Everything I Never Told You Vocab

innocuous: not harmful or offensive

tenure: give (someone) a permanent post, especially as a teacher or professor.

whorl: a pattern of spirals or concentric circles.

impale: pierce or transfix with a sharp instrument.

filch: pilfer or steal (something, especially a thing of small value) in a casual way.

frivolous: not having any serious purpose or value.

dawdle: waste time; be slow.

wistful: showing or evoking a sad longing for an often idealized past

obstinate: stubbornly refusing to change one's opinion or chosen course of action, despite

attempts to persuade one to do so.

demure: reserved, modest, and shy (typically used of a woman).

plaintive: showing or expressing sorrow : mournful, sad. a plaintive sigh

solicitous: showing attentive care or protectiveness

insolent: showing a rude and arrogant lack of respect.

kowtow: act in an excessively subservient manner.

umbrage: offense or annoyance.

coterie: an intimate and often exclusive group of persons with a unifying common interest or

purpose

talisman: an object, typically an inscribed ring or stone, that is thought to have magic powers

and to bring good luck.

lithe: (especially of a person's body) thin, supple, and graceful.

unabashed: not ashamed, embarrassed, or shy about something

peremptory: (especially of a person's manner or actions) insisting on immediate attention or

obedience: especially in a brusquely imperious way.

Obliterate: to wipe out, erase

Laudable: praiseworthy

Dichotomy: contrast between opposite things

Paleontology: study of animals or plants

Quintessential: most perfect example of a quality or class

Gaggle: a disorderly climb out of somewhere

Salacious: having or conveying undue or inappropriate interest in indecent matters.

Clamber: awkward or disorderly climb out of somewhere

Asphyxia: death by suffocation

Crevice: narrow opening in a rock or wall

Benign: mild, favorable, not harmful

Demure: reserved, modest, shy

Behooves: appropriate, in a person's best interest

Prostrate: completely overcome, helpless

Berate: scold or criticize angrily

Culpable: deserving blame

Diligently: showing care of conscientiousness

Talisman: good luck charm

Subside: become less intense, return to normal

Aphorism: observation that contains a general truth

Incongruous: not in harmony with the surroundings

Sparse: scattered, thinly dispersed

Sedate: calm, dignified, unhurried

Writhe: respond with great emotional or physical discomfort to (a violent or unpleasant

feeling or thought).