L11-L13 Vocab - AP Lit

meander

to wander randomly

instigate

to start trouble

heed

to obey

virtuoso

an accomplished musician

predecessor

the person who came before another

deplete

to use up; to reduce

compliant

submissive; obedient

inadvertent

accidental; unintentional

acquiesce

to agree finally; to go along with something

levity

humor

belittle

to put down; to disparage

extraneous

irrelevant; extra; unnecessary

digress

to stray from the subject

emulate

to copy something admired; to imitate

appease

to make peace with; to satisfy

sage (sagacious)

a wise person

nostalgic

yearning for the good old days

assuage

to soothe

saccharine

overly sweet

stanza

a section of a poem

jeopardy

danger

supercilious

haughty; arrogant

avarice

greed

pivotal

important; critical; crucial

blithe

free-spirited; carefree

scrupulous

careful; diligent; moral

volatile

changeable; unstable; explosive

voluminous

very large; spacious

peripheral

on the edge; surrounding; unimportant

hedonistic

pleasure-seeking; indulgent

amity

friendship

benefactor

a generous donor; someone who helps

apocryphal

a doubtful origin; mythical

slander

to defame; to speak maliciously of someone

animosity

hatred

stringent

strict; harsh; severe

hackneyed

banal; over-used

amass

to accumulate; to pile up

verbose

wordily; overly talkative

trepidation

fear

desecrate

to profane a holy place

fortuitous

accidental; happening by chance or luck

vehement

urgent; passionate; forceful

credulous

gullible; overly trusting

blasphemy

heretical departure from accepted practice

lax

careless; not diligent; relaxed

cryptic

mysterious; puzzling; enigmatic

hinder

to obstruct

esoteric

understood only by a select few

pretentious

pompous; self-important

incongruous

not fitting in; out of place

unprecedented

occurring for the first time; novel; never seen before

merger

a joining; a uniting

pedestrian

common; ordinary; banal (secondary meaning)

prudent

careful; cautious

exemplary

outstanding; settling a great example

sycophant

a book licker; a brownnoser

neutral

unbiased; not taking sides; objective

rescind

to repeal; to take back; formally

retract

to take back (e.g., a statement)