The Vocabulary Builder Workbook, lesson 26-30

indolence

(n.) If your boss catches you sleeping with your head on your desk, she's likely to comment on your _________. _________ is another word for laziness.

ebullient

(n.) More than chipper, more than happy, more than delighted is _________ — meaning bubbling over with joy and delight.

alacrity

(n.) Someone with ________ shows cheerful willingness and eager behavior, like a kid whose mother has told him he can buy anything in a candy store.

sesquipedalian

(n.) Use the noun ______________ to describe a person inclined to using very long words. Use as an adjective to describe a word that's very long and multisyllabic. For example the word ______________ is in fact ______________.

eponymous

(n.) When something is _________, it takes its own name as a new word. For example, platonic is derived from Plato, the philosopher known for his great mind.

celerity

(n.) While it looks a lot like celery, _________ means something that vegetables are not — fast moving. Gossip often travels with ________, as do children trying to get to a big plate of cookies.

brunch

(n.) ______ is a portmanteau of breakfast and lunch.

tautology

(n.) _________ is useless restatement, or saying the same thing twice using different words. "Speedy sprint" is a _________ because sprint already means "speedy running."

pedagogue

(n.) __________ is another name for "teacher," but one who is strict, stiff or old-fashioned. The word comes from the Greek pedo for "child" and agogos for "leader." A _________ leads people by teaching.

portmanteau

(n.) ___________ is a new word formed by joining two others and combining their meanings. The word "electrocution" is a little-known ___________ a mash-up of the words "electricity" and "execution."

exuberant

(n.) Are you feeling really happy and enthusiastic about something? Describe yourself with the adjective _________!

barbarism

(n.) A _________ is a nonstandard word, expression or pronunciation in a language, particularly one regarded as an error in morphology, while a solecism is an error in syntax.

dispatch

(n.) Anything that complete with prompt and efficient was done with _________.

cryptic

(adj.) "White bunny. Moon square." Do you understand what that means? Of course not! It's totally _______. _______ comments or messages are hard to understand because they seem to have a hidden meaning.

vivacious

(adj.) A _________ person is lively and spirited: a _________ dancer might do a back-flip off the wall and then jump into the arms of her partner.

bustle

(adj.) A flurry of activity and commotion is often referred to as ______. If you want to see true ______ in action, just walk through Times Square in New York during lunch hour.

eminent

(adj.) Anyone highly regarded or prominent is _______. _______ people are very successful at their jobs. If you've heard of Neil deGrasse Tyson, it's probably because he's an _______ astrophysicist.

benighted

(adj.) Being called _________ is much like being called naïve. It means lacking in knowledge or understanding—the kind you might have if you were older or more sophisticated.

lackadaisical

(adj.) Even though _____________ sounds like it has something to do with a shortage of daisies, know that what it really means is lacking in spirit or liveliness.

feckless

(adj.) If a newspaper editorial describes a politician as ________, you might wonder, "What is feck, and why doesn't he have any?" In fact, the columnist is accusing the politician of being irresponsible and incompetent.

industrious

(adj.) If someone comments that you are very ___________ , they are complimenting you for working hard and tirelessly. You can have the evening to yourself if you're ___________ enough during the afternoon to get your homework and chores done.

oblique

(adj.) If something is _______, it has a slanting position or direction. In figurative use, _______ means indirect or purposely misleading. "What is two plus two?" "Fish!" as an answer is completely _______.

erudite

(adj.) If you call someone _______, that means they show great learning. After you've earned your second Ph.D., you will be truly _______.

assiduous

(adj.) If you call someone _________, it's a compliment. It means they're careful, methodical and very persistent. Good detectives are classically _________types.

archaic

(adj.) If you use the adjective _______ you are referring to a word belonging to an earlier period, typically no longer in use.

unlettered

(adj.) Someone who's __________ hasn't read many books or spent much time in school. Your __________ cousin might not understand the Shakespearean quotes you like to throw into conversation.

lucid

(adj.) Something that's _____ is clear and understandable. _____ writing is important in journalism, so that readers easily get the point of the article they're reading.

limpid

(adj.) The adjective ______ describes something (often liquid or writing) that is clear, serene and bright.

pedantic

(adj.) There's nothing wrong with focusing on the details, but someone who is ________ are overly fussy for trivial academic knowledge.

bombastic

(adj.) To be _________ is to be full of hot air — like a politician who makes grand promises and doesn't deliver. It is used to describe someone whose speech is inflated and self-important.

lethargic

(adj.) When you feel _________, you're sluggish or lacking energy. Being sleepy or hungry can make anyone _________.

torpid

(adj.) While the adjective ______ sounds a lot like the noun torpedo, it actually describes something slow or even inactive, like the torpedo that's just sitting around before it's launched.

phlegmatic

(adj.) Yes, __________ has roots in that colorless, mousy stuff called phlegm, but people who are __________ aren't called that because they have lots of mucus. They are just a little dull in expressing feelings or showing emotion.

turgid

(adj.) ______ describe a piece of writing that is bombastic and puffed up. The manager wrote long, turgid emails that contained little substance but conveyed to the recipient the manager's sense of self-importance. ______ can also use to describe something that's swollen, typically by fluids.

collegial

(adj.) _________ is an adjective describing a work environment where responsibility and authority is shared equally by colleagues. You know you work in a _________ environment when your co-workers smile at you, and you don't have to hide from your supervisor.

palindrome

(n.) "Madam, I'm Adam," says Adam when he meets a woman for the first time. Not only is Adam polite, he's also using a ___________, a word or phrase that can be read the same way either forward or backward.

neologism

(n.) A _________ is a made-up or new word. In the 1990s the word Internet was a _________, though these days the term seems as though it has been around forever.