Vocabulary Words.Level D. Unit 7.

  1. Adieu- (int.) farewell; (n) good-bye
  2. As my friends boarded the airplane, I waved to them and shouted, “Adieu! Have a safe trip.”
  3. Advent- (n) an arrival; a coming into place or view
  4. The advent of spring if particularly welcome after a long, harsh winter.
  5. Apex- (n) the highest point, tip, summit
  6. If you want to reach the apex of the Washington Monument, take the stairs or an elevator.
  7. Assimilate- (v) to absorb fully; to adopt as one’s own; to adapt fully
  8. “It is true that this is not so much a profile ofa Hollywood queen as perhaps a queen of the Nile. But what does it matter?Assimilationism is so popular in your country.” Beneatha: “I am not an assimilationist!” p. 63
  9. Bogus- (adj) false, counterfeit
  10. Cashiers receive special training so that they will be able to identify bogus currency.
  11. Exorbitant- (adj) unreasonably high; excessive
  12. Management rejected the union’s demands for higher wages and better benefits as exorbitant.
  13. Interim- (n) the time between; (adj) temporary, coming between two points in time
  14. In the interim between landing and takeoff, the ground crew cleaned and refueled the plane.
  15. Inundate- (v) to flood, overflow; to overwhelm by numbers or size
  16. Torrential rains and high tides inundated the streets of the picturesque seaside community.
  17. Malign- (v) to speak evil of, slander; (adj) evil
  18. In every office, there are gossips who are only too willing to malign their coworkers.
  19. Meander- (v) to wander about, wind about; (n) a sharp turn or twist
  20. Lombard Street in San Francisco is famous for its many meanders.
  21. Metropolis- (n) a large city; the chief city in an area
  22. Archaeologists have learned much about the Mayans from the ruins of the metropolis Palenque.
  23. Momentous- (adj) very important
  24. A momentous decision by the Supreme Court in 1954 declared public school segregation as unconstitutional.
  25. Obstreperous- (adj) noisy; unruly, disorderly
  26. Our teacher will not tolerate obstreperous behavior in the classroom.
  27. Pensive- (adj) thoughtful, melancholy
  28. We admired the skill with which the artist captured the child’s pensive expressions.
  29. Perilous- (adj) dangerous
  30. Episodes of old-time movie serials usually ended with the hero or heroine in perilous circumstances.
  31. Shoddy- (adj) of poor quality; characterized by inferior workmanship
  32. That designer watch I bought from a street vendor turned out to be a shoddy knockoff.
  33. Sprightly- (adj) lively, full of life; spicy, flavorful
  34. Though Grandmother is well into her eighties, she is still as sprightly as a teenager.
  35. Surly- (adj) angry and bad-tempered; rude
  36. Passengers stranded in an airport because their flight is canceled may become quite surly.
  37. Tirade- (n) a long, angry speech, usually very critical
  38. The dictator’s televised tirade against his opponents lasted for four hours.
  39. Vagrant- (n) an idle wanderer; (adj) wandering aimlessly
  40. During the Great Depression, many people lost everything and were forced to live as vagrants.
  41. Advertisers continually vie with one another to capture the vagrant attention of fickle consumers.