Vocabulary Notes

Common Themes and Concepts

• Ownership & Authority

  • Slavery: The practice of owning and exploiting individuals as property.
  • Despot: A ruler with absolute power, often oppressive.
  • Abolition: The action of ending a system or practice.

• Nature & Environment

  • Ecosystems: Communities of living organisms interacting with their environment.
  • Fluctuate: To change continually in level, intensity, or value.
  • Cultivated: Prepared for growing crops; also refined or well-educated.

• Human Behavior & Society

  • Cynic: A person who believes others are motivated purely by self-interest.
  • Prejudice: An unjustified opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.
  • Altruism: Selfless concern for the well-being of others.

• Intellectual & Cultural Concepts

  • Renaissance: A period of renewed interest in art, literature, and learning.
  • Philosophers: Individuals who study fundamental questions about existence, knowledge, and ethics.
  • Aesthetic: Relating to beauty or the appreciation of art.

• Health & Biological Terms

  • Metabolic: Relating to metabolism, the chemical processes in living organisms.
  • Immunize: To make resistant to disease, typically by vaccination.
  • Bacteria: Microscopic organisms, some of which can cause disease.

• Communication & Rhetoric

  • Censure: Severe disapproval or criticism.
  • Rhetoric: The art of persuasive speaking or writing.
  • Tacit: Understood without being openly stated.

Detailed Vocabulary Entries

• Aberrant: Deviating from the norm.
• Acrid: Having a strong and unpleasant taste or smell.
• Adroit: Skillful and clever in using hands or mind.
• Alacrity: Cheerful readiness or eagerness.
• Ambiguous: Open to more than one interpretation; unclear.
• Anathema: A person or thing intensely disliked.
• Ascetic: Practicing strict self-discipline, often for religious reasons.
• Auspicious: Indicating a good chance of success.
• Benevolent: Kind and well-meaning.
• Capricious: Prone to sudden and unpredictable changes.
• Cacophony: A harsh, discordant mixture of sounds.
• Camaraderie: Mutual trust and friendship among people who spend time together.
• Cataclysm: A large-scale and violent event in the natural world.
• Cognizant: Having knowledge or being aware of.
• Defenestration: The act of throwing someone out of a window.
• Dichotomy: A division between two contrasting things.
• Ebullient: Overflowing with enthusiasm.
• Egregious: Outstandingly bad or shocking.
• Ephemeral: Lasting a very short time.
• Fastidious: Very attentive to detail; difficult to please.
• Garrulous: Excessively talkative, especially about trivial matters.
• Impecunious: Having little or no money.
• Juxtaposition: Placing things side by side for contrast.
• Lethargy: A state of sluggishness or lack of energy.
• Magnanimous: Generous or forgiving, especially toward a rival.
• Nefarious: Wicked or criminal.
• Obfuscate: To deliberately make something unclear.
• Pernicious: Having a harmful effect, especially in a gradual or subtle way.
• Quintessential: Representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class.
• Sycophant: A person who flatters others for personal gain.
• Tenacity: Persistence or determination.
• Ubiquitous: Present everywhere.
• Vicarious: Experienced in the imagination through the feelings or actions of another person.
• Zephyr: A soft, gentle breeze.