English 9B

Vocabulary

Set #2

1. strident (stri·dent) adjective

unpleasantly loud and harsh

~ The note boomed again: and then at his firmer pressure, the note, fluking up an octave, became astridentblare more penetrating than before.

~ They think that Trump’sstridentanti-immigrant positions and his controversial comments about women and minorities will help Democrats in the fall.

2. incredulous (in·cred·u·lous) adjective

not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving

~ They were twins, and the eye was shocked andincredulousat such cheery duplication.

~ But the big story of the night will be the pivotal Republican contests, which come at a moment of historicupheaval.

3. furtive (fur·tive) adjective

secret and sly

~ There was a slight, furtive boy whom no one knew, who kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy.

~The man who sat down to join me in the Cross Keys pub had a furtive look.

(adverb: furtively)

4. mortification (mort·i·fi·ca·tion) noun

strong feelings of embarrassment

~ Even the choir applauded; and the freckles on Jack's face disappeared under a blush of mortification.

~ Republicans, experiencing their own mortification, have responded to Trump’s ascendancy in similar fashion.

(verb: mortify) (adjective: mortifying)

5. pallor (pal·lor) noun

an unnatural lack of color in the skin

~ Now that the pallor of his faint was over, he was a skinny, vivid little boy, with a glance coming up from under a hut of straight hair that hung down, black and coarse.

~ The Roman architect Vitruvius thought earthenware pipes would be healthier for drinking water than lead pipes, noting the unhealthy pallor of lead workers.

6. pliant (pli·ant) adjective

capable of being shaped or bent or drawn out

~ Here the roots and stems of creepers were in such tangles that the boys had to thread through them like pliant needles.

~ Ms. Molina may be sturdy one moment and meltingly pliant the next, but she’s always musically sensitive.

(adverb: pliantly)

7. immure (im·mure) verb

lock up or confine, in or as in a jail

~ Immured in these tangles, at perhaps their most difficult moment, Ralph turned with shining eyes to the others.

~ Only when Marina is brought to draw out Pericles does Mr. Carr show a man immured in his own grief gradually awakening to life.

(adjective: immured)

8. contemptuously (con·tempt·u·ous·ly) adverb

without respect; in a disdainful manner

~ "Green candles," said Jack contemptuously.

~ He sparred contemptuously with an executive of Express Scripts at a recent Forbes conference.

(adjective: contemptuous) (noun: contempt)

9. ebullience (e·bull·i·ence) noun

overflowing with eager enjoyment or approval

~ Then, with the martyred expression of a parent who has to keep up with the senseless ebullience of the children, he picked up the conch, turned toward the forest, and began to pick his way over the tumbled scar.

~ If you want to channel this ebullience into something more lasting, it helps to think of principles that transcend the season.

10. officious (off·i·cious) adjective

intrusive in a meddling or offensive manner

~ There was pushing and pulling and officious cries.

~ Is it to stab a particularly officious party guest?

(adverb: officiously)