Vocabulary List #10

Aficionado: a serious devotee
- I find myself to be an aficionado of the Percy Jackson series of books.
Browbeat: to intimidate or be bossy towards
- I dislike when people assert their authority by browbeating.
Commensurate: corresponding in size of degree
- The payment commensurates with the amount of work I did.
Diaphanous: so thin as to transmit light
- The vase was diaphanous because I could see the stems of the flowers through it.
Emolument: compensation received for employment
- I hope that when I am older that I get paid high emolument.
Foray: to steal goods; a rade
- The only place I would ever foray would be my own kitchen.
Genre: a kind of literary or artistic work
- I have found that my favorite genre to read is fantasy.
Homily: a sermon on a moral or religious topic
- I have only attended a few homilies because my family is not very religious.
Immure: to lock up or confine
- Sometimes I have to immure my dogs to the backyard because they like to run away.
Insouciant: marked by blithe unconcern
- I never act insouciant when a friend is having a bad day.
Matrix: an enclosure within which something originates
- The womb was the matrix for a baby.
Obsequies: a funeral ceremony
- At my aunt's obsequy, my cousin threw her ashes into the ocean.
Panache: distinctive and stylish elegance
- My grandma has a walker, but is so cute that she still has panache.
Persona: a personal facade that one presents to the world
- I would like to think that my persona is a happy one.
Philippic: a speech of violent denunciation
- People become scary whenever they give philippics.
Prurient: characterized by lust
- I hope that most people don't make decisions on who they want to be with when prurient.
Sacrosanct: must be kept sacred
- People often go to church because they know that it is sacrosanct.
Systemic: affecting an entire system
- I hope that I never have a disease that is systemic.
Tendentious: having a strong, controversial tendency or inclination
- Rarely do I have tendentious thoughts, but if I do I don't act on them.
Vicissitude: mutability in life or nature
- I may not be an environmentalist, but I don't plan on following the path of vicissitude either.