| 1 | adroit | Dexterous, agile. |
| 2 | adumbrate | To very gently suggest. |
| 3 | aestivate | To summer, to spend the summer. |
| 4 | ailurophile | A cat-lover. |
| 5 | beatific | Befitting an angel or saint. |
| 6 | beleaguer | To exhaust with attacks. |
| 7 | blandiloquent | Beautiful and flattering. |
| 8 | caliginous | Dark and misty. |
| 9 | champagne | An effervescent wine. |
| 10 | chatoyant | Like a cat's eye. |
| 11 | chiaroscuro | The arrangement of dark and light elements in a picture. |
| 12 | cockle | A heart-shaped bivalve or a garden flower. |
| 13 | colporteur | A book peddlar. |
| 14 | conflate | To blend together, to combine different things. |
| 15 | cynosure | A focal point of admiration. |
| 16 | desuetude | Disuse. |
| 17 | diaphanous | Filmy. |
| 18 | diffuse | Spread out, not focused or concentrated. |
| 19 | dulcet | Sweet, sugary. |
| 20 | ebullient | Bubbling with enthusiasm. |
| 21 | effervescent | Bubbly. |
| 22 | efflorescence | Flowering, the opening of buds or a bloom. |
| 23 | elixir | A good potion. |
| 24 | emollient | A softener. |
| 25 | encomium | A spoken or written work in praise of someone. |
| 26 | ephemeral | Short-lived. |
| 27 | epicure | A person who enjoys fine living, especially food and drink. |
| 28 | epiphany | A sudden revelation. |
| 29 | erstwhile | At one time, for a time. |
| 30 | eschew | To reject or avoid. |
| 31 | esculent | Edible. |
| 32 | esoteric | Understood only by a small group of specialists. |
| 33 | ethereal | Gaseous, invisible but detectable. |
| 34 | etiolate | White from no contact with light. |
| 35 | evanescent | Vanishing quickly, lasting a very short time. |
| 36 | exuberant | Enthusiastic, excited. |
| 37 | felicitous | Pleasing. |
| 38 | fescue | A variety of grass favored for pastures. |
| 39 | foudroyant | Dazzling. |
| 40 | fragile | Very, very delicate. |
| 41 | fugacioius | Running, escaping. |
| 42 | gambol | To skip or leap about joyfully. |
| 43 | glamour | Beauty. |
| 44 | gossamer | The finest piece of thread, a spider's silk. |
| 45 | halcyon | Happy, sunny, care-free. |
| 46 | hymeneal | Having to do with a wedding. |
| 47 | imbricate | To overlap to form a regular pattern. |
| 48 | imbroglio | An altercation or complicated situation. |
| 49 | imbue | To infuse, instill. |
| 50 | incipient | Beginning, in an early stage. |
| 51 | ingenue | A naïve young woman. |
| 52 | inglenook | The place beside the fireplace. |
| 53 | inspissate | To thicken. |
| 54 | inure | To jade. |
| 55 | jejune | Dull; childish. |
| 56 | lagniappe | A gift given to a customer for their patronage. |
| 57 | lagoon | A small gulf or inlet in the sea. |
| 58 | languor | Listlessness, inactivity. |
| 59 | lassitude | Weariness, listlessness. |
| 60 | laughter | The response to something funny. |
| 61 | lilt | To move musically or lively, to have a lively sound. |
| 62 | lithe | Slender and flexible. |
| 63 | loquacious | Talkative. |
| 64 | luxuriant | Thick, lavish. |
| 65 | mellifluous | Sweet-sounding. |
| 66 | missive | A message or letter. |
| 67 | moiety | One of two equal parts, a half. |
| 68 | mondegreen | A misanalyzed phrase. |
| 69 | nebulous | Foggy. |
| 70 | niveous | Snowy, snow-like. |
| 71 | obsequious | Fawning, subservience. |
| 72 | odalisque | A concubine in a harem. |
| 73 | oeuvre | A work. |
| 74 | offing | That part of the sea between the horizon and the offshore. |
| 75 | onomatopoeia | The creation of words by imitating sound. |
| 76 | paean | A formal expression of praise. |
| 77 | palimpsest | A manuscript written over one or more earlier ones. |
| 78 | panacea | A complete solution for all problems. |
| 79 | panoply | A complete set. |
| 80 | pastiche | A mixture of art work (art or music) from various sources. |
| 81 | peccadillo | A peculiarity. |
| 82 | pelagic | Related to the sea or ocean. |
| 83 | penumbra | A half-shadow, the edge of a shadow. |
| 84 | peregrination | Wandering, travels. |
| 85 | petrichor | The smell of earth after a rain. |
| 86 | plethora | A great excess, overabundance. |
| 87 | porcelain | A fine white clay pottery. |
| 88 | potamophilous | Loving rivers. |
| 89 | propinquity | A nearness, similarity, or kinship. |
| 90 | Pyrrhic | Victorious despite heavy losses. |
| 91 | quintessential | The ultimate, the essence of the essence. |
| 92 | redolent | Sweet-smelling. |
| 93 | rhapsody | A beautiful musical piece. |
| 94 | riparian | Having to do with the bank of a river or other body of water. |
| 95 | ripple | A small, circular wave emanating from a central point. |
| 96 | scintillate | To sparkle with brilliant light. |
| 97 | sempiternal | Forever and ever. |
| 98 | seraglio | Housing for a harem. |
| 99 | serendipity | Finding something while looking for something else. |
| 100 | surreptitious | Sneaky. |
| BONUS WORDS | ||
| 101 | sussurous | Producing a hushing sound, like flowing water. |
| 102 | symbiosis | Interdependence of two different species. |
| 103 | syzygy | The direct opposition of two heavenly bodies. |
| 104 | talisman | A symbolic object believed to have magical powers. |
| 105 | terpsichorean | Related to dance. |
| 106 | tintinnabulation | Ringing. |
| 107 | umbrageous | Shady. |
| 108 | vestige | A small fragment. |
| 109 | whisper | Speaking without vibrating the vocal folds. |
| 110 | zyzzyva | A kind of beetle. |
first, and always be
5 months ago
