This list includes 75 Hard words that start with A, from “abecedarian” to “azimuth”. These entries are mostly low-frequency, polysyllabic, technical, or archaic words useful for students, writers, editors, and vocabulary builders.
Hard words that start with A are challenging, often uncommon English words with specific or elevated meanings. For example, “abecedarian” originally referred to alphabet learning and later named novice writers or a simple instructional order.
Below you’ll find the table with the Word, Etymology, and Definition columns.
Word: The headword itself, shown so you can locate and recognize each entry quickly and accurately.
Etymology: A concise origin note showing language, root elements, and date, so you understand each word’s history.
Definition: A one-sentence gloss with part of speech and clear sense that helps you use the word correctly.
Hard words that start with A
| Word | Part of speech | Pronunciation | Etymology |
|---|---|---|---|
| abnegation | noun | ab-NEG-ay-shun | Latin abnegare ‘deny’ 17c |
| abjure | verb | ab-JOOR | Latin abjurare ‘swear away’ 14c |
| ablation | noun | uh-BLAY-shun | Latin ablatio ‘removal’ 17c |
| ablative | adjective | AB-luh-tiv | Latin ablat- ‘taken away’ grammar 16c |
| abecedarian | noun | ab-uh-see-DAR-ee-uhn | Latin abecedarium ‘alphabet book’ 17c |
| abeyance | noun | uh-BAY-uhns | Old French abaiaunce 14c |
| abiogenesis | noun | ay-bee-oh-JEN-uh-sis | Greek a- + bios + genesis 19c |
| abjuration | noun | ab-juh-RAY-shun | Latin abjuratio 16c |
| abrogate | verb | AB-ruh-gayt | Latin abrogare ‘repeal’ 16c |
| abscond | verb | ab-SKOND | Latin abscondere ‘hide’ 16c |
| absquatulate | verb | ab-SKWAT-yuh-late | Amer. colloq., mock-Latin 19c |
| abulia | noun | uh-BYOO-lee-uh | Greek aboulia ‘without will’ 19c medical |
| abstemious | adjective | ab-STEEM-ee-us | Latin abstinere ‘hold back’ 17c |
| abstruse | adjective | ab-STROOS | Latin abstrusus ‘hidden’ 17c |
| accretion | noun | uh-KREE-shun | Latin accrescere ‘grow to’ 17c |
| acquiesce | verb | ak-wee-ESS | Latin acquiescere ‘to rest’ 17c |
| acumen | noun | uh-KOO-men | Latin acumen ‘sharpness’ 15c |
| adumbrate | verb | AD-um-brayt | Latin adumbrare ‘outline’ 17c |
| adscititious | adjective | ad-sis-TISH-us | Latin adscitus ‘added’ 19c |
| aegis | noun | EE-jis | Greek aigis ‘goatskin, protection’ 14c |
| aeon | noun | EE-on | Greek aion ‘age’ 14c |
| afflatus | noun | uh-FLAY-tus | Latin afflatus ‘inspiration’ 17c |
| agglomerate | verb | uh-GLAHM-uh-rayt | Latin glomus ‘ball’ 17c |
| aggrandize | verb | uh-GRAN-dize | French aggrandir ‘make larger’ 17c |
| alacrity | noun | uh-LAK-ruh-tee | Latin alacritas ‘liveliness’ 15c |
| aleatory | adjective | uh-LEE-uh-tawr-ee | Latin alea ‘dice’ 17c |
| allocution | noun | al-uh-KYOO-shun | Latin allocutio ‘address’ 16c |
| ameliorate | verb | uh-MEEL-yuh-rayt | Latin melior ‘better’ 17c |
| amenable | adjective | uh-MEE-nuh-buhl | Latin amenable ‘liable’ 17c |
| amaranthine | adjective | am-uh-RAN-thin | Greek amarantos ‘unfading’ 17c |
| ambivalent | adjective | am-BIV-uh-lent | Latin ambi- + valere ‘both strong’ 20c |
| anachronism | noun | an-ACK-ruh-niz-um | Greek ana + kronos ‘against time’ 16c |
| anadiplosis | noun | uh-nad-uh-PLOH-sis | Greek anadi- ‘doubling’ rhetorical 17c |
| anathema | noun | uh-NATH-uh-muh | Greek anathema ‘thing accursed’ 14c |
| anfractuous | adjective | an-FRAHK-choo-us | Latin anfractus ‘a winding’ 16c |
| anomie | noun | an-OH-mee | French sociological term 19c from Greek anomia ‘lawlessness’ |
| antecedent | noun | an-TESS-uh-dent | Latin antecedere ‘go before’ 15c |
| antediluvian | adjective | an-tee-di-LOO-vee-uhn | Latin ante + diluvium ‘before the flood’ 17c |
| anthropocentric | adjective | an-throh-poh-SEN-trik | Greek anthropos + kentron 19c |
| anthropomorphic | adjective | an-throh-puh-MOR-fik | Greek anthropos + morphe 19c |
| antipathy | noun | an-TIP-uh-thee | Greek antipatheia ‘opposed feeling’ 16c |
| antithetical | adjective | an-tuh-THEH-ti-kal | Greek antithetikos 17c |
| apocryphal | adjective | uh-PAHK-ruh-fuhl | Greek apokryphos ‘hidden’ 16c |
| apogee | noun | AP-uh-jee | Greek apogaion ‘farthest point’ 17c |
| aporia | noun | uh-PORE-ee-uh | Greek aporia ‘difficulty’ philosophical 18c |
| apostasy | noun | uh-POS-tuh-see | Greek apostasia 14c |
| apothegm | noun | uh-POTH-ehm | Greek apophthegma ‘pithy saying’ 16c |
| apotheosis | noun | uh-puh-THEE-uh-sis | Greek apotheosis ‘deification’ 17c |
| apposite | adjective | AP-uh-zit | Latin appositus ‘placed near’ 16c |
| approbation | noun | ap-roh-BAY-shun | Latin approbare ‘approve’ 16c |
| archetype | noun | AR-kih-type | Greek archetypon ‘original model’ 16c |
| arcane | adjective | ar-KAYN | Latin arcanus ‘secret’ 17c |
| arcanum | noun | ar-KAY-num | Latin arcanum ‘secret’ 17c |
| argot | noun | AR-goh | French argot ‘cant’ 19c |
| arrant | adjective | AR-unt | Old French arrant ‘wandering’ 14c |
| arrhythmia | noun | uh-RITH-mee-uh | Greek rhythmos + a- ‘lack’ 17c medical |
| artifice | noun | AR-tih-fiss | Latin artificium ‘craft’ 14c |
| asperity | noun | uh-SPER-i-tee | Latin asper ‘rough’ 15c |
| assiduous | adjective | uh-SIJ-oo-us | Latin assidere ‘to sit near’ 17c |
| asseverate | verb | uh-SEV-uh-rayt | Latin asseverare ‘assert solemnly’ 17c |
| assuage | verb | uh-SWAYJ | Old French assouagier 14c |
| astringent | adjective | uh-STRIN-jent | Latin adstringere ‘to bind’ 16c |
| attenuate | verb | uh-TEN-yoo-ayt | Latin attenuare ‘make thin’ 17c |
| attenuation | noun | at-ten-yoo-AY-shun | Latin attenuatio 17c |
| atypical | adjective | ay-TIP-i-kal | Greek a- ‘not’ typical 19c |
| augury | noun | AW-guh-ree | Latin augurium ‘divination’ 14c |
| auriferous | adjective | aw-RIF-er-ous | Latin aurum ‘gold’ 17c |
| auspicious | adjective | aw-SPI-shus | Latin auspicius ‘of good omen’ 16c |
| austere | adjective | aw-STEER | Latin austerus ‘severe’ 14c |
| avarice | noun | AV-uh-ris | Latin avaritia ‘greed’ 14c |
| avaricious | adjective | av-uh-RISH-us | Latin avaritia 16c |
| aver | verb | uh-VER | Latin ad verum ‘to affirm as true’ 14c |
| avuncular | adjective | uh-VUNK-yuh-ler | Latin avunculus ‘maternal uncle’ 19c |
| axiomatic | adjective | ak-see-oh-MAT-ik | Greek axiomatikos 17c |
| azimuth | noun | AZ-uh-muth | Arabic samt ‘direction’ via Medieval Latin 17c |
Descriptions
abnegation
The act of renouncing or rejecting something, often used for moral or religious self-denial.
abjure
To formally renounce or repudiate a belief, claim, or allegiance, often under oath.
ablation
Surgical or geological removal of material, commonly used in medicine and earth sciences.
ablative
Describing a case or form expressing separation or source, especially in grammar and linguistics.
abecedarian
A beginner or someone learning the basics; also relating to the alphabet.
abeyance
A temporary suspension of activity or claim, often in legal or administrative contexts.
abiogenesis
The hypothesis that life can arise naturally from nonliving matter.
abjuration
The formal act of renouncing a belief, claim, or allegiance, often publicly declared.
abrogate
To abolish or annul a law, agreement, or custom formally and authoritatively.
abscond
To leave hurriedly and secretly, typically to avoid arrest or obligation.
absquatulate
A humorous, informal term meaning to depart suddenly or abscond.
abulia
A pathological lack of will or initiative, often discussed in psychology or neurology.
abstemious
Marked by self-restraint in eating or drinking; also used figuratively for moderation.
abstruse
Difficult to understand; typically used for dense, theoretical, or technical material.
accretion
A gradual buildup or increase, often used in geology, finance, and astronomy.
acquiesce
To accept or comply quietly or without protest, often reluctantly.
acumen
Keen insight or mental sharpness, frequently used to praise judgment in business or politics.
adumbrate
To foreshadow or sketch in a faint or partial way; often used in literary criticism.
adscititious
Added or derived from another source, often used in scholarly or legal contexts.
aegis
A metaphorical shield or sponsorship, commonly used to denote authority or protection.
aeon
An indefinitely long period of time; used in geology, astronomy, and philosophy.
afflatus
A sudden creative impulse or divine inspiration, used in literary contexts.
agglomerate
To gather into a mass or cluster, commonly used in geology and industry.
aggrandize
To increase the power, status, or wealth of someone or something, often by exaggeration.
alacrity
Brisk, cheerful readiness or eagerness to respond or act.
aleatory
Dependent on chance or randomness, often used in music, law, or literature.
allocution
A formal speech or address, especially one given to a body of people.
ameliorate
To make something better or more tolerable; often used in policy or social contexts.
amenable
Responsive to advice, authority, or treatment; often used in legal or medical contexts.
amaranthine
Eternally beautiful or unfading, sometimes used poetically or to denote deep purple.
ambivalent
Simultaneous conflicting feelings about a person or choice; common in psychology.
anachronism
Something placed in the wrong historical period, often used in criticism of media or history.
anadiplosis
A rhetorical device repeating the last word of a clause at the start of the next.
anathema
Something or someone vehemently disliked or shunned; also a formal ecclesiastical curse.
anfractuous
Full of twists and turns; used for landscape, argument, or narrative complexity.
anomie
A state of normlessness or social instability, central to sociology and political theory.
antecedent
A preceding event, condition, or cause; also a grammatical term for antecedent pronouns.
antediluvian
Extremely old-fashioned or outmoded, literally pre-flood in biblical terms.
anthropocentric
Viewing humans as the central or most significant element of existence.
anthropomorphic
Attributing human traits or form to nonhuman entities or deities.
antipathy
A deep-seated feeling of aversion or hostility toward someone or something.
antithetical
Directly opposed or contrasting; used in argumentation and analysis.
apocryphal
Of doubtful authenticity or origin, often applied to stories or documents.
apogee
The highest point or culmination; in astronomy, the farthest orbital point.
aporia
A puzzle or impasse in argument, widely used in literary and philosophical analysis.
apostasy
The formal abandonment of a religious or political belief, often with social consequences.
apothegm
A concise, instructive maxim or aphorism, prized in rhetoric and literature.
apotheosis
The elevation of someone to divine status or a perfect example of something.
apposite
Highly appropriate or relevant in a particular situation.
approbation
Formal approval or praise, often used in literary or social contexts.
archetype
An original model or ideal example from which others are patterned.
arcane
Known or understood by only a few; mysterious or esoteric.
arcanum
A deep secret or specialized knowledge, often pluralized as arcana.
argot
The specialized vocabulary of a particular group, like thieves or tradespeople.
arrant
Complete and utter, often used pejoratively to emphasize a vice or error.
arrhythmia
An irregularity in the heartbeat, used in cardiology and clinical contexts.
artifice
Clever or cunning devices used to deceive or cleverly achieve a goal.
asperity
Harshness or severity of manner, tone, or surface; common in literary description.
assiduous
Marked by careful, persistent effort or diligence.
asseverate
To declare earnestly or solemnly; stronger than merely stating.
assuage
To make less intense or severe, often used for pain, grief, or worry.
astringent
Harshly sharp or severe in manner, taste, or effect; also a chemical that contracts tissues.
attenuate
To reduce in force, intensity, or thickness; used in science and argument.
attenuation
The reduction or weakening of something, like sound, signal, or force.
atypical
Deviating from the norm; used in clinical and statistical descriptions.
augury
An omen or sign of what will happen, historically a formal practice of divination.
auriferous
Bearing or containing gold; used in geology and mining contexts.
auspicious
Conducive to success; indicating favorable circumstances.
austere
Severe or strict in manner, appearance, or lifestyle; also plain and unadorned.
avarice
Excessive or insatiable desire for wealth, commonly discussed in ethics.
avaricious
Having or showing extreme greed for wealth or material gain.
aver
To state or assert positively with confidence, often in legal contexts.
avuncular
Characteristic of a kindly, helpful uncle; used figuratively for benevolent mentorship.
axiomatic
Self-evident or unquestionable, often used for basic principles or assumptions.
azimuth
A directional angle in navigation and astronomy measured clockwise from north.