Vocabulary Week 1

Vocabulary Week 19 GoldWord 1: Impetus Def: Force or something that brings change, catalyst for change Sent: What will ever replace the Cold War as a driver and the impetus for doing these big space explorations? Andrew Chaikin

Word 2: Ruminate Def: Think about or to turn a matter over and over in the mind. Sent: The key is that your friend needs to help you sort out your thoughts... Simply ruminating with a friend is not going to help. Carla Grayson

Word 3: Girth Def: Circumference around Sent: Orson was a beautiful man, he was not only a genius as a director, an actor, a writer but as a person he was bigger than life and I don't mean just in girth. Ruth Warrick

Word 4: MenialDef: Work that is boring and takes no thoughtSent: I come from a generation where the dreams and aspirations of a whole lot of young men were sacrificed at the altar of getting some kind of menial job. Bill Dixon

Word 5: Shun Def: To avoid deliberately; keep away fromSent: He is not worthy of the honey-comb, That shuns the hives because the bees have stings. William Shakespeare

Word 6: Plummet Def: To rapidly fall straight down Sent: The sudden stoppage in U.S. activity hurt oil demand, and we have seen petroleum prices plummet as a consequence. Joel Naroff

Word 7: Abscond Def: To leave secretly and quickly Sent: He absconded with money from a bank and has disappeared. John Vance

Word 8: Meek Def: Gentle, not strong, lacking in courage Sent: I really do not see much use in exalting the humble and meek; they do not remain humble and meek long when they are exalted. Samuel Butler

Word 9: AnomalyDef: Different from what is normalSent: We still think of a powerful man as a born leader and a powerful woman as an anomaly. Margaret Atwood

Word 10: Dowdy Def: Dressed in something drab, old fashioned, lacking stylishness Sent: The third reason is that the dress became dowdy. It just wasn't something anyone youthful and hip wanted to wear. C. White

Word 11: Fallacy Def: A false belief or false reasoning Sent: We are all prompted by the same motives, all deceived by the same fallacies, all animated by hope, obstructed by danger, entangled by desire.. Samuel Johnson

Word 12: Woeful Def: Sad, miserable and sorrowful Sent: She marking them begins a wailing note And sings extemporally a woeful ditty; How love makes young men thrall and old men dote. William Shakespeare

Word 13: Sycophant Def: A servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people Sent: The king appeared... with his dogs and sycophants behind him. Kathleen Winsor

Word 14: Qualm Def: To have slight doubt Sent: I am going to have a face-lift. I have no qualms about telling people. I'm going to look younger so people will want to know why. Toyah Wilcox

Word 15: Cognitive Def: Gaining knowledge through thought or perception Sent: The speculative part of my work is that these particular cognitive tasks - ways of thinking analytically - are tied to nature's laws. Edward Tufte

Word 16: Pandemonium Def: Noisy and confused situation, chaos Sent: They tore the seats apart. People were screaming, and old ladies were fainting. It really was pandemonium. Richard Zanuck

Word 17: RepugnantDef: Extremely unpleasant and offensiveSent: I find capitalism repugnant. It is filthy, it is gross, it is alienating... because it causes war, hypocrisy and competition. Fidel Castro

Word 18: Skirmish Def: A minor battle or disagreement Sent: There have been skirmishes. The military tells us of 33 different incidents, although most of these incidents were very small Atika Shubert

Word 19: Abrasive Def: Rude and offensive or a surface that is rough and coarse Sent: She was rather abrasive and difficult, but it must've taken that kind of personality to survive in the 1960s.Michael Messner

Word 20: Perspective Def: The way in which objects appear to the eye Sent: Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective. Martin L King