Vocab #6

1. abase: cause to feel shame, hurt the pride of
Ex: The defeat of her team abased her as she was their leader.
2. abdicate: give up, such as power, as of monarchs and emperors, or duties and obligations
Ex: He was forced to abdicate the thrown when the people threatened to murder him.
3. abomination: an action that is vicious or vile; an action that arouses disgust or abhorrence; a person who is loathsome or disgusting; hate coupled with disgust
Ex: It was an abomination when she took the last ten scoops of ice cream just because there were excited children behind her waiting in line.
4. brusque: marked by rude or peremptory shortness
Ex: I simply asked her to pass the tissue box but she was very brusque with me in the morning as she had not drank her coffee yet or received more than four hours of sleep the previous night.
5. saboteur: someone who commits sabotage or deliberately causes wrecks; a member of a clandestine subversive organization who tries to help a potential invader
Ex: The saboteur of their relationship was his jealous ex-girlfriend who was responsible for their break up.
6. debauchery: a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity
Ex: There are always debaucheries on New Year's Eve to celebrate the inception of a fresh year.
7. proliferate: cause to grow or increase rapidly; grow rapidly
Ex: The weeds in her grass proliferated after she refused to cut them.
8. anachronism: an artifact that belongs to another time: a person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age; something located at a time when it could have not existed or occurred
Ex: My grandmother still asks what a "Facebook" is because she is an anachronism.
9. nomenclature: a system of words used to name things in a particular discipline
Ex: An example of nomenclature is the language of sculpture.
10. expurgate: edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
Ex: I downloaded the clean version of the song for my little sister because I wanted to expurgate the explicit language.
11. bellicose: having or showing a ready disposition to fight
Ex: The angry rebels were bellicose and ready to storm the protest march.
12. gauche: lacking social polish
Ex: There was a hint of gauche when she refused to carry a conversation with the volunteer.
13. rapacious: excessively greedy and grasping; devouring or craving food in great quantities; living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey
Ex: I am always rapacious when I come home from school as the school day aggrandizes my hunger.
14. paradox: (logic) a statement that contradicts itself
Ex: An example of a paradox is going to war to create peace.
15. conundrum: a difficult problem
Ex: We faced a conundrum when he realized that he left his credit card at home after we finished eating our dinner at the restaurant.
16. anomaly: (astronomy) position of a planet as defined by its angular distance from its perhelion (as observed from the sun); a person who is unusual; deviation from the normal order or rule
Ex: She was an anomaly because she kept all of her used tissues in her backpack and collected them.
17. ephemeral: lasting a very short time; anything short-lived, as an insect that lives only for a day in its winged form
Ex: My hunger seemed ephemeral after we arrived at the buffet.
18. rancorous: showing deep-seated resentment
Ex: I could tell she was rancorous about the subject as she was the first person to get out of her chair and start yelling.
19. churlish: having a bad disposition; surly; rude and boorish
Ex: Her husband was very rude when he told her that she looked fat.
20. precipitous: characterized by precipices; extremely steep; done with very great haste and without due deliberation
Ex: The rock climber miraculously got to the top of the precipitous boulder.