| instigate | (verb) provoke or stir up | Synonyms: incite, set off, stir up |
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| (verb) serve as the inciting cause of | Synonyms: inspire, prompt |
| instrumentate | (verb) write an instrumental score for | Synonyms: instrument |
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| insubordinate | (adjective) not submissive to authority | - |
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| (adjective) disposed to or engaged in defiance of established authority | Synonyms: resistant, resistive |
| insufflate | (verb) blow or breathe hard on or into | - |
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| (verb) treat by blowing a powder or vapor into a bodily cavity | - |
| (verb) breathe or blow onto as a ritual or sacramental act, especially so as to symbolize the action of the Holy Spirit | - |
| insulate | (verb) place or set apart | Synonyms: isolate |
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| (verb) protect from heat, cold, or noise by surrounding with insulating material | - |
| integrate | (verb) make into a whole or make part of a whole | Synonyms: incorporate |
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| (verb) become one; become integrated | - |
| (verb) calculate the integral of; calculate by integration | - |
| (verb) open (a place) to members of all races and ethnic groups | Synonyms: desegregate, mix |
| intemperate | (adjective) excessive in behavior | - |
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| (adjective) (of weather or climate) not mild; subject to extremes | - |
| (adjective) given to excessive indulgence of bodily appetites especially for intoxicating liquors | Synonyms: hard, heavy |
| intercalate | (verb) insert (days) in a calendar | - |
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| intercollegiate | (adjective) used of competition between colleges or universities | - |
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| intercommunicate | (verb) transmit thoughts or feelings | Synonyms: communicate |
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| (verb) be interconnected, afford passage | - |
| intermediate | (adjective) lying between two extremes in time or space or state | - |
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| (adjective) around the middle of a scale of evaluation | Synonyms: average, medium |
| (noun) a substance formed during a chemical process before the desired product is obtained | - |
| (verb) act between parties with a view to reconciling differences | Synonyms: arbitrate, intercede, liaise, mediate |
| interpellate | (verb) question formally about policy or government business | - |
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| interpenetrate | (verb) penetrate mutually or be interlocked | Synonyms: permeate |
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| (verb) spread or diffuse through | Synonyms: diffuse, imbue, penetrate, permeate, pervade, riddle |
| interpolate | (verb) insert words into texts, often falsifying it thereby | Synonyms: alter, falsify |
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| (verb) estimate the value of something based on known values | Synonyms: extrapolate |
| interrelate | (verb) place into a mutual relationship | - |
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| (verb) be in a relationship with | Synonyms: relate |
| interrogate | (verb) pose a series of questions to | Synonyms: question |
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| (verb) transmit (a signal) for setting off an appropriate response, as in telecommunication | - |
| interstate | (adjective) involving and relating to the mutual relations of states especially of the United States | - |
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| (noun) one of the system of highways linking major cities in the 48 contiguous states of the United States | Synonyms: interstate highway |
| intestate | (adjective) having made no legally valid will before death or not disposed of by a legal will | - |
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| intimate | (adjective) marked by close acquaintance, association, or familiarity | - |
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| (adjective) thoroughly acquainted through study or experience | Synonyms: knowledgeable, versed |
| (adjective) having or fostering a warm or friendly and informal atmosphere | Synonyms: cosy, cozy, informal |
| (adjective) innermost or essential | Synonyms: inner, internal |
| (adjective) concerning things deeply private and personal | Synonyms: private |
| (adjective) used euphemistically to refer to the genitals | - |
| (adjective) involved in a sexual relationship | Synonyms: sexual |
| (adjective) having mutual interests or affections; of established friendship | Synonyms: familiar |
| (noun) someone to whom private matters are confided | Synonyms: confidant |
| (verb) give to understand | Synonyms: adumbrate, insinuate |
| (verb) imply as a possibility | Synonyms: suggest |
| intimidate | (verb) make timid or fearful | - |
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| (verb) to compel or deter by or as if by threats | - |
| intonate | (verb) recite with musical intonation; recite as a chant or a psalm | Synonyms: cantillate, chant, intone |
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| (verb) speak carefully, as with rising and falling pitch or in a particular tone | Synonyms: intone |
| intoxicate | (verb) have an intoxicating effect on, of a drug | - |
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| (verb) make drunk (with alcoholic drinks) | Synonyms: inebriate, soak |
| (verb) fill with high spirits; fill with optimism | Synonyms: elate, lift up, pick up, uplift |
| intrastate | (adjective) relating to or existing within the boundaries of a state | - |
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| intricate | (adjective) having many complexly arranged elements; elaborate | - |
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| intubate | (verb) introduce a cannula or tube into | Synonyms: cannulate, cannulise, cannulize, canulate |
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| inundate | (verb) fill or cover completely, usually with water | Synonyms: deluge, submerge |
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| (verb) fill quickly beyond capacity; as with a liquid | Synonyms: deluge, flood, swamp |
| invaginate | (verb) fold inwards | Synonyms: introvert |
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| (verb) sheathe | - |
| invalidate | (verb) take away the legal force of or render ineffective | Synonyms: vitiate, void |
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| (verb) show to be invalid | Synonyms: nullify |
| (verb) make invalid for use | Synonyms: cancel |
| (verb) declare invalid | Synonyms: annul, avoid, nullify, quash, void |
| invertebrate | (adjective) lacking a backbone or spinal column | Synonyms: spineless |
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| (noun) any animal lacking a backbone or notochord; the term is not used as a scientific classification | - |
| investigate | (verb) investigate scientifically | Synonyms: look into |
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| (verb) conduct an inquiry or investigation of | Synonyms: enquire, inquire |
| inveterate | (adjective) habitual | Synonyms: chronic |
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| (adverb) in a habitual and longstanding manner | Synonyms: chronically |
| invigilate | (verb) watch over (students taking an exam, to prevent cheating) | Synonyms: proctor |
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| invigorate | (verb) impart vigor, strength, or vitality to | Synonyms: reinvigorate |
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| (verb) make lively | Synonyms: animate, enliven, liven, liven up |
| (verb) give life or energy to | Synonyms: quicken |
| (verb) heighten or intensify | Synonyms: animate, enliven, exalt, inspire |
| inviolate | (adjective) must be kept sacred | Synonyms: inviolable, sacrosanct |
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| (adjective) (of a woman) having the hymen unbroken | Synonyms: intact |
| involucrate | (adjective) having an involucre | - |
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| iodinate | (verb) cause to combine with iodine | - |
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| ionate | (verb) add ions to | - |
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| irate | (adjective) feeling or showing extreme anger | Synonyms: ireful |
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| irradiate | (verb) expose to radiation | Synonyms: ray |
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| (verb) cast rays of light upon | - |
| (verb) give spiritual insight to; in religion | Synonyms: enlighten |
| irrigate | (verb) supply with a constant flow or sprinkling of some liquid, for the purpose of cooling, cleansing, or disinfecting | - |
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| (verb) supply with water, as with channels or ditches or streams | Synonyms: water |
| irritate | (verb) excite to an abnormal condition, or chafe or inflame | - |
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| (verb) excite to some characteristic action or condition, such as motion, contraction, or nervous impulse, by the application of a stimulus | - |
| (verb) cause annoyance in; disturb, especially by minor irritations | Synonyms: annoy, bother, chafe, devil, get at, get to, gravel, nark, nettle, rag, rile, vex |
| isocyanate | (noun) a salt or ester of isocyanic acid | - |
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| isolate | (verb) place or set apart | Synonyms: insulate |
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| (verb) obtain in pure form | - |
| (verb) set apart from others | Synonyms: keep apart, sequester, sequestrate, set apart |
| (verb) separate (experiences) from the emotions relating to them | - |
| isothiocyanate | (noun) a family of compounds derived from horseradish and radishes and onions and mustards; source of the hotness of those plants and preparations | - |
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| iterate | (verb) run or be performed again | - |
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| (verb) to say, state, or perform again | Synonyms: ingeminate, reiterate, repeat, restate, retell |
| itinerate | (verb) travel from place to place, as for work | - |
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| jactitate | (verb) move or stir about violently | Synonyms: convulse, slash, thrash, thrash about, thresh, thresh about, toss |
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| jubilate | (verb) to express great joy | Synonyms: exuberate, exult, rejoice, triumph |
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| (verb) celebrate a jubilee | - |
| karate | (noun) a traditional Japanese system of unarmed combat; sharp blows and kicks are given to pressure-sensitive points on the body of the opponent | - |
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| khanate | (noun) the position of a khan | - |
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| (noun) the realm of a khan | - |
| labiate | (adjective) having lips or parts that resemble lips | Synonyms: liplike |
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| lacerate | (adjective) having edges that are jagged from injury | Synonyms: lacerated, mangled, torn |
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| (adjective) irregularly slashed and jagged as if torn | Synonyms: lacerated |
| (verb) cut or tear irregularly | - |
| (verb) deeply hurt the feelings of; distress | - |
| laciniate | (adjective) having edges irregularly and finely slashed | Synonyms: fringed |
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| lactate | (noun) a salt or ester of lactic acid | - |
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| (verb) give suck to | Synonyms: breastfeed, give suck, nurse, suck, suckle, wet-nurse |
| laminate | (noun) a sheet of material made by bonding two or more sheets or layers | - |
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| (verb) cover with a thin sheet of non-fabric material | - |
| (verb) press or beat (metals) into thin sheets | - |
| (verb) split (wood) into thin sheets | - |
| (verb) create laminate by bonding sheets of material with a bonding material | - |
| lanate | (adjective) covered with dense cottony hairs or hairlike filaments | Synonyms: woolly |
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| lanceolate | (adjective) (of a leaf shape) shaped like a lance head; narrow and tapering to a pointed apex | Synonyms: lancelike |
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| lancinate | (adjective) painful as if caused by a sharp instrument | Synonyms: cutting, keen, knifelike, lancinating, piercing, stabbing |
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| lapidate | (verb) kill by throwing stones at | Synonyms: stone |
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| (verb) throw stones at | - |
| late | (adjective) being or occurring at an advanced period of time or after a usual or expected time | - |
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| (adjective) of a later stage in the development of a language or literature; used especially of dead languages | - |
| (adjective) at or toward an end or late period or stage of development | Synonyms: later |
| (adjective) having died recently | - |
| (adjective) of the immediate past or just previous to the present time | Synonyms: recent |
| (adjective) after the expected or usual time; delayed | Synonyms: belated, tardy |
| (adjective) (used especially of persons) of the immediate past | Synonyms: former, previous |
| (adverb) later than usual or than expected | Synonyms: belatedly, tardily |
| (adverb) to an advanced time | Synonyms: deep |
| (adverb) at an advanced age or stage | - |
| (adverb) in the recent past | Synonyms: lately, latterly, of late, recently |
| latinate | (adjective) derived from or imitative of Latin | - |
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| laureate | (adjective) worthy of the greatest honor or distinction | - |
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| (noun) someone honored for great achievements; figuratively someone crowned with a laurel wreath | - |
| legate | (noun) a member of a legation | Synonyms: official emissary |
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| legislate | (verb) make laws, bills, etc. or bring into effect by legislation | Synonyms: pass |
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| legitimate | (adjective) of marriages and offspring; recognized as lawful | - |
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| (adjective) in accordance with recognized or accepted standards or principles | - |
| (adjective) authorized, sanctioned by, or in accordance with law | Synonyms: lawful, licit |
| (adjective) based on known statements or events or conditions | Synonyms: logical |
| (verb) make (an illegitimate child) legitimate; declare the legitimacy of (someone) | - |
| (verb) show or affirm to be just and legitimate | - |
| (verb) make legal | Synonyms: decriminalise, decriminalize, legalise, legalize, legitimatise, legitimatize, legitimise, legitimize |
| lemniscate | (noun) any of several plane algebraic curves in the shape of a figure eight | - |
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| leptosporangiate | (adjective) (of ferns) having each sporangium formed from a single epidermal cell | - |
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| levirate | (noun) the biblical institution whereby a man must marry the widow of his childless brother in order to maintain the brother's line | - |
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| levitate | (verb) be suspended in the air, as if in defiance of gravity | Synonyms: hover |
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| (verb) cause to rise in the air and float, as if in defiance of gravity | - |
| liberate | (verb) release (gas or energy) as a result of a chemical reaction or physical decomposition | Synonyms: free, release |
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| (verb) grant freedom to | Synonyms: set free |
| (verb) give equal rights to; of women and minorities | Synonyms: emancipate |
| (verb) grant freedom to; free from confinement | Synonyms: free, loose, release, unloose, unloosen |
| librate | (verb) vibrate before coming to a total rest | - |
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| (verb) determine the weight of | Synonyms: weigh |
| licentiate | (noun) holds a license (degree) from a (European) university | - |
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| lichgate | (noun) a roofed gate to a churchyard, formerly used as a temporary shelter for the bier during funerals | Synonyms: lychgate |
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| liftgate | (noun) a sloping rear car door that is lifted to open | Synonyms: hatch, hatchback, hatchback door |
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| ligate | (verb) bind with a bandage or ligature | - |
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| (verb) bind chemically | - |
| (verb) join letters in a ligature when writing | - |
| lingulate | (adjective) shaped like a tongue | Synonyms: tongue-shaped |
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| liquidate | (verb) get rid of (someone who may be a threat) by killing | Synonyms: do in, knock off, neutralise, neutralize, waste |
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| (verb) eliminate by paying off (debts) | Synonyms: pay off |
| (verb) convert into cash | - |
| (verb) settle the affairs of by determining the debts and applying the assets to pay them off | - |
| literate | (adjective) able to read and write | - |
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| (adjective) versed in literature; dealing with literature | - |
| (adjective) knowledgeable and educated in one or several fields | - |
| (noun) a person who can read and write | Synonyms: literate person |
| litigate | (verb) institute legal proceedings against; file a suit against | Synonyms: action, process, sue |
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| (verb) engage in legal proceedings | - |
| lobate | (adjective) having or resembling a lobe or lobes | Synonyms: lobated |
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| (adjective) having deeply indented margins but with lobes not entirely separate from each other | Synonyms: lobed |
| locate | (verb) take up residence and become established | Synonyms: settle |
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| (verb) discover the location of; determine the place of; find by searching or examining | Synonyms: turn up |
| (verb) assign a location to | Synonyms: place, site |
| (verb) determine or indicate the place, site, or limits of, as if by an instrument or by a survey | Synonyms: situate |
| lubricate | (verb) make slippery or smooth through the application of a lubricant | - |
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| (verb) apply a lubricant to | Synonyms: lube |
| (verb) have lubricating properties | - |
| lucubrate | (verb) add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing | Synonyms: dilate, elaborate, enlarge, expand, expatiate, exposit, expound, flesh out |
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| lunate | (adjective) resembling the new moon in shape | Synonyms: crescent-shaped, crescent, semilunar |
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| lustrate | (verb) purify by means of a ritual; also used in post-Communist countries to refer to the political cleansing of former officials | - |
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| luxate | (verb) move out of position | Synonyms: dislocate, slip, splay |
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| luxuriate | (verb) thrive profusely or flourish extensively | - |
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| (verb) become extravagant; indulge (oneself) luxuriously | Synonyms: wanton |
| (verb) enjoy to excess | Synonyms: indulge |
| lychgate | (noun) a roofed gate to a churchyard, formerly used as a temporary shelter for the bier during funerals | Synonyms: lichgate |
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| lyrate | (adjective) (of a leaf shape) having curvature suggestive of a lyre | - |
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| macerate | (noun) a macerated substance, sometimes used to infuse vodka with flavor. | - |
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| (verb) soften, usually by steeping in liquid, and cause to disintegrate as a result | - |
| (verb) become soft or separate and disintegrate as a result of excessive soaking | - |
| (verb) cause to grow thin or weak | Synonyms: emaciate, waste |
| (verb) separate into constituents by soaking | - |
| machicolate | (verb) supply with projecting galleries | - |
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| machinate | (verb) engage in plotting or enter into a conspiracy, swear together | Synonyms: cabal, complot, conjure, conspire |
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| (verb) arrange by systematic planning and united effort | Synonyms: devise, get up, organise, organize, prepare |
| maculate | (adjective) spotted or blotched | - |
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| (adjective) morally blemished; stained or impure | Synonyms: defiled |
| (verb) spot, stain, or pollute | Synonyms: befoul, defile, foul |
| (verb) make dirty or spotty, as by exposure to air; also used metaphorically | Synonyms: defile, stain, sully, tarnish |
| magistrate | (noun) a lay judge or civil authority who administers the law (especially one who conducts a court dealing with minor offenses) | - |
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| magnate | (noun) a very wealthy or powerful businessman | Synonyms: baron, big businessman, business leader, king, mogul, power, top executive, tycoon |
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| maleate | (noun) a salt or ester of maleic acid; used as a nontricyclic antidepressant drug for psychomotor activation | - |
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| malversate | (verb) appropriate (as property entrusted to one's care) fraudulently to one's own use | Synonyms: defalcate, embezzle, misappropriate, peculate |
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| mandate | (noun) the commission that is given to a government and its policies through an electoral victory | - |
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| (noun) a document giving an official instruction or command | Synonyms: authorisation, authorization |
| (noun) a territory surrendered by Turkey or Germany after World War I and put under the tutelage of some other European power until they are able to stand by themselves | Synonyms: mandatory |
| (verb) assign authority to | - |
| (verb) make mandatory | - |
| (verb) assign under a mandate | - |
| mandibulate | (adjective) having mandibles | - |
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| manducate | (verb) chew (food); to bite and grind with the teeth | Synonyms: chew, jaw, masticate |
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