Wordlist A-1 (abase – acumen)

1. Wordlist A-1(abase – acumen)

2. abase • Behave in a very humble way The new servant hated behaving in an abase manner in front of his royal employers.

3. abash • Embarrass The writer felt abashed seeing the amount of attention he was receiving.

4. abate • Subside • Moderate By the next morning, the flood waters had abated considerably.

5. abbreviate • Shorten Because she was running out of time, the lecturer had to abbreviate her speech.

6. abdicate • Renounce • Give up He abdicated his entire estate and retired into the forests, spending the rest of his life in a log cabin.

7. aberration • Abnormality • Departure from the norm It remains the consensus among investors on Wall Street that current high oil prices are a temporary aberration and that we shall soon see a return to cheap oil.

8. abet • Assist, usually in doing something wrong • Encourage She was unwilling to abet him in the swindle he had planned.

9. abeyance • Suspended action The storm showed no signs of abeyance.

10. abhor • Detest • Hate She abhorred all forms of flattery.

11. abject • Wretched • Lacking pride More than three million people in India are said to live in abject poverty.

12. abjure • Renounce upon oath To save his skin, he simply abjured every statement they made.

13. ablution • Washing It is the traditional custom to enter any religious place after our ablutions.

14. abnegation • Renunciation • Self-sacrifice The more they tried to make him confess, the more he sank into abnegation.

15. abolish • Cancel • Put an end to The Principal of the college refused to abolish the Physical Education requirement.

16. abominable • Detestable • Extremely unpleasant • Very bad He is known for his abominable taste of dressing and etiquette.

17. aboriginal • Being the first of its kind in a region • Primitive • Native Her studies of the primitive art forms of the aboriginal Africans were widely reported in the scientific journals.

18. abortive • Unsuccessful • fruitless Attacked by armed troops, the Chinese students had to abandon their abortive attempt to democratize Beijing peacefully.

19. abrasive • Rubbing away • Tending to grind down The builder explained that the material was abrasive and hence would easily crumble to powder.

20. abridge • Condense • Shorten As the publishers felt that the public wanted a shorter version of ‘War and Peace’, they proceeded to abridge the novel.

21. abrogate • Abolish • Repeal It was Abraham Lincoln who took the initiative to abrogate slavery in America.

22. abscission • Removed by sending off, as in surgery • Separation Gangrene spreads so swiftly and is so potentially deadly that doctors advise abscission.

23. abscond • Depart secretly and hide The clerk who absconded with the cash was not captured until someone recognized him from his photograph on ‘India’s Most Wanted’.

24. absolve • Pardon an offense • Forgive • Acquit The priest put his hand on Ned’s head and said that he would pray to God and ask him to absolve him of all his sins.

25. abstain • Refrain • Withhold from participation On every Tuesday, Jim abstains from meat and alcohol.

26. abstemious • Sparing in eating and drinking Concerned whether her son’s abstemious diet provided sufficient protein, the worried mother pressed food on him.

27. abstinence • Restraint from eating or drinking The doctor recommended total abstinence from salted food.

28. abstruse • Obscure • Profound • Difficult to understand The abstruse content of the Shakespearean text completely baffled him.

29. abusive • Coarsely insulting • Physically harmful She has been coping for years with a drunk and abusive husband.

30. abut • Border upon • Adjoin Where our estates abut, we must build a fence.

31. abysmal • Bottomless The abysmal performance of the team in the recent tournament sorely disappointed the coach.

32. abyss • Enormous chasm • Vast, bottomless pit The hero of the film seized the evil terrorist and hurled him into the abyss.

33. accede • agree If Jack accedes to the demand for blackmail, he’s afraid that he’ll be the victim of future demand.

34. accessible • Easy to approach We asked our guide whether the ruins were accessible on foot.

35. accessory • Additional object • Useful but not essential thing Today, a trendy cell phone is not just a gadget but also a fashion accessory to flaunt in public.

36. acclaim • Applaud • Announce with great approval Her beautiful performance onstage was greatly acclaimed by the audience.

37. acclimate • Adjust to climate or environment • Adapt One of the difficulties of our present age is the need of travellers to acclimate themselves to their new and often strange environments.

38. acclivity • Sharp upslope of a hill The car could not go up the acclivity in high gear.

39. accolade • Award of merit In Hollywood, an ‘Oscar’ is the highest accolade.

40. accomplice • Partner in crime Because she had provided the criminal with the lethal weapon, she was arrested as an accomplice in the murder.

41. accord • Agreement She was in complete accord with the verdict.

42. accost • Approach and speak first to a person When the two young men accosted her, she was frightened because she thought they were going to attack her.

43. accoutre • Equip The fisherman was accoutred with the best that the sporting goods store could supply.

44. accretion • Growth • Increase Over the years Bob put on weight, because of this accretion of flesh, he went from size M to size XL.

45. accrue • Comes about by addition You must pay the interest that has accrued on your debt as well as the principal sum.

46. acerbity • Bitterness of speech and temper The meeting of the Parliament was marked with such acerbity that little hope of reaching a common consensus could be seen.

47. acetic • Vinegary The pickle had an exceedingly acetic flavor.

48. acidulous • Slightly sour • Sharp • Caustic James was unpopular because of his sarcastic and acidulous remarks.

49. acknowledge • Recognize • Admit The greeting of the student was acknowledged by a curt nod of the professor.

50. acme • Peak • Pinnacle • Highest point The actor’s success in receiving the Oscar award marked the acme of his career, never again did he achieve such acclaim.