Vocabulary words

• indefatigable


  ADJ: always determined and energetic in trying to achieve something and never willing to admit defeat:

  Synonyms

  tireless

  unflagging

  You might not be so happy to have an ___________ guide on your walking trip--you'll have blisters, but she'll see no reason not to keep going.
• bellicose


  ADJ: wishing to fight or start a war:

  Synonym

  combative
• imbroglio


  N: an unwanted, difficult, and confusing situation, full of trouble and problems:

  It is just a borrowed word from Italian meaning "entanglement."
• alacrity


  N: speed and eagerness:
• Dilatory


  ADJ: slow and likely to cause delay:

  _______________ comes from the Latin root word dilator, a noun that means "someone who puts off things" or "a procrastinator." If you are always late to appointments, people may accuse you of being dilatory, especially if they think you don't have a good excuse.
• profligacy


  N: the act of spending money or using something in a way that wastes it and is not wise:

  Usually followed by of and with.
• mountebank


  N: someone who pretends to be someone or something that they are not, or to be able to do something that they cannot:
• winsome


  ADJ: attractive and pleasing, with simple qualities, sometimes like those a child has:
• perfunctory


  ADJ: done quickly, without taking care or interest:

  done as part of a routine or duty. If you give someone a gift and they look at it like it's roadkill and say nothing but a perfunctory "thank you," you might not be giving them another one anytime soon.

  Synonym

  cursory

  She asked a few perfunctory questions about my family and then ended the conversation.
• Pusillanimous


  ADJ: weak and cowardly (= not brave); frightened of taking risks:

  Followed by in and about

  Synonyms

  chicken child's word

  cowardly

  craven formal

  fainthearted

  lily-livered literary

  timid

  timorous literary

  weak-kneed informal disapproving

  yellow (NOT BRAVE) informal

  __________________student who is too afraid to speak out against someone who is bullying others.
• gormless


  ADJ: stupid and slow to understand:
• imprimatur


  N:(1) official permission to do something that is given by a person or group in a position of power:

  (2) official permission to publish a book:

  Followed by of.

  a fancy version of a thumbs-up sign.
• Logophile


  N: a person who loves words and language:

  _________________have a deep interest in words and enjoy adding new ones to their vocabulary. You can call yourself a logophile if you're fascinated by unusual words or get a kick out of digging into a word's origin to see how it relates to other words. In fact, a true logophile would be very interested to know that the word derives from the Greek logos, "word," and philos, "loving."
• Garish


  ADJ: showy or too brightly colored:

  ________________ comes to English from the Old Norse word gaurr, meaning "rough fellow." It is often used to describe colors, clothing, decorations, and other things that can be elegant and tasteful.
• Gruesome


  ADJ: extremely unpleasant and shocking, and usually dealing with death or injury:

  Synonyms

  ghastly

  grim

  grisly

  macabre
• Clad


  ADJ: of people) dressed, or (of things) covered:

  A stranger appeared, clad in white.

  As a verb, ____________is the past tense and past particle of "clothe," as in "the leprechaun clad himself in green." It's also an adjective that describes being covered or clothed, so a building can be clad in brick, while a person can be clad in head-to-toe sequins. It's an old-fashioned word, kind of like "shod," which means "wearing footwear."
• Surreal


  ADJ: strange; not seeming real; like a dream:

  Synonyms

  dreamlike

  surrealistic
• Condign


  ADJ: _________________punishment is suitable or right for a particular crime:

  There are two ways to correctly pronounce condign: "CON-dine" or "con-DINE." The word comes from Latin: con- means "together, altogether" and dignus means "worthy." So, something that is condign is deserved or appropriate. It especially applies to a punishment that is severe but just, meaning the punishment is appropriate for the crime.
• Cromulent


  ADJ: fine or adequate. If your meal at a fancy restaurant is ______________, it probably doesn't quite live up to your expectations — it's good enough, but nothing special.
• Rizz


  N: people are fascinated by your irresistible charm.

  N: the ability to attract people's attention and make them like you, often in a romantic or sexual way:

  She has more rizz than anyone I've ever met.

  V: to attract someone's attention and make them like you in a romantic or sexual way, or to try to do this by behaving in a particular way :

  She rizzed him so hard yesterday.
• Saga


  N: a long, detailed story of connected events:

  very complicated or detailed series of events. A saga is the kind of long, drawn-out story that can cause the people who hear it to roll their eyes in boredom.

  When your friend tells you every detail of how she tripped over a rock, broke her ankle, and then got into a car accident on the way to the hospital, she is sharing a long, involved story.
• Metropolis


  N: a large city, esp. the main city of a country or region:

  large, densely populated urban area.
• vicissitudes


  N: changes that happen at different times during the life or development of someone or something, especially those that result in conditions being worse:

  You're referring to the difficult times that we all go through: sickness, job loss, and other unwelcome episodes. No one can escape the vicissitudes of life.

  Losing your job is just one of the vicissitudes of life.
• Indomitable


  ADJ: used to say that someone is strong, brave, determined, and difficult to defeat or frighten:

  starts with the Latin prefix in, which means "not." The second part of the word is also from the Latin word domitare, meaning "to tame." So the word literally means "not able to be tamed.
• Milieu


  N: the people and the physical and social conditions and events that provide a background in which someone acts or lives.

  milieu is a surrounding culture. Your family, house, neighborhood, school, and people you hang out with make up your milieu. For example, if you live in a mansion and have rich friends, you're part of the upper crust milieu.
• Progenitor.


  N: applied to someone who was an originator of or major contributor to the characteristics of that line.

  the parent or direct ancestor of a person, animal, or plant:

  A child has a male progenitor and a female progenitor.
• toil


  V: to work hard:

  N: hard and tiring work:
• Penury


  N: the state of being extremely poor

  Synonyms

  indigence formal

  need

  poverty

  extreme poverty to the point of homelessness and begging in the streets.
• Diurnal


  N: If it's 9:00 at night and your mom wants you to do the dishes, you could try to put it off until the next day by politely pointing out that you are a diurnal animal. That means you get most of your activities done during the day.

  The adjective diurnal can be used to describe anything that takes place in the daytime, but it is most often used in the field of biology to describe animals that are active during the day and then sleep at night. Animals with the opposite schedule are said to be nocturnal, which means they're active at night and sleep in the daytime. Diurnal can also be used to describe something that has a daily cycle, such as a diurnal tide that occurs once each day.
• Adept


  ADJ: having a natural ability to do something that needs skill:

  She's very adept at dealing with the media.

  Synonyms

  expert

  good

  proficient
• Erudition


  N: the state of having or containing a lot of knowledge that is known by few people:

  If you've read shelves of thick books, people might describe you as a person of erudition. You might find erudition to be its own reward, but if you can make a career of it, even better!

  The Latin root of erudition is the verb erudire which means "to teach or train." By showing erudition, you show that you've learned a lot. If you write with erudition, your readers will know that you are a serious scholar, as long as you're not too far over their heads.
• Indefatigable


  ADJ: always determined and energetic in trying to achieve something and never willing to admit defeat:

  Indefatigable comes from Latin indefatigabilis, formed from the prefix in- "not" plus defatigare "to tire out." Here the prefix de- means "entirely." You can remember the root fatigare because it sounds so much like the English fatigue.

  Synonyms

  tireless

  unflagging
• Lineage


  N: the members of a person's family who are directly related to that person and who lived a long time before him or her:

  The word lineage is used to describe everyone who descends from a particular ancestor. Mozart had six children, but none of them had children of their own, so the composer's lineage ended after one generation.

  If you put an adjective like artistic or spiritual before lineage, it becomes clear you're talking about people who are related by ideas or attitude, not by blood. There are many composers, even today, who trace their musical lineage to Mozart, even though his actual lineage ended in the 19th century.
• Ensconce


  ADJ: positioned safely or comfortably somewhere:

  He is now firmly ensconced in his new home.

  V: If you ensconce yourself somewhere, you settle in for quite a while, such as when you're home with the flu and ensconce yourself on the couch with the remote control, tissues, your phone, and a big glass of orange juice.
• Metamorphose


  V: to change into a completely different form or type:

  The awkward boy I knew had metamorphosed into a tall, confident man.

  Synonymschange (BECOME DIFFERENT)transformtransmogrify humorousturn (someone/something) into someone/something
• Nascent


  ADJ: only recently formed or started, but likely to grow larger quickly: the birth or beginning of something, like a civilization, a trend, an idea, or an action. If your idea for a time machine is nascent, it needs a lot more work before you'll be ready to travel to ancient Egypt.
• Poignant


  ADJ: causing or having a very sharp feeling of sadness:

  touches you deeply. Watching a poignant YouTube video about baby penguins chasing their mothers, for example, might give you a lump in your throat.

  Synonyms

  affecting formal

  touching
• Colloquy


  N: a formal conversation

  formal talk, the opposite of a chat, such as the colloquy you have with your boss about a serious matter — far different from how you'll talk to your friends about it afterward.

  To correctly pronounce colloquy, accent the first syllable: "KOLL uh kwee." The word comes from the Latin prefix com-, meaning "together," and loquium, meaning "speaking." That adds up to "speaking together." You probably recognize loqui, meaning "to speak," in words like locution and colloquial, which also involve speaking.
• Pedagogue


  N: another name for "teacher," but one who is strict, stiff or old-fashioned. The word comes from the Greek pedo for "child" and agogos for "leader." A pedagogue leads people by teaching.
• Galvanize


  V: to cause someone to suddenly take action, especially by shocking or exciting them in some way:

  Western charities were galvanized by TV pictures of starving people.

  to stimulate or incite someone into taking action. Your impassioned speech might galvanize the other members of the Ecology Club to start a school-wide recycling initiative.