banal
Category: Vocabulary words
banal [adjective]: lacking freshness or originality; commonplace, trivial.
Example: The speaker bored us to death with his banal, self-evident observations.
Related words: banality [noun], banally [adverb]
belie
Category: Vocabulary words
belie [verb]: show to be false; contradict.
Example: The organization’s activities belied its claim that it did not believe in violence.
Related words: belier [noun]
belittle
Category: Vocabulary words
belittle [verb]: to make small; to disparage or diminish.
Example: If we belittle their efforts, they will lose confidence and give up hope.
Related words: belittlement [noun], belittler [noun], belittlingly [adverb]
bellicose
Category: Vocabulary words
bellicose [adjective]: inclined or eager to fight; warlike.
Example: The receptionist had a hard time dealing with the irate, bellicose customer.
Related words: bellicosely [adverb], bellicoseness [noun], bellicosity [noun].
benefactor
Category: Vocabulary words
benefactor [noun]: a person who provides help; a patron.
Example: Thanks to an unknown benefactor, the poor laborer was able to pay for his surgery.
Notes: A benefactor is a person who provides help; a beneficiary is a person who receives help.
boisterous
Category: Vocabulary words
boisterous [adjective]: rough and noisy in behavior or speech.
Example: The new teacher had a hard time controlling the boisterous children.
Related words: boisterously [adverb], boisterousness [noun]
boor
Category: Vocabulary words
boor [noun]: an unrefined, ill-mannered person.
Example: My new boss turned out to be an intolerable boor.
Related words: boorish [adjective]
bourgeois
Category: Vocabulary words
bourgeois [adjective]: of the middle class; conventional and materialistic.
Example: The communist ideologue never lost an opportunity to attack bourgeois attitudes.
Related words: bourgeoisie [noun]
bucolic
Category: Vocabulary words
bucolic [adjective]: pertaining to rural life; pastoral.
Example: I was smitten by the bucolic charm of the hamlet.
Related words: bucolically [adverb]
buttress
Category: Vocabulary words
buttress [verb]: to support or strengthen.
Example: If you could buttress your opinions with facts, we might agree with you.
Related words: buttress [noun].
Notes: A buttress [noun] is an architectural structure that supports or reinforces a wall.
