Verbomania!

Lesson 4.8

“This presentation has been prepared under fair uuse exemption of the U. S. Copyrigght Law and is restricted from

further use.”

WORD #1

advent (noun)

The advent of e-mail has revolutionized both business and personal communication.

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Context Phrase:

advent•The arrival of a notable person,

thing, or event

•The first season of the church year, leading up to Christmas and

including the four preceding Sundays (capitalized)

S: arrival, invention, entrance, emergence

A: departure, elimination

Parts:

ad

vent

(to, toward)

(come)

WORD #2

assiduous (adjective)

An assiduous gymnast, she persevered until she scored a

10 on the balance beam.

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Context Phrase:

assiduous (assiduously, adverb; assiduousness, noun; assiduity, noun)

•Showing great care and perseverance

•Constant in application or attention

S: persistent, conscientious, diligent, determined,

hardworking

A: lazy, careless, indifferent, indolent

Parts:as

sidous

(to, toward)(sit)

(full of)—literally, “staying put, refusing to get up”

WORD #3

captious (adjective)

Unlike her sister who is always kind and optimistic, she is captious and rude.

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Context Phrase:

captious (captiously, adverb; captiousness, noun)

•Tending to find fault or raise petty objections

•Intended to entrap or confuse ( a captious

question)

Parts:

S: irritable, disparaging, querulous, carping, hypercritical,

petulant, faultfinding

A: complimentary, benign

cap

ous

(seize, grasp)

(full of)

WORD #4

condescend (verb)

Princess Diana, unlike most royals, did not condescend

when she talked with ordinary citizens.

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Context Phrase:

condescend (condescension, noun; condescendence, noun; condescending, adjective)

•To show feelings of superiority

•To do something in a haughty way, as though it

is below one’s dignity

Parts:

S: deign, patronize, stoop

A: Not applicable

con

descend

(together, with)

(down, from)(climb)

WORD #5

crescendo (noun)

We hoped the crescendocrescendo of our cheers would disconcert

our opponents.

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Context Phrase:

crescendo •A gradual increase in loudness in a piece of music

•A piece of music marked to be performed by increasing loudness gradually

•The loudest point reached in a gradually increasing sound

•A progressive increase in force or intensity

•The most intense point reached in this (to rise to a crescendo)

•With a gradual increase in loudness (adverb, adjective)

•To increase in loudness (verb)

Parts:

S: Not applicable

A: decrescendo

cresccresc (to grow)

WORD #6

derelict (adjective)

Though the brakes malfunctioned, the derelict

mechanic let the derelict car pass inspection.

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Context Phrase:

derelict (dereliction, noun)•Shamefully negligent in not having

done what one should have

•A piece of property, especially a ship, abandoned and in poor condition

(noun)

•A person without a home, job, or property (noun)

Parts:

S: delinquent, irresponsible, negligent (adjective); vagrant, malingerer, vagabond (noun)

A: responsible, reliable, competent

derelinquere

(down)(back, behind)

(leave)

WORD #7

emanate (verb)

As they danced, he enjoyed the fragrant perfume that

emanated from her.

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Context Phrase:

emanate (emanative, adjective; emanator, noun; emanation, noun)

•To come or send forth, as from a source

•To give out or emit something abstract or perceptible (to

emanate strength)

Parts:

S: emit, issue, flow, exude, originate, disperse, radiate,

disseminate

A: withdraw, return

emanare

ate

(out)(flow)

(make, cause)

WORD #8

exigency (noun)

Recognizing the exigency of the situation, the governor

toured the areas devastated by the flood.

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Context Phrase:

exigency (exigent, adjective; exigence, noun•Something that requires immediate attention or

remedy

•An urgent need or demand

Parts:

S: urgency, emergency, crisis, predicament, difficulty

A: frivolity, insignificance, irrelevance

ex

ag

(out)

(drive, force, act)

WORD #9

hyperbole (noun)

Sports writers frequently use hyperboles and alliteration to

attract readers’ attention.

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Context Phrase:

hyperbole (hyperbolical, adjective; hyperbolically, adverb; hyperbolism, noun)

An exaggeration or extravagant statement used as a figure of speech, not meant to be taken literally (This book weighs a ton.)

Parts:

S: exaggeration, overstatement

A: litotes (ironical statement in which an affirmative is expressed by the negative of its

contrary (You will not be sorry, meaning you will be glad.)

hyper

ballein

(above, over)

(throw)

WORD #10

indigent (adjective)

The United States delivered tons of food to the indigent people in the war-ravaged

areas.

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Context Phrase:

indigent (indigence, noun)

•Lacking the means or subsistence

•A needy or destitute person (noun)

Parts:

S: poor, needy, impoverished, destitute, penniless, impecunious

(adjective); pauper (noun)

A: affluent, rich, opulent, wealthy

inegere

ent

(in)(want, lack)

(full of)

WORD #11

interlocutor (noun)

The Secretary of Defense will serve as our interlocutor at

the UN discussion on disarmament.

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Context Phrase:

interlocutor (interlocution, noun)

Someone who takes part in a

dialogue or conversation

Parts:

S: participant

A: Not applicable

interlocutor

(between, among)(talk)

(one who)

WORD #12

malaise (noun)

Living in malaise, people tend not to be very creative or

productive.

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Context Phrase:

malaiseA general feeling of

discomfort, illness, or uneasiness whose exact

cause is difficult to identify

Parts:

S: discontent, vexation, uneasiness, dissatisfaction,

displeasure

A: peace, satisfaction, comfort, contentment

mal

aise

(bad)

(ease)

WORD #13

ne plus ultra (noun)

The ne plus ultra in Latin dancing, he won several world

championships.

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Context Phrase:

ne plus ultra•The perfect of most extreme

example of its kind

•The ultimate

•The extreme or utmost point, especially of excellence or

achievement

Parts:

S: culmination, acme, paragon

A: Not applicable

ne plus

ultra

(nothing) (more)

(beyond)—literally “no more

beyond,” the supposed inscription on the Pillars of Hercules prohibiting passage of ships

WORD #14

penultimate (adjective)

This character does not appear on stage until the

penultimate act of the play.

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Context Phrase:

penultimate

•Next to last in a series of things

•Second last

•The next to the last (noun)

Parts:

S: Not applicable

A: Not applicable

pen

ultimus

(almost)

(last)

this guy is the

penultimate person in

line

WORD #15

ponderous (adjective)

The professor’s ponderousponderous speech and monotone lulled

most of the audience to sleep.

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Context Phrase:

ponderous (ponderosity, noun; ponderously, adverb; ponderousness, noun)

•Dull, laborious, or excessively solemn

•Having great weight

•Slow, clumsy, graceless, or unwieldy from weight

•Lacking fluency

Parts:

S: massive, verbose, wordy, pompous, cumbersome, tiresome, burdensome

A: light, imponderable, buoyant, airy

pondpond

ousous

(weight)

(full of)

WORD #16

progeny (noun)

Greek mythology is replete with stories of Zeus and his

progeny.

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Context Phrase:

progeny (progenitor, noun)•A descendant or the

descendants of

•The result of creative effort

Parts:

S: children, offspring, posterity, descendant, product

A: ancestor

progen

y

(forth, forward)(birth, kind, family)(result of)

WORD #17

recrimination (noun)

When she filed the law suit, she certainly did not expect

any recriminations.

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Context Phrase:

recrimination (recriminate, verb; recriminatory, adjective)

An accusation in response to one

from someone else

Parts:

S: counteraccusation, retaliation, reprisal

A: Not applicable

recrimin

ation

(back,again)(accusation)

(act of)

WORD #18

sanctimonious (adjective)

We were shocked that the sanctimonioussanctimonious student had

been caught cheating on the exam.

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Context Phrase:

sanctimonious (sanctimoniously, adverb; sanctimony, noun; sanctimoniousness, noun)

•Making a show of being morally superior to other

people

•Feigning piety or righteousness

Parts:

S: self-righteous, holier-than-thou, hypocritical

A: sincere, righteous, earnest

sanctimonia

iousous

(holy)

(full of)

WORD #19

subterfuge (noun)

When she did not earn the promotion by her own

accomplishments, she lied and resorted to subterfuge

against her colleagues.

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Context Phrase:

subterfuge•Deceit used in order to

achieve one’s goals

•A statement or action resorted to in order to

deceive

Parts:

S: scheme, evasion, deception, artifice, trick

A: candor, honesty, sincerity, veracity, truthfulness

subfug

(under)(flee)—literally, “to escape secretly”

WORD #20

vacuous (adjective)

The serious students resented his vacuousvacuous comments about

Shakespeare’s sonnets.

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Context Phrase:

vacuous (vacuity, noun; vacuously, adverb)

•Having or showing a lack of thought or intelligence

•Devoid of substance or meaning

•Lacking in serious purpose or occupation

Parts:

S: stupid, foolish, inane, unintelligent, insipid,

mindless, asinine

A: meaningful, significant, insightful, perspicacious

vacvac

ousous

(empty)

(full of)