Quarter 4 Vocabulary (English 10H)

adj. painstakingly careful to do what is right; heeding moral scruples.

ex. She is so scrupulous that she will not do personal e-mail while she is a work.

n. a sudden, impulsive action.

ex. By sheer acprice he changed his plans.

• vt. to suppose based on slight evidence.
• n. a guess

• ex. Investigators surmised that a cigarette had started the fire.
• ex. Test results confirmed his surmise.

• vt. to send off or away with speed
• n. 1. an official message 2. haste, promptness

ex. The commander dispatched reinforcements to the battle site.

adj. hard to please; fussy

ex. Fastidious dieters ask waiters to list the ingredients.

n. an artificial or insincere manner

ex. His affections of superiority is annoying.

adj. 1. flexible 2. yielding easily

• ex. Rubber is pliant.
• ex. My pliant friend cannot say no.

adj. arrogant, haughty

ex. The supercilious king expected dukes to bow.

adj. rude

ex. The impertinent child sassed the teacher.

adj. needlessly and tediously displaying learning; insisting on trivial details.

n. 1. an outpouring of emotions or words 2. a piring forth, as of fluids

ex. Her effusion of sorrow made grown men cry.

n. anxious care and protectiveness.

ex. Her solicitude sometimes embarrasses me.

adj. lazy; disinclined to move

ex. He is too indolent to stir from the sofa.

n. appropriateness and good taste in conduct

ex. In a surprising violation of decorum, the class president passed out the diplomas at the graduation ceremony.

n. courtesy, politeness; the behavior of civilized people.

ex. Treat guests with civility.

n. formal, elaborate praise, in oratory or writing

ex. The patriotic poet wrote a panegyric commending the glories of Rome.

n. swiftness

ex. Foolish rumors spread with amazing celerity.

vi. to reason earnestly, esp. in disagreement

ex. Debaters expostulated heatedly.

n. promptness in response; cheerful readiness

ex. I accepted the offer with alacrity.

• vt. to offend or insult
• n. an insulting act

• ex. Her snide jokes about the sport I love affronted me.
• ex. I took his criticism of my plan as a personal affront.

adj. concise in expression to the point of seeming rude or mysterious

ex. Asked why he had climbed Mt. Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary gave a famous laconic reply: "Because it's there."

adj. wicked, evil, unjust.

ex. Outraged citizens protested the iniquitous law.

adj. doing good; charitable

ex. Father Damien is famed for his beneficent works.

n. harshness of surface, sound, or manner

ex. The asperity of her tone hurt him.

n. friendliness; pleasant manner

ex. The surgeon's affability heps patients relax.

n. truthfulnees, accuracy

ex. I trust the veracity of your sources.

adj. reluctant to speak; silent

ex. The taciturn grl surprised classmates by entering a speech contest.

n. future generations

ex. For her great feats her name will be honored by posterity.

n. brilliant effect, publicity, dazzling success

ex. Th eclat surrounding the new pop star died down after a few months.

n. arroganc, haughtiness

ex. Her cool hauteur made me feel inferior.

vt. to reproach severely, scold

ex. The Dean upbraided me for cuting class.

n. honesty, integrity

ex. The probity of high public officials must be unquestionable.

n. ridicule, mockery

ex. The speech drew derision from protesters in the crowd.

vt. to plead

ex. Our hosts entreated us to stay, but it was getting late.

n. friendliness; eagerness to please

ex. The complaisance of the sales staff makes it a pleasant place to shop.

• n. the holder of an office.
• adj. 1. holding office 2. impsed as a duty

• ex. The incumbent was reelected.
• ex. I feel it is incumbent on all citizens to help their envirnment.

vi. to be dejected, esp. to long for something

ex. The rejected lover repined in woe.

adj. skeptical, disbelieving

ex. I was incredulous at the news.

adj. careful to consider all consequences; prudent

ex. She was circumspect in making financial investments.

n. 1. ill will esp. when suppressed and/or released 2. an organ that helps regulate blood supply

ex. In private he would vent his spleen against his rival.

n. respectuful yielding to a superior

ex. He showed deference to his elders.

n. bearing, manner. aura

ex. He returned from Oxford with a refined deportment.

adj. mischievously ironic

ex. Miss Bingley's arch remarks do not amuse Darcy.

n. appropriateness; conformity to what is socially accpetable

ex. The newcomer to Hawaii was unsure of the propriety of wearing aloha attire at a funeral.

n. fear or anxiety

ex. New students feel trepidation on the first day of school.

vt. to give a flase impression of, usu. with the intent to deceive

ex. To avoid incriminating himself, he misrepresented the facts.

n. strong natural tendency or preference

ex. He has a propensity to daydream.

adj. of or pertaining to money

ex. THe chief architect concentrated on design and left pecuniary matters to other members of the firm.

n. stead, place (usu. in lieu of)

ex. In lieu of a test, studnts can create a project.

vi. to agree or yield to a request or demand

ex. He acceded to the rebels' demands.

vt. to support with evidence or athority; to confirm

ex. A witness corroborated the story.

• n. annoyance due to embarrassment, failure, etc.
• vt. to vex, disappoint, humiliate

• ex. To her chagrin, no one came to her party.
• ex. He was chagrined when he overslept.

n. amazement or dimay that hinders or confuses

ex. The power outage caused consternation throughout the crowded theater.

adj. 1. subject to different interpretations; misleading (often intentionally) 2. hard to classify or judge

ex. Lawyers debated the equivocal phrasing in the will.

n. disorder, commotion

ex. The wild mob was in a state of tumult.

vt. to calm, relieve, soothe

ex. The negative test results allayed the patient's fears.

adj. freely talkative

ex. Elizabeth Bennet wishes her mother were less voluble.

n. 1. an order or command 2. a legal writ requiring or forbidding someone to do something

ex. Employees were undera strict injunction not to talk to the media.

adj. habitually complaining or whining

ex. The querulous boy annoys teachers.

vi. to accept or submit without opposition (used with in or to)

ex. Keeping his annoyance to himself, he acquiesced in the wishes of the group.

n. private conversation between two persons (French for "head-to-head")

ex. Eager to confide her secret, she drew her sister aside for a tete-a-tete.

vt. to accuse; to attribute blame

ex. The prince imputed her vows of love to greed.

n. peevishness, irritability, ill temper

ex. I could understand such pouting and petulance in a spoiled child, but she is a grown woman.

n. harshness or sharpness of speech or disposition

ex. She responded with acrimony to her friend's betrayal.

vt. to make less serious; to ease

ex. Steroids palliate some diseases.

vt. to take the full attention of; to occupy completely

ex. The book engrossed me.

• adj. sinfully pleasure-seeking; recklessly wasteful
• n. a self-indulgetn person who spends recklessly

ex. The profligate man threw wild, expensive parties.

adj. intolerable, unbearable

ex. Everyone avoided the insufferable bore.

adj. 1. intended to delay 2. tendng to procrastinate

• ex. Unwilling to commit, the bachelor kept giving her dilatory half-promises
• ex. He was dilatory in paying debts.

vt. to relieve, lessen; to make more bearable

ex. An aspirin alleviated the pain.

n. planning beforehand to commit an act

ex. The assault was commited on impulse and not with premeditation.

n. tolerance or restraint when provoked

ex. I admire her forbearance in responding so calmly to rude questions.

vt. 1. to amuse, esp. as relief from worry 2. to distract 3. to turn aside

ex. After long hours of study, she watches comic shows on TV o divert herself.

n. (usu. plural) tardiness in meeting obligations

ex. I was in arrears with my rent.

n. 1. a joke; playful conversation 2. a polite social remark

• ex. The speaker's pleasantries relaxed the audience.
• ex. We only had time to exchange pleasantries.