| 9/4/2007 |
manifest (MAN uh fest) - adj. visible; evident |
| |
There is a manifest danger in riding a pogo stick along the edge of a cliff. |
 |
| 9/5/2007 |
indifferent (in DIF ur unt) - adj. not caring one way or the other; apathetic; mediocre |
| |
The painter did an indifferent job, but it was good enough for Susan who was indifferent about painting. |
|
| 9/6/2007 |
obscure (ub SKYOOR) - adj. unknown; hard to understand; dark |
| |
The comedy nightclub was filled with obscure comedians who seldom got any laughs. |
|
| 9/7/2007 |
impartial (im PAHR shul) - adj. fair; not favoring one side or the other; unbiased |
| |
Jurors are supposed to be impartial; they aren't supposed to make up their minds until they've heard all the evidence. |
|
| 9/10/2007 |
revere (ri VEER) - v. to respect highly; to honor |
| |
Einstein was a preeminent scientist who was revered by everyone, even his rivals. |
|
| 9/11/2007 |
discriminate (dih SKRIM uh nayt) - v. to notice or point out the difference between two or more things; to discern; to differentiate |
| |
To discriminate unfairly is to dwell on differences that shouldn't make a difference. |
|
| 9/12/2007 |
denounce (dee NOWNS) - v. to declare publicly that something is wrong, evil, or incorrect |
| |
After much soul-searching, the senator denounced her own party's stance on immigration. |
|
| 9/13/2007 |
apathy (AP uh thee) - n. lack of interest; lack of feeling |
| |
Jill didn't care one bit about current events; she was entirely apathetic. |
|
| 9/14/2007 |
innovation (in oh VAY shun) - n. a new creation, usually that moves a field forward in some way |
| |
Scientists expect medical innovations to increase life expectancy by many years. |
|
| 9/17/2007 |
vehement (VEE uh munt) - adj. intense; forceful; violent |
| |
Shaking his fist and stomping his foot, Gerry was vehement in his denial. |
|
| 9/18/2007 |
assuage (uh SWAYJ) - v. to soothe; to pacify; to ease the pain of; to relieve |
| |
The thunderstorm made the baby cry, but I assuaged her fears by singing her a lullaby. |
|
| 9/19/2007 |
anecdote (AN ik doht) - n. a short account of a humorous or revealing incident |
| |
The old lady kept the motorcycle gang thoroughly amused with anecdotes about her dog. |
|
| 9/20/2007 |
discern (dih SURN) - v. to have insight; to see things clearly; to discriminate; to differentiate |
| |
The ill-mannered people at Tisha's party proved that she had little discernment when it came to choosing friends. |
|
| 9/21/2007 |
disdain (dis DAYN) - n. arrogant scorn; contempt |
| |
The millionaire looked upon the poor workers with evident disdain. |
|
| 9/24/2007 |
abstract (AB strakt) - adj. theoretical; impersonal |
| |
Bruno doesn't like abstract art; he thinks a painting should resemble something real. |
|
| 9/25/2007 |
temperate (TEM pur it) - adj. mild; moderate; restrained |
| |
Our climate is temperate during the spring and fall but nearly unbearable during the summer and winter. |
|
| 9/26/2007 |
enigma (uh NIG muh) - n. a mystery |
| |
Ben is an enigma; he never does any homework, but he always gets good grades. |
|
| 9/27/2007 |
inevitable (in EHV ih tah bul) - adj. unable to be stopped, unavoidable; certain to occur |
| |
The new father knew it was inevitable that his baby girl would grow up, so he tried to enjoy every moment. |
|
| 9/28/2007 |
eccentric (ek SEN trik) - adj. not conventional; a little kooky; irregular |
| |
The eccentric inventor spent all his waking hours fiddling with his "time machine". |
|
| 10/1/2007 |
provincial (pruh VIN shul) - adj. limited in outlook to one's own small corner of the world; narrow |
| |
The farmers were provincial; they had no opinions about anything except the price of corn. |
|
| 10/2/2007 |
futile (FYOOT uh) - adj. useless; hopeless |
| |
With a D+ average and no extracurricular activities, Lucinda knew that applying to Harvard was futile. |
|
| 10/3/2007 |
fortuitous (for TOO uh tus) - adj. accidental; occurring by chance |
| |
The program's outcome was not the result of any plan but was entirely fortuitous. |
|
| 10/4/2007 |
benevolent (beh NEV uh lunt) - adj. generous; kind; doing good deeds |
| |
Cinderella had a benevolent fairy godmother. |
|
| 10/5/2007 |
pious (PYE us) - adj. reverent or devout; outwardly (and sometimes falsely) reverent or devout |
| |
The pious girl went to church every Sunday and prayed every day. |
|
| 10/8/2007 |
conciliatory (kun SIL ee uh tor ee) - adj. making peace; attempting to resolve a dispute through goodwill |
| |
The formerly warring countries were conciliatory at the treaty conference. |
|
| 10/9/2007 |
prodigious (pruh DIJ us) - adj. extraordinary; enormous |
| |
To fill the Grand Canyon with Ping-Pong balls would be a prodigious undertaking. |
|
| 10/10/2007 |
resolute (REZ uh loot) - adj. determined; firm; unwavering |
| |
Uncle Ted was resolute in his decision not to have a good time at our Christmas party; he refused to talk to anyone. |
|
| 10/11/2007 |
servile (SUR vyle) - adj. submissive and subservient; like a servant |
| |
The horrible boss demanded servility from his employees; when he said, "Jump!" he expected them to ask, "How high?" |
|
| 10/12/2007 |
acute (uh KYOOT) - adj. sharp; shrewd |
| |
If your eyesight is acute, you can see things other people can't. |
|
| 10/15/2007 |
reticent (RET uh sint) - adj. quiet; restrained; reluctant to speak, especially about oneself |
| |
Luther's natural reticence made him an ideal speaker; his speeches never lasted more than a few minutes. |
|
| 10/16/2007 |
anarchy (AN ur kee) - n. absence of government or control; lawlessness; disorder |
| |
The country fell into a state of anarchy after the rebels kidnapped the president. |
|
| 10/17/2007 |
virulent (VIR uh lunt) - adj. extremely poisonous; malignant; full of hate |
| |
The virulent disease quickly swept through the community; leaving many people dead and more people extremely ill. |
|
| 10/18/2007 |
scrutinize (SKROOT uh nyze) - v. to examine very carefully |
| |
My mother scrutinized my clothes and my appearance before I left for the evening |
|
| 10/19/2007 |
discordant (dis KORD uhnt) - adj. disagreeing; in conflict; unpleasant or harsh, especially in describing sound |
| |
He composed the music to be especially discordant in order to highlight the strife in the scene. |
|
| 10/22/2007 |
repudiate (ri PYOO dee ayt) - v. to reject; to renounce; to disown; to have nothing to do with |
| |
Hoping to receive a lighter sentence, the convicted gangster repudiated his former connection with the mob. |
|
| 10/23/2007 |
diligence (DIL ih jens) - n. persistent and attentive work or effort; determination about one's goals |
| |
Her academic diligence paid off when she graduated at the top of her class. |
|
| 10/24/2007 |
superficial (soo pur FISH ul) - adj. on the surface only; shallow; not thorough |
| |
The mechanic gave my car a superficial tune up; he didn't even open the hood. |
|
| 10/25/2007 |
relegate (REL uh gayt) - v. to banish; to send away |
| |
The most junior of the executives was relegated to a tiny, windowless office that had once been a broom closet. |
|
| 10/26/2007 |
lucid (LOO sid) - adj. clear; easy to understand |
| |
The professor's explanation of the theory of relativity was so astonishingly lucid that even I could understand it. |
|
| 10/29/2007 |
aesthetic (es THET ik) - adj. having to do with artistic beauty; artistic |
| |
Our art professor had a highly developed aesthetic sense; he saw beauty in things that looked like garbage to us. |
|
| 10/30/2007 |
prodigal (PRAHD uh gul) - adj. wastefully extravagant |
| |
The chef was prodigal with his employer's money, spending thousands of dollars on ingredients for what was supposed to be a simple meal. |
|
| 10/31/2007 |
augment (awg MENT) - v. to make bigger; to add to; to increase |
| |
The army augmented its attack by sending in a few thousand more soldiers. |
|
| 11/1/2007 |
complacent (kum PLAY sunt) - adj. self-satisfied; overly pleased with oneself; contented to a fault |
| |
The complacent camper paid no attention to the bear prowling around his campsite, and the bear ate him. |
|
| 11/2/2007 |
guile (gyle) - n. cunning; duplicity; artfulness |
| |
Jose used guile, not intelligence, to win the spelling bee, he cheated. |
|
| 11/7/2007 |
squander (SKWAHN dur) - v. to waste |
| |
Jerry failed to save his inheritance; instead, he squandered it all on video games. |
|
| 11/8/2007 |
incessant (in SES unt) - adj. unceasing |
| |
I will lose my mind if your children don't stop the incessant bickering. |
|
| 11/9/2007 |
laud (lawd) - v. to praise; to applaud; to extol; to clebrate |
| |
The bank manager lauded the hero who trapped the escaping robber. |
|
| 11/12/2007 |
deterrent (duh TER ahnt) - something that discourages or dissuades |
| |
For most students, the threat of expulsion is an effective deterrent against cheating on exams. |
|
| 11/13/2007 |
redundant (ri DUN dunt) - adj. unnecessarily repetitive; excessive; excessively wordy |
| |
Shawn's article was redundant; he kept saying the same thing over and over. |
|
| 11/14/2007 |
infamous (IN fuh mus) - adj. shamefully wicked; having an extremely bad reputation; disgraceful |
| |
The Nazi party is infamous for their war crimes and atrocities. |
|
| 11/15/2007 |
provocative (preh VAHK ah tihv) - adj. marked by an ability to excite, intrigue, or cause a reaction, usually intentionally; or intended to arouse sexually |
| |
The provocative editorial calling for the resignation of the chief of police caused outrage among his supporters. |
|
| 11/16/2007 |
depravity (di PRAV uh tee) - n. extreme wickedness or corruption |
| |
Mrs. Prudinkle wondered whether the depravity of her class was the result of watching too much TV. |
|
| 11/19/2007 |
gravity (GRAV uh tee) - n. seriousness |
| |
The anchorman's nervous giggling was entirely inappropriate, given the gravity of the situation. |
|
| 11/20/2007 |
banal (BANE ul) - adj. unoriginal; ordinary |
| |
The dinner conversation was so banal that Amanda fell asleep in her dessert dish. |
|
| 11/21/2007 |
extol (ik STOHL) - v. to praise highly; to laud |
| |
The millionaire extolled the citizen who returned his gold watch and then rewarded him with a heartfelt handshake. |
|
| 11/26/2007 |
euphonious (YOO fon ee us) - adj. pleasing to the ear; nice to listen to |
| |
The sound of birds singing was particularly euphonious after the long, cold winter. |
|
| 11/27/2007 |
deride (di RYDE) - v. to ridicule; to laugh at contemptuously |
| |
Sportswriters derided Columbia's football team, which hadn't won a game in many years. |
|
| 11/28/2007 |
insipid (in SIP id) - adj. dull; bland; banal |
| |
We were bored to death at the party; it was full of insipid people making insipid conversation. |
|
| 11/29/2007 |
austere (aw STEER) - adj. unadorned; stern; forbidding; without excess |
| |
The Smiths' house was austere; there were absolutely no decorations. |
|
| 11/30/2007 |
expedite (EK spi dyte) - v. to speed up or ease the progress of |
| |
The post office expedited mail delivery by hiring more letter carriers. |
|
| 12/3/2007 |
heresy (HER uh see) - n. any belief that is strongly opposed to established beliefs |
| |
Galileo was tried for the heresy of suggesting that the sun did not revolve around the Earth. |
|
| 12/4/2007 |
furtive (FUR tiv) - adj. secretive; sly |
| |
Cal wiggled his ears while the countess was talking to him in a furtive attempt to catch our attention. |
|
| 12/5/2007 |
philanthropy (fi LAN thruh pee) - n. love of mankind; especially by doing good deeds |
| |
His gift of one billion dollars to the local orphanage was the finest act of philanthropy I've ever seen. |
|
| 12/6/2007 |
tentative (TEN tuh tiv) - adj. experimental temporary; uncertain |
| |
Hugo believed himself to be a great wit, but his big joke was regarded by nothing more than a very tentative chuckle from his audience. |
|
| 12/7/2007 |
deference (DEF ur uns) - n. submission to another's will; respect; courtesy |
| |
Dean showed deference to his grandfather; he let the old man have first dibs on the birthday cake. |
|
| 12/10/2007 |
vacillate (VAS uh layt) - v. to be indecisive; to waver |
| |
Tyler vacillated about buying a new car; he couldn't make up his mind. |
|
| 12/11/2007 |
fervor (FUR ur) - n. great warmth or earnestness; ardor; zeal |
| |
Avid baseball fans frequently display their fervor for the game by throwing food at bad players. |
|
| 12/12/2007 |
torpor (TOR pur) - n. sluggishness; inactivity; apathy |
| |
The math teacher tried to reduce the torpor of his students by banging on his desk, but the students scarcely blinked. |
|
| 12/13/2007 |
pragmatic (prag MAT ik) - adj. practical; down to earth; based on experience rather than theory |
| |
We would like a whole new roof, but the our bank account forced us to be pragmatic and patch the hole instead. |
|
| 12/14/2007 |
rigorous (RIG ur us) - adj. strict; harsh; severe |
| |
Our exercise program was rigorous but effective; after a few weeks, our eighteen hours of daily exercise began to pay off. |
|
| 12/17/2007 |
pedestrian (puh DES tree un) - adj. unimaginative; banal |
| |
The menu was pedestrian; every restaurant had those same dishes. |
|
| 12/18/2007 |
alleviate (uh-LEE-vee-ayt) - v. to relieve, usually temporarily or incompletely; to make bearable; to lessen |
| |
Asprin alleviates headache pain, but when it comes back, you have to take more. |
|
| 12/19/2007 |
prudent (PROOD unt) - adj. careful; having foresight |
| |
Joe is a prudent money manager; he would never gamble. |
|
| 12/20/2007 |
conspicuous (kun SPIK yoo us) - adj. obvious; standing out; unhidden |
| |
He left his report card in a conspicuous place so his mother would find it and see how much he improved his grades. |
|
| 12/21/2007 |
supercilious (soo pur SIL ee us) - adj. haughty; patronizing |
| |
The supercilious Rolls-Royce salesman treated us like peasants until we opened our suitcase full of one-hundred-dollar bills. |
|
| 1/2/2008 |
ascetic (uh SET ik) - adj. hermitlike; practicing self-denial |
| |
The college professor's apartment, which contained no furniture except a single tattered mattress, was uncomfortably ascetic. |
|
| 1/3/2008 |
profound (pruh FOUND) - adj. deep (in several senses) |
| |
Everyone was surprised when Noelle, who's usually very superficial, made a profound remark. |
|
| 1/4/2008 |
ironic (eye RAHN ik) - adj. meaning the opposite of what you seem to say; using words to mean something other than what they seem to mean |
| |
Eddie was being ironic when he said he loved Peter like a brother; in truth, he hated him. |
|
| 1/7/2008 |
dogmatic (dawg MAT ik) - adj. arrogantly assertive of unproven ideas; stubbornly claiming that something (often a system of beliefs) is beyond dispute |
| |
Marty is dogmatic on the subject of the creation of the world; he sneers at anyone whose views are not identical to his. |
|
| 1/8/2008 |
condone (kun DOHN) - v. to overlook; to permit to happen |
| |
The teacher condoned the smoking in the bathroom; he simply ignored it. |
|
| 1/9/2008 |
dissent (dih SENT) - v. to disagree, usually with a formal or official statement |
| |
It takes courage for a congressman to openly dissent against the party's platform. |
|
| 1/10/2008 |
volition (voh LISH un) - n. will; conscious choice |
| |
The question the jury had to answer was whether the murder had been an accident or an act of volition. |
|
| 1/11/2008 |
verbose (vur BOHS) - adj. using too many words; not succinct; circumlocutory |
| |
Lee handed in a 178-word final assignment; no one ever accused him of verbosity. |
|
| 1/14/2008 |
didactic (dye DAK tik) - adj. intended to teach; morally instructive; pedantic |
| |
Luther's seemingly amusing talk had a didactic purpose; he was trying to show the difference between right and wrong. |
|
| 1/15/2008 |
disparate (DIS pur it) - adj. different; incompatible; unequal |
| |
The novel was difficult to read because the plot consisted of dozens of disparate threads that never came together. |
|
| 1/16/2008 |
disparage (dih SPAR ij) - v. to belittle; to say uncomplimentary things about, usually in a somewhat indirect way |
| |
My guidance counselor disparaged my high school record by telling me that not everybody belongs in college. |
|
| 1/17/2008 |
ephemeral (i FEM ur al) - adj. lasting a very short time |
| |
The tread on those tires will probably turn out to be ephemeral. |
|
| 1/18/2008 |
compliance (kum PLIY uhns - n. the act of observing and following directions, requests, or advice |
| |
The doctor assured her that compliance with the new diet and exercise regime would help her lose weight. |
|
| 1/22/2008 |
prosaic (proh ZAY ik) - adj. dull; unimaginative; like prose (as opposed to poetry) |
| |
The little boy's ambitions were all prosaic; he said he wanted to be an accountant, an auditor, or a claims adjuster. |
|
| 1/23/2008 |
profuse (pruh FYOOS) - adj. flowing; extravagant |
| |
When we gave Marian our house, our car, and all our clothes, her gratitude was profuse. |
|
| 1/24/2008 |
expedient (ik SPEE dee unt) - adj. providing an immediate advantage; serving one's immediate self-interest; practical |
| |
Since the basement had nearly filled with water, the plumber felt it would be expedient to clear out the drain. |
|
| 1/25/2008 |
fastidious (fa STID ee us) - adj. meticulous; demanding; finicky |
| |
Mrs. O'Hara was a fastidious housekeeper; she cleaned up our crumbs almost before they hit the floor. |
|
| 1/29/2008 |
belligerent (buh LIJ ur unt) - adj. combative; quarrelsome; waging war |
| |
Al was so belligerent that the convention had the feel of a boxing match. |
|
| 1/30/2008 |
astute (uh STOOT) - adj. shrewd; keen in judgment |
| |
Morris was an astute judge of character; he was very good at seeing what people are really like. |
|
| 1/31/2008 |
languish (LANG gwish) - v. to become weak, listless, or depressed |
| |
The formerly eager and vigorous accountant languished in his tedious job at the international conglomerate. |
|
| 2/1/2008 |
censure (SEN shur) - v. to condemn severely for doing something bad |
| |
The Senate sometimes censures senators for breaking laws or engaging in behavior unbecoming to an elected officer. |
|
| 2/4/2008 |
stagnation (stag NAY shun) - n. motionlessness; inactivity |
| |
The company grew quickly for several years, then fell into stagnation. |
|
| 2/5/2008 |
mitigate (MIT uh gayt) - v. to moderate the effect of something |
| |
The sense of imminent disaster was mitigated by the guide's calm behavior and easy smile. |
|
| 2/6/2008 |
reprehensible (rep ri HEN suh bul) - adj. worthy of severe blame or censure |
| |
He put the cat in the laundry chute, tied the dog to the chimney, and committed several other reprehensible acts. |
|
| 2/7/2008 |
engender (en JEN diur) - v. to bring into existence; to create; to cause |
| |
The bitter lieutenant engendered discontent among his troops. |
|
| 2/8/2008 |
exemplify (ig ZEM pluh fye) - v. to illustrate by example; to serve as a good example |
| |
Fred participated in every class discussion and typed all of his papers; his teacher thought he exemplified the model student. |
|
| 2/11/2008 |
scanty (SKAN tee) - adj. small to the point of being barely useful; less than is needed; barely adequate |
| |
Her scanty paycheck was barely enough to cover her monthly expenses, but it was worth it to live in the city she loved. |
|
| 2/12/2008 |
fallacious (fuhl AY shus) - adj. based on something misunderstood or incorrect |
| |
She held the fallacious belief that Texas was the largest state in the country. |
|
| 2/13/2008 |
acclaim (uh KLAYM) - v. to praise loudly; n. public praise |
| |
The critical acclaim for her work made her hopeful for an award nomination. |
|
| 2/14/2008 |
uniform (YOO nuh form) - adj. consistent; unchanging; the same for everyone |
| |
The school did not have a uniform grading policy; each teacher created his/her own. |
|
| 2/15/2008 |
retract (rih TRAKT) - v. to draw back in; to pull back; or to take back a statement |
| |
Once the puppy left her alone, the cat relaxed, retracted its claws, and went to sleep. |
|
| 2/19/2008 |
fanaticism (fa NAT ih sizm) - n. extreme, often irrational belief in something, characterized by criticism of differing viewpoints |
| |
Religious fanaticism exists in every country and religion in the world. |
|
| 2/20/2008 |
articulate (ar TIH kyu lut) - adj. able to speak clearly and express one's thoughts well; well spoken |
| |
He resented people's surprise that he was articulate when they learned he had grown up in the inner city. |
|
| 2/21/2008 |
solicitous (suh LIS uh tus) - adj. eager and attentive, often to the point of hovering; anxiously caring or attentive |
| |
Every time we turned around, we seemed to step on the foot of the solicitous salesman. |
|
| 2/22/2008 |
reproach (ri PROHCH) - v. to scold, usually in disappointment; to blame; to disgrace |
| |
The police reproached me for leaving my car parked overnight in the fire lane. |
|
| 2/25/2008 |
condescend (KAHN duh send) - v. to stoop to someone else's level, usually in an offensive way; to patronize |
| |
I was surprised that the president of the company had condescended to talk with me, a mere temporary employee. |
|
| 2/26/2008 |
orthodox (OR thuh dahks) - adj. conventional; adhering to established principles or doctrines, especially in religion; by the book |
| |
Austin's views were orthodox; there was nothing shocking about any of them. |
|
| 2/27/2008 |
indolence (IN dul ens) - n. laziness; the state of avoiding work or exertion |
| |
He stopped working out because of a muscle injury, but sheer indolence kept him from returning to it once he was healed. |
|
| 2/28/2008 |
congenial (kun JEEN yul) - adj. agreeably suitable; pleasant |
| |
The little cabin in the woods was congenial to the writer; he was able to get a lot of writing done there. |
|
| 2/29/2008 |
preclude (pri KLOOD) - v. to prevent something from ever happening |
| |
Ann feared that her abysmal academic career might preclude her becoming a brain surgeon. |
|
| 3/3/2008 |
apprehensive (ap ruh HEN siv) - adj. worried; anxious |
| |
The apprehensive child clung to his father's leg as they walked into preschool for the first time. |
|
| 3/4/2008 |
enhance (en HANS) - v. to intensify or increase the value, beauty, or look of something |
| |
The sunlight shining on her hair only served to enhance her natural beauty. |
|
| 3/5/2008 |
arrogance (AYR uh ganz) - n. a sense of being better than others; exaggerated pride |
| |
Underdogs are often inspired to play better by the arrogance of higher ranked teams. |
|
| 3/6/2008 |
elusive (ih LOO siv) - adj. hard to pin down; evasive |
| |
The giant squid is elusive; no one has been able to catch a live one. |
|
| 3/7/2008 |
efface (ih FAYS) - v. to erase; to rub away the features of |
| |
The inscription on the tombstone had been effaced by centuries of weather. |
|
| 3/10/2008 |
taciturn (TAS i turn) - adj. untalkative by nature |
| |
The chairman was so taciturn that we often discovered that we had absolutely no idea what he was thinking. |
|
| 3/11/2008 |
ameliorate (uh MEEL yuh rayt) - v. to make better or more tolerable |
| |
The mood of the prisoners was ameliorated when the warden gave them cable TVs. |
|
| 3/12/2008 |
acquiesce (ak wee ES) - v. to comply passively; to accept; to assent; to agree |
| |
The pirates asked Pete to walk the plank; he took one look at their swords and then acquiesced. |
|
| 3/13/2008 |
atrophy (AA tro fee) - n. to weaken and deteriorate through lack of use |
| |
The new mother was afraid her intellect would atrophy after spending the first year at home with her children. |
|
| 3/14/2008 |
dubious (DOO bee us) - adj. full of doubt; uncertain |
| |
We were dubious about the team's chance of success since so many key players were injured. |
|
| 3/17/2008 |
flagrant (FLAY grunt) - adj. glaringly bad; notorious; scandalous |
| |
The newscaster called it a flagrant theft when the police chief's car was stolen from the police station. |
|
| 3/18/2008 |
concise (kun SIYS) - adj. expressing a lot of information in a few words |
| |
The assignment was to keep the essay to fewer than 200 words so the students could learn to be clear and concise. |
|
| 3/19/2008 |
immutable (i MYOO tuh bul)) - adj. unchangeable |
| |
The statue of the former principal looked down on the students with an immutable scowl. |
|
| 3/20/2008 |
static (STAT ik) - adj. stationary; not changing or moving |
| |
Sales of the new book soared for a few weeks then became static. |
|
| 3/21/2008 |
credulous (KREJ uh lus) - adj. eager to believe; gullible |
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The credulous housewife believed that she had won a million dollars from Publishers Clearing House. |
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| 3/31/2008 |
blasphemy (BLAS fuh mee) - n. irreverence; an insult to something held sacred; profanity |
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In the strictest sense, to commit blasphemy is to say insulting things about God. |
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| 4/1/2008 |
coalesce (koh uh LES) - v. to come together as one; to fuss; to unite |
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The people in our neighborhood coalesced into a powerful force for change in the community. |
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| 4/2/2008 |
innocuous (i NAHK yoo us) - adj. harmless; banal |
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The speaker's voice was loud but his words were innocuous; there was nothing to get excited about. |
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| 4/3/2008 |
cryptic (KRIP tik) - adj. mysterious; mystifying |
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Elaine's remarks were cryptic; Jerry was baffled by what she said. |
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| 4/4/2008 |
levity (LEV uh tee) - n. lightness; frivolity; unseriousness |
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The speaker's levity was not appreciated by the convention of funeral directors. |
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| 4/7/2008 |
ambivalent (am BIV uh lunt) - adj. undecided; having opposed feelings simultaneously |
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Susan felt ambivalent about George as a boyfriend; she often wanted to break up with him. |
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| 4/8/2008 |
innate (i NAYT) - adj. existing since birth; inborn; inherent |
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Joseph's kindness was innate; it was part of his natural character. |
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| 4/9/2008 |
sycophant (SIK uh funt) - n. one who sucks up to others |
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The French class seemed to be full of sycophants; the students were always bringing apples to the teacher and telling her how nice she looked. |
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| 4/10/2008 |
amiable (AY mee uh bul) - adj. friendly; agreeable |
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Our amiable guide made us feel right at home in what would otherwise have been a cold and forbidding museum. |
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| 4/11/2008 |
esoteric (es uh TER ik) - adj. hard to understand; understood by only a select few; peculiar |
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The author's books were so esoteric that not even his mother bought any of them. |
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| 4/14/2008 |
extraneous (ik STRAY nee us) - adj. unnecessary; irrelevant; extra |
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The soup contained several extraneous ingredients, including hair, sand, and a single dead fly. |
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| 4/15/2008 |
ambiguous (am BIG yoo us) - adj. unclear in meaning; confusing; capable of being interpreted in different ways |
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The poem we read in English class was ambiguous; no one had any idea what the poet was trying to say. |
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| 4/16/2008 |
caustic (KAW stik) - adj. like acid; corrosive |
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The teacher's caustic criticism of Sally's term paper left her in tears. |
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| 4/17/2008 |
inadvertently (IN ad ver tant lee) - adv. accidentally; unintentionally; caused by being unintentionally negligent |
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He immediately regretted the offhanded comment that had inadvertently caused his friends so much pain. |
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| 4/21/2008 |
exhaustive (ig ZAWS tiv) - adj. thorough; rigorous; complete; painstaking |
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Before you use a parachute, you should examine it exhaustively for defects. |
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| 4/22/2008 |
incongruous (in KAHN groo us) - adj. not harmonious; not consistent; not appropriate; not fitting in |
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The ultramodern kitchen seemed incongruous in the restored eighteenth-century farmhouse. |
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| 4/23/2008 |
belittle (bih LIT ul) - v. to make to seem little; to put someone down |
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We worked hard to put out the fire, but the fire chief belittled our efforts by saying he wished he had brought marshmallows. |
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| 4/24/2008 |
subtle (SUT ul) - adj. not obvious; able to make fine distinctions; ingenious; crafty |
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The aliens created a shrewd replica of Mr. Jenson, but his wife did notice a few subtle differences. |
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| 4/25/2008 |
digress (dye GRES) - v. to stray from the main subject |
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The students complained that their science teacher always digressed from the lesson, and they learned more about her family than the subject. |
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| 4/28/2008 |
appease (uh PEEZ) - v. to soothe; to pacify by giving in to |
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Jaleel appeased his angry mother by promising to make his bed every morning until the end of time. |
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| 4/29/2008 |
frivolous (FRIV uh lus) - adj. carefree; having no serious purpose |
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The ceramic purple and blue giraffe might have been a frivolous purchase but it made her very happy, so it was worth the money. |
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| 4/30/2008 |
instigate (IN stuh gayt) - v. to provoke; to stir up |
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The strike was instigated by the ambitious union president, who wanted to get his name in the newspapers. |
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| 5/1/2008 |
sage (SAYJ) - n. a wise person, usually from age or adj. characterized by a sense of calm and great wisdom |
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The old woman was considered a sage within the small community. |
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| 5/2/2008 |
predecessor (PREHD ih ses ohr) - n. one who comes before another; the person who held the office or position before the person now in the role; anything that has come before the current item |
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She hadn't been on the job long when she realized that her predecessor had left behind many unfinished projects that needed to be addressed quickly. |
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| 5/5/2008 |
trepidation (trep uh DAY shun) - n. fear; apprehension; nervous trembling |
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The nursery school students were filled with trepidation when they saw their teacher dressed as a monster. |
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| 5/6/2008 |
tangible (TAN juh bul) - adj. touchable; palpable |
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A mountain of cigarette butts was the only tangible evidence that Luke had been in our house. |
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| 5/7/2008 |
indulgent (in DUL junt) - adj. lenient; yielding to desire |
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The nice mom was indulgent of her children, letting them have all the candy, cookies, and ice cream they wanted. |
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| 5/8/2008 |
remorse (rih MORS) - n. deep regret or guilt for actions taken in the past |
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The jury gave the young man the lightest sentence possible because he showed such obvious and sincere remorse. |
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| 5/9/2008 |
pivotal (PIV uh tul) - adj. crucial |
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The candidate's pivotal comment about the war convinced the voters that he was the right man for the job. |
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| 5/12/2008 |
scrupulous (SKROO pyuh lus) - adj. strict; careful; hesitant for ethical reasons |
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Leela was scrupulous in keeping her accounts; she knew where every penny came from and where every penny went. |
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| 5/13/2008 |
refute (ri FYOOT) - v. to prove to be false; to disprove |
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His expensive suit and imported shoes clearly refuted his claim that he was poor. |
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| 5/14/2008 |
respite (RES pit) - n. a period of rest or relief |
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We worked without respite from five in the morning until five in the afternoon. |
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| 5/15/2008 |
stoic (STOH ik) - adj. indifferent (at least outwardly) to pleasure or pain, to joy or grief, to fortune or misfortune |
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Nina was stoic about the death of her canary; she acted like nothing happened. |
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| 5/16/2008 |
volatile (VAHL uh tul) - adj. quick to evaporate; highly unstable; explosive |
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The situation in the Middle East was highly volatile; the smallest incident could have set off a war. |
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| 5/19/2008 |
peripheral (peh RIF er uhl) - adj. on the edge; regarding the outer limits or boundaries; or being a secondary or less important concern; of less importance; not the main focus |
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Many parents encourage their children to focus on grades and attendance instead of worrying about peripheral concerns. |
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| 5/20/2008 |
hedonism (HEED uh niz um) - n. the pursuit of pleasure as a way of life |
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Yoshi's life of hedonism came to an end when his lottery winnings ran out, and he had to go back to work. |
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| 5/21/2008 |
bastion (BAS chun) - n. stronghold; fortress; fortified place |
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The robbers terrorized the village for several weeks, then escaped to their bastion high in the mountains. |
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| 5/22/2008 |
benefactor (BEN uh fak tur) - n. one provides help, especially in the form of a gift or donation |
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If an artist is lucky, she can find a benefactor and paint without worrying about money. |
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| 5/23/2008 |
brevity (BREV I tee) - n. briefness |
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The audience was deeply grateful for the brevity of the boring speech. |
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| 5/27/2008 |
apocryphal (uh POK ruh ful) - n. of dubious authenticity; fictitious, spurious |
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Brandi's blog discredited the apocryphal report of Martians in Congress. |
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| 5/28/2008 |
virtuoso (vur choo WHO soh) - n. a masterful musician; a masterful practitioner in some other field. |
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| 5/29/2008 |
slander (SLAN dur) - v. to speak badly about someone publicly; to defame; to spread malicious rumor |
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Jonathan slandered Mrs. Perriwinklie by telling everyone the principal was a thief. |
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| 5/30/2008 |
animosity (an uh MAHS uh tee) - n. resentment; hostility; ill will |
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The rivals for the state championship felt great animosity toward each other. |
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| 6/2/2008 |
deplete (deh PLEET) - v. to use up or greatly diminish in quantity |
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There is some concern that we will deplete the earth's resources if the population of the planet continues to grow at its current rate. |
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| 6/3/2008 |
hackneyed (HAK need) - adj. overused; trite; stale |
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Michael's book was full of cliches and hackneyed expressions. |
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| 6/4/2008 |
stringent (STRIN junt) - adj. strict; restrictive |
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The restaurant's stringent dress code required diners to wear a coat and tie. |
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| 6/5/2008 |
voluble (VOL yuh bul) - adj. characterized by talking a great deal, usually implies speaking well and intelligently |
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The candidate's voluble style was effective because she could sound like an intellectual or small-town girl. |
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| 6/6/2008 |
auspicious (aw SPISH us) - adj. favorable; promising; pointing to a good result |
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A clear sky in the morning is an auspicious sign on the day of a picnic. |
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| 6/9/2008 |
willful (WIL ful) - adj. deliberate; obstinate; insistent on having one's way |
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The mother insisted that the killing committed by her son had not been willful, but the jury disagreed. |
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| 6/10/2008 |
advocate (AAD vuh kut) (AAD voh kayt) - n. a person who publicly speaks for or on behalf of another v. to speak for or on behalf of another; to argue or speak in favor of something |
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As a mother, she knew she must act as an advocate for all children, not just her own. The panel was moved listening to the doctor advocate for patients' rights. |
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| 6/11/2008 |
contemptuous (kun TEMPT choo us) - adj. showing or having the feeling that someone or something is inferior or worthless |
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Although he tried not to be contemptuous of homeless people, he didn't always succeed. |
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| 6/12/2008 |
candid (KAN did) - adj. completely truthful; not posed; with nothing held back |
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The teacher waited until she knew none of her students could hear her before she gave a candid opinion of her colleague. |
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| 6/13/2008 |
lethargy (LETH ur jee) - n. sluggishness; laziness; drowsiness; indifference |
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The couch potato had fallen into a state of such total lethargy that he never moved except to change channels. |
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