Vocabulary #2

Accoutrements: Additional items of dress or equipment, or other items carried or worn by a person or used for a particular activity.
- Look at that girl with all her extra accoutrements.

Apogee: The highest point in the development of something; the climax or culmination.
- That book had a very exciting apogee.

Apropos: Used to state a speaker's belief that someone's comments or acts are unrelated to any previous discussion or situation.
- The comments he made were apropos to what happened yesterday.

Bicker: Argue about petty and trivial matters.
- Whenever the phone rings, they bicker over who must answer it. 


Coalesce: Come together and form one mass or whole. 
- The puddles had coalesced into shallow streams.

Contretemps: An unexpected and unfortunate occurrence.
- The hotel had to deal with more than one contretemps before the end of the night.

Convolution: A coil or twist.
- Crosses adorned with elaborate convolutions.


Cull: Select from a large quantity; obtain from a variety of sources.
- Samples were taken from all the deer culled within the forest district.

Disparate: Essentially different in kind; not allowing comparison.
- A rock and a dog are disparate.

Dogmatic: Inclined to lay down principles as incontrovertibly true.
- He gives his opinion without trying to be dogmatic.

Licentious: Disregarding accepted rules or conventions.
- When a child's manners are licentious, parents must discipline them. 

Mete: Dispense or allot justice, a punishment, or harsh treatment.
- The King would call together his subjects and mete out justice.

Noxious: Harmful, poisonous, or very unpleasant.
- They were overcome by the noxious fumes.

Polemic: A strong verbal or written attack on someone or something.
- The candidate's polemic against his opponent was vicious and small-minded.

Populous: Having a large population; densely populated.
- China is very populous.

Probity: The quality of having strong moral principles; honesty and decency.
- The journalist was well known for her probity.

Repartee: Conversation or speech characterized by quick, witty comments or replies.
- He is very good at repartee, but he cannot discuss things seriously.

Supervene: Occur later than a specified or implied event or action, typically in such a way as to change the situation. 
- Any plan that is made is liable to be disrupted by supervening events.

Truncate: Shorten (something) by cutting off the top or the end.
- The baseball game was truncated by the rain.  

Unimpeachable: Not able to be doubted, questioned, or criticized; entirely trustworthy.
- He is an unimpeachable witness.