Sadlier-Oxford Vocabulary Workshop Level H: Unit 3 Definitions

pragmatic

(adj.) concerned with practical considerations or values; dealing with actions and results rather than with abstract theory; stiff in one's opinions

gratis

(adj.) free; (adv.) without charge

therapeutic

(adj.) having the power to heal or cure; beneficial

quizzical

(adj.) puzzled; mocking; odd; equivocal

ancillary

(adj.) subordinate or supplementary

virtuoso

(n.) a brilliant performer; a person with masterly skill or technique; (adj.) masterly or brilliant

schism

(n.) a formal split within a religious organization; any division or separation of a group or organization into hostile factions

forte

(n.) a person's strong point; what a person does best

icon

(n.) a representation or image of a sacred personage, often considered sacred itself; an image or picture; a symbol; a graphic symbol on a computer monitor display; an object of blind devotion

interstice

(n.) a small, narrow space between things or parts of things

paean

(n.) a song of praise, joy, or triumph

mountebank

(n.) a trickster or swindler; a charlatan

enclave

(n.) an enclosed district, region, or area inhabited by a particular group of people or having a special character

rapacity

(n.) inordinate greed; the disposition to obtain one's desires by force, extortion, or plunder

persiflage

(n.) lighthearted joking, talk, or writing

plethora

(n.) overfullness; superabundance; superfluity

macrocosm

(n.) the universe considered as a whole; the entire complex structure of something

condescend

(v.) to come down or stoop voluntarily to a lower level; to deal with people in a patronizing manner

bowdlerize

(v.) to remove material considered offensive (from a book, play, film, etc.)

cozen

(v.) to trick; to cheat or swindle