Unit 1

salutary

(adj.) beneficial, helpful; healthful, wholesome his words had salutary intentions but were generally ineffectual in calming the project team down

nebulous

(adj.) cloudlike, resembling a cloud; cloudy in color, not transparent; vague, confused, indistinct

specious

(adj.) deceptive, apparently good or valid but lacking real merit; suspect while his speech sounded eloquent and sanctimonious, his claims were specious and quickly debunked with a few web searches

feckless

(adj.) lacking in spirit and strength; ineffective, weak; irresponsible, unreliable they couldn't be relied on to come up with the money needed to pay for their share of the school festival so the teacher went to the students' parents directly

timorous

fearful, timid, unsteady the investors were timorous folks who needed constant reassurance

perennial

(adj.) lasting for a long time, persistent; (n.) a plant that lives for many years

sedulous

(adj.) persistent, showing industry and determination their crew members' schedules reflected the team's sedulousness, with training from 5 AM to practices ending at 3 PM

perspicacity

(n.) keenness in observing and understanding, shrewdness, cleverness Athena's chosen maidens exhibited a profound perspicacity and were lauded scholars of her temples

ennui

(n.) weariness and dissatisfaction from lack of occupation or interest, boredom; generally refers to the feeling of jadedness that can result from living a life of too much ease. the characters in the novel effected a sense of ennui, layered in rich furs and crocodile skins

dilettante

(n.)amateur, a dabbler in the arts; one who engages in an activity in an amateurish, trifling way; (adj.) superficial Afraid of only ever being known as a dilettante of the arts, he dedicated hours each day to honing his craft under the watchful eye of a masterful artisan

impugn

(v.) to call into question; to attack as false; scorn they should not impugn her ability as a skilled entrepreneur by withholding crucial funding and investments

evince

(v.) to display clearly, to make evident, to provoke, to reflect the truth of she didn't need to say it, but her actions evinced that she truly despised him

burnish

(v.) to make smooth or glossy by rubbing, polish; (n.) gloss, brightness, luster i burnished the car side with sharpie and old polish in hopes that the bike scratch wouldn't show

expurgate

(v.) to remove objectionable passages or words from a written text; to cleanse, purify the public schools took it upon themselves to expurgate the books of any curse words or content they disagreed with

calumniate

(v.) to slander; to accuse falsely and maliciously the press calumniated her promiscuity after photos were leaked

enervate

(v.) to weaken or lessen the mental, moral, or physical vigor of; enfeeble, hamstring her questions gradually enervated the witness until he broke down on the stand

accolade

tribute; honor; praise 盛赞 - 盛赞一项义举 sheng4zan4 xiang4yi4ju3 accolade philanthropic acts

parried

Deflected or warded off; avoided like a skilled swordsman, she parried the insults and subtle derisions with grace

mellifluous

Sweetly flowing or sounding she had a mellifluous voice, perfect for choir

numismatist

a coin collector

elegy

a sad or mournful poem syn: dirge; lament 悲歌，哀歌

centurion

an officer in the ancient Roman army, which originally had one hundred men

archaic

ancient; old-fashioned

apposite

appropriate; fitting he always managed to find the apposite phrases that best communicated the ideas she was trying to convey

contentious

argumentative we entered a contentious debate over which of the author's novels was the best

resplendent

attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous, shining, glowing the christmas decorations were resplendent and continued down the length of the street

piquant

attractive, strong flavor, delightful, pleasantly sharp taste or flavor that wine was *chef's kiss,* full and piquant indeed

nascent

beginning to exist, develop, emerge his skills were nascent, but the piano teacher knew that they could develop further 新生

tendentious

biased, marked by a strong pov He took issue with the tendentious style of the documentary, citing it deviated too far from the reality of construction workers

puerile

childish, immature they were exceedingly puerile in their approach to resolving workplace disputes and conflicts

solicitous

concerned, attentive, eager she was solicitous to show her interest in working for the campaigner's team

iconoclastic

contradictory to tradition, heretical 左，邪说xie2

pith

core, essence; forceful and concise expression his closing arguments hit the pith of the case in question: the role of choice in taking one's own life

despondent

depressed, without courage or hope i was despondent after my boyfriend broke up with me, but elated after reflection

opprobrium

disgrace, contempt, reproach, scorn he was an object of opprobrium after news leaked of his embezzlement and wasteful character 冒大不韪 - 不韪 mao4dabuwei3 to face opprobrium (idiom)

belie

disprove, contradict, disagree with current conditions of inequality so gross that party members on both sides belied existing issues and sought to find policy solutions

plastic

easily influenced, not rigid his personality was remarkably plastic and his opinions -- or lack thereof -- reflected as such

edifying

enlightening, uplifting (moral/educational improvement); instruct or improve one's moral upstanding the works of Dickens are edifying texts that criticize the negative effects of social isolation and debt prisons

nice

exacting, fastidious, precise he made a nice distinction between nice and nice.

surfeit

excess i bought a surfeit of books at barnes and noble the other day

garrulousness

extreme talkativeness networking is tiring sometimes it requires me to be a false, garrulous person

mendicant

given to begging; beggar along the streets, there were dozens of tents that housed mendicants and their associates

profundity

great depth of intellect, feeling, or meaning she thought he would confess with greater profundities rather than "you're cool let's hang"

parlous

greatly, excessively (adverb); dangerous, precarious, uncertain the household finances were in parlous condition with more account payables than receivables

rapacious

greedy, aggressively plundering the landlords rapaciously knocked on the tenants' doors demanding last month's rent

jocular

humorous, jesting, jolly, joking he said the comment jocularly but the rest of the group was uneasy about the delivery and took offense

derivative

imitative, secondary, unoriginal, usually with negative connotation Nobody sees through the tacky, derivative reality tv shows better than the commercial viewer

sophomoric

immature, puerile there's a reason why sophomores are called sophomores; after only a year in college, they already deem themselves wise despite their sophomoric status 幼稚 you4zhi4

pugnacity

inclined to quarrel or fight readily; quarrelsome; belligerent; combative the bullies were pugnacious and ready to fight for some pocket money

obstreperous

noisy; unruly, disorderly could not sleep till 2 because the neighbors were obstreperous with their constant arguments and fights

intransigent

irreconcilable, uncompromising no matter how much the children bickered, the mother was intransigent in donating her millions to several nonprofits 顽固不化wan2gu4 stubborn no change

execrable

loathsome, detestable the local credit unions were highly suspect and execrable, charging exorbitant interest rates on mortgage loans

august

majestic, impressive, inspiring admiration and respect she toured the august libraries of the old Austrian monks of the newly restored estate

quiescent

motionless, still, at rest the pond reflected the quiescent, still moon

enigmatic

mysterious~~, puzzling, obscure, difficult to understand stupid cliche tropes paint fancy rich people as enigmatic and above-board

inchoate

not fully formed, disorganized, not fully realized i was trying to form sentences in Korean but my language skills were still inchoate 不发达，朴素pu3su4

philanderer

one who makes love insincerely; one who engages in passing love affairs hope my friends do not fall into the arms of a philanderer

canonical

orthodox, following traditional standards

sinecure

position that requires minimal work but gives the holder status, money, or other benefits he not only managed to find sinecures in the government legislative office but also in his father's multinational corporation

encomium

praise, tribute, eulogy

pillory

punish, hold to public scorn or contempt

bellicose

quarrelsome, ready to square up

maverick

rebel, unorthodox, iconoclast Elvis could be considered a hip-swinging maverick

pecuniary

related to money I can't say I did not have pecuniary motivations for my career of choice

temporal

relating to the everyday world as opposed to that which is spiritual or eternal she considered herself a more practical, temporal person at the cost of developing her individual spirituality

acquiescent

reluctantly agreeable; compliant

flag

sag, droop, decline; mark something of notice the dog flagged down as the tranquilizer kicked in

steep

saturate, soak, sharp incline i steeped the earl gray tea bags in hot milk for four minutes

axiomatic

self-evident, unquestionable, obvious his claims in his diary were more axiomatic, with only a dash profoundness

austere

severe, strict, unadorned

assiduous

showing great care, engagement, and perseverance she assiduously poked him on the cheeks every morning to wake him up

emollient

softening, smoothening many of the ingredients in moisturizers are ideally emollient and emulsified together 润肤剂 run4fu1ji4

pedant

someone who shows off learning, obsessed with details/rules/academia he was a pedant, ascribing centuries' old rules and practicum on his ten year old son

mollifying

soothing, appeasing, reducing (temper) intensity the cat's purrs had a mollifying effect on her poor temper after returning home from work

exagitate

stir up, agitate; censure or harass

apocryphal

sus, fictional even the text threads were so wild they seemed apocryphal

loquacious

talk a lot 啰嗦 luo1suo

philately

the collection and study of postage stamps

zenith

the highest point

erudition

the quality of having or showing great knowledge or learning; scholarship as a liberal arts student, she was inclined to give off an air of erudition and stick-up-buttness

renege

to break a promise, go back on one's word bruh u reneged how dare u i already gave u 10 stones for this mission not pog 返回

rail

to complain about bitterly she railed against her parents over her boyfriend

dessicate

to dry out i picked up some dessicated deer skin from the grocers

expatiate

to elaborate, write about in detail, pontificate about they could expatiate for hours about their experiences as a counselor for young juveniles

reconnoitered

to make an observation of (a region), especially for military purposes the army ships reconnoitered the shore before landing

consecrate

to make sacred, hallow; to set apart for a special purpose

beatify

to make very happy, to bless i would be honored if you would beatify me by getting rid of my cat

auspice

to predict, support; to favor, protect the department was under the auspices of the watchful dean, who regarded the faculty highly 由主办，展览会将由农业部主板 you2zhu3ban4

forestall

to prevent by taking action first, obstructs an action, prevents someone from doing something she forestalled his departure by hiding his keys

exculpate

to prove innocent, free from blame 开脱罪责 kai1tuo1zui4ze2

abrogate

to repeal, cancel, do away with a law/right/formal agreement avoid responsibility as a manager one cannot abrogate client interests and fiduciary duties in favor of their own

vituperate

to use harsh condemnatory language; to abuse or censure severely or abusively; to berate the partner's vituperative and vengeful attitude towards first year analysts made incoming employees cower and avoid him

vitiate

to weaken, debase, corrupt; reduce the quality of DOC budget cuts vitiated the already dwindling supply of correctional officers to work at the prisons

brook

tolerate, allow, endure, countenance he would brook anyone who smelled dank from entering his household

inured

used to or hardened to something tough the children were inured to rigorous academic instruction

equivocation

using vague language to avoid commitment/making a point/conceal the truth will you not show me your true self without equivocation? *uwu eyes*

prefigure

v. to look like or predict a later thing or event, foreshadow the horrifying dreams prefigured a shitty day to come

prolix

verbose, wordy their commencement address was unnecessarily prolix, composing of a twenty-minute sermon on education and morals 烦冗 fan2rong3

dross

waste, refuse, worthless stuff i wonder how much of the things i leave behind will be considered dross or junk

perigee

where a satellite is closest to the earth