Vocab chapter 6

sedulous

hard working; diligent

onerous

burdensome; heavy; hard to endure

amoral

lacking a sense of right and wrong

eschew

to keep away from; to avoid; to shun

denouement

an outcome; result

antipathy

an intense dislike

elucidate

to make clear

immenent

likely to happen; threatening

banal

common, ordinary

obdurate

stubborn; hardhearted

peruse

to read carefully; scrutinize

bedlam

a noisy uproar; a scene of wild confusion

affluence

wealth; richness

scurrilous

coarsely abusive; vulgar

parody

a work which imitates another in a ridiculous manner

fop

an excessively fashion-conscious man

imprecation

a curse

non sequitur

something that does not logically follow

sanguine

cheerful; optimistic

bowdlerize

to remove offensive passages of play, novels, ect.

impair

to weaken; to cause to become worse

panegyric

an expression of praise

quandary

a puzzling situation; a dilemma

ebullient

enthusiastic

deference

respect; consideration

carnal

relating to physical appetite, especially sexual

nebulous

hazy; vague; uncertain

rakish

dashingly stylish and confident

elegy

a sad or mournful poem

pedantic

tending to show off one’s learning

pedestrian

ordinary or dull

bona fide

in good faith

adventitious

accidental; nonessential

fecund

fertile; productive

deviate

to turn aside from a course; to stray

obfuscate

to confuse; to bewilder

impale

to pierce with a sharp stake through the body

extenuate

to lessen seriousness by providing partial excuses

parochial

local; narrow; limited

glower

to stare angrily

edify

improve someone morally

ambiguous

open to more than one interpretation

cataclysm

a violent change

optimum

best; most favorable; ideal

importune

to ask persistently; to beg

celibate

abstaining from intercourse; unmarried

fortuitous

(adj.) accidental, occurring by a happy chance

recapitulate

to summarize; to repeat briefly

perfunctory

done without care; in a routine fashion

baroque

overly decorated

hedonism

pursuit of pleasure, especially of the senses

obloquy

strong disapproval; a bad reputation resulting from public criticism

debacle

a complete failure; a total collapse

quasi

resembling; seeming; half

besmirch

to make dirty; to stain

imperative

extremely necessary; vitally important

sacrosanct

extremely holy

sadistic

deriving pleasure from inflicting pain on others

demeanor

behavior; manner of conducting oneself

facetious

(adj.) humorous, not meant seriously, flippant