Vocabulary Week 1

Vocabulary Week 17 GoldWord 1: LacklusterDef: Not exciting, dull Sent: Away from autos, the economy is growing at a steady, lackluster pace. It's just kind of slow and steady and not very exciting. Chris Wiegand

Word 2: Abrogate Def: To abolish, usually by authority Sent: Since September 11th we have seen the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th amendments to the Constitution abrogated either in whole or in part. Michael Ruppert

Word 3: Dingy (not a boat) Def: Dark, dirty and bad conditionSent: Everything is cleaner. Everything is dressed up. It's a better atmosphere, where it's not so dingy anymore. Mike Barnes

Word 4: Hackneyed Def: Lacking in freshness or originality, commonplaceSent: The clich is a hackneyed idiom that hopes that it can still palm itself off as a fresh response. John Gross

Word 5: Copious Def: In large amounts, profuse in expression Sent: People will spend copious amounts of time and money working on a costume, only to have no one recognize what character they're dressed as. Amy Lee

Word 6: EruditeDef: Learned and scholarly, well-educatedSent: He was erudite, tough a classic journalist. When he talked about something, you knew he knew the territory. Larry King

Word 7: Cabal Def: A small group of people making secret plans Sent: We are confident that the investigations will expose all shadowy cabals and financiers behind the destabilization. Ignacio Bunye

Word 8: Imp Def: Small demon Sent: Of all the pestilence's dire, Including famine, flood, and fire; By Satan and his imps rehearsed, The neighbors' children are the worst. Stoddard King

Word 9: Fawn (not a baby deer) Def: To seek praise by servile flattery Sent: I am called a dog because I fawn on those who give me anything, I yelp at those who refuse, and I set my teeth in rascals. Diogenes

Word 12: Ransack Def: To go through a place stealing or damaging thingsSent: Several of agitators and cops were injured when the police intervened to quell the ransacking mob. Asfandyar Khan

Word 11: Ostentatious Def: Vain show of wealth or power to get others to admire you Sent: An ostentatious man will rather relate a blunder or an absurdity he has committed, than be debarred from talking of his own dear person. Joseph Addison

Word 10: Insurgent Def: Person fighting against their governmentSent: Based on the national elections that took place in January, we anticipate that insurgents will attempt to intimidate voters and deprive them of the opportunity to vote.

Word 13: Connoisseur Def: A person with expert knowledge or the fine arts or expensive wines Sent: The connoisseur of art must be able to appreciate what is simply beautiful, but the common run of people is satisfied with ornament. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Word 14: Precipice Def: Very steep cliff Sent: So you are lean and mean and resourceful and you continue to walk on the edge of the precipice because over the years you have become fascinated by how close you can walk without losing your balance. Richard Nixon

Word 15: Willful Def: Stubborn and doing as one wants Sent: A little group of willful men reflecting no opinion but their own have rendered the great Government of the United States helpless and contemptible. W. Wilson

Word 16: Rapture Def: Feeling of great happiness Sent: We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it is all about. Joseph Campbell

Word 17: Abridge Def: Not the full book, a shortened version of a book Sent: Every abridgement of a good book is a fool abridged. Michel de Montaigne

Word 18: Indigent Def: An impoverished, needy person Sent: Democracy is when the indigent, and not the men of property, are the rulers. Aristotle

Word 19: Harbinger Def: A sign or omen that something will happen soon, often something bad Sent: it was evident that Columbus had kindled a fire in every mariner's heart. That fire was the harbinger of a new era, for it was not to be extinguished. Charles K Adams

Word 20: Banal Def: Boring and not originalSent: Some quirk in human nature allows even the most unspeakable acts of evil to become banal within minutes, provided that they occur far enough away to pose no personal threat. Iris Chang