Mr. MarinoName:
English IV
Vocabulary, Moe, and Curly
Week #4
Directions: Write a complete sentence for each of the following sentences that illustrates the meaning of each word. Pay attention to spelling, grammar, and each word’s part of speech (verb, adjective, noun).
- wan (adjective): sickly or suggesting poor health; lacking vitality
ex. Her humongous grin turned into a wan smile as she witnessed her boyfriend fanning her best friend with palm fronds and feeding her grapes.
- to languish (verb): to be or live in a state of depression; to become dispirited; to suffer neglect
ex. Henry languished for years after his breakup with Francesca until a group of friends finally beat him with a happy stick.
ex. Once she discovered the joys of bungee jumping, her homework and friends languished.
- indifferent (adjective); unbiased; that does not matter one way or the other; apathetic or neutral
ex. After playing football his entire life, Jimmy became indifferent to the sport and preferred ping-pong and knitting.
- brazen (adjective): made of brass; contemptuous boldness
ex. The police made a brazen attempt to capture Barney in his secret dinosaur cave which had a hefty supply of ammo and purple mustard gas.
- penury (noun): severe poverty; extreme frugality (adjective form: penurious)
ex. He lost his job at the toy factory and his family thenceforward lived in penuryand with a contempt for Elmo products.
ex. James’s penurious lifestyle changed when he won the lottery.
- sullen (adjective): extremely sad or distraught
ex. The sullen funeral party bid farewell to one of the world’s greatest experimental “clown” psychiatrists, the esteemed Oingy “Boingy” Carmichael.
- to chronicle (verb): to record; to list and describe
ex. Our next science project required us to chronicle the reactions of nudibranchs when they were placed in large quantities of McDonald’s sweet and sour sauce.
- to impede (verb): to hinder; to interfere or slow the progress of
ex. The small door impeded the entrance of the thousands of fans who came to see Fifty Cent recite the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales in Middle English.
- to alter (verb): to change
ex. Once I learned that the entire camping area had burned down, I altered my plans and headed for Pismo.
- futile (adjective): serving no purpose; completely ineffective; trifling
ex. Her futile attempts to win my love included buying me King Falafel for lunch and sending me a necklace of squirrel ears.
- licentious (adjective): lacking legal or moral restraints, especially in the sexual realm; disregard for rules of correctness
ex. After investigating a plethora of licentious college parties, the dean closed the fraternity and expelled the students from school.
- to discourse (verb): to express oneself in words; to converse or talk
ex. On Sunday, Jane and I discoursed about the world’s need for creamier peanut butter and how to make Kraft Macaroni n’ Cheese even cheesier.