Year 9 Vocabulary List

#

001

Word

abhor

verb

Meaning

To feel a strong hatred or disgust towards something.

#

002

Word

abrogate

verb

Meaning

To formally cancel or abandon a law or agreement.

#

003

Word

abstain

verb

Meaning

To deliberately refrain from doing something.

#

004

Word

acatalepsy

noun

Meaning

the Sceptical view that the human mind can never attain certainty or full comprehension of truth

#

005

Word

accolade

noun

Meaning

An award or praise given as recognition of achievement.

#

006

Word

acephalous

adjective

Meaning

without a head; in prosody, describing a line of verse missing the first syllable

#

007

Word

admonish

verb

Meaning

To warn or reprimand someone firmly.

#

008

Word

adoxography

noun

Meaning

skilled writing in praise of trivial or worthless subjects

#

009

Word

aetiological

adjective

Meaning

relating to the investigation of causes, especially of a disease or literary myth

#

010

Word

agglutinative

adjective

Meaning

relating to languages in which grammatical relationships are expressed by joining morphemes together

#

011

Word

aggrandise

verb

Meaning

To increase the power or importance of something; to make greater.

#

012

Word

agnosis

noun

Meaning

lack of knowledge; the state of not knowing, especially regarding metaphysical questions

#

013

Word

agonistics

noun

Meaning

the study or practice of disputation and intellectual combat

#

014

Word

agrarian

adjective

Meaning

relating to cultivated land or the relationship between people and the land they farm

#

015

Word

aleaticism

noun

Meaning

a compositional or artistic approach in which chance is a central determining element

#

016

Word

amalgamation

noun

Meaning

the action of combining or uniting two or more things into one

#

017

Word

anagnorisis

noun

Meaning

the moment of recognition or discovery in a tragedy, especially the protagonist's realisation of their true situation

#

018

Word

anamorphosis

noun

Meaning

a distorted projection requiring a special device to view correctly; metaphorically, a perspective that transforms under scrutiny

#

019

Word

anastomosis

noun

Meaning

a cross-connection between adjacent channels; in textual theory, an interconnection between texts or ideas

#

020

Word

ancillary

adjective

Meaning

providing necessary support to the primary activities or operation of an organisation or system

#

021

Word

anthropocentrism

noun

Meaning

the belief that human beings are the most important entity in the universe

#

022

Word

aporetic method

noun

Meaning

the Socratic practice of raising and dwelling in philosophical perplexity rather than resolving it

#

023

Word

apriorism

noun

Meaning

the philosophical doctrine that certain knowledge is prior to and independent of experience

#

024

Word

areté

noun

Meaning

the ancient Greek concept of excellence or virtue, especially the fulfilment of one's highest potential

#

025

Word

ataraxia

noun

Meaning

a state of serene calmness and freedom from emotional disturbance, prized in Epicurean and Sceptic philosophy

#

026

Word

atavistic

adjective

Meaning

relating to the reappearance of ancestral traits or behaviours not seen in recent generations

#

027

Word

autochthonous

adjective

Meaning

indigenous; formed or originating in the place where it is found; not introduced from outside

#

028

Word

belligerent

adjective

Meaning

Hostile and aggressive; eager to fight or argue.

#

029

Word

bourgeois

adjective

Meaning

Relating to the middle class; often used to imply materialism.

#

030

Word

byzantine

adjective

Meaning

excessively complicated and difficult to understand; full of intrigue

#

031

Word

casuist

noun

Meaning

a person who resolves moral problems by applying theoretical rules to particular cases, sometimes deceptively

#

032

Word

casuistry

noun

Meaning

the use of clever but false reasoning, especially in moral questions

#

033

Word

catachretical

adjective

Meaning

relating to the misuse or overstrained use of a word or expression

#

034

Word

chicanery

noun

Meaning

The use of trickery to achieve a goal.

#

035

Word

clemency

noun

Meaning

Mercy and leniency shown towards an offender.

#

036

Word

coalesce

verb

Meaning

To come together to form one group or mass.

#

037

Word

cogitate

verb

Meaning

To think deeply and carefully about something.

#

038

Word

collusion

noun

Meaning

A secret agreement for a dishonest or illegal purpose.

#

039

Word

composure

noun

Meaning

A state of calm; the ability to stay relaxed under pressure.

#

040

Word

conceit

noun

Meaning

An extended metaphor with a complex logic; also, excessive pride.

#

041

Word

condemnation

noun

Meaning

The expression of very strong disapproval.

#

042

Word

conflation

noun

Meaning

the merging of two or more distinct things into one, sometimes incorrectly

#

043

Word

consubstantial

adjective

Meaning

of the same substance or nature; used in theology and metaphysics to describe identical essence

#

044

Word

contemptuous

adjective

Meaning

Showing that you have no respect for someone or something.

#

045

Word

contumacious

adjective

Meaning

stubbornly or wilfully disobedient to authority; rebellious

#

046

Word

corroboration

noun

Meaning

Evidence that confirms or supports a statement.

#

047

Word

coruscating

adjective

Meaning

flashing or sparkling brilliantly; devastatingly incisive in wit or criticism

#

048

Word

cosmogony

noun

Meaning

a theory or account of the origin and development of the universe

#

049

Word

countenance

noun

Meaning

A person's face or facial expression; to permit something.

#

050

Word

covetous

adjective

Meaning

Having a strong desire to possess something belonging to another.

#

051

Word

dasein

noun

Meaning

Heidegger's term for human existence as it is always already situated in the world; "being-there"

#

052

Word

defeasible

adjective

Meaning

liable to be annulled or forfeited; in logic, a conclusion that can be overturned by new information

#

053

Word

deferential

adjective

Meaning

Showing respect and deference to another person.

#

054

Word

delineation

noun

Meaning

The precise portrayal or description of something.

#

055

Word

denouement

noun

Meaning

the final resolution of a story's plot after the main dramatic climax

#

056

Word

depredation

noun

Meaning

The act of causing damage or harm; pillaging.

#

057

Word

derision

noun

Meaning

Cruel mockery; scornful ridicule.

#

058

Word

desiccate

verb

Meaning

To remove moisture from something; to dry out completely.

#

059

Word

deterministic

adjective

Meaning

Relating to the theory that all events are caused by prior conditions.

#

060

Word

dilatory

adjective

Meaning

Slow to act; intended to cause delay.

#

061

Word

discredit

verb

Meaning

To harm the reputation of; to cause to appear untrustworthy.

#

062

Word

discursivity

noun

Meaning

the property of proceeding by reasoning; or the tendency of a text to digress from its main subject

#

063

Word

disingenuous

adjective

Meaning

Not candid or sincere; not straightforward.

#

064

Word

dispossess

verb

Meaning

To take away property or land from someone.

#

065

Word

disquiet

noun

Meaning

A feeling of worry or unease.

#

066

Word

dissemination

noun

Meaning

Derrida's term for the way meaning endlessly disperses and cannot be fixed by a transcendent origin

#

067

Word

dissolution

noun

Meaning

The closing down or ending of something.

#

068

Word

dolorous

adjective

Meaning

Feeling or expressing great sorrow or distress.

#

069

Word

dormant

adjective

Meaning

Temporarily inactive; in a state of rest.

#

070

Word

ecriture

noun

Meaning

Barthes' concept of writing understood as a self-referential practice detached from author and intention

#

071

Word

edification

noun

Meaning

the moral or intellectual instruction and improvement of a person

#

072

Word

elenchic

adjective

Meaning

relating to the Socratic method of refutation by cross-questioning

#

073

Word

emplotment

noun

Meaning

the process by which a historian or narrator organises events into a coherent narrative structure

#

074

Word

enargeia

noun

Meaning

the rhetorical quality of vividness that brings a scene or event before the reader's eyes

#

075

Word

entelecheia

noun

Meaning

Aristotle's term for the realisation of potential; the condition of having achieved one's final end

#

076

Word

epigenesis

noun

Meaning

the developmental theory that organisms are formed through gradual differentiation, not from pre-formed structures

#

077

Word

epoché

noun

Meaning

the phenomenological practice of suspending judgement on the natural world to examine consciousness directly

#

078

Word

equivocation

noun

Meaning

the use of ambiguous language to conceal the truth or mislead; in logic, using the same word with different meanings

#

079

Word

ergodic

adjective

Meaning

in literature and media theory, describing a work that requires non-trivial effort to traverse

#

080

Word

eudaimonia

noun

Meaning

Aristotle's concept of human flourishing and living well through the exercise of virtue

#

081

Word

exegesis

noun

Meaning

a critical explanation or interpretation of a text, especially scripture

#

082

Word

exegetical

adjective

Meaning

relating to critical interpretation of a text, especially scripture

#

083

Word

expiation

noun

Meaning

the act of making amends or reparation for wrongdoing or guilt

#

084

Word

falibilism

noun

Meaning

Peirce's doctrine that human knowledge is inherently fallible and open to revision

#

085

Word

fatuous

adjective

Meaning

silly and pointless; showing a lack of intelligence or thought

#

086

Word

fideism

noun

Meaning

the view that religious knowledge depends on faith rather than reason or evidence

#

087

Word

florilegium

noun

Meaning

a collection of literary extracts or passages; an anthology

#

088

Word

garrulous

adjective

Meaning

excessively talkative, especially on trivial matters

#

089

Word

genealogy

noun

Meaning

Nietzsche's and Foucault's method of tracing the historical origins of moral concepts to expose contingency and power

#

090

Word

glossolalia

noun

Meaning

the phenomenon of apparently speaking in an unknown language, especially in religious experience

#

091

Word

gnomic

adjective

Meaning

expressed in or of the nature of short, pithy maxims or aphorisms

#

092

Word

gnoseology

noun

Meaning

the branch of philosophy dealing with the theory of knowledge; a synonym for epistemology

#

093

Word

hamartiological

adjective

Meaning

relating to the theological doctrine of sin and its consequences

#

094

Word

hapax legomenon

noun

Meaning

a word that occurs only once in a text or in the recorded corpus of a language

#

095

Word

heuresis

noun

Meaning

the rhetorical art of invention; finding arguments and ideas for a speech or composition

#

096

Word

hieratic

adjective

Meaning

of or associated with sacred persons or offices; highly formalised and stylised in manner

#

097

Word

histrionic

adjective

Meaning

excessively theatrical or dramatic in character or style

#

098

Word

homological

adjective

Meaning

having the same relation, relative position, or structure; corresponding in form and structure

#

099

Word

hypostasis

noun

Meaning

the underlying substance or essence of a thing; in theology, each of the three persons of the Trinity

#

100

Word

iconoclasm

noun

Meaning

the attack on or criticism of cherished beliefs, ideas, or institutions

#

101

Word

idiolect

noun

Meaning

the variety of language unique to an individual speaker, comprising their characteristic vocabulary and usage

#

102

Word

imbrication

noun

Meaning

an overlapping arrangement, like fish scales or roof tiles; layered repetition in rhetoric

#

103

Word

imbroglio

noun

Meaning

an extremely confused, complicated, or embarrassing situation

#

104

Word

immanence

noun

Meaning

the quality of being inherent in or operating within something; in philosophy, existing within the world rather than transcendent

#

105

Word

impecunious

adjective

Meaning

having very little or no money; habitually poor

#

106

Word

imprecation

noun

Meaning

a spoken curse or appeal for misfortune to befall someone

#

107

Word

inadvertence

noun

Meaning

failure to notice or to pay proper attention; a consequence of lack of care

#

108

Word

inchoate

adjective

Meaning

just begun and not fully formed or developed; undeveloped

#

109

Word

incunabulum

noun

Meaning

a book printed before the year 1501; by extension, any early example of a new technology

#

110

Word

indeterminacy

noun

Meaning

the quality of not being fixed or determined; in quantum theory, the inherent unpredictability of subatomic states

#

111

Word

ineffability

noun

Meaning

the quality of being too great or extreme to be expressed in words

#

112

Word

ineluctable

adjective

Meaning

unable to be resisted or avoided; inescapable

#

113

Word

inexorable

adjective

Meaning

impossible to stop or prevent; relentless and unyielding

#

114

Word

infelicity

noun

Meaning

in speech-act theory, a failure of a performative utterance to produce its intended effect

#

115

Word

ingenuity

noun

Meaning

the quality of being clever, original, and inventive

#

116

Word

inimicality

noun

Meaning

the state or quality of being hostile or harmful

#

117

Word

insouciance

noun

Meaning

casual lack of concern or care; a relaxed and carefree attitude

#

118

Word

instrumentalise

verb

Meaning

to treat as a tool or means to an end rather than as valuable in itself

#

119

Word

internecine

adjective

Meaning

destructive to both sides in a conflict; mutually harmful

#

120

Word

interpolation

noun

Meaning

the insertion of something of a different nature into something else; in textual scholarship, a later addition to a manuscript

#

121

Word

interstitial

adjective

Meaning

of, forming, or occupying interstices; positioned between established structures or categories

#

122

Word

intrinsicality

noun

Meaning

the quality of belonging to the essential nature of a thing, not dependent on external factors

#

123

Word

invidious

adjective

Meaning

likely to arouse resentment or anger in others because of unfair distinctions

#

124

Word

irredentism

noun

Meaning

a political doctrine claiming the right to recover territory culturally or historically related to one's nation

#

125

Word

isomorphism

noun

Meaning

the quality of having the same form or structure; in mathematics, a correspondence between sets preserving structure

#

126

Word

iterability

noun

Meaning

Derrida's concept that signs can be repeated in new contexts, always taking on different meanings

#

127

Word

katharsis

noun

Meaning

Aristotle's term for the emotional purgation experienced by an audience through tragedy

#

128

Word

kenosis

noun

Meaning

the theological concept of Christ's self-emptying of divine attributes; by extension, self-abnegation for a greater purpose

#

129

Word

kettle logic

noun

Meaning

a form of argumentation in which mutually contradictory claims are advanced simultaneously to defend a position

#

130

Word

lachrymose

adjective

Meaning

tearful or given to weeping; inducing sadness

#

131

Word

lacuna

noun

Meaning

a missing portion in a manuscript or text; more broadly, a gap or missing part of something

#

132

Word

lapsarian

adjective

Meaning

relating to the Fall of Man; postlapsarian means after the Fall, prelapsarian before it

#

133

Word

latitudinarian

adjective

Meaning

allowing latitude of opinion, especially in religious belief; broadly tolerant of divergent views

#

134

Word

logomachy

noun

Meaning

an argument about words; a dispute that is purely verbal

#

135

Word

logorrhea

noun

Meaning

a tendency to excessive and incoherent talkativeness

#

136

Word

longueur

noun

Meaning

a passage of a book, play, or other work that is tediously long or slow

#

137

Word

loquacious

adjective

Meaning

tending to talk a great deal; garrulous

#

138

Word

lucubration

noun

Meaning

laborious study or meditation; a piece of writing that is studied or elaborate

#

139

Word

luminescent

adjective

Meaning

emitting light not caused by heat; glowing

#

140

Word

macabre

adjective

Meaning

disturbing because it involves death or injury in an unnatural way

#

141

Word

machiavellian

adjective

Meaning

cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous in pursuit of one's goals

#

142

Word

magniloquent

adjective

Meaning

using high-flown or bombastic language

#

143

Word

malediction

noun

Meaning

a curse; a prayer that evil may befall someone

#

144

Word

maleficent

adjective

Meaning

causing harm or destruction, especially by supernatural means

#

145

Word

mantic

adjective

Meaning

relating to the faculty of divination or prophecy

#

146

Word

marginalia

noun

Meaning

notes written in the margins of a text

#

147

Word

meiosis

noun

Meaning

a figure of speech in which something is described as less than it is; understatement

#

148

Word

meliorism

noun

Meaning

the belief that the world can be made better by human effort

#

149

Word

mendacious

adjective

Meaning

not telling the truth; habitually dishonest; lying

#

150

Word

metafiction

noun

Meaning

fiction in which the author self-consciously alludes to the artificiality of the work

#

151

Word

metalanguage

noun

Meaning

a language used to analyse or describe another language

#

152

Word

metatextual

adjective

Meaning

relating to the relationship between a text and other texts it discusses or critiques

#

153

Word

mimesis

noun

Meaning

the imitation or representation of the real world in art and literature

#

154

Word

mnemonics

noun

Meaning

a system or pattern of ideas used as a memory aid

#

155

Word

modality

noun

Meaning

a particular mode or method; in linguistics, the expression of possibility or necessity

#

156

Word

moiety

noun

Meaning

each of two equal parts into which something is divided

#

157

Word

morpheme

noun

Meaning

the smallest grammatical unit of meaning in a language

#

158

Word

motility

noun

Meaning

the ability to move spontaneously and independently

#

159

Word

mythopoeia

noun

Meaning

the making of myths; a literary genre or act of creating a new mythology

#

160

Word

naivety

noun

Meaning

lack of experience or sophistication; the state of being naïve

#

161

Word

narcissism

noun

Meaning

excessive interest in or admiration of oneself and one's physical appearance

#

162

Word

narratology

noun

Meaning

the branch of literary theory that studies the structure and function of narrative

#

163

Word

naturalism

noun

Meaning

a literary movement depicting life and characters with strict realism, often emphasising determinism

#

164

Word

necromancy

noun

Meaning

the supposed practice of communicating with the dead; sorcery more generally

#

165

Word

neologism

noun

Meaning

a newly coined word or expression

#

166

Word

nihilistic

adjective

Meaning

rejecting all religious and moral principles in the belief that life is meaningless

#

167

Word

numinous

adjective

Meaning

having a strong religious or spiritual quality; indicating the presence of a divinity

#

168

Word

numismatics

noun

Meaning

the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, and paper money

#

169

Word

obsequious

adjective

Meaning

obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree

#

170

Word

obstreperous

adjective

Meaning

noisy and difficult to control; loudly objectionable

#

171

Word

occultism

noun

Meaning

belief in or study of the action or influence of supernatural or supranormal powers

#

172

Word

onomastics

noun

Meaning

the study of the history and origin of proper names

#

173

Word

ontogenesis

noun

Meaning

the development of an individual organism from embryo to adult

#

174

Word

opprobrium

noun

Meaning

harsh criticism or censure; the public disgrace arising from shameful conduct

#

175

Word

ostentation

noun

Meaning

the pretentious or showy display of wealth or knowledge

#

176

Word

oxymoron

noun

Meaning

a figure of speech in which contradictory terms are combined, as in "bitter-sweet"

#

177

Word

palilogy

noun

Meaning

the immediate repetition of a word or phrase for emphasis

#

178

Word

panacea

noun

Meaning

a solution or remedy for all difficulties or diseases

#

179

Word

panegyric

noun

Meaning

a public speech or published text in praise of someone or something

#

180

Word

pareidolia

noun

Meaning

the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random pattern

#

181

Word

pathetic fallacy

noun

Meaning

the attribution of human emotions to the natural world in literature

#

182

Word

pathos

noun

Meaning

a quality that evokes pity or sadness in literature or art

#

183

Word

paucity

noun

Meaning

the presence of something only in small or insufficient quantities

#

184

Word

pedantry

noun

Meaning

excessive concern with minor details and rules, especially in teaching

#

185

Word

pejorative

adjective

Meaning

expressing contempt or disapproval; having negative connotations

#

186

Word

pellucid

adjective

Meaning

translucently clear; easily understood; lucid

#

187

Word

penultimate

adjective

Meaning

last but one in a series

#

188

Word

perfidy

noun

Meaning

the practice of being deceitful and untrustworthy; treachery

#

189

Word

peripeteia

noun

Meaning

a sudden reversal of fortune in a drama or narrative

#

190

Word

persiflage

noun

Meaning

light and slightly contemptuous mockery or banter

#

191

Word

perspicuous

adjective

Meaning

easily understood; clearly expressed

#

192

Word

phantasmagoric

adjective

Meaning

relating to a constantly shifting succession of bizarre imagery

#

193

Word

philology

noun

Meaning

the historical study of languages through written records

#

194

Word

platitudinous

adjective

Meaning

abounding in or given to platitudes; offering only dull, commonplace remarks

#

195

Word

pleonasm

noun

Meaning

the use of more words than are necessary to express an idea, e.g. "free gift"

#

196

Word

plethora

noun

Meaning

a large or excessive amount of something

#

197

Word

polysemy

noun

Meaning

the coexistence of many possible meanings for a word or phrase

#

198

Word

polysyndeton

noun

Meaning

the use of several conjunctions in close succession for deliberate rhetorical effect

#

199

Word

polyvalent

adjective

Meaning

having or susceptible of many applications, interpretations, or functions

#

200

Word

pragmatics

noun

Meaning

the branch of linguistics that deals with language use in context

#

201

Word

precarity

noun

Meaning

the state of being precarious; uncertain and insecure circumstances

#

202

Word

presupposition

noun

Meaning

a thing tacitly assumed beforehand as the basis of argument

#

203

Word

prolepsis

noun

Meaning

the anticipation and answering of possible objections; also, a flashforward in narrative

#

204

Word

prosody

noun

Meaning

the patterns of rhythm and sound used in poetry; the study of verse forms

#

205

Word

protean

adjective

Meaning

tending or able to change frequently or easily; versatile

#

206

Word

psychomachia

noun

Meaning

an internal conflict of opposing forces, especially of virtues and vices

#

207

Word

purgation

noun

Meaning

the purification or cleansing of guilty feelings; catharsis

#

208

Word

pusillanimous

adjective

Meaning

showing a lack of courage or determination; timid and cowardly

#

209

Word

recondite

adjective

Meaning

not known by many people; obscure and little-known

#

210

Word

vituperation

noun

Meaning

bitter and abusive language used to criticise someone harshly