Vocabulary Fall List #6

Beatitude: n. supreme blessedness

His beatitude towards the hungry had spread his news far and wide.

Bete noire: n. person or thing disliked or dreaded

Piggy immediately became the bete noire in the group of boys by his physical appearance.

Bode: v. to be an omen of; predict

Shaggy's eye twitched and he knew right away that whatever was behind him was not going to bode well when solving this mystery.

Dank: adj. unpleasantly moist or humid; damp and chilly

Ryan's cell was putrid and dank, augmenting his hatred towards cops.

Ecumenical: adj. universal; pertaining to the whole Christian church

Ecumenical praying’s to God is still religiously practiced today.

Fervid: adj. heated or vehement in spirit, enthusiasm, etc.; intensely hot

Patrick's fervid gaze bore a hole in the back of his head and he gulped in fear.

Fetid: adj. having an offensive odor; stinking

The fetid sponge cheerfully exclaimed to his friend that they weren't ugly after all; it was their breath!

Gargantuan: adj. huge, immense, vast, incredibly large, etc.

The boy felt highly insulted when his enemy said he had a gargantuan head.

Heyday: n. period of greatest vigor, strength, success; high spirits

Michael Jackson's heyday followed him even after death.

Incubus: n. nightmare; something that weighs upon one like a nightmare

Shaking and shivering in bed, Paul wrapped his arms around his knees as the recent incubus invaded his mind once more.

Infrastructure: n. basic physical and organizational structures and facilities needed for an operation

The infrastructure for the new hardware store would be difficult to set up.

Inveigle: v. to entice or lure by flattery or inducements; to win by beguiling talk or methods

Mackenzie inveigled her friends to vote for her as Most Spirited in the year book.

Kudos: n. honor; glory; acclaim

Kelli told me kudos when I recognized the meaning of the word in the list.

Lagniappe: n. a small gift given with a purchase to a customer, by way of compliment or good measure; bonus or tip

The lagniappe we left for our waitress marked a broad smile on her face.

Prolix: adj. extended to unnecessary or tedious length; long and wordy

The substitute teacher's prolix lecture about her childhood allowed students to catch a few Z's.

Protege: n. person under the patronage, protection, or care of someone interested in his/her career

Sarah was glad she was the protege of her English teacher when she excelled in writing books.

Prototype: n. original model on which something is based or formed

To our disappointment, the prototype of the cabin we wanted showed that it was located too far into the woods for our likings.

Sycophant: n. self-seeking flatterer; fawning parasite

The sycophant was relentless in her attacks as she complimented the popular girl in every direction just so she could get onto that party list.

Tautology: n. needless repetition of an idea; use of different words to say the same thing twice

The linguistically challenged misunderstood this and the phrase became the tautology it is now.

Truckle: v. to submit or yield obsequiously or tamely

All of them usually didn't truckle to any of Gill's ridiculous ideas of escape, but this one felt right somehow.