vocabulary workshop level H unit 1-2

chimerical

(adj.) absurd; wildly fantastic; impossible

oblivious

(adj.) forgetful; unaware

ribald

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

effete

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 lacking in wholesome vigor or energy; worn-out or exhausted; sterile or unable to produce; out of date

supine

(adj.) lying flat on one's back; listless or lethargic; apathetic or passive

hidebound

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

noisome

(adj.) offensive or disgusting; foul-smelling; harmful or injurious

quasi

(adj.) resembling but not actually being; seemingly but not actually or completely

poltroon

(n.) a base coward

proselyte

(n.) a convert; a disciple

morass

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

liturgy

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

vignette

(n.) 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

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

hierarchy

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

raillery

(n.) good-humored ridicule; teasing

adjunct

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

mirage

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

bellwether

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

caterwaul

(v.) to howl or screech like a cat; to quarrel; (n.) a harsh or noisy cry; a racket

claque

a group of people hired to applaud a performer or performance; opera hat

microcosm

a mini world or universe

vassal

a person under the protection of a feudal lord to whom he/she owes allegiance; a subordinate; subservient

solecism

a substandard or ungrammatical usage; a breach of etiquette; any impropriety or mistake

eleemosynary

charitable; dependent upon charity

melee

confused struggled; violent free-for-all; a tumultuous mingling

obfuscate

darken or obscure; to confuse or bewilder

lexicon

dictionary of a language; a compendium

bibulous

found of or inclined to drink; absorbent

lachrymose

given to tears or weeping; lugubrious

sanguine

having a ruddy complexion; of a naturally cheerful outlook

indigenous

native

paternalism

policy of treating people in the manner of a father dealing with his children

aegis

protection, patronage, sponsorship

purview

range of something; in law, the scope of what is provided in a statute

minuscule

small, tiny; lower case letter

verisimilitude

the quality of appearing to be true, real, likely, or probable

polarize

to cause to concentrate around tow conflicting or contrasting positions

apprise

to inform of; to make aware of by giving oral or written notice

deracinate

to pull up by the roots