Vocab Chap 1-5

-disadvantage, something that causes damage, harm, or loss.

ex: Smoking is a detriment to your health.

-skillful in using the hands and the body

ex: The juggler was so dexterous that he managed to keep five balls in motion at once.

-good sense, good judgement or tact in actions or speaking

ex: Ali wasn't using much discretion when he passed a police car at eighty miles an hour.

-funny, humorous; playful, joking.

ex: My boss always says "you don't have to be crazy to work here, but it helps." I hope she's just being facetious.

-outgoing, sociable; enjoying and seeking the company of others.

ex: My gregarious brother loves parties, but my shy sister prefers to be alone.

-ideal, best possible; most favorable; most desirable.

ex: For the weary traveler, optimum hotel accommodations include a quiet room, a comfortable bed and efficient room service.

-showy; meant to impress others; flashy

ex: My show-off aunt has some ostentatious jewelary, such as a gold bracelet that's so heavy she can hardly lift her arm.

-ethical; careful about moral standards; conscientious

ex: The judge was scrupulous about never accepting a bribe or allowing a personal hreat to influence his decisions.

-of the senses; having to do w/ seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, or smelling

ex: Because our sensory experience are interrelated, what we taste is greatly influenced by what we smell.

-indirect; experienced through the imagination; not experienced directly.

ex: I don't like to take risks myself, but I love the vicarious thrill of watching death-defying adventures in a movie.

-to act as a team; to work together on a project; cooperate in an effort.

ex: When Sarah and I were asked to collabrate on an article for the school newspaper, we found it difficult to work together.

-depressed; down hearted; hopeless; overwhelmed with sadness.

ex: For months after his wife died, Mr. Craig was dedenspont. No matter how hard they tried, his family and friends could not cheer him up.

-to cause; to bring about by moving others to action; stir up.

ex: The rock group's violent preformance instigated a riot in the audience.

-quick to recover; able to recover quickly from harm, illness or misfortune.

ex: Children can be amazingly resilient.

-looking back; reviewing the past; considering past events

ex: After hobbling around on her broken foot for a week before seeing a doctor, Mae then needed surgery. In retrospect, it's clear she should have gotten help sooner.

-basic; fundamental; necessary to learn first

ex: A grammer book usually starts with rudimentary skills, such as identifying mouns and verbs.

- to laugh at, to make fun of, mock; refuse to take seriously.

ex: Bystanders scoffed at the street musician playing a tune on a row of tin cans, but he seemed unaware that people who were making fun of him.

-to hold back; to silence, suppress; crush

ex: My history teacher shot me a dirty look during class when I couldn't quite manage to squelch a burp.

-to honor, to respect deeply; revere

ex: The Tlingit Indians venerate the wolf and the raven, and their totem poles illustrate stories in praise of these animals.

-an extremist; a person totally devoted to a purpose or cause

ex: Annie, a zealot about health, runs a hundred miles a week and never lets a grain of sugar touch her lips.

-unclear; able to be interpreted in more than one way; not clear

ex: The portrait known as the "Mona Lisa" is famous for the woman's ambiguous expresson: Is she smiling or not?

-a rebel; a person opposed to establish ideas or beliefs, especially in politics or religion

ex: In a dictatorship dissidents are not tolerated. People who speak out against the government may be imprisoned or even executed.

-to decorate; beautify by adding details

ex: Lauren embellished the door of her room with postcards from her friends and photos of her cats.

-to waste; to spend a little at time

ex: Vince fritters away both his time and his money playing game after game in video arcades.

-not intended; unintentional; accidental

ex: The final draft of Nancy's paper was shorter than the previous version, but this was inadvertent she accidentally deleted an entire page without realizing it.

-silly; without sense or meaning; foolish

ex: The conversation at the party was inane, consisting mainly of foolish comments about whose clothes were the most "awesome."

-to put side by side; to place close together, especially in order to compare or contrast

ex: Dottie spread her new dress out on her bed and then juxtaposed all her scarves and jackets to it to see which combination would look best.

-weariness; a great lack of energy; inactivity due to laziness; sluggishness

ex: Although Wendy seemed to recover from the flu, her lethargy persisted. She felt exhausted for weeks.

-irregular; happening now and then; occasional

ex: Dave makes sporadic attempts to give up smoking, but his occasional efforts have been half hearted.

-to pay for; to support financially; provide a grant or contribution.

ex: During college many students are subsidized by their parents, while others rely on grants or loans.

-to scold angerily; to criticize or scold harshly

ex: Nick's mother often berates him and when she isn't yelling at him, she ignores him.

-to drive away; to make unsympathic or unfriendly; alienate

ex: My cousin's recent moodiness has estranged some of his old friends.

-very happy; overjoyed; having an intense feeling of well-being

ex: I was euphoric when I received my grades, to my amazement and joy, they were all A's and B's.

-impulsive; done or acting in a hurry, with little thought

ex: I'm trying to be less impetuous, but I still sometimes act on impulse.

-perfect; not capable of error or failure; unable to make a mistake

ex: A sign over my sister's desk reads, "I'm infallible. I never make mistakes."

-overly emotional; tearfully sentimental

ex: The authors of maudlin soap operas must feel that they haven't done their job unless viewers are crying by the end of each show.

-to go backward; to return to an earlier, generally worse, condition or behavior.

ex: When his baby sister was born, 7 year old Jeremy regressed for a while and began sucking his thumb again.

-to give up; to surrender (something)

ex: Donna had to relinquish her share in the beach house because she couldn't afford it anymore.

-found everywhere; existing or seeming to exist everywhere at the same time.

ex: We postponed our plan to drive home on Sunday because a dense fog was ubiquitous. It covered the entire town.

-the highest point or conditionn; peak

ex: Florence reached the zenith of her career when she became president of Ace Products.

-to be unclear; deliberately vague in order to mislead.

ex: Lonneel doesn't want to come right out and tell Tiffany he doesn't love her. If she asks, he equivocates by telling her something like, "You know how I feel."

-accidental; happens by chance; at random, lucky

ex: The birth of triplets wasn't entirely fortuitous. The mother had taken a fertility drug, which often causes multiple births.

-flawless; faultless, perfect

ex: When she auditioned for the play. Julie gave an impeccable performance. She read the lines perfectly and got the part.

-a link; a person who serves as a connection between individuels or group; a go between

ex: The president of the student councel acts as a liaison between the students and the admin.

-likely; a natural preference or tendency

ex: As a Brad Pitt fan, I'm predisposed to enjoy any movie stars in.

-an inclination; tending toward or open to something before hand

ex: Because Ivan has a propensity to gain weight, he watches what he eats.

-shameful; derserving of blame, criticism, or disapproval

ex: The company's failure to clean up the oil spill was reprehensible and drew harsh criticism.

-something false; a pretense or counterfeit; something meant to deceive

ex: Karen's apparent affection for Raul is a sham. He's rich and she cares only about his money.

-relief; comfort in sorrow/misfortune; consolation

ex: After a family quarrel. Tamara found solace in the privacy and quiet of her own room.

-attentive; showng/expressing concern, care or attention

ex: The waiter was overly solicitous. He kept interrupting our conversation to ask, "Is everything all right here?"