vanessa vargas blog 2013-2014
Friday, December 13, 2013
vocabulary #9
1.aficionado: someone who is devoted to something, very enthusiastic about an activity.
2.browbeat: a bully, someone intimidating who uses abusive words.
3.commensurate: having the same measure, in proportion.
4.diaphanous: transparent, translucent, light, delicate
5.emolument: profit, salary
6.foray: quick raid/attack
7.genre: class or category
8.homily: a biblical sermon
9.immure: to shut in, to enclose
10.insouciant: free from concern, worry; care free
11.matrix: an environment that constitutes the place or point from which something else originates.
12.obsequies: funeral or ceremony
13.panache: flamboyant style of manner or confidence
14.persona: a character or their characteristics
15.philippic: any of the speeches delivered Demosthenes against king Philip.
16.Prurient: having lustful thoughts/desires
17.Sacrosanct: extremely sacred, above and beyond criticism
18.Systemic: pertaining to a system or a group/body of people.
19.Tendentious: showing tendency, bias…
20.Vicissitude: a change occurring in the course of something, usually something bad.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
TO BE OR NOT TO BE THAT IS THE QUESTION!!!!
William Shakespeare - To be, or not to be (from Hamlet 3/1)
To be, or not to be: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover'd country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action. - Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia! Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remember'd.
vocab #5
1)Obsequious: obedient, dutiful
2)Beatitude: exalted happiness
3)bete noire: disliked person or thing
4)bode: predict, announce before hand
5)dank: moist, humid, damp
6)ecumenical: general, universal
7)fervid: enthusiasm, burning in spirit
8)fetid: bad odor, stinky
9)gargantuan: gigantic, enormous
10)heyday: stage or period of success, strength, high spirits
11)Incubus: evil spirit, nightmare
12)infrastructure: the underlying framework of a system
13)inveigle: to entice by flattering talk
14)kudos: honor, glory
15)lagniappe: bonus, tip
16)prolix: long, wordy and unnecessary
17)protégé: under patronage, protection
18)prototype: model or something that is used to illustrate
19)sycophant: self-seeking flatterer
20)tautology: needless repetition of something
21)truckle: passive, willingness, submissive
vocab #3
Apostate: a person who forsakes his religion, cause, party, etc.
Effusive: pouring out; overflowing
Impasse: a position or situation from which there is no escape; deadlock.
Euphoria: a state of intense happiness and self-confidence
Lugubrious: mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner
Bravado: a pretentious, swaggering display of courage.
Consensus: majority of opinion
Dichotomy: division into two parts, kinds, etc.; subdivision into halves or pairs.
Constrict: to draw or press in; cause to contract or shrink; compress.
Gothic: pertaining to the Middle Ages; medieval.
Punctilio: a fine point, particular, or detail, as of conduct, ceremony, or procedure.
Metamorphosis: a complete change of form, structure, or substance, as transformation by magic or witchcraft.
Raconteur: a person who is skilled in relating stories and anecdotes interestingly.
sine qua non: an indispensable condition, element, or factor; something essential
quixotic: extravagantly chivalrous or romantic; visionary, impractical, or impracticable.
Vendetta: bitter feud, rivalry, contention
non sequitur: Logic. an inference or a conclusion that does not follow from the premises.
Mystique: an aura of mystery or mystical power surrounding a particular occupation or pursuit
Quagmire: soft boggy area of land
Parlous: perilous; dangerous.
vocab #2
1. accoutrements: personal clothing, accessories
2. apogee: the highest or most distant point, climax
3. apropos: fitting, at the right time
4. bicker: to engage in a querulous argument
5. coalesce: to grow together or into one body
6. contretemps: inopportune occurrence, embarrassing moment
7. convolution: coiled condition, twist
8. cull: to choose, select, pick
9. disparate: distinct in kind, essentially different
10. dogmatic: pertaining to, inflexible
11. licentious: libertine, unrestrained
12. mete: to distribute, apportion
13. noxious: harmful to physical/well being
14. polemic: a controversial argument, as one against some opinion
15. populous: heavily populated
16. probity: honesty, uprightness
17. repartee: quick witty reply
18. supervene: implied event or action, to take place as something additional
19. truncate: to shorten, cut short
20. unimpeachable: impeccable, impossible to discredit, entirely trustworthy
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
vocabulary #6
vocabulary #6
1.Obsequious: showing servile compliance, obedience
2.Beatitude: exalted happiness
3.bete noire: disliked person or thing
4.bode: give a hint to what’s to come
5.dank: moist, humid, damp
6.ecumenical: universal, general
7.fervid: enthusiastic, burning in spirit
8.fetid: bad odor
9.gargantuan: gigantic
10.heyday: stage or period of high spirits
11.incubus: nightmare
12.infrastructure: framework of a system
13.inveigle: manipulate
14.kudos: honor, props
15.lagniappe: bonus, tip
16.prolix: long, wordy or unnecessary
17.protégé: protection, under patronage
18.prototype: model used to illustrate
19.sycophant: self-seeking flatterer
20.tautology: saying something twice in a different way
21.truckle: to submit tamely
22.accolade: award, honor w/ laudatory notice
23.acerbity: astringency in taste, bitter
24.attrition: reduction in numbers, size or strength
25.bromide: flat dull remark
26.chauvinist: aggressively or blindly patriot
27.chronic: constant, habitual
28.expound: to explain or interpret in detail
29.factionalism: practice of faction (group within a larger group.
30.immaculate: pure, free from spot
31.imprecation: malediction, curse
32.ineluctable: incapable of being ignored or avoided
33.mercurial: changeable
34. palliate: to alleviate
35.protocol: official procedure or system of rules
36.resplendent: shining, gleaming
37.stigmatize: to brand a stigma upon someone/something
38.sub rosa: done in secret
39.vainglory: excessive pride in own achievements
40.vestige: surviving evidence of something no longer existing
41.volition: exercising/choosing one’s will.
Friday, September 13, 2013
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