Vocab # 2 Definitions

Tantalize

To tease or excite someone's hopes and desires by presenting something desirable while keeping it frustratingly out of reach.

Tantalize

Origin: From Tantalus, a Greek king punished in Hades to stand in water beneath fruit trees that always receded when he tried to eat or drink

Narcissistic

Having an excessive fascination with oneself, self-centered, or excessively vain.

Narcissistic

Origin: From Narcissus, a Greek mythological youth who fell in love with his own reflection and died gazing at it.

Atlas

A bound collection or book of maps, charts, or illustrations.

Atlas

Origin: From Atlas, the Greek Titan condemned by Zeus to support the celestial heavens on his shoulders.

Mercurial

Subject to sudden, unpredictable changes in mood or temper; volatile, lively, and quick-witted.

Mercurial

Origin: From Atlas, the Greek Titan condemned by Zeus to support the celestial heavens on his shoulders.

Iridescent

Displaying a play of lustrous, rainbow-like colors that appear to shift and change when viewed from different angles.

Iridescent

Origin: From Iris, the Greek goddess of the rainbow.

Achilles' heel

A vital vulnerability, fatal flaw, or weak point in an otherwise powerful or invulnerable person or system.

Achilles' heel

Origin: From Achilles, the Greek hero whose entire body was invincible except for his heel.

Auroral

Resembling, pertaining to, or characteristic of the dawn; bright, rosy, or radiant.

Auroral

Origin: From Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn.

Chimerical

Highly imaginative, wildly unrealistic, fantastical, or absurdly impossible.

Chimerical

Origin: From the Chimera, a mythical fire-breathing monster composed of a lion's head, goat's body, and serpent's tail.

Euthanasia

The act or practice of ending a life painlessly to relieve severe, incurable suffering.

Euthanasia

Origin: From Thanatos, the Greek personification of Death.

Zeal

Great passion, intense enthusiasm, or fervent devotion to a cause, belief, or goal.

Zeal

Origin: From Zelos, the Greek deity of fanatical enthusiasm and eagerness.

Affect

a verb meaning to influence or produce a change in something

Effect

a noun meaning the result, outcome, or consequence of an action

It's

a contraction meaning 'it is' or 'it has

Its

a possessive pronoun showing ownership by an inanimate object or animal (similar to 'his' or 'her')

Between

used when referring to distinct, individual entities or choices (typically two items)

Among

used when referring to items or people as part of an undefined group or collective of three or more.