Monday, October 22, 2012

Fall Vocab list #9 remix



Abortive: failing to produce the intended result
Bruit: spread a report or rumor widely
Contumelious: scornful and insulting behavior
Dictum: a short statement that expresses a general truth or principle
Ensconce: establish; settle
Iconoclastic: characterized by attack on established beliefs
In medias res: a narrative that begins somewhere in the middle of a story rather than the beginning
Internecine: destructive to both sides of a conflict
Maladroit: bungling clumsy
Maudlin: self-pitying or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness
Modulate: exert a modifying or controlling influence
Portentous: done in a pompously or overly solemn manner
Prescience: the power to foresee the future
Quid pro quo: a favor or advantage granted in return for something
Salubrious: health-giving, healthy; pleasant
Saturnalia: the ancient Roman festival of Saturn in December; an occasion of wild revelry
Touchstone: a standard by which something is judged or recognized
Traumatic: emotionally disturbing or distressing
Vitiate: spoil the quality or efficiency, destroy or impair the legal validity
Waggish: humorous in a playful manner


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