Monday, September 16, 2013

Vocabulary #5

Obsequious- servilely compliant or deferential
People are by turns obsequious, angry, and disingenuous.

Beatitude- Supreme blessedness; exalted happiness
Towns have their own beatitude; they are not unfriendly.

Bete noire- A person or thing that one particularly dislikes or dreads 
He is bete noire towards him for what he had done in his past.
 
Bode- To be an omen of; portend

The news bodes evil days for him.

Dank- Unpleasantly moist or humid; damp and, often, chilly
It is a cramped, dank apartment.


Ecumenical- Pertaining to the whole Christian church
The ecumenical council decreed woman no longer had to wear hats in church.

Fervid- heated or vehement in spirit

The web rewards, with links and traffic, fervid expressions of ideological news.

Fetid- Having an offensive odor; stinking

There are trotters with tripe-honeycombed, fetid, strictly for the adventurous.
 
Gargantuan- Gigantic 

It is a vast, colossal, gargantuan improvement over messing around with pouring batches of hot liquid into a blender.

Heyday- The stage or period of greatest vigor, strength, success, etc.; prime

The heyday of the vaudeville stars.

Incubus- An imaginary demon or evil spirit supposed to descend upon sleeping persons
It shall be one of my cherished objects to remove this incubus of our prosperity.

Infrastructure- The basic, underlying framework or features of a system or organization.  
The tripod infrastructure is why there are so many grottoes and light caves.
 
Inveigle- To entice, lure
to inveigle a person into playing bridge. 
 
Kudos- Honor; glory

His inventive use of a tablecloth earns him costume kudos and extra treats.
 
Lagniappe- A tip
the lagniappe helped bring down the smugglers.

Prolix- Long and wordy
Some lectures are prolix.
 
Protege- A person under the patronage, protection

The President is always under protege.
 
Prototype- The original model

Prototypes are worth the most to collectors.

Sycophant- A self-seeking, servile flatterer; fawning parasite

But history will likely remember him as the ultimate sycophant, the loyal sidekick.
 
Tautology- Needless repetition of an idea
 It's a tautology designed to evade self-incrimination.
 
Truckle- To submit or yield obsequiously or tamely
Don't truckle to unreasonable demands.

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