Vocabulary: Fall List #3

Accolade: n. an award or honor

Arthur believed he should be given an accolade for not panicking during his entire trip through space and time.  

Acerbity: n. a sharp sour taste; a rough and bitter manner

Her attitude with the game today was brought down by her acerbity.

Attrition: n. the act of rubbing together; a wearing down to weaken or destroy; erosion by friction

Beowulf’s sudden attrition to Grendel brought forth a celebration to the entire kingdom.

Bromide: n. a trite or obvious remark

His bromide to the teacher’s question was unsettling.

Chauvinist: n. a person with a prejudiced belief in the superiority of his or her own kind

Most of the people in the South were chauvinist in the mid nineteen hundreds.

Chronic: adj. being long-lasting and recurrent or characterized by long suffering

I have GOT to be the worst chronic procrastinator to have ever lived through high school so far.

Expound: v. to explain or interpret; clarify the meaning of

She reluctantly expounded his question about how the storks are able to deliver newborns.

Factionalism: adj. self-interested; partisan

His factionalism beliefs on democrats made him very unpopular among his friends.

Immaculate: adj. neat and clean; without fault or error

Her paper on ballpoint pens was immaculate.

Imprecation: n. a curse that invokes evil (or serves as an insult)

John’s creepy neighbor sent an imprecation his way after he ran over her cat, causing a lot of bad karma to crawl his way; perhaps she was a witch?

Ineluctable: adj. Impossible to avoid or evade

She soon found that he was ineluctable when she realized that they were both together all the time.

Mercurial: adj. changeable; animated and lively

Nurse Janet’s mercurial singing was found to be a nuisance to the patients in the hospital.

Palliate: v. provide physical relief (from pain); lessen the seriousness or extent of

Jeffery tried to palliate his wrongdoings to his father but it did no satisfactory.

Protocol: n. code of correct conduct

It was standard protocol under Sergeant Millard that everyone report in once at their base.

Resplendent: adj. having great beauty and splendor

Hera was truly a resplendent goddess.

Stigmatize: v. to accuse or condemn or openly or formally or brand as disgraceful

Galileo was stigmatized by his people for talking about a bunch of nonsense on inertia.

Sub Rosa: n. secretly; confidentially

The document labeled “Bigfoot” was, at the time, to be remained sub rosa until further notice.

Vainglory: n. outspoken conceit

Like they say, everyone has some vainglory at times.

Vestige: n. an indication that something has been present

Some say Fred Flintstone is the only vestige that cavemen existed.

Volition: n. the act of making a choice; capability of conscious choice and intention

Chuck’s volition to stop smoking lasted several years with the replacement of chewing gum.