Week  1

1. Indignity – noun an affront to one’s dignity or self-esteem
2. Reproach – noun a mild rebuke or criticism; disgrace or shame; verb express criticism toward
3. Listlessly – adv. in a listless manner
4. Bellows – noun a mechanical device that blows a strong current of air; used to make a fire burn more fiercely or to sound a musical instrument
5. Mesmerizing – adj. attracting and holding interest as if by a spell
6. Trill – noun a note that alternates rapidly with another note a semitone above it; the articulation of a consonant (especially the consonant `r’) with a rapid flutter of the tongue against the palate or uvula; verb pronounce with a trill, of the phoneme `r’; sing or play with trills, alternating with the half note above or below
7. Arpeggio – noun a chord whose notes are played in rapid succession rather than simultaneously
8. Reverie – noun an abstracted state of absorption; absentminded dreaming while awake
9. Fiasco – noun a sudden and violent collapse
10. Nonchalantly – adv. in an unconcerned manner; in a composed and unconcerned manner

Week 2

1. Encapsulate – verb put in a short or concise form; reduce in volume; enclose in a capsule or other small container
2. Gallantry – noun polite attentiveness to women; the qualities of a hero or heroine; exceptional or heroic courage when facing danger (especially in battle); courtesy towards women
3. Haute couture – noun high fashion designing and dressmaking
4. Transmute – verb alter the nature of (elements); change in outward structure or looks; change or alter in form, appearance, or nature
5. Tempered – adj. adjusted or attuned by adding a counterbalancing element; made hard or flexible or resilient especially by heat treatment
6. Rhetoric – noun study of the technique and rules for using language effectively (especially in public speaking); using language effectively to please or persuade; loud and confused and empty talk; high-flown style; excessive use of verbal ornamentation
7. Hyphenated – adj. (of words) combined by means of a hyphen to form a unit
8. Prodigy – noun an impressive or wonderful example of a particular quality; an unusually gifted or intelligent (young) person; someone whose talents excite wonder and admiration; a sign of something about to happen
9. Frenzied – adj. affected with or marked by frenzy or mania uncontrolled by reason; excessively agitated; transported with rage or other violent emotion
10. Lilting – adj. characterized by a buoyant rhythm

Week 3

1. Precarious – adj. affording no ease or reassurance; not secure; beset with difficulties; dangerously insecure; fraught with danger
2. Intimidated – adj. made timid or fearful as by threats; frightened into submission or compliance
3. Provincial – adj. characteristic of the provinces or their people; of or associated with a province; noun (Roman Catholic Church) an official in charge of an ecclesiastical province acting under the superior general of a religious order; a country person
4. Monsoon – noun a seasonal wind in southern Asia; blows from the southwest (bringing rain) in summer and from the northeast in winter; any wind that changes direction with the seasons; rainy season in southern Asia when the southwestern monsoon blows, bringing heavy rains
5. Insular – adj. narrowly restricted in outlook or scope; suggestive of the isolated life of an island; relating to or characteristic of or situated on an island
6. Palpitating – adj. having a slight and rapid trembling motion
7. Veranda – noun a porch along the outside of a building (sometimes partly enclosed)
8. Wizened – adj. lean and wrinkled by shrinkage as from age or illness
9. Derogatory – adj. expressive of low opinion
10. Predominantly – adv. much greater in number or influence

Week 4

1. Organdie – noun a sheer stiff muslin
2. Artillery – noun large but transportable armament; an army unit that uses big guns; a means of persuading or arguing
3. Taut – adj. pulled or drawn tight; subjected to great tension; stretched tight
4. Homely – adj. lacking in physical beauty or proportion; without artificial refinement or elegance; plain and unpretentious; having a feeling of home; cozy and comfortable
5. Tottering – adj. (of structures or institutions) having lost stability; failing or on the point of collapse; unsteady in gait as from infirmity or old age
6. Tacky – adj. (of a glutinous liquid such as paint) not completely dried and slightly sticky to the touch; tastelessly showy
7. Sidle – verb move sideways; move unobtrusively or furtively
8. Dingy – adj. causing dejection; thickly covered with ingrained dirt or soot; (of color) discolored by impurities; not bright and clear
9. Furtive – adj. marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed; secret and sly or sordid
10. Clabber – noun raw milk that has soured and thickened; verb turn into curds

Week 5

1. Sari – noun a dress worn primarily by Hindu women; consists of several yards of light material that is draped around the body
2. Fluidity – noun a changeable quality; the property of flowing easily
3. Caste – noun a social class separated from others by distinctions of hereditary rank or profession or wealth; (Hinduism) a hereditary social class among Hindus; stratified according to ritual purity; social status or position conferred by a system based on class
4. Scapegoat – noun someone punished for the errors of others
5. Scrutiny – noun a prolonged intense look; the act of examining something closely (as for mistakes)
6. Curtail – verb place restrictions on; terminate or abbreviate before its intended or proper end or its full extent
7. Referendum – noun a legislative act is referred for final approval to a popular vote by the electorate
8. Faculty – noun one of the inherent cognitive or perceptual powers of the mind; the body of teachers and administrators at a school
9. Tentative – adj. under terms not final or fully worked out or agreed upon; unsettled in mind or opinion
10. Appropriated – adj. taken without permission or consent especially by public authority

Week 6

1. Cobbler – noun tall sweetened iced drink of wine or liquor with fruit; a person who makes or repairs shoes; made of fruit with rich biscuit dough usually only on top of the fruit
2. Knave – noun one of four face cards in a deck bearing a picture of a young prince; a deceitful and unreliable scoundrel
3. Exalted – adj. of high moral or intellectual value; elevated in nature or style
4. Cull – noun the person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality; verb remove something that has been rejected; look for and gather
5. Vulgar – adj. conspicuously and tastelessly indecent; being or characteristic of or appropriate to everyday language; of or associated with the great masses of people; lacking refinement or cultivation or taste
6. Shrill – adj. of colors that are bright and gaudy; being sharply insistent on being heard; having or emitting a high-pitched and sharp tone or tones; verb utter a shrill cry
7. Hinder – adj. located at or near the back of an animal; verb put at a disadvantage; be a hindrance or obstacle to; hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of
8. Countenance – noun the appearance conveyed by a person’s face; the human face (`kisser’ and `smiler’ and `mug’ are informal terms for `face’ and `phiz’ is British); formal and explicit approval; verb consent to, give permission
9. Construe – verb make sense of; assign a meaning to
10. Cogitation – noun attentive consideration and meditation; a carefully considered thought about something

Week 7

1. Visage – noun the appearance conveyed by a person’s face; the human face (`kisser’ and `smiler’ and `mug’ are informal terms for `face’ and `phiz’ is British)
2. Puissant – adj. powerful
3. Emulation – noun effort to equal or surpass another; (computer science) technique of one machine obtaining the same results as another; ambition to equal or excel
4. Interred – adj. placed in a grave
5. Ambitious – adj. having a strong desire for success or achievement; requiring full use of your abilities or resources
6. Honorable – adj. worthy of being honored; entitled to honor and respect; used as a title of respect; not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent; deserving of esteem and respect; adhering to ethical and moral principles
7. Grievously – adv. in a grievous manner
8. Coffer – noun a chest especially for storing valuables; an ornamental sunken panel in a ceiling or dome
9. Heir – noun a person who is entitled by law or by the terms of a will to inherit the estate of another; a person who inherits some title or office
10. Bequeath – verb leave or give by will after one’s death

Week 8

1. Barren – adj. incapable of sustaining life; not bearing offspring; completely wanting or lacking; providing no shelter or sustenance; noun an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation
2. Conceit – noun the trait of being unduly vain and conceited; an artistic device or effect; a witty or ingenious turn of phrase; an elaborate poetic image or a far-fetched comparison of very dissimilar things; feelings of excessive pride
3. Augment – verb enlarge or increase; grow or intensify
4. Insurrection – noun organized opposition to authority; a conflict in which one faction tries to wrest control from another
5. Affability – noun a disposition to be friendly and approachable (easy to talk to)
6. Stoic – adj. seeming unaffected by pleasure or pain; impassive; pertaining to Stoicism or its followers; noun a member of the ancient Greek school of philosophy founded by Zeno; someone who is seemingly indifferent to emotions
7. Salutation – noun word of greeting used to begin a letter; (usually plural) an acknowledgment or expression of good will (especially on meeting); an act of honor or courteous recognition
8. Peril – noun a venture undertaken without regard to possible loss or injury; a source of danger; a possibility of incurring loss or misfortune; a state of danger involving risk; verb put in a dangerous, disadvantageous, or difficult position; pose a threat to; present a danger to
9. Gallant – adj. unflinching in battle or action; having or displaying great dignity or nobility; being attentive to women like an ideal knight; lively and spirited; noun a man who is much concerned with his dress and appearance; a man who attends or escorts a woman

Week 9

1. Drift – noun a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) passageway in a mine; the pervading meaning or tenor; a general tendency to change (as of opinion); something that is heaped up by the wind or by water currents; a force that moves something along; the gradual departure from an intended course due to external influences (as a ship or plane); a process of linguistic change over a period of time; verb be piled up in banks or heaps by the force of wind or a current; be subject to fluctuation; drive slowly and far afield for grazing; cause to be carried by a current; move in an unhurried fashion; vary or move from a fixed point or course; move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment; be in motion due to some air or water current; wander from a direct course or at random; live unhurriedly, irresponsibly, or freely
2. Anaphora – noun using a pronoun or similar word instead of repeating a word used earlier; repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of successive clauses
3. Facilitate – verb make easier; increase the likelihood of (a response); be of use
4. Prestigious – adj. exerting influence by reason of high status or prestige; having an illustrious reputation; respected
5. Sole – adj. not divided or shared with others; being the only one; single and isolated from others; noun right-eyed flatfish; many are valued as food; most common in warm seas especially European; the underside of footwear or a golf club; the underside of the foot; lean flesh of any of several flatfish; verb put a new sole on
6. Attribute – noun an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of an entity; a construct whereby objects or individuals can be distinguished; verb attribute or credit to; decide as to where something belongs in a scheme
7. Progressive – adj. advancing in severity; favoring or promoting reform (often by government action); favoring or promoting progress; (of taxes) adjusted so that the rate increases as the amount of income increases; gradually advancing in extent; noun a tense of verbs used in describing action that is on-going; a person who favors a political philosophy of progress and reform and the protection of civil liberties
8. Negate – verb prove negative; show to be false; make ineffective by counterbalancing the effect of; deny the truth of; be in contradiction with
9. Eloquence – noun powerful and effective language

Week 10

1. Matriarch – noun a female head of a family or tribe; a feisty older woman with a big bosom (as drawn in cartoons)
2. Bound – adj. confined by bonds; secured with a cover or binding; often used as a combining form; (usually followed by `to’) governed by fate; confined in the bowels; held with another element, substance or material in chemical or physical union; headed or intending to head in a certain direction; often used as a combining form as in `college-bound students’; bound by an oath; bound by contract; covered or wrapped with a bandage; noun a light, self-propelled movement upwards or forwards; the greatest possible degree of something; the line or plane indicating the limit or extent of something; a line determining the limits of an area; verb form the boundary of; be contiguous to; place limits on (extent or access); spring back; spring away from an impact; move forward by leaps and bounds
3. Render – noun a substance similar to stucco but exclusively applied to masonry walls; verb cause to become; pass down; coat with plastic or cement; give or supply; give back; make over as a return; melt (fat or lard) in order to separate out impurities; restate (words) from one language into another language; bestow; show in, or as in, a picture; give an interpretation or rendition of; to surrender someone or something to another; provide or furnish with
4. Equine – adj. of or belonging to the family Equidae; resembling a horse; noun hoofed mammals having slender legs and a flat coat with a narrow mane along the back of the neck
5. Stump – noun (cricket) any of three upright wooden posts that form the wicket; the part of a limb or tooth that remains after the rest is removed; the base part of a tree that remains standing after the tree has been felled; a platform raised above the surrounding level to give prominence to the person on it; verb remove tree stumps from; cause to be perplexed or confounded; travel through a district and make political speeches; walk heavily
6. Partisan – adj. devoted to a cause or party; adhering or confined to a particular sect or denomination or party; noun a pike with a long tapering double-edged blade with lateral projections; 16th and 17th centuries; a fervent and even militant proponent of something; an ardent and enthusiastic supporter of some person or activity
7. Avidity – noun a positive feeling of wanting to push ahead with something
8. Clause – noun (grammar) an expression including a subject and predicate but not constituting a complete sentence; a separate section of a legal document (as a statute or contract or will)
9. Tacit – adj. indicated by necessary connotation though not expressed directly
10. Dynasty – noun a sequence of powerful leaders in the same family

Week 11

1. Querulous – adj. habitually complaining
2. Disgruntled – adj. in a state of sulky dissatisfaction
3. Translucent – adj. almost transparent; allowing light to pass through diffusely
4. Resistant – adj. impervious to being affected; incapable of absorbing or mixing with; disposed to or engaged in defiance of established authority; relating to or conferring immunity (to disease or infection); able to tolerate environmental conditions or physiological stress
5. Gel – noun a colloid in a more solid form than a sol; a thin translucent membrane used over stage lights for color effects; verb become a gel; apply a styling gel to
6. Dollop – noun a small measure (usually of food)
7. Alienation – noun the action of alienating; the action of causing to become unfriendly; (law) the voluntary and absolute transfer of title and possession of real property from one person to another; the feeling of being alienated from other people; separation resulting from hostility
8. Assimilate – verb become similar to one’s environment; make similar; become similar in sound; take (gas, light or heat) into a solution; take up mentally
9. Dupe – noun a person who is tricked or swindled; verb fool or hoax
10. Piety – noun righteousness by virtue of being pious

Week 12

1. Sophistry – noun a deliberately invalid argument displaying ingenuity in reasoning in the hope of deceiving someone
2. Rationalize – verb remove irrational quantities from; think rationally; employ logic or reason; structure and run according to rational or scientific principles in order to achieve desired results; weed out unwanted or unnecessary things; defend, explain, clear away, or make excuses for by reasoning
3. Marginalize – verb relegate to a lower or outer edge, as of specific groups of people
4. Propagation – noun the spreading of something (a belief or practice) into new regions; the movement of a wave through a medium; the act of producing offspring or multiplying by such production
5. Inhumane – adj. lacking and reflecting lack of pity or compassion
6. Patriarch – noun a man who is older and higher in rank than yourself; any of the early biblical characters regarded as fathers of the human race; the male head of family or tribe; title for the heads of the Eastern Orthodox Churches (in Istanbul and Alexandria and Moscow and Jerusalem)
7. Dichotomy – noun being twofold; a classification into two opposed parts or subclasses
8. Accord – noun sympathetic compatibility; concurrence of opinion; a written agreement between two states or sovereigns; harmony of people’s opinions or actions or characters; verb allow to have; go together
9. Draconian – adj. of or relating to Draco or his harsh code of laws
10. Sovereign – adj. greatest in status or authority or power; (of political bodies) not controlled by outside forces; noun a nation’s ruler or head of state usually by hereditary right

Week 13

1. Domestic – adj. produced in a particular country; of concern to or concerning the internal affairs of a nation; of or involving the home or family; converted or adapted to domestic use; of or relating to the home; noun a servant who is paid to perform menial tasks around the household
2. Posterity – noun all future generations; all of the offspring of a given progenitor
3. Disenfranchisement – noun the act of withdrawing certification or terminating a franchise
4. Dissension – noun disagreement among those expected to cooperate; a conflict of people’s opinions or actions or characters
5. Compensate – verb make payment to; compensate; make amends for; pay compensation for; adjust for; do or give something to somebody in return; make reparations or amends for; make up for shortcomings or a feeling of inferiority by exaggerating good qualities
6. Subsidy – noun a grant paid by a government to an enterprise that benefits the public
7. Stigma – noun a skin lesion that is a diagnostic sign of some disease; an external tracheal aperture in a terrestrial arthropod; the apical end of the style where deposited pollen enters the pistil; a symbol of disgrace or infamy
8. Snafu – adj. snarled or stalled in complete confusion; noun an acronym often used by soldiers in World War II: situation normal all fucked up; verb cause to be in a state of complete confusion
9. Pilfer – verb make off with belongings of others

Week 14

1. Harmattan – noun a dusty wind from the Sahara that blows toward the western coast of Africa during the winter
2. Improvident – adj. not provident; not providing for the future; not given careful consideration
3. Haggard – adj. very thin especially from disease or hunger or cold; showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering; noun British writer noted for romantic adventure novels (1856-1925)
4. Plaintive – adj. expressing sorrow
5. Mirth – noun great merriment
6. Clan – noun group of people related by blood or marriage
7. Orator – noun a person who delivers a speech or oration
8. Gnash – verb grind together, of teeth
9. Capricious – adj. determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason; changeable

Week 15

1. Haggle – noun an instance of intense argument (as in bargaining); verb wrangle (over a price, terms of an agreement, etc.)
2. Coiffure – noun the arrangement of the hair (especially a woman’s hair); verb arrange attractively
3. Callow – adj. young and inexperienced
4. Pestle – noun a club-shaped hand tool for grinding and mixing substances in a mortar; a heavy tool of stone or iron (usually with a flat base and a handle) that is used to grind and mix material (as grain or drugs or pigments) against a slab of stone; machine consisting of a heavy bar that moves vertically for pounding or crushing ores; verb grind, mash or pulverize in a mortar
5. Foolhardy – adj. marked by defiant disregard for danger or consequences
6. Frond – noun compound leaf of a fern or palm or cycad
7. Succulent – adj. full of juice; noun a plant adapted to arid conditions and characterized by fleshy water-storing tissues that act as water reservoirs
8. Pandemonium – noun a state of extreme confusion and disorder
9. Stingy – adj. unwilling to spend; deficient in amount or quality or extent
10. Harbinger – noun an indication of the approach of something or someone; verb foreshadow or presage