| Occluded | blocked up | The police officers have blocked off the road to occlude the bomb from the public. |
| Occult | relating to magical or supernatural abilities | It is said that on Halloween night all the occult creatures walk the Earth. |
| Odious | repulsive; hateful | Because Mark had an odious personality, he had very few friends. |
| Odium | intense hatred or dislike | Because of my odium for the politician’s views, I have no plans to vote for him. |
| Odometer | an instrument used to measure how far a vehicle has travelled | Odometer fraud is illegal, but that doesn’t stop scammers from rolling back the miles on used vehicles. |
| Odor | smell | A strong stench filled the room, causing the guests to gag at the odor. |
| Offhand | Without preparation or forethought, impromptu | Even seemingly offhand camera shots of the ceremony were more focused than the planned shots. |
| Officious | too eager or ready to help offer advice | Mary doesn’t like it when officious strangers try to start a conversation in the checkout line. |
| Ogle | to look at in a suggestive manner, cast, stare at in a lecherous manner | The boys sneaked into their father’s room to ogle his adult magazines. |
| Olfactory | pertaining to the smell sense | The hound dog used his olfactory sense to locate the missing girl. |
| Ominous | threatening, suggesting that something bad is going to happen in the future | When I heard the front door slam, I took it as an ominous warning that my father was in a bad mood. |
| Omnipotent | having virtually unlimited power or influence | In the play, the omnipotent narrator knows all of the characters’ thoughts and actions. |
| Omniscient | having total knowledge; all-knowing | If the house had a brain, it would be omniscient because of all the cameras and communication devices in all the rooms. |
| Onerous | needing effortl burdensome, involving great effort and difficulty | Taking care of the puppy is an onerous task. |
| Onus | responsilibilty,burden | As your mother, it is my onus to prepare you for a successful future. |
| Opaque | not able to be seen through | I cannot see through the glass because it is opaque. |
| Opaqueness | dullness/not allowing light to pass through, unable to see | Because my privacy is important to me, I have opaque blinds on all my windows. |
| Opprobrious | showing scorn or reproach , conveying shame or contempt | Elaine was offended by her friends’ opprobrious remarks about her drunken behavior. |
| Opulent | extravagant and rich | The couple spent over eighty thousand dollars on opulent kitchen appliances |
| Orate | make a speech, especially pompously or at length, aving good speaking skills. | Hamlet thinks, speaks, orates, and acts |
| Ordain | to deliver a decree or confirm a person into a religious ministry | For the first time, our conservative church elders will ordain a woman as a minister. |
| Orison | prayer, a devotion or request to a god | Every night Carol’s daughter would recite an orison to make her very sick mother well. |
| Ornate | extravagantly adorned or worded, Finely finished, as a style of composition. | The uneducated man could not understand the ornate speech made by the Ivy League professor. |
| Orthodox | common; familiar | While my brother is quite adventurous and likes to try new things, I hate change and prefer to maintain an orthodox lifestyle. |
| Ossified | turned to bone; hardened like bone; Inflexible | My father’s opinion has started to ossify so I know he won’t change his mind. |
| Ossify | to turn to bone to settle rigidly into an idea | My father’s opinion has started to ossify so I know he won’t change his mind. |
| Ostensible | seeming appearing as such professed, | While Jerry is the ostensible author of this amendment, there is some question of who actually deserves credit for the idea. |
| Ostentation | display to obtain admiration or envy | the office was spacious, but without any trace of ostentation |
| Ostentatious | intended to attract notice and impress others in an extreme and unnecessary way | I tried to tell Mary her fur coat was a bit too ostentatious to be worn at a funeral! |
| Ostracism | shut out from society refuse to meet talk | the family suffered social ostracism |
| Oust | to banish or kick out | Since the CEO was the top man at the company, it would be almost impossible for anyone to oust him. |
| Outgrowth | something that grows out of something else | the eye first appears as an outgrowth from the brain |
| Outmoded | old-fashioned | an outmoded Victorian building |
| Outset | at the start of something | Since the doctor discovered the cancer during the outset of its stage, the person would fully recover. |
| Overhaul | examine thoroughly to learn about the condition | After more than half of her class failed their exam, the teacher reevaluated her teaching methods and started a complete overhaul of every worksheet and assignment. |
| Overt | open and not secret | In some countries, racial prejudice is overt and not disguised in the least. |
| Overture | a piece of music played at the beginning of an opera or musical play | When he heard the overture begin to play, the actor immediately became nervous. |
| Overweening | presumptuously; arrogant; overbearing | Ever since Jim won the contest, he has been overweening and acting as though he is the smartest kid on the planet. |
| Overwrought | in a state of excessive nervousness, excitement, or anger | The bride was overwrought when the florist delivered the wrong flower order. |
| Paean | song of praise or triumph, any loud and joyous song; a song of victory or achievement | The boy wrote a paean for his dad, praising his many accomplishments. |
| Palatable | satisfactory; suitable | Although the food is not the tastiest I have ever eaten, it is palatable and will fill my tummy. |
| Palate | roof of the mouth; sense of taste | They won’t buy it unless their palates are pleased. |
| Palatial | magnificent, on a large scale with elaborate furnishings | A palatial house in the country is much cheaper than a similar mansion in the city. |
| Palaver | To flatter; to cajole, unnecessary talk that wastes time | Although we were supposed to have a lecture, the teacher spent the entire period with palaver about his vacation |
| Palisade | typically a fence or wall made from wooden | When the wooden support came loose from the palisade, the carpenter drove another stake in its place. |
| Palliate | lessen the severity of | After surgery, Greg received large does of medications to palliate his suffering. |
| Pallid | pale skin or lacking in vitality or interest | The January morning was frosty, and we could see our breath turn into pallid clouds in the air as we exhaled. |
| Palpability | can be felt or touched | When she is angry at dinner, my mother kills the flavor of the meal with her palpable silence. |
| Palpable | Obvious, capable of being touched, felt, handled, or perceived | Because the bank was being robbed, the sense of fear among the patrons was palpable. |
| Palpate | examine (a part of the body) by touch, especially for medical purposes. | the skin of the lower neck must be palpated for cysts and infection” |
| Palpitate | tremble beat rapidly and irregularly | When the music at the concert started to palpitate, it caused my head to hurt. |
| Pan | a metal or iron pan used for cooking | Heat the coconut oil in a pan, and toast the flaked coconut on low heat until slightly browned. |
| Panacea | something that will make everything about a situation better | Unfortunately there is no panacea that will make cancer instantly vanish from your body. |
| Panegyric | formal praise eulogy, a speech or written composition used to pay tribute to a person, place, or thing | After the princess died a popular singer wrote a panegyric to honor her life. |
| Papyrus | a material similar to paper made from the papyrus plant | My teacher was explaining to us how papyrus was made during Ancient Egypt. |
| Paradigm | a model example or pattern | After the terrorist attack, the government created a new paradigm for domestic security. |
| Paradox | a person, thing, or situation that is strange because they have features or qualities that do not normally exist together | The fact my aunt claims to hate children but has seven kids is an interesting paradox. |
| Paragon | a model of excellence or perfection | As a paragon of purity, a nun would never dress inappropriately. |
| Paramount | of the greatest concern | Because success is paramount to Adam, he often neglects his family to work late. |
| Paranoia | an illogical belief that others are against you, A psychotic disorder characterized by delusions of persecution. | A crushing sense of paranoia makes Joan afraid to leave her house. |
| Parasite | a living organism which exists by taking from another living creature, usually while living inside or on the host | he flea is a parasite that survives by extracting nourishment from other organisms. |
| Parched | having a strong need for moisture | The animals are leaving the parched forest to find water. |
| Parenthesis | sentence within another one something separated | in a challenging parenthesis, Wordsworth comments on the evil effects of contemporary developments |
| Pariah | an outcast a rejected and despised person, one who is or should be excluded | When the child molester was released from prison, he was treated like a pariah in his community. |
| Parity | the same in nature, value, or class | As far as parity in currency, the pound is worth more than the dollar. |
| Parley | negotiation, conversation between enemies or rivals | Unfortunately, the parley between the two rival gang leaders failed to bring peace to the town. |
| Parochial | having a restricted outlook | Since the professor tends to be parochial, he is often unwilling to listen to theories other than his own. |
| Parquetry | inlaid work of blocks of various woods arranged in a geometric pattern | the floor made by parquetry was looking so nice |
| Parry | a shielding or defensive maneuver used for protection | Alex attempted to parry his wife’s attack by covering his face with his hands. |
| Parsimonious | too economical; miserly, the quality of being careful with money or resources | To save money, the parsimonious old man always bought used clothes. |
| Parsimony | extreme unwillingness to spend money or use resources. | a great tradition of public design has been shattered by government parsimony |
| Partiality | prejudice is shown towards something | Due to their partiality for boys, Ms. and Mr. Bloom favored their young son over their older daughter. |
| Partisan | prejudiced in favor of a particular cause | Because of your partisan views, you are unwilling to look at other options. |
| Pastiche | work (usually artistic) which imitates, a mix of unique items | The rainbow is made of a pastiche of colors. |
| Pathology | the science of the causes and effects of diseases | Pathology is a significant component of the causal study of disease and a major field in modern medicine and diagnosis. |
| Pathos | a feeling of sympathy or pity | The pathos of the movie caused me to leave the theater with tears in my eyes. |
| Patron | regular customer person who gives support | The bar owner has the right to refuse to sell alcohol to a drunk patron. |
| Paucity | scarcity a lacking of, a small amount of something that is not enough | It will be difficult for me to construct the project with such a paucity of tools. |
| Pebble | a flat stone | Instead of collecting the pointy rocks, the beachgoers would try to find a pebble. |
| Peccadillo | small sin small weakness in one’s character, a small mistake or fault | When I tried to apologize, Jean just laughed and told me that it was just a small peccadillo and I had nothing to be sorry about. |
| Pedagogy | activities of educating, teaching or instructing | The school boasts the most progressive pedagogy and a 100% graduation rate. |
| Pedant | a scholar or learned person | After answering every question the teacher asked, the pedant drew attention to himself in front of the other students. |
| Pedantic | bookish showing off learning, giving too much importance to details and formal rules | Sometimes, Jason is so pedantic in writing the perfect paper that he forgets to properly manage his time. |
| Pedantry | An excessive attention to detail or rules. | Pedantry and mastery are opposite attitudes toward rules. Pedantry can also be an indication of specific developmental disorders. |
| Pedestrian | commonplace trite unremarkable, uninteresting or boring | A large number of people fell asleep during the pedestrian play. |
| Peerless | one and only; superior than any other | The peerless boxer never loses a fight. |
| Pejorative | expressing disapproval or belittling the importance of something | A pejorative remark usually brings about an angry response from the listener. |
| Pellucid | transparent easy to understand | The contract was pellucid and left no confusion about each party’s responsibilities. |
| Penchant | strong inclination a liking | Hackers have a penchant for breaking into secure areas. |
| Penitent | feeling or showing regret | As the soldier stood in front of the military judge, he had a penitent look on his face. |
| Pensive | expressing or revealing sad thoughtfulness | After losing his job, Alex became more pensive than ever. |
| Penurious | poor/stingy, not having enough | The penurious little boy could not afford to buy school lunch. |
| Penury | extreme poverty | My uncle wasted his fortune and died in penury. |
| Perceptive | very aware and sensitive to events around them | It takes a perceptive person to become a detective so that he or she will spot every detail of the crime scene. |
| Perch | take up a high position, to settle or land on a raised area or site | The birds commonly perch on the strong cable wire before diving down to the ground below. |
| Percipient | to have a good perspective of things | He was percipient to the speech the president made because it made sense to him. |
| Perdition | (in Christian theology) a state of eternal punishment and damnation into which a sinful and unrepentant person passes after death | The minister told me the road to perdition was paved with the sins of mankind. |
| Peregrination | traveling about wandering | A peregrination of the huge mall left us all with throbbing feet. |
| Peremptory | used to describe an order, command, etc., that you must obey without any questions or excuses, urgent; imperative; unchallenged; ending debate | In a peremptory tone, the flight attendant told the passenger to either fasten his seatbelt or get off the plane. |
| Perennial | lasting or remaining active throughout the year, or all the time | Because she is a perennial optimist, it’s unusual for anything to bring her down. |
| Perfidious | treacherous; faithless, not able to be trusted | Michelle sought revenge on her perfidious friend who stole her lottery ticket. |
| Perfidy | treachery breaking of faith, behavior that shows that someone cannot be trusted | Because my husband’s perfidy hurt me terribly, I served him with divorce papers. |
| Perfunctorily | performed merely as a routine duty; hasty and superficial, done in a careless or superficial manner | I drive perfunctorily |
| Perfunctory | done as a duty without care, done routinely and with little interest or care | When we went out to dinner last night, the bored hostess gave us a perfunctory hello. |
| Perilous | dangerous | Since the journey is perilous, be sure to bring a first-aid kit. |
| Peripatetic | wandering | Because Arthur can write from any location he chooses, he is fortunate enough to live a peripatetic lifestyle. |
| Peripheral | relating to minor matters | Despite the loss of a few peripheral functions, the airplane will still be able to land safely. |
| Perish | be destroyed decay, die, especially in a violent or sudden way. | a great part of his army perished of hunger and disease |
| Perjury | willful FALSE statement unlawful act | The mother who lied about her son’s whereabouts will soon face trial for perjury. |
| Permeate | spread into every part of | The light will permeate through the curtain when the sun rises. |
| Pernicious | harmful; injurious | If you are going to behave in such a pernicious manner, I would prefer to not be around you. |
| Perpetrate | be guilty commit (a crime), to execute or carry out | The young man decided to perpetrate a crime to show his value to the gang leader. |
| Perpetuate | to cause to continue | Mary will continue to give out false information and perpetuate the lie if you do not tell her the truth about your absence. |
| Perpetuity | forevermore or permanently | As a devoted wife, I vow to love my husband in perpetuity. |
| Perplex | to puzzle or confuse | According to the book reviewer, the author’s puzzling writing style will perplex many readers. |
| Persnickety | being overly focused on small details | The persnickety housewife couldn’t stand for anything to be out of place in her perfect home. |
| Personable | pleasing in appearance attractive | The doctor was personable and made me feel better despite my serious illness. |
| Personification | a thing or individual that embodies a specific quality | The queen was the personification of royalty as she waved from her coach. |
| Perspicacious | able to judge quickly and correctly what people and situations are really like | Using his perspicacious mind, John easily solved the mystery. |
| Perspicacity | quick judging and understanding, the ability to notice and understand things that are not obvious | The detective’s perspicacity allowed him to easily recognize the criminal in the crowd. |
| Pertain | belong as a part have reference | The discussion questions pertain to common themes found in romantic British literature. |
| Pertinent | relevant to a particular matter | As a lawyer, I have to wonder if these questions are pertinent to my client’s case. |
| Peruse | to read or examine carefully; to look over casually | Peruse the manual to set up your television. |
| Pervade | spread through every part of | The awful smell from the sewage plant seemed to pervade throughout our house. |
| Pervasive | capable of affecting or influencing everything | The movie’s pervasive sex and violence caused the critics to give it an R rating. |
| Pest | destructive thing or a person who is nuisance, animal that attacks crops | the tomato plant attracts a pest called whitefly |
| Petition | an official document that makes a request and is signed by supporters | Many people have endorsed the petition to save the old church. |
| Petrified | taken away power (to think feel act), extremely afraid | Ashley is petrified of flying which is why she plans on travelling by bus to Houston for her nephew’s wedding. |
| Petrify | to make hard rocklike, to scare someone into inaction | Because heights petrify me, I will never get on a plane. |
| Petrous | like a rock hard stony | On its inner side is a small air chamber in the petrous portion of the temporal bone, called the cavity of the tympanum. |
| Petulant | unreasonably; impatient, to describe a person or behavior that is irritable, especially in a childish way | My oldest sister is a petulant woman who complains constantly. |
| Phenomenology | the science of phenomena as distinct from that of the nature of being. | Phenomenology is an approach that concentrates on the study of consciousness and the objects of direct experience. |
| Phenomenon | a person or thing that is often awe-inspiring because of its unique quality | The four-year-old boy was considered a phenomenon because he could play the piano like a master pianist. |
| Philanthropist | one who loves mankind | The popular actor is a philanthropist who works to build homes in areas that have been destroyed by natural disasters. |
| Philistine | a smug ignorant person one who lacks knowledge | When the philistine was questioned about his opinion of the school’s art program, he stated it was a waste of taxpayers’ dollars. |
| Phlegmatic | calm; sluggish; temperament; unemotional | Even though Jeff is constantly being yelled at by his wife, he normally remains phlegmatic and does not get upset. |
| Picaresque | involving clever rogues or adventurers, relating to an episodic style of fiction dealing with the adventures of a rough and dishonest but appealing hero. | a picaresque adventure novel |
| Picayune | insignificant; small | In the big scheme of life, the death of a single ant seems picayune. |
| Pied | of mixed colors | The young children rode the tan and brown pied colored pony at the birthday party. |
| Pileous | Covered with hair | I have pileous cap |
| Pilferer | to steal, especially in small quantities | She pilfered stamps and paper from work. |
| Pillage | plunder (especially in war) | The general was a decent man and did not allow any of his soldiers to pillage items from towns they invaded. |
| Pinch | be too tight take between the thumb and finger | Since his body fat percentage is six percent, you can’t pinch an inch from his waist. |
| Pinchbeck | An alloy of zinc and copper used as imitation gold; A cheap imitation | pinchbeck ring was appearing valuable, but actually cheap or tawdry. |
| Pine | an evergreen coniferous tree, waste away through sorrow or illness | Pine trees contain long needle-like leaves. |
| Pinnacle | the uppermost level achievable | The chef considered himself at the pinnacle of his field when he received three Michelin stars. |
| Pious | dutiful to parents; devoted to religion | The students running around naked at Berkley Catholic University do not seem very pious. |
| Piquant | appealing or delightful | I found the piquant picture so appealing that I readily paid the photographer’s high asking price. |
| Pique | hurt the pride or self-respect stir (curiosity), to trigger curiosity or interest | Hopefully the movie trailer will pique the interest of moviegoers and motivate them to buy tickets to see the film. |
| Pitch | the degree of highness or lowness used in a musical performance | When tuning an instrument, it is important to pay attention to the pitch of the sound. |
| Pitfall | covered hole as a trap unsuspected danger, potential problem, difficulty, or danger | The experienced programmer did not expect the pitfall that would occur when trying to install the new software. |
| Pith | essential part force soft liquid substance, spongy tissue in animals and plants | The heart of a watermelon is the best part because he pith tastes the best. |
| Pivotal | of great importance (others depend on it) | The fighter planes gave pivotal assistance to the ground forces that were surrounded by the enemy |
| Placate | to appease or pacify | I tried to placate the sad little boy by giving him a cookie. |
| Placebo | a substance with no medical effect that is given either to patients or individuals involved in a drug trial | Because I was given a placebo during the drug test, my medical condition did not improve |
| Placid | not easily upset or excited | The placid husband was the total opposite of his easily upset wife. |
| Plaintiff | in court the individual who claims someone else is responsible for a misdeed | The plaintiff was unable to convince the jury the defendant owed him money for car repairs. |
| Plaintive | mournful; melancholy; sorrowful | The plaintive funeral hymn brought tears to my eyes. |
| Plaque | flat metal on a wall as a memorial | a lot of plaque is available in bahawalpur |
| Platitude | a trite or banal statement unoriginality, something that has been said so often that it is not interesting anymore | After hearing the salesman’s unoriginal platitude, I decided to go to another car dealer. |
| Plaudit | a showing of approval or applause | As my daughter accepted her award, she blushed upon hearing the principal’s gracious plaudit. |
| Plausible | something appearing reasonable or probable | The writer of the movie consulted a professional athlete in order to make his sports’ film more plausible. |
| Plea | request | A young child will often make a plea to their parents to get a new toy, but their begging rarely manages to convince an adult. |
| Plead | address a court of law as an advocate | The legislator denies all the charges and insists he will plead not guilty in court. |
| Plethora | glut, an excess of | I don’t see why my mother wants more shoes when she already has a plethora of them. |
| Pliable | easily bent or formed | You should always warm up before you exercise so that your muscles are pliable and you’re less likely to be injured. |
| Pliant | easily bent, easily manipulated or controlled by people | When the slaves were not pliant, their owners would punish them. |
| Plod | continue doing something without resting, To walk or move slowly and heavily or laboriously | Rachel lost her balance as she attempted to plod through the heavy snow. |
| Plodding | slow and heavy walking | Because we weren’t in a hurry, we were just plodding along the strip mall window shopping. |
| Pluck | pull the feathers off pick (e.g.. flowers) | Before boiling the chicken, grandmother had to pluck each feather out of the bird by hand. |
| Plumage | extravagant dress | It took six assistants to carry the wealthy woman’s bridal plumage. |
| Plumb | get to the root of, to explore or delve into | Using the Internet, you can easily plumb your essay topic before writing the paper. |
| Plummet | fall plunge steeply | As soon as the company increased the price of its videogame by twenty dollars, it saw its sales plummet. |
| Plunge | move quickly suddenly and with force, to fall | The steep and rapid fall off the side of the mountain was the scariest plunge of my lifetime. |
| Podium | a small platform on which a person may stand to be seen by an audience, speech banch | he was at the podium facing an expectant conference crowd |
| Poignant | deeply moving keen, something that touches your emotions deeply | Because the poignant movie reminded me of my painful childhood, it made me cry. |
| Poised | having self-confidence and self-assurance | After she tripped on the red carpet, the actress remained poised as she laughed at her own clumsiness. |
| Polemic | a controversial argument / a person engaged in such an argument | The newspaper editor used his column to present a polemic that was a scathing attack against the city’s dishonest mayor |
| Poncho | large piece of cloth | you are wearing beautiful poncho. |
| Ponderous | heavy; bulky; dull | The students grew silent when they realized they would have to sit through a ponderous three-hour lecture. |
| Pontificate | to speak in an arrogant tone, particularly for a long period | I found it interesting that my teacher chose to pontificate upon the errors of my essay before she even read the paper. |
| Portend | to indicate or give sign of a future occurrence | The cameras and reporters portend the arrival of the popular singer. |
| Portent | omen marvelous threatening, a signal something is about to occur | The thunder was a portent of an approaching storm. |
| Poseur | a person who attempts to impress by acting unlike himself | Security was shocked that a poseur was able to sneak into the VIP room and party with the band. |
| Posit | to offer as a suggestion | The press is waiting to hear the scientist posit his latest theory on molecular movement. |
| Posterity | all future generations | Even if you do not care about posterity, you should at least care about yourself! |
| Posthumous | taking place after one’s death | The author received several impressive awards for her body of work; unfortunately, they were all posthumous. |
| Postulate | to suggest something (such as an idea or theory) especially in order to start a discussion | In an attempt to create controversy, some experts postulate alternatives to historical beliefs that have been accepted for years. |
| Posture | the position that someone holds their body in, generally while standing or sitting | Sitting and standing straight and tall is considered good posture. |
| Potable | good for drinking without fear of poisoning or disease; drinkable | Melted snow was considered potable to the stranded hikers. |
| Potent | very strong in a chemical or medicinal way | It only took one shot of the potent antibiotic to cure the infection. |
| Practitioner | a person actively engaged in an art, discipline, or profession, especially medicine. | patients are treated by skilled practitioners |
| Pragmatic | concentrating on practical results and facts instead of speculation and opinion | The scientist had a pragmatic approach to dealing with the water crisis. |
| Pragmatist | a person who is guided more by practical considerations than by ideals. | hardheaded pragmatists firmly rooted in the real world |
| Prattle | talking for a long period of time about insignificant things | At every party, there is always one lady who has to prattle on about her cute kids. |
| Preamble | an opening announcement used to describe what is about to be read or said | As a preamble, the company president began the annual meeting by pointing out how well the firm exceeded its goals. |
| Precarious | uncertain risky dangerous | Running around with a knife is very precarious. |
| Precedence | the condition of being considered more important than someone or something else; priority in importance, order, or rank. | “his desire for power soon took precedence over any other consideration” |
| Precedent | an earlier event or action that is regarded as an example | Without a game precedent to consider, the referee did not know what steps to take after the incident. |
| Precept | a rule that sets the pattern for one’s behavior | Lawyers are supposed to follow a strict precept of ethics. |
| Precinct | an area of town reserved for police or voting purposes | The voter was not sure which precinct he should report to on Election Day. |
| Precious | valuable or important, typically for sentimental reasons | Nothing is more precious to a mother than her children, and she will always choose to protect them over anything else. |
| Precipice | a point where danger, trouble, or difficulty begins | Sue Ellen is now on the precipice of bankruptcy and might have to sell the family home |
| Precipitate | to bring about especially abruptly | The rising level of unemployment is going to precipitate a huge crowd at the welfare office. |
| Precipitous | done rapidly without thinking | Because Richard never thinks about the consequences of his precipitous actions, he often ends up in jail. |
| Preclude | prevent make impossible | A constitutional amendment precludes any president from serving more than two terms |
| Precocious | having mature qualities at an unusually early age | My precocious little girl thinks she knows everything there is to know about life. |
| Precursors | a person or thing that precedes, as in a process or job. | A movie preview is a standard precursor before the presentation of a feature film. |
| Precursory | something that happens before something else | A movie preview is a standard precursor before the presentation of a feature film. |
| Predecessor | an individual who holds a position before another person | The iPhone 5s was the predecessor of the iPhone 6. |
| Predicament | difficult, unpleasant, or embarrassing situation | Because I do not want to end up in a financial predicament, I pay my bills regularly. |
| Predilection | special liking mental preference, a preference for something; a strong liking | When the repeat offender stood in front of the court, the judge asked him if he had a predilection for getting into trouble. |
| Predisposition | the circumstance of being vulnerable to a particular thing | Because my mother suffered from depression, I have a genetic predisposition to the condition. |
| Predominate | have more power than others, to be the main component of something | Asian Americans tend to predominate the nail services industry in the United States. |
| Preeminent | better than others | With a 0-8 record, our high school basketball team is no longer the preeminent team in the county. |
| Preen | tidy/show self-satisfaction, to groom or spruce up | His pet bird would preen its feathers to keep it clean. |
| Premature | doing or happening something before the right time | My husband thinks it is premature to call the cops, but I know for a fact that my ring was stolen. |
| Premise | a statement that gives weight to a conclusion | Since your premise cannot be confirmed, your entire theory is worthless. |
| Preponderance | greatness in number strength weight, a larger figure or amount | Without a preponderance of evidence, the detective will not be able to obtain a search warrant for the suspect’s residence. |
| Prerogative | a special right, power, or privilege | As an A-List movie star, it was always his prerogative to get free tickets to movie premieres. |
| Presage | warning sign, to give a warning something unpleasant may occur in the future | If the unpopular president is reelected, his win will presage a countrywide protest. |
| Prescience | the capacity to know future events | Since Nana has prescience, she knows my baby is going to be a boy. |
| Prescient | having or showing knowledge of events before they take place. | a prescient warning |
| Presentiment | anticipatory fear; premonition | The presentiment lingered after I saw a black cat twice in one day. |
| Presume | to suppose something to be true without proof | With no evidence, the police had little reason to presume that the wife was the killer. |
| Presumption | arrogance, a belief that something is true or false without having all of the facts | Because they were fighting more often than not, the girl made a presumption that her parents were unhappily married. |
| Presumptuous | making a judgment before knowing of all the facts – also means – extremely bold and forward in doing something; | As a teenager, you would be quite presumptuous to think you know what life is like for an elderly person. |
| Pretension | asserting a certain quality or status | Because the famous actress is without pretension, she is adored by millions of people who love her easygoing personality. |
| Pretentious | acting as though more important, valuable, or special than is warranted | Mary prefers the simple things in life and is not pretentious by any means. |
| Preternatural | not normal or usual | A preternatural friendship between the cat and the mouse developed over time. |
| Prevalent | common | Unfortunately, online money scams are more prevalent during the holiday season. |
| Prevaricate | to equivocate to stray from the truth | In hopes of avoiding questions about his recent car accident, the actor tried to prevaricate during his interview. |
| Prim | neat; formal, stiffly correct | a very prim and proper lady |
| Primordial | in the beginning; in a basic way | Sometimes I feel primordial when I eat food without silverware. |
| Pristine | primitive unspoiled pure as in earlier times unadulterated | My uncle’s antique car is pristine and has all its original parts. |
| Privation | hardship, the state of being very poor, and lacking the basic necessities of life | Written records of early explorers indicate that the native people faced a great deal of hard times and privation where they had to eat insects and other unspeakable items just to stay alive. |
| Probity | uprightness incorruptibility principle, the quality of a person who is completely honest | The criminal knew he could not buy the judge who was known for his probity. |
| Proclamation | a public announcement about something important | The mayor’s proclamation that he was stepping down sent shockwaves throughout the city. |
| Proclivity | inclination | As a young child, the award-winning singer had a proclivity for music. |
| Procrastinate | to put off until another time | My project is late because I constantly procrastinate. |
| Prodigal | wasteful; reckless with money, carelessly and foolishly spending money, time, etc. | If you want to save money for college, you should stop your prodigal spending sprees. |
| Prodigality | excessive or extravagant spending | In consequence of this prodigality, he was always poor |
| Prodigious | enormous; wonderful, very large in size, force, or extent; enormous | She is very proud of her son who has a prodigious talent for playing the guitar. |
| Prodigy | extremely talented person, especially a child | The high school boy was considered a prodigy when he won the national chess championship. |
| Profane | worldly having contempt for God, vulgar and inappropriate | Because the comic’s jokes were profane and offensive to our religion, we left the show early. |
| Profanity | unholy, desecrating a holy place or thing, blasphemous | the movie has scenes of violence, sexual situations and some profanity |
| Profligacy | reckless extravagance or wastefulness in the use of resources.,shameless immorality | the government returned to fiscal profligacy |
| Profligate | wasteful prodigal licentious extravagant, Inclined to waste resources or behave extravagantly | After the millionaire saw evidence of his new wife’s profligate spending, he quickly filed for a divorce. |
| Profound | extremely deep | The speaker’s profound words made me think about my future. |
| Profundity | depth, words that express deep reflection or insight | Even though Chuck thought he was making some deep statements, he was too drunk to express any profundity. |
| Profuse | abundant/lavish | Last year, my garden was so profuse with vegetation that I had to give away food. |