Letter B

babbittry smugness
bacchanal orgy, drunken celebration
badger pester
badinage banter
bagatelle nonentity, trifle
bailiwick area of concern or business
baleen whalebone
baleful hostile, malignant
balk hesitate
balky hesitant
ballad song
ballast counterbalance
ballistics study of projectiles
balm soothing ointment
banal trite
bandy exchange
bane poison, nuisance
barbarian savage
bard poet
baroque ornate
barrister lawyer
bask take pleasure in, sun
basso low male voice
bastion fort
bathos sentimentality
batten fasten, board up
battery physical attack
bauble trinket
beatify sanctify
beatitude state of bliss
beckon lure
becoming proper
bedlam uproar
befit to be suitable
beget produce, procreate
begrudge resent, envy
beguile deceive, seduce
behemoth monster
behest command
beholden in debt, obliged
belabor assail verbally, dwell on
belated delayed, overdue
beleaguer besiege
belfry bell tower
belie misrepresent, disprove
belittle disparage
bellicose warlike
belligerent combative
bellow shout
bellwether leader, guide
bemoan lament
bemused bewildered
benchmark standard
benediction blessing
benefactor patron
benevolent kind
benign harmless
bent determined
bequeath will
bequest gift, endowment
berate scold
bereft deprived of
berserk crazed with anger
beseech implore, beg
beset harass, encircle
besiege beleaguer, surround
besmirch slander, sully
bespeak attest
bestial beast-like, brutal
bestow offer, grant
betrothed engaged
bevy group
bibliography list of sources of information
bicameral having two legislative
branches
bicker quarrel
biennial occurring every two years
bilateral two-sided
bilious ill-tempered
bilk swindle
biodegradable naturally decaying
biopsy removing tissue for
examination
biped two-footed animal
bistro tavern, cafe
bivouac encampment
blandish flatter, grovel
blasé bored with life
blasphemy insulting God
bleak cheerless, forlorn
blight decay
bliss happiness
blithe joyous
bloated swollen
bode portend
bogus forged, false
bogy bugbear
boisterous noisy
bolt move quickly and suddenly
bombast pompous speech
bon vivant gourmet, epicure
bona fide made in good faith
bonanza a stroke of luck
boon payoff, windfall
boor vulgar person
bootless unavailing
booty loot, stolen goods
botch bungle
bourgeois middle class
bovine cow-like
boycott abstain in protest
bracing refreshing
brackish salty
brandish display menacingly
bravado feigned bravery
bravura technically difficult, brilliant
brawn strength
brevity shortness of expression
brigand robber
brink edge, threshold
broach bring up a topic for
conversation
bromide cliché
brook tolerate
browbeat to bully
brusque curt
bucolic rustic
buffet blow, pummel
buffoon fool, joker
bulwark fortification
buncombe empty, showy talk
buoyant floatable, cheerful
burgeon sprout
burlesque farce
burly husky