| |
| habitat |
natural home of a plant or animal; CF. habitation |
| habituate |
accustom or familiarize; addict |
| hackles |
hairs on back and neck, especially of a dog; Ex. make
someone's hackles rise |
| hackneyed |
commonplace; trite |
| haggard |
wasted away; gaunt; Ex. haggard faces of the rescued
miners |
| haggle |
argue about prices (in an attempt to bargain) |
| hail |
frozen rain drop; V: salute or greet; precipitate hail |
| halcyon |
calm; peaceful; Ex. halcyon days |
| hale |
healthy |
| halfhearted |
exhibiting little interest or enthusiasm |
| hallowed |
blessed; consecrated; Ex. hallowed ground; V. hallow:
set apart as holy |
| hallucination |
delusion; false idea; false perception of objects with
a compelling sense of their reality; objects so perceived;
V. hallucinate; ADJ. hallucinatory |
| halting |
hesitant; faltering; not fluent; Ex. halting steps/voice;
V. halt: proceed or act with uncertainty; falter; hesitate;
waver; stop |
| hamper |
obstruct; prevent the free movement of; |
| handsome |
large in quantity; generous; Ex. handsome reward |
| hap |
chance; luck |
| haphazard |
random; by chance; happening in an unplanned manner;
Ex. haphazard growth of the town |
| hapless |
unfortunate; luckless |
| harangue |
long, passionate, and vehement speech; V. |
| harass |
annoy by repeated attacks |
| harbinger |
forerunner (which foreshadows what is to come) |
| harbor |
give protection (by giving food and shelter); provide
a refuge for; hide; keep in mind (thoughts or feelings);
Ex. harbor a grudge/criminal; N: place of shelter; refuge |
| hardy |
(of people or animals) sturdy; robust; (of plants)
able to stand inclement(stormy) weather |
| harping |
tiresome dwelling on a subject; V. harp: dwell on(think
or speak a lot about) tediously |
| harrowing |
agonizing; distressing; traumatic; V. harrow: break
up and level (soil) with a harrow; inflict great distress
on; agonize; N: farming machine to break up the earth |
| harry |
harass, annoy, torment (by repeated attacks); raid |
| hatch |
deck opening; lid covering a deck opening; V: emerge
from an egg; produce (young) from an egg |
| haughtiness |
pride; arrogance; ADJ. haughty |
| haunt |
(of a spirit) visit (a place); come to mind continually;
visit (a place) regularly; frequent; Ex. haunted house;
Ex. haunted by his last words; N: place much frequented |
| haven |
place of safety; refuge; harbor; Ex. tax haven |
| havoc |
widespread damage; disorder; chaos |
| hazard |
venture; put in danger; risk; Ex. hazard a guess; N:
possible source of danger |
| hazardous |
dangerous |
| hazy |
slightly obscure; misty; unclear; N. haze: light mist
or smoke; confused state of mind |
| headfirst |
moving with the head leading; headlong |
| headlong |
hasty; rash; headfirst; ADV. |
| headstrong |
willful; stubborn; unyielding; determined to have one's
own way; CF. no 'excessive' |
| healthful |
conducive to good health; Ex. healthful mountain air |
| healthy |
possessing good health; healthful |
| heckler |
person who verbally harasses others; V. heckle: verbally
harass as with gibes (by interrupting a speaker or speech) |
| hedonist |
one who believes that pleasure is the sole aim in life;
CF. hedonism: practice of living one's life purely for
pleasure |
| heed |
pay attention to; N: close attention |
| heedless |
not noticing; disregarding |
| hegemony |
dominance especially of one nation over others |
| heinous |
atrocious; wicked; hatefully bad; Ex. heinous crime |
| helm |
steering wheel of a ship; position of control |
| hem |
surround tightly so that movement is impossible; Ex.
hem in; N. |
| herald |
messenger; sign of something to come; V: announce;
proclaim; Ex. unheralded researcher |
| herbivorous |
grain-eating; CF. herbivore |
| herd |
group of animals; crowd; one who looks after a herd;
Ex. shepherd/goatherd; Ex. herd instinct; Ex. herdsman;
V: come together in a herd; look after a herd; Ex. herd
cattle |
| hereafter |
life after death |
| heresy |
opinion contrary to popular belief; opinion contrary
to accepted religion; ADJ. heretical; CF. heretic |
| hermetic |
concerning alchemy or magic; obscure and mysterious;
occult |
| hermitage |
home of a hermit |
| herpetologist |
one who studies reptiles; CF. herpetology: branch of
zoology that deals with reptiles and amphibians |
| heterodox |
(of beliefs) against accepted opinion; unorthodox;
unconventional |
| heterogeneous |
dissimilar; mixed; not homogeneous; consisting of dissimilar
elements or plants |
| hew |
cut to pieces with ax or sword; chop; N. |
| heyday |
time of greatest success or power; prime |
| hiatus |
gap; pause; gap or interruption in space or time; break |
| hibernal |
wintry; wintery; of or like winter |
| hibernate |
sleep throughout the winter; N. hibernation |
| hide |
skin of an animal |
| hideous |
repulsive to the sight; ugly; repugnant; Ex. hideous
face/scream |
| hierarchy |
arrangement by rank or standing; authoritarian body
divided into ranks; body of persons having authority |
| hieroglyphic |
picture writing; ADJ. |
| high-flown |
highly pretentious or inflated |
| hilarity |
boisterous mirth(merriment; laughter); ADJ. hilarious:
full of laughter |
| hindmost |
furthest behind; farthest to the rear |
| hindrance |
block; obstacle; V. hinder |
| hindsight |
understanding the nature of an event after it has actually
happened |
| hinterlands |
back country; inner part of a country; OP. foreland |
| hireling |
one who serves for hire (usually used contemptuously);
one who works solely for compensation; Ex. hireling politician |
| hirsute |
hairy; having a lot of hair |
| historic |
important in history; Ex. historic battle |
| historical |
connected with history; based on events in history
(whether regarded as important or not) |
| histrionic |
theatrical; excessively dramatic or emotional; affected;
of actors or acting; N. histrionics: histrionic behavior |
| hive |
box for bees; V: cause to go in a hive |
| hoard |
stockpile; accumulate for future use; N: supply stored
for future use |
| hoary |
white with age |
| hoax |
trick which makes someone take action; practical joke;
Ex. hoax mail; V. |
| holocaust |
destruction by fire; CF. burnt whole; CF. Holocaust |
| holster |
leather pistol case (that hangs on a belt around the
waist) |
| homage |
honor; tribute; great respect; Ex. pay/do homage to |
| homely |
not good-looking; unattractive |
| homeostasis |
tendency of a system or organism to maintain relative
stability or internal equilibrium; CF. homeo-: constant;
Ex. homeotherm |
| homespun |
domestic; made at home; spun or woven at home; simple
and ordinary; Ex. homespun philosophy |
| homily |
sermon; tedious moralizing lecture; serious warning;
ADJ. homiletic |
| homogeneous |
of the same kind; uniform in composition throughout |
| hone |
sharpen (a tool); N: whetstone for sharpening a tool |
| hoodwink |
deceive; delude |
| horde |
crowd; swarm |
| horoscope |
diagram of the positions of stars at a given moment
(eg. of a person's birth) used by astrologers |
| hortatory |
encouraging; exhortive; marked by exhortation; CF.
exhort |
| horticultural |
pertaining to cultivation of gardens; N. horticulture:
science or art of cultivating fruits, vegetables, or ornamental
plants; CF. agriculture: science or art of farming or
growing crops |
| hostage |
person who is kept as a prisoner by an enemy so that
the other side will do what the enemy demands |
| hostility |
unfriendliness; hatred; enmity; ADJ. hostile |
| hothead |
person who does things too quickly without thinking;
ADJ. hotheaded |
| hovel |
shack; small wretched house |
| hover |
hang about; (of birds or aircraft) stay in the air
in one place; (of people) wait nearby; stay around one
place; waver; be in an uncertain state |
| hubbub |
confused uproar; loud noise; din |
| hubris |
arrogance; excessive self-conceit |
| hue |
color; aspect; Ex. opinions of every hue |
| hue_and_cry |
outcry; loud cry or clamor; strong protest; Ex. hue
and cry against the new rule |
| hull |
husk; dry outer covering of a seed; frame or body of
a ship |
| humane |
marked by kindness or consideration; kind and compassionate;
humanitarian |
| humanitarian |
one devoted to the promotion of human welfare; CF.
humanism |
| humble |
of low rank or position; modest; having a low opinion
of oneself and a high opinion of others; unassuming; not
proud; V. humiliate: make humble; cause to feel ashamed
or to lose the respect of others |
| humdrum |
dull; monotonous |
| humid |
damp; N. humidity |
| humility |
humbleness of spirit |
| hummock |
small hill; hillock |
| humor |
indulge; comply with the wishes of; N. quality that
makes something amusing; state of mind; mood; Ex. in a
bad humor; Ex. out of humor |
| humus |
substance or rich soil formed by decaying vegetable
matter; CF. soil |
| hurl |
throw forcefully; shout out violently |
| hurtle |
crash; rush; move with great speed; Ex. hurtling runaway
train |
| husband |
use sparingly; conserve; save; Ex. husband one's energy;
CF. house holder |
| husbandry |
frugality; thrift; economy; agriculture; farming; Ex.
animal husbandry; CF. husbandman |
| hut |
crude dwelling; shack |
| hybrid |
mongrel; mixed breed; V. hybridize |
| hydrophobia |
fear of water; rabies |
| hygiene |
science and practice of the promotion and preservation
of health; ADJ. hygienic: showing careful attention to
cleanness (to prevent disease); Ex. hygienic condition |
| hyperbole |
exaggeration; overstatement; ADJ. hyperbolic: of hyperbole;
of a hyperbola |
| hypercritical |
excessively exacting; too critical (without noticing
good qualities) |
| hypnosis |
induced sleeping state; ADJ. hypnotic; V. hypnotize |
| hypochondriac |
person unduly worried about his health; worrier without
cause about illness; ADJ. CF. hypochondria: neurosis that
one is or is becoming ill; CF. abdomen |
| hypocritical |
pretending to be virtuous; deceiving; N. hypocrisy:
profession of beliefs one does not possess; CF. hypocrite |
| hypothetical |
based on assumptions or hypotheses; supposed; N. hypothesis |
| hysteria |
excessive or uncontrollable excitement; N. hysteric:
person suffering from hysteria; CF. hysterics: attack
of hysteria |
