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1 abase (v.) to humiliate, degrade (After being overthrown and abased, the
deposed leader offered to bow down to his conqueror.)
2abate (v.) to reduce, lessen (The rain poured down for a while, then abated.)
3 abdicate (v.) to give up a position, usually one of leadership (When he realized that the revolutionaries would surely win, the king abdicated his throne.)
4 abduct (v.) to kidnap, take by force (The evildoers abducted the fairy princess from her happy home.)
5 aberration (n.) something that differs from the norm (In 1918, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series, but the success turned out to be an aberration, and the Red Sox have not won a World Series since.)
6 abet (v.) to aid, help, encourage (The spy succeeded only because he had a friend on the inside to abet him.)
7 abhor (v.) to hate, detest (Because he always wound up kicking himself in the head when he tried to play soccer, Oswald began to abhor the sport.)
8 abide 1. (v.) to put up with (Though he did not agree with the decision, Chuck decided to abide by it.) 2. (v.) to remain (Despite the beating they’ve taken from the weather throughout the millennia, the mountains abide.)
9 abject (adj.) wretched, pitiful (After losing all her money, falling into a puddle, and breaking her ankle, Eloise was abject.)
10 abjure (v.) to reject, renounce (To prove his honesty, the President abjured the evil policies of his wicked predecessor.)
11 accolade (n.) high praise, special distinction (Everyone offered accolades to Sam after he won the Noble Prize.)
12 accost (v.) to confront verbally (Though Antoinette was normally quite calm, when the waiter spilled soup on her for the fourth time in 15 minutes she stood up and accosted the man.)
13 accretion (n.) slow growth in size or amount (Stalactites are formed by the accretion of minerals from the roofs of caves.)
14 acerbic (adj.) biting, bitter in tone or taste (Jill became extremely acerbic and began to cruelly make fun of all her friends.)
15 acquiesce (v.) to agree without protesting (Though Mr. Correlli wanted to stay outside and work in his garage, when his wife told him that he had better come in to dinner,he acquiesced to her demands.)
16 acrimony (n.) bitterness, discord (Though they vowed that no girl would ever come between them, Biff and Trevor could not keep acrimony from overwhelming their friendship after they both fell in love with the lovely Teresa.)
17 acumen (n.) keen insight (Because of his mathematical acumen, Larry was able to figure out in minutes problems that took other students hours.)
18 acute 1. (adj.) sharp, severe (Arnold could not walk because the pain in his foot was so acute.) 2. (adj.) having keen insight (Because she was so acute, Libby instantly figured out how the magician pulled off his “magic.”)
19 adamant (adj.) impervious, immovable, unyielding (Though public pressure was intense, the President remained adamant about his proposal.)
20 adept (adj.) extremely skilled (Tarzan was adept at jumping from tree to tree like a monkey.)