hackneyed adj.# commonplace; trite. When the reviewer criticized the movie for its hackneyed plot, we agreed; we had seen similar stories hundreds of times before.#haggard adj.#wasted away; gaunt. After his long illness, he was pale and haggard.#haggle v.#argue about prices. I prefer to shop in a store that has a one-price policy because, whenever I haggle with a shopkeeper, I am never certain that I paid a fair price for the articles I purchased.#hallowed adj.#blessed; consecrated. Although the dead girl's parents had never been active churchgoers, they insisted that their daughter be buried in hallowed ground.#hallucination n.#delusion. I think you were frightened by a hallucination you created in your own mind.#halting adj.#hesitant; faltering. Novice extemporaneous speakers often talk in a halting fashion as they grope for the right words.#hamper v.# obstruct. The new mother didn't realize how much the effort of caring for an infant would hamper her ability to keep an immaculate house.#haphazard adj.#random; unsystematic; aimless. In place of a systematic family policy, America has a haphazard patchwork of institutions and programs created in response to immediate crises.#harangue n.#noisy speech. In her lengthy harangue, the principal berated the offenders. also v.#harass v.#to annoy by repeated attacks. When he could not pay his bills as quickly as he had promised, he was harassed by his creditors.#harbinger n.#forerunner. The crocus is an early harbinger of spring.#harbor v.#provide a refuge for; hide. The church harbored illegal aliens who were political refugees.#hardy adj.# sturdy; robust; able to stand inclement weather. We asked the gardening expert to recommend particularly hardy plants that could withstand our harsh New England winters.#harrowing adj.#agonizing; distressing; traumatic. At first the former prisoner did not wish to discuss his harrowing months of captivity as a political hostage.#haughtiness n.# pride; arrogance. When she realized that Darcy believed himself too good to dance with his inferiors, Elizabeth took great offense at his haughtiness.#hazardous adj.#dangerous. Your occupation is too hazardous for insurance companies to consider your application.#hazy adj.#slightly obscure. In hazy weather, you cannot see the top of this mountain.#headlong adj.#hasty; rash. The slave seized the unexpected chance to make a headlong dash across the border to freedom.#headstrong adj.#stubborn; willful; unyielding. Because she refused to marry the man her parents had chosen for her, everyone scolded Minna and called her a foolish, headstrong girl.#heckler n.#person who harasses others. The heckler kept interrupting the speaker with rude remarks. heckle, v.#hedonist n.# one who believes that pleasure is the sole aim in life. A thoroughgoing hedonist, he considered only his own pleasure and ignored any claims others had on his money or time.#heed v.#pay attention to; consider. We hope you heed our advice and get a good night's sleep before the test. also n.#heedless adj.#not noticing; disregarding. He drove on, heedless of the danger warnings placed at the side of the road.#heinous adj.#atrocious; hatefully bad. Hitler's heinous crimes will never be forgotten.#herbivorous adj.#grain-eating. Some herbivorous animals have two stomachs for digesting their food.#heresy n.# opinion contrary to popular belief; opinion contrary to accepted religion. Galileo's assertion that the earth moved around the sun directly contradicted the religious teachings of his day; as a result, he was tried for heresy. heretic, n.#hermetic adj.#sealed by fusion so as to be airtight. After you sterilize the bandages, place them in a container and seal it with a hermetic seal to protect them from contamination by airborne bacteria.#hermitage n.#home of a hermit. Even in his remote hermitage he could not escape completely from the world.#heterodox adj.#unorthodox; unconventional. To those who upheld the belief that the earth did not move, Galileo's theory that the earth circled the sun was disturbingly heterodox.#heterogeneous adj.#dissimilar; mixed. This year's entering class is a remarkably heterogeneous body: it includes students from forty different states and twenty-six foreign countries, some the children of billionaires, others the offspring of welfare families. heterogeneity, n.#heyday n.#time of greatest success; prime. In their heyday, the San Francisco Forty-Niners won the Super Bowl two years running. #hiatus n.#gap; interruption in duration or continuity; pause. During the summer hiatus, many students try to earn enough money to pay their tuition for the next school year.#hibernal adj.#wintry. Bears prepare for their long hibernal sleep by overeating.#hibernate v.#sleep throughout the winter. Bears are one of the many species of animals that hibernate. hibernation, n.#hierarchy n.# arrangement by rank or standing; authoritarian body divided into ranks. To be low man on the totem pole is to have an inferior place in the hierarchy.#hilarity n.#boisterous mirth. No longer able to contain their hilarity, they broke into great guffaws and whoops of laughter.#hindrance n.#block; obstacle. Stalled cars along the highway are a hindrance to traffic that tow trucks should remove without delay. hinder, v.#histrionic adj.#theatrical. He was proud of his histrionic ability and wanted to play the role of Hamlet. histrionics, n.#hoard v.#stockpile; accumulate for future use. Whenever there are rumors of a food shortage, many people are tempted to hoard food. also n.#hoary adj.#white with age. Old Father Time was hoary and wrinkled with age.#hoax n.#trick; deception; fraud. In the case of Piltdown man, a scientific forgery managed to fool the experts for nearly half a century, when the hoax was finally unmasked. also v.#hodgepodge n.#jumble; mixture of ill-suited elements. The reviewer roundly condemned the play as a hodgepodge of random and purposeless encounters carried out by a cast lacking any uniformity of accent or style.#holster n.#pistol case. Even when he was not in uniform, he carried a holster and pistol under his arm.#homage n.#honor; tribute. In her speech she tried to pay homage to a great man.#homogeneous adj.# of the same kind. Because the student body at Elite Prep was so homogeneous, Sara and James decided to send their daughter to a school that offered greater cultural diversity. homogenize, v.#hone v.#sharpen. To make shaving easier, he honed his razor with great care.#hoodwink v.#deceive; delude. Having been hoodwinked once by the fast-talking salesman, he was extremely cautious when he went to purchase a used car.#horde n.#crowd. Just before Christmas the stores are filled with hordes of shoppers.#horticultural adj.#pertaining to cultivation of gardens. When he bought his house, he began to look for flowers and decorative shrubs, and began to read books dealing with horticultural matters.#host n.#great number; person entertaining guests; animal or plant from which a parasite gets its nourishment. You must attend to a host of details if you wish to succeed as host of a formal dinner party. Leeches are parasites that cling to their hosts and drink their hosts' blood.#hostility n.#unfriendliness; hatred. A child who has been the sole object of his parents' affection often feels hostility toward a new baby in the family, resenting the newcomer who has taken his place.#hovel n.#shack; small, wretched house. He wondered how poor people could stand living in such a hovel.#hover v.#hang about; wait nearby. The police helicopter hovered above the accident.#hue n.#color; aspect. The aviary contained birds of every possible hue.#hulking adj.#massive; bulky; great in size. Despite his hulking build, the heavyweight boxing champion was surprisingly light on his feet. hulk, n.#humane adj.#marked by kindness or consideration. It is ironic that the Humane Society sometimes must show its compassion toward mistreated animals by killing them to put them out of their misery.#humdrum adj.#dull; monotonous. After his years of adventure, he could not settle down to a humdrum existence.#humid adj.#damp. Oakland's humid climate aggravated Richard's asthma, so he decided to move to a drier area.#humility n.#humbleness of spirit. Despite his fame as a Nobel Prize winner, Bishop Tutu spoke with a humility and lack of self-importance that immediately won over his listeners.#hurtle v.#crash; rush. The runaway train hurtled toward disaster.#husband v.#use sparingly; conserve; save. Marathon runners must husband their energy so that they can keep going for the entire distance.#hybrid n.#mongrel; mixed breed. Mendel's formula explains the appearance of hybrids and pure species in breeding. also adj. #hydrophobia n.#rabies; fear of water. A dog that bites a human being must be observed for symptoms of hydrophobia.#hyperbole n.#exaggeration; overstatement. As far as I'm concerned, Apple's claims about the new computer are pure hyperbole: no machine is that good!#hypercritical adj.#excessively exacting. You are hypercritical in your demands for perfection; we all make mistakes.#hypochondriac n.#person unduly worried about his health; worrier without cause about illness. The doctor prescribed chocolate pills for his patient who was a hypochondriac.#hypocritical adj.# pretending to be virtuous; deceiving. It was hypocritical of Martha to say nice things about my poetry to me and then make fun of my verses behind my back. hypocrisy, n.#hypothetical adj.# based on assumptions or hypotheses; supposed. Suppose you are accepted by Harvard, Stanford, and Brown. Which one would you choose to attend? Remember, this is only a hypothetical situation. hypothesis, n.#