Devious (adjective) Willing to lie, trick, or scheme in order to get what one wants.
Example: The devious plan involved forging a signature to withdraw money without permission.
Mnemonic: Devious literally comes from Latin for 'off the road' — a devious person strays off the straight path to reach their goal deceitfully.
Discerning (adjective) Able to judge or perceive things clearly and accurately, especially subtle differences.
Example: A discerning shopper, she could tell the handmade rug from the machine-made copy at a glance.
Mnemonic: Discerning contains 'discern,' meaning to separate or tell apart — a discerning eye separates the genuine from the fake.
Disdain (noun) A strong feeling that someone or something is beneath one's respect or unworthy of consideration.
Example: She looked at the wilted flowers with obvious disdain before tossing them out.
Mnemonic: Disdain relates to 'deign,' meaning to consider worthy — disdain is a refusal to deign someone worth your respect.
Disparage (verb) To speak of someone or something in a dismissive, belittling way.
Example: He constantly disparaged his coworkers' ideas in meetings, yet rarely offered any of his own.
Mnemonic: The word contains 'par,' meaning equal, as in 'on par' — to disparage someone is to treat them as somehow less than equal.
Dogmatic (adjective) Stating opinions as if they were unquestionably true, without allowing for debate.
Example: The professor's dogmatic insistence that there was only one correct interpretation frustrated students who wanted to debate.
Mnemonic: The word comes from 'dogma,' a fixed system of belief — a dogmatic person treats their own opinion like unquestionable dogma, closed to debate.
Dubious (adjective) Doubtful or uncertain, often because something seems suspicious or unreliable.
Example: The salesman's dubious claim that the watch was genuine gold turned out to be false.
Mnemonic: Dubious has 'doubt' hiding in its sound — a dubious claim makes you doubt it right away.
Eccentric (adjective) Behaving in an unconventional or slightly odd way that departs from common habits.
Example: The eccentric professor wore mismatched socks and kept a pet turtle in his office.
Mnemonic: Eccentric contains 'center' with ec-, meaning out of — someone eccentric is out of the center, off from the usual.
Edify (verb) To instruct or improve someone, especially in a moral or intellectual sense.
Example: The museum's new exhibit is designed to edify visitors about the region's ancient history.
Mnemonic: Think of edify as 'add-ify' — you add knowledge and moral improvement to someone's mind.
Egregious (adjective) Shockingly and obviously bad or wrong.
Example: The referee's egregious missed call decided the outcome of the entire championship game.
Mnemonic: 'E-' (out) plus 'greg' (flock, as in 'gregarious') — egregious once meant standing out from the herd; now it means standing out in a shockingly bad way.
Elated (adjective) Filled with great happiness and excitement.
Example: She was elated when she opened the envelope and saw her acceptance letter.
Mnemonic: Elated contains 'elevate' — feeling so happy that you are lifted right off the ground.
Embellish (verb) To make something more attractive or interesting by adding extra, sometimes exaggerated, details.
Example: He tends to embellish his fishing stories, and the fish gets bigger every time he tells it.
Mnemonic: Embellish contains 'bell' — think of hanging decorative bells and ribbons onto a plain story to dress it up.
Emulate (verb) To try to match or surpass someone by imitating their admirable qualities or achievements.
Example: Young players study the veteran's footwork, hoping to emulate his success on the court.
Mnemonic: Emulate sounds like 'aim to relate' — you aim to match someone later by copying what made them great.
Enervate (verb) To drain someone of energy, vitality, or strength.
Example: The oppressive summer heat enervated the hikers long before they reached the halfway point of the trail.
Mnemonic: 'E-' (out) plus 'nerv' (nerve or sinew) — to enervate someone is to strip out their nerve and strength, leaving them weak; don't mix it up with 'energize,' which means the exact opposite.
Enigmatic (adjective) Mysterious and difficult to interpret or fully understand.
Example: The Mona Lisa's enigmatic smile has puzzled viewers for over five hundred years.
Mnemonic: The word comes from 'enigma,' meaning riddle — an enigmatic person is basically a walking puzzle nobody can quite solve.
Equanimity (noun) A state of mental calmness and composure, especially under pressure or stress.
Example: She accepted the surprising diagnosis with a quiet equanimity that amazed everyone in the room.
Mnemonic: 'Equ-' means even (as in 'equal'), and 'anim' means mind or spirit (as in 'animate') — equanimity is keeping an even mind no matter what happens around you.
Erudite (adjective) Showing deep, extensive knowledge gained from serious study and reading.
Example: The erudite professor could discuss anything from Roman history to string theory without missing a beat.
Mnemonic: The word comes from a Latin root meaning to instruct or polish — an erudite mind is one thoroughly polished by years of serious study.
Esoteric (adjective) Understood by or intended for only a small group with specialized knowledge.
Example: The seminar covered such esoteric aspects of tax law that even some lawyers in the audience looked lost.
Mnemonic: The word comes from a Greek term meaning 'further within' — esoteric knowledge is kept further inside a small circle, out of reach of outsiders.
Euphoric (adjective) Feeling an intense sense of happiness and excitement, often overwhelming.
Example: The stadium went euphoric the instant the final buzzer confirmed the championship win.
Mnemonic: Euphoric contains eu-, meaning good, the same prefix in euphoria — a good, overflowing feeling of joy.
Exacerbate (verb) To make an already bad or difficult situation even worse.
Example: Skipping physical therapy only exacerbated his knee injury.
Mnemonic: Exacerbate contains a root related to 'acerbic,' meaning bitter or sharp — to exacerbate is to make things more bitter still.
Exemplary (adjective) Serving as an outstanding example of excellent behavior or quality.
Example: Her exemplary work ethic earned her the employee of the year award three times.
Mnemonic: Exemplary contains 'example' — an exemplary performance is one worth holding up as the example for everyone else.
Exonerate (verb) To officially clear someone of blame or wrongdoing after they were accused.
Example: New DNA evidence exonerated the man after twenty years in prison.
Mnemonic: Exonerate combines a root for burden with ex-, meaning out of — to exonerate is to lift the burden of blame off someone.
Extol (verb) To praise someone or something enthusiastically and at length.
Example: The coach extolled the rookie's work ethic in every post-game interview.
Mnemonic: Extol sounds like 'ex-tall' — praise so big it makes someone's reputation stand extra tall.
Fabricate (verb) To invent or make up false information and present it as true.
Example: The intern was fired after admitting she fabricated the survey results.
Mnemonic: Fabricate contains 'fabric' — picture someone weaving a fabric of lies out of thin air.
Facetious (adjective) Joking about something, especially in a way that is inappropriate for the moment.
Example: His facetious comment about quitting his job was clearly a joke, but his boss didn't find it funny.
Mnemonic: An easy way to remember its spelling: facetious runs through every vowel in order, a-e-i-o-u, just like its joking tone slips past every serious moment.
Fastidious (adjective) Extremely attentive to detail and difficult to please; excessively careful and particular.
Example: The fastidious editor rejected the draft three times over a single misplaced comma.
Mnemonic: Say it as 'fast' plus 'tedious' — a fastidious person moves in a painstakingly slow, tedious way because every last detail must be exactly right.