• – – – A – – –

Abject

• Sunk to or existing in a low state or condition : very bad or severe

Acquiesce

• To accept, comply, or submit tacitly or passively —often used with in or to

Acquisition

• The act of acquiring something

Agility

• The quality or state of being agile : NIMBLENESS, DEXTERITY

Amazon

• A member of a race of female warriors of Greek mythology

Ambiguously

• Doubtful or uncertain especially from obscurity or indistinctness

Anchored

• A device usually of metal attached to a ship or boat by a cable and cast overboard to hold it in a particular place by means of a fluke that digs into the bottom

Anecdote

• Usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing, or biographical incident

Anointment

• To smear or rub with oil or an oily substance

Anticipatory

• Characterized by anticipation : ANTICIPATING

Apropos

• Being both relevant and opportune

Arbitrariness

• Existing or coming about seemingly at random or by chance

Arbitrary

• Existing or coming about seemingly at random or by chance or as a capricious and unreasonable act of will
• Based on or determined by individual preference or convenience rather than by necessity or the intrinsic nature of something

Archduke

• A sovereign prince

Arduous

• Hard to accomplish or achieve : DIFFICULT

Assailed

• To attack violently : ASSAULT

Assuaged

• To lessen the intensity of

Assemblage

• A collection of persons or things

Assertiveness

• Disposed to or characterized by bold or confident statements and behavioran
• Having a strong or distinctive flavor or aroma

Asymmetry

• Lack or absence of symmetry

Attaboy

• Used to express encouragement, approval, or admiration
• – – -B – – –

Bastardization

• To reduce from a higher to a lower state or condition
• DEBASE

Beckoning

• Attractive or inviting

Begets

• To produce especially as an effect or outgrowth

Bigotry

• Obstinate or intolerant devotion to one’s own opinions and prejudices

Bolstering

• A structural part designed to eliminate friction or provide support or bearing

Boon

• A timely benefit

Bouts

• An athletic match (as of boxing)

Brutish

• Resembling, befitting, or typical of a brute or beast
• Strongly and grossly sensual
• Showing little intelligence or sensibility

Bureaucracy

• A body of nonelected government officials

Buster

• Someone or something extraordinary

– – – C – – –

Catalyst

• A substance that enables a chemical reaction to proceed at a usually faster rate or under different conditions (as at a lower temperature) than otherwise possible

Causation

• The act or process of causing

Ceding

• To yield or grant typically by treaty

Censure

• A judgment involving condemnation

Cetaceans

• Any of an order (Cetacea) of aquatic mostly marine mammals that includes the whales, dolphins, porpoises, and related forms and that have a torpedo-shaped nearly hairless body, paddle-shaped forelimbs but no hind limbs, one or two nares opening externally at the top of the head, and a horizontally flattened tail used for locomotion

Cheery

• Marked by cheerfulness or good spirits

Circa

• At approximately, in approximately, or of approximately —used especially with dates

Coalesces

• To grow together, to unite into a whole, to unite for a common end , join forces,  to arise from the combination of distinct elements

Coercive

• Serving or intended to coerce

Coherent

• Logically or aesthetically ordered or integrated

Collectivization

• To organize by collectivism

Communal

• Of or relating to one or more communes

Complexity

• Something complex
• The quality or state of being complex

Congregation

• An assembly of persons : GATHERING

Consensus

• The judgment arrived at by most of those concerned

Contemplation

• Concentration on spiritual things as a form of private devotion

Continuum

• A coherent whole characterized as a collection, sequence, or progression of values or elements varying by minute degrees

Contrived

• Having an unnatural or false appearance or quality

Conundrum

• An intricate and difficult problem

Convergence

• The act of converging and especially moving toward union or uniformity

Coopted

• To choose or elect as a member

Coquettes

• A man who indulges in coquetry

Conundrum

• An intricate and difficult problem

Correlation

• The state or relation of being correlated

Convene

• To come together in a body

Cowering

• To shrink away or crouch especially for shelter from something that menaces, domineers, or dismays

Creep

• To move along with the body prone and close to the ground

Cripple

Something flawed or imperfect

Cul de Sac

• A blind diverticulum or pouch
• A street or passage closed at one end

Cursory

• Rapidly and often superficially performed or produced

Cybernetics

• The science of communication and control theory that is concerned especially with the comparative study of automatic control systems (such as the nervous system and brain and mechanical-electrical communication systems)

– – – D – – –

Dastardly

• Characterized by underhandedness or treachery

Dearth

• Scarcity that makes dear

Delusional

• Something that is falsely or delusively believed or propagated

Demagogues

• A leader who makes use of popular prejudices and false claims and promises in order to gain power

Depiction

• A representation in words or images of someone or something

Dervishes

• A member of a Muslim religious order noted for devotional exercises (such as bodily movements leading to a trance)

Deviance

• Deviant quality, state, or behavior

Discern

• To detect with the eyes

Discernment

• The quality of being able to grasp and comprehend what is obscure
• skill in discerning

Disentangle

• To free from entanglement

Disingenuously

• Lacking in candor

Disintegration

• The act or process of disintegrating or the state of being disintegrated

Dissing

• To treat with disrespect or contempt

Dissipating

• To break up and drive off

Dissipative

• Relating to dissipation especially of heat

Dogmas

• Something held as an established opinion

Drudgery

• Dull, irksome, and fatiguing work : uninspiring or menial labor

Duress

• Forcible restraint or restriction

Dysfunction

• Impaired or abnormal functioning
• – – – E – – –

Ebbs

• The reflux of the tide toward the sea

Egalitarianism

• A belief in human equality especially with respect to social, political, and economic affairs
•  A social philosophy advocating the removal of inequalities among people

Ego-centric

• Concerned with the individual rather than society

Egregious

• CONSPICUOUS

Elixir

• A substance held capable of changing base metals into gold
• A substance held capable of prolonging life indefinitely
• CURE-ALL
• A medicinal concoction
• A sweetened liquid usually containing alcohol that is used in medication either for its medicinal ingredients or as a flavoring
• The essential principle

Emergent

• Arising unexpectedly

Encompass

• To form a circle about : ENCLOSE
• To go completely around

Enrage

• To fill with rage : ANGER

Envisaging

• To view or regard in a certain way

Epigenetic

• Of, relating to, or produced by the chain of developmental processes in epigenesis that lead from genotype to phenotype after the initial action of the genes

Epistemology

• The study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity

Equilibrium

• A state of intellectual or emotional balance

Eritrea

• Country of northeastern Africa bordering on the Red Sea across from Yemen and Saudi Arabia; capital Asmara; became part of Ethiopia in 1962 and then became independent in 1993; area 45,406 square miles (117,600 square kilometers), population 5,971,000

Esoteric

• Designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone

Espoused

• To take up and support as a cause : become attached to

Eudaemonic

• Producing happiness : based on the idea of happiness as the proper end of conduct

Existential

• Of, relating to, or affirming existence

Expedient

• Suitable for achieving a particular end in a given circumstance

Expounding

• To explain by setting forth in careful and often elaborate detail

– – – F – – –

Facets

• Any of the definable aspects that make up a subject

Fallacy

• A false or mistaken idea

Faltering

• To walk unsteadily : STUMBLE

Faux

• Made to look like something else that is usually more valuable : IMITATION, FAKE

Fiascos

• A complete failure

Fiat

• A command or act of will that creates something without or as if without further effort

Fiduciary

• Held or founded in trust or confidence

Finetune

• To adjust precisely so as to bring to the highest level of performance or effectiveness

Fodder

• Something fed to domestic animals

Folks

• Folk or folks plural : people generally

Fomented

• To promote the growth or development of : ROUSE, INCITE

Fortuitous

• Occurring by chance
• Coming or happening by a lucky chance

Fracking

• The injection of fluid into shale beds at high pressure in order to free up petroleum resources

Fraught

• Full of or accompanied by something specified —used with with

Frenzy

• A temporary madness
• A violent mental or emotional agitation

– – – G – – –

Gambit

• A chess opening in which a player risks one or more pawns or a minor piece to gain an advantage in position

Gamma

• The degree of contrast of a developed photographic image or of a video image

Gerrymandering

• The practice of dividing or arranging a territorial unit into election districts in a way that gives one political party an unfair advantage in elections

Gestate

• To be in the process of gestation

Gratification

• A source of satisfaction or pleasure

Gridlock

• A situation resembling gridlock (as in congestion or lack of movement)

Gushes

• To issue copiously or violently

– – – H – – –

Harbinger

• Something that foreshadows a future event : something that gives an anticipatory sign of what is to come

Hardwired

• Implemented in the form of permanent electronic circuits

Hedonic

• Of, relating to, or characterized by pleasure
• Of, relating to, or characterized by hedonism

Herd

• A typically large group of animals of one kind kept together under human control

Hierarchy

• A ruling body of clergy organized into orders or ranks each subordinate to the one above it

Homeostasis

• A relatively stable state of equilibrium or a tendency toward such a state between the different but interdependent elements or groups of elements of an organism, population, or group

Homophobe

• A person characterized by homophobia

Hung

• Unable to reach a decision or verdict

Hybridization

• To cause to produce hybrids

Hypothesize

• To adopt as a hypothesis

– – – I – – –

Iatrogenesis

• Induced inadvertently by a physician or surgeon or by medical treatment or diagnostic procedures

Ideology-

• A manner or the content of thinking characteristic of an individual, group, or culture
• The integrated assertions, theories and aims that constitute a sociopolitical program
• A systematic body of concepts especially about human life or culture
• Visionary theorizing

Incarceration

• Confinement in a jail or prison : the act of imprisoning someone or the state of being imprisoned

Incredulity

• The quality or state of being incredulous

Inculcating

• To teach and impress by frequent repetitions or admonitions

Ineaquality

• The quality of being unequal or uneven: such as
  a: social disparity
  b: disparity of distribution or opportunity
  c: lack of evenness
  d: the condition of being variable : CHANGEABLENESS
• An instance of being unequal
• A formal statement of inequality between two quantities usually separated by a sign of inequality (such as , or ≠ signifying respectively is less than, is greater than, or is not equal to)

Interdependence

• The state of being dependent upon one another

Intervene

• To occur, fall, or come between points of time or events

Intricate

• Having many complexly interrelating parts or elements.

Intuitionist

• A doctrine that objects of perception are intuitively known to be real

Irreverence

• Lack of reverence

– – – J – – –

Juggernaut

• A massive inexorable force, campaign, movement, or object that crushes whatever is in its path

Jungian

• Of, relating to, or characteristic of C. G. Jung or his psychological doctrines

– – – K – – –

– – – L – – –

Labyrinth

• A place constructed of or full of intricate passageways and blind alleys

Lament

• To mourn aloud : WAIL

Legalese

• The specialized language of the legal profession

Ludicrous

• Amusing or laughable through obvious absurdity, incongruity, exaggeration, or eccentricity

– – – M – – –

Malfeasance

• Wrongdoing or misconduct especially by a public official

Marvel

• One that causes wonder or astonishment

Menacing

• Presenting, suggesting, or constituting a menace or threat

Metaphor

• A figure of speech in which a word or phrase literally denoting one kind of object or idea is used in place of another to suggest a likeness or analogy between them

Metaphoric

• An object, activity, or idea treated as a metaphor

Minaret

• A tall slender tower of a mosque having one or more balconies from which the summons to prayer is cried by the muezzin

Mitigate

• To cause to become less harsh or hostile : MOLLIFY

Mongering

• A person who attempts to stir up or spread something that is usually petty or discreditable —usually used in combination

Monks

• A man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery

Moot

• Open to question : DEBATABLE
• Subjected to discussion : DISPUTED

Mowed

• A piled-up stack (as of hay or fodder)

Muck

• Soft moist farmyard manure

Muster

• An act of assembling

Myriad

• Having innumerable aspects or elements

– – – N – – –

Narcissist

• An extremely self-centered person who has an exaggerated sense of self-importance

Narcissus

• A beautiful youth in Greek mythology who pines away for love of his own reflection and is then turned into the narcissus flower

Nascent

• Coming or having recently come into existence

Nefarious

• Flagrantly wicked or impious : EVIL

Neofascists

• One who advocates or supports neofascism

Nodal

• Being, relating to, or located at or near a node

Novocaine

• Procaine in the form of its hydrochloride

Nuanced

• Having nuances : having or characterized by subtle and often appealingly complex qualities, aspects, or distinctions

– – – O – – –

Oblique

• Neither perpendicular nor parallel

Obliterate

• To remove utterly from recognition or memory

Ominous

• Being or exhibiting an omen : PORTENTOUS

Onerous

• Involving, imposing, or constituting a burden : TROUBLESOME

Ontology

• A branch of metaphysics concerned with the nature and relations of being

Oppressed

• Burdened by abuse of power or authority

Orthodoxy

• The quality or state of being orthodox
• An orthodox belief or practice

Overarching

• Forming an arch overhead

– – – P – – –

Paradox

• A tenet contrary to received opinion
• A statement that is seemingly contradictory or opposed to common sense and yet is perhaps true
• Self-contradictory statement that at first seems true
• An argument that apparently derives self-contradictory conclusions by valid deduction from acceptable premises

Paradoxical

• Of the nature of a paradox

Parroted

• A person who sedulously echoes another’s words

Partake

• To take part in or experience something along with others

Pathology

• The study of the essential nature of diseases and especially of the structural and functional changes produced by them

Pavlovian

• Of or relating to Ivan Pavlov or to his work and theories

Peeves

• To make peevish or resentful

Pejorative

• A word or phrase that has negative connotations

Penchant

• A strong and continued inclination

Pendulum

• A body suspended from a fixed point so as to swing freely to and fro under the action of gravity and commonly used to regulate movements

Peril

• Exposure to the risk of being injured, destroyed, or lost

Perplexing

• Difficult to understand : causing confusion

Perturbing

• Causing worry, upset, or concern : UNSETTLING

Pervasive

• Existing in or spreading through every part of something

Pivot

• A shaft or pin on which something turns

Potus

• The president of the United States —often used like a nickname

Precariously

• In a precarious manner

Preclude

• To make impossible by necessary consequence

Preconception

• A preconceived idea
• PREJUDICE

Primal

• ORIGINAL, PRIMITIVE

Prognostication

• An indication in advance : FORETOKEN

Proliferation

• To grow by rapid production of new parts, cells, buds, or offspring

Progression

• A sequence of numbers in which each term is related to its predecessor by a uniform law

Provocation

• The act of provoking : INCITEMENT
• Something that provokes, arouses, or stimulates

Pugnacities

• Having a quarrelsome or combative nature : TRUCULENT

– – – Q – – –

Quagmire

• Soft miry land that shakes or yields under the foot

Quantum

• Any of the very small increments or parcels into which many forms of energy are subdivided
• Any of the small subdivisions of a quantized physical magnitude (such as magnetic moment)

– – – R – – –

Rampant

• Rearing upon the hind legs with forelegs extended

Ransack

• To look through thoroughly in often a rough way

Reckoning

• The act or an instance of reckoning: such as
• ACCOUNT, BILL
• COMPUTATION
• Calculation of a ship’s position

Recursion

• The determination of a succession of elements

Recursive

• Of, relating to, or involving

Reflexivity

• Directed or turned back on itself

Regress

• An act or the privilege of going or coming back
• Movement backward to a previous and especially worse or more primitive state or condition
• The act of reasoning backward

Regression

• A trend or shift toward a lower or less perfect state

Renminbi

• The official currency of the People’s Republic of China consisting of yuan

Replete

• Fully or abundantly provided or filled

Repository

• A place, room, or container where something is deposited or stored

Resonance

• The quality or state of being resonant

Resurgent

• Undergoing or tending to produce resurgence

Retinue

• A group of retainers or attendants

Retribution

• The dispensing or receiving of reward or punishment especially in the hereafter

Revered

• Regarded with reverence : regarded as worthy of great honor and respect

Reverence

• Honor or respect felt or shown

Rhetoric

• The art of speaking or writing effectively

Rhetorical

• Of, relating to, or concerned with rhetoric

Rich

• Having abundant possessions and especially material wealth
• Having high value or quality
  b: well supplied or endowed
  a city rich in traditions
• Magnificently impressive : SUMPTUOUS
  a: vivid and deep in color

Rig

• To fit out with rigging

Rudimentary

• Consisting in first principles : FUNDAMENTAL

– – – S – – –

Satire

• A literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn

Satirizes

• To utter or write satire
• To censure or ridicule by means of satire

Schizophrenic

• Contradictory or antagonistic qualities or attitudes

Scrutiny

• A searching study, inquiry, or inspection
• EXAMINATION

Secularization

• The act or process of making something secular or of becoming secular : removal from ecclesiastical or clerical use or influence

Self-Perpetuating

• Capable of continuing or renewing oneself indefinitely : capable of perpetuating oneself or itself

Semantically

• Of or relating to meaning in language

Serendipity

• The faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable or agreeable things not sought for

Sexist

• Behavior, conditions, or attitudes that foster stereotypes of social roles based on sex

Sheen

• To be bright : show a sheen

Sociopath

• A sociopathic individual : PSYCHOPATH

Spectrum

• A continuum of color formed when a beam of white light is dispersed (as by passage through a prism) so that its component wavelengths are arranged in order

Spicules

• A slender pointed usually hard body

Spiraling

• Winding around a center or pole and gradually receding from or approaching it

Staunch

• Steadfast in loyalty or principle

Strapping

• Having a vigorously sturdy constitution

Stratification

• The act or process of stratifying

Strife

• Bitter sometimes violent conflict or dissension

Substantiated

• To give substance or form to : EMBODY

Superbugs

• A pathogenic microorganism and especially a bacterium that has developed resistance to the medications normally used against it

Supersedes

• To cause to be set aside
• To take the place or position of
• To displace in favor of another

Surreptitiously

• Done, made, or acquired by stealth : CLANDESTINE

Survivalism

• An attitude, policy, or practice based on the primacy of survival as a value

Symbiosis

• The living together in more or less intimate association or close union of two dissimilar organisms

Synthetically

• Attributing to a subject something determined by observation rather than analysis of the nature of the subject and not resulting in self-contradiction if negated

– – – T – – –

Tacit

• Expressed or carried on without words or speech

Thwart

• To oppose successfully
• Defeat the hopes or aspirations of

Thwarted

• To oppose successfully : defeat the hopes or aspirations of

Tidbits

• A choice morsel of food

Timor

• Island of southeastern Asia in the Lesser Sunda Islands area 13,094 square miles (34,044 square kilometers), population 3,000,000

Trainwreck

• A violent and destructive crash involving a train

Trajectory

• A path, progression, or line of development resembling a physical trajectory

Tranquility

• The quality or state of being tranquil

Transcendence

• Transcendence is related to dedication and commitment to something or somebody else but oneself.

Translocation

• The conduction of soluble material (such as metabolic products) from on?

• To change or alter in form, appearance, or nature and especially to a higher form

Tremendous

• Notable by reason of extreme size, power, greatness, or excellence

Truism

• An undoubted or self-evident truth

Togo

• Republic in western Africa on the Bight of Benin; capital Lomé area 21,925 square miles (56,785 square kilometers), population 8,176,000

Tumultuous

• Tending or disposed to cause or incite a tumult

– – – U – – –

Ubiquitous

• Existing or being everywhere at the same time

Unassailable 

• Not assailable : not liable to doubt, attack, or question

Undebatable

• Not subject to debate

Unfathomable

• Not capable of being fathomed

Unfettered

• Not controlled or restricted

Unflappable

• Marked by assurance and self-control

Unhinging

• To make unstable

Unraveling

• To disengage or separate the threads of : DISENTANGLE

Upended

• To set or stand on end
• To affect to the point of being upset or flurried

Utopian

• Of, relating to, or having the characteristics of a utopia

– – – V – – –

Vagrancy

• The state or action of being vagrant

Vast

• Very great in size, amount, degree, intensity, or especially in extent or range

Vastly

• To a very great or vast degree or extent

Veiled

• Having or wearing a veil or a concealing cover

Vendetta

• An often prolonged series of retaliatory, vengeful, or hostile acts or exchange of such acts

Vetted

• Having been subjected to evaluation or appraisal
• critically reviewed and evaluated for official approval or acceptance

Virulent

• Marked by a rapid, severe, and destructive course

Visceral

• Felt in or as if in the internal organs of the body : DEEP

Volatility

• A tendency to change quickly and unpredictably

– – – W – – –

Wane

• To fall gradually from power, prosperity, or influence

Wealth

• Abundance of valuable material possessions or resources
• Abundant supply : PROFUSION
• All property that has a money value or an exchangeable value
  b: all material objects that have economic utility
  especially : the stock of useful goods having economic value in existence at any one time

– – – X – – –

– – – Y – – –

– – – Z – – –