Vocab 6

acrimonious

bitter and caustic in temper, manner speech

agnostic

a person who believes that the human mind cannot know whether there is a God or an ultimate cause

alacrity

eager willingness or readiness often manifested by quick, lively action

apropos

fitting to the occasion, relevant

atavism

appearance in an individual of some characteristic found in a remote ancestor but not in nearer ancestors

billingsgate

foul, vulgar, abusive talk

cathartic

purging, effecting catharsis [the purification or relieving of emotional tensions, esp. by art]

circumlocution

a roundabout, indirect, or lengthy way of expressing something

commiserate

to feel or show sorrow or pity for

contiguous

adjacent, touching along all or most of one side

diffident

lacking self-confidence, timid, shy

duplicity

hypocritical cunning or deception, double-dealing

empirical

relying or based on practical experience without reference to scientific principals or relying or based solely on experiment and observation rather than theory

equivocate

to mislead, to hedge, to be deliberately ambiguous

fastidious

refined in too dainty or oversensitive way, so as to be disgusted easily or not easy to please, very critical/discriminating

fortuitous

happening by chance, accidental or bring [or happening by] good luck, fortunate

germane

truly relevant, pertinent, to the point

heinous

outrageously wicked or evil, abominable

inculcate

to impress upon the mind by frequent repetition or persistent urging

indigenous

native, existing or growing naturally in a region/ country or innate, inherent, inborm

intrepid

brave, not afraid, bold, fearless

lexicon

the special vocabulary of a particular author, field of study or a record or inventory [a notable case in the lexicon of subversion]

ostracize

to banish, bar, exclude

petulant

impatient or irritable esp. over a petty annoyance

sententious

full of, or fond of using, maxims, proverbs, sayings esp. in a way that is ponderously trite and moralizing

obnubilate

to darken, dim, cloud over or obscure

keb

a ewe that has lost her lamb, or whose lamb is still-born

pandowdy

a dessert, usually of apples, baked in a deep dish and topped with a crust which is broken up into the fruit midway through cooking

twitterpated

1. love struck, besotted
2. Thrilled, excited, obsesses
3. Foolish, silly; flighty, scatterbrained

flotsam

1. floating wreckage of a ship or its cargo; broadly: floating debris
2. a floating population (as of emigrants or castaways)
3. miscellaneous or unimportant material
4. debris, remains

jetsam

the part of a ship, its equipment, or its cargo that is cast overboard to lighten the load in time of distress and that sinks or is washed ashore

oxymoron

a paradox reduced to two words, usually in a adjective-noun or adverb-adjective relation ship, and is used for effect, complexity, emphasis, or wit

allusion

a short, informal reference to a famous person or event

trochee

(trochaic) a metrical unit with stressed + unstressed syllables