Vocabulary Week 1

Vocabulary Week 14 GoldWord 1: Decrepit Def: Weak or worn out from age Sent: The years between fifty and seventy are the hardest. You are always being asked to do things, and yet you are not decrepit enough to turn them down. T S Eliot

Word 2: Fortuitous Def: A lucky or fortunate event happening by chance Sent: That the universe was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms, I will no more believe than Jonathan Swift

Word 3: Bombastic Def: Pompous, overly wordy, overblown speech Sent: It is easy to make sweeping allegations, gloss over facts and figures, and make bombastic claims of corruption and mismanagement. David Stuart

Word 4: Voracious Def: Having a huge appetite, or excessive desire for something like a voracious reader Sent: There's a voracious appetite for capital at all levels in the Chinese market. It's a huge market. Steve Iger

Word 5: Exuberant Def: Full of happy enthusiasm Sent: Nothing ever succeeds which exuberant spirits have not helped to produce.Friedrich Nietzsche

Word 6: Querulous Def: Habitually complaining, always feels wronged Sent: Criticism should not be querulous and wasting, all knife and root-puller, but guiding, instructive, inspiring. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Word 7: AmeliorateDef: To improve or make less severeSent: a party that truly only welcomes conservative white males. That's an unflattering view and one frankly we thought they were trying to ameliorate. Jim Jordan

Word 8: Misanthrope Def: One who hates humankind Sent: I wonder that every colored person is not a misanthrope. Surely we have everything to make us hate mankind. Charlotte L. Forten Grimke

Word 9: Stamina Def: The ability to do work over a long period of timeSent: He has intense stamina. This guy is a workaholic and he is at his best when a game is on the line. Jon Gruden

Word 10: Impugn Def: To oppose or challenge something as false, cast doubt upon Sent: Before impugning an opponent's motives, even when they legitimately may be impugned, answer his arguments. Sidney Hook

Word 11: Impetuous Def: Impulsive, marked by sudden and emotional reaction Sent: Few things are brought to a successful issue by impetuous desire, but most by calm and prudent forethought. Thucydides

Word 12: Satire / SatiricalDef: The use of irony, sarcasm and ridicule to point out the folly or make fun of somethingSent: Bitter the jest when satire comes too near truth and leaves a sharp sting behind it. Publius Cornelius Tacitus

Word 13: RegressDef: To go backwards to an earlier stageSent: People on the righteous path always progress, while people who are ignorant always falter and regress. Rig Veda

Word 14: Arbitrate Def: To officially help settle a disagreement by considering the facts Sent: A lot of these arbitrators charge a lot of money That puts an employee sometimes in a position where they can't afford to arbitrate their claims. James Johnston

Word 15: Monochromatic Def: Using the shades of only one color Sent: They're in the monochromatic tones of the outfits, and that helps elongate the strong, narrow line of the silhouette. Mario Bandiera

Word 16: PittanceDef: A small amount Sent: What they'd be saving on pensions is a pittance. Roger Toussaint

Word 17: Trepidation Def: State of anxiety and fear Sent: He, who controls his senses and 'sacrifices' himself in the 'fire of knowledge' does not have the slightest of trepidation and fear. Atharva Veda

Word 18: Mesmerize Def: To capture the full attention of, hypnotize Sent: Once you lock eyes with her, you are mesmerized. Ever since I met her, she enchanted and inspired me. John Galiano

Word 19: Crepuscular Def: Active at dawn and dusk Sent: Ive been through their checkout and noted its resemblance to Hades - the crepuscular gloom, the dungeon lighting, the mile-long shuffling queue John Walsh

Word 20: Demeaning Def: Making someone or certain people seem less important or valued Sent: Politics calls for robust debate and criticism, but this should never descend to personal and demeaning slurs. Kim Beazley