Vocabulary 2

Vocabulary Building

• A bauble is a small, showy trinket or decoration.
• A fresco is a painting done rapidly in watercolor on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling.
• Iridescent describes something that shows luminous colors that seem to change when seen from different angles.
• A promontory is a high point of land that juts out into the sea or a large lake.
• Apostasy is the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief.
• Bullion refers to gold or silver in bulk before coining, or valued by weight.
• Frugal means being economical in use or expenditure; not wasteful.
• Opulence refers to great wealth or luxuriousness.
• Usury is the practice of lending money at unreasonably high interest rates.

Lesson 29

• Abscond means to be difficult to understand; obscure.
• Aspersion is a small, showy trinket or decoration.
• Ethereal describes a painting done rapidly in watercolor on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling.
• Malign means showing luminous colors that seem to change when seen from different angles.
• Prognosis is a high point of land that juts out into the sea or a large lake.
• Adjure means the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief.
• Circumvent means to avoid or get around something by being clever or deceitful.
• Ignominy means being economical in use or expenditure; not wasteful.
• Malinger means to pretend to be ill or injured in order to avoid work or responsibility.
• Remonstrate means to protest or complain strongly about something.

Lesson 30

• Biennial means occurring every two years.
• Elicit means to draw out a response, answer, or fact from someone in reaction to one's own actions or questions.
• Equivocal means open to more than one interpretation; ambiguous.
• Conciliate means to stop someone from being angry or discontented; to placate or pacify.
• Duress means threats, violence, constraints, or other action brought to bear on someone to do something against their will or better judgment.
• Extenuate means to make a guilt or an offense seem less serious or more forgivable.
• Impeccable means in accordance with the highest standards; faultless or flawless.
• Rancor means bitterness or resentfulness, especially when long-standing.

Lesson 27

• Burgeoning means beginning to grow or increase rapidly; flourishing.
• Commiserate means to express or feel sympathy or pity; to sympathize.
• Festoon means a chain or garland of flowers, leaves, or ribbons, hung in a curve as a decoration.
• Maudlin means self-pityingly or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness.
• Remuneration means money paid for work or a service; compensation.
• Caricature means a picture, description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect.
• Evanescent means soon passing out of sight, memory, or existence; quickly fading or disappearing.
• Gambol means to run or jump about playfully.
• Pallor means an unhealthy pale appearance.
• Venal means showing or motivated by susceptibility to bribery; corrupt or corruptible.

Additional Vocabulary

• Abstruse means difficult to understand; obscure.
• Assiduous means showing great care, attention, and effort; diligent and persistent.
• Cessation means the fact or process of ending or being brought to an end.
• Equanimity means mental calmness, composure, and evenness of temper, especially in a difficult situation.
• Inordinate means unusually or disproportionately large; excessive.
• Pecuniary means relating to or consisting of money.
• Aver means to state or assert to be the case.
• Denizen means an inhabitant or occupant of a particular place.
• Iniquity means immoral or grossly unfair behavior; wickedness.
• Mercurial means subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind; volatile or temperamental.
• Tenable means able to be maintained or defended against attack or objection.
• Avarice means extreme greed for wealth or material gain.
• Corollary means a proposition that follows from (and is often appended to) one already proven.
• Espouse means to adopt or support (a cause, belief, or way of life).
• Fissure means a long, narrow opening or line of breakage made by cracking or splitting, especially in rock or earth.
• Quell means to put an end to (a rebellion or other disorder), typically by the use of force.
• Vestige means a trace or remnant of something that is disappearing or no longer exists.
• Clandestine means kept secret or done secretively, especially because illicit or unauthorized.
• Foment means to instigate or stir up (an undesirable or violent sentiment or course of action).
• Reticent means not revealing one's thoughts or feelings readily; reserved or restrained.
• Temerity means excessive confidence or boldness; audacity.
• Vindicate means to clear (someone) of blame or suspicion.

Lesson 21

• Differentiate means to recognize or ascertain what makes (someone or something) different.
• Empirical means based on observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic.
• Officious means assertive of authority in an annoyingly domineering way, especially with regard to petty or trivial matters.
• Renounce means to formally declare one's abandonment of (a claim, right, or possession).
• Testimonial means a formal statement testifying to someone's character and qualifications.
• Disparity means a great difference or inequality between two or more things.
• Facetious means treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor; flippant.
• Chauvinism means exaggerated or aggressive patriotism; blind and enthusiastic devotion to a cause, group, or gender, often with a sense of superiority.
• Devoid means entirely lacking or free from.
• Inexorable means impossible to stop or prevent; unyielding.
• Regimen means a prescribed course of medical treatment, way of life, or diet for the promotion or restoration of health.
• Sagacity means the quality of being sagacious; having or showing keen mental discernment and good judgment; wisdom.
• Cosmopolitan means familiar with and at ease in many different countries and cultures; worldly.
• Epitome means a person or thing that is a perfect example of a particular quality or type.
• Moot means subject to debate, dispute, or uncertainty, and typically not admitting of a final decision.
• Repository means a place, building, or receptacle where things are or may be stored.
• Tenuous means very weak or slight; insubstantial.
• Bode means to be an omen of a particular outcome; to indicate by signs or predictions.