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Favorite Words – the Letter R |
| R |
| Go to any of the following websites to look up any of the words below you are interested in knowing more about: Macmillan, Howjsay, Merriam-Webster, The Free Dictionary by Farlex, and Cambridge Dictionary. |
rabid rack and pinion — device for the conversion of rotary and linerar motion, consisting of a pinion and a mated rack. racket rachette’ — swiss dish of cheese melted over high heat and served with boiled potatoes or bread raconteur (rak.on.tur’) — one who tells stories and anecdotes with skill and wit racy ra’diant — emitting heat or light, glowing, beaming raff’ish — rakish, cheaply or showily vulgar in appearance or nature rail’lery — banter, tease rai’ment — clothing, garments raison d’etre (ra’zon det’ra) — reason or justification for existing rake — immoral or dissolute person ral’lentan’do — gradually slackening in tempo; ritardando ramadan — ninth month of the year in Muslim calendar; fast, held from sunrise to sunset, for the month rambunc’tious ramifica’tions ram’page — violent frenzied action ram’pant — unrestrained, rife ram’s horn — shofar (the shofar is blown in synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah) ran’cid — repugnant, nasty, disagreeable odor or taste ran’cor — bitter lasting resentment ran’kle — cause persistent irritation or resentment ran’sack rapa’cious — greedy, ravenous ra’pier — light sharp pointed sword lacking a cutting edge and used only for thrusting rappee’ — strong snuff made from coarse dark tobacco rappel’ — act of descending from a mountainside by means of secured rope that is passed under one thigh and over the opposite shoulder rapport (ra.por’) — relationship esp one of emotional affinity and mutual trust rapprochement (ra’prosh.man’) — reestablishing of cordial relations, as between countries, state of reconciliation rap’tor — bird of prey rap’ture rap’turous rar’a a’vis — (latin: rare bird) — rare or unique person or thing rar’efied — elite, esoteric, elevated in character or style ratch’et — decrease or increase by increments rath’skeller — tavern, usu. below street level, that sells beer rat’ify — sanction, confirm ratiocinate (rash’e.os’e.nate) – reason methodically and logically rau’cous raun’chy rav’age rav’enous ravigotte’ — vinegar sauce seasoned with onion, capers and herbs ravine’ — deep narrow valley or gorge in the earth’s surface worn by running water rav’ishing — extremely attractive, entrancing raze — demolish, level to the ground reaffirm’ realpolitik (ray.al’po.li.teek) — usu. expansionist national policy having as its sole principle advancement of the national interest reap rear’ward rebo’zo — long scarf worn over the head and shoulders chiefly by Mexican woman rebuff’ — blunt or abrupt repulse or refusal, as to an offer rebuke’ — reprove sharply, reprimand rebut’ — to refute by offering opposing evidence or arguments rebut’tal recal’citrant — stubborn resistance to authority recall’ recant’ recapitulation (ree’ka.pich.a.lay’shen) — summary or concise review recede’ recen’sion — critical revision of a text incorporating the most plausible elements from varying sources; text so revised recep’tacle rechauffe (ray’sho.fay’) — warmed leftover food, revised old material recherché (re.sher.shay’) — uncommon, rare, exquisite, choice, overrefined; forced, pretentious recip’ient recip’rocate reck’oning reclame (ray.klam’) — public acclaim, taste or flair for publicity reclu’sive recoil’ rec’ompense — payment in return, award compensation rec’oncile rec’ondite — abstruse, not easily understood recon’naissance — inspection or exploration of an area, esp. one made to gather military info re’connoi’ter — make a preliminary inspection of, esp. in order to gather military info recoup’ re’course rec’reant — unfaithful, cowardly, craven rec’rement — waste matter; dross recrim’ina’tion re’cru.desce’ — recur; to break out anew or come into renewed activity, as after quiescence rec’tify rec’titude recum’bent — lying down for comfort, resting, idle recuse’ — disqualify from participation in a decision on grounds such as prejudice or personal involvement redact’ — prepare for publication, edit or revise rede (reed) trans. verb — to give advice to, counsel redeem’ redemp’tion red herring — something that draws attention away from the central issue redivivus (red.a.vii’ves) — adj. come back to life, revived, reborn red’olent — fragrant, aromatic redoubt’ — small, often temporary, defensive fortification redound’ — have an effect or consequence: deeds that redound to one’s credit; to return, recoil reduc’tionism — attempt or a tendency to explain complex phenomena or structures by relatively simple principles, as by asserting that life processes or mental acts are instances of chemical and physical laws redun’dancy redux’ — brought back; returned. Used postpositively refec’tion — refreshment with food and drink; a light meal or repast; nourishment; re-ingestion of fecal material to obtain nutrients, as practiced by rabbits and rats refec’tory — room where meals are served, esp. in college refine’ment reflec’tive ref’luent — flowing back, ebbing refrac’tion — turning or bending of any wave, such as a light wave, when it passes from one medium into another of different density refrac’tory — resistant to heat/treatment/authority reful’gent — shining radiantly; resplendent refur’bish refute’ — to prove to be false regale’ — to provide with great enjoyment; entertain regat’ta — boat race reg’icide — killing of a king regime (ray.zhem’) — government in power reg’imen — regulated system, as of diet, intended to achieve a beneficial effect reg’nant — reigning, ruling, widespread regres’sion regur’gitate rehabil’itate rehash’ reify (ree’a.fy) — to regard or treat an abstraction as if it has concrete or material existence reit’erate rejoin’der — answer, esp. to a reply rekin’dle relapse’ rel’ativism — philos. A theory that conceptions of truth and moral values are not absolute but are relative to the persons or groups holding them rel’egate relent’ rel’ic relin’quish rel’iquary — a receptacle, such as a coffer or shrine, for keeping or displaying sacred relics rel’ish remand’ — to send or order back remarque’ — small mark or sketch engraved in the margin of a plate to indicate its stage of development prior to completion reme’dial — supplying a remedy; intended to correct or improve deficient skills in a specific subject rem’inisce remiss’ remit’ rem’nant remon’strance remorse’ful remote rémoulade (ray.moo.lad’) — piquant cold sauce made with mayonnaise, chopped pickles, capers, anchovies and herbs remu’nerate — pay a suitable equivalent in return for goods; to compensate for renaissance man — man who has broad intellectual interests and is accomplished in both the arts and sciences renas’cent — coming again, showing renewed growth rend — split apart rendezvous (ran’day.voo) rendi’tion ren’igade renege (ri.nig’) renounce’ renowned’ rep’aration — making amends; expiation, something done or paid to compensate or make amends rep’ar.tee’ — swift witty reply repast’ — meal or food eaten or served at a meal repa’triate – to restore or return to one’s country repeal’ repel’lent repen’tant repercus’sion rep’ertoire rep’etend — repeated word, sound, or phrase, refrain repine’ replen’ish replete’ replev’in — an action to recover personal property said or claimed to be unlawfully taken rep’licate — duplicate, copy, reproduce or repeat repose’ — act of rest repos’itory rep’rehen’sible repress’ reprieve’ rep’rimand repri’sal reproach’ rep’robate — morally unprincipled person reproof’ — rebuke repu’diate — reject the validity or authority repugn’ – oppose or contend against repug’nance repul’sive reput’ed requiem (rek’we.am) — mass for deceased person; hymn, composition or service for the dead requiescat (rek.we.es’kat) — prayer for the repose of the souls of the dead requisite (rek’wi.zit) — required, essential requite’ — to make repayment or return for; requited love re’scind — make void, repeal reside’ resid’ual resilient (re.zil.yent) — able to recover readily, as from misfortune res’olute — determined, unwavering res’onant — strong and deep in tone, prolonged subtle or stimulating effect beyond the initial impact resound (re.zound’) — reverberate, to be filled with sound; the school resounded with laughter resource’ful respec’tive — belonging or relating separately to each of two or more people or things; successful in their respective fields respite (res’pit) — short interval of relief or rest resplen’dent — splendid or dazzling in appearance res’titu’tion res’tive restor’ative — any agent that helps restore health strength, consciousness resul’tant resur’gence resus’citate retar’dant ret’icent ret’inue — retainers accompanying a high-ranking person retort’ retract’ retrieve’ ret’rograde ret’rospect retroussé (ra.troo.say’) — (of a person’s nose) turned up at the tip, especially in an attractive way ret’sina — greek wine flavored with pine resin revamp’ rev’eille — sound of the bugle early in the morning to awaken; signal to get up out of bed rev’enant — returns after a lengthy absence; returns after death rever’berant revere’ reveren’tial revile’ — assail with abusive language; vituperate revoke’ rhap’sodize rhet’oric rhetor’ical — question: which no answer is expected, often used for rhetorical effect rhom’boid — parallelogram with unequal adjacent sides rhom’bus — equilateral parallelogram rhyth’mic rib’ald — indulging in vulgar, lewd humor rich’ter scale — logarithmic scale ranging from 1 to 10 used to express the total amount of energy released by an earthquake ric’tus — a fixed grimace or grin rift right’eous rigid’ity rig’or rig’orous rime riche (reem reesh’) — rhyme using words or parts of words that are pronounced identically but have different meanings, for example, write-right, port-deport ripar’ian — relating to or situated on the banks of a river riposte’ — retort quickly ris’ible — relating to laughter or used in eliciting laughter risque’ rite of passage rive (ryve) — to rend or tear apart riv’eting rivière (ree.vyar’) — necklace of precious stones, usu. set in one strand roan — having a chestnut, bay or sorrel coat thickly sprinkled with white or gray rob’orant — restoring vigor or strength, a restorative Rob Roy — cocktail made with scotch whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters robust’ roco’co — style of architecture that originated in France in the early 18th C. and is marked by elaborate ornamentation. rod’omontade’ — pretentious boasting or bragging roent’gen — unit of radiation exposure rogue rol’licking roman à clef (ro.man’ a klay’) — a novel in which actual persons, places, or events are depicted in fictional guise roman-fleuve (ro.man’floev’) — long novel, often in many volumes, chronicling the history of several generations of a family, community or group ro’maunt — a verse romance romp rom’ulus — rom myth the son of Mars and eponymous founder of rome who with his twin brother, remus, was reared and suckled by a wolf ron’deau — lyrical poem of French origin having 13 or sometimes 10 lines with two rhymes throughout and with the opening phrase repeated twice as a refrain rookie root’stock — source or origin roseate (ro’ze.it) — cheerful, bright, optimistic Rosetta Stone (ro.zet’a) — basalt tablet bearing inscriptions in Greek and Egyptian hieroglyphic and demotic scripts discovered in 1799 near Rosetta, town in northern Egypt in the Nile river delta, and provided the key to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics Rosh Hashanah (rosh’ ha.sh’na) — The Jewish New Year, observed on the first day or the first and second days of Tishri (Sept/Oct) and marked by solemnity as well as festivity rotund’ roué (roo.a’) — lecherous, dissipated man roun’delay — poem or song with a regularly recurring refrain ru’bescent — turning red (as of a leaf) ru’bicon — To pass the Rubicon. To adopt some measure from which it is not possible to recede; small Italian river, reddish in color ru’bicund — inclined to a healthy rosiness ru’biginous — reddish brown rubric — class or category; title; name; part of ms that appears in decorative red lettering or is otherwise distinguished from the rest of the text; title or heading of a statute or chapter in a code book ruck’us ru’bricate — to establish rules for; arrange write or print as rubric rudimen’tary rufes’cent — tinged with red ru’fous — strong yellowish ink to moderate orange; reddish ru’inous ru’mina’tion run’cible spoon — three-pronged fork, such as a pickle fork, curved like a spoon and having a cutting edge rupic’olous — thriving among or inhabiting rocks ruse rus’ticate — to go or live in the country |
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