Vocab #6

abase - verb cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of

-          The scandal fortunately did not abase the credibility of the young man.

abdicate - verb give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations

-          The king was willing to abdicate the power to his eldest son.

abomination - noun an action that is vicious or vile; an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence

-          He paid the consequences for the abomination he had enacted.

brusque - adj. marked by rude or peremptory shortness

-          The woman’s brusque manner caused the dislike in others to burgeon.

saboteur - noun someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks

-          Everyone was on the watch for the potential saboteur who kept slinking away.

debauchery - noun a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity

-          Due to his excessive partying and giving in to debauchery, his business suffered.

proliferate - verb cause to grow or increase rapidly; grow rapidly

-          The virus proliferated rapidly among the inhabitants of the village.

anachronism - noun an artifact that belongs to another time; a person who seems to be displaced in time;

-          The use of anachronism is present in literature and art.

nomenclature - noun a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline

-          Without the use of nomenclature many complex studies could not be divided into simpler subdivisions.

expurgate - verb edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate

-          Before handing the text over to her children, the mother dutifully expurgated all vile language.

bellicose - adj. having or showing a ready disposition to fight

-          The bellicose player earned a suspension from the match.

gauche - adj. lacking social polish

-          The gauche adolescent committed many faux pas at the dinner party.

rapacious - adj. excessively greedy and grasping; devouring or craving food in great quantities

-          The rapacious children took advantage of the buffet to stuff themselves with food.

paradox - noun (logic) a statement that contradicts itself

-          A very common literary technique utilized in literature is the paradox.

conundrum - noun a difficult problem

-          A conundrum presented itself to the woman in the shape of her broken down vehicle.

anomaly - noun a person who is unusual; deviation from the normal or common order or form or rule

-          A circus will often take advantage of the anomalies of certain individuals.

ephemeral - adj. lasting a very short time; noun anything short-lived

-          The ephemeral presentation satisfied very few.

rancorous - adj. showing deep-seated resentment

-          One must learn to deal carefully with rancorous people so that no lasting resentments are left.

churlish - adj. having a bad disposition; surly; rude and boorish

-          Despite having had a pleasant childhood, the young woman came to develop a churlish personality.

precipitous - adj. extremely steep; done with very great haste and without due deliberation

  The precipitous event ran smoothly even though it had been organized a day before.