Vocabulary Week 1

Vocabulary Week 6 GoldWord 1: AbominableDef: Detestable, loathsome Sent: There have been many definitions of beauty in art. What is it? Beauty is what the untrained eyes consider abominable. Edmond de Goncourt

Word 2: Inundated Def: To be covered in water or overwhelmed by something to be dealt with Sent: Art is a subject that is inundated with opinions. In fact, thats all it is about is opinions. Chick Corea

Word 3: Perpetrator Def: To be responsible for, like a crime Sent He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. M L King

Word 4: EnsconceDef: To settle yourself in a comfortable placeSent: A collective tyrant, spread over the length and breadth of the land, is no more acceptable than a single tyrant ensconced on his throne. Georges Clemenceau

Word 5: Deficient Def: Lacking something usually effecting health Sent: He that reads and grows no wiser seldom suspects his own deficiency, but complains of hard words and obscure sentences Samuel Johnson

Word 6: FerocityDef: Savagery, fiercenessSent: When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport; when a tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity. George Bernard Shaw

Word 7: SynchronizeDef: To arrange to happen at the same time Sent: When the music and the characters are flawlessly synchronized, the opera develops an emotional force that movies and plays cannot match. Bruce Beresford

Word 8: Vindictive Def: Having a strong desire for revenge Sent: It is not true that suffering ennobles the character; happiness does that sometimes, but suffering makes men petty and vindictive. W Somerset Maugham

Word 9: Heinous Def: Very shocking and immoral Sent: If you commit a big crime then you are crazy, and the more heinous the crime the crazier you must be. Therefore nothing is your fault. Peggy Noonan

Word 10: Draconian Def: Having severe and harsh punishments Sent: The rights of copyright holders need to be protected, but some Draconian remedies would create more problems than they would solve. Patrick Leahy

Word 11: Nebulous Def: No clear form or limits, vague, or a hazy cloud formSent: The practical difference between the abolitionist and the sympathizer was very nebulous. John Sergeant Wise

Word 12: AnomalyDef: Something that deviates from what is normal / expected Sent: Poverty is an anomaly to rich people. It is very difficult to make out why people who want dinner do not ring the bell. Walter Bagehot

Word 13: Inopportune Def: Inappropriate or ill-timed; not opportuneSent: I suppose the calls of the stupid and curious, especially of newspaper reporters, are always inopportune. Helen Keller

Word 14: Diminutive (diminution= reduce in size) Def: Unusually small or shortSent: France-a country renowned for machismo, womanizing, and diminutive insecure leaders could not have chosen a more apt national emblem.. Don Brown

Word 15: Aloof Def: Distant physically or emotionally from others, not friendly Sent: A man must not hold himself aloof from the things which his friends and his community have at heart if he would be liked. Mark Twain

16Word 16: Expunge Def: To erase things like records or memories or eliminate completely Sent: Every suppressed or expunged word reverberates through the earth from side to side. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Word 17: CalamityDef: Event that causes great damage and distress Sent: Times of great calamity and confusion have been productive for the greatest minds. Charles Caleb Colton

Word 18: DignitaryDef: An important high ranking officialSent: My folks were away a lot, meeting foreign dignitaries and that sort of thing.. Julian MacMahon

Word 19: TemerityDef: Foolish or reckless disregard of danger, excessively bold Sent: We practiced hiding under our desks in case they had the temerity to drop a nuclear weapon. Kary Mullis

Word 20: Altruistic Def: Unselfish concern for others Sent: We do foreign assistance for altruistic reasons, certainly for humanitarian reasons, of course. But the main reason we do foreign assistance is we do it in the American national interest. Roger Wicker