Sadlier-Oxford Vocab Level H - Unit 1

chimerical

(adjective) absurd; wildly fantastic; impossible

oblivious

(adjective) forgetful; unaware

ribald

(adjective) irreverently mocking; coarse, vulgar, or indecent in language

effete

(adjective) lacking in wholesome vigor or energy; worn-out or exhausted; sterile or unable to produce; out-of-date

supine

(adjective) lyng flat on one's back; listless or lethargic; apathetic or passive

hidebound

(adjective) narrow-minded and rigid, especially in opinions or prejudices; stubbornly and unthinkingly conservative

noisome

(adjective) offensive or disgusting; foul-smelling; harmful or injurious

quasi

(adjective) resembling but not actually being; seemingly but not actually or completely

poltroon

(noun) a base coward

proselyte

(noun) a convert; a disciple

morass

(noun) a patch of low, soft, wet ground; a swamp; a confusing situation in which one is entrapped, as in quicksand

liturgy

(noun) a religious service or rite; the form of a ritual or other act of public worship

vignette

(noun) a short description or sketch; a picture or illustration with edges that gradually shade off; a decorative design on the title page of a book or at the beginning or end of a chapter

fait accompli

(noun) an accomplished and presumably irreversible deed, fact, or action

hierarchy

(noun) any system of things or people arranged or graded one above another in order of rank, wealth, class, etc.

raillery

(noun) good-humored ridicule; teasing

adjunct

(noun) something added to something else as helpful or useful but not essential; an assistant or helper; a valuable quality or characteristic (adjective) added or connected in a subordinate capacity; attached to a faculty or staff in an auxiliary capacity

mirage

(noun) something illusory, without substance or without a basis in reality; an illusion

bellwether

(noun) the male sheep that leads the flock to the slaughterhouse; a leader, as in a desperate or violent undertaking; an indicator of trends

caterwaul

(verb) to howl or screech like a cat; to quarrel (noun) a harsh or noisy cry; a racket