1.  Adroit (adj.) skillful; clever

He was not an adroit speaker, but he was a genius with numbers.

2.  Macroscopic (adj.) visible to the naked eye

On a clear night, the Milky Way appears macroscopic.

3.  Fatuous (adj.) foolish

Her fatuous simpering began to grate on our nerves.

4.  Bovine (adj.) pertaining to cows or cattle

The cave drawing depicted bovine creatures.

5.  Ferret (v.) to search or drive out

John knew the answer was in the text but couldn’t ferret it out.

6.  Affectation (n.) a phony attitude

Amy couldn’t stand the affectations of the girls in the popular clique.

7.  Knell (n.) a sound made by a bell, often rung slowly for a death or funeral

The knell of the church bell told the town the minister passed away.

8.  Dichotomy (n.) a division into two parts

Disagreements among board members caused a dichotomy for the organization.

9.  Callow (adj.) young and inexperienced

The callow boy left for war, but an exhausted man returned.

10.  Laconic (adj.) using few words; short; concise

The laconic man wasted few words.

11.  Quiddity (n.) an essential quality

Patience is a quiddity of a good teacher.

12.  Patent (adj.) evident or obvious

The electronic store refused to offer a refund to the customer due to the patent abuse of the game system.

13.  Peccadillo (n.) a minor offense; a misdeed

Stealing tips from tables was a peccadillo in Bill’s mind.

14.  Sagacious (adj.) wise; having keen perception and sound judgment

The sagacious old man always had answers to moral problems.

15.  Rationalize (v.) to make an excuse for

The boy tried to rationalize his absence from school.

16.  Deride (v.) to ridicule; to mock

The unpopular professor derided students who made mistakes.

17.  Censure (v.) to criticize sharply

The judged censured the repeat offender for his criminal behavior.

18.  Gambol (v.) to frolic

The preschoolers liked to gambol about the playground.

19.  Immolate (v.) to kill someone as a sacrificial victim, usually by fire

Some Buddhist monks immolated themselves in protest of the government’s policies.

20.  Recondite (adj.) difficult to understand; profound

Only a few students understood the recondite explanation of the theory.

21.  Martinet (n.) a strict disciplinarian; taskmaster

The teacher was a martinet who never made exceptions to the rules.

22.  Quagmire (n.) a swamp; a difficult or inextricable situation

The war was a political quagmire for three U.S. presidents.

23.  Gibe (v.) to scoff; to ridicule

The man gibed at everything his wife said.

24.  Agape (adj.) open-mouthed; surprised

The judge was agape when the witness told the ridiculous story.

25.  Carcinogen (n.) causing cancer

Nicotine is a carcinogen.

26.  Olfactory (adj.) pertaining to smell

The child’s olfactory senses were lessened due to his head cold.

27.  Imperious (adj.) domineering; haughty

The judge pronounced the verdict in an imperious voice.

28.  Grotesque (adj.) absurd; distorted

The boy made a grotesque face toward his sister.

29.  Neologism (n.) a new word or expression

Some writers coin neologisms to impress their readers.

30.  Hackneyed (adj.) commonplace; overused

“Good as gold” is a hackneyed expression.