Historical Power Words

1. AcrimonyAcrimony. Noun. Hatred; bitterness; animosity

Use instead of Hatred; bitterness; animosity Historical Example: “One of the major

themes is seventeenth century English history is the acrimonyacrimony between the monarchy and Parliament.”

Historical Power Words

2. BellicoseBellicose. Adjective. Warlike; aggressive Use: Instead of aggressive; warlike; angry Historical example: “It always seemed

incongruous that a Pope, like Julius II, would be so overtly bellicosebellicose.”

Historical Power Words

3. CapitulateCapitulate. Verb. To submit completely; to surrender

Use: Instead of give up; surrender Historical Example: “Once the French

withdrew their support form Italy, (to fight the Prussians) it was not long before the forces of the Vatican capitulatedcapitulated to Cavour, and Italy was finally unified.”

Historical Power Words

4. DefamatoryDefamatory. Adjective. Slanderous statements; injurious words meant to hurt a person’s reputation

Use: Instead of slanderous, unkind Historical Example: “It is a common

misconception that Martin Luther’s 95 Theses were nothing more than defamatorydefamatory statements.”

Historical Power Words

5. EfficaciousEfficacious. Adjective. The most effective; the most efficient

Use: Instead of effective; efficient Historical Example: “Factory production,

although the most materially efficaciousefficacious manner of producing goods, exacts a dire cost on its workforce.”

Historical Power Words

6. FathomFathom. Verb. To measure the depth of; to try and grasp the importance of something

Use: Instead of understand; grasp Historical Example: “It is difficult to fathomfathom

the gravity of the Nazi Party in the 1930’s without looking to the inadequacies of the Weimar Republic of Germany in the 1920’s.”

Historical Power Words

7. GrievousGrievous. Adjective. Causing grief or sorrow; serious; distressing; harmful

Use: Instead of serious; harmful Historical Example: “The systematic

exploitation of the indigenous peoples of the western hemisphere after Columbus’ arrival is one of the most grievousgrievous human rights abuses in history.”

Historical Power Words

8. HegemonyHegemony. Noun. Leadership; a visible expression of domination: usually by a country

Use: Instead of domination; power Historical Example: “Religion and Political hegemonyhegemony were inextricably linked in the Thirty Years War.”

Historical Power Words

9. ImmutableImmutable. Adjective. Unchanging; invariable

Use: Instead of constant, unchanging Historical Example: “The greatest threat

Charles Darwin posed to the established Church was his belief that mankind was not immutableimmutable, that were were still evolving.”

Historical Power Words

10. JudiciousJudicious. Adjective. Sensible; showing good judgment.

Use: Instead of wise decision making, sensible

Historical Example: “Neville Chamberlain believed that his policy of appeasement with Hitler was judiciousjudicious, and would ‘bring peace in our time.’”

Historical Power Words

11. LabyrinthineLabyrinthine. Adjective. Literally “maze like”; very complicated.

Use: Instead of complicated Historical Example: “One of the most

difficult parts of European History is the labyrinthinelabyrinthine political and religious structure of the Holy Roman Empire.”

Historical Power Words

12. MalevolenceMalevolence. Noun. Causing evil or wishing ill will toward others.

Use: Instead of evil, as applied to a person’s actions

Historical Example: “There is a fine line between meting out justice and blatant malevolencemalevolence. Many monarchs were unable to toe this line.”

Historical Power Words

13. NefariousNefarious. Adjective. Vicious. Evil Use: Instead of evil of vicious (person) Historical Example: “Josef Stalin’s treatment

of the Ukrainians in 1930-1931 sealed his position as one of the most nefariousnefarious rulers of all time.”

Historical Power Words

14. ObsequiousObsequious. Adjective. Overly submissive; brownnosing

Use: Instead of “brownnose”; yes man; lackey

Historical Example: “A common pitfall of leadership is to mistake obsequiousnessobsequiousness (noun) with valued advice.”

Historical Power Words

15. PanaceaPanacea. Noun. Something that I supposedly a “cure-all; the “magic bullet”

Use: Instead of solution; cure-all Historical Example: “Marx saw the

inevitable re-distribution of wealth (through the revolt of the proletariat) as the panaceapanacea for the ills of the industrial age.”

Historical Power Words

16. QuarantineQuarantine. Noun or Verb. To isolate to prevent the spread of disease; to isolate

Use: Instead of isolate Historical Example: “Ship’s in Italian ports

thought to have the plague on board were required to stay at anchor for forty days (quarrento in Italian), hence the term quarantinequarantine.”

Historical Power Words

17. RancorRancor. Noun. Bitter hatred. Anger Use: Instead of Hatred; deep hatred Historical Example: “Given the historical

treatment of the Poles, it is not surprising the level of rancorancor they had for both the Germans and the Russians.”

Historical Power Words

18. SatiateSatiate. Verb. To satisfy; to please; to mollify

Use: Instead of satisfy; mollify Historical Example: “One the executions

began during the Reign of Terror, it became clear that no amount of decapitation could satiatesatiate those in power seeking justice.”

Historical Power Words

19. TempestuousTempestuous. Adjective. Stormy; raging; furious

Use: Instead of furious; intense; stormy (as in a relationship)

Historical Example: “It seems Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart had a very tempestuoustempestuous relationship for half-sisters.”

Historical Power Words

20. UpbraidUpbraid. Verb. To scold; to reprimand Use: Instead of scold; criticize Historical Example: “It was not uncommon

for and aristocrat to upbraidupbraid a peasant, a total stranger, as if they were that peasants parent.”

Historical Power Words

21. VenerableVenerable. Adjective. Respected because of Age.

Use: Instead of honored; respected Historical Example: “Inexplicably, Winston

Churchill, one of the most veneratedvenerated (verb) leaders Britain had ever know, lost his position as Prime minister before WWII had even ended.”

Historical Power Words

22. WritWrit. Noun. Written document; usually in Law

Use: Instead of written law Historical Example: “The writwrit of Habeas

Corpus was one of the cornerstones of the English Bill of Rights.

Historical Power Words

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Historical Power Words

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Historical Power Words

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