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quandary

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a predicament or difficult situation to get out of. suffix: -ary \"relating to\" Two friends are having parties on the same night, and I'm in a quandary about which one to go to.

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consensus

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General agreement among many people prefix: con- \"together\" After hours of negotiation, the union and the owners reached a consensus about their contract.

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incongruous

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out of step with one another, not in agreement prefix: in- \"not\", con- \"together\" The boys dirty shoes were incongruous with the rest of his outfit, which was very stylish.

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debilitate

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to make weak or feeble prefix: de- \"away from\" The long sickness had clearly debilitated the once healthy young man, who was now pale and thin.

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hedonist

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A person who seeks pleasure above all else. suffix: -ist \"one who does {root}\" The Roman empire was famous for its hedonist emperors, who built enormous pleasure palaces for their private enjoyment while their people starved.

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precocious

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Advanced in mind or skills at an early age. prefix: pre- \"before\" Mozart was a famously precocious musical talent, composing his first symphony at age 4.

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reconciliation

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Reaching harmony after a disagreement prefix: re- \"again\" After not speaking to each other for almost a year, the two sisters had a tearful reconciliation at the family Thanksgiving dinner.

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extricate

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To free from a difficult situation or tight spot. prefix: ex- \"out of\" The SWAT team extricated the hostages from the room they were being held in.

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meandering

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Wandering or rambling, as a river or an aimless person. suffix: -ing {makes a verb into a noun} After the speaker's meandering 30 minute speech, the audience was more confused about the topic than before.

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unethical

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Dishonest, improper or unprofessional. prefix: un- \"not\" The unethical teacher took money from parents in exchange for raising their children's grades.

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submissive

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inclined or willing to submit to orders or wishes of others or showing such inclination Prefix: sub- \"under In the wild, beta animals are submissive to the dominant alphas.

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mollify

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To soothe or calm someone after they are upset. suffix: -fy \"to cause\" The mother tried to mollify her screaming child with the promise of an ice cream cone.

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intervene

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To come between two opposing forces, usually to stop a conflict. prefix: inter- \"between\" It isn't usually wise to intervene in a fight between a couple if you don't know the whole story.

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misnomer

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an incorrect or unsuitable name. prefix: mis- \"badly\" The \"fresh\" juice on the menu was a big misnomer. It tasted stale and was clearly made from frozen concentrate.

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dissipate

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to gradually thin out and disperse, as fog or a crowd of people. prefix: dis \"not\" Whenever my chainsmoking uncle comes over, it takes hours for the smoke from all his cigarettes to dissipate from the living room.

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obstreperous

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disorderly, rowdy, rude prefix: ob \"against\" The obstreperous child threw his toys at his mother when she tried to get him to eat his broccoli.

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tentative

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not yet final, provisional prefix: ten- \"keeping\" The two sides reached a tentative agreement, but there were still many details to settle.

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correlation

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a causal connection between two events prefix: cor- \"together\" suffix -tion \"state of\" Scientists have found a strong correlation between drinking soda and diabetes.

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alleviated

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brought relief to suffix -ed \"past tense\" The Tylenol alleviated my fever.

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prolific

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producing many of something prefix pro- \"for\" The prolific artist made over a thousand paintings in his career.

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inevitable

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inescapable, bound to happen suffix -able \"able to\" After the basketball lost their best player to injury, defeat was inevitable

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apathy

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lack of interest or emotion prefix a- \"not\" We thought he would be happy to win the \"Best Mustache\" award, but he reacted with apathy.

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superfluous

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more than is needed, too much prefix: super- \"above\" She put in a lot of superfluous charts and typography into her paper, hoping it would hide the lack of content.

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transition

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Changing between one state and another prefix trans- \"between\" The community is in transition between longtime residents and new arrivals.

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polychromatic

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having many colors prefix poly- \"many\" people love butterflies for their polychromatic wings

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veracity

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truth root: ver- \"true\" You should always question the veracity of things you read online

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epilogue

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the concluding information added to a literary work root: log- \"word\" The epilogue in the novel explained what happened to the characters years later.

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nepotism

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preference given to relatives suffix -ism \"belief\" Nepotism in companies often prevents qualified people from being promoted

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chronic

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of long duration, usually negative root: chron- \"time\" After 30 years of smoking, my uncle developed a chronic cough.

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posthumously

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after death prefix: post- \"after\" Van Gogh was not popular in his own time, but became posthumously celebrated as a genius.

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paradigm

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a model or example prefix: para- \"beside, beyond\" For Christians, Jesus is the paradigm of goodness.

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telepathy

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using the mind for ESP prefix: tele- \"far away\" The two friends understood each other so well it seemed like telepathy.

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culpable

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to be responsible or blameworthy root: culp- \"Blame\" It was the investigator's job to find out who was culpable for the plane crash

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euphemism

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to substitute a mild word for something harsh or offensive prefix eu- \"good\", suffix -ism \"belief\" The term 'friendly fire' is an ironic euphemism for deadly mistakes when soldiers accidentally shoot their allies instead of the enemy.

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antediluvian

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before the biblical flood, now meaning ancient prefix: ante- \"before\" To a generation raised with iPods, records and cassette tapes seem positively antediluvian.

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rectify

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To make right or correct root: rect- \"right\" The teacher made several errors on the exam, but rectified them by giving the whole class extra credit.

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infidelity

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unfaithfulness prefix in- \"not\", root: fid- \"faith\" Infidelity is the leading cause of divorce in the US.

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equivocal

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uncertain, undecided prefix: equi- \"equal\" The girl was equivocal about which dress to wear to prom: she liked them both so much.

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panacea

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a cure-all prefix: pan- \"all\" Some people think that education is the best panacea we have for ending poverty.

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syndrome

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a set of symptoms, especially medical prefix: syn- \"together\" ADHD is a complicated syndrome, and it's difficult to diagnose with 100% accuracy.

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philanthropy

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charity and helpfulness, especially giving away money prefix: phil- \"love\" Although he is very wealthy, Bill Gates' philanthropy is famous. He has given away billions of dollars to charity.

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malicious

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brutal, intentionally cruel prefix: mal- \"bad\" It was clear my sister's comments were malicious, not just playful teasing.

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specter

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a ghost or the lingering memory of something prefix spec- \"to look\" The specter of the bombing of Hiroshima lingered for many years, as the cancer rates among residents skyrocketed.

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omnipotent

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all-powerful prefix: omni- \"all\" The president may be very powerful, but he's not omnipotent. We can't expect him to fix this problem by himself.

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hypertension

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high blood pressure prefix: hyper- \"over, excessive\" Eating too much sodium leads to hypertension.

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antithesis

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the complete opposite of something prefix: anti- \"against\" Some of the sculptures in the museum were so crude and ugly, to me they seemed like the antithesis of art.

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vociferous

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noisy and loud, as a person root: voc- \"voice\" The residents of the neighborhood raised vociferous objections to the new shopping mall construction during the town meeting.

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bilingual

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able to speak two languages prefix: bi- \"two\" It is a big benefit to be bilingual since it opens up more possibilities.

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empathy

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understanding the feelings of another person root: path- \"feeling\" I had empathy for his situation; I, too, had broken up with my girlfriend that week.

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benign

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harmless, mild prefix: ben- \"good\" Luckily, most skin growths turn out to be benign, not cancerous.

Building Vocabulary for College, Chapters 1-5

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