts cut off as less valuable in dressing the carcass of an animal meant for food, esp. the entrails and internal organs; 2. the parts of a slaughtered or dead animal unfit for human consumption; decomposing flesh; carrion.

vitriol n. acrimonious, caustic, or scathing speech, criticism, or feeling.

splenetic adj. 1. of or pertaining to the spleen; 2. characterized by or tending to cause
melancholia; 3. irritable, peevish, ill-tempered, testy.

gauche adj. lacking in tact or ease of manner, awkward, blundering; crude, unsophisticated.

lachrymose adj. tearful, inclined to weep.

mercurial adj. demonstrating personal qualities supposed to be associated with being born under the planet Mercury, including liveliness, ready-wit, volatility, rapid changeability.

sanguine adj. 1. of or pertaining to blood; 2. having a temperament characterized by the predominance of blood over the other 3 bodily humors, confident, optimistic, eager.

torrid adj.1. scorched, burned, intensely hot; 2. ardent, zealous, fiercely passionate.

turgid adj. 1. swollen, distended; 2. (of language) inflated, bombastic.

torpid adj./ torpor n. inactive, apathetic, slow, sluggish, dull.
surmise v. form an idea or suspect; form an idea or suspect that something may be true, but without proof or certainty; infer conjecturally or guess.

surreptitious adj.1. obtained by suppression of the truth or by fraudulent misrepresentation; 2. (of a piece of writing or printing) spurious, forged, issued without authority, pirated.

formulaic adj. of the nature of a formula, predictable, un-original

wanton adj. 1. Immoral or chaste; lewd 2. Unrestrainedly excessive 3. Luxuriant; overabundant 4. frolicsome; playful.

sanctimonious adj. affecting piety, pretending holiness or sanctity.

mimesis n. / mimetic adj.1. imitation of another's words or actions; 2. the representation of the real world in art, poetry, etc. / pertaining to, characterized by, or of the nature of imitation, esp. of the real world in art, literature, etc.

ephemera n. / ephemeral adj. 1. a person or thing of short-lived interest or use; 2. a fever lasting only one day. 2. characterized by short-lived interest or use.

elegy n. / elegiac adj. a song of lamentation, esp. for the dead; a formal poem written in elegiac meter (a classical metrical form).

eulogy n. a speech or piece of writng in praise of a person or thing, esp. of a person who has recently died.

epistle n. / epistolary adj1. a letter, esp. one of a literary, formal, or public nature; 2. any of various books in the New testament which originated as apostolic letters to Christian communities and individuals. 3. written in the form of a letter.