Vocabulary #6

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.

Protege: 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.

Accolade: An award or privilege granted for special honor.
- You can receive an accolade for a GPA above a 3.0.

Acerbity: A sharp bitterness.
- The acerbity in her speech can put off almost anyone

Attrition: The action of weakening by attack or pressure.
- When both sides were unable to advance, the war became a matter of attrition.

Bromide: An unoriginal idea or remark.
- He always comes up with bromide ideas.

Chauvinist: A person displaying aggressive or exaggerated patriotism.
- American chauvinists usually own a lot of American flags.

Chronic: Persisting for a long time or constantly recurring.
- The elderly woman suffered from the chronic osteoporosis.

Expound: Present and explain systematically and in detail.
- He began to expound in great detail his plans for the nation.

Factionalism: The splitting of a group into factions; Conflict between factions
- Some kids have to deal with factionalism within their family.

Immaculate: Perfectly clean and tidy.
- My room is never immaculate.

Imprecation: A spoken curse.
- The witch muttered imprecations as she worked.

Ineluctable: Unable to be resisted or avoided.
- Dessert is very ineluctable.

Mercurial: Subject to sudden or unpredictable changes of mood or mind.
- Everyone stayed away from him because hi temper was mercurial.

Palliate: To make less severe or unpleasant.
- The medical staff used strong narcotics to palliate the terminally ill patients pain.

Protocol: The official procedure or system of rules governing affairs of state or diplomatic occasions.
-When filing a complaint at work you must us the protocol.

Resplendent: Attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous.
- The tiny hummingbird was resplendent.

Stigmatize: Describe or regard as worthy of disgrace or great disapproval.
- She was afraid she would be stigmatized if people found out she smokes cigarettes.

Sub rosa: Happening or done in secret.
- The meeting was held sub rosa.

Vainglory: Inordinate pride in oneself or one's achievements; excessively vain.
- He has such vainglory when talking about himself.

Vestige: A trace of something that is disappearing or no longer exists.
- There was a vestige about these footprints.

Volition: The faculty or power of using one's will.
- He decided to work out under his own volition.