cabal n. A number of persons secretly united for effecting by intrigue some private purpose.
cabalism n. Superstitious devotion to one's religion.
cacophony n. A disagreeable, harsh, or discordant sound or combination of sounds or tones.
cadaverous adj. Resembling a corpse.
cadence n. Rhythmical or measured flow or movement, as in poetry or the time and pace of marching troops.
cadenza n. An embellishment or flourish, prepared or improvised, for a solo voice or instrument.
caitiff adj. Cowardly.
cajole v. To impose on or dupe by flattering speech.
calculus n. A concretion formed in various parts of the body resembling a pebble in hardness.
callosity n. The state of being hard and insensible.
callow adj. Without experience of the world.
calumny n. Slander.
Calvinism n. The system of doctrine taught by John Calvin.
Calvinize v. To teach or imbue with the doctrines of Calvinism.
came n. A leaden sash-bar or grooved strip for fastening panes in stained-glass windows.
cameo n. Any small engraved or carved work in relief.
candid adj. Straightforward.
candor n. The quality of frankness or outspokenness.
canon n. Any rule or law..
cantonment n. The part of the town or district in which the troops are quartered.
capacious adj. Roomy.
capillary n. A minute vessel having walls composed of a single layer of cells.
capitulate v. To surrender or stipulate terms.
caprice n. A whim.
captious adj. Hypercritical.
cardinal adj. Of prime or special importance.
caret n. A sign (^) placed below a line, indicating where omitted words, etc., should be inserted.
carnal adj. Sensual.
carouse v. To drink deeply and in boisterous or jovial manner.
carrion n. Dead and putrefying flesh.
cartridge n. A charge for a firearm, or for blasting.
caste n. The division of society on artificial grounds.
castigate v. To punish.
casualty n. A fatal or serious accident or disaster.
cataclysm n. Any overwhelming flood of water.
cataract n. Opacity of the lens of the eye resulting in complete or partial blindness.
cathode n. The negative pole or electrode of a galvanic battery.
catholicity n. Universal prevalence or acceptance.
caucus n. A private meeting of members of a political party to select candidates.
causal adj. Indicating or expressing a cause.
caustic adj. Sarcastic and severe.
cauterize v. To burn or sear as with a heated iron.
cede v. To pass title to.
censorious adj. Judging severely or harshly.
cessation n. Discontinuance, as of action or motion.
cession n. Surrender, as of possessions or rights.
chagrin n. Keen vexation, annoyance, or mortification, as at one's failures or errors.
chancery n. A court of equity, as distinguished from a common-law court.
chattel n. Any article of personal property.
chiffon n. A very thin gauze used for trimmings, evening dress, etc.
chivalry n. The knightly system of feudal times with its code, usages and practices.
Christendom n. That part of the world where Christianity is generally professed.
chronometer n. A portable timekeeper of the highest attainable precision.
cipher v. To calculate arithmetically. (also a noun meaning zero or nothing)
circulate v. To disseminate.
circumlocution n. Indirect or roundabout expression.
circumnavigate v. To sail quite around.
circumscribe v. To confine within bounds.
circumspect adj. Showing watchfulness, caution, or careful consideration.
citadel n. Any strong fortress.
claimant n. One who makes a claim or demand, as of right.
clamorous adj. Urgent in complaint or demand.
clandestine adj. Surreptitious.
clangor n. Clanking or a ringing, as of arms, chains, or bells; clamor.
clarion n. A small shrill trumpet or bugle.
clemency n. Mercy.
clement adj. Compassionate.
close-hauled adj. Having the sails set for sailing as close to the wind as possible.
coagulate v. To change into a clot or a jelly, as by heat, by chemical action, or by a ferment.
coagulant adj. Producing coagulation.
coalescence n. The act or process of coming together so as to form one body, combination, or product.
coalition n. Combination in a body or mass.
coddle v. To treat as a baby or an invalid.
codicil n. A supplement adding to, revoking, or explaining in the body of a will.
coerce v. To force.
cogent adj. Appealing strongly to the reason or conscience.
cohere v. To stick together.
cohesion n. Consistency.
coincide v. To correspond.
collier n. One who works in a coal-mine.
colloquial adj. Pertaining or peculiar to common speech as distinguished from literary.
colloquialism n. Form of speech used only or chiefly in conversation.
colloquy n. Conversation.
collusion n. A secret agreement for a wrongful purpose.
colossus n. Any strikingly great person or object.
comely adj. Handsome.
comestible adj. Fit to be eaten.
commingle v. To blend.
commissariat n. The department of an army charged with the provision of its food and water and daily needs.
commission v. To empower.
commute v. To put something, especially something less severe, in place of.
comparative adj. Relative.
compensate v. To remunerate.
complacence n. Satisfaction with one's acts or surroundings.
complaisance n. Politeness.
complicity n. Participation or partnership, as in wrong-doing or with a wrong-doer.
comport v. To conduct or behave (oneself).
composure n. Calmness.
compression n. Constraint, as by force or authority.
comprise v. To consist of.
compulsion n. Coercion.
compulsory adj. Forced.
compunction n. Remorseful feeling.
concede v. To surrender.
conceive v. To form an idea, mental image or thought of.
concession n. Anything granted or yielded, or admitted in response to a demand, petition, or claim.
conciliate v. To obtain the friendship of.
conciliatory adj. Tending to reconcile.
conclusive adj. Sufficient to convince or decide.
concord n. Harmony.
concordance n. Harmony.
condense v. To abridge.
condescend v. To come down voluntarily to equal terms with inferiors.
conduce v. To bring about.
conducive adj. Contributing to an end.
conductible adj. Capable of being conducted or transmitted.
conduit n. A means for conducting something, particularly a tube, pipe, or passageway for a fluid.
confectionery n. The candy collectively that a confectioner makes or sells, as candy.
confederacy n. A number of states or persons in compact or league with each other, as for mutual aid.
confer v. To bestow.
conflagration n. A great fire, as of many buildings, a forest, or the like.
congeal v. To coagulate.
congenial adj. Having kindred character or tastes.
congest v. To collect into a mass.
congregate v. To bring together into a crowd.
conjecture n. A guess.
conjugal adj. Pertaining to marriage, marital rights, or married persons.
connive v. To be in collusion.
connoisseur n. A critical judge of art, especially one with thorough knowledge and sound judgment of art.
connote v. To mean; signify.
connubial adj. Pertaining to marriage or matrimony.
consanguineous adj. Descended from the same parent or ancestor.
conscience n. The faculty in man by which he distinguishes between right and wrong in character and conduct.
conscientious adj. Governed by moral standard.
conscript v. To force into military service.
consecrate v. To set apart as sacred.
consecutive adj. Following in uninterrupted succession.
consensus n. A collective unanimous opinion of a number of persons.
conservatism n. Tendency to adhere to the existing order of things.
conservatory n. An institution for instruction and training in music and declamation.
consign v. To entrust.
consignee n. A person to whom goods or other property has been entrusted.
consignor n. One who entrusts.
consistency n. A state of permanence.
consolidate v. To combine into one body or system.
consonance n. The state or quality of being in accord with.
consonant adj. Being in agreement or harmony with.
consort n. A companion or associate.
conspicuous adj. Clearly visible.
conspirator n. One who agrees with others to cooperate in accomplishing some unlawful purpose.
conspire v. To plot.
constable n. An officer whose duty is to maintain the peace.
consternation n. Panic.
constituency n. The inhabitants or voters in a district represented in a legislative body.
constituent n. One who has the right to vote at an election.
consul n. An officer appointed to reside in a foreign city, chiefly to represent his country.
consulate n. The place in which a consul transacts official business.
consummate v. To bring to completion.
consumptive adj. Designed for gradual destruction.
contagion n. The communication of disease from person to person.
contagious adj. Transmitting disease.
contemplate v. To consider thoughtfully.
contemporaneous adj. Living, occurring, or existing at the same time.
contemporary adj. Living or existing at the same time.
contemptible adj. Worthy of scorn or disdain.
contemptuous adj. Disdainful.
contender n. One who exerts oneself in opposition or rivalry.
contiguity n. Proximity.
contiguous adj. Touching or joining at the edge or boundary.
continence n. Self-restraint with respect to desires, appetites, and passion.
contingency n. Possibility of happening.
contingent adj. Not predictable.
continuance n. Permanence.
contort v. To twist into a misshapen form.
contraposition n. A placing opposite.
contravene v. To prevent or obstruct the operation of.
contrite adj. Broken in spirit because of a sense of sin.
contrivance n. The act planning, devising, inventing, or adapting something to or for a special purpose.
contrive v. To manage or carry through by some device or scheme.
contumacious adj. Rebellious.
contumacy n. Contemptuous disregard of the requirements of rightful authority.
contuse v. To bruise by a blow, either with or without the breaking of the skin.
contusion n. A bruise.
convalesce v. To recover after a sickness.
convalescence n. The state of progressive restoration to health and strength after the cessation of disease.
convalescent adj. Recovering health after sickness.
convene v. To summon or cause to assemble.
convex adj. Curving like the segment of the globe or of the surface of a circle.
conveyance n. That by which anything is transported.
convivial adj. Devoted to feasting, or to good-fellowship in eating or drinking.
convolution n. A winding motion.
convolve v. To move with a circling or winding motion.
convoy n. A protecting force accompanying property in course of transportation.
convulse v. To cause spasms in.
copious adj. Plenteous.
cornice n. An ornamental molding running round the walls of a room close to the ceiling.
cornucopia n. The horn of plenty, symbolizing peace and prosperity.
corollary n. A proposition following so obviously from another that it requires little demonstration.
coronation n. The act or ceremony of crowning a monarch.
coronet n. Inferior crown denoting, according to its form, various degrees of noble rank less than sovereign.
corporeal adj. Of a material nature; physical.
corps n. A number or body of persons in some way associated or acting together.
corpuscle n. A minute particle of matter.
correlative adj. Mutually involving or implying one another.
corrigible adj. Capable of reformation.
corroborate v. To strengthen, as proof or conviction.
corroboration n. Confirmation.
cosmogony n. A doctrine of creation or of the origin of the universe.
cosmopolitan adj. Common to all the world.
countervail v. To offset.
courser n. A fleet and spirited horse.
covenant n. An agreement entered into by two or more persons or parties.
covert adj. Concealed, especially for an evil purpose.
covey n. A flock of quails or partridges.
coxswain n. One who steers a rowboat, or one who has charge of a ship's boat and its crew under an officer.
crag n. A rugged, rocky projection on a cliff or ledge.
credence n. Belief.
credulous adj. Easily deceived.
creed n. A formal summary of fundamental points of religious belief.
crevasse n. A deep crack or fissure in the ice of a glacier.
crevice n. A small fissure, as between two contiguous surfaces.
criterion n. A standard by which to determine the correctness of a judgment or conclusion.
crockery n. Earthenware made from baked clay.
crucible n. A trying and purifying test or agency.
crystallize v. To bring together or give fixed shape to.
cudgel n. A short thick stick used as a club.
cull v. To pick or sort out from the rest.
culpable adj. Guilty.
culvert n. Any artificial covered channel for the passage of water through a bank or under a road, canal.
curable adj. Capable of being remedied or corrected.
curator n. A person having charge as of a library or museum.
curio n. A piece of bric-a-brac.
cursory adj. Rapid and superficial.
curt adj. Concise, compressed, and abrupt in act or expression.
curtail v. To cut off or cut short.
cycloid adj. Like a circle.
cygnet n. A young swan.
cynicism n. Contempt for the opinions of others and of what others value.
cynosure n. That to which general interest or attention is directed.
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