Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Vocabulary List #9 (Picture Dictionary Harry Potter Style)


Abortive: failing to produce the intended result









Bruit: spread a report or rumor widely







Contumelious: scornful and insulting behavior










Dictum: a formal pronouncement from an authoritative source; a short statement that expresses a general truth or principle








Ensconce: establish or settle
 







Iconoclastic: characterized by attack on established beliefs or institutions 









In medias res: a narrative that begins somewhere in the middle of a story rather than the beginning 


 













Internecine: destructive to both sides in a conflict
 







Maladroit: ineffective or bungling; clumsy












Maudlin: self-pitying or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness 





Modulate: exert a modifying or controlling influence on









Portentous: of or like a portent; done in a pompously or overly solemn manner









Prescience: the power to foresee the future
 








Quid pro quo: a favor or advantage granted in return for something










Salubrious: health-giving, healthy; pleasant, not run-down






Saturnalia: the ancient Roman festival of Saturn in December; an occasion of wild revelry






Touchstone: a standard or criterion by which something is judged or recognized 







Traumatic: emotionally disturbing or distressing; relating to or causing psychological trauma









Vitiate: spoil or impair the quality or efficiency of; destroy or impair the legal validity of
 











Waggish: humorous in a playful, mischievous, or facetious manner











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