Vocabulary Lists 19 – 21
List 19
- aborigine – n. native, first inhabitant; The aborigines had no immunity against the
diseases brought by invaders
- adroit – adj. clever, skillful, deft, dexterous; She is adroit at handling problems, she always seems to know what to do.
- altruism – n. thoughtfulness, unselfishness, philanthropy, compassion; The
mother’s sacrifice for her son was the purest act of altruism.
- animosity – n. ill will, hostility, enmity, hatred,antagonism; We put aside our
animosity so we could work together.
- apposite – adj. fitting, appropriate, apt, timely, decorous; His essay on patriotism contained some very apposite quotations from famous people on the subject.
- bourgeois – adj. conventional, middle-class, respectable; They were a rich, boring,
bourgeois family.
- cerebration – n. thinking, using the brain; The scientific experiment was on
unconscious cerebration and the effects on the body.
- coadjutor – n. helper, assistant, colleague, co-operator; He was appointed coadjutor to the president to advise on foreign affairs.
- concomitant – adj. accompanying, involved, attendant,associated, concurrent; An
improvement in facilities led to a concomitant improvement in morale.
- corroboration – n. confirmation, making certain, supporting, checking; The
teacherwould need corroboration from someone else before believing the
student.
11. culpable –adj. much to blame, deserving of censure,deserving of reproach, guilty;They held her culpable for the accident.
12. dichotomy – n. division into two contradictory parts,split, pair, dualism;Literature often explores the dichotomy between good and evil.
13. dotage – n. mentally feeble usually because of old age,senility, second childhood;
He is in the stage of his dotage where he has trouble remembering things.
14. enigma – n. puzzle, mystery, riddle, dilemma,something obscure or inexplicable;
To his friends he was always something of an enigma.
15. fecundity – n. production, fruitfulness, prolific-ness; The fecundity of crops
pleased the farmers.
List 20
16. flamboyant – adj. showy, florid, flowery, bombastic, ornate, full of exaggerations; The flamboyant gestures of the conductor distracted the crowd.
17. forté – n. (pron. Fór-tay)strong point, specialty, what one excels in, field; Dancing was her forte; she was the best at it.
18. gamut –n. scale, range, extent, field, scope; She experienced the full gamut of human emotions, from laughing to sobbing uncontrollably.
19. hypothetical – adj. theoretical, logical, conjectural; She gave a hypothetical situation to explain her point.
20. impetus – n. energy of motion, push, stimulus, impulse; His discoveries have given impetus to further research.
21. inchoate – adj. just beginning, rudimentary, early stageof development, incipient; When I first met him, I had inchoate feelings of affection for him.
22. indolence – n. laziness, inertia, relaxed inexertion; Students have a general feeling of indolence early in the morning.
23. innocuous – adj. harmless, mild, bland, uninjurious; The small dog was so innocuous I was not frightened by its relentless barking.
24. invidious – adj. offensive, unjust, unfair; The boss made invidious distinctions between employees.
25. licentious – adj. immoral, lewd, libertine; My grandmother felt the reality show was corrupt and licentious in nature.
26. maimed – v. disabled, mutilated, crippled; The attack killed 16 people and maimed several more.
27. meretricious – adj. false, flashy, specious, deceptive; The flamboyant earrings and colorful skirt gave the outfit a meretricious look.
28. nadir – n. rock bottom, low point, the depths; The discussion reached its nadir when people resorted to name calling.
29. nexus – n. binding force, link, tie, connection; The nexus for all of us is our association with Valencia High School.
30. nonentity – n. nobody, person of no influence,unnoticed person; Bill was so quiet he was almost a nonentity at the meeting.
List 21
31. obviate – v. prevented, made unnecessary, avoided; The new medical
treatment obviates the need for surgery.
32. opulent – adj. luxurious, sleek, affluent, wealthy,abundant; He owned
an opulent mansion filled with art and antiques.
33. paucity – n. insufficiency, lack, scarcity; The paucity of money in my
bank account made it difficult to go shopping.
34. petulant –adj. bad-tempered, peevish, irritable,sulky; She was
petulant and fussy as she blamed everyone else for her problems.
35. placid – adj. still, calm, tranquil, composed,self-satisfied; Her placid
disposition made everyone calm and relaxed.
36. profligate –adj. wasteful, careless, extravagant, dissolute; She was
very profligate in her spending, purchasing things she did not
need.
37. puissant – adj. strong, mighty, potent; Cesar Chavez was a puissant
advocate for rights of minorities.
38. querulous – adj. peevish, fretful, nagging, complaining, petulant; My
querulous friends ruined the trip with their constant complaining.
39. recondite – adj. complicated, difficult to grasp,concealed, hidden,
abstruse; Calculus is a recondite subject for someone who
struggles in math.
40. retinue – n. escort, entourage, suite; A celebrity’s retinue handles
certain tasks such as scheduling appearances and her hair and
makeup.
41. salient – adj. noticeable, outstanding, important; The most salient
characteristics of a successful student are perseverance and
intelligence.
42. saturnine – adj. grave, morose, taciturn; The men awaiting
interrogation by police shared a saturnine silence.
43. sonorous - adj. deep, rich, resonant, impressive; The sonorous
waterfall could be heard from a considerable distance.
44. spurious – adj. false, fake, counterfeit, imitation; A spurious Picasso
painting would not fool an art expert.
45. succulent – adj. juicy, pleasant, delicious; The succulent watermelon
was delicious on the hot, summer day.
46. torpid – adj. sluggish, inactive, lethargic, benumbed; The torpid sloth
refused to budge off the tree branch.
47. turbid – adj. muddy, cloudy, muddled, in turmoil; The pool water was
so turbid the swimmers would not go in.
48. uxorious – adj. fond of his wife, demonstrative towards his wife; The
uxorious man gave his wife flowers every day.
49. virago – n. a scolding, ill-tempered wife, shrew; Cinderella’s
stepmother was the epitome of a virago, she only set out to make
Cinderella’s life difficult.
50. voluble – adj. talkative, glib, loquacious, verbose, garrulous; The
voluble politician was never at a loss for words.