Agog

a-gog (əˈɡɒɡ)

adverb and adjective
1. in excited readiness, expectation, or desire; in or into a state of great eagerness, enthusiasm, excitement, suspense, or (in later use) astonishment.

Learn the difference between a man who flatters you and a man who compliments you. A man who spends money on you and a man who invests in you. A man who views you as property and a man who views you properly. A man agog and a man who loves you.

Synonym: anxious, avid, breathless, eager, enthusiastic, excited, expectant, impatient, in suspense, on tenter hooks. 

Adumbrate

a-dum-brate (ˈædəmˌbreɪt)

transitive verb
1. to foreshadow or symbolize.
The metaphorical gun on the wall adumbrates violence later in the story.
2. to outline, sketch out, or simply describe.
Anton Chekhov adumbrated medicine as his lawful wife and literature as his mistress.
3. (rare) to conceal or disguise.
Hot chicks like dressing up as zombies to vainly demonstrate that their beauty cannot be entirely adumbrated by the look of rotting flesh and a desire to eat your brain.

Synonyms: augur, bode, cloud, darken foretell, indicate, intimate, mist, obfuscate, obscure, outline, portend, sketch, suggest.

Apostatize

a-post-a-tize (əˈpästəˌtīz)

verb
1. To give up or renounce one's position or belief.
Thank the goddess that the 2011 Wonder Woman pilot episode didn't get picked up. Adrianne Palicki, though adorable, plays a Wonder Woman who has entirely apostatized core characteristics of the original Wonder Woman. The original Wonder Woman supported the U.S. military out of her love and devotion to Captain Steve Trevor. Adrianne Palicki's character dumps Steve to aid local police and the F.B.I., while running a corporation that markets action figures of her character to pay for her staff and flat screen T.V.'s.*

Synonyms: abandon, abscond, back out, break faith, change sides, cross, depart, desert, fall away from, forsake, go, go back on, go over, go over the fence, lapse, leave, pull out, quit, rat, rebel, reject, renege, renounce, revolt, run out, schism, sell out , spurn, take a walk, tergiversate, tergiverse, turn, turn coat, walk out on, withdraw.

* Someone even went so far as to call her a topless robot.
** I had to include Jacaranda's Wonder Woman Song in here somewhere.
*** For the purists, the original Wonder Woman appears below.

Amanuensis

a-man-u-en-sis (-mny-nss)n. pl. a-man-u-en-ses (-sz)

noun
1. A person whose employment is to write what another dictates, or to copy what another has written.
Although some might call it pastiche, she had to wonder whether she was a writer, an amanuensis or just a hack artist.

Synonyms: auditor, bookkeeper, cashier, clerk, copyist, counter jumper, counterperson, employee, notary, office helper, operator, paper pusher, paper shuffler, pen pusher, pencil pusher, receptionist, recorder, registrar, salesperson, secretary, seller, shopperson, stenographer, teller, transcriber, typist, white collar, worker.

Axiomatic

ax-i-o-mat-ic (ks--mtk) also ax-i-o-mat-ic-al (--kl)

adjective
1. Derived from common knowledge.
So much about raising a child is axiomatic. I grew up in the era of no-swimming-after-eating; and raised my daughter in the era of Barbies-are-like-pornographic-sex-toys-that-will-give-your-daughter-an-eating-disorder.
2. Evident without proof or argument.
There are several things I believe are axiomatic: love, justice, humility, mercy, forgiveness, and hope. These qualities have no equal in the animal kingdom, they hint at more than biological processes, they are beyond simplistic facts or emotions, and the fact that they even exist seems mystical. - Husband of one, father of four.

Synonyms: absolute, accepted, aphoristic, apothegmatic, assumed, certain, fundamental, given, indubitable, manifest, obvious, presupposed, proverbial, self-evident, unquestioned.

* This word has always sounded a little like the automatic weapon of an axe murderer.

Agathophilia

a-gath-o-phi-li-a (ăgˈĭþə-fĭlˈē-ə, pēˌdə-)

noun
1. Obsessive love of kindness.
There's something beautiful about agathophilia, even if it is obsessive. Agathophiles pick up on the littlest kindness, often imagining kindness in places others didn't think it could exist.

Synonyms: rose-coloured glasses.

Aphonic

a-phon-ic (-fnk, -fnk)

adjective
1. Having being rendered voiceless by disease, injury to the vocal chords or any number of psychological causes.
Having suffered from a cold for nearly three weeks, I woke up aphonic and unable to communicate my cathartic lament.

Synonyms: mum, mute. silent, speechless, wordless, voiceless.

Agoraphobia

ag-or-a-phob-ia (gr--fb-)

noun
1. Irrational fear of unfamiliar settings or places. This fear is often closely connected to the fear of losing control, which could lead to embarrassment and anxiety or panic attacks. This condition may or may not be social in nature. Sometimes, this condition is linked with social anxiety disorder.
Famously, Kim Bassinger was afraid of wearing pretty things because people would look at her, then she would wear plain things and worry people weren't looking at her enough, and this lead to her agoraphobia.
I'm not suffering from agoraphobia; it's just really cold outside and I'm nervous.

Synonyms: afraid, anxious, paranoia.

Note: If you are good friends with an agoraphobic person, it's not nice to throw them surprise parties at nice restaurants they've never been to before. They don't like that sort of thing.

Amigurumi

am-i- gu-ru-mi [(編みぐるみ) Sorry, this is the best I could do, since I am discovering this word just now from a foreign language. It's Japanese.]

noun
1. The Japanese art of knitting small animals or anthropomorphic creatures, which are valued for their cuteness.
Holly has hobbies, like amigurumi, record collecting, and making fresh fruit into jam.
Synonyms: crafting, knitting.

2. The cute, but otherwise useless creatures created through the aforementioned art form.
Holly has hobbies, like swing dancing, collecting arigurumi, and changing the oil on her van.

Synonyms: creature, toy.

Acrimonious

ac-ri-mo-ni-ous (kr-mn-s)
ajective

1. From the root word, acrid, meaning a pungently bad taste or smell. Acrimonious refers more to feelings than tastes or smells, but has the same tone.

1. Where the fuck is that acrid stench coming from? Did you even bother taking a shower today, dude?
2. No, you forgot to take the garbage out. I can't believe you thought it was ME!

1. Well, sometimes, you do stink.
2. At least, I'm not an acrimonious ass-wipe!

Synonyms: belligerent, bitchy, bitter, crusty, evil, harsh, hateful, intense, misanthropic, sardonic, tempestuous, unsparing, vicious.