Vocabulary Workshop Level H Unit 7,8,9

Abeyance

(n.) A state of being temporarily inactive, suspended, or set aside

Ambivalent

(adj.) Having opposite & conflicting feelings about someone or something

Beleaguer

(v.) To set upon from all sides; surround with an army; to trouble, harass

Carte Blanche

(n.) Full authority to act at one's own discretion

Cataclysm

(n.) A sudden violent upheaval; a surging flood

Debauch

(v.) To corrupt morally, to seduce; (n.) an act of dissipation

Éclat

(n.) Dazzling or conspicuous success or acclaim; great brilliance

Fastidious

(adj.) Overly demanding or hard to please; excessively careful in regard to details; easily disgusted

Gambol

(v.) To jump or skip about playfully

Imbue

(v.) To soak or stain thoroughly; to fill the mind

Inchoate

(adj.) Just beginning; not fully shaped or formed

Lampoon

(n.) A malicious satire; (v.) to satirize or ridicule

Malleable

(adj.) Capable of being formed into different shape; able to be altered or adapted

Nemesis

(n.) An agent or force inflicting vengeance or punishment; an unbeatable rival

Opt

(v.) To make a choice or decision

Philistine

(adj.) Lacking in, hostile to, or smugly indifferent to cultural and artistic values; (n.) such a person

Picaresque

(adj.) Involving or characteristic of clever rogues or adventurers

Queasy

(adj.) Nauseated or uneasy; causing nausea; troubled

Refractory

(adj.) Stubborn; difficult to manage; not responsive to treatment or cure

Savoir-Faire

(n.) The ability to say and do the right thing in any situation; social capability

beatitude

(n.) a state of perfect happiness or blessedness; a blessing

bete noire

(n.) someone or something that one especially dislikes, dreads, or avoids

bode

(v.) to be an omen of; to indicate by signs

dank

(adj.) unpleasantly damp or wet

ecumenical

(adj.) worldwide or universal in influence or application

fervid

(adj.) burning with enthusiasm or zeal; extremely heated

fetid

(adj.) having an unpleasant or offensive odor

gargantuan

(adj.) of immense size, volume, or capacity; enormous, prodigious

heyday

(n.) the period of greatest power, vigor, success, or influence; the prime years

incubus

(n.) a demon or evil spirit supposed to haunt human beings in their bedrooms at night; anything that oppresses or weighs upon one, like a nightmare

infrastructure

(n.) a basic foundation or framework; a system of public works; the resources and facilities required for an activity; permanent military installations

inveigle

(v.) to entice, lure, or snare by flattery or artful inducements; to obtain or acquire by artifice

kudos

(n.) the acclaim, prestige, or renown that comes as a result of one action or achievement

lagniappe

(n.) an extra or unexpected gift or gratuity

prolix

(adj.) long-winded and wordy; tending to speak or write in such a way

protege

(n.) someone whose welfare, training, or career is under the patronage of an influential person; someone under the jurisdiction of a foreign country or government

prototype

(n.) an original pattern or model; a primitive or ancestral form

sycophant

(n.) someone who attempts to win favors or advance him-or herself by flattery or servile behavior; a slanderer, defamer

tautology

(n.) needless repetition of an idea by using different but equivalent words; a redundancy

truckle

(v.) to yield or submit tamely or submissively

Aberration

(n.) a departure from what is proper, right, expected, or normal; a lapse from a sound mental state

Ad hoc

(adj.) for this specific purpose; improvised; (adv.) with respect to this

Bane

(n.) the source or cause of fatal injury, death, destruction, or ruin; death or ruin itself; poison

Bathos

(n.) the intrusion of commonplace or trite material into a context whose tone is lofty or elevated; grossly insincere or exaggerated sentimentality; the lowest phase, nadir; an anticlimax, comedown

Cantankerous

(adj.) ill-tempered, quarrelsome; difficult to get along or deal with

Casuistry

(n.) the determination of right and wrong in questions of conduct or conscience by the application of general ethical principle; specious argument

De facto

(adj.) actually existing or in effect, although not legally required or sanctioned; (adv.) in reality, actually

Depredation

(n.) the act of preying upon or plundering

Empathy

(n.) a sympathetic understanding of or identification with feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of someone or something else

Harbinger

(n.) a forerunner, herald; (v.) to herald the approach of

Hedonism

(n.) the belief that the attainment of pleasure is life's chief aim, devotion to or pursuit of pleasure

Lackluster

(adj.) lacking brilliance or vitality; dull

Malcontent

(adj.) discontented with or in open defiance or prevailing conditions; (n.) such a person

Mellifluous

(adj.) flowing sweetly or smoothly; honeyed

Nepotism

(n.) undue favoritism to or excessive patronage of one's relatives

Pander

(v.) to cater to or provide satisfaction for the low tastes or vices of others; (n.) a person who does this

Peccadillo

(n.) a minor sin or offence; a trifling fault or shortcoming

Pièce de résistance

(n.) the principal dish of a meal; the principal event, incident, or item; an outstanding accomplishment

Remand

(v.) to send or order back, in law, to send back to jail or to a lower court

Syndrome

(n.) a group of symptoms or signs that collectively characterize or indicate a disease, disorder, abnormality, etc.