Accolade: n. an award, a light touch on the shoulder with a
sword in a ceremony of knighthood, the ceremony itself
The
girl bragged of her many accolades.
Acerbity: n. sourness of taste, harshness
or severity as of temper or expression
His
students felt his acerbity
when he assigned a ten-page report due the next day.
Attrition: n. a reduction or decrease in numbers, size or
strength, wearing down, weakening of resistance, wearing down by friction
The
rebel army’s started to attrition
away.
Bromide: n. a platitude or trite saying, a
person who is platitudinous and boring
She
was such a bromide
that she never went out much.
Chauvinist: n. a person aggressively and blindly patriotic, a
person who believes one gender is superior to the other
The
male chauvinist wanted
his wife to become a trophy for him.
Chronic: adj. constant, habitual,
continuing for a long time or recurring frequently, having long had disease or
weakness
The
woman’s chronic
disease kept her in the hospital.
Expound: v. to set forth or state in detail, to explain
The
artist expounded the
symbolism in her painting.
Factionalism: adj. self-interested, partisan
Though
she prided herself on being fair, most of her factionalized decisions had to deal with subjects
that directly related to her past.
Immaculate: adj. pure, clean, free from errors
The
girl’s paper was immaculate.
Imprecation: n. the act of cursing, a curse
A
witch had placed the imprecation
upon the town many years ago.
Ineluctable: adj. inescapable, incapable of being evaded
The
ineluctable doom was
evident when twenty men cornered the hero.
Mercurial: adj. changeable, flighty, lively
The
mercurial band
captured the audience’s attention.
Palliate: v. (with object) to relieve or lessen without curing,
alleviate, to conceal the gravity of an offense by excuses or apologies
The
medication palliated
his pain but never really healed his condition.
Protocol: n. the customs or regulations
dealing with diplomatic formality, an original draft or record from which a
document is prepared, supplementary international agreement, agreement between
states
The
protocol stated
that employees couldn’t date each other.
Resplendent: adj. shining brilliantly, gleaming
The
queen wore the resplendent
diamond encrusted necklace.
Stigmatize: v. (with object) to set some mark
of disgrace of infamy upon
The
criminal was stigmatized
although he was falsely convicted.
Sub
rosa: n. secretly, privately
You
must pass your notes sub
rosa so that you don’t
get caught!
Vainglory: n. excessive elation or pride over
one’s own achievements, empty pomp or show
The
boy’s vainglory
made him lose may friends on the playground.
Vestige: n. a mark, trace, or visible evidence of something
that is no longer present or in existence, surviving evidence or remainder of
some condition, practice, a slight trace or amount of something
The
bell was the only vestige
left from the old church building.
Volition: n. the act of wiling, choosing,
resolving
The
volition of the
character showed her persona through and through.
Obsequious: adj. obedient, dutiful
The obsequious daughter followed
all the rules.
Beatitude: n. supreme blessedness, exalted happiness, any declarations of
blessedness pronounced by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount
The beatitude of crowd was
felt when they applauded the band for an hour.
Bête noire: n. a
person or thing that one particularly
dislikes or dreads
The
villain was the bête noire of the forest.
Bode: v. to be an omen of, to predict
The
poor fortune from the psychic boded the girl dark days in her love life.
Dank: adj. unpleasantly moist or humid, damp and chilly
The
cave was very dank.
Ecumenical: adj. general, universal, the whole Christian church, promoting
Christian unity throughout the world, interreligious or interdenominational
The ecumenical story lacks
all the details that make a story interesting.
Fervid: adj. heated in spirit, enthusiasm, glowing, intensely hot
The fervid crowd went wild when
the drummer threw signed drumsticks into the crowd.
Fetid: adj. having an offensive odor, stinking
The
man’s fetid
breath made people sick.
Gargantuan: adj. gigantic, enormous, colossal
His gargantuan empire stretched
across the world.
Heyday: n. the stage or period of greatest vigor, strength, success, or
prime
In
the company’s heyday,
they could afford for Christmas bonuses for everyone.
Incubus: n. imaginary demon supposed to descend upon sleeping persons
(especially one fabled to have sexual intercourse with women during their
sleep), a nightmare, something that weighs upon or oppresses like a nightmare
The
woman’s incubus made
her constantly depressed.
Infrastructure: n. the basic framework or features of a system or organization,
fundamental facilities and systems serving a country, city or area (ex. Transportation
systems, power plants, schools), the military installations of a country
The city’s infrastructure would collapse if its computers
did.
Inveigle: v. to entice or lure by flattery or artful talk (followed by into)
She inveigled the teacher into
thinking she had never cheated.
Kudos: n. honor or glory
The
teacher gave kudos
to students he felt deserved it.
Lagniappe: n. a tip, an unexpected or indirect benefit
Although
the boy lost his video games for the week, a lagniappe to the situation was that his grades and
sleep would benefit.
Prolix: adj. extended to great, unnecessary, or tedious lengths, long and
wordy
Although the prolix essay was long, it did make many good
points.
Protégé: n. a person under the patronage, protection or care of someone
interested in his or her career or welfare
He
was a soccer protégé
from the age of five.
Prototype: n. the original which something is based or formed, someone or
something that serves to illustrate the typical qualities of a class, model
The
gadget’s prototype
had been successful but in need of fine-tuning.
Sycophant: n. a self-seeking, servile flatterer, fawning parasite
The
classroom sycophant may
have fooled the teacher but never fooled her peers.
Tautology: n. instance of such repetition, needless repetition of an idea,
especially in words other than those of the immediate context, without
imparting additional force or clearness
Although
repetition can help with memorizing, tautology cannot.
Truckle: v. to submit or yield obsequiously or tamely (followed by to)
I
will not truckle to
people who want me to change.
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