Anguish: Extreme mental distress Complicity: the state of being in partnership or involvement in wrongdoing Confection: the process of preparing something Cravat: necktie Deleterious: Injurious to health Dereliction: the act of abandoning something Despair: A state in which all hope is lost or absent Desperation: A state in which all hope is lost or absent Dismal: Lack of skill Dived: to plunge into water Elite: the best of things considered collectively, as of a group Elusive: Difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze Emboldened: to make something bold Endure: to hold out against something Erroneous: containing errors, mistakes Hawkish: threatening diplomatic policy Hostile: characteristic of an enemy Hysterical: uncontrollably emotional Inebriated: to make drunk, intoxicate Innate: In-born Intrepid: Invulnerable to fear or intimidation Jingoism: the practice of jingoes Lurch: an instance of swaying abruptly Mallets: a wooden implement used for striking a surface Mandible: bone of the lower jaw Misnomer: misappropriate name or designation Misogyny: hatred of women Morph: a species that occurs in two or more forms Mumbo-jumbo: Language or ritual causing, or intending to cause, confusion Nonchalance: lack of concern Nugget: A lump of a precious metal

Petition: a formally drawn request to the person in authority for mercy Placebo: An innocuous or inert medication; given as a pacifier or to the

control group in experiments on the efficacy of a drug Pogrom: an organized massacre Prognosis: a forecast Punitive: inflicting punishment Ratified: to confirm by expressing approval Refinement: process of refining Replicated: Reproduce or make an exact copy of Riot: public disorder caused by a group of persons protesting against

another Sciatica: Neuralgia along the sciatic nerve Shire: the counties in the Midlands in which hunting is popular Silos: a pit for storing grains Sluggish: lacking energy Sluggish: lacking energy in actions Surge: a rushing forward movement Thwart: to oppose successfully Veered: to change the direction Abatement: termination Abysmal: extremely hopeless Acumen: keen insight Ambit: boundary or limit Anonymity: the state or quality of being anonymous Arid: extremely dry Caveat: a warning or caution Chicanery: deception by sophistry Clemency: the act of showing mercy Compliance: the tendency to yield Consortium: combination of financial institutions working together Contentious: quarrelsome Curb: anything that controls

Custom duty: a tax levied on the imports Deficit: Expenses minus incomes Docile: easily managed Erroneous: containing errors Evoke: to call up or cause to appear Exacerbated: aggravate Exacerbates: to aggravate Expedient: tending to promote some proposed object Foisted: impose fraudulently Formidable: causing fear Hassle: a disorderly dispute Herald: a royal or official messenger Immediacy: the quality of being immediate Incursion: invasion of a place or territory Inevitable: that cannot be avoided Intrusion: illegal act of entering Jeopardize: hazard or risk Lethal: deadly Lust: Intense sexual desire Murmur: a low continuous sound of distinct voices Neonatal: pertaining to newborn children Obviate: to prevent or eliminate Orgy: wild, drunken activity Pioneer: a person who is among those who first enter or settle a region,

thus opening it for occupation and development by others. Pivot: the end of a shaft Plum: a fruit or a tree Probation: the act of testing Proficiency: skill or expertness Rein: controlling or directing power Ruse: a trick Sacked: a large bag for storing grain

Shrink: to contract or lessen in size Sordid: dirty or filthy Stalling: shed for accommodation of an animal Sympathy: sharing feelings of another person Synapse: a region where impulses are received and transmitted Torpedoed: s self-propelled missile containing explosives Untenable: incapable of being defended Vague: not clearly stated Verdict: a judgment Whack: to strike with a smart blow Wrath: fierce anger Askance: with suspicion Bizarre: weird, unusual Breach: violation Brutal: cruel or inhuman Clutch: to hold tightly Codification: the process of arranging in a systematic form Commemorative: to honor the memory of someone Console: to lessen the grief De facto: in fact Decelerated: to decrease the velocity of something Dichotomy: division into parts Dismantle: to disassemble Egress: an exit Emulate: to try to equal or excel Entrenched: establish firmly Enunciate: to pronounce in a particular manner Expulsion: the act of expelling Extremist: supporter of extreme doctrines Fragile: delicate Frill: affectation of manner, style Fumbling: to fell about clumsily

Glumly: dejected Hordes: a large group Hostile: not friendly or generous Ideologues: a person who zealously advocates an ideology Impede: hindrances, obstruction Imponderable: that cannot be precisely determined Indicted: to charge with an offence Innumerate: unfamiliar with mathematical concepts Legitimate: according to the law Lethal: causing death Misdemeanour: instance of misbehaviour Mortal: deadly Mourning: period of grieving Naysayer: person who habitually expresses negative views Ominous: threatening Perpetual: continuing forever Perversely: persistent in what is wrong Plead: to use arguments Prodded: to poke with something pointed Reminiscent: suggestive Repatriation: to return to one’s own country Resilient: rebounding Retrospective: directed backwards Robust: vigorous Sabotaged: interference as by enemy agents Scandal: an offence caused by fault Scion: a descendant Sheer: unqualified, utter Skimpily: lacking in size, fullness Slaughter: brutal killing Sleuths: private investigator Solidarity: community of feelings and interests

Tantalise: tease by arousing expectations Tumultuous: highly agitated Tycoon: a businessperson with great power and wealth Unleash: set loose Venture: a business undertaking Vexing: to irritate or annoy Vigilant: alert Affront: a personal offensive act Aficionados: an ardent devotee Agglomeration: cluster of varied parts Apostates: A disloyal person who betrays or deserts his cause or religion or

political party or friend etc. Arbitrary: Based on or subject to individual discretion or preference or

sometimes impulse or caprice Articulate: Speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way Avenue: a wide street Battered: Damaged by blows or hard usage Brevity: the quality of expressing much in a few words Charade: blatant deception Cheekily: insolent Clientele: followers Collateral: Serving to support or corroborate Concede: to acknowledge as true Connived: to cooperate secretly Contemporary: Characteristic of the present Credence: belief as to the truth of something Cryptic: puzzling Curdled: Transformed from a liquid into a soft semisolid or solid mass Demographic: A statistic characterizing human populations (or segments of

human populations broken down by age or sex or income etc.) Detriment: loss or damage Eccentric: not situated in the center

Envisage: to visualize Expedited: to speed up the process of something Hagiography: A biography that idealizes or idolizes the person (especially a

person who is a saint) Ideology: body of doctrine or belief Imminent: Close in time; about to occur Impassioned: Characterized by intense emotion Incestuous: guilty of incest Indigenous: native Inevitable: Incapable of being avoided or prevented Intransigence: refusing to compromise Litigation: a lawsuit Logjam: an immovable pile of logs Logjam: Any stoppage attributable to unusual activity Magnanimous: Noble and generous in spirit Mandate: a command on a public issue Mandated: Assign under a mandate Massacred: Kill a large number of people indiscriminately Melancholic: gloomy Mogul: A very wealthy or powerful businessman Nepotism: Favoritism shown to relatives or close friends by those in power

(as by giving them jobs) Paradigm: A standard or typical example Pariah: A person who is rejected (from society or home) Pillage: The act of stealing valuable things from a place Pious: showing respect, devotion towards God Pitched: to fix in a definite place or location Plausible: having the appearance of truth Pragmatism: The attribute of accepting the facts of life and favoring

practicality and literal truth Ravage: A destructive action Reminiscent: Serving to bring to mind

Revive: to activate Savvy: to understand Scrutiny: investigation Serenaded: Sing and play for somebody Shoved: to move along by force Slain: Kill intentionally and with premeditation Spiels: a high flown speech Swathe: to wrap Tumultuous: highly agitated Unrepentant: Stubbornly persistent in wrongdoing Vanity: excessive pride in one’s appearance Allegiance: loyalty or devotion of a person Amok: a psychic disturbance characterized by depression Anodyne: a medicine which relieves pain Anonymity: the state of being unknown Anthropogenic: Of or relating to the study of the origins and development

of human beings Awash: covered or crowded Balustrade: a railing with supporting balusters Bawdy: indecent Benign: Pleasant and beneficial in nature or influence Boasted: to speak with pride Brandished: Exhibit aggressively Bristles: short, coarse hairs of animals Clamour: any loud, continued noise Clergy: group of ordained persons in a religion Cognitive: perception Collegial: involving shared responsibility Comatose: lacking alertness or energy Compassion: feeling of deep sympathy Conundrum: anything that puzzles Debunking: expose the falseness of something

Despotism: absolute power or control Distortion: something that is distorted Ensconced: hide securely Enshrined: to cherish as scared Existential: Derived from experience or the experience of existence Extolling: praise enthusiastically Fragility: easily broken or damaged Harping: talking about something persistently Hindrance: Something immaterial that interferes with or delays action or

progress Horrifically: To an appalling extent Iconoclasm: action of iconoclasts Inflicting: to impose something Islam phobia: Prejudice against Muslims Kneejerk: A reflex extension of the leg resulting from a sharp tap on the

patellar tendon Legitimate: according to the established law Loftily: arrogant Lopsided: leaning to one side Magniloquent: expressed in a lofty style Minaret: tower attached to a mosque Mired: wet, swampy ground Orthodox: customary Paranoia: excessive suspicion of the motives of others Plenary: Full in all respects Posterity: descendants of a person Pow-wow: a quick private conference Predatory: preying upon other animals for food Profusion: abundance Putatively: supposed Relented: become less severe Reluctance: unwillingness

Reluctance: unwillingness Replicate: an exact copy Resilience: power to recover Rigor: harshness Sanctity: scared Scarcity: A small and inadequate amount Scuttling: to run with hasty steps Sneak: to act in furtive manner Stagnant: dull and inactive Statute: enactment made by formal legislature Trumped: to excel Ungrudgingly: In a generous and ungrudging manner Veracity: truthfulness Vicious: unpleasantly severe Wracking: damage or destruction Absurdity: something senseless, illogical Accusation: Imputation of guilt Accused: charged with a crime or fault Affidavit: a written declaration made before an authorized official Agitation: urging of a cause before the public Anachronism: Something located at a time when it could not have existed

or occurred Anemic: lacking power, vitality Arbitration: settling of a dispute Articulate: capable of speech Barbaric: uncivilized Barrack: large building for lodging soldiers Bilateral: affecting two sides Bilking: to fraud or cheat Brazen: shameless Callous: insensitive and indifferent Cognizance: awareness

Cohesion: act of uniting Compliance: cooperation or obedience Conniving: to cooperate secretly Coyness: shy or modest Custodial: pertaining to custody Daft: Informal or slang term for mentally irregular Delineate: to trace the outline of Demeanor: behavior Dissident: disagreeing in opinion Dubious: doubtful Dugout: a kind of a boat Elite: best of something considered collectively Embroiled: conflict Encumbered: to hamper or hinder Genome: a set of chromosomes Herald: an official messenger Imposition: the laying on of something as a burden or obligation Inferior: lower in rank or degree Irrevocable: Incapable of being retracted or revoked Isolation: complete separation from others Juggernaut: an overpowering force Litigation: a lawsuit Mephitic: poisonous Nullifying: Declare invalid Obscured: vague or uncertain Outcry: a strong public expression of protest Outrageous: grossly offensive Pervasive: Spreading or spread throughout Potshot: an aimless shot Provoke: to anger, exasperate Purportedly: reputed or claimed Repentant: Feeling or expressing remorse for misdeeds

Seized: to grasp Sobering: Tending to make sober or more serious Sordid: Morally degraded Spurious: not genuine Suffice: Be sufficient; be adequate, either in quality or quantity Summitry: the act of holding a meeting Tainted: Touched by rot or decay Undermining: Destroy property or hinder normal operations Viciousness: without any content Alacrity: willingness Allegiance: loyalty of a citizen towards the government Allots: to divide or distribute Amputations: to cut off by surgery Anarchic: lawless Beacon: a warning signal Biomass: organic matter that is converted into fuel Canny: cautious Chafing: to wear by rubbing Chopper: a person or thing that chops Chunks: a thick lump of anything Contentious: quarrelsome Corrugated: to draw or bend into folds Covenants: a formal agreement Crux: a vital point Dalliance: a trifling away of time Debilitating: to make weak Dichotomy: dividing equally into two parts Envisage: to visualize Erotic: arousing sexual desire Evacuate: vacate Facade: The front side of a building

Ferry: a commercial service for transporting persons using boats and automobiles

Frosty: freezing Haystack: a stack of hay Hooked: hook-shaped Imbecile: a blockhead Intrepid: fearless Litany: a ceremonial form of prayer Lunacy: insanity Mimic: to imitate Monologues: comedic solo Precarious: uncertain Queenly: suggestive of a queen Receding: to move away Resonance: echoing Scavenging: to gather from discarded material Shtick: routine business inserted to gain attention to oneself Shun: to keep away from something Skein: a length of thread wound on a reel used in manufacturing Sluggish: lacking in energy Stack: orderly pile Stumbled: to strike foot against something Suffused: to overspread with something Tactful: skill in dealing with situations Unscathed: without suffering any injury or harm Venerable: commanding respect Wading: to walk in water Wielding: to use as a weapon Windfall: unexpected gain Accredited: officially recognized as meeting the essential requirements Aerosol: colloidal particles dispersed in smoke Apparent: readily seen

Augment: enlarge in size Bedlam: a state of wild uproar Belching: to eject gas from the mouth noisily Benign: gracious Boulders: a large worn rock Brutish: cruel Conduit: a pipe or tube for conveying water Culinary: used in cooking. Cusp: a pointed end Demise: death or decease Denigrate: defame Discern: recognize or apprehend Discotheque: a kind of a night club Eclectic: choosing from various sources Elite: the best of anything taken collectively Emanating: proceed Envy: a feeling of discontent with regards to another’s advantages Ethos: spirit of a culture Euphoria: state of intense happiness Exclusion: blocking the entrance Expatriate: to withdraw from his own country Explicit: clearly demonstrated Fazed: to cause to be disturbed Fervent: enthusiasm Foment: to promote the development of something Fragile: easily broken or damaged Fudged: foolishness Futile: ineffective Grapple: to hold something fast Heresy: accepted doctrine especially of a religious system Incongruent: not agreeing Lexicon: a dictionary

Litigant: person engaged in a lawsuit Lucrative: profitable Mural: a large picture painted directly on the wall Nugget: a lump of a precious metal Oblige: to bind morally or legally Onerous: troublesome Opacity: the state of being opaque Panacea: a remedy for all diseases Pedagogy: a function of a teacher Plausible: having an appearance of truth or reason Pragmatic: pertaining to a particular point of view Precinct: a district or city marked out for governmental or administrative

purposes Precursors: a predecessor Presage: a warning indication Proponent: the person who puts forward the proposal Rampant: violent in action Raptors: a raptorial bird Resonates: to resound Restitution: reparation made by giving compensation for a loss Retellings: updated version of a story Savvy: to understand Soothe: to relieve Trump: a fine person Vague: no clearly stated Affluent: wealthy Albeit: a conjunction meaning although, even if Amass: to come together Ambiguity: uncertainty of intention Anachronistic: something or someone that is not in its correct chronological

time Assert: to state with confidence

Assertion: a positive statement or declaration Commendable: worthy of praise Competence: sufficient quantity Dazzle: to impress deeply Dearth: lack of something Decipher: to make out the meaning of something Despotism: Absolute power or control Doggedly: persistent in effort Doled: distributing in charity Dragnet: a network for finding someone Drape: to cover with fabric gracefully Environs: outskirts of a city Envisage: to visualize Envision: to mentally picture a future event Ephemera: anything short-lived Epileptic: a disorder of the nervous system Evangelize: to preach the gospel to Evocative: tending to evoke Fledgling: an inexperienced person Hogwash: worthless stuff Impede: obstruction or hindrance Intervene: to come between disputing people Intriguing: to arouse the curiosity Intrusion: illegal act of taking possession of another’s property Lexicon: The vocabulary of a particular language Maestro: an eminent composer of music Olfactory: pertaining to the sense of smell Panoptic on: a building so designed that the interiors are visible from a

single point Paranoia: a mental disorder Plunge: to bring suddenly into action Profane: not devoted to holy

Reckon: to calculate in numbers Reify: to regard something as concrete Rendition: translation Resurrected: to bring back to life Sagging: to hang loosely Serf: a slave Subversion: to overthrow Suffrage: the right to vote Tantamount: equivalent in value or force Troves: a collection of objects Vigorous: energetic and forceful Wane: to decrease in strength or intensity Ambiguous: having several possible meanings or interpretations Amenable: willing to answer or act Amplification: to make larger, extend Anomaly: a deviation from the common rule Archive: documents or records of data Attrition: a reduction or decrease in numbers Beleaguered: to surround with military forces Bout: period or session Concomitant: accompanying Conscientious: something that is done according to one’s inner sense of

what is right Corpus: a complete collection of writings Crunches: to crush with the teeth Defaced: disfigure Dexterity: skill, agility Dystopian: a society characterized by human misery Efficacy: capacity of producing a desired result Emulate: to try to equal or excel Enamored: to be inflamed with love Encryption: to encode

Exhorts: to give urgent advice Hinted: an indirect but helpful suggestion Hitchhiked: to travel by standing on the side of the road and soliciting rides

from passing vehicles Hubristic: having excessive pride or self-confidence Humbled: not proud or arrogant Indignant: expressing strong displeasure Infuse: to introduce Intervene: to come between disgusting people Introvert: a shy person Labyrinth: a combination of paths or passages Malfeasance: performance by a public official of an act that is legally

unjustified Mandarins: a member of any of the nine ranks of public officials Meanders: taking an indirect course Muddle: to jumble up Nettle: any of the allied or similar plants Nuanced: a very slight difference or variation Outlast: to last longer than Pellets: a small rounded body Persevered: to persist in anything undertaken Precarious: uncertain Pretension: the laying of claim to something Punitive: inflicting punishment Rampant: Violent in action Ratify: to confirm by giving approval Rebuffing: an abrupt rejection Reneging: to go back on one’s word Robust: strong and vigorous Severance: the state of being severed Shielding: a broad piece of armor Solitude: the state of living alone

Spiel: a high-flown talk or speech Sprawling: to be spread out in an ungraceful manner Staggering: tending to overwhelm Tandem: one following or behind the other