AP seminar - wod q4

assuage

verb

• most often used when the intensity of something is painful or distressing, such as guilty or fear, is being lessened as in efforts to assuage their concerns

// city officials tried to assuage neighbor’s concerns about the new factory

// just beyond one of the hike’s more arduous scrambles lay a shady glen with a lively brook perfect for assuaging a climber’s thirst

indomitable

adjective

• a word used to describe something that is impossible to defeat or discourage

// juneteenth celebrates the end of slavery in the u.s. and honors the indomitable spirit of african americans past and present fighting for justice, liberation, and fullfillment of this nationś ideals

// her spirit remained indomitable even in the face of adversity

fruition

noun

• refers to the state of being complete or fully realized

• can also refer to the state of bearing fruit

// when she landed the role of roxy in the Broadway production of Chicago, a life long dream was brought to fruition

sacrosanct

adjective

• a world that describes things too important and respected to be changed to criticized

• most sacred and holy

// while the family’s new matriarch aimed to maintain the traditions of the holidays, she did not consider the details of their celebration to be sacrosanct

Adumbrate

verb

• To foreshadow vaguely

• To suggest or outline partially or to overshadow the obscure

// the movie’s most impressive feat was to pull off the plot twist perfectly adumbrated by one rather forgettable scene

// the first chapter of the graphic novel deftly adumbrates her earliest memories

// the joyous occasion was adumbrated by knowledge of what the next day was to bring

satiate

verb

• a word that means “to satisfy fully”

// my curiosity about nicole’s spring fling costume which she promised would be “corny”, was finally satiated when she arrived at the party dressed as an incredibly llifelike cob of corn, complete with tassels

bower

noun

• literary word that usually to a garden shelter made with tree boughs or vines twined together

// resting in the shade of the bower was the perfect way to cool off during a hot summer afternoon

censure

verb

• to formally criticize or reprimand someone for an act or failure, especially from a person of authority

// he was censured by the committee for his failure to report the problem

maudlin

adjective

• describes someone or something that expresses sadness or sentimentality in an exaggerated way

// the class had a hard time taking the maudlin poetry seriously

unctuous

adjective

• describes someone who speaks and behaves in a way that is meant to seem friendly or polite, but that is unpleasant because it is obviously not sincere

• fatty oil that is smooth and greasy in texture or appearance

// politicians are often at their most unctuous during election years, full of empty promises made solely to win over certain voters

// braising chicken thighs with their skins on creates a rich, unctuous sauce that can be spooned over the finished dish