vocab 7

• one who inquires, especially in a hostile manner
• The inquisitor was instructed to knock on every door in town in order to find the fugitive.

• a person who has escaped from a place or is in hiding, especially to avoid arrest or persecution.
• fugitives from justice
• escapee, runaway, deserter, absconder; refugee

Something that is integral is very important or necessary. If you are an integral part of the team, it means that the team cannot function without you.

• to insert between other things
• During our conversation, the cab driver occasionally interjected his opinion

• without possibility of end
• The fact that biology lectures came just before lunch made them seem interminable

• an indirect suggestion
• Mr. Brinford’s intimation that he would soon pass away occurred when he began to discuss how to distribute his belongings among his children.

• showing rainbow colors
• The bride’s large diamond ring was iridescent in the afternoon sun.

• the solemn sound of a bell, often indicating a death
• Echoing throughout our village, the funeral knell made the stormy day even more grim

If you're really good at judo, you will get kudos, or praise and congratulations, for your speed and strength

• obtaining another’s property by theft or trickery
• When my car was not where I had left it, I realized that I was a victim of larceny.

When a magician waves his hands over a hat and pulls out a rabbit, he is performing an act of legerdemain or trickery; deception

If you're not overly strict, and you show tolerance and mercy when someone does something wrong, you're being lenient.

When you feel lethargic, you're sluggish or lacking energy. Being sleepy or hungry can make anyone lethargic

• Someone who is licentious behaves or speaks inappropriately, usually in regards to sex.
• displaying a lack of moral or legal restraints
• Marilee has always been fascinated by the licentious private lives of politicians

• clear, transparent
• Mr. Johnson’s limpid writing style greatly pleased readers who disliked complicated novels
• Nature calendars often feature glamour shots of a limpid stream or a limpid lake.

A litigant is someone involved in a lawsuit. The person who sues and the person who gets sued are both litigants.

Manifold is a smarty-pants way to say "varied," "many," or "multiple." There are many good reasons to expand your vocabulary, so you could say the benefits of learning new words are manifold.

• worthy of esteem or reward
• Manfred was given the congressional medal of honor for his meritorious actions

• to make less violent, alleviate
• When I had an awful sore throat, only warm tea would mitigate the pain

• To modulate is to change the pitch of something
• to pass from one state to another
• The composer wrote a piece that modulated between minor and major keys

• a wet swampy bog; figuratively, something that traps and confuses
• When Theresa lost her job, she could not get out of her financial morass

Something or someone that is mutable is subject to change. Mutable weather can go from sunny, to rainy and windy, and back to sunny again.

in the process of being born or coming into existence for example a civilization, a trend, an idea, or an action

• relating to or occurring during the night
• Jackie was a nocturnal person; she would study until dawn and sleep until the evening

• lacking a distinctive character
• I was surprised when I saw the moviestar in person because she looked nondescript

• to assist the development of
• Although Serena had never watered the plant,which was about to die, Javier was able to nurture it back to life

• appearing as such, seemingly
• Jack’s ostensible reason for driving was that airfare was too expensive, but in reality, he was afraid of flying.

A palette is a range of colors. It is also the board that artists use to hold and mix paint. Picture Picasso in his blue period: He is holding a palette on which you see a limited palette of blue tones.

• lacking color
• Dr. Van Helsing feared that Lucy’s pallid complexion was due to an unexplained loss of blood.

• an emotion of sympathy
• Martha filled with pathos upon discovering the scrawny, shivering kitten at her door

Scrawny is an insulting way to describe someone who's very thin and weak. You might be surprised by how lifting weights transformed your scrawny teammate to a muscular athlete by the end of the season.

• remorseful, regretful
• The jury’s verdict may have been more lenient ifthe criminal had appeared penitent for his gruesome crimes

• next to last
• Having smoked the penultimate cigarette remaining in the pack, Cybil discarded the last cigarette and resolved to quit smoking

• disloyal, unfaithful
• After the official was caught selling government secrets to enemy agents, he was executed for his perfidious ways

• flippant, bold
• My parents forgave Sandra’s pert humor at the dinner table because it had been so long since they had last seen her

• stubbornly persistent
• Harry’s parents were frustrated with his pertinacious insistence that a monster lived in his closet. Then they opened the closet door and were eaten

• a careful examination, review
• The actor agreed to accept the role after a two-month perusal of the movie script.

• steal goods from (a place or person), typically using force and in a time of war or civil disorder
• pillage, loot, rob, raid, ransack, despoil

• a very small amount, especially relating to money
• Josh complained that he was paid a pittance for the great amount of work he did at the firm.

Reimbursement is an act of compensating someone for an expense

• an abundance
• My grandmother was overwhelmed by the plenitude of tomatoes her garden yielded this season

• flexible
• Aircraft wings are designed to be somewhat pliable so they do not break in heavy turbulence.

• an aggressive argument against a specific opinion
• My brother launched into a polemic against my arguments that capitalism was an unjust economic system

• superiority in importance or quantity
• Britain’s preponderance of naval might secured the nation’s role as a military power

• creating a favorable impression; attractive, beautiful, pretty
• Her prepossessing appearance made it impossible for me to think of anything else.

To prescribe is make orders or give directions for something to be done. These days, the word is mainly used by doctors who prescribe medications to take.

• original, ancient
• The first primates to walk on two legs, called Australopithecus, were the primeval descendants of modern man

• lacking basic necessities
• After decades of rule by an oppressive government that saw nothing wrong with stealing from its citizens, the recent drought only increased the people’s privation.

• to proclaim, make known
•  Your state may announce a plan to promulgate a new traffic law on January 1st.

• extraordinary ability
• The musician had never taken a guitar lesson in his life, making his prowess with the instrument even more incredible

• of little importance; trivial
• If you host world leaders and spend more time picking napkins than memorizing names, you're focused on petty things.

• something that is out of date
• downloadable digital music files made compact discs obsolete

• to express, suggest, or show something without stating it directly
•  A friend’s gruff manner would imply that she’s in a foul mood.

• (of handwriting or print) clear enough to read
• the original typescript is scarcely legible

• not showing proper respect; rude
• kid in the back row of class quietly heckling his teacher, you can call him impertinent

• interrupt (a public speaker) with derisive or aggressive comments or abuse
• give someone a hard time
• he was heckled by the drunk in the back of the room

an uncertain period of awaiting a decision or resolution; an intermediate state or condition

exaggerate or feign illness in order to escape duty or work

• extreme greed for wealth or material gain
• It's one of what some call "the seven deadly sins."

• authoritative counsel or warning
• the old judge's admonition to the jury on this point was particularly weighty

• deserving contempt; despicable
• Your desire to bring to justice the contemptible coward who stole your last chocolate bar seemed noble, until you realized you'd eaten it the night before :)

• humiliating
• cruel or degrading treatment

• A menial task is anything that takes very little training, skill, or talent.
• Some people find it relaxing to do the menial chore of folding laundry. Go figure.

• not discovered or known about; uncertain
• his origins and parentage are obscure

• chaos, total and utter craziness
• like the stampede after your team won the championship, when everyone spilled onto the field at once, bouncing off each other

• a sudden panicked rush of a number of horses, cattle, or other animals
• During the holidays, desperate parents might stampede the mall, especially the toy stores

• used of temperament or behavior; lacking restraint or modesty; arrogant
• I hope I won't be considered presumptuous if I offer some advice

• fake
• a bogus dollar bill is counterfeit

• A counterfeit is a fake or a forgery
• If you painted an uncanny copy of the "Mona Lisa" and tried to pass it off as the original, you'd have a counterfeit on your hands.

• mysterious, strange, or unfamiliar that it seems supernatural
• If you hear strange music echoing through your attic, you might refer to it as positively uncanny

• to waver back and forth, unable to decide
• You might vacillate between the blonde or brunette girl to ask for a date

• When you go beyond the boundaries, either physically or morally, you transgress
• A river will transgress its banks as it floods, and students who cheat transgress school rules.

• lenient, or overly generous
• parents are often indulgent to their kids

• a person who opposes official policy, especially that of an authoritarian state
• a dissident who had been jailed by a military regime

something that is unhurried and easygoing, like the leisurely bike ride you may take home when you know have a lot of work waiting for you there.

walk in a slow, relaxed manner, without hurry or effort

• start to lose strength or momentum
• So if you want to keep your bride or groom happy, it's best not to falter when it's your turn to say "I do."

• not certain or fixed; provisional
• On Monday, you can make tentative plans for the weekend, but it's too early to commit to one party or another.

• not or no longer needed or useful; superfluous
• Teachers often tell students to avoid being redundant — meaning avoid saying something twice or more

• person just won’t stop talking 
• and talking, and talking, and talking...

• The word voluble describes talking continuously, fluently, at great length, in a steady flow. 
• You'll know it when you meet voluble talkers: they just keep rolling on and on

• An ordinary, unexciting thing can be called mundane
• I'm seeking a way out of my mundane, humdrum existence

very careful to do things properly and correctly, such as paying friends back for money borrowed right away, or not returning a pair of shoes after they've been worn outdoors.

• scornful and arrogant
• To be disdainful is to act mean and superior

• way to describe perverse behavior lacking moral decency
• Some rock stars seek out a depraved reputation, but it's mostly for show — they can be as dull as the rest of us.

• with hesitation, doubt or dread
• You might reluctantly walk into the dentist's office for your appointment, knowing that your mouth would soon be in pain

• To fetch something is to go and get it.
• "Go fetch!" you might shout after your dog while throwing a stick into the yard.

• An amble is a leisurely, pleasurable walk.
• Care to take an amble down a pleasant country road instead of reading the rest of this word description? That would certainly be understandable.

• temporary resting place.
• In the middle of climbing a tree, you might find a good perch on a high branch. Bet some birds will be perching there too

Dizzy; having or causing a whirling sensation; liable to falling

• extremely dirty and unpleasant, especially as a result of poverty or neglect
• like a frat house (college housing) after a semester of hard partying and zero cleanup

• attentive, caring and concerned
• Use this word if you or someone else is eager to do something

• something is darkened, less clear, or more obscure
• Politicians often obfuscate the truth about the issues to win support for their positions so they can win elections.

sensational; presented in vividly shocking or sensational terms, especially giving explicit details of crimes or sexual matters

• The adjective quiescent means "being quiet and still,"
• like the quiescent moments lying in a hammock on a beautiful summer Sunday.

feel sympathy for someone else's suffering

• arouse, elicit; bring or recall to the conscious mind; call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)
• No matter how many different ways the detective questioned the suspect, he could not elicit/evoke any response.

• stated clearly and in detail, leaving no room for confusion or doubt
• the speaker's intentions were not made explicit

• regard or consider in a specified way
• the event was deemed a great success

• belonging naturally; essential
• An intrinsic quality of dogs is that they're loyal