Vocabulary List #16

The example sentences come from the vocabulary list.

Patronizing

(-) (adjective) exhibiting a condescending, superior attitude; such behavior

Ex: I hate when my___English teacher says, “There, there, children.”

Perfunctory

(-) (adjective) done in a hasty, halfhearted, mechanical way

Ex: Blaine gave his sister a___”I’m sorry” when his mother insisted, “Apologize for hurting your sweet, innocent, perfect little sister’s feelings!”

Polemic

(-)

1. (adjective) controversial, debatable, argumentative

2. (noun) a fierce attack on someone’s opinions or principles; frequently used in the plural

Ex: Randall often engaged in___with his friends, until he met LaShaun, a master___who once out-debated Beelzebub!

Precipitous

(-) (adjective) steep; hasty; sudden; impetuous; headlong

Ex: A___action on my part resulted in my incarceration; I’ll think before I act from now on, for it was nasty in that jail cell.

Predilection

(noun) a fondness, preference, or predisposition

Ex: Knowing my father’s___for shellfish, I made him four big crab cakes before asking to borrow the car for the months of July and August.

Quixotic

(-) (adjective) loftily and impractically idealistic or romantic

Ex: The new mayor was accused of being___when she proposed giving every homeless person an apartment, an allowance, and a late-model used car.

Ransack

(-) (verb) to search thoroughly— often roughly and messily

think about how the author’s home was___in the book Red Scarf Girl

Ex: The cops___the hotel room but found no drugs; they then had to pay the manager for the chairs, bed, and dresser they’d wrecked in the process.

Raucous

(-) (adjective) descriptive of harsh, loud, and jarring noise

Ex: My favorite rock band, Raw-Raw___,plays fairly loud.

Rebuke

(-)

1. (noun) harsh criticism

2. (verb) to criticize or reprimand harshly

Ex: His face and hands red, Mark Antony said, “Let me explain why I stabbed Caesar, then if you disagree with my motives, you may___me.”

Rectitude

(+) (noun) great integrity and morality; uprightness

Ex: The politician attacked her opponent for his utter___: He never lied, never cheated, and never gave her anything she could attack. In short, she said, he wasn’t playing fair.

Redoubtable

(-) (adjective) causing fear or alarm; formidable; awe-inspiring

Ex: Jenkins, a___rooster, had no foes, for everybody knew he’d peck your eyes out if you got too close to one of his wives.

Reprehensible

(-) (adjective) despicable; villainous; really rotten

Ex: We love to watch the nasty, scheming,___people we see on soap operas each day because we know nobody for real would ever, ever act so abhorrently. (Well, may be a few.)

Skulk

(-) (verb) to sneak around, usually with a malevolent intent

Ex: ___through the gutter, Buster and Bubba stalked one another, muttering, “Gonna get that blutherin’ nubber!”

Specious

(-) (adjective) false, but appealing and seemingly true or genuine— usually said of evidence or of a line of reasoning

Note: This word was on list 7.

Ex: One frequently used___statistic begins with the words “Nine out of 10 doctors surveyed…” Advertisers often survey doctors they’ve chosen.

Sporadic

(adjective) irregular; occasional; on-and-off

Ex: The lightening storm interrupted our phone conversation with___crackling, zizzing, spluffing gritzzes through the earpiece.

Spurious

(-) (adjective) fake; bogus; trumped-up— usually said of an accusation

Note: This word was on list 7

Ex: Ok, you’ve called me a “no-good, lying, crud-bum”; are you going to back that up, or is that just a___outburst from an acknowledged dibblescab like you?

Staid

(adjective) serious, proper, prim, sober— usually said of a person

Ex: Judge Lammark, the most___justice in the entire court system (he was never known to smile) secretly wore Winnie the Pooh socks.

Stanch

(verb) to stop the flow of blood from a wound

Note: This word was on list 1.

Ex: Yuk. Help me___this nauseating gash on Stella’s neck, please.

Strident

(-) (adjective) describing a loud, shrill, irritating sound— often used in describing argumentative voices

Ex: My mom’s voice got a little___when I told her about the wrinkle in the hood of her new Jaguar.

Suffuse

(+) (verb) to spread throughout

Ex: When Nancy walked through the door, a pinkish light accompanied by the faint aroma of flowers___the room; it was eerie, but enchanting.