Vocabulary

Adhere – to stick fast; to be devoted to

Adulation - excessive admiration or flattery

Adversity - a state, condition, or instance of serious or continued difficulty or unfavorable fortune

Afforded - to be able to bear the cost of; to make available, or provide naturally or inevitably

Ameliorate - to make better or more tolerable

Amicable – friendly; peaceable

Approbation - obsolete; proof; an act of approving formally or officially; praise

Astound – surprise; to strike with wonder

Chastise – to punish; to criticize

Chicanery - deception by artful trick; trick

Cincinnatus – a model or example of simple virtue, goodness, responsibility, moral excellence, and courage based on the life of the Roman General Lucius Quinctius in ancient Rome; an organization founded on the above principles of which George Washington was a member of as were most of the founding fathers and heroes of the American Revolution

Citizenry - pertaining to or regarding belonging to a body of, or group of citizens of a state or country

Cogent – to force, drive together; to be forcibly convincing

Conciliate - to gain (as goodwill) by pleasing acts; to make compatible; satisfy

Conspiracy – an agreement to perform an illegal or evil act; an arrangement to commit a crime

Construe - to understand or explain the sense or intention of, usually in a particular way or with respect to a given set of circumstances

Contrive – to plan; to plot; to scheme

Controversial – to argue over; to dispute about; to debate against

Courtier - one in attendance at a royal court; one who practices flattery

Covetous – greedy; excessively desiring; eager to acquire things

Diligently - characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort

Enumerate - to determine the number of; count; to specify one after another; list

Eradicate – to remove; to erase

Expedient - suitable for achieving a particular end in a given circumstance; characterized by concern with what is opportune; especially; governed by self-interest

Fallibility – likely to make mistakes or errors

Feted - to honor or commemorate with a fete; to pay high honor to

Heresy - obedience to a religious opinion contrary to church belief; oppose or departure from a dominant theory, opinion, or practice

Indignation – anger aroused by something unjust, mean, or unworthy

Intimated - to make known especially publicly or formally; announce; to communicate delicately and indirectly; hint

Jurisprudence – the philosophy of law; a division or department of law

Lapdog – a small, easily held dog kept as a pet

Laurels – honor and glory earned for accomplishments or great deeds

Line of demarcation – establishing or marking a boundary or separation

Monarchical – government by an absolute ruler such as a king or emperor

Nefarious – evil; infamous

Negate – to deny; to nullify; to render invalid or ineffective

Perseverance – the holding to a course of action, believe, principle or purpose without giving way; steadfast

Precarious – dangerously lacking in security; unstable

Premeditate – to plan, to arrange, to plot in advance

Proclivity - an inclination or tendency toward something; especially; a strong inherent inclination toward something objectionable

Provoke - to arouse to a feeling or action; to stir up purposely;to incite to anger

Purported - to have the often false appearance of being, intending, or claiming (something implied or inferred)

Purport – to be or to do something; a meaning or purpose

Rebuff – a refusal; to drive back; a snub; a setback to progress or action

Rekindle – to start again; to inspire; to arouse to action

Remunerate – to pay for goods provided and services rendered; to compensate for

Reticent – silent; restrained or reserved in style

Revisal – act of changing; making revisions

Rhetoric – the study of the elements used in literature and public speaking: content, structure, style, etc.

Rouse – to excite as to anger or action; to stir, to become active

Stalemate – a situation in which further action by either of two opponents is impossible; deadlock; no movement possible

Stringent – severe, strict; imposing rigorous standards of performance

Subpoena – a legal summon requiring appearance in court to give testimony

Tactical – achieving goals; maneuvers against the enemy; strategy

Treason - the betrayal of a trust; the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign's family

Turbulent – causing unrest or disturbance; unruly; violently disturbed

Unrelenting – not letting up; not changing in attitude, temper or determination

Vicinage – neighborhood; vicinity; nearness

Vindictive – unforgiving; spiteful; to seek revenge