Vocabulary Week 1

Vocabulary Week 13 GoldWord 1: Majestic Def: Impressively beautiful Sent: But the majestic river floated on, Out of the mist and hum of that low land Mathew Arnold

Word 2: Stigma Def: A mark of disgrace or infamySent: I now bear a kind of stigmata. I am in the computer as having been denied entry to the United States and that is really bad news.

Word 3: Amicable Def: Peaceful, friendlySent: There is a growing realization in South Asia that peace is vital for economic prosperity. An amicable solution to Kashmir is key to peace and development in the subcontinent. Ajai Sahni

Word 4: Alliteration Def: The use of the same vowel or sound at the beginning of words in a sentence Sent: Who often, but without success, have prayed for apt Alliteration's artful aid. Charles Churchill

Word 5: Postmortem Def: To view a body after it someone dies especially to see how they diedSent: We won't start the postmortem on the season while there's still games to be played.

Word 6: Introvert Def: Someone who keeps to themselves instead of sharing their feelings Sent: I was very introverted. I had glasses and was kind of weird. A lot of actors are pretty weird people. Jennifer Sky

Word 7: Imperative Def: Very important and urgent, or speaking with authoritySent: Adapt or perish, now as ever, is nature's inexorable imperative. H G Wells

Word 8: Misbegotten Def: Not well plannedSent: I think it's a virtual certainty that the low turnout this time around will be used by opponents to say this was a misbegotten project that never should have happened in the first place. Wayne Cornelius

Word 9: Morose Def: Feeling unhappy and not wanting to talkSent: I've decided to be a dull, morose bore at these press meetings. It's the only safe course. Everett Dickerson

Word 10: Virtuoso Def: Someone who is highly skilled in the arts especially music Sent: The attraction of the virtuoso for the public is very like that of the circus for the crowd. There is always the hope that something dangerous will happen. Claude Debussy

Word 11: Indolent Def: Not wanting to work, lazy Sent: As writers become more numerous, it is natural for readers to become more indolent. Oliver Goldsmith

Word 12: Nadir Def: The lowest pointSent: As the blackness of the night recedes so does the nadir of yesterday. The child I am forgets so quickly. Sylvia Ashton-Warner

Word 13: Languid Def: Lacking energy and vitalitySent: Nor rural sights alone, but rural sounds, Exhilarate the spirit, and restoreThe tone of languid nature. William Cowper

Word 14: Juxtaposition Def: Placing two things next to each other for implicit comparison Sent: I have suffered a great deal from writers who have quoted this either out of its context or in juxtaposition to some incongruous matter which quite distorted my meaning , or destroyed it altogether. Alfred N Whitehead

Word 15: Grandiloquence Def: Lofty, pompous speech often coming off silly Sent: Never be grandiloquent when you want to drive home a searching truth. Don't whip with a switch that has the leaves on, if you want it to tingle. Henry Ward Beecher

Word 16: Fetid Def: Having an offensive, foul smellSent: I'd step into the kitchen and find a pool of fetid water under the refrigerator and start panicking about how much food had gone bad and how much we could save. Paul Aratow

Word 17: Fecundity Def: Fertile and fruitful Sent: I don't know what it is about fecundity that so appalls. I suppose it is the teeming evidence that birth and growth, which we value, are ubiquitous and blind, that life itself is so astonishingly cheap. Annie Dillard

Word 18: Execrable Def: Loathsome, detestable Sent: Whence and what art thou, execrable shape? John Milton

Word 19: Cupidity Def: Strong greedy desire for money or possessions Sent: The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end. C L Lewis

Word 20: Conundrum Def: A riddle or difficult problem to solve Sent: We have a conundrum. We have a strong economy, but lots of people feel insecure. Robert Hormats