Vocab #2

accoutrements – noun personal clothing, accessories, etc.; the equipment of a soldier

-           The professional photographer arrived at the setting accompanied by his assistant and his many accoutrements.

apogee - noun apoapsis in Earth orbit; the point in its orbit where a satellite is at the greatest distance from the Earth; a final climactic stage

-          The crowd waited in anticipation for the apogee of the theatrical act, which was ending before their eyes.

apropos - adj. of an appropriate or pertinent nature; adv. by the way; at an opportune time

-          As was his custom and due to his manners, the guest arrived apropos to every social event he was invited to.

bicker - noun a quarrel about petty points; verb argue over petty things

-          The weary mother had listened to her children bicker for hours about their video games until she finally had enough.

coalesce - verb fuse or cause to grow together; mix together different elements

-          The artist’s work of art was a coalesce of sharp and defined lines with soft blurred colors.

contretemps - noun an awkward clash

-          The co-workers occasionally have small contretemps as is expected in any stressful job during which people of contrasting ideas are confined to a small space.

convolution - noun the action of coiling or twisting or winding together; a convex fold or elevation in the surface of the brain; the shape of something rotating rapidly

-          It was quiet, too quiet, and the mother soon found the reason for such silence: a convoluted mess of yarn which her mischievous two year old had left for her.

cull - noun the person or thing that is rejected or set aside as inferior in quality; verb remove something that has been rejected; look for and gather

-          He spent many hours on the internet hoping to cull the necessary information for his new endeavor.

disparate - adj. including markedly dissimilar elements; fundamentally different or distinct in quality or kind

-          The disparate couple was often the topic of conversation for the gossiping elderly woman whom seemed to find a fault in almost anything.

dogmatic - adj. characterized by assertion of unproved or unprovable principles; relating to or involving dogma; of or pertaining to or characteristic of a doctrine or code of beliefs accepted as authoritative

-          The professor came across as dogmatic for he refused to acknowledge the data and proof before him and continued in an obstinate pursuit of his own theory.

licentious - adj. lacking moral discipline; especially sexually unrestrained

-          Although he was extremely handsome and articulate he was also said to be quite licentious.

mete – verb to distribute or apportion by measure; allot

-          The young man was sought out in order to determine exactly how to mete out punishment between both offenders.

noxious - adj. injurious to physical or mental health

-          Many noxious chemicals were being poured into the nearby stream, killing the many organisms which maintained habitats there.

polemic - adj. of or involving dispute or controversy; noun a controversy (especially over a belief or dogma); a writer who argues in opposition to others (especially in theology)

-          The associate walked into the midst of an occurring polemic at the office, which the boss was quite involved with. 

populous - adj. densely populated

-          The populous city proved difficult to evacuate in times of great need.

probity - noun complete and confirmed integrity; having strong moral principles

-          The benign king ruled his lands with prudence and probity, which is why his people grew to love him.

repartee - noun adroitness and cleverness in reply

-          The rapid repartee that was exchanged between the scholars was enough to leave people awed.

supervene - verb take place as an additional or unexpected development

-          It came as an unpleasant surprise to everyone when it was revealed that the chances for a new illness to supervene were highly probable.

truncate - adj. terminating abruptly by having or as if having an end or point cut off; verb make shorter as if by cutting off; approximate by ignoring all terms beyond a chosen one; replace a corner by a plane

-          Seeing that there was no chance of winning, the student attempted to truncate the argument before he became further embarrassed.

unimpeachable - adj. beyond doubt or reproach; completely acceptable; not open to exception or reproach; free of guilt; not subject to blame

-          The young man, whom was present when the crime was committed, serves as an unimpeachable witness.