Vocabulary #5

Obsequious: Obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree.
- They were served by obsequious waiter.

Beatitude: Supreme blessedness.
- The richest person in the world couldn't buy beatitude.

Bete noire: A person or thing that one particularly dislikes or dreads.
- The principal was his bete noire.

Bode: To announce beforehand, or predict.
- These rain clouds don't bode well for our picnic.

Dank: Disagreeably damp, musty, and typically cold.
- We are transforming our dark, dank basement into a bright new room.

Ecumenical: Representing a number of different Christian churches; nondenominational.
- The bible is a ecumenical symbol of religion.

Fervid: Intensely enthusiastic or passionate, to an excessive degree.
- The fervid auctioneer made the otherwise boring event quite entertaining.

Fetid: Smelling extremely unpleasant.
- The boys' locker room was so fetid that no one wanted to go in it.

Gargantuan: Enormous.
- The player on the other football team was gargantuan.

Heyday: The period of a person's or thing's greatness success, popularity, or vigor.
- He is a little over weight, but in his heyday he was really fit.

Incubus: Something that weighs upon or oppresses someone like a nightmare.
- Her guilt attacked her like a relentless incubus.

Infrastructure: The basic structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise.
- Roads and bridges are considered as infrastructure in the United States.

Inveigle: Persuade to do something by means of flattery or deception.
- Her son tried to inveigle her into giving him the money for a car.

Kudos: Praise and honor received for an achievement.
- He deserves kudos for his well written essay.

Lagniappe: Something given as a bonus or extra gift.
- I bought two drinks and got the third one as a lagniappe.

Prolix: Using or containing too many words, tediously lengthy.
-His prolix essay was really boring.

Protégé: A person who is guided by an older more experienced person.
- The back up quarterback was a protege of the starter.

Prototype: A first model of something.
- Before they announced the new corvette they had to make many prototypes.

Sycophant: A person who acts obsequiously toward someone important in order to gain an advantage.
- The rich and the famous often find sycophantic people by their side.

Tautology: The saying of the same thing twice in different words.
- He uses tautology when his mom says no the first time he asks her a question.

Truckle: To submit or behave obediently.
- He truckled after being yelled at by his parents.