Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Vocabulary List #4: Definitions & Sentences

1. obsequious - adj. attentive in an ingratiating or servile manner; attempting to win favor from influential people by flattery
 Ex: The obsequious girl tried to get an A on her test by bringing the teacher brownies. 
2. beatitude - noun one of the eight sayings of Jesus at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount; in Latin each saying begins with `beatus' (blessed); a state of supreme happiness
 Ex: When he won the lottery, the man became beatitude. 
3. bete noire - noun a person or thing that one particularly dislikes 
 Ex: The girl who always talked was the teachers bête noire. 
4. bode - verb indicate by signs
 Ex: A traffic light bodes when to go and when to stop. 
5. dank - adj. unpleasantly cool and humid
 Ex: There is almost always dank weather on the East coast. 
6. ecumenical - adj. of worldwide scope or applicability; concerned with promoting unity among churches or religions
 Ex: The church held a ecumenical event in hopes to gain more members. 
7. fervid - adj. extremely hot; characterized by intense emotion
 Ex: The valedictorian gave a fervid speech at graduation. 
8. fetid - adj. offensively malodorous
 Ex: The fetid water in Africa makes Americans sick. 
9. gargantuan - adj. of great mass; huge and bulky
 Ex: The gargantuous crowd made her claustrophobic. 
10. heyday - noun the period of greatest prosperity or productivity
 Ex: Rain season is considered heyday for farmers. 
11. incubus - noun a male demon believed to lie on sleeping persons and to have sexual intercourse with sleeping women; someone who depresses or worries others; a situation resembling a terrifying dream
 Ex: Debt is an incubus to many families. 
12. infrastructure - noun the stock of basic facilities and capital equipment needed for the functioning of a country or area; the basic structure or features of a system or organization
 Ex: The infrastructure of the building was strategically built. 
13. inveigle - verb influence or urge by gentle urging, caressing, or flattering
 Ex: We cannot inveigle her to tell the truth of her actions. 
14. kudos - noun an expression of approval and commendation
 Ex: We face we kudos when she received the scholarship. 
15. lagniappe - noun a small gift (especially one given by a merchant to a customer who makes a purchase)
 Ex: She gave her best friend a lagniappe after surgery. 
16. prolix - adj. tediously prolonged or tending to speak or write at great length
 Ex: She thought the epic was prolixed. 
17. protege - noun a person who receives support and protection from an influential patron who furthers the protege's career
 Ex: He was a protege to the musical world. 
18. prototype - noun a standard or typical example
 Ex: The computer generated program was a prototype for hospitals. 
19. sycophant - noun a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage
 Ex: The teacher was very disappointed when she heard her student was a sycophant. 
20. tautology - noun useless repetition; (logic) a statement that is necessarily true
 Ex: The professor wanted his students to avoid tautology in their literature. 
21. truckle - noun a low bed to be slid under a higher bed; verb yield to out of weakness; try to gain favor by cringing or flattering
 Ex: The bully made her truckle. 

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