I will test you over these words on August 31st. You must have your own example sentences written out for all of these words by Monday, August 24th. Your test on the 31st will be a fill in the blank test that uses the words in the same context that they are being used here. I will NOT be using the same sentences, so don't just memorize the sentence.
1. openhanded: giving freely (adj.)
Our new homeroom teacher bought our entire class pizza yesterday. She is a very openhanded person.
2. declaim: speak against (verb)
Martin Luther King Jr. declaimed against segregation.
3. hidebound: stubbornly conservative (adj.)
My grandfather was known for his hidebound attitude towards women.
4. pedant: person holding books in esteem (n.)
It is common to find pedants in libraries and bookstores.
5. lampoon: a composition that imitates or misrepresents someone’s style. (n.)
Tina Fey is famous in the United States for the lampoons that she wrote and performed for Saturday Night Live.
6. sanguine: optimistic and cheerful (adj.)
Chun Woo Kim has a very sanguine personality.
7. acute: serious, pervasive (adj.)
He has acute pain in his left knee.
8. temerity: unreasonable or foolhardy contempt for danger, recklessness, boldness, audacity (n.)
Miss Jones was shocked at Melissa’s temerity when she ran away with a criminal.
9. parry: to deflect a blow (v.)
Barbarossa thrust his sword at Captain Jack’s head. Thankfully, Jack was able to parry the blow.
10. martial: pertaining to war (adj.)
Alexander the Great was a genius in martial tactics.
11. bilk: defraud, cheat, or swindle. (v.)
Miss Jones gave me a cookie, but then Bruce bilked me out of it and ate it.
12. equine: of horses and hoofed animals. (adj.)
She won three Olympic gold medals in the equine events.
13. incisive: penetrating, sharp, cutting (adj.)
Miss Dove was known for her incisive and intimidating words.
14. pedestrian: walker (noun); can also mean unimaginative (adj.)
This pathway is for pedestrians.
Even though the essay was well-written, the concepts within the essay were pedestrian and unoriginal.
15. ululate: to howl, wail (v.)
The room was filled with the sound of ululating women.
16. Tetchy: irritable, peevish, testy, grumpy (adj.)
She gets tetchy on rainy days.
17. inanition: exhaustion from lack of nourishment; also, emptiness. (n.)
A country can lose its power from foreign invasion and extreme inanition.
18. esoteric: intended or understood by chosen few. (adj.)
I find most modern art too esoteric for my tastes.
19. scintilla: a tiny amount; a spark. (n.)
My homeroom is sad because there is only a scintilla of hot chocolate left.
20. cormorant: a gluttonous or greedy person. (n.)
Many people agree that Bernard Madoff was a cormorant. He embezzled over 800 million dollars!
21. libation: the act of pouring a liquid as a sacrifice; also, a beverage. (n.)
In Greek funerals, it was common to offer a libation to the gods.
Will there be any libations at the party?
22. elucidate: to make clear or manifest (v.)
When we didn’t understand the essay assignment, Miss Jones elucidated her expectations.
23. florid: flushed with red, also, excessively ornate. (adj.)
His face gets florid when he drinks too much alcohol.
His face gets florid when he runs the campus lap.
24. diatribe: a bitter verbal attack. (n.)
We were shocked by her diatribe against the school’s dating policy.
25. veracity: truth, truthfulness. (n.)
I often doubt the veracity of the news reports about celebrities.
26. pithy: concise and forceful in description. (adj.)
I was disappointed by his pithy declaration of love.
27. spoonerism: the transposition of usually initial sounds in a pair of words. (n.)
I was nervous so when I introduced myself, I committed a spoonerism, saying my name was “Jiss Mones” instead of Miss Jones.
Example of another spoonerism:
Maniel Doon instead of Daniel Moon
28. thaumaturgy: performance of miracles or magic (n)
Merlin used thaumaturgy to help King Arthur become the King of England.
29. tumult: commotion or agitation of a crowd (n.)
When South Korea lost the baseball final against Japan, it was hard for the teacher to control the tumult within her classroom.
30. propinquity: nearness (n.)
Sometimes I find North Korea’s propinquity frightening.
31. feckless: ineffective; weak; worthless. (adj.)
I was not impressed by his feckless solution for the financial crisis.
32. velleity: a slight wish or inclination. (n.)
When I asked him if he wanted some hot chocolate, his velleity was revealed when a small smile flashed across his face.
33. osculation: the act of kissing; a kiss. (n.)
Most boys dislike the idea of osculation when they are young. However, when they are older, they are very fond of it.
34. ludic: playful (adj.)
The teacher was filled with the ludic spirit of spring, so she let the children study outside.
35. contretemps: something inopportune or embarrassing. (adj.)
Even though I loved him deeply, the way he proposed was contretemps.
36. jape: a trick or practical joke. (n.)
The japes on April Fool’s day failed to amuse me.
37. gambol: to dance and skip about in play. (v.)
When I went to the zoo, I saw the baby goats gamboling in the grass.
38. longueur: a tedious passage in a work of literature or performance art. (n.)
If our textbook had been devoted solely to Puritan sermons, it would have been filled with longueurs, but thankfully, the editors of the text knew better.
39. flummox: to confuse; to perplex. (v.)
I was flummoxed by my last math test.
40. grandiloquent: expressed in a lofty style; pompous; bombastic. (adj.)
It always annoys me when our pastor prays in a grandiloquent tone—when he prays like that, it doesn’t seem sincere.
41. aegis: a shield, protection (n.)
A third round of talks is scheduled to begin on May 23rd in New York under the aegis of the United Nations.
42. nescience: lack of knowledge or awareness. (n.)
I am sometimes appalled by his nescience when it comes to world affairs.
43. chimerical: merely imaginary; fanciful. (adj.)
These risks are real, not chimerical.
44. impugn: to call in question; to make insinuations against. (v.)
His trustworthiness was impugned after he was caught cheating on his biology exam.
45. frisson: a brief moment of intense excitement. (n)
When she saw him coming towards her, she felt a frisson rush over her.
46. portend: to foreshadow; to bode. (v)
The teacher’s stern expression portended the difficult pop quiz.
47. pulchritude: beauty. (n)
Aphrodite was known for her pulchritude.
48. susurrus: a whispering or rustling sound. (n)
As I walked in the woods, I heard a susurrus in the bushes.
49. labile: open to change; apt or likely to change. (adj.)
I want to give them a pop quiz tomorrow, but my plans are labile.
50. outré: Unconventional; eccentric; bizarre. (adj.)
I really enjoy movies with an outré sense of humor.
51. etiolate: to blanch or bleach; to make sickly. (v)
His mother was worried about his condition: he had feverish eyes, a gaunt face, and an etiolated body.
52. ephemeral: lasting a very short time. (adj.)
When you are young, you think that you will last forever, but in fact, life is ephemeral and not to be overlooked.
53.quiddity: the essence or nature of a thing. (n.)
The quiddity of love is hard to define.
54. crepuscular: pertaining to twilight. (adj.)
Sometimes the chapel’s light can seem crepuscular.
55. stormy petrel: a type of seabird; also, one fond of bringing strife. (n.)
When my sister Alberta was young, she was the stormy petrel of the family.
56. peccadillo: a slight offense; a petty fault. (n.)
Even though Miss Jones is messy and disorganized, her students forgive her for her peccadilloes and love her anyway.
57. invidious: tending to provoke envy or ill will. (adj.)
When our boss did not give us a raise and instead bought a new car, many people saw this as an invidious act.
58. paladin: a champion of a cause. (n.)
In South Korea, Minerva was a paladin for free speech.
59. gainsay: to contradict; to deny. (v.)
It was hard to gainsay his guilt once the bloody knife was found in his backpack.
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