Words O the Day 1-20 J

Transcription

1 Words O the Day 1-20 J 1. alacrity cheerful readiness; liveliness On the first day of school, the bright student was able to head out to recess early after completing all of her tasks with alacrity. 2. vacillate to waver in mind or opinion My parents have a tendency to vacillate on big decisions; one moment they are leaning one way and the next moment they are leaning the other way. 3. taciturn inclined to silence; quiet Silent Bob is a taciturn person. He just never speaks. 4. satire an artistic work in which human folly is attacked through wit or sarcasm Animal Farm by George Orwell is a satire that mocks socialism. 5. raze to tear down completely Just after I completed the gorgeous Lego tower, it was razed with cruel pleasure by my two-yearold son, who ran away from me giggling after he knocked it over. 6. paleontology the study of fossils and ancient life I like to dig in my backyard and pretend I work in paleontology and make important fossil discoveries. 7. calumny a false and malicious statement designed to injure the reputation of someone or something I will not stand for this calumny! I did not do the things the team said I did. 8. banal commonplace That show used to be my favorite, but its story lines became so banal that I could no longer stand the monotony. 9. obdurate unmoved by pity or persuasion The librarian was obdurate and refused to allow the student to use his cell phone even though he needed to call for medical attention. 10. nomadic wandering; roaming Jacob s nomadic tendencies make me nervous; he s just sixteen months old, and if his parents don t watch him more closely, he could wander into the street.

2 11. malefactor a person who violates the law Superman found and stopped many a malefactor before another crime could actually be committed. 12. lurid gruesome; horrible Because I knew my mother would want me to spare her the lurid details of the car accident I witnessed, I just told her how many cars were involved and where it happened, without describing the victims injuries. 13. iconoclast one who goes against what is accepted as normal Always an iconoclast, Mike did everything in his power to do the opposite of what his coworkers expected. 14. garish excessively elaborate The new neighborhood restaurant has a warm and traditional atmosphere, except for the garish neon signs in the window. 15. frugal economical in use or expenditure; not wasteful A frugal shopper does not make a purchase before checking many other places for lower prices. 16. laconic using few words I ve known Lucy for years, but she s so laconic that I hardly know anything about her past. 17. efface to wipe out; to do away with Jim was pretending he could efface his past mistakes by pretending they never happened. 18. dearth a lack; scarcity The food here is horrible; there is certainly a dearth of decent choices. 19. wane to decrease in strength The moon wanes, or shrinks, with each cycle. It is such a beautiful and mysterious process. 20. ambiguous unclear The teacher s ambiguous instructions left us with no idea of what we were supposed to do.

3 21. berate to scold The angry customer berated the waiter for bringing him cold soup with flecks of dirt in it. 22. cajole to persuade by flattery The clever eight-year-old successfully cajoled her parents into taking her to Disney World by telling them how lucky she was to have the most loving parents on the planet. 23. egregious extraordinary in some bad way; flagrant The professional basketball player committed an egregious foul when he hit the opponent over the head with his coach s clipboard. 24. debunk to expose as false The district attorney knew that the cop was crooked and made it is mission to debunk the officer s claims. 25. charlatan a flamboyant deceiver; a con artist This Dr. Bloom guy is a total charlatan. There is no way he is a real doctor; he thought my heart was located in my leg. 26. ignominious shameful Football is so important in our town that dropping a pass in the end zone is more ignominious than going to prison. 27. altruistic selfless An example of altruistic behavior in the wild occurs when a bat vomits up food and gives it to another bat in its group if that bat was unable to find food that day. Now that s giving. 28. palliative something that soothes; soothing Because she could tell his apologies were not genuine, they failed to have a palliative effect and instead made her even angrier. 29. beguile to deceive with charm The con artist beguiled me out of my money by convincing me to play his game over and over. 30. semantics the study of the meanings of words and symbols

4 You can tell David loves semantics; he knows more words than anyone else I know. 31. parsimonious stingy; cheap I know it s good to be frugal, but Aaron is ridiculous. He is so parsimonious that he won t even give the pizza delivery guy a fifty-cent tip! 32. tactile perceptible to the touch The petting zoo provides a fun tactile experience for children, allowing them to touch dozens of animals. 33. garrulous talkative Karl is always ready to talk about any subject, no matter how trivial; at parties he is even more garrulous. 34. impecunious penniless; poor The homeless beggar was about at impecunious as they come. He did not have a cent to his name. 35. encumbrance something burdensome My broken thumbs were proving to be quite an encumbrance; I had trouble both writing and driving. 36. indict to bring a formal accusation against Jimmy Goober was indicted in January for the murder of an individual but was later cleared of all charges. 37. sociology the study of human and social behavior and social institutions I was amazed to learn in sociology class that mandatory schooling until age sixteen is a fairly recent practice. 38. vapid lacking or having lost life Even before the first lecture was over, Alex had grown tired of his professor s vapid teaching style and had nearly fallen asleep in class. 39. affable friendly; easy to talk to I knew that my son would make friends quickly once he got to school. He has always been affable, and his peers like him. 40. ambulatory capable of walking

5 After my brother s knee surgery, he was not ambulatory without crutches for six weeks. He was supposed to keep his right leg off the ground for that whole time. It was a nightmare. 41. stymie to block The Steelers offense was stymied by the powerful New England Patriots defense, who prevented the Steelers from scoring a single point. 42. recalcitrant resistant to authority The recalcitrant puppy drove her owners crazy by refusing to follow any of their commands. 43. parody a humorous imitation of a serious work The writers of Saturday Night Live love to write parodies about the political figures of our country and mock them relentlessly in their skits. 44. maverick a rebel Donald Trump can be called a maverick because he goes against the unwritten rules of politics and his party. 45. levity lightness of mind and character The mood in the boardroom had been very serious all morning, but when the president of the company came into the meeting wearing a clown costume, it quickly changed to levity and helped release the tension. 46. harbinger a sign of something about to happen A black cat is often considered a harbinger of bad things to come. 47. inimical unfriendly; hostile Before he changed completely, the Grinch was an inimical character; he was about as mean as they come. 48. gustatory pertaining to taste For those with an extra strong gustatory sense, the taste of garlic can be overpowering. 49. filch to steal The teenager filched a pack of Skittles while no one was looking and then fled from the store without paying. 50. lament to feel or express sorrow or regret for The fans lamented the passing of John Lennon; they cried as if they had lost a brother.

6 51. exculpate to free from blame Although the DNA evidence did not identify the killer, it did exculpate the police s primary suspect. 52. extirpate to remove or destroy totally In an attempt to extirpate all traces of the wart, she decided to undergo cryosurgery, a process by which the tissue is frozen and removed. 53. enigma a puzzle That child is an enigma to his friends. One day he s cool and fun to be with; the next day his is irritating and weird. 54. abdicate to give up or renounce The young king abdicated his throne after the angry citizens said they would storm the castle if he didn t give up his crown. 55. tenacious tending to hold persistently to something; stubborn The NBA champion San Antonio Spurs play tenacious defense; they never stop coming at opponents with full force. It s hard to hold on to the ball against them. 56. abhorrent detestable; hateful It was an abhorrent crime that deserved the most aggressive punishment possible. 57. bellicose eager to fight The bellicose general was quick to respond militarily because of his obsession with combat. 58. cantankerous disagreeable to deal with The cantankerous librarian would hiss and snarl at any student who dared enter his library and speak in the room of silence. 59. dubious doubtful Winning the award for being the worst-dressed person at the party would be a dubious distinction. 60. colloquial informal; conversational style I really enjoy my sessions with my SAT tutor because he is so colloquial; yesterday during our study session he said that I beat the tar out of the reading section. 61. entomology the study of insects

7 Anna spends so much time burrowing in the yard and looking at bugs that she should consider studying entomology. 62. denigrate to criticize in a derogatory way His attempt to denigrate his opponent by highlighting her inexperience and lack of foreign policy knowledge failed, and she won the election easily. 63. capacious spacious The capacious auditorium had enough seats for all five thousand students with room to spare. 64. bulwark something that gives strong support The newly constructed dam is in place as a bulwark against future flooding. 65. lassitude a state or feeling of weariness Although she tried valiantly to play through her illness, Danielle s lassitude overtook her in the second half of the game, and she nearly collapsed. 66. mercenary one who serves or works merely for monetary gain Han Solo, the Star Wars character, was well-known for being a mercenary who would take any job as long as he was paid well enough. 67. improvident failing to provide for the future; wasteful Despite once having a million dollars, Peggy was now broke due to her improvident spending decisions. 68. bastion a fortified place The castle s last bastion of defense crumbled when the invaders found a way to cross the moat. 69. hackneyed overused The expression There are always more fish in the sea is so hackneyed that it offers no solace to the recently dumped of the world. 70. sedulous diligent The detective s sedulous work at the crime scene turned up several clues that the police department had overlooked. 71. atrophy to waste away from disuse

8 After my ACL reconstruction surgery in 2013, I was not allowed to stand on my right leg for six weeks. This caused all the muscles in that let to atrophy and shrink in size. 72. venal able to be bribed The lawyers in that firm are considered venal because payoffs and bribes are regular occurrences. 73. perfidy deliberate breach of trust When she is in charge, those found guilty of perfidy will be tried harshly for their disloyalty, no matter how small the betrayal. 74. pragmatic practical Because she is so pragmatic, Sherry never seems to enjoy spontaneous trips to the mall that have no purpose except to have fun. 75. poignant affecting or moving to the emotions The widow s poignant speech at her husband s funeral brought the entire fire department to tears. 76. terse using few words Tim s terse speaking style comes off as rude, but because I ve known him for so long, I know it s just that he doesn t like to waste words when he talks. 77. façade a superficial appearance or illusion of something I quickly realized that Tommy s laughter was a complete façade as he tried to appear unaffected by the death of his brother. 78. prolific characterized by abundant production As one of the most prolific authors the horror genre has ever produced, Stephen King has written more than seventy novels in the past thirty years. 79. ostentatious showy; elaborate When I arrived at her housewarming party, I was a little overwhelmed by Julia s ostentatious display of wealth. She wallpapered her kitchen with hundred-dollar bills. 80. abysmal hopelessly bad The food at this hospital is abysmal; it tastes like cardboard. 81. theology the study of religion While in Catholic school, we had many classes in theology, including discussions about the role of God in daily life.

9 82. quiescent marked by the state of quiet rest During the quiescent phase of cell division, the cell does not split or grow. 83. antagonistic acting in opposition The two members of the committee have always been antagonistic toward each other and could not agree on any of the issues brought to the meeting last night. 84. bilk to defraud; to cheat The accountant bilked me out of my insurance settlement, convincing me that it would be safer if he deposited it for me in his account and then give me the cash. After I signed the check and gave it to him, I never heard from him again. 85. brevity briefness My dad s toasts are not known for their brevity; he tends to ramble on until someone yanks the microphone out of his hand. 86. clandestine done in secret The senator took part in a clandestine gambling operation that went undiscovered for twenty-five years. 87. diminutive small; tiny Despite his diminutive stature, the main character has incredible strength and leadership skills that quickly draw people to him as a leader. 88. esoteric understood only by a select few who have special knowledge People who know nothing about sports claim the conversations my brother and I have about baseball are esoteric because they are full of statistics and references to the athletes of the 80s and early 90s. 89. laud to praise The admissions committee lauded the applicant s genuine desire to help those less fortunate and agreed she was a definite admit. 90. gregarious sociable Greg Brady was voted the most gregarious person in our class; he is friendly and kind to everyone. 91. inscrutable not easily understood The cryptic legal terms used in the contract made it nearly impossible for me to understand, and I gave the inscrutable document to my lawyer so he could translate it for me.

10 92. prodigious extraordinary in size The Great Wall of China required a prodigious amount of clay and granite to construct, as it is more than four thousand miles long. 93. remnant a fragment or scrap When going through a trunk containing objects from my childhood, I found a tiny, inch-long remnant of my blankie that I carried around with me until the age of fourteen. 94. specious false but plausible Audrey s specious explanation for her tardiness made me pause for a moment and I nearly bought her story, but then I realized it couldn t be true. 95. succinct expressed in few words Because commercial time during the Super Bowl costs more than three million dollars per minute, it s good to be succinct. 96. torpor sluggishness I can t shake this torpor; I m constantly exhausted. 97. verisimilitude the appearance of truth Verisimilitude is achieved when details are added to a story that lend an air of authenticity; for example, a teenager pretending to be at the library may complain that a book she needed was checked out (when, in fact, she was at the movies instead.) 98. opulence wealth; riches; affluence Her opulence is showcased by her mansion, twelve luxury cars, and greenhouse make of gold. 99. disingenuous insincere Daryl s expression of remorse was clearly disingenuous because he did not feel any regret for his actions curmudgeon a bad-tempered, cranky person The ninety-year-old curmudgeon was such a grump that he was even cranky on Christmas morning jocular characterized by joking

11 Janet s jocular tone relaxed the trapped visitors of the gold mine; she even made a few people laugh meticulous attentive to detail The accountant was incredible meticulous; no detail ever slipped by her congenial agreeable; pleasant in nature After years of picturing her in-laws as vicious monsters, Julia was surprised at how congenial they actually were vindicate to clear of suspicion; to provide support for The movie In the Name of the Father is a the story of the vindication of an Irishman locked away in prison for a crime he didn t commit orthodox customary or conventional The Amish are well known for their orthodox ways; tradition if very important to their culture 106. tout to describe or advertise boastfully Pharmaceutical companies tout their products as superior to the others on the market, but the generic versions of the drugs produce the same rates of success for less than half the cost adamant utterly unyielding in attitude or opinion Gina was adamant that we should not split up to look for the missing dog in the middle of a storm etymology the study of word origins A good understanding of etymology can help one succeed on the SAT reading comprehension section lithe limber; bending readily When I was younger and more lithe than I am now, I could touch the floor with the palms of my hands without bending my knees circumspect cautious; watchful After learning that the medicine sometimes causes a patient s hearing to deteriorate, the doctor became more circumspect about prescribing it to patients disputatious argumentative A disputatious person by nature, Henry was the captain of the debate team and loved a good argument.

12 112. bombastic pompous; using inflated language The bombastic language in the mayor s campaign speech made her seem arrogant and disconnected from the public ambivalent feeling both positive and negative emotions about something The students were ambivalent about having a substitute teacher. They were excited that they wouldn t have to do as much work during class, but it meant they would have more homework over the weekend mercurial changeable; volatile Molly is the most mercurial person; her personality changes on a daily basis guile crafty or artful deception When Nicki realized she couldn t win the support of her parents honestly, she resorted to guile in an effort to convince them to extend her curfew irascible easily angered Adam s irascible nature landed him in anger-management therapy; he overreacts to the smallest things impervious impenetrable Bulletproof vests are almost always impervious to bullets prescient knowledge of things before they happen The prescient gambler made millions of dollars betting on sporting events that he somehow already knew the outcomes of before they even began splenetic irritable; spiteful Julie Ann s review of the movie was written with a splenetic tone that failed to conceal her dislike for the director, who broke off an engagement with her several years ago jettison to throw overboard As the murderer fled the scene of the crime by boat, he jettisoned the gun into the water to get rid of some of the evidence anthropology the study of man Many students think anthropology just involves the study of modern humans when, in fact, anthropologists study our lineage from its beginning approximately seven million years ago.

13 122. ephemeral lasting only a short time The famous hunter s glory in having bagged a Bengal tiger for his collection was ephemeral, for he neglected to notice that there were two other tigers around the corner about to make him their lunch mendacious lying; untruthful The mendacious news article upset the superintendent, who could not believe that the facts about his school s budget cuts could be so openly misrepresented neurology the study of the human brain and nervous system I love studying the brain, but I don t want to cut it up; I think I prefer neurology to neurosurgery opaque not easily understood My chemistry teacher s opaque explanation of nomenclature led me to believe that perhaps he did not really understand how the system worked either prevaricate to deliberately misstate; to lie During the vice presidential debate, the candidates each prevaricated on crucial topics, knowingly bending the truth to make their parties look better querulous tending to complain Quinn is so querulous that he even complained about the fact that someone called him a complainer rife prevalent; abundant Just after the harvest, the barn was rife with corn because that is where farmer Bob stores it until it is sold somnolent sleepy; drowsy Mark is extremely somnolent after his SAT sessions timorous timid; shy It s not unusual for toddlers to be timorous during the first couple of weeks of school each year; it sometimes takes a while for them to feel comfortable with their new surroundings veracity truthfulness

14 It is impossible to test the veracity of his statements; we will never know for sure if he was telling the truth about being the president s best friend in middle school itinerant traveling from place to place Greg describes himself as itinerant because he has been to Hawaii, France, Kenya, Sidney, and New York verbatim word for word Julia knew the words to the Carrie Underwood song perfectly; she recited them verbatim philanthropist someone who makes charitable donations to improve human well-being It is amazing that a penny-pincher like Paul is a philanthropist who has donated millions to charity assiduous working diligently Success on the reading comprehension section of the SAT exam is difficult and requires assiduous preparation benefactor one who gives The benefactors who donated large sums of money that helped put together this homeless shelter are generous angels from heaven conciliate to win over; to placate After coming home past her curfew, Lisa attempted to conciliate her parents by waking up early the next morning and preparing a nice home-cooked pancake breakfast diatribe a bitter, sharply abusive attack A good debate must avoid vicious personal diatribe and focus instead on a respectful discussion of issues absolve to free from guilt or blame The movie The Fugitive is about a man who fights to absolve himself of a crime he was convicted of but did not commit pacify to bring to a state of peace; to appease In an effort to pacify her child, the mother gave her son his blanket and bottle and hoped it would quiet him acquit to clear of wrongdoing

15 The young girl was acquitted by the principal, who realized that it was someone else who vandalized the locker pugnacious inclined to quarrel or fight Biff, the bully from Back to the Future, was a pugnacious punk; all he did was pick fights heinous cruel and unusual Such a heinous act should not be allowed to pass without significant punishment; that disgusting criminal should be looking at life in prison without parole phlegmatic sluggish; apathetic The phlegmatic child rarely went outside to play; instead choosing to sit on the couch and watch boring infomercials perquisite a perk; a benefit I couldn t believe my boss gave us tickets to the sold out concert. She said it was just one of the perquisites of working for her intransigent refusing to compromise The intransigent party planner refused to budge from the notion that they would hold the New Year s Eve party in the recently abandoned garbage storage facility surreptitious obtained by stealth or sneakiness George s surreptitious entry into his house was a success, and his parents did not realize he had been out past his curfew stalwart strong and brave Although they were exhausted and undermanned, the citizens who lived near the river proved to be stalwart souls as they worked through the night to make sure the levees did not fail nebulous vague; indistinct Bill s memory of the car accident was nebulous; he remembered only bits and pieces of the ordeal insipid dull; uninteresting Christine is the life of the party, but Tom is so insipid that hardly anyone wants to talk with him harangue a long, angry tirade

16 The coach delivered a monstrous harangue to his players after they played the worst game in the history of the sport, losing peripatetic walking or traveling about Nomads are known for being peripatetic; they move all over the place litigious inclined to dispute or disagree The news that Lea passed the bar and was hired by the biggest law firm in Boston came as no surprise to me. Litigious Lea, as I used to call her, argued with me about everything, and I knew one day she d be a famous litigator quip a clever or witty remark The teacher chuckled at his student s clever quip but then sent the boy to the principal s office for making an inappropriate comment evanescent vanishing; fading away The aurora borealis is beautiful but evanescent; it s a curtain of cascading light that can disappear in a heartbeat duplicity deceitfulness in speech or conduct Good con artists tend to display a good bit of duplicity; they can make you believe anything conundrum a riddle; something that puzzles How my sister s car ended up on the roof of our house is a complete conundrum! 158. byzantine intricate; complex The computer games byzantine rules made it nearly impossible to understand except by those with extensive video game experience adroit cleverly skillful Annie is quite adroit when it comes to video games; her ability to dominate Grand Theft Auto is unbelievable! 160. attrition a reduction in number or strength The medical class had been reduced through attrition; with each test more students dropped out.

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