Vocabulary Week 1

Vocabulary Week 7 GoldWord 1: Euphemism Def: Substituting a saying that is offensive with one that is less offensive Sent: Euphemisms are not. useless verbiage for that which can and should be said bluntly; they are like secret agents on a delicate mission Quentin Crisp

Word 2: Audacity / Audacious Def: Boldly confident to say or do what you want especially facing negative opinions Sent: With audacity one can undertake anything, but not do everything. Napoleon Bonaparte

Word 3: Circuitous Def: Not speaking direct to the point or not taking a direct course Sent: The habitude of pleasing by flattery makes a language soft; the fear of offending by truth makes it circuitous and conventional. Walter Savage Landor

Word 4: Garish Def: Bright, colorful but uglySent: People commonly travel the world over to see rivers and mountains, new stars, garish birds, freak fish, grotesque breeds of human Soren Kierkegaard

Word 5: Loquacious Def: Tending to talk a lot or too much Sent: He who seldom speaks, and with one calm well-timed word can strike dumb the loquacious, is a genius or a hero. Johann Kaspar Lavater

Word 6: Defunct Def: No longer in useSent: Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. -John Maynard Keynes

Word 7: DisperseDef: To spread out in all directions Sent: A temper passionate and fierce may suddenly your joys disperse at one immense explosion. William Cowper

Word 8: Ambivalent Def: Having mixed feelings about Sent: The bond between a man and his profession is similar to that which ties him to his country; it is just as complex, often ambivalent, .it is understood completely only when it is broken. Primo Levi

Word 9: Mundane Def: Commonplace, unimaginative, typical of this worldSent: Free speech is intended to protect the controversial and even outrageous word; and not just comforting platitudes too mundane to need protection. Colin Powell

Word 10: HaggleDef: To argue back and forth on a priceSent: It is far more important to be able to hit the target than it is to haggle over who makes a weapon or who pulls a trigger. Dwight D. Eisenhower

Word 11: IdiosyncrasyDef: Unusual feature or peculiarity that makes someone stand out from the groupSent: The older I get, the more I embrace my own idiosyncrasies. Brittany Murphy

Word 12: Intrepid Def: Bold and fearlessSent: Unlike the mediocre, intrepid spirits seek victory over those things that seem impossible... Anon

Word 13: ReticentDef: Inclined to be silent Sent: Circles create soothing space, where even reticent people can realize that their voice is welcome. Margret J. Wheatley

Word 14: Facetious Def: Sarcastically joking often inappropriately while acting seriousSent: It seems that all this in our view falls under the heading of that facetious remark no good deed goes unpunished. George Peteros

Word 15: GoadDef: Provoke and annoy to get a reactionSent: My goal is to goad people into saying something that ruins their life. Don Imus

Word 16: ShrewdDef: Sharp keen practical awareness possibly cunning and tricky Sent: If you want to stay in the business then you've got to be a bit shrewd, haven't you? Katie Price

Word 17: Raze Def: To tear down, demolish to the ground Sent The painful warrior famous for fight, After a thousand victories, once foil'd, Is from the books of honor razed quite, And all the rest forgot for which he toil'd. William Shakespeare

Word 18: RaucousDef: Rough rude noiseSent: Laughter shall drown the raucous shout Louis Untermeyer

Word 19: Pretentious Def: Attempting to impress by affecting greater importance, talent, culture, etc., than is actually possessed .Sent: Our business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon. David Olgivy

Word 20: Archaic Def: Very old, ancient or old fashioned Sent:In an age where history is recorded on T-shirts, the very notion of dwelling on the deep structure of an experience has come to appear both arcane and archaic. Thomas Harrison