AP
English
Ms.
Thompson
These
words will be helpful to know for the AP test.
amorphous: lacking definite form; shapeless
bemused: bewildered; confused
capricious: characterized by or subject to whim; impulsive
causal: of or involving a cause (e.g. a causal relationship
between two variables)
conciliatory: characterized by attempts at reconciliation; characterized by a
desire to
overcome distrust or animosity
degenerate: having fallen to an undesirable state, esp. mentally or morally
discursive: covering a wide field of subjects; rambling
disjointed: lacking order or coherence
expository: contains information about or explains a subject
flippant: marked by disrespectful levity or casualness; pert
glib: showing little thought, preparation or concern; marked by ease
and fluency of
speech or writing that often suggests insincerity,
superficiality, or deceitfulness
inexorable: incapable of being persuaded by entreaty; relentless
integral: essential or necessary for completeness
judicious: having or exhibiting sound judgment; prudent
laconic: marked by the use of few words; terse or concise
nascent: coming into existence; emerging
nostalgic: marked by a bittersweet longing for things, persons, or
situations of the past
pedantic: characterized by a narrow, often ostentatious concern for book
learning and
formal
rules
poignant:
profoundly moving; touching
representational: of or relating to realistic graphic representation
superficial: concerned with only what is apparent or obvious; shallow
unaffected: marked by lack of affectation; genuine and sincere
whimsical: determined by sudden or capricious ideas; fanciful
acuity: accuracy of vision or perception
ambivalence: uncertainty or indecisiveness about which course to follow
apostrophe: a figure of speech in which the speaker talks directly to an
object or absent person
ardor: fiery intensity of feeling; strong enthusiasm or devotion
austerity: the quality of being severe, stern, or bare of ornament
connotation: the meanings of a word that are suggested or implied
detachment: absence of prejudice or bias; indifference to the concerns of
others
denotation: the literal meaning of a word (dictionary definition)
disparity: the condition or fact of being unequal; unlikeness
doggerel: crude, simplistic verse, often in singsong rhyme
double
entendre: a word or phrase having a double meaning,
esp. when the second meaning is risqué
eminence: a position of great strength or superiority
epigram: a concise, clever, often paradoxical statement
hyperbole: exaggeration used for effect
periodic
sentence: a sentence not grammatically complete until
its final word
plenitude: an ample amount or quantity; an abundance
protagonist: the main character of a literary work
rectitude: moral uprightness; righteousness
vindictiveness: the desire to hurt or seek revenge
zeugma: the use of a word to modify two or more words, but with different
meanings for each
confound: to cause to become confused or perplexed
evoke: to call to mind by suggesting; to re-create, especially through
imagination
feign: to imitate so as to deceive (e.g., feign sleep)
promulgate: to make known (a decree, for example) by public declaration