Week 10: vocabulary (etymology)

1) Furtive adjective

Secret, stealthy

e.g. In a furtive manner she removed her shoes and tiptoed up to her room.

2) Felon noun

A person guilty of a major crime

e.g. Since the boss learned that Bob associated with a known felon, he fired him.

3) Plethora noun

Excess

e.g. When the teacher asked why the homework had not been done, he was greeted by a plethora of incredible alibis.

4) Hapless adjective

Unfortunate

e.g. The hapless contest winner was unable to locate the lucky ticket.

5) Irate adjective

Angry, incensed

e.g. My uncle was irate when the drunken driver swerved in front of us.

6) Pretext noun

An excuse

e.g. Her pretext of being tired did not fool us for an instant.

7) Fabricate verb

To lie; to construct

e.g. Most fishermen can fabricate a story about the size of the one that got away.

8) Adroit adjective

Skillful

e.g. My nephew is quite adroit at making model airplane.

9) Gesticulate verb

Move the arms energetically

e.g. I often marvel as I watch the traffic officer gesticulate at the onrushing cars.

10) Vigilant adjective

Watchful

e.g. The shootings at Columbine High School made educators much more vigilant.

11) Avid adjective

Eager

e.g. Bill Clinton is an avid student of the social media and is listed on Facebook.

12) Cajole verb

Coax

e.g. The parakeet refused to be cajoled in to entering her cage.

13) Rudimentary adjective

Elementary

e.g. Since my grasp of algebra is rudimentary, I cannot solve the problem.

14) Enhance verb

Intensify, heighten

e.g. It will enhance your enjoyment of an opera if you know what the plot is about in advance.

15) Nuance noun

Slight variation in meaning, tone, etc.

e.g. In reading the satires of Jonathan Swift, one must be vigilant in order to catch each nuance.

16)  The sword of Damocles idiom

Any imminent danger (a king seated one of his subjects underneath a sword that was hanging by a hair, in order to teach him the dangers a king faces)

e.g. Although the president of the company seemed quite secure, he always complained that there was a sword of Damocles hanging over his head.

17)  Pyrrhic victory idiom

A too costly victory (King Pyrrhus defeated the Romans but his losses were extremely heavy.)

e.g. In heavy fighting the troops managed to recapture the hill, but it could only be considered a Pyrrhic victory.

18)  A wet blanket idiom

One who spoils the fun

E.g. Everyone wanted the party to go on, but Ronnie, the wet blanket, decided to go home to bed.

19) To beard the lion in his den idiom

To visit and oppose a person on his own grounds

E.g. Having decided to beard the lion, I stormed into the manager’s office to ask for a raise.

20) Jump ship idiom

To leave a company or organization in order to work for another, especially in order to get a higher salary or better working conditions

e.g. Kelly thinks her job doesn’t fit her, so she wants to jump ship.

21)  High-profile adjective

Attracting a lot of attention and interest from the public

e.g. That high-profile actor has been interviewed by a lot of reporters.

22)  Dub verb

To give something or someone a particular name, esp. describing what you think of that person or thing

e.g. The company was dubbed the leader in customer service and support.

23)  Cede verb

To give control or possession of something, esp. land to someone else, often unwillingly or because forced to do so

e.g. Because Antonio cheated, he was forced to cede the victory to Katie.

24)  Get (one’s) act together idiom

Become organized or start behaving more appropriately

e.g. Sasha will need to get her act together if she expects to get a promotion.

25)  Leverage verb

To use your power or resources to influence results

e.g. The organization leveraged its resources to gain the government contract.