Vocabulary Workshop Level H Unit 6

abortive

(adj.) only partially or imperfectly developed

bruit

(v.) to spread news, reports, or unsubstantiated rumors

contumelious

(adj.) insultingly abusive

dictum

(n.) a short saying

ensconce

(v.) to put or hide in a safe place

iconoclastic

(adj.) attacking or seeking to overthrow popular or traditional beliefs, ideas, or institutions

in medias res

(adv.) in or into the middle of a plot

internecine

(adj.) mutually destructive

maladroit

(adj.) lacking skill or dexterity

maudlin

(adj.) excessively or effusively sentimental

modulate

(v.) to temper or soften

portentous

(adj.) foreshadowing an event to come

prescience

(n.) foresight

quid pro quo

(n.) something given in exchange or return for something else

salubrious

(adj.) wholesome

saturnalian

(adj.) characterized by riotous or unrestrained revelry or licentiousness

touchstone

(n.) a means of testing worth or genuineness

traumatic

(adj.) so shocking to the emotions as to cause lasting and substantial psychological damage

vitiate

(v.) to weaken, debase, or corrupt

waggish

(adj.) characteristc of a joker