1. Baffle
Meaning: Be a mystery or bewildering to
Example: It baffles her physician as well, and has got doctors increasingly worried.
2. Baleful
Meaning: deadly or sinister
Example: His glance fell on Van Bleit, pallid, red-eyed, obviously suffering, observing him with the baleful look of some savage captive beast.Young, F.E. Mills
3. Balk
Meaning: refuse to proceed or comply
Example: Congressional Republicans, particularly in the House of Representatives, have balked at raising the debt ceiling unless it is accompanied by significant spending cuts.
4. Ballad
Meaning: a narrative song with a recurrent refrain
Example: And in the encore there was a new ballad, “Silent Treatment,” which Ms. Bryan sang gently, backed only by Mr. Dafydd on acoustic guitar.
5. Ban
Meaning: prohibit especially by law or social pressure
Example: That’s why gambling and wagers are heavily regulated or banned outright in nearly every country.
6. Banal
Meaning: repeated too often; overfamiliar through overuse
Example: Not bare or messy — that might be interesting — just banal.
7. Bane
Meaning: something causing misery or death
Example: Knee pain is the bane of many runners, sometimes causing them to give up altogether.
8. Banish
Meaning: expel, as if by official decree
Example: He, however, was destined never to return but was proscribed and banished.
9. Banter
Meaning: converse in a playful or teasing way
Example: Instead, they bantered, enthused, tripped over each other’s words and generally offered their audience the warmest welcome imaginable.
10. Barbaric
Meaning: without civilizing influences
Example: The law was immediately hailed as a victory by animal welfare groups over what they consider to be a barbaric and outdated practice.
11. Barrage
Meaning: the heavy fire of artillery to saturate an area
Example: They destroyed army communications, local cellphone towers and laid down a barrage of mortar fire.
12. Barren
Meaning: providing no shelter or sustenance
Example: New homes are sprouting from farmland once irrigated by the nearby Tigris River but rendered barren by war and neglect.
13. Bastion
Meaning: projecting part of a rampart or other fortification
Example: Dinner over, melons disposed of, fort, stores, and quarters examined, arrangements were made for sleeping in the various sheds and bastions of the fort.
14. Bathetic
Meaning: very sentimental or emotional
Example: Taken together, her tribulations have the makings of bathetic melodrama.
15. Bearing
Meaning: characteristic way of holding one’s body
Example: He thought her face, her whole bearing, singularly composed in view of his announcement.Weyman, Stanley John
16. Beckon
Meaning: summon with a wave, nod, or some other gesture
Example: Ten minutes more and the orderly opened the door, and, obedient to my beckoning finger, stepped out as the lady was ushered in.King, Charles
17. Bedlam
Meaning: a state of extreme confusion and disorder
Example: With more than 190 people killed and hundreds wounded just three days before the country’s general election, Spain was thrown into political bedlam.
18. Befuddle
Meaning: be confusing or perplexing to
Example: But regulators are profiling data to help find patterns in trading activity that previously would have left regulators befuddled and scratching their heads.
19. Beguile
Meaning: attract; cause to be enamored
Example: This is such an entertaining, beguiling, charming and exciting picture.
20. Behemoth
Meaning: someone or something that is abnormally large and powerful
Example: Behemoths like JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and UBS have snapped up numerous small firms to create industry giants.
21. Beholden
Meaning: under a moral obligation to someone
Example: Now, this obligation has offended me very much, because I am proud, and do not like to be beholden to people.
22. Behoove
Meaning: be appropriate or necessary
Example: The Hamburg magistrates had offered one hundred thalers for my arrest; consequently it behooved me to be very cautious.
23. Belie
Meaning: be in contradiction with
Example: Tang’s congenial and accommodating administrative style, however, sometimes belies a harder edge.
24. Belittle
Meaning: lessen the authority, dignity, or reputation of
Example: A splendid or an affecting story may be degraded or belittled by being told in an unworthy style.
25. Bellicose
Meaning: having or showing a ready disposition to fight
Example: So far from unduly fostering a bellicose spirit tending to war, these would be tactful preventives of wasteful foreign and civil broils.
26. Belligerent
Meaning: characteristic of an enemy or one eager to fight
Example: He was carrying his war tools and stood facing me for an instant in quite a belligerent attitude.
27. Bemoan
Meaning: regret strongly
Example: Facing life-threatening surgery, Adam calls his therapist and bemoans all the things he’s never done.
28. Bemused
Meaning: perplexed by many conflicting situations or statements
Example: Alternately bemused, puzzled, and intrigued, he read it over again and again.
29. Benefactor
Meaning: a person who helps people or institutions
Example: Even world-class universities such as Oxford and Cambridge live off “old money” from property assets and a few key benefactors.
30. Benevolent
Meaning: showing or motivated by sympathy and understanding
Example: Invariably gentle, attentive, serious, benevolent, easily satisfied, he remained serene and peaceful.
31. enign
Meaning: not dangerous to health; not recurrent or progressive
Example: But its images cannot distinguish malignant tumors from benign growths filled with harmless breast tissue.
32. Bequeath
Meaning: leave or give, especially by will after one’s death
Example: The widow lived for a few years, and, at her death, he bequeathed upon the daughter of his adoption all that his mother possessed.
33. Berate
Meaning: censure severely or angrily
Example: At almost every move through the drill he berated them caustically, though in such faultless military language of reproof as to keep him from censure.
34. Bereavement
Meaning: state of sorrow over the death or departure of a loved one
Example: The team also helps the patients’ families, instructing them in caring techniques and providing bereavement counseling after death.
35. Beseech
Meaning: ask for or request earnestly
Example: Mr. Binney pleaded and besought, but all to no avail, and left his Tutor’s presence at last, a disgraced and despairing man.
36. Besiege
Meaning: surround so as to force to give up
Example: The troops in the Potomac army were all lying in front of Petersburg, under fire day and night, preparing to besiege the place.
37. Besmirch
Meaning: smear so as to make dirty or stained
Example: Because the dealer, widely respected in the Zurich art world, did not want his reputation besmirched, he agreed to settle the claim out of court.
38. Bestow
Meaning: present
Example: There was stillness in the room—utter stillness as at last Percivale laid his sleeping wife down, and, bending over her, bestowed a parting kiss.
39. Betrothed
Meaning: the person to whom you are engaged
Example: Perhaps he thinks an engaged young lady should be demure and dutiful, having no eyes or ears for any one except her betrothed.
40. Bewildered
Meaning: extremely confused and uncertain what to do
Example: Only the most commonplace things were said, and yet she puzzled him, bewildered him.
41. Bias
Meaning: influence in an unfair way
Example: Analytical thinking happens in the left hemisphere of the brain and is essential to making more objective, less biased decisions.
42. Bicker
Meaning: argue over petty things
Example: At times it felt like the candidates had already talked themselves out on the big themes and could only bicker over table scraps.
43. Bifurcated
Meaning: divided into or made up of two parts
Example: Like Lost, it’s story, at least at first, is bifurcated, taking place half in the magical world, half in ours.
44. Bilateral
Meaning: affecting or undertaken by two parties
Example: Economic issues took up about half of the bilateral talks between the two leaders, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
45. Billowing
Meaning: characterized by great swelling waves or surges
Example: It was here that the Army cooked up chemical weapons, launched poison-packed mortar shells and sent gas clouds billowing over the fields.
46. Binge
Meaning: an occasion for excessive eating or drinking
Example: The government surveys showed binge drinking — having more than five drinks in one day — increased among all ethnic groups and genders, but particularly among men.
47. Blanch
Meaning: turn pale, as if in fear
Example: Officers and men stood aghast, with blanched faces, scarce knowing how to act.Le Queux, William
48. Bland
Meaning: lacking stimulating characteristics; uninteresting
Example: Many critics were less than enamored with the kind of “easy listening” Mr. Williams embodied, deriding his approach as bland and unchallenging.
49. Blandishment
Meaning: flattery intended to persuade
Example: He had expected coaxings, blandishments, the pleadings and wiles with which Virginia the elder had made him so intimately acquainted.
50. Blare
Meaning: make a strident sound
Example: First there were trumpets; then brasses blared and drums rumbled.
51. Blase
Meaning: uninterested because of frequent exposure or indulgence
Example: Dull-eyed, blase, frayed by the social whirl, worn out, pulseless, all of them.Reynolds, Francis J.
52. Blasphemy
Meaning: profane language
Example: Instead of becoming silent, he poured forth a fresh storm of blasphemy; and continued cursing all the time I remained within hearing.
53. Blatant
Meaning: conspicuously and offensively loud
Example: Then there was great shouting among the Sophomores, with much blatant, exultant cheering.
54. Bleak
Meaning: offering little or no hope
Example: Although the situation looks bleak, there’s still room for hope, he said.
55. Blemish
Meaning: a mark or flaw that spoils the appearance of something
Example: Fine red lines often can be seen just under the skin, and some people also experience pimplelike blemishes.
56. Blithe
Meaning: carefree and happy and lighthearted
Example: Deep down inside her being something sang; outside, the carolling of the lark continued, blithe and
57. Blunder
Meaning: an embarrassing mistake
Example: The candidate’s first name was misspelled “John” on media badges, a blunder later repeated in some campaign mailings.
58. Blunt
Meaning: characterized by directness in manner or speech
Example: Even my lady, so blunt and outspoken by nature, had shrunk from trying to question the Dutch girl about her lover.
59. Blurt
Meaning: utter impulsively
Example: But after that momentary pause he blurted out, “Is everything all right, Benny?”
60. Bluster
Meaning: act in an arrogant, overly self-assured, or conceited manner
Example: Ling was no longer an incarnate monster, a blustering, boisterous bully.
61. Boast
Meaning: possess or display some desirable feature
Example: A pompous, boasting sort of man, I did not like him at all.
62. Bode
Meaning: indicate by signs
Example: “Her early recovery is very promising,” and bodes well for further improvement, he said.
63. Bogus
Meaning: fraudulent; having a misleading appearance
Example: Also, Tello allegedly put the wrong address on the letter and included fake bar codes and bogus fax and telephone numbers, they said.
64. Bohemian
Meaning: a nonconformist who lives an unconventional life
Example: Bohemians were typically urban, liberal in outlook, but with few visible political passions and, above all, creative.
65. Boisterous
Meaning: noisy and lacking in restraint or discipline
Example: Boys drinking champagne at adjacent tables were calling across to each other with boisterous merriment.
66. Bolster
Meaning: support and strengthen
Example: Manufacturing bolstered the nation’s economic recovery in March, according to data released Monday, with companies reporting strong gains in production and employment.
67. Bombardment
Meaning: an attack by dropping explosive devices
Example: He made up air raids and heavy bombardments and fairly tore up the village in which he was living.
68. Bombastic
Meaning: ostentatiously lofty in style
Example: Once, only, your workmanship was not marred by schemes for titillating effects, for sensational contrasts, for grandiose and bombastic expression.
69. Boon
Meaning: something that is desirable, favorable, or beneficial
Example: The drilling has been an economic boon — creating jobs and reducing dependence on foreign energy.
70. Boorish
Meaning: ill-mannered and coarse in behavior or appearance
Example: He becomes boorish, subject to fits of passion, violent and unaccountable.
71. Bountiful
Meaning: producing in abundance
Example: The wheat harvest that year was so bountiful that grain overflowed storage facilities.
72. Bourgeois
Meaning: being of the property-owning class
Example: This future son-in-law is very young, and remarkably good looking; he belongs to the upper bourgeois, even bordering on the nobility.
73. Bout
Meaning: a period of illness
Example: While out of work, struggling financially, and single-handedly responsible for three children, Pauline had several bouts of depression during which she felt completely isolated.
74. Bovine
Meaning: any of various wild or domestic cattle
Example: We can see handsome bovines at any fat cattle show.Lynch, Lawrence L.
75. Bowdlerize
Meaning: edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
Example: Being an iconic classic, however, hasn’t protected “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” from being banned, bowdlerized and bleeped.
76. Boycott
Meaning: refuse to sponsor; refuse to do business with
Example: In what became known as the Chilean Winter, students at university campuses and high schools across the country organized strikes, boycotted classes and occupied buildings.
77. Brackish
Meaning: slightly salty
Example: The waters of West Africa, salt, brackish, and fresh abound with fish, and many kinds are, if properly cooked, excellent eating.Kingsley, Mary Henrietta
78. Braggadocio
Meaning: vain and empty boasting
Example: Biggie talks about money and drugs, but “Juicy” contains no braggadocio, no empty boasts.
79. Braggart
Meaning: a very boastful and talkative person
Example: In his cups he was a witty, though arrogant, braggart.Stocking, Charles Francis
80. Brandish
Meaning: exhibit aggressively
Example: Yelling, shouting, and brandishing their weapons, the insurgents poured down.
81. Brash
Meaning: offensively bold
Example: Mr. Lancman, 43, is known for his brash, relentless and ambitious style.
82. Bravado
Meaning: a swaggering show of courage
Example: All their courage and bravado was gone, and now, like the miserable cowards that they were, they had sought safety in flight.
83. Brawl
Meaning: a noisy fight in a crowd
Example: The slightest quarrel, the most commonplace street brawl are pretexts for rival factions to come out in battle array.
84. Brawn
Meaning: the trait of possessing muscular strength
Example: He believes Hollywood has often have had an over-reliance on physical brawn as the deciding factor for portraying a strong man.
85. Brazen
Meaning: unrestrained by convention or propriety
Example: House has saved two lives, but Foreman is furious at his brazen disregard for the rules.
86. Breach
Meaning: make an opening or gap in
Example: Just look at how hackers breached the accounts of Google’s mail service in the past year, other RIM executives have noted.
87. Breadth
Meaning: the extent of something from side to side
Example: On the left side were also two store-houses, each thirty-six paces long by twelve in breadth, covered with shingles.Drake, Samuel Adams
88. Brevity
Meaning: the attribute of being short or fleeting
Example: Brevity is key; journalists do not have a lot of time.
89. Brink
Meaning: the limit beyond which something happens or changes
Example: Patterson often asked Groce to ease up in Taylor’s demanding timed conditioning drills, noticing he was on the brink of hyperventilating from pushing his limits.
90. Brisk
Meaning: quick and energetic
Example: The rooms were scrupulously clean, the table service brisk and punctual.Boyd, Mary Stuart
91. Broach
Meaning: bring up a topic for discussion
Example: Funeral directors must also navigate a topic that, even under normal circumstances, can prove uncomfortable to broach: money.
92. Brood
Meaning: hang over, as of something threatening, dark, or menacing
Example: In fact, a daunting quietness brooded over the spot.Bindloss, Harold
93. Browbeat
Meaning: discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner
Example: For ten minutes he bullied and browbeat the luckless sergeant, whose men had not been responsible for
opening fire.
94. Brunt
Meaning: the main part, especially of a force or shock
Example: While Texas, an epicenter now for wildfires and crop losses, is taking the brunt of the drought, surrounding states are also suffering.
95. Bucolic
Meaning: idyllically rustic
Example: He is glad when he sees men busy fishing, planting, and hunting, and engaged in all manner of bucolic occupations.
96. Buffoon
Meaning: a rude or vulgar fool
Example: They were sluggards, buffoons, dimwits, liars, brutes, and—without exception—drunks.
97. Buoyant
Meaning: characterized by liveliness and lightheartedness
Example: By nature he was sunny and buoyant, taking life as he found it.Penny, F. E.
98. Burden
Meaning: a serious or difficult concern
Example: Reconstruction spending is adding to the nation’s huge debt burden.
99. Bureaucracy
Meaning: unnecessary procedures that obstruct action
Example: Professors and graduate students have benefited from improved working conditions, quicker turnaround for photocopying and scanning, and decreased bureaucracy and red tape.
100. Burgeon
Meaning: grow and flourish
Example: Elsewhere, rising prices highlight a more basic problem: making sure farm productivity keeps pace with burgeoning populations.
