Vocabulary Enrichment No. 1

Myriad

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: A countless or extremely great number.

Sentence: The myriad of butterflies swarmed the couple.

Innocuous

Part of Speech: Adjective

Definition: Not harmful or offensive.

Sentence: The boy’s comment was quite innocuous.

Feign

Part of Speech: Verb

Definition: Pretend to be affected by a feeling, state or injury.

Sentence: The child feigned his injury so his parents would buy him ice cream.

Temerity

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: Excessive confidence or boldness; audacity.

Sentence: The temerity of the young man was overbearing to some.

Affront

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: An action or remark that causes outrage or offense.

Sentence: Much of what Donald Trump does is an affront.

Part of Speech (2): Verb

Definition (2): Offend the modesty or values of.

Sentence (2): The boy’s comment affronted the rest of the patrons at the dinner.

Acquiesce

Part of Speech: Verb

Definition:  Accept something reluctantly but without protest.

Sentence: Bobby acquiesced the award.

Interim

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: The intervening time.

Sentence: In the interim between games the players got into a fight.

Part of Speech (2): Adjective

Definition (2): In or for the intervening period; provisional or temporary.

Sentence (2): Steve became the interim manager of the company.

Trepidation

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: A feeling of fear or agitation about something that may happen.

Sentence: The man was hiding his trepidation over his wife’s pregnancy. 

Alleviate

Part of Speech: Verb

Definition: Make suffering, a deficiency or a problem less severe.

Sentence: The doctor was unable to alleviate my grandmother’s pain.

Stagnant

Part of Speech: Adjective 

Definition (1): A body of water or the atmosphere of a confined space having no current or flow and often having an unpleasant smell as a consequence.

Sentence (1): The stagnant water became a breeding ground for mosquitoes. 

Definition (2): Showing no activity; dull and sluggish.

Sentence (2): In her last days the patient’s activity was stagnant.

Elicit

Part of Speech: Verb

Definition: Evoke or draw out a response, answer or fact from someone in reaction to one’s own actions or questions.

Sentence: I used to try to elicit reactions from my family for fun.

Exacerbate

Part of Speech: Verb

Definition: Make a problem, bad situation or negative feeling worse.

Sentence: The chemotherapy exacerbated my grandmother’s pain.

Tumultuous

Part of Speech: Adjective

Definition: Making a loud, confused noise; uproarious.

Sentence: The tumultuous class would not listen to the teacher.

Bolster

Part of Speech: Verb

Definition: Support or strengthen, prop up.

Sentence: I always try to bolster my friends’ confidence.

Cajole

Part of Speech: Verb

Definition: Persuade someone to do something by sustained coaxing or flattery.

Sentence: The conman cajoled the eldery lady to leave him her house.

Clandestine

Part of Speech: Adjective

Definition: Kept secret or done secretively, especially because illicit.

Sentence: The clandestine relationship was beginning to annoy both parties.

Ameliorate

Part of Speech: Verb

Definition: Make something bad or unsatisfactory better.

Sentence: The new taxes hoped to ameliorate our schools.

Cessation

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: The fact or process of ending or being brought to an end.

Sentence: The fight was brought to cessation.

Proliferation

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: Rapid increase in numbers.

Sentence: The proliferation of military technology has lead to the devastation that is modern warfare.

Fervent

Part of Speech: Adjective

Definition: Having or displaying a passionate intensity.

Sentence: The musician was a fervent practitioner about his craft.

Ubiquitous

Part of Speech: Adjective

Definition: Present, appearing, or found everywhere.

Sentence: The pop star’s image became ubiquitous.

Sweltering

Part of Speech: Adjective

Definition: Uncomfortably hot.

Sentence: In the summer San Jose becomes a sweltering city.

Extraneous

Part of Speech: Adjective

Definition: Irrelevant or unrelated to the subject being dealt with.

Sentence: The speech and debate student kept adding extraneous information to his argument.

Recalcitrant

Part of Speech: Adjective

Definition: Having an obstinately uncooperative attitude toward authority or discipline.

Sentence: The recalcitrant boy was known to dislike law enforcement. 

Schadenfreude

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: Pleasure derived by someone from another person’s misfortune.

Sentence: A lot of comedy is based around the concept of schadenfreude.

Malleable

Part of Speech: Adjective

Definition: A metal or other material that is able to be hammered or pressed permanently out of shape without breaking or cracking.

Sentence: The iron sheets were malleable enough to be turned into instruments.

Augment

Part of Speech: Verb

Definition: Make something greater by adding to it; increase.

Sentence: We augmented our house by remodeling the balcony.

Debauchery

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: Excessive indulgence in sensual pleasures.

Sentence: Eventually the man gave into the debauchery.

Decadence

Part of Speech: Noun

Definition: Moral or cultural decline as characterized by excessive indulgence in pleasure or luxury.

Sentence: Older generations say that the current generation are causing a decadence in America.

Presumptive

Part of Speech: Adjective

Definition: Of the nature of a presumption; presumed in the absence of further information.

Sentence: The culture of the internet lately has become rather presumptive.