Vocabulary #6

abase - verb cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of, to reduce or lower; degrade

abdicate - verb give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations

abomination - noun an action that is vicious or vile; an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence; a person who is loathsome or disgusting; hate coupled with disgust

brusque - adj. marked by rude or peremptory shortness

saboteur - noun someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks; a member of a clandestine subversive organization who tries to help a potential invader

debauchery - noun a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity

proliferate - verb cause to grow or increase rapidly; grow rapidly

anachronism - noun an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred

nomenclature - noun a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline

expurgate - verb edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate

bellicose - adj. having or showing a ready disposition to fight

gauche - adj. lacking social polish

rapacious - adj. excessively greedy and grasping; devouring or craving food in great quantities; living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey

paradox - noun (logic) a statement that contradicts itself

conundrum - noun a difficult problem

anomaly - noun (astronomy) position of a planet as defined by its angular distance from its perihelion (as observed from the sun); a person who is unusual; deviation from the normal or common order or form or rule

ephemeral - adj. lasting a very short time; noun anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form

rancorous - adj. showing deep-seated resentment

churlish - adj. having a bad disposition; surly; rude and boorish

precipitous - adj. characterized by precipices; extremely steep;done with very great haste and without due deliberation

Narrative:

Vocabulary #5

shenanigans - noun mischief, prankishness; deceit; trickery

ricochet - noun a glancing rebound; verb spring back; spring away from an impact

schism - noun division of a group into opposing factions; the formal separation of a church into two churches or the withdrawal of one group over doctrinal differences

eschew - verb avoid and stay away from deliberately; stay clear of

plethora - noun extreme excess

ebullient - adj. joyously unrestrained

garrulous - adj. full of trivial conversation

harangue - noun a loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion; verb deliver a harangue to; address forcefully

interdependence - noun a reciprocal relation between interdependent entities (objects or individuals or groups)

capricious - adj. determined by chance or impulse or whim rather than by necessity or reason; changeable

loquacious - adj. full of trivial conversation

ephemeral - adj. lasting a very short time; noun anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form

inchoate - adj. only partly in existence; imperfectly formed

juxtapose - verb place side by side

perspicacious - adj. acutely insightful and wise; mentally acute or penetratingly discerning

codswallop - noun nonsensical talk or writing, nonsense rubbish

Mungo - noun a low grade wool from felted rags or waste

sesquipedalian - adj. given to using long words; (of a word) containing many syllables

wonky - adj. inclined to shake as from weakness or defect; turned or twisted toward one side

diphthong - noun a vowel sound that starts near the articulatory position for one vowel and moves toward the position for another

Narrative: Teens are usually the ones who pull off such ridicule shenanigans

Vocabulary #4

obsequious - adj. attentive in an ingratiating or servile manner; attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery

beatitude - noun one of the eight sayings of Jesus at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount; in Latin each saying begins with `beatus' (blessed); a state of supreme happiness

bete noire - noun a person or thing disliked or dreaded or dreaded; bane; bugbear

bode - verb indicate by signs

dank - adj. unpleasantly cool and humid

ecumenical - adj. of worldwide scope or applicability; concerned with promoting unity among churches or religions

fervid - adj. extremely hot; characterized by intense emotion

fetid - adj. offensively malodorous

gargantuan - adj. of great mass; huge and bulky

heyday - noun the period of greatest prosperity or productivity

incubus - noun a male demon believed to lie on sleeping persons and to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; someone who depresses or worries others; a situation resembling a terrifying dream

infrastructure - noun the stock of basic facilities and capital equipment needed for the functioning of a country or area; the basic structure or features of a system or organization

inveigle - verb influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering

kudos - noun an expression of approval and commendation

lagniappe - noun a small gift (especially one given by a merchant to a customer who makes a purchase)

prolix - adj. tediously prolonged or tending to speak or write at great length

protege - noun a person who receives support and protection from an influential patron who furthers the protege's career

prototype - noun a standard or typical example

sycophant - noun a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage

tautology - noun useless repetition; (logic) a statement that is necessarily true

truckle - noun a low bed to be slid under a higher bed; verb yield to out of weakness; try to gain favor by cringing or flattering

Narrative:

Vocabulary #3

accolade - noun a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction

acerbity - noun a sharp sour taste; a sharp bitterness; a rough and bitter manner

attrition - noun the act of rubbing together; wearing something down by friction; a wearing down to weaken or destroy; sorrow for sin arising from fear of damnation; the wearing down of rock particles by friction due to water or wind or ice; erosion by friction

bromide - noun any of the salts of hydrobromic acid; formerly used as a sedative but now generally replaced by safer drugs; a trite or obvious remark

chauvinist - noun an extreme bellicose nationalist; a person with a prejudiced belief in the superiority of his or her own kind

chronic - adj. being long-lasting and recurrent or characterized by long suffering

expound - verb add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing; state

factionalism - adj. of a faction or factions; self-interested, partisan

immaculate - adj. completely neat and clean; free from stain or blemish; without fault or error

imprecation - noun the act of calling down a curse that invokes evil (and usually serves as an insult); a slanderous accusation

ineluctable - adj. impossible to avoid or evade:"inescapable conclusion"

mercurial - adj. relating to or containing or caused by mercury;relating to or having characteristics (eloquence, shrewdness, swiftness, thievishness) attributed to the god Mercury; relating to or under the (astrological) influence of the planet Mercury; liable to sudden unpredictable change

palliate - verb provide physical relief, as from pain; lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of

protocol - noun code of correct conduct; forms of ceremony and etiquette observed by diplomats and heads of state; (computer science) rules determining the format and transmission of data

resplendent - adj. having great beauty and splendor

stigmatize - verb mark with a stigma or stigmata; to accuse or condemn or openly or formally or brand as disgraceful

sub rosa - adj. confidentially; secretively; privately

vainglory - noun outspoken conceit

vestige - noun an indication that something has been present

volition - noun the act of making a choice; the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention

Narrative:

Vocabulary #2

Starting the month with new vocabulary, Yay!

accoutrements: noun personal clothing, accessories, etc.; the equipment, excluding weapons and clothing of a soldier

Ex. Bearings and accoutrements are what new players need to start out in the world of DayZ to fight zombies at the end of the apocalypse.

apogee - noun apoapsis in Earth orbit; the point in its orbit where a satellite is at the greatest distance from the Earth; a final climactic stage

Ex. Satellites hit their apogee when they are at their farthest point away from Earth in orbit.

apropos - adj. of an appropriate or pertinent nature; adv. by the way; at an opportune time

Ex. That one movie has to have that one guy who claps at an apropos time when a scene gets really intense.

bicker - noun a quarrel about petty points; verb argue over petty things

Ex. My brother and I bicker over the smallest things.

coalesce - verb fuse or cause to grow together; mix together different elements

Ex. You need soil and a seed to coalesce in order to make that lemon tree you always wanted.

contretemps - noun an awkward clash

Ex. During chemistry, contretemps always happen when the test tubes shatter because of inappropriate use.

convolution - noun the action of coiling or twisting or winding together; a convex fold or elevation in the surface of the brain; the shape of something rotating rapidly

Ex. The slinkie was in convolution because of the transverse waves it made.

cull - noun the person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality; verb remove something that has been rejected; look for and gather

Ex. A victim of bullying is seen as cull from others who don't care for that person.

disparate - adj. including markedly dissimilar elements; fundamentally different or distinct in quality or kind

Ex. Silk is one of those disparate fabrics that differ from other clothing material in quality

dogmatic - adj. characterized by assertion of unproved or unprovable principles; relating to or involving dogma; of or pertaining to or characteristic of a doctrine or code of beliefs accepted as authoritative

Ex. Sometimes professors lecture students on dogmatic teachings not common today.

licentious - adj. lacking moral discipline; especially sexually unrestrained

Ex. Kids who don't listen usually are licentiously ignorant.

mete - noun a line that indicates a boundary

Ex. When I see a dug up line in the beach surrounding a sand castle, it's a mete that I shouldn't cross.

noxious - adj. injurious to physical or mental health

Ex. Noxious gas is harmful like those found when the stove gas is on such as carbon monoxide.

polemic - adj. of or involving dispute or controversy; noun a controversy (especially over a belief or dogma); a writer who argues in opposition to others (especially in theology)

Ex. Martin Luther was a polemic Christian who believed that church teachings were preaching the wrongful subjects of the Bible

populous - adj. densely populated

Ex. China and India are both populous countries.

probity - noun complete and confirmed integrity; having strong moral principles

Ex. A person with powerful speeches can withhold probity in the words of goodness.

repartee - noun adroitness and cleverness in reply

Ex. If you ever met Bill Gates, he'd probably answer your questions in repartee.

supervene - verb take place as an additional or unexpected development

Ex. It's not seen at all to have two lawyers supervene a court case defending one client at once.

truncate - adj. terminating abruptly by having or as if having an end or point cut off; verb make shorter as if by cutting off; approximate by ignoring all terms beyond a chosen one; replace a corner by a plane

Ex. When I'm in a mid-conversation, I seem to always get truncated by another person who wasn't in it.

unimpeachable - adj. beyond doubt or reproach; completely acceptable; not open to exception or reproach; free of guilt; not subject to blame

Ex. Franklin D. Roosevelt was an unimpeachable person who knew how to run a country at it's most desperate times.