Lesson SevenEnglish II

adroit

DEFINITION

(adj) skillful; clever syn: dexterous; apt ant: clumsy; awkward

EXAMPLE

He was not an adroit speaker, but he was a genius with numbers.

macroscopic

DEFINITION

(adj) visible to the naked eye

ant: microscopic

EXAMPLE

On a clear night, the Milky Way appears macroscopic.

fatuous

DEFINITION

(adj) foolish; inane syn: silly ant: sensible; wise

EXAMPLE

Her fatuous simpering began to grate on our nerves.

bovine

DEFINITION

(adj) pertaining to cows or cattle

EXAMPLE

The large animal figures in thecave drawing depicted bovine creatures.

ferret

DEFINITION

(v) to search or drive out

EXAMPLE

John knew the answer was in the text, but he just couldn’t ferret it out.

affectation

DEFINITION

(n) a phony attitude; pose

syn: insincerity; sham ant: sincerity;

genuineness

EXAMPLE

Ginger could not stand the affectations of the girls in the fashion clique.

knell

DEFINITION

(n) a sound made by a bell, often rung slowly for a death or funeral

EXAMPLE

The knell of the church bell told the town that Gertrude had passed away.

dichotomy

DEFINITION

(n) a division into two parts

EXAMPLE

Disagreements among board members created a dichotomy of the charitable organizations.

callow

DEFINITION

(adj) young and inexperienced

syn: immature ant: mature;

sophisticated

EXAMPLE

The callow boy left for the war, but an exhausted man returned.

laconic

DEFINITION

(adj) using few words; short; concise

syn: pithy; taciturn ant: verbose;

loquacious

EXAMPLE

He was a laconic man who wasted few words.

quiddity

DEFINITION

(n) an essential quality

syn: essence

EXAMPLE

Patience is the quiddity of a good teacher.

patent

DEFINITION

(adj) evident or obvious

syn: indisputable; apparent

EXAMPLE

When the electronics store saw the patent abuse of the game system, they refused to grant a refund.

peccadillo

DEFINITION

(n) a minor offense; a misdeed

EXAMPLE

Stealing tips from tables was a peccadillo in Bill’s mind, but a major offense in the minds of the waiters.

sagacious

DEFINITION

(adj) wise; having keen perception and sound judgment

syn: shrewd; intelligent

ant: obtuse; fatuous

EXAMPLE

The sagacious old man always had the answers to moral problems.

rationalize

DEFINITION

(v) to make an excuse for

syn: justify

EXAMPLE

The boy tried to rationalize his absence from school.