Vocab 6, 7, 8

affable

good-natured, friendly Dobermans and pit bulls are not very affable dogs, in fact, they have a reputation as very mean and ferocious.

paucity

lack, a scarcity, an insufficiency The speaker's high-flown language could not conceal his paucity of ideas.

stagnant

motionless, not moving At age 40, Ira feels like her career is stagnant, and not going anywhere.

lavish

overly luxurious, extravagant The lavish new offices look very impressive.

desultory

random, moving from one thing to another, unplanned Darrin went into emergency with a stomachache, and the doctor gave him only a desultory examination.

ludicrous

ridiculous, laughable Struggling in the wind and rain with my umbrella, with my dog tugging wildly at his leash and my groceries falling everywhere, I must've been a ludicrous sight.

expedient

self-interested, convenient Marty's interest in Elaine seems entirely expedient, he knows she has money and he wants someone wealthy who will support him.

loquacious

talking too much, very talkative Kyle prefers to sleep or read on a long plane trip says it never fails: he always ends up with the loquacious seat companion who wants to chat nonstop.

contract

to become smaller, to become compressed Our company can't seem to decide whether to grow or to contract.

rescind

to cancel, to repeal The state can rescind the licenses of people arrested for driving while drunk.

commiserate

to express sorrow, to sympathize When my dog died, my roommate tried to commiserate with me, but he didn't really understand how I was feeling.

scrutinize

to inspect, to examine The detectives scrutinized the crime scene for fingerprints and other clues.

kindle

to inspire, to stir up, arouse Before Tyrone joined the Navy, Kate had thought of him as just a friend. But his warm, affectionate love letters began to kindle her love for him.

appall

to shock, to horrify At the end of World War II, the facts that emerged about the Nazi concentration camps and death camps appalled the whole world.

vilify

to speak evil of, to badmouth Most of Professor Jones' students praise him, but few vilify him. It's strange that he should be so hated by some and so loved by others.

recapitulate

to sum up, to summarize or repeat briefly Before an exam, Professor Martin always has a review session in which she recapitulates some of the most important material the class has studied.

untenable

unable to be defended, insupportable Jocelyn's theory that the explorers missing at the South Pole had been eaten by polar bears was interesting but untenable.

irresolute

unable to decide, uncertain how to think or act In Hamlet, why doesn't Hamlet kill Claudius sooner? Is it because he is irresolute to act, or because he is prevented from carrying out his purpose?

uniform

unvarying, always the same At Mercy, we wear uniform clothing everyday of the week, except for Fridays!

equivocal

vague, open to more than one interpretation Keith seemed equivocal about whether he'd gotten the job or not.

apocryphal

fictitious, not genuine A hero of American folklore is the giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan, but his story is completely apocryphal.

garbled

distorted, mixed up When Tim printed his essay, a computer error made it come out completely garbled.

hindrance

a barrier, an obstacle The biggest hindrance to peace in the Middle East may be the acts of terrorism committed by both sides.

clamor

a loud noise, hubbub By the time I left the nightclub, I had an awful headache from the clamor of the crowd and the music.

irascible

bad-tempered, easily angered I know my patients are improving when they become grumpy, an irascible patient is on the road to recovery.

negligent

careless While Hester may be a negligent housekeeper--her apartment is dusty and untidy--she makes up for it by being a loving, conscientious mother.

cognizant

conscious of, aware Many Americans have diabetes without being cognizant of their condition.

duplicity

deceit, deliberate deceptiveness Dogs seem incapable of duplicity.

opaque

difficult to understand or explain, obscure We attempted to follow the movie's complex plot, but the character's motives and reactions were too opaque.

obtuse

dimwitted, slow to understand Harvey started to tell an offensive joke at the office luncheon. I kicked him under the table, hoping he'd get the message, but he's too obtuse to understand.