blandish
(v.) to coax by using flattery (rachel’s assistant tried to blandish her into accepting the deal.)
boon
(n.) a gift or blessing (the good weather has been a boon for many businesses located near the beach.)
brusque
(adj.) short, abrupt, dismissive (the captain’s brusque manner offended the passengers.)
buffet
1. (v.) to strike with force (the strong winds buffeted the ships, threatening to capsize them.)
2. (n.) an arrangement of food set out on a table (rather than sitting around a table, the guests took food from our buffet and ate standing up.)
burnish
(v.) to polish, shine (his mother asked him to burnish the silverware before setting the table.)
buttress
1. (v.) to support, hold up (the column buttresses the roof above the statue.)
2. (n.) something that offers support (the buttress supports the roof above the statues.)
c
cacophony
(n.) tremendous noise, disharmonious sound (the elementary school orchestra created a cacophony at the recital.)
cajole
(v.) to urge, coax (fred’s buddies cajoled him into attending the bachelor party.)
calumny
(n.) an attempt to spoil someone else’s reputation by spreading lies (the local official’s calumny ended up ruining his opponent’s prospect of winning the election.)
capricious
(adj.) subject to whim, fickle (the young girl’s capricious tendencies made it difficult for her to focus on achieving her goals.)
clemency
(n.) mercy (after he forgot their anniversary, martin could only beg maria for clemency.)
cogent
(adj.) intellectually convincing (irene’s arguments in favor of abstinence were so cogent that i could not resist them.)
concomitant
(adj.) accompanying in a subordinate fashion (his dislike of hard work carried with it a concomitant lack of funds.)
conflagration
(n.) great fire (the conflagration consumed the entire building.)
contrite
(adj.) penitent, eager to be forgiven (blake’s contrite behavior made it impossible to stay angry at him.)
conundrum
(n.) puzzle, problem (interpreting jane’s behavior was a constant conundrum.)
credulity
(n.) readiness to believe (his credulity made him an easy target for con men.)
cupidity
(n.) greed, strong desire (his cupidity made him enter the abandoned gold mine despite the obvious dangers.)
cursory
(adj.) brief to the point of being superficial (late for the meeting, she cast a cursory glance at the agenda.)
d
decry
(v.) to criticize openly (the kind video rental clerk decried the policy of charging customers late fees.)
defile
(v.) to make unclean, impure (she defiled the calm of the religious building by playing her banjo.)
deleterious
(adj.) harmful (she experienced the deleterious effects of running a marathon without stretching her muscles enough beforehand.)
demure
(adj.) quiet, modest, reserved (though everyone else at the party was dancing and going crazy, she remained demure.)
deprecate
(v.) to belittle, depreciate (always over-modest, he deprecated his contribution to the local charity.)
deride
(v.) to laugh at mockingly, scorn (the bullies derided the foreign student’s accent.)
desecrate
(v.) to violate the sacredness of a thing or place (they feared that the construction of a golf course would desecrate the preserved wilderness.)
desiccated
(adj.) dried up, dehydrated (the skin of the desiccated mummy looked like old paper.)
diaphanous
(adj.) light, airy, transparent (sunlight poured in through the diaphanous curtains, brightening the room.)
diffident
(adj.) shy, quiet, modest (while eating dinner with the adults, the diffident youth did not speak for fear of seeming presumptuous.)
discursive
(adj.) rambling, lacking order (the professor’s discursive lectures seemed to be about every subject except the one initially described.)
dissemble
(v.) to conceal, fake (not wanting to appear heartlessly greedy, she dissembled and hid her intention to sell her ailing father’s stamp collection.)
dither
(v.) to be indecisive (not wanting to offend either friend, he dithered about which of the two birthday parties he should attend.)
