SAT Vocab

shard

This noun most often refers to a piece of broken pottery or a fragment of any brittle material, but it can also be used to mean "a small piece."

supernumerary

This noun refers to a person who is in excess of a required number, but it is most often used as an elegant word for an "extra" in a movie or dramatic work.

Armageddon

This noun refers to a projected final battle between the forces of good and evil to occur at the end of time.

jeremiad

This noun refers to a speech or written work that mournfully laments the wrongdoings of mankind and predicts a kind of wholesale doom to descend on mankind.

pittance

This noun refers to a tiny amount, whether, as frequently, of money or of some more abstract entity.

apocalypse

This noun refers to a vision of the total destruction of the world, cosmic devastation.

Gorgon

This noun refers to a woman who is regarded as terrifying.

juggernaut

This noun refers to any overwhelmingly powerful, unstoppable force, usually destructive.

ordnance

This noun refers to items as dissimilar as weapons, ammunition, vehicles—whatever is needed to keep the military going.

bombast

This noun refers to padded, pretentious speech

quintessence

This noun refers to something that is not at any extreme except the extreme of being purely or perfectly itself.

recrimination

This noun refers to the fact of countering one accusation with another.

carnage

This noun refers to the slaughter inevitable in any war.

docent

This noun represents a specific kind of teacher. It is someone who lectures at a university without being a regular faculty member or a tour guide who lectures at a museum or cathedral.

grandiloquence

This noun, literally meaning "grand speaking," could in theory be positive, but in fact it is always negative, denoting pompous speech.

nadir

This noun, meaning "lowest point" stands alone against the quartet of words for its opposite.

hegemony

This noun, which became very trendy in the late twentieth century, means just that: predominant influence of one nation over another.

pedant

This nouns means a person who is ostentatiously learned and narrow minded.

bathos

This singular noun, coming from the Greek word for "deep," refers to a literary effect that is overly commonplace or grossly sentimental. Less talented authors unintentionally fall into it, but parodists or satirists may seek it out for effect.

aggrandize

This verb can mean "to make greater," but today it's almost always used to refer to someone's making himself seem greater by exaggerating or by belittling others.

wheedle

This verb describes a process of flattery or guile to achieve a desired end. Sycophants are good at this.

subjugate

This verb expresses the action of conquering, enslaving.

finagle

This verb isn't quite slang, but it's a more informal way of saying "to take by dishonest means" or "to swindle." It's sometimes used to suggest actions that are a bit more manipulative and a bit less deceitful than out-and-out cheating.

lowering

This verb means "to appear dark or threatening."

provoke

This verb means "to incite to action or feeling," more specifically to feelings of anger or frustration.

edify

This verb means "to instruct morally, intellectually, or spiritually."

exasperate

This verb means "to irritate" or "annoy" or to feel "irritated" or "annoyed."

harass

This verb means "to persistently torment or irritate" or "to wear out with repeated attacks."

ruminate

This verb means "to reflect on carefully" or "to chew over" in the mind, "to meditate upon."

exacerbate

This verb means to "aggravate" or "increase its severity."

beleaguer

This verb means," to persistently torment" or "surround with troops."

plunder

This verb refers to the seizing of property during war or some similar act of force.

pontificate

This verb, meaning to speak in an over- authoritative manner, might suit many who are bombastic.

ratiocination

Noun refers to a methodical and logical process of thinking.

libertine

Noun refers to a person who acts without moral restraint, a debauchee.

bacchanal

Noun refers to any drunken or riotous celebration.

nepotism

Noun refers to favoritism shown to relatives in practices such as business matters.

raconteur

Noun that describes a person who inspires laughter through his or her verbal talents.

heretic

Noun that means "a person who holds controversial opinions."

apotheosis

Noun that means "glorification" or "giving God-like stature to."

hagiography

Noun that means the life of a saint and more generally it refers to a biographical account so uncritical as to make the subject sound too good to be human.

epitome

Noun that refers to a typical representative or example of some category.

apostate

Noun used to describe someone who has abandoned either his religious faith or political party or cause, in other words, "a turncoat."

wit

Noun, denotes the quality of being verbally clever but can also denote the person who is intelligently and subtly amusing.

card

Noun, mostly used in informal contexts, describes a person who is not a professional clown but who is eccentrically amusing in his or her behavior.

stentorian

This is a fancy adjective meaning "extremely loud speech."

pertinacious

This adjective means "holding on to a belief or a plan," "persistent."

dram

"A unit of weight equal to 1⁄16 of an ounce or 27.34 grains. As an apothecary weight, it is equal to 1/8 of an ounce. It is often used to mean a small amount, however, without any reference to its actual weight value."

gander

"a look or glance."

shrew

"a peevish, spiteful, nagging woman."

lagniappe

"an unexpected extra gift or benefit."

subterfuge

"any secret plan or strategy"

crone

"cantankerous, old, withered woman"

scrutiny

"careful examination or study" or "close observation."

misanthrope

"one who hates or mistrusts humankind."

descry

"to catch sight of something that is difficult to see" or "to discover something by very careful scrutiny"

scan

"to examine closely" or "to look over or leaf through hastily"; "to analyze verse into metrical patterns."

espy

"to glimpse something partially hidden."

ogle

"to stare at," usually in a rude or flirtatious way.

monitor

"to supervise" or "keep a close watch over."

askance

"with disapproval or suspicion" or "sideways"

irascible

This adjective means "ill-tempered" or being near but not quite in a state of anger.

laity in a sentence

- "'Twere profanation of our vows/ To tell the laity our love," writes the poet John Donne, who at one period of his life saw erotic love as a kind of religion. - "When professional dance critics use phrases like 'the nodes of intensity ambush the formality' or write of 'structuralizing spatial velocities,'" said Casey, "I'm happy to be a layman who just really enjoys ballet and modern dance."

theocracy in a sentence

- "Allowing religious issues to determine our legislative policy is tantamount to a theocracy," shouted the senator, determined to fight the president's policy on stem cell research. - Before the election of Saul as king, Moses essentially ruled Israel as a theocracy, claiming all law was determined by God.

penumbra in a sentence

- "Although our dress code is very strict," said the headmaster, "wearing certain items of clothing, such as shorts, on warm-weather days falls under the penumbra of 'exceptions due to climate.'" - Anxious to avoid the summer heat but wanting to tan herself, Danielle sat down in the penumbra under a leafy tree.

scion in a sentence

- "Being a scion of the McBucks family is enviable in many ways but not without its own set of problems," sighed Bucky McBucks on a tough day. - A scion of a family known for a successful investment business, James Merrill made his own reputation as a distinguished poet.

recapitulate in a sentence

- "Can you please recapitulate how you discovered that your house was burglarized?" Detective Olsen said to Mrs. Butterworth. "Stick to the facts, Ma'am, just the facts." - After a brief recapitulation of the novel's plot, the women in the book club began a serious discussion of its central themes and its relevance to contemporary life.

resilient in a sentence

- "Children are quite resilient," Joey's pediatrician told his mother. "Though he's got quite a bad case of the flu, he should be back on the soccer field in no time." - Although Gloria told Herb he was "dull" and "unattractive" after one date, Herb's resiliency enabled him to go back to Meet Your Mate Online and try another date the following weekend.

testy in a sentence

- "Don't get testy with me!" shouted Grandmother Vargas when her grandson Victor rolled his eyes and refused to stay home for the evening to watch his little brother. - Testy after a long day at work and a suffocating subway ride in the heat, Mr. Sugarman was in no mood to hear about his daughter's request for a new car.

perrenial in a sentence

- "Finding good teachers is a perennial problem at Highgate Academy," said Headmaster Wiggins. "Our best teachers tend to move on to university-level jobs after a year or two and we've got to replace some of them every September." - Dahlia has planted a lovely perennial garden of roses, irises, and azalea bushes. The flowers bloom every season and all Dahlia has to do is weed the garden and keep it well-watered.

fishwife in a sentence

- "Go tell that fishwife of a mother to stop hounding us about how we raise our children," exclaimed Howard, tired of listening to his mother-in-law's unsolicited advice. - George heard Martha's gruff voice calling for him through the open window and wondered why he ever married such a fishwife; she was always nagging him to do chores when he was trying to relax.

scintilla in a sentence

- "I believe I taste a scintilla of nutmeg in this Sonoma Valley chardonnay," said the oenologist. - "There isn't a scintilla of kindness in my boss," whined Geoffrey. "He wouldn't let me have the day off, even though I told him it was the opening game of the World Series."

avuncular in a sentence

- "I can't wait to see my brother and his son at the family barbecue," said Horace. "Nothing like renewing those fraternal and avuncular ties!" - "McFadden's avuncular manner doesn't fool me," confided Sandra. "Underneath those corny jokes is a man conspiring to keep me from my next promotion."

modicum in a sentence

- "I expect you to comport yourself with a modicum of manners," Mrs. Preston told the children. "That includes always saying 'please' and 'thank you' when it is appropriate. - Because Lucy was on a diet, she allowed herself only a modicum of sugar each day, refusing a second helping of cake even though it was her own birthday.

sacreligious in a sentence

- "I know you're not religious," said Brenda to her husband Woody, "but please try not to use religious oaths while my sister is visiting. She'd regard it as not only sacrilegious but disrespectful to her personally." - "For a painting so tied in with the history of New York to be sold and sent out of state is a sacrilege," said Prof. Silver, distraught at the auction of the Asher B. Durand painting Kindred Spirits.

immaculate in a sentence

- "I want this room to be immaculate before you leave," Mildred announce to her daughter Alex. "Pick up all the dirty laundry and put it in the hamper, make your bed, and vacuum the cookie crumbs off the carpet or you're not going anywhere!" • Carrie's school record was immaculate. Her test scores were perfect; her grades were excellent; and she was involved in numerous extracurricular activities, including sports and community service work.

pittance in a sentence

- "I was insulted that I was offered so little money, a mere pittance, to do the research for the television show about the opening of the West," said Walt. "You know they must have some 'deep pockets' sponsoring it." - The song "I Felt Nothing" from the Broadway hit A Chorus Line describes the satisfaction of feeling not a pittance of concern for the difficulties of someone who earlier denied you a needed helping hand.

gratuitious in a sentence

- "If I need his help, I'm glad to know he's there to answer my questions," said Vivian. "But his hanging around my cubicle, offering gratuitous advice about how to get ahead in the company is just plain annoying." - Nickleby's gratuitous criticism of Selby's work was beginning, subtly, to undermine his confidence. Was that the effect Nickleby had hoped for?

credo in a sentence

- "If you obey the credo that form follows function," said the ceramics instructor, Ms. Rush, "then you won't make the handle of that mug a thorny vine." - The Iago in Shakespeare's play never overtly states a philosophy of evil, but his counterpart in Verdi's opera sings a powerful credo about his belief in a cruel god.

plethora in a sentence

- "It's feast or famine," sighed Mrs. Treadwell. "First I didn't have enough stationery so I told everyone I wanted it for my birthday. And now I have a plethora! Where will I put all these boxes?" - The plethora of choices in the six-page menu at the diner made things difficult for the indecisive Earnestine, who kept changing her mind between "farm-raised pork loin with cream-filled potatoes" and "dieter's special Jell-o with cottage cheese."

unadulterated in a sentence

- "Just tell us the unadulterated truth," said Jamie's father. "We want to know what happened at the party and why the neighbors called the police." - The fresh cranberry juice, unadulterated by sugar or other fruit juices or flavorings, was almost too tart to drink.

brio in a sentence

- "Let's go, everbody!" Dan shouted with brio as he led the tired scouts up the mountain. "We can make it!" - The performer recited Homer's Odyssey with brio, galvanizing the students with his engaging recounting of Odysseus's struggle with the Sirens.

provoke in a sentence

- "Merwin Williams's provocative new book about global warming will make you seriously reconsider before buying a car that isn't fuel-efficient," said one reviewer. - "You are dressed too provocatively," Melissa's father insisted. "Go back upstairs and put on a blouse that covers your bellybutton and a skirt that's at least knee-length."

bacchanal in a sentence

- "Mom," said Ian, impatiently, "it's just a bunch of us from the calculus class getting together over at Cameron's house to study for the test. You're talking like I'm asking to go to some kind of bacchanal." - The literate detective surveyed the crime scene—empty bottles of wine and champagne, scattered items of clothing, and a trampled party hat or two— and deduced that a bacchanalian evening had moved from joy into violence.

nepotism in a sentence

- "My sister is better qualified for this job than anyone I know," lamented Edwina. "Too bad the company has a strict policy against nepotism." - Colleges that give preference in admissions to children of alumni practice an open form of nepotism, a practice outlawed in some companies.

venial in a sentence

- "Okay, Tonya, I'll admit I was twenty minutes late for our date," said Huey, moving from defense to offense, "but don't you think that's rather venial compared to your calling up your old boyfriend the minute I went out of town?" - When his supporters forgave or overlooked many of his venial transgressions, Senator Goofball moved slowly but more inevitably to greater breaches of the trust they had placed in him.

defiled in a sentence

- "One of our employees spilled soda on the assembly line and defiled a whole batch of cookies," explained the company spokesman, "so we will have to recall all oatmeal cookies manufactured on that date." - The hooligans defiled the church by spray-painting graffiti on the statues on the altar.

besmirched in a sentence

- "Put your drink down on a coaster," cried Helena, "before you besmirch my mother's antique mahogany end table." - After he was caught cheating at poker, Arnold's reputation was besmirched; nobody wanted to play with him anymore.

torpid in a sentence

- "So far as I know," said Jack, school expert on music of the last twenty-five years, "the only song with 'torpor' in the lyrics is 'Like the Weather' by 10,000 Maniacs." - Sean had promised his parents he'd clean out the garage on Saturday afternoon, but the sight of piled up, rusting yard equipment and stacks of old Saturday Evening Posts put him into a torpid frame of mind, and he took a nap instead.

chaste in a sentence

- "Some students can never remember," said Prof. Strauss punningly, "that the Fielding hero Tom Jones was chased, but not chaste." - After viewing so many pictures of heavily ornamented cathedrals for her presentation on Gothic art, Maggie relished all the more the chaste design of the Greek temple whose photograph hung on her office wall.

immaculate

This adjective means "impeccably clean" or "flawless."

didactic

This adjective means "intended to instruct."

subterfuge in a sentence

- "Telling me you had to work late last night was pure subterfuge," Alyssa shouted at her husband. "I know you were out playing cards with the boys instead of having dinner with my mother." - Through careful subterfuge, including dipping his thermometer into a cup of hot tea when his mother wasn't looking, Harvey managed to convince his parents that he was far too sick to go to school.

exorbitant in a sentence

- "That new specialty food store has good things," noted Nelson, "but the prices are truly exorbitant. I mean, how special can cole slaw be?" - The exorbitant number of demands his boss made of him lessened Selwyn's pleasure in the new job.

apocalypse in a sentence

- "The choice of your prom dress is important," said my mom, "but not one of apocalyptic importance, not the end of the world." - Ancient Persians, who were not part of the Judeo-Christian tradition, also had visions of an apocalypse, some that frightened and some that comforted with their prediction of the destruction of enemies of the Persians.

tautology in a sentence

- "The general consensus of opinion" and "7 a.m. in the morning" are both tautolgies; one only needs to say "the consensus" and "7 a.m." - "I am either in love with you or I'm crazy about you," Harry said, offering a meaningless tautology rather than an expression of his deepest feelings.

tyro in a sentence

- "There are three levels of hills at this resort," explained Sven, the ski instructor. "There's the Bunny Run for the tyros, Pleasure Hill for the moderately experienced skiers, and Break-A-Leg Mountain for the experts." - Since he was just a tyro at the guitar, Devon wasn't yet able to play the more complicated Beatles songs. His teacher told him he would need a couple of months of lessons before he could take on "Norwegian Wood."

iota in a sentence

- "There isn't an iota of truth in what you are telling me," Barney shouted at his son. "You were the last one to use the car and there was no dent in the fender when I drove it yesterday." - Mrs. Rumple squeezed a jot of lemon into her tea and smeared a spoonful of marmalade on her scone.

messianic in a sentence

- "There's nothing wrong with green algae," noted Don, "but when Doug starts talking about it he gets that messianic gleam in his eye as if taking algae could cure all the ills of the world." - Some earlier interpreters of Vergil saw a messianic theme in one of his early poems, but skeptics argue he was merely flattering a Roman leader, suggesting that his child would be remarkable.

innuendo in a sentence

- "This article is full of rumor and innuendo," shouted Brad Pitt. "I was not married in a secret ceremony in Las Vegas; nor am I the playboy it makes me out to be." - The defense attorney in the murder trial attacked the prosecution's case as relying on innuendo as opposed to fact.

pristine in a sentence

- "This copy of Dante's Inferno is in pristine condition," said the rare book dealer. "The binding is perfect and the pages are clean. It looks as if it has never been opened." - After the masterful restoration work, the Renaissance frescoes seemed to return to their pristine condition.

stint in a sentence

- "When you make Scottie's birthday cake," said Mrs. Meyers to her cook, "don't stint on the cream. Scottie loves cream." - Ms. Amendola did a two-year stint in the military before returning to the pursuit of her original career goal, becoming a dancer.

limbo in a sentence

- "Yes, I'm staying on the waiting list for Exley, my first choice college," said Alf. "But I hate being in limbo, not knowing whether I'll be there or at Wiley, my second choice school." - In Dante's poem The Divine Comedy, written from a Christian perspective, the pilgrim's tour of the afterlife reveals the Roman poet Vergil in Limbo; he suffers only by knowing that others have a chance at greater happiness.

superfluous in a sentence

- "Yes, you'll need a hat to protect you from the sun," said the tour organizer, "but taking a straw hat, a cotton hat, a plastic hat, and a baseball cap is just downright superfluous." - A superfluity of fragrance to a hypersensitive nose might make one "die of a rose in aromatic pain," or at least poet Alexander Pope thought so.

ruminate in a sentence

- "You look like Rodin's Thinker," Juliet said as she watched her father ruminate about the recent events in the Middle East. - Albert Camus, the French philosopher, ruminates about the absurdity of the human condition in his famous essay, "The Myth of Sisyphus."

discern in a sentence

- "Your new toupee looks terrific," Alice told her husband Morris. "I can't discern any difference between the hairpiece and the fringe of natural red hair around your ears." - Known for her discerning taste in French haute couture, Coco was hired as a consultant for the photo shoot for the May issue of Vogue magazine.

wag in a sentence

- A Shakespeare character punningly suggests that a certain young wag will one day "wag" from a noose because of his mischievous ways.

nocturnal in a sentence

- A nocturnal creature, my cat Bruiser wanders around the neighborhood at night, searching through trash cans for food and getting into fights with the neighbors' pets. - Most pianists aspire to play Chopin's pensive but difficult piano nocturnes.

alliteration in a sentence

- A poem entitled Alliteration, or the Siege of Belgrade: A Rondeau is written entirely in alliteration. The first three lines are: "An Austrian army, awfully array'd,/Boldly by battery besiege Belgrade;/Cossack commanders cannonading come," and each successive line uses the next letter in the alphabet alliteratively. - Using alliteration in his poem "Exposure," the World War I poet Wilfred Owen writes: "Worried by silence, sentries whisper, curious, nervous."

savvy in a sentence

- A savvy investor, Herb made a fortune in the corn futures market by studying weather conditions in the Midwest and reading The Farmer's Almanac. - Having worked as a buyer for several clothing boutiques and department stores, Anne was a savvy shopper; she knew where to shop for the newest fashions at the lowest prices.

fawn in a sentence

- Abigail fawns shamelessly on her dissertation advisor, hoping for extra- special letters of recommendation from her. - What a fawner Jed is! He practically slavers when his boss joins him at the cafeteria table.

testy

This adjective means "irritable." Someone who is "impatient" or "exasperated" or "headstrong."

transcendent in a sentence

- According to most religions, God is a being of transcendent power who is ultimately unknowable to human beings. - Because of the unbroken horizon line and the excessive moisture in the air, the sunsets along the beach in Key West have a transcendent glory that renders them as spectacular as any sunsets in the world.

libertine in a sentence

- According to the musical The King and I, the English governess to his son and heir does not like "polygamy or even moderate bigamy" and thus considers the many-wived King of Siam to be a libertine. - One of the most famous compulsive seducers is the Spanish Don Juan, whose very name has become a synonym for a male libertine.

acme, apex in a sentence

- Acme Hardware, Acme Office Products, Acme Pesticides—do these names in the telephone book try to persuade the consumer that they representing the highest point of their respective trades, or did the owners just hope the company would get the first listing alphabetically? - The hikers climbed steadily in near darkness for over an hour, reaching the apex of the hill just in time to be rewarded by the beautiful sunrise.

inexorable in a sentence

- Acutely aware of the inexorable passage of time, Ronak shouted "Carpe diem! Live for today!" - "In the end, nature is inexorable," said the nineteenth-century Russian novelist Ivan Turgenev. "It has no reason to hurry and, sooner or later, it takes what belongs to it."

irrational in a sentence

- Afraid of commitment and nervous about her impending marriage to Melvin, Carla had an irrational desire to flee the country and join the Peace Corps. - "Fearing that everyone wants to harm you is irrational," said the psychiatrist. "You have done nothing to inspire such negative feelings in others."

fulsome in a sentence

- After Mr. Brown made a false step with his boss, he wrote an apology that was so fulsome that it offended more than the original error. - Ms. Milnor's fulsome request that we give a standing ovation to the speaker wiped out any possibility of a spontaneous show of appreciation.

adamant in a sentence

- After hearing reports of terrorist threats at the airport, Belle's parents remained adamant about her not attending the spring break party in Cancun. - Although Rajneesh thought his history grade was unfair and complained to Mr. Lombardy, his teacher, Mr. Lombardy remained adamant, insisting that his class participation was poor and his final paper was inadequately researched.

monitor in a sentence

- After his heart attack, the doctor told Paul to carefully monitor his diet, avoiding all foods that are high in sodium or cholesterol. - As the new security guard for 124 Park Avenue, John's job is to monitor whoever comes into the building and stop any strangers from entering the elevator without a guest pass.

redemption in a sentence

- After ruining his father's tennis racquet by using it as a fly swatter, Josh redeemed himself by getting a job as a golf caddy and earning enough money to buy his father a new and better racquet. - In the movie Rocky, the protagonist seeks his redemption and self-respect by "going the distance" with the heavyweight champion Apollo Creed.

incubus in a sentence

- After the Civil War there was much rejoicing that America had at last freed itself from the incubus of slavery. - My twenty-page term paper on endangered species oppressed me all semester. I'm glad to be free of that incubus.

enervated in a sentence

- After the soccer team lost to their archrival, Jason, the team captain, felt enervated, not so much from physical exhaustion as from emotional depletion. - Many Roman leaders believed that an excess of luxury had enervated civilizations such as Egypt and that too much contact with these nations could enervate Rome itself.

apostate in a sentence

- After they closed down the factory, the strikers divided into two groups: those who still believed in unionizing the workplace and the apostates, who chose to go back to work the next day because they desperately needed the income. - When Carl finally decided to abandon the beliefs of his local church and find a minister who would marry him and Robert, he was despised as an apostate by the people he thought were his friends.

winnow in a sentence

- After weeks of rigorous interviews, the list was winnowed down to the three most experienced job candidates. - "I have finally winnowed my book down from three thousand pages to one thousand pages," said Fabienne. "Maybe now I can get a publisher to read it before rejecting it."

harridan in a sentence

- After years of being hounded, scolded, and maligned by his harridan of a wife, Mr. Snogworth snapped and had to be committed to the local psychiatric institution. - As Malcolm lay in his bed, he could hear the landlady trudging up the steps, ready to reveal her true harridan nature by demanding the rent, complaining about his playing loud music, and chastising him for smoking cigarettes in the apartment.

obscure in a sentence

- Albert thought the reading assignments in his philosophy class were so obscure that he started a weekly study group so that he could go over the material with his classmates. - A solar eclipse occurs when the moon comes into alignment with the sun and obscures it, preventing it from being seen from the earth.

philanderer in a sentence

- All of Hortense's friends knew that her husband was a philanderer but no one could talk her into divorcing him; she loved him, no matter how many times he was unfaithful to her. - When Nancy threatened to leave him, Marco promised to stop his philandering ways and remain faithful to her; he was ashamed of his uncontrollable habit of flirting.

belie in a sentence

- Although Carrie was falsely accused of cheating on the French exam, the tears welling in her eyes belied the calm of her denial. - Belying Dick's statement that he "always traveled light" were the big suitcase and the overstuffed duffel bag that he was cramming into the trunk of the car.

carnage in a sentence

- Although Homer's Iliad glorifies the victorious warrior, it does not spare the reader the sense of the terrible carnage of the Trojan War. - After the birthday party for ten four-year-olds, the family room looked more like a scene of carnage than one of celebration.

prognosis in a sentence

- Although Jeremy continued to have symptoms of his illness, he took comfort in the fact that the prognosis for his recovery was excellent. - The second "talking head" on the Sunday morning television shows disagreed sharply with the speaker before him concerning a prognosis for society's ills.

docent in a sentence

- Although Karen was hoping to get a full-time job as an English professor at the university, there were so few positions available that she finally took a job as a docent in the humanities department for one year and waited on tables in her spare time to increase her income. - After four years as an art history major in college, Julie got a job as a docent at the Dia Arts Center in upstate New York, leading tours of new exhibitions by contemporary artists.

filial in a sentence

- Although Martina does not have warm feelings for the father who was absent for much of her childhood, she does her filial duty, checking to make sure he's in good health and seeing him on family holidays. - LuAnne's filial bond with her mother is more than hereditary or legal: LuAnne really enjoys her company.

pantheon in a sentence

- Although not originally buried there, the artist Raphael now has his tomb in the Pantheon, as readers of Dan Brown's Angels and Demons know. - Alvin told me that his personal pantheon of twentieth-century figures includes Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Winston Churchill, and Joe DiMaggio.

subjugate in a sentence

- Although the French subjugated the inhabitants of England in the eleventh century, the French language melded with the English language rather than replacing it. - Toni looked longingly at the German chocolate cupcakes in the bakery but subjugated her hunger by thinking of the form-fitting prom dress she had just purchased.

pedagogue in a sentence

- Always the pedagogue, my father turned breakfast into an excuse for teaching. Every morning, my sisters and I had to listen to a lecture on the nutritional value of corn flakes or the relative merits of raising chickens organically. - The teachers' conference being held in Phoenix next June will deal with various pedagogical matters, ranging from the use of PowerPoint in the teaching of poetry to ways to make the curriculum more multiculturally diverse.

reprobate in a sentence

- An incorrigible reprobate, Lefty McGee was arrested for robbery only weeks after he was released from prison. - The prison on the hill had a minimum security block for juvenile offenders and a maximum security cell block for the more serious reprobates.

empirical in a sentence

- Andrew's psychology professor taught him the textbook definitions of psychotic behavior, but empirical evidence suggested that his anxiety was perfectly normal. - The university president was shunned by the public for insisting that women are weaker in math and science than men without any real academic basis or empirical proof for his assumptions.

grandiloquence in a sentence

- Anyone who wants to be more familiar examples of grandiloquence might look at Independence Day speeches from the nineteenth century—a heavy use of long sentences and flowery abstractions. - Erica longs to be an eloquent speaker but her overreliance on artificial phrasing makes her merely grandiloquent.

servile in a sentence

- As Alphonse works his way up the corporate ladder, he tries to keep his dignity intact, but even he has servile moments of getting coffee or running small errands for his supervisor. - Whenever the director of his lab starts to tell a joke, Nat servilely laughs long before the punch line.

slatternly in a sentence

- As the couple was leaving the opera, a slatternly woman dressed in rags approached them, murmuring, "Alms for the poor?" - Having fallen on hard times, Gwendolyn Greystone looked more like a slattern than a society hostess. Her hair was unkempt, her clothes were dirty and wrinkled, and she looked as if she needed a bath.

lassitude in a sentence

- As the whispered phrase "Nichols is coming" went from cubicle to cubicle, workers interrupted their state of lassitude to assume the time-honored posture of looking busy when the boss approached. - Jess had studied so hard for her exams that the end of exam week found her in a state of complete lassitude, barely able to do more than reach toward her bedside table for her mug of cocoa.

finagle in a sentence

- Babs managed to finagle a day off from work by saying that she had to visit a sick relative in the hospital. - In a crooked real estate scheme claiming to offer cheap condominiums in South Florida, the two crooks managed to finagle millions out of their clients.

chauvinist in a sentence

- Because Arthur was wary of being labeled a chauvinist and ruining his political career, he tried to hide his belief that men were more intelligent and more competent than women. - The fact that Aidan continued to sing the praises of his country even after it became apparent that its government was committing terrible atrocities abroad made people realize that he was not only a patriot but a chauvinist.

myopic in a sentence

- Because she was so myopic, Ramona couldn't see more than two feet in front of her nose and had to wear thick lenses to correct her vision. - "Don't be so myopic," advised the Millers' stockbroker. "It's foolish to put all of your money in high-tech stocks because they are popular right now. You've got to think about which industries will be successful in the years to come."

ablution in a sentence

- Before entering the temple, the women were required to remove their street clothes and engage in a series of ablutions in a special bathing room in order to be clean for prayer. - Before going to work each morning, Lola performed her ablutions—brushing her teeth, showering with scented bath gel, applying foaming cleanser and toner to her face—with consummate care in order to showcase her legendary beauty.

shrew in a sentence

- Before her marriage to the gallant prince made her an altogether happier woman, Gwendolyn had been a mean-spirited, pestering shrew. - In Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew, the character of Katherina, dubbed a "shrew" for her stubborn and critical nature, is eventually tamed by the suitor Petruchio, who transforms her into a tender wife.

beleaguer in a sentence

- The beleaguered mother made herself a cup of coffee after her colicky infant again woke her in the middle of the night. - The beleaguered Confederate troops were forced to retreat after their crushing defeat at the Battle of Little Roundtop.

malleable in a sentence

- Bernard was an extremely malleable child, which made him easily liked by the other children, particularly the bullies who always wanted to have their way. - The jewelry designer preferred working with silver because it is an extremely malleable metal, making it ideal for creating unique and intricate settings.

conundrum in a sentence

- Bert accidentally goofed up his electronic calendar and now realizes he has two social engagements at the same hour on Friday night; he's now dealing with the conundrum of which to cancel. - "I'll never understand Al," sighed Jan. "He'll always be a complete conundrum to me."

flair in a sentence

- Blair has a flair for the dramatic; when she waltzes into a room, dressed to perfection, everyone takes notice. - "Catherine will be our new It Girl," exclaimed the cosmetics company executive." Her fresh face and natural flair will convince all women to buy our new Luscious Lips lipstick."

feral in a sentence

- Brad and Susanna, ardent cat lovers, wanted to adopt one of the feral cats prowling the garbage dump, but they worried about the response of Moggy and Lily, their pampered Persians. - The feral smile of the salesperson was almost more disturbing than a leer, thought Candace.

soupçon in a sentence

- Brigitte bought a blue suit in Paris that was elegant but understated with just a soupçon of sexy mama in its design. - Just as we can say, "I taste a suspicion of sugar in this iced tea," we can say, "there is a soupçon of cinnamon in this banana bread."

lithe in a sentence

- Carmella's long, lithe body and natural grace made her a skillful ballet dancer. - The lissome elephant grass, bent double in the tropical breeze, formed pale green loops that waved gently in the morning sun.

card in a sentence

- Carol Ann is such a card that everyone in our grade enjoys hanging out with her. She's the one who tricked Mr. Hipkens into taking a big bite of a dog biscuit.

exasperate in a sentence

- Celia was exasperated after hours of conversation with a support technician from her online service provider; no matter what he told her, she still couldn't sign on to the Internet. - Disneyland exasperated Charles. The lines were long, the weather was brutally hot, and he was tired of being waved at by Mickey Mouse.

rakish in a sentence

- Charlie Chaplin was famous for his duck-footed walk, his bowler hat, and the rakish way he swung his cane. - Rakishly dressed for a day of sailing, Alex wore white sneakers and slacks, a striped sailor's shirt, and a admiral's hat tilted at a raffish angle.

revelry in a sentence

- College officials are less than thrilled with the sounds of revelry streaming forth from on-campus residences every Saturday night - Liam reveled in the announcement that he had won the Lucio Piccolo poetry award.

apogee in a sentence

- Costas's camera caught the ballerina at the apogee of her leap—what a beautiful image by a talented photographer! - Those at the apogee of their careers may have to wonder if descent is inevitable.

lagniappe in a sentence

- Customers gave Bolling's Department Store a lot of repeat business because their children enjoyed the lollipops Mr. Bolling gave them as a lagniappe. - To be true to the spirit of a lagniappe, this item in the vocabulary book should have been an eleventh entry in the chapter, an extra, above and beyond what's expected.

Gorgon in a sentence

- Depressed by her low grade on her Spanish project, Helena privately lashed out at her teacher: "Señora Ehrhardt is a gorgon, a monster without being a myth!" - Visual artists enjoy the challenge of depicting the snaky-haired Medusa, the most famous of the Gorgons.

harass in a sentence

- Desperate for some fresh photos for the next issue of Celebrity Face magazine, the paparazzi harassed the film star by following her all over town; he even collided into her Mercedes with his truck in order to photograph her irritation when she saw the damage. - The landlord was always harassing his tenants for the rent, convinced that they wouldn't pay on time if he didn't keep reminding them.

rehash in a sentence

- Despite rave reviews from the critics, Scott was very disappointed in the film, calling it "a rehash of the novel without any of the sexy parts." - Karla couldn't believe how badly her date with Jamal went; she rehashed the evening with each of her friends, detailing Jamal's flat tire, her lost wallet, and their dreadful goodnight kiss.

salubrious in a sentence

- Devon found that listening in class and taking notes had a salubrious effect on his grade. - The poet John Keats, ill with tuberculosis, left the foggy weather of London for the more salubrious climate of Rome.

unflagging in a sentence

- Dinner party conversation began to flag with dessert; everyone had already said whatever they had to say, which was, in the case of several guests, not much. - Sisyphus's efforts to push the huge boulder up the hill left him with a rolling stone but with unflagging spirits, if we believe philosopher Albert Camus.

smarmy in a sentence

- Dr. Idzal, faculty advisor for the yearbook, sees right through smarmy students who think insincere compliments are the road to the position of editor-in-chief. - The musical My Fair Lady describes a character this way: "oozing charm from every pore, he oiled his way across the floor"—it doesn't get any smarmier than that.

numinous in a sentence

- Dressed in a diaphanous (meaning "translucent" or "delicate") white gown and appearing suddenly at the top of the stairs, Belle's figure took on a numinous appearance in the candlelight. - Nature was numinous for the transcendental philosophers of the nineteenth century who believed that it was only through nature that the individual could know his own soul.

ecclesiastical in a sentence

- Dressed in ecclesiastical robes and carrying a book of hymns, the bishop stood out in the crowd of children and parents at the school's December Christmas party. - Because ecclesiastics from all over the world were in Rome to attend a special mass at the Vatican, it was impossible to obtain a hotel room at a reasonable price anywhere in the city.

erudite

This adjective means "learned" or "scholarly."

prickly

This adjective means "marked by jabs or pricks," and also means "irritable" or "grouchy."

ordnance in a sentence

- During World War II, Dennis, whose health barred him from serving in the military, left his sales position for a job at the ordnance factory; he wanted to feel part of the war effort. - City ordinance #1415, forbidding the possession of "exotic animals," required that Sebastian divest himself of his cheetah if he wished to continue living in Pleasantville.

amuck in a sentence

- During the blackout, rioters ran amuck in the streets, looting shops, breaking windows, and burning trash. - The soldiers ran amuck in the village, killing women and children and destroying civilian property.

interminable in a sentence

- During the seemingly interminable lecture on Habits of Twelfth-Century Monks, Dustin contemplated the state of his fingernails and mentally made a list of girls he'd had a crush on. - Rosetta endured her mother's interminable questions about her whereabouts and her companions only by thinking of how soon college life would prevent these inquisitions.

banal in a sentence

- E. B. White could take the most banal of thoughts (such as "big cities can be lonely") and turn them into fascinating essays. - Hannah Arendt's concept of the "banality of evil" has received a lot of attention in the last half century.

hedonist in a sentence

- Eddie was something of a hedonist, living it up to all hours, until he surprised his friends by being accepted into a pre-med program and hitting the books with equal fervor. - For Joe and Deedee, devout lovers of the printed word, a hedonistic day in London consists of visiting as many used bookstores as possible.

ratiocination in a sentence

- Edgar Allan Poe's detective M. Dupin solves the crime of the murders in the rue Morgue through his talent at ratiocination. - "Ratiocination is not my thing," said Billy Ed. "I do okay by going with my gut feeling."

obeisance in a sentence

- Embarrassed by their obeisance and never remembering when it was appropriate to return their small bows with bows of his own, Walter had a difficult time doing business with his colleagues in Asian countries. - Jeeves bowed every time he entered Mr. Carnegie's study, certain that his employer would be pleased by his obeisance.

recrimination in a sentence

- Ernest Hemingway made unpleasant and unfair statements about F. Scott Fitzgerald in his book A Moveable Feast. Since Fitzgerald was already dead at that time, I don't feel that Hemingway's own death should protect him against a reader's recrimination. - Amy thought she would feel better after she lashed out at Jessica, but instead her ugly statement has sent her into a fit of self-recrimination.

implacable in a sentence

- Even though Greg brought her a bouquet of roses and apologized profusely for missing her piano recital, Jessica remained implacable; she just couldn't forgive him for missing her big night. - Fully aware of Lotta's implacability when she was upset or frustrated and fearful of her having another tantrum, her mother made sure to take an extra cupcake in case Lotta dropped hers.

incarnation in a sentence

- F. Scott Fitzgerald intensifies the religious feel of Gatsby's near-worship of Daisy when he writes, "He kissed her and the incarnation was complete." - "You don't have to look at me as if I were the devil incarnate when I suggest going off your diet long enough to have a bite of my birthday cake," said Angela huffily to her friend Adele.

prolific in a sentence

- Farm families of the previous century were often prolific, with each of the many children assigned farm chores as soon as they were old enough. - Joyce Carol Oates is an amazingly prolific writer, her fans can barely keep up with her output.

noxious in a sentence

- Federal inspections work to keep noxious chemicals out of our food supply. - Physicians must adhere to the first principle of the ancient Hippocratic oath, "First, do no harm." Their treatment, ideally, will be helpful, but it must be innocuous.

dollop in a sentence

- For dessert, Sybil served her famous homemade apple pie with a dollop of pralines-and-cream ice cream and a smattering of crushed macademia nuts. - Jad knew that he should take everything Tatiana said with a healthy dollop of suspicion; he knew she was prone to exaggeration and innuendo.

extant in a sentence

- Fossil records show us that many ancient forms of life were quite different from extant life. - The fact that there are eighty extant manuscripts of Chaucer's poetry from the early fifteenth century testifies to his popularity.

pedant in a sentence

- Gregory was such a pedant that when Sarina sent him a love letter, declaring her passion for him, he corrected the spelling and sent it back to her. - Professor Carismundi's teaching methods were so pedantic that few students signed up for his classes. He taught the history of philosophy but never discussed the ways in which the various philosophers' ideas were relevant to human experience.

canon in a sentence

- Hamlet, suggesting that only his religious beliefs restrain him from suicide, laments that God has "fixed his canon 'gainst self slaughter.'" - For years schools taught only the best-known of literary works, highly praised for decades, but now many allow teachers to choose non-canonical texts, including some recent and controversial titles.

juggernaut in a sentence

- Has the juggernaut of desire for instant gratification overcome the time-honored principle of working for a long-range goal? - The Dyersburg Trojans had hoped to win the regional football championship this year, but the juggernaut force of the Union City Golden Tornadoes has prevailed.

jaded in a sentence

- Having a world-famous chef for a grandfather had given little Morgan a prematurely jaded attitude toward food. At ten he was heard to utter, "Fish quenelles? Again?" - Those who are overly self-indulgent pay the price of becoming jaded, unable to enjoy exotic travel or fancy clothing, pleasures that would delight most people.

Crepuscular in a sentence

- Having only one small window, the basement was damp and crepuscular, even on a bright summer morning. - More car accidents occur at dusk than at any other time of day because it is more difficult to judge distances or see other drivers in crepuscular light.

nocturnal

This adjective means "occurring at night" or "most active at night."

pontificate in a sentence

- Hillary enjoys having a drink with her coworkers except when Jay comes along, for he always grabs the center of attention and pontificates on politics. - Mr. Calabro is the best-informed man I know, and I admire not only his knowledge but the fact that he never pontificates on any of his many fields of expertise.

progenitor in a sentence

- Historians of classical music regard Arnold Schoenberg as the progenitor of modern music. - Nell sat back in her easy chair, happy to look again at her holiday cards from Calvin, Russell, and Lila, each surrounded by their bright-faced progeny.

panacea in a sentence

- How wonderful it would be if doctors could prescribe a panacea, regardless of the patient's symptoms. - Worrying about an exam the night before it is, unfortunately, not a panacea for neglecting to study throughout during the semester.

irascible in a sentence

- I like Ginger, but her irascible nature makes me a little frightened of her, for I don't like to be yelled at. - Konrad may indeed have an artistic temperament; does that give him the right to be irascible much of the time?

testimonial in a sentence

- I like Mr. Powell, but I don't want to give a testimonial for him at the rally, for I also like his opponent. - Joella spoke so enthusiastically about her Hairsheen, her new shampoo, that I fleetingly wondered if she had been paid by the company to give her dormmates a testimonial.

panegyric in a sentence

- In 431 BCE Pericles delivered a now famous panegyric for those soldiers fallen after the first battles of the Peloponnesian War. - "Should college recommendations for my students be pure panegyric?" mused Mr. Isaacson as he began the daunting task of helping his students complete their college application requirements.

dram in a sentence

- In Act Five of Romeo and Juliet, Romeo asks the apothecary for a dram of poison, hoping that a small quantity of the liquid will kill him quickly. - The police officer listened to Fast Eddy's story without a dram of sympathy and then issued him a speeding ticket.

bamboozle in a sentence

- In Adventure of Huckleberry Finn, the King and the Duke attempt to bamboozle some townspeople by pretending to be great Shakespearean actors and charging money for their performance. - Luke bamboozled Chip out of his vintage Mickey Mantle baseball card by trading him a reproduction of a Babe Ruth card and telling him it was an original.

clandestine in a sentence

- In a clandestine meeting that took place in his London war rooms, Winston Churchill met with his cabinet to discuss the impending deployment of British troops. - Knowing their parents would forbid their union, Romeo and Juliet arranged a clandestine marriage by Friar Lawrence, who saw in their love the possibility of ending the age-old feud between the Capulets and the Montagues.

ogle in a sentence

- In a famous photograph by Ruth Orkin, a beautiful Italian woman walks down a narrow city street while men ogle her from the sidewalk, from a parked motorbike, and from a neighboring café. - When Chet is the lifeguard on duty at the town pool, all of the girls sit on their beach towels and ogle his perfect tan and huge arm muscles.

furtive in a sentence

- In a furtive effort to get closer to Cindy, Max shifted in his seat and casually threw his arm around the back of her chair. - Afraid that she would fail the history test, Olivia glanced furtively at her neighbor's paper and was immediately caught by the teacher and accused of cheating.

elixir in a sentence

- In earlier centuries, dishonest traveling salesmen peddled elixirs that would cure all ills—or so they promised before they quickly left town. - Could love be the true elixir? The composer Donizetti wrote an opera based on just such a premise.

spartan in a sentence

- In early twentieth-century England, wealthy families often sent their sons to somewhat spartan boarding schools featuring hard mattresses, cold showers, and corporal punishment for offenses. - "Matt has been positively spartan in his response to disappointments in the college admissions process," said Ms. Pleshette, his counselor. "No whining or moaning—I wish more were like him."

quintessence in a sentence

- In his melancholy, Hamlet described mankind as being the "quintessence of dust." - Andrea and Catherine are good examples of the quintessential student—one who is always curious, always looking to add knowledge onto what he or she already knows.

hag in a sentence

- In many fairy tales, a nobleman's reward for helping an old hag is to see her transformed into a beautiful, young maiden, ready to offer her hand in marriage. - With a cackle, the hag mounted her broomstick, donned her pointed, black hat, scratched her wart-covered nose, and flew off into the night sky.

descry in a sentence

- In the dusky distance, Marlowe descried a ship heading out towards the horizon, its sails golden in the sunset. - After carefully examining the hieroglyphics in the cave, Indiana Jones descried directions that would lead directly to the secret vault containing the treasures of the lost ark.

expurgate in a sentence

- In the early twentieth century, one had to go to Paris to obtain unexpurgated copies of James Joyce's novel Ulysses. - As late as the 1970s, many American schools only taught expurgated copies of The Catcher in the Rye because parents and school administrators objected to J. D. Salinger's use of foul language.

espy in a sentence

- In the gloaming, Captain Ahab espied the tail of a white whale breaking the water in the distance and headed further out to sea. - The game of hide-and-seek was over when Julie espied the purple sleeve of Penny's party dress peeking out from behind the pale yellow curtains in the living room.

lowering in a sentence

- Inspecting the lowering sky and feeling the sudden gusts of wind against his face, Heathcliff spurred his horse to move faster through the heath. - After the teacher chastised Philippe for talking in class, he gave her a lowering look but stopped chattering with Kevin.

indefatigable in a sentence

- Is it true that Julius Caesar was virtually indefatigable, dictating his observations on the Gallic Wars while riding on horseback? - "Even if I were indefatigable, I don't want to work a sixteen-hour day," mused Frederick as he once again contemplated a career change from corporate lawyer to deep sea diver.

conclave in a sentence

- Is it true that the Sistine Chapel was the setting for the conclave that chose Pope Benedict? - "This is a good afternoon to work on the senior prank," said Hal impishly to Mort. "All of the faculty members and administrators are in a big conclave to choose the senior prize winners."

concord in a sentence

- It's not true that cats and dogs are natural enemies. My dog Daisy and my cat Henrietta live together in perfect concord. - After hours of debate, the two senators finally reached an accord about revamping the Social Security system.

hagiography in a sentence

- James Boswell's eighteenth-century life of Samuel Johnson was far from a hagiography: although Boswell held Johnson in the highest esteem, he did not hesitate to show him gobbling down his food or "tossing and goring" those in a conversation with him. - Campaign lives are often in the hagiographical tradition: any less than wonderful acts of the presidential candidates may be omitted or fancifully reinterpreted.

ennui in a sentence

- Jean Paul had planned to drop by Les Deux Magots in the afternoon for an apertif, but once ennui set in, he merely sat quietly in his room listening to Edith Piaf songs. - The gray sky and cold wind fed into Annette's sense of ennui, and warm gloves and umbrella she had planned to purchase that afternoon remained on the shelves of the store.

panache in a sentence

- Jeanette decided to tie a crimson scarf around her neck to add panache to her otherwise dull gray business suit. - "The rhinestone buttons add panache to this wool coat," said the salesgirl at the Chic Boutique. "You'll wow them on opening night."

embellish in a sentence

- Job-seekers may be tempted to embellish their resumes, but they should attempt to resist that temptation. - The Veneerings don't merely hang curtains. No, the drapery at their windows is embellished with cornices, valances, tiebacks, and more.

Doppleganger in a sentence

- Joseph Conrad's novella The Secret Sharer is about a sea captain who is haunted by a doppelganger, a naked swimmer named Leggatt, who mysteriously comes aboard his ship and shares all of the intimate details of his life. - Clothilde was increasingly bothered by Holly, who became her doppelganger, dressing like her, wearing her hair in the same style, and even taking a job in the same advertising agency.

misanthrope in a sentence

- Julian had turned into such a misanthrope that he could not stand to speak to people, let alone see them, and so he spent most of his days locked up in his room. - Only a misanthrope would believe that no one would be willing to donate money to the tsunami relief fund.

susurrus in a sentence

- Just as Geordie, lolling in the hammock, was almost nodding off from the soft moaning of the breeze and the gentle susurrus of the insects, a mosquito bit him on the neck, sharply ending his sense of harmony with nature. - The newspaper described the opposition to the prime minister's speech as being "a susurration of protest, not a gust of anger."

sinecure in a sentence

- Kareem's position as the ambassador of good will was little more than a sinecure; he was paid well and given a beautiful apartment in town, but he rarely had to offer his good will to either visitors or natives. - Damian was officially hired to be a landscape gardener at Shea Stadium, but the position turned out to be a sinecure as he was able to watch all of the Met games for free but did very little actual gardening.

prickly in a sentence

- Knowing her husband could be prickly in a traffic jam, Mrs. Simpson suggested a back route that avoided highway congestion. - The prickly owner of the local soup shop shouted "No soup for you!" when his customers made too much noise while waiting on line.

sedate in a sentence

- Lawrence was a sedate young man in his mid-twenties who dressed quite soberly and never acted rudely or aggressively in the company of others. - When the emergency medical team discovered that Stella was in shock after the car accident, they thought it best to sedate her and bring her to the emergency room.

sate and satiate in a sentence

- Leroy was looking forward to the "all-you-can-eat" buffet and felt disappointed that he was completely sated after just one refilling of his plate. - Belinda, an ardent devotee of the Ramones, had thought she could never learn enough about them, but midway through the five-day conference, she was startled to realize she was on the verge of being satiated.

otiose in a sentence

- Linda has not religious motivation for observing a day of rest, but she feels a spate of being otiose benefits both body and soul. - Do those marks over the letters of that brand of ice cream mean anything, or are they merely otiose eye-catchers?

repose in a sentence

- Lying in repose on the divan in her sitting room, Charlotte looked as if she were posing for Manet. - "The body is in repose at the Happy Rest funeral parlor," read the obituary in the local newspaper.

quiescent in a sentence

- Many of the shops in the mall have big sales in February to drum up business in the quiescent period after the Christmas rush. - Samuel Johnson, the eighteenth-century writer and lexicographer, said: "Great abilities are not requisite for an historian; for in historical composition, all the greatest powers of the human mind are quiescent. He has facts ready to his hand; so there is no exercise of invention."

apotheosis in a sentence

- Many people believe that Michelangelo's towering sculpture David apotheosized manly perfection. - In his essay "Uses of Great Men," the nineteenth-century writer Ralph Waldo Emerson has written: "There are no common men. All men are at last of a size; and true art is only possible, on the conviction that every talent has its apotheosis somewhere."

zenith in a sentence

- Many scholars consider the thirteenth century to have marked the zenith of Islamic literature. - When Giuseppe Verdi wrote music for the operas Otello and Falstaff, he was chronologically elderly but was at the zenith of his powers.

plunder in a sentence

- Many towns and villages were plundered during the Thirty Years War when soldiers could be seen carrying out everything from knickknacks to bed linen while distraught owners wailed. - The evangelist encouraged his followers to "plunder hell" by depriving Satan of possible inhabitants.

martial in a sentence

- Martial arts are not part of war, but they do infuse a warrior-like state of discipline on those who practice them. - The martial blare of trumpets led off the triumphal procession that featured exotic animals from the conquered land and chariots full of the golden spoils of war.

scan in a sentence

- Max scanned the school newspaper to see if there was an article on last week's soccer game since he scored the winning goal; sadly the sports section covered only the girls' swim team and the recent junior varsity lacrosse games. - Scanning the first book of The Aeneid takes up the first month of Mr. Tobin's AP Latin class because the students have difficulty determining the poem's meter after a summer without practicing Latin.

Striation in a sentence

- McDermott's plastered-down hair still bore the marks of the striations made by his comb. - The striated pattern on the rock was "beautiful" to Lars, the artist, and "interesting" to Lara, the geologist.

neurotic in a sentence

- Meg's dog Georgia was a bit neurotic; every time Meg left the house, Georgia would begin to howl and paw frantically at the door. - Joel's friends called him neurotic because he was always so anxious before taking an exam, but Joel believed his anxiety helped him to study hard and do well.

hygienic in a sentence

- Meticulous about oral hygiene, Barnaby brushed his teeth twice a day, flossed after every meal, and rinsed his mouth with plaque remover before bed every night. - The chef at Le Café Sal set a high standard of personal hygiene for his staff.

Armageddon in a sentence

- Michael is such a passionate follower of political matters that he views every presidential election as an Armageddon. - Many disagreed with the speaker from the large investment firm who predicted a kind of economic Armageddon in the near future if current trends persisted.

posthumous in a sentence

- Modern-day psychologists have written about the childhood of eighteenth-century writer Jonathan Swift: not only was he a posthumous child, but his mother was geographically distant from him in his early years. - Sicilian writer Giuseppe Lampedusa's only novel, The Leopard, was published posthumously to great acclaim; the writer knew only the sadness of having his manuscript rejected twice.

staid in a sentence

- Mr. Alford encouraged his eighth graders to reread Atticus Finch's staid but passionate defense of the judicial system in the novel To Kill a Mockingbird. "It's all the more tragic," said Mr. Alford, "that his faith is unjustified." - The staid appearance of Abby and Martha, the elderly aunts in the comedy Arsenic and Old Lace is indeed mere appearance, for they delight in poisoning visitors with their homemade wine.

minion in a sentence

- Mr. Blunderbuss never personally fires anyone; one of his minions always does it for him. - The head of the division never sat at a meeting without his minions flanking him as courtiers of a Renaissance king might do.

eke in a sentence

- Mr. Compton eked out a living as a teacher by continuing to work on the family farm in the summers. - Although Lynette had never studied Italian, she could eke out the meaning of a newspaper article in a Roman newspaper through her knowledge of Latin and French.

benign in a sentence

- Mr. Reynolds was understandably relieved when his doctor told him the tumor on his lungs was benign. - The benign face and helpful words of her counselor raised Gina's spirits on an unhappy day in her life.

histrionic in a sentence

- Mr. Ryshke had a excellent point to make at the meeting, but his histrionic manner of presentation undercut its effectiveness. - Indulging in histrionics in the workplace is never a good idea; tears or yelling isn't likely to win the respect of a boss or coworkers.

demented in a sentence

- Mrs. Wilson's dementia had progressed to the point where she needed a full-time companion who would make sure she didn't wander out of the house in her pajamas. - In his demented state, Harry Lyme could not remember the name of his wife or the address of their home.

smidgen in a sentence

- My mother is the kind of woman who cooks without recipes. Her cakes call for a "smidgen" of vanilla or a"jot" of lemon zest rather than "a quarter of a teaspoon" or "two pinches." - Stuffed after the huge dinner, Cary asked for only a smidgen of pie for dessert.

epigone in a sentence

- No one disputes Mick Jagger's originality, and no one can count the number of epigones following palely in his glow. - Plato was an ardent disciple of Socrates, but he transcended the undesirable possibility of being a mere epigone.

pertinacious in a sentence

- No one is so pertinacious as a four-year-old who wants his parent to purchase the Whameroo, a toy advertised every three minutes on television. - Edison's tenacious belief that he could invent a light bulb sustained him through several false attempts.

myriad in a sentence

- Nothing can make an individual feel so small as to contemplate the myriad stars in the sky and to reflect on the distance the light has traveled to reach us. - Even people unfamiliar with much poetry may know William Wordsworth's poem about his delight, after he "wandered lonely as a cloud," in coming upon a myriad of daffodils dancing in the breeze.

wit in a sentence

- O for a time machine that would allow us to sit in the same room with such eighteenth-century English wits as Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift. - While Georgie secretly longs to be perceived as a wit, the low-level caliber of her humor qualifies her only as a class clown.

Obsequious in a sentence

- Obsequious people get the reward they aim for only if their acting is superb or if the object of their attention is imperceptive or vain enough to believe them. - For lovers of the novels of Charles Dickens, the character Uriah Heep, who talks nonstop about how "'umble he is," has become almost synonymous with obsequiousness.

gander in a sentence

- On the first day of school, Hal nudged the boy sitting next to him in homeroom and said, "Get a gander at the new girl in the front row. She's hot." - All of the telephone operators at the telemarketing company were required to eat lunch under the gander of the supervisor so as to guarantee they would not take more than the allotted thirty-minute break.

specter in a sentence

- On the night before the battle in which he was killed, Richard III was visited by specters of all those whom he had murdered, at least in Shakespeare's version of his life. - The specter of a lifetime of minimum wage jobs kept Lenore motivated to continue prepping to pass the bar exam.

Raconteur in a sentence

- Osborne is such a raconteur that he had everyone at the dinner table guffawing at his tales. - When Jay Leno told the anecdote about the chicken, everyone laughed, but when I tried to repeat it to my buddies, there was an awkward silence. I'm just not the raconteur Leno is, in case you hadn't noticed.

bedraggled in a sentence

- Our puppy Lucy looked so bedraggled after she was caught in a rainstorm out in the woods. Her shiny coat was covered in mud and leaves. - After camping in the Okeefenokee for a week, Alexa and Danielle returned home tired, hungry, and bedraggled.

somnolent in a sentence

- Patrick wanted nothing more than to spend a somnolent afternoon in the hammock, possibly working up to reading a newspaper headline or two. - Although Rita likes the idea of books on tape, the narrator's voice often has a somnolent effect on her, possibly a holdover from years of bedtime stories.

carouse in a sentence

- Paula's parents, themselves quiet and hard-working, are distressed by the fact that Paula, now supporting herself, chooses to spend her free time carousing with like-minded cronies. - The weekend carousals of the tenants in the neighboring apartment continue, despite Kenny's irate calls, first, to them and, then, to the landlord.

mysogynist in a sentence

- People always suspected that Otto would inherit his father's hatred of women and, by the time the boy turned twenty, there was no question that he was a full-blown misogynist. - It did seem ironic that Gabriel, who had chosen to work at a women's rights center, should be such an incorrigible misogynist.

mountebank in a sentence

- Perhaps Michiko is romanticizing the past when she says she finds the nerve and skill of marketplace mountebanks somewhat appealing. - That used car salesman turned out to be a bit of a mountebank; his dashing flattery faded when I realized the car I bought was a lemon.

blandishment in a sentence

- Peter told his boss that her introduction to the annual report reminded him of the style of the Gettysburg Address; will Ms. White fall for blandishments like this? - Prof. Ray enjoys students' notes of a complimentary nature when they arrive after grades have been given; otherwise, he fears they may be mere blandishments.

lineage in a sentence

- Petra brags of tracing her lineage back to Charlemagne, ignoring hundreds of other ancestors who didn't make the history books. - "I don't care about his pedigree," huffed Mr. Stormer when his daughter began detailing her fiance's educational background. "Is he a man who'll treat you right?"

scant in a sentence

- Porter received scant attention from his father when he was growing up and is determined not to repeat that pattern: he lavishes love on his own children now. - Alison was always trying to balance her work as wife and mother and her work as wage-earner; she felt she was always scanting one at the expense of the other.

disheveled in a sentence

- Professor Krupiak was as disheveled as his office. His clothes were rumpled and his hair was uncombed, and his books and papers were scattered all over the desk and floor. - Carla carefully disheveled her hair to give it a windswept look because she didn't want to appear too prim when she went backstage to meet the rock band.

esprit in a sentence

- Professor Steinbach's esprit so charmed her students that they managed to be passionate about all aspects of chemistry, even the densely written lab analyses. - The esprit de corps was so high in the avant-garde dance troupe that they didn't seem to mind that no one showed up for their performances.

aggrandize in a sentence

- Renee wondered if Jason believed his own self-aggrandizing statements or if he just hoped to fool others. - When Shirley, a so-so singer, told me she had "performed at Carnegie Hall," I was impressed. I later learned this was a bit of aggrandizement: her chorus had rented out the hall for one night, as any group with enough money can do.

nadir in a sentence

- Robby felt he had reached the nadir of his high school years when his girlfriend broke up with him on the same day he received his disappointing test scores. - Hannah's unbounded optimism allowed her to view the nadir of her fortunes as a challenge to find a new direction for her life.

verve in a sentence

- Roberta's zither performance lacked the verve she brings to her piano playing; the audience found the concert completely lackluster. - "There's no verve in your step," shouted the dance instructor as she watched the budding ballerinas trip haltingly across the dance floor. "Your audience will expect a little enthusiasm, girls!"

supernumerary in a sentence

- Sam, sensing his lovebird friends wanted to be alone, avoided the cliché of "Three's a crowd," by saying dryly, "I'm something of a supernumerary here so I'll see you later." - Glynis hoped someday to become an actress herself, so she was delighted to get a job as "townsperson" in the regional summer production of Horn the West. "So, I'm a supernumerary," she says. "I still get to hang around actors and, don't forget, I do say 'Look, is that Daniel Boone?' on stage!"

phlegmatic in a sentence

- Sarah likes to stir up an occasional feeling of jealousy in her boyfriends, but Ned's phlegmatic nature has conferred immunity on him thus far. - The stereotype of a certified public accountant as somewhat phlegmatic certainly does not apply to Mel: he may crunch numbers all day but on the weekend he skydives and bungee jumps.

dyspeptic in a sentence

- Selina's doctor recommended that she see a specialist for her recurring bouts of dyspeptic distress. - Sharing a workspace with the perpetually dyspeptic Oscar did not increase Elmo's pleasure in his summer job.

shrouded in a sentence

- Shrouded in the shade of the weeping willow tree, the lovers had a picnic in the grass and read poetry to each other. - We were late to the party because we couldn't find the house; shrouded in the crepuscular evening light, it was barely visible from the road.

ecclesiastical

This adjective means "of or relating to a church" or "appropriate for use in a church."

pall in a sentence

- Simon liked the first act of the new play, but as the villain grew more and more wicked, it began to pall on him. - There is a satisfaction in making your living environment neater, but those who are not true neatniks find the pleasure of organizing the closet palls after half an hour.

meager in a sentence

- Some would have described Henry Darger as living a meager existence, for he lived in one room and worked as a cleaning person at a hospital. But the richness of his inner life is revealed in his paintings, now being collected by folk art museums. - "Callie, I'm disappointed in the meager amount of reading you did this summer. Should you really be taking on an Advanced Placement English class?" said Ms. Zak, the concerned teacher.

chimera in a sentence

- Sometime in the eighteenth century the concept of a giant sea snake ceased to be a chimera and became a zoological fact. - Andrea traded in her chimerical hopes of becoming a second Madonna for work on an MBA degree.

abiding in a sentence

- Stephanie has an abiding love of board games: as a child she played Candyland and Sorry for hours, and now she's a chess fanatic. - His abiding distrust of strangers has caused Leon difficulties in casual social encounters.

malinger in a sentence

- Students who habitually malinger do not win the sympathy of harder-working classmates. - Some films about World War II depict sergeants in the U.S. army as being particularly skillful in distinguishing the truly ill from those who were malingering.

sully in a sentence

- Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, but the turkey was sullied by gravy that was way too salty. - We spilled so much gravy and coffee on the tablecloth that Bill had to wash all of the sullied linens immediately before the stains set in.

mite in a sentence

- The 16th century French essayist Michel de Montaigne once said, "Man is certainly crazy. He could not make a mite, and he makes gods by the dozen." - "Aren't you being a mite ridiculous?" Tammy asked. "I can't believe you are so angry at me for being only two minutes late."

unkempt in a sentence

- The English garden surrounding the cottage in Martha's Vineyard was carefully cultivated to look wild and unkempt, as if it naturally grew that way. - Although Liz paid a fortune to be styled at a chic salon, her hair always looked dirty and unkempt.

dusky in a sentence

- The Ethiopian's dusky skin and strong features stood out in the crowd of Irish boys seated behind the goal line at the soccer match. - Tess made her way home in the dusky light, fearful that her fragile figure and innocent expression made her an obvious target for muggers.

ineluctable in a sentence

- The Fall of Troy was foredoomed by Fate, but each generation of inhabitants sought to postpone the ineluctable event. - The seductive Lola in the musical Damn Yankees seeks to persuade her chosen victim that struggle is meaningless, for his surrender to her is ineluctable.

snippet in a sentence

- The Farthingtons had so many leftovers after Thanksgiving dinner that they filled a bowl with snippets of turkey and sweet potatoes and gave them to their dog, Manolo. - "Listen, you young snippets," said Fagin, eyeing the boys playing a game of dice in the corner of the room. "I'm the boss here and you do as I say!"

guile in a sentence

- The German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once said, "The most dangerous physicians are those born actors who imitate born physicians with a perfectly deceptive guile." - Caught taking an extra cupcake off the food line in the cafeteria, Rasheen beguiled the server with a bright smile and a shrug and said, "It's for my friend who forgot to take one when she picked up her lunch."

consummate in a sentence

- The Roman poet Horace wrote a satire about the consummate bore, a person many readers have met in a twenty-first-century embodiment. - Writers of a consummate artistic temperament must be admired, but family and friends may find them hard to deal with, for they leave practical matters to others.

posterity in a sentence

- The Smith family, immensely wealthy, has set up a trust to guarantee comfortable living for their posterity. - The Nobel Prize for Literature was not bestowed on James Joyce or Marcel Proust. Posterity has had the last laugh, for those writers draw higher esteem than most of the winners.

internecine in a sentence

- The War between the States is one of the bloodiest examples of internecine conflict in military records. - My very literate mother yelled down to my brother and me that we should stop our internecine squabbling.

ballistic in a sentence

- The ancient Romans had a machine of war called a ballista; its job was to hurl heavy projectiles, just as modern ballistic weapons do. - My physics teacher nearly went ballistic when I told him I didn't have my project done on time.

goad in a sentence

- The anticipation of summer vacation is a good goad for making students study for their final exams. - Goading their team to victory, the crowd in the front row at the basketball game shouted words of encouragement and waved banners proclaiming: "Go Tigers!"

antics in a sentence

- The antics of the trained dog wearing a tutu had even the most sophisticated audience member hee-hawing. - Ms. Ford has just about had it with the antics of her last period class: is secretly signing a classmate's yearbook really more important than passing the algebra exam?

shard in a sentence

- The archeologists working outside of the kibbutz in the Sahara Desert found hundreds of shards of pottery piled in one area of the dig, leading them to believe that they had come upon an ancient wine cellar or food pantry. - After he lost his job, his home, and his wife, Frank knew that he had no choice but to pick up the shards of his broken life, move to a new city, and start afresh.

droll in a sentence

- The audience responded very favorably to Louis's droll presentation of Puck; at first they weren't sure whether to laugh or not. - The droll look on Jeff Foxworthy's face made his supporters laugh even before he began his comic routine.

stalwart in a sentence

- The band of striking workers remained stalwart, marching in front of the factory and refusing to enter until they were given higher wages and better benefits. _ The antiwar rally was attended by students, conscientious objectors, and a large group of liberal stalwarts.

harlequin in a sentence

- The bright costume of the harlequin figure in the ballet contrasted dramatically with the all-white outfit of Pierrot. - In Karl's extensive teddy bear collection is an automated harlequin bear; if he's a bit chubby in his traditional outfit, he deftly juggles three wooden balls, so long as his battery is working.

tenebrous in a sentence

- The children looked out of the nursery window at the tenebrous woods behind the house and, imagining ghosts in the trees, called for their nanny. - The mansion, shrouded in a tenebrous fog, most definitely looked like the setting for a gothic novel.

dearth in a sentence

- The committee was surprised by the dearth of applicants for the Bedriomo Travel Grant: Isn't any student traveling this summer? Couldn't some student use a little financial help? - The dearth of food in the Netherlands during World War II caused residents to use the term "Hunger Winter" when they recalled the worst of that era.

ecumenical in a sentence

- The community in northwestern Alaska was so small that the only church in town was truly ecumenical, offering services for Catholics, Jews, Protestants, and Unitarians. - The Saturday religious services at Janice's summer camp were always about ecumenical topics that would appeal to the diverse group of campers.

temporize in a sentence

- The congressman temporized during a discussion of stem cell research at a White House conference in order to delay the vote and create more time for his committee members to lobby opponents of the upcoming bill. - In an effort to help their accomplice steal some chips from the corner deli, the two hoodlums temporized with the man at the cash register, distracting him with stories about the old neighborhood.

celibate in a sentence

- The deeply loving husband and wife voluntarily agreed to occasional periods of celibacy to help them focus on the spiritual aspect of their union. - Shakespeare's heroine Hermia, who refuses to marry the man her father has selected for her, is given the choice between death and lifelong celibacy in the service of the unmarried goddess Diana.

delusional in a sentence

- The delusional Adolf Hitler believed he could successfully invade Russia; ultimately he was forced to abandon his plan. - The delusional drug addict donned a cape and insisted that he was Count Dracula.

deranged in a sentence

- The deranged man ran through the streets of the city, crying for his mother and threatening to harm anyone else who came near him. - "Clarissa became quite deranged after her husband died," explained the doctor. " Her grief was so extreme that she could no longer take care of her basic needs and had to be hospitalized."

opaque in a sentence

- The drawing room was so bright that Leslie hung opaque drapes on the windows so that the sun would not shine through and fade the upholstery on the couch and chairs. - No longer in love with Chloe but afraid to tell her so, Will responded to her invitation to her parents' house for dinner with an opaque "We'll see."

mire in a sentence

- The fisherman waded through the mire to find the river stocked with trout. - Mired in poverty, the natives were unable to afford medicine or proper health care for their children.

incoherent in a sentence

- The homeless man walked down the street, gesticulating wildly and mumbling to himself incoherently; the pedestrians avoided him, thinking he was insane. - The label on the pain medication warns users not to operate heavy machinery as it may cause drowsiness or incoherence.

surfeit in a sentence

- The hosts meant well with their repeated offers of food, comforts, or entertainment, but their constant attention to his welfare surfeited the guest, who longed for a little benign neglect. - The grandparents, remembering their own cherishing of one or two toys in their Depression-era childhood, saw the many stuffed animals, games, and electronic gear in Miranda's room as a surfeit that might be unappreciated or meaningless to the child.

incessant in a sentence

- The incessant banal cellphone conversations by fellow passengers made Juan's train trip less of a pleasure than it had been in less advanced technological times. - Prof. Roskelly worked incessantly on her new book on rhetoric, determined to meet the publisher's new deadline.

henchman in a sentence

- The king and his henchmen traveled by horseback through the north of Scotland, looking to shore up support among the nobility there against a threatened invasion. - While no proof is yet available, the press strongly suspects that the leader of the oil lobby is a henchman of Sen. Phogbound, who receives enormous support from owners of oil wells.

hegemony in a sentence

- The movie Dr. Strangelove satirically displays the leaders of the United States and Russia having to choose between hegemony and survival. - Athenian hegemony first emerged in the aftermath of the wars with Persia.

halcyon in a sentence

- The nineteenth-century British poet Christina Rossetti has written: "My heart is like a rainbow shell/That paddles in a halcyon sea." - "I remember the halcyon days," Ruby's grandfather reflected, "when it was possible to find an affordable apartment in this city and walk the streets without fear of being mugged."

cachet in a sentence

- The nosegay he wore in his buttonhole gave cachet to Mr. Giovanelli's otherwise indistinguishable blue suit. - Lots of teenagers like to buy clothing with a designer label prominently displayed because they think it gives cachet to their outfits.

bowdlerize in a sentence

- The novels of Henry Miller are too explicit to bowdlerize; by the time a conservative editor finished removing offensive material there would be little left to read. - Horrified by the bowdlerization of the Shakespeare editions at her school, the English teacher collected them all and burned them.

nostrum in a sentence

- The old-timey "medicine man," who often traveled with a carnival-like show, offered glowing promises and an array of nostrums to an uneducated audience. - The shelves of today's drugstores allow today's overweight consumers to select their favorite nostrum for possible help with losing weight.

toady in a sentence

- The original toadeaters literally ate or seemed to eat poisonous toads in sideshows, a move designed to allow the audience to see that their partner could expel the creature from their system. - Tim was initially disappointed when his company transferred him to a small town, but he solaced himself with the thought of no longer working with a bunch of toadies.

scrutiny in a sentence

- The orthopedist scrutinized Carol's X-rays in search of a cause for her excruciating shoulder pain, but she could find nothing out of the ordinary in the images. - After careful scrutiny of the crime scene, the detective determined that the burglar must have entered through the kitchen door with a key since there were no signs of forced entry.

heretic in a sentence

- The other teachers at the Hewlett Academy, a conservative prep school in Massachusetts, called Mr. McPhee a heretic when he stopped giving weekly exams and abandoned traditional grades in favor of pass/fail evaluations with written comments. - The headmaster, who supported Mr. McPhee's decisions, was later fired for being a heretical thinker who was unable to control his faculty and preserve the academy's rigorous academic policies.

paucity in a sentence

- The paucity of supplies available for classrooms meant that dedicated teachers often paid for crayons and rolls of paper for class projects out of their own pockets. - Since he had anticipated an abundance of curiosity about his new invention, the paucity of responses was not only disappointing but startling.

placebo in a sentence

- The pharmaceutical company tested the new drug in a trial where half the subjects received the medication and half received a look-alike placebo. - Psychologists are interested in the so-called "placebo effect" wherein some patients who falsely believe they are receiving a useful medication demonstrate relief from their symptoms.

titular in a sentence

- The phrase "head of the family" that once had such powerful meaning has now become merely titular and is probably on its way to nonexistence. - Ivan, one of the titular brothers in Dostoyevsky's great novel The Brothers Karamazov has a frightening encounter with a figure called The Grand Inquisitor.

surreptitious in a sentence

- The pickpocket sidled up to the commuter on the packed subway car and surreptitiously removed the wallet from the man's back pocket. - Sylvester the Cat, known for his surreptitious gait, tiptoed up to Tweety Bird's cage, carefully opened the gate, and swiped the little yellow bird into his paw. "I tought I saw a puddy cat," Tweety Bird cried, as he slipped free of Sylvester's claws.

bathos in a sentence

- The poet Edgar Allan Poe wielded a mean hatchet when he turned critic, not hesitating to condemn bad verse as "barbaric," or "full of bathos." - Erica's spoofing version of an episode in Homer's Iliad featured a successful moment of bathos: Achilles almost lost the battle with Hector when he had to excuse himself to go to the bathroom.

swarthy in a sentence

- The poet Walt Whitman described himself as "swarthy" from so many days spent outdoors under a hot sun. - When scholars write about Shakespeare's Othello, they often refer to him as "the swarthy moor."

charisma in a sentence

- The president's charisma made him a powerful public speaker and garnered him many admirers, despite his scandalous romantic affairs. - The pop singer's charismatic stage presence led to her becoming a spokeswoman for a number of national charities and an outspoken political activist.

psychotic in a sentence

- The psychotic serial killer was captured by the police and found guilty of murdering twelve women. - I Never Promised you a Rose Garden tells the true story of a psychotic young woman who suffered from multiple personality disorder.

edify in a sentence

- The rabbi's lecture to the group of Hebrew school students was edifying as he attempted to teach them what it means to be devout in a world that is increasingly secular. - "You might not think playing video games is an edifying experience, but I do," Ralph said to his father. "Super Mario has taught me not to give up in the face of adversity. I think that's a pretty morally uplifting message."

unrelenting in a sentence

- The relentless pressure on Margaret to succeed had begun when she was three months old: her parents played the music of Mozart in the nursery because they had read that it aided development of an infant's brain. - The unrelenting beat of the drum resounded through the tropical night, delighting the dancers (Were they doing the limbo?) and frustrating the would-be sleepers.

replicate in a sentence

- The research biologists at the Immunology Center all agreed that they should repeat their experiments several times to see if they could replicate the results of their first experiment. - Worthington carefully considered his colleague's decision to duel and offered only a silent nod of agreement in replication.

sanctimonious in a sentence

- The sanctimonious businessman maintained his veneer of innocence, but the judge knew he was lying all along. - The politician's smarmy sanctimony about the importance of family values in determining political policy earned him the mistrust of his more liberal constituents.

stringent in a sentence

- The school imposed stringent rules regarding dress code. Absolutely no shorts or tank tops were allowed, even on the hottest days of the year. - Samuel Smiles, the nineteenth-century Scottish political reformer, once said: "No laws, however stringent, can make the idle industrious, the thrifltless provident, or the drunken sober."

jeremiad in a sentence

- The sociology class seemed to be going pretty well until the last week of the term when Prof. Ausmus broke into a kind of jeremiad about "your generation," calling us self-centered and self-serving—ouch. - Some African American writers in the 1960s thought James Baldwin's jeremiad of despair left little room for the possibilities of hope and change in racial relations.

erudite in a sentence

- The students at State College love Professor Krupotkin because he is generous with his time, creative in his teaching methods, and so erudite in the field of Russian history. - Isabella's erudition became quite obvious during her lecture at the Archeological Institute; she has translated more than twenty-five languages, including Sanskrit, Mandarin, and ancient Greek.

sanctimonious

This adjective means "pretending to be sacred" or "excessively righteous."

exacerbate in a sentence

- The swelling in Mrs. Cunningham's knee was exacerbated by the fact that she had to keep bending down to pick up the toys left on the floor by her twin sons, Aiden and Frank. - The antics of disc jockeys like DJ Hamentashen exacerbate the pop music industry's image as contrived, superficial, and manic.

reprise in a sentence

- The thrilled audience gave a standing ovation to the orchestra of Kiss Me, Kate and shouted for a reprise of "It's Too Darn Hot" and "Wunderbar." - Mr. Kachtick's Middle English recitation of the "Prologue" to The Canterbury Tales was so popular that he reprised it each year for his Medieval Literature elective.

unremitting in a sentence

- The unremitting pain of Tim's fractured wrist dented his pleasure in the ice fishing expedition with his buddy Geoff. - Darby's unremitting pleasure in Joan's company made him quote Antony's lines on Cleopatra, "Age cannot wither nor custom stale her infinite variety."

purge in a sentence

- The vegetables at the health food store are carefully washed and purged of all of their impurities before being pressed into fresh juice at the juice bar. - Orthodox Judiasm requires that women be purged in a mikvah, a ritual purification bath, before the Sabbath prayers.

abject in a sentence

- The writer Richard Savage lived many years in the most abject circumstances, often walking all night for want of a place to lay his head. - To run away from a friend in need is one example of the most abject varieties of selfishness.

recondite in a sentence

- The writings of Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard are recondite not only because of the complexity of his ideas but because of his dense writing style and its awkward translation into English. - "The operating manual to my new dvd player is as recondite as a page out of a medieval history text," wailed Ben. "I can't figure out how to play anything, let alone set the timer."

somnolent in a sentence

- Their faces pale and somnolent in the moonlight that shone in through the nursery window, the children waited for their mother to come in and kiss them each goodnight. - During the lecture series on the subject of finding happiness, the microbiologist gave a speech so soporific that half the audience was out like a light after the first half hour.

askance in a sentence

- There is a fairly well-known, ribald (see the "Not-Quite Naughty Words" chapter) limerick that begins: "There was a young fellow called Lancelot, Whom his neighbors all looked on askance a lot." - Stephanie's elite summer camp was so snobby that the girls looked askance at anyone who was not wearing the right designer jeans or the latest style in sneakers.

fumigate in a sentence

- There were so many spider nests in our basement that we had to call Bugaway Pest Exterminators to fumigate the house. - After the students in Mr. Peppiat's chemistry class performed their sulfur experiments, he had to have the lab room fumigated to eliminate the horrible smell of rotten eggs.

epitome in a sentence

- This particular church was identified by art historian John Ruskin as an epitome of the changes that occurred in Venetian architecture after the thirteenth century. - "Tad thinks he's the epitome of 'cool,' but I've got news for him—he's not," said Scarlett scornfully.

tribulation in a sentence

- Those working for a greater degree of racial equality in the 1960s were sustained in their tribulations by their belief that this important change would come. - When Martin went to the administration of his school to protest the absence of a soft drinks machine, the principal said gently, "Martin, I don't think that going without a cola for six hours ranks as one of the great tribulations of all time."

cantankerous in a sentence

- Though he is often cantankerous to the residents of Sesame Street, Oscar the Grouch has a secret heart of gold. - The cantankerous Mrs. Noodlesburg frequently reprimanded the Miller boys for playing softball on the street in front of her house.

didactic in a sentence

- Though the minister often gave interesting sermons during weekly chapel, he had a tendancy to be too didactic, forcing the students to focus on facts and academic issues rather than to reflect on their spiritual lives. - Maggie's mother was didactic about everything; even preparing dinner could turn into a lecture about nutrition and healthful eating habits.

mercenary in a sentence

- Thousands of Hessian soldiers from north Germany were sold to England to fight as mercenaries against the rebellious colonists in America. - When Rosa asked Raoul how much his summer internship paid, he snapped, "Don't be so mercenary. I'm doing it for the experience."

recurrent in a sentence

- Timothy had recurrent nightmares about his chemistry teacher; each night he dreamed that Ms. Crossbones told him he failed his final exam and would have to take chemistry again next year. - The individual's struggle for identity within the confines of old-fashioned and often oppressive social conventions is a recurrent theme in the American novel.

anathema in a sentence

- To Dorothy, a confirmed luddite, the idea of spending hundreds of dollars on a laptop computer is anathema; she would rather use the money for a fountain pen, some fine stationery, and an antique writing desk. - In the opening act of Macbeth, the three witches gather on the heath and revel in the anathemas they have placed upon a sailor and his wife.

equilibrium in a sentence

- Tom took one look at the maple tree that had fallen on his roof in the storm and lost his equilibrium. "It's going to cost me a fortune to repair that slate roof," he wailed in despair. - After falling clumsily on stage in the first act of Swan Lake, the girl picked herself up with perfect equipoise and got back on line with the rest of the swans.

slovenly in a sentence

- Trip's mother refused to allow him to join the family at the restaurant because he was dressed in such a slovenly manner. She sent him home to put on a clean shirt and pressed pants. - Rachel's boss fired her for doing such a slovenly job. None of her files were in alphabetical order and her desk was covered with unopened mail and old food wrappers.

ruse in a sentence

- Unable to pay his rent, Herman came up with several ruses to avoid bumping into his landlord, including climbing out of the window and using a ladder to leave his apartment building every morning. - So that her husband wouldn't know she was planning a surprise party for him that evening, Jessica came up with a clever ruse to get him to the restaurant. She told him they were going to a party for his best friend.

pinnacle in a sentence

- When Cliff finished the difficult climb to the pinnacle of Mt. Katahdin, he proudly recorded in his journal, "Today I completed my hike of the entire Appalachian Trail." - "If I may speak frankly, my dear Miss Ashley," said the impoverished nobleman courting the American heiress, "I think you have reached the pinnacle of perfection."

stipulate in a sentence

- When Harriet agreed to marry Peter, she made the specific stipulation that he would never kid her (or, worse, criticize her) about her love of shoes and her possession of many, many pairs. - Rules for the operation of the Godivan Embassy stipulate that all meals served there must end in the presentation of a dessert made of chocolate, whether milk or bittersweet.

compliant in a sentence

- When Henrietta insisted that her husband come with her to see a doctor, he came along like a compliant child; he must have been feeling very ill since he generally distrusts the medical profession. - "We expect full compliance with the rules and regulations of the country club," explained the club president. "That means no bare feet in the lobby or sitting rooms."

raffish in a sentence

- When Jack walked into the classroom wearing a fedora at a raffish angle, his classmates were amused and his teacher made him remove it immediately. - Chet's raffish behavior at parties and other social gatherings earned him the admiration of Claire, the beat poet, and Stanley, the existentialist philosopher.

misandrist in a sentence

- When Lisa and Margot started the misandrists' club at college, they chose as the club's symbol a picture of a man's face with a red "X" superimposed over it. - Patty had been abandoned by three husbands and was cruelly treated by her father; it was no surprise that she was such a misandrist.

besiege in a sentence

- When Ms. O'Brien announced that she could assist students in finding high- paying summer jobs, she was besieged with requests for help. - When the Turks besieged the city of Vienna in 1683, the results went beyond the military: this was the occasion for the introduction of coffee to the European world, or so some experts believe.

berserk in a sentence

- When Suzanne discovered that her brother Ben had borrowed her iPod and broken it, she went berserk, screaming loudly and threatening to break one of his favorite toys. - One of the elephants at the zoo went berserk; he broke out of his cage and rampaged through the cafeteria, knocking over tables and chairs and frightening the visitors.

holistic in a sentence

- When Toby asked his new English teacher if she "took off for spelling," she answered, "No, I grade holistically; I look at the overall quality of your writing rather than tallying up errors." - Dr. Ning's lecture on holistic medicine clarified for the audience this alternative approach to medical treatment: a doctor using the holistic approach would not merely look at the nose and throat of, say, patients with a bad cold but would ask them about their eating, sleeping, and exercising.

eulogy in a sentence

- When circumstances allowed Huckleberry Finn to attend his own funeral, did he get to hear a eulogy for himself? - At the service for Ms. Dougherty, she will be eulogized by one family member and one coworker.

squalid in a sentence

- When he first joined the Peace Corps, Paul was horrified by the squalor in which the natives lived. Many of them slept on the floor in mud huts and had no electricity or flush toilets. - The principal decided to ban several of the books on the reading list because he considered the material too squalid for high school freshmen.

liminal in a sentence

- When the lovers in A Midsummer Night's Dream leave the city of Athens, they find themselves in the uncharted forest, a liminal area not bound by values established by the laws of the city. - Many ethical questions related to new developments in science are in a liminal state: many sincere people do not know what position to take.

exiguous in a sentence

- When the young boy became aware of his family's exiguous economic circumstances, he insisted on getting after-school jobs to help as much as he could. - There was an exiguous outcropping of grass among the rocks; otherwise, the terrain was bleak.

nominal in a sentence

- While Lord Redlinghuys is the nominal chair of the fund-raising committee, a professional staff does all the hard work of contacting possible donors, publicizing the benefits, and the like. - "I receive a nominal salary as a spokesperson for bass fishing," said Rick. "But I earn my real living by writing articles for men's magazines."

stooge in a sentence

- While the skill of Cox, the stooge, was the secret to the success of the comedy duo, it was Box, his partner, who received most of the applause. - Rafferty's press secretary was a complete stooge: he habitually took the blame for his boss's bad decisions, always willing to say, "I misunderstood Mr. Rafferty's instructions."

stentorian in a sentence

- Why do those who use their cell phones in public places tend to be so stentorian? - In earlier eras the ability to be stentorian was prized, but in this day of microphones and public address systems it is not required.

equanimity in a sentence

- With a look of perfect equanimity on his face, the yogi sat on the floor, closed his eyes, crossed his legs, and began to meditate. - Batman met the Joker's hostile glare with a look of perfect equanimity before taking off in his Batmobile with a screech of rubber.

élan in a sentence

- With his bright yellow scarf and beret, Pierre's élan was obvious to everyone at the biology fair; it was clear he was no ordinary scientist. - Although she was the only woman to wear her Easter bonnet to the post-parade luncheon, Gladys dressed with so much élan that the hat seemed perfectly appropriate.

wheedle in a sentence

- With minimal skills and a genius at wheedling, Nanette turned a temporary part-time job into a permanent high-paying position. - His big smile and his double-talk rhetoric allowed the unscrupulous salesman to wheedle the couple out of their savings.

prankster in a sentence

- Writer Tom Wolfe captured in his book The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test the antics of Ken Kesey, well-known author of the 1960s, who traveled cross-country with friends who called themselves the Merry Pranksters. - What group of pranksters filled the principal's office to the ceiling with bright-colored balloons? Will she be amused?

crone in a sentence

- Years of hard labor and misery had transformed Roberta from a buxom, sprightly lass to a wretched, hunchbacked crone. - In the myth of the golden fleece, Jason helps a crone to cross a flooded river, only to discover that the withered old woman is none other than the Greek goddess Hera in disguise.

lunatic in a sentence

-"Staying up all night to study right before an exam is sheer lunacy," cried Peter's mother. "You'll be too tired to think straight and you'll surely fail the test." - The naïve critic said that Jackson Pollock must have been a lunatic to think that dripping paint on a canvas was a form of serious art.

sermonize in a sentence

-Happily, the film doesn't sermonize about the importance of the arts in a school curriculum. It makes the point in a more subtle and effective way. - All of Aunt Sally's sermonizing made Huck Finn want to light out for the territory, and many adolescents identify with that feeling when well-meaning adults talk at them.

bombast in a sentence

-Jeremy would make a good president of the student council, but the bombast in his recent speech really turned me off. - Shakespeare's character Pistol is given to bombastic utterances such as, "Let not hemp his windpipe suffocate." Why doesn't he just say, "Don't hang him"?

hygienic

This adjective means "sanitary" or "sufficiently clean so as to promote or preserve health."

rakish

This adjective means "self-confidently stylish" or "jaunty".

somnolent

This adjective means "sleepy" or "sleep-inducing"; "soporific."

furtive

This adjective means "sneaky" or "shifty"

obscure

This adjective means "so dark as to be barely visible" or "indistinct." It can also mean "hidden" or "not well-known," "not easily understood," or "inconspicuous."

ecumenical

This adjective means "universal" or "of worldwide scope."

cantankerous

This adjective means "very touchy" or "ill-tempered" and "disagreeable."

savvy

This adjective means "well-informed and perceptive."

shrouded

This adjective means "wrapped in darkness."

brio

This noun means "vivacity" or "spirit." It is generally used to describe a way of doing something.

pedagogue

This noun means a "schoolteacher" or "educator." Often instructs in a "pedantic" or "dogmatic" manner.

conundrum

A challenging puzzle, a dilemma, a riddle.

progenitor

A direct ancestor, or by extension an originator.

somnolent

A fancy way of saying "sleepy."

quiescent

A good synonym for this word is "quiet," in the sense of "peaceful" or "at rest."

elixir

A liquid potion or medicine falsely believed to cure any ailment.

revelry

A loud "good time," or the enjoyment or relishment of anything, even a thought.

misandrist

A man-hater.

credo

A noun that means a formal statement of beliefs.

snippet

A noun to describe "a bit, scrap, or morsel."

prognosis

A prediction concerning the course of a disease, particularly of the possibilities for recovery.

placebo

A substance that contains no medicinal value but one which the patient believes has such value.

prolific

Adjective describes someone with many offspring, either literal children or figurative children such as books.

filial

Adjective describes the relationship of a son or daughter to the mother or father.

droll

Adjective describes words, facial expressions, or acts that are amusing in an odd way, perhaps somewhat whimsical.

malleable

Adjective means "capable of being shaped or formed." It can be used to describe things or people who easily adjust to differing circumstances.

inexorable

Adjective means "relentless" or "not capable of being stopped or changed."

staid

Adjective most often used as a compliment to mean "dignified" or, more frequently in a negative sense, "overly prim and proper."

titular

Adjective that carries the sense of "in name or title only," not possessing any real substance. It can also be used in the simpler sense of "referring to the title."

pristine

Adjective that means "clean and pure, free from dirt or decay" or "original or uncorrupted."

bamboozle

It is an informal way of saying "to swindle" or "to deceive." It has the same almost playful feeling as "to hoodwink."

abiding

It lives with you, and thus it doesn't end.

adamant

It means "impervious to reason" or "stubbornly unyielding."

martial

It means "related to or characteristic of war or warriors."

temporize

It means "to act evasively in order to gain time or to avoid an argument."

epigone

Always has a negative connotation of "second-rate follower." This noun is now used for a figurative "second-generation," an imitator, a copier of an earlier pathbreaker. A modern slang equivalent might be "wannabe."

harridan

It means a "vicious, scolding old woman"

susurrus

It refers to a soft rustling noise, a whisper, a murmur.

obsequious

Among the many words to describe falsely humble behavior, this adjective offers the most syllables.

unrelenting

An adjective for "unstopping"

unremitting

An adjective for something that never stops, never slackens.

swarthy

An adjective reserved for describing dark complexions.

recondite

An adjective that describes something that is not easily understood or very "obscure."

besiege

An army __ a town surrounds it with armed force and waits. The verb can also be used figuratively for any mental or emotional pressure.

canon

An established set of principles or code of laws, often religious in nature.

toady

An obvious flatterer

wag

Another amateur clown; a habitual joker, a bit silly in his or her mischief.

incubus

Any oppressive burden that torments an individual as a nightmare might torment.

nostrum

Any possible remedy, not scientifically proven, for a minor ailment or bodily condition

Sycophants

Are people who hope to gain advantages for themselves for flattering people with power or influence.

mite

As a noun, this word can mean a lot of different tiny things—a small amount of money, a small insect, a child, or even a small particle. As an adjective it connotes "to a small degree."

mercenary

As a noun, this word refers to a professional soldier, one who fights for pay for any country. As an adjective, it describes any "just for money" motive.

surfeit

As a verb or as a noun, this word expresses the idea of "over-muchness."

sedate

As an adjective, this word means "calm, composed, or dignified in manner." It can also be used as a verb to mean "to calm by means of a drug that has a tranquillizing effect."

flair

This noun means a distinctive elegance or style and can also mean a particular aptitude or talent.

panache

This noun means a touch of added style or dash.

ennui

Boredom, listlessness.

scant

Whether used as an adjective or as a verb, the word carries the idea of "barely sufficient" or "in short supply."

lithe

Can be used to describe people or things. "limber" or "flexible".

surreptitious

This adjective means clandestine or stealthy, in short—sneaky. Just like "clandestine," it is more often used to describe the actions people do, not the character of the people who do them.

tenebrous

This adjective means dark and gloomy and is used exclusively to describe literal darkness.

pall

Describes the fact of a phenomenon's becoming boring or wearying.

banal

Describes the predictably trite, the ordinary.

jaded

Condition of world-weariness

iota

Connotes "a very small amount."

smidgen

Connotes an indeterminate but small amount.

salubrious

Describing circumstances or conditions favorable to good health.

dyspeptic

Descriptive of a person who is grouchy or ill-tempered.

phlegmatic

Describes a person who is slow to act, slow to get angry—more or less the far extreme from temperamental.

avuncular

Describes a relationship with an uncle. By extension, it's used even more often to describe the kind, friendly manner of an unrelated man.

enervated

Describes a sense of weakened vitality, a loss of energy, letting you feel as if some vital nerve had been removed.

resilient

Describes the ability "to recover readily from illness or misfortune" or to "get back into shape."

noxious

Does harm

lassitude

Emotional fatigue or a dreamy, lazy mood.

eke

Expresses the sense of "managing but with difficulty."

spartan

Far from hedonistic; self-disciplined, self-restrained, a simple, spare way of life. The adjective also may suggest stoicism, the ability to bear difficult physical or emotional circumstances without showing distress.

torpid

Having no energy. If you're a certain kind of animal, you might be hibernating, but if you're a plain old human being, you've let yourself get bored stiff.

posterity

In a limited sense, this noun refers to a person's descendents. In a larger sense it is used for a general sense of "future generations."

obeisance

Is what you do to express your obedience or respect. Like a bow or a curtsy, it is "a gesture that expresses homage or a willingness to serve."

sermonize

It assumes an air of moral superiority over the person listening or reading.

gratuitous

It can mean "free," "given without obligation"

Testimonial

It is a spoken or written statement of tribute.

benign

Kind or friendly, this word has the specific medical sense of meaning not dangerous to health.

superfluous

Literally "overflowing," this adjective can describe either literal objects or more abstract qualities.

posthumous

Literally meaning "after death," this adjective has a special "family sense" in referring to a baby born after the death of his or her father. It can also be used in non-family contexts.

interminable

Literally means "not able to end," this adjective is chiefly used to describe something tedious, a situation you wish would end.

pantheon

Literally, "all gods."

panacea

Literally, a "cure-all," a substance believed to be a remedy for any disease or difficulty.

specter

Literally, a ghost; this noun is used for any disturbing image of a future disturbance.

otiose

May describe a condition of idleness or laziness or a person or thing that is ineffective.

scion

Noun a fancy way of referring to a descendent or heir, most often to a male of a wealthy family.

hedonist

Noun denotes a person devoted to having a good time.

lineage

Noun means "ancestry," the "line" going back to your forebears on the family tree.

modicum

Means "a small or modest amount."

dollop

Means "a small quantity" or "splash," usually of a liquid or soft solid.

dusky

Means "dark" or "shadow." This adjective is also used to describe a dark complexion.

stalwart

Means "firm" and "resolute" and can be used to describe people or actions. Also used as a noun to mean "one who loyally supports a party or a cause."

zenith

Means "highest point." This noun originally had an astronomical sense of the highest point of a celestial body.

stringent

Means "strict or severe" or "constricted." It is used to describe actions rather than people.

embellish

Means "to decorate," presumably with the end of making something beautiful.

implacable

Means "unable to be appeased or mollified'.

liminal

Neither high nor low, neither in nor out— describes something in between, on the edge. It comes from the Latin word meaning "threshold."

celibate

Not sexually active

soupçon

Noun means a "tiny amount" or "just a trace or a hint."

goad

Noun or verb: "to urge" or " to prod."

tribulation

Noun refers to a hardship, an affliction, a form of suffering.

stooge

One who helps a comedian to be funny by feeding "straight" lines to him; one who allows themself to be used by others, presumably in exchange for some kind of gain.

panegyric

Originally a speech of praise, this noun now extends to the written form as well.

henchman

Originally bearing a neutral sense of a trusted follower, this noun has increasingly come to have a negative sense like that of minion, suggesting sycophancy.

prankster

Plays pranks, that is, mischievous tricks, practical jokes.

opaque

This adjective means several different kinds of dark. First, it means "impenetrable by light." It also means "so obscure as to be unintelligible." Finally, it means "dense," as in mentally unintelligible.

limbo

Refers to a state that feels as though it will never end because you're getting no attention or information that might enable you to move on.

conclave

Refers to any highly secret meeting.

laity

Refers to people who are not members of the clergy or, by extension, those who are not part of some specialized group. A modern synonym would be close to "the man in the street."

nominal

This adjective suggests something exists in name only; in other words, it's minimal, token.

fulsome

This adjective, meaning "offensively insincere", had a happier past of meaning simply "abundant." If you use it in that latter way today, you'll be seriously misunderstood and seen as absolutely oleaginous (slimily flattering).

compliant

Someone who is "flexible," "adaptable," or "willing to agree to the demands of others." It is generally used to describe someone who is "submissive."

myopic

Someone who needs glasses because they can not see clearly at a distance or someone who is "short-sighted" and "lacks long-range perspective."

unflagging

The adjective describes something that does not tire, does not stop.

consummate

The adjective describes the highest, most complete or perfect form of some quality, whether positive or negative.

halcyon

The adjective means "calm" and "peaceful."

harlequin

This fellow is recognizable by his clothing of brightly colored diamond shapes and his mask. His outfit goes back to the clown figure in Italian acting troupes several centuries ago.

fawn

The display of affection designed as a tradeoff for favor.

dearth

The meaning of this noun is simple. There's not enough of something or maybe there's simply none of it.

chimera

The noun is a word for any creature of the imagination, any unfounded concept.

hag

The noun is reserved solely for women and, although it once meant "soothsayer" or "oracle," it has since retained only the negative meaning of "witch" or "frightful, ugly old woman."

purge

The verb, means to" cleanse or purify."

feral

This adjective can describe either an animal in the wild or one returned to living in such a state. It can also describe human behavior that is more like the savagery of an animal.

meager

This adjective can refer to something that is scanty in either quantity or quality.

sacreligious

This adjective describes behavior that is disrespectful toward things many consider sacred, either literally or figuratively.

chaste

This adjective describes a person who is morally pure in thought and conduct.

smarmy

This adjective describes a person who smears phony charm all over the person he or she hopes to flatter.

abject

This adjective describes either a low condition or status or describes something most contemptible or most wretched.

exiguous

This adjective describes something that is just barely enough for the purpose

servile

This adjective describes the behavior of someone willing to act like someone's slave in hopes of getting a payoff later.

exorbitant

This adjective expresses the concept of something that exceeds all fair bounds. It's most commonly used to describe prices or numerical quantities.

internecine

This adjective has come to mean intra-group struggle or destruction.

ineluctable

This adjective is a formal word for "inevitable," "inescapable." In that sense, the end is in sight.

incessant

This adjective is a varyiant form of "unceasing."

transcendent

This adjective is most often used to mean "lying beyond the ordinary range of perception" or "not part of the material universe."

clandestine

This adjective is used to describe something done secretly in order to conceal a private plan or an improper purpose. People aren't __; actions are.

messianic

This adjective is used to refer to zealous or overzealous belief in a cause or a leader.

venial

This adjective is used within the Roman Catholic church to describe a sin that is, "minor," "easily forgivable."

histrionic

This adjective literally means "relating to actors or acting," but is coming more to mean "overly dramatic or emotional," an ineffective mode of speaking of writing.

raffish

This adjective means "characterized by a carefree or fun-loving unconventionality."

Crepuscular

This adjective means "dim" or "like twilight." It is used solely to describe the quality of physical light.

empirical

This adjective means "guided by practical experience or observation rather than by precepts or theory."

numinous

This adjective means "having a supernatural presence" or "spiritually elevated."

holistic

This kind of approach emphasizes the overall quality of something, the interdependence of its parts.

eulogy

This noun can be seen as a rough synonym for pane- gyric, except that modern usage of this word is generally restricted to a speech made at a funeral.

fishwife

This noun can mean literally "a woman who sells fish," but it more generally means "a course, abusive, nagging woman."

philanderer

This noun describes a male flirt, that is, a man who carries on many love affairs with women that he does not take seriously. Most engage in extramarital affairs with women they have no intention of marrying.

equilibrium

This noun describes a state of mental balance; stable and calm.

antics

This noun describes acts that are perceived as either amusing or not, depending on the context or on the personality of the beholder.

myriad

This noun expresses the concept of an indefinite but huge quantity.

apogee

This noun has complex scientific aspects but is also used by the common person to mean, simply, "highest point."

chauvinist

This noun has two meanings. First, it describes anyone who is fanatically patriotic. It also means someone with a prejudiced belief in the superiority of his or her own gender or group, and it is mostly commonly applied to males.

plethora

This noun is a good synonym for "excess."

minion

This noun is always used contemptuously to describe a "yes-man," a person who unquestioningly serves another.

anathema

This noun is roughly synonymous with a strong curse, a near wish for damnation.

blandishment

This noun is used for flattering language subtly designed to coax the hearer into complying with the hopes of the speaker.

innuendo

This noun may or may not qualify as "deception."; It means "a subtle or indirect expression" or "an insinuation." If it's true, of course, it doesn't qualify as deception, but all too often it suggests the kind of half-truth that leads to rumor or gossip. In fact, in a legal sense, it means "allegedly libelous or slanderous material."

tyro

This noun means "a beginner in learning something"; "novice."

ruse

This noun means "a crafty scheme," "a sneaky plan."

incarnation

This noun means "a fleshly version of the divine."

theocracy

This noun means "a government ruled by religious authority."

sinecure

This noun means "a job or similar position that provides a salary but little work"

cachet

This noun means "a mark of quality or a distinguishing feature."

scintilla

This noun means "a tiny amount," such as "a trace" or a "spark."

ablution

This noun means "a washing or cleansing of the body."

verve

This noun means "energy and enthusiasm in the expression of ideas, especially in an artistic performance."

élan

This noun means "enthusiastic liveliness," but it can also be used, like panache, to mean a dash of style.

concord

This noun means "harmony" or "total agreement."

esprit

This noun means "liveliness of spirit" or "sprightliness."

penumbra

This noun means "partial shadow," the area between complete illumination and total eclipse. It can also be used figuratively to mean "an area in which something exists to an uncertain degree."

charisma

This noun means "personal magnetism" or "charm."

guile

This noun means "skillful cunning" or "deceit"; though it also means "to deceive," it often suggests a kind of cunning that is more charming than treacherous. People have __ or ___, not plans or objects.

equanimity

This noun means "the quality of being calm and even-tempered, of having composure."

repose

This noun means "the state of being at rest." It can also be used to suggest extreme rest, that is, "death."

redemption

This noun means "to rescue or save" or "deliverance upon payment of a ransom."

ballistic

This word is best known today in its slang meaning of really really angry—angry enough to throw something.

discern

To distinguish something from something else. To perceive it to be different or distinct.

stipulate

To make an express demand as part of an agreement; to specify exactly what's required.

malinger

To pretend to be ill in order to get out of unpleasant work.

acme, apex

Two more nouns starting with "a" that are synonyms for apogee, highest point.

sate and satiate

Two verbs to express the idea of being fully or excessively satisfied!

mountebank

Used for any unscrupulous salesperson, whether joke-telling or not.

Striation

Usually you'll see it in the plural, referring to parallel groupings of the thing.

winnow

Verb means "to rid of undesirable parts" or "to separate the good from the bad."

carouse

Verb refers to taking part in noisy partying.

stint

Verb that expresses the concept of "restricting" or "limiting." The noun describes a length of time spent on a particular task, presumably with the sense of "not considering lengthening the appointed time."

fumigate

Verb that means "to employ smoke in order to disinfect or exterminate."

bowdlerize

Verb that means to "cleanse a manuscript of what is deemed 'offensive' material" or to "shorten it so as to skew the content in a certain way."

expurgate

Verb that means to "remove erroneous, obscene, or otherwise objectionable material from a book or other piece of writing before publication."

belie

Verb that refers to misrepresentation, to self-contradiction.

pinnacle

Yet another word for "highest point" as well as a common term for a mountain peak.

indefatigable

Your energy never ends; you're incapable of becoming fatigued.

squalid

adj. "dirty or wretched" caused by poverty or negligence. It can also mean dirty in the sense of being morally repulsive.

deranged

adj. "insane," as in having one's mental order upset or disturbed.

psychotic

adj. a severe mental disorder characterized by a loss of contact with reality and consequent inability to function in social situations.

disheveled

adj. not neatly arranged

incoherent

adj. describes someone who is unable to think or express his or her thoughts in a clear or orderly manner.

berserk

adj. destructively deranged or wildly unrestrained

unkempt

adj. disorderly or untidy

neurotic

adj. excessively anxious or upset

delusional

adj. having a false belief in something despite strong evidence to the contrary.

lunatic

adj. insane or wildly foolish

perrenial

adj. lasting an indefinitely long time or appearing again and again.

demented

adj. loss of intellectual faculties such as memory, concentration, or judgment.

irrational

adj. not rational or reasonable

slovenly

adj. sloppy

recurrent

adj. to occur repeatedly.

slatternly

adj. used only to describe females, who are dirty and untidy.

bedraggled

adj. wet or limp or soiled as if having been dragged through mud.

unadulterated

adjective meaning pure

amuck

adverb doing something in a frenzied or uncontrolled state.

Doppleganger

noun A ghostly double of a living person, usually one that stalks or haunts its real-life counterpart.

tautology

noun a needless repetition of the same words or phrases. It can also be used to describe an empty statement composed of simple statements that make it logically true, whether the simple statements are factually true or not.

reprise

noun a return to an original theme

mire

noun and verb, it means both a wet, soggy, muddy place (a bog) and to soil with mud or filth. It also means to get stuck or entangled in something.

alliteration

noun literary term that refers to the repetition of the same sound, usually a consonant, at the beginning of words in a phrase or sentence or in stressed syllables in a phrase.

Mysoginist

noun means "woman-hater."

heresy

noun. the crime of holding a belief that goes against established doctrine example: church

reprobate

repeat offender

paucity

scarcity; fewness

extant

still in existence

replicate

verb duplicate or reproduce

rehash

verb to do something over again, often with minor alterations

besmirched

verb to make dirty or stain

recapitulate

verb to repeat in concise form

sully

verb to soil, can also be used to describe both physical dirtying or more figurative tainting or corrupting.

defiled

verb to trample on, abuse, or pollute. It means to corrupt or take away the purity of something. It is often used specifically to describe the polluting of a consecrated area.