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

bereave to rob, to deprive somebody of a love one, especially through death

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

buttress support