VOCAB - Unit 8 (SENTENCES)

In an ___________ of judgment, the coach chose not to call a critical time-out.

aberration

We met, ____________, to consider the issue.

ad hoc

Rain, the _______ of picnics, was forecast for the day we had scheduled ours.

bane

After wallowing in _________, the writer returned to her novel in the earnest.

bathos

The _____________ machine befuddled the team of technicians assigned to repair it.

cantankerous

The professor’s ideas, once highly regarded, now appear to be nothing more than ingenious _______________.

casuistry

The dictator’s wife is the ______________ head of the state.

de facto

It appears the, ____________, the information is true.

de facto

The _____________ of the invaders left scars that will take years to heal.

depredation

Daffodils in bloom are a _____________ of spring.

harbinger

A beach bum’s mindless ________________ may appeal to all working people at one time or another.

hedonism

The ____________ transit workers went out on strike.

malcontent

The folk singer’s ___________ voice appealed to young and old the world over.

mellifluous

The angry mayor referred to the strikers as a group of vocal, lazy ____________.

malcontent

To avoid any hint of _____________, the owner of the team refused to hire any of his relatives.

nepotism

The hosts proceeded to __________ to every whim of their delighted guests.

pander

His brother was a _________ who ran a cheap pool hall on the outskirts of town.

pander

If you will overlook my ____________, I will ignore yours.

peccadillo

The ________________ of the remarkable repast was the dessert, a ten-tiered cake adorned with spun sugar.

piece de resistance

With ubiquitous computer use, carpal tunnel has become a decidedly modern ____________.

syndrome

Although the law forbids residential separation of the races, we all know that a state of _________ segregation exists in some communities.

de facto

How can you compare a mere social ___________ with a misdeed that has caused such great harm to other people?

peccadillo

We may find ___________ annoying, but the fact is that they often serve as “gadflies” to bring about desirable changes.

malcontents

The ________ looks that they directed at us made it only too clear that we had little hope for mercy at their hands.

baneful

We must not assume that their behavior, however, ____________ by conventional standards, is a sign of mental illness.

aberrant

Then came Miss Colten’s cornet solo, which we all recognized immediately as the _________________ of that long musical evening.

piece de resistance

The car was forever breaking down, but its owner seemed to derive a sort of perverse satisfaction out of battling with the _______________ old heap.

cantankerous

Said Churchill to the British people after the Munich agreement: “We must reject these _____________ assurances of ‘peace in our time’.”

mellifluous

In all aspects of their behavior, Raina and Joe showed the self-indulgence and gross indifference to others that is characteristic of the true ____________.

hedonist

The ___________ of poverty, drug addiction, and crime that afflicts our cities calls for remedial action on a truly national scale.

syndrome

The ______________ of the terrible disease could be seen only too clearly in her extreme emaciation and feebleness.

depredations

A candidate for high public office should seek to debate the issues on an objective level, instead of ____________ to the prejudices of the times.

pandering

In many respects it is a good movie, but sadly, the director has allowed sentiment to spill over into sentimentality, and sentimentality into ___________.

bathos

Your efforts to prove that because “no one is perfect,” all moral standards are relative nd therefore meaningless, struck me as sheer ____________.

casuistry

The negotiators agreed not to try to draw up an overall treaty but to deal with each specific problem on an _________ basis.

ad hoc

With the extreme cold and the deep snows still holding on, the gradual lengthening of the days was the only _____________ of spring.

harbinger

We learned with dismay that our application had been neither approved nor rejected, but _________ to a “higher authority for further consideration.”

remanded

Our fundraising committee formed ________ in order to more efficiently help the displaced or uninsured families that were affected by the floods.

ad hoc

Since you’ve been spending time with these new friends, I sense in you a sort of mental ____________ that both worries and disappoints me.

aberration

The _____________ citizens formed a committee to disseminate a petition, to organize a general strike, and to monitor legislative proceedings.

malcontent

The movement of the red fox north into arctic fox territory _____________ the continuation of a warming climate.

harbingers

The man in the gray cap is a __________ who engages in all kinds of illegal activities but somehow never gets caught.

pander

Would it be ungracious of me to suggest that the _____________ of the feast, given on the menu as “filet mignon,” had the tastes and texture of old shoe leather?

piece de resistance

It took years for that country to recover from the ______________ wrought by the Second World War and its concomitant social and economic dislocations.

depredations

The history of the world teaches us that we should never let ourselves be blinded by the meretricious ____________ of a demagogue, no matter how appealing it may appear at first glance.

casuistry

I find myself in the position of __________ supervisor; now I would like to have the title, salary. and privileges that go along with the job.

de facto

Yes, you have scored a quick commercial success, but you have done it only by ____________ to low and depraves tastes.

pandering

Those sentimentalized effusions introduced a note of __________ into what should have been an occasion marked by dignity and restraint.

bathos

Is it too optimistic to hope that your willingness to undertake that thankless task is the ______________ of a new maturity and a more responsible attitude?

harbinger

Yes, I believe in helping out relatives, but I haven’t spent a lifetime building this business to make it a monument to __________.

nepotism

The pitcher’s lightning fastball has proved the _____ of many a celebrated home-run hitter.

bane

It was hard to believe that the eager, vibrant youth I had known was now this shabby derelict, staring into space with _______________ eyes.

lackluster

As there was no agency concerned with race relations, the Mayor created an _________ committee to deal with such matters.

ad hoc

I think you are showing poor judgement in condemning them so severely for what is, after all, little more than a _____________.

peccadillo

How is one to explain that strange ___________ from the habits and standards that he had followed for so many years?

aberration

Like everyone else, I was charmed by the ___________ tones of the speaker, but later I could extract very little real meaning from what she had said.

mellifluous

Her visits to the nursing home are motivated not by a detached sense of duty but by a genuine __________ for those who are lonely.

empathy