Thursday, September 18, 2014

VOCABULARY #4

Obsequious:
          1. (adjective) obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree.
          Ex.) They were served by obsequious waiters.
Beatitude:
          1. (noun) supreme blessedness.
          Ex.) All of our actions are to be directed toward such beatitude.
Bete noire:
          1. (noun) a person or thing that one particularly dislikes.
          Ex.) Great-uncle Edward was my father's bête noire.
Bode:
          1. (verb) be an omen of a particular outcome.
          Ex.) Their argument did not bode well for the future.
Dank:
          1. (adjective) disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold.
          Ex.) He hid her body in a dank basement.
Ecumenical:
          1. (adjective) representing a number of different Christian churches
          Ex.) The local churches are sponsoring an ecumenical service on the green.Fervid:
          1. (adjective) intensely enthusiastic or passionate, especially to an excessive degree.
          Ex.) I sent her a letter of fervid thanks.
          2. (adjective) burning hot or glowing.
          Ex.) He was fervid when he asked her to marry him.
Fetid:
          1. (adjective) smelling extremely unpleasant.
          Ex.) I didn't want to drink the fetid water of the marsh even if it meant I would die of dehydration.
Gargantuan:
          1. (adjective) enormous.
          Ex.) I had a gargantuan appetite after my workout.
Heyday:
          1. (noun) the period of a person's or thing's greatest success, popularity, or vigor.
          Ex.) The paper has lost millions of readers since its heyday in 1964.
Incubus:
          1. (noun) a male demon believed to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women.
          2. (noun) a cause of distress or anxiety.
          3. (noun) a nightmare
          Ex.) Debt is a big incubus in developing countries.
Infrastructure:
          1. (noun) the basic physical and organizational structures and facilities
          Ex.) Assess what damage you can and rebuild the critical infrastructure systems.
Inveigle:
1.      (verb) persuade (someone) to do something by means of deception or flattery.
2.      (verb) gain entrance to (a place) by persuading (someone) with deception or flattery.
Ex.)
Kudos:
1.      (noun) praise and honor received for an achievement
Ex.) Kudos to everyone who put the event together.
Lagniappe:
1.      (noun) something given as a bonus or extra gift.
Ex.) I also learned to cook which as we say in New Orleans is Lagniappe.
Prolix:
1.      (adjective) (of speech or writing) using or containing too many words; tediously lengthy.
Ex.) He found the narrative too prolix and discursive.
Protégé:
1.      (noun) a person who is guided and supported by an older and more experienced or influential person.
Ex.) He was an aide and protégé of the former Tennessee senator.
Prototype:
1.      (noun) a first, typical or preliminary model of something, especially a machine, from which other forms are developed or copied.
Ex.) The firm is testing a prototype of the weapon.
2.      (verb) make a prototype of (a product).
Sycophant:
1.      (noun) a person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain advantage.
Ex.) I thought you wanted a competent assistant, not a nodding sycophant.
Tautology:
1.      (noun) the saying of the same thing twice in different words, generally considered to be a fault of style
2.      a phrase or expression in which the same thing is said twice in different words.
3.      a statement that is true by necessity or by virtue of its logical form.
Ex.) Avoid tautology which is the needless repetition of the same idea.
Truckle:
1.      (noun) a small barrel-shaped cheese, especially cheddar.

Ex.) Don't truckle to unreasonable demands. 

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