Vocab list 4 Kenny
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Created by:
KellyCozza on September 18, 2011
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30 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 perfunctory | acting with indifference; showing little interest or care; performed merely as a routine duty; hasty and superficial |
| tantalize | to torment with, or as if with, the sight of something desired but out of reach; tease by arousing expectations that are repeatedly disappointed |
| pragmatic | dealing or concerned with facts or actual occurrences; practical |
| zeugma | A construction in which a single word, especially a verb or an adjective, is applied to 2 or more nouns when its sense is appropriate to only one of them or is appropriate to each but in a different way |
| laconic | using few words; expressing much in few words; concise, terse |
| salient | of notable significance; prominent |
| pithy | precisely meaningful; brief, forceful, and meaningful in expression; full of vigor, substance, or meaning |
| pandemonium | a very noisy place; wild uproar or unrestrained disorder; tumult or chaos; the abode of all the demons |
| quixotic | caught up in the romance of noble deeds and the pursuit of unreachable goals; resembling or befitting Don Quixote - idealistic without regard to practicalit |
| stigma | A small mark; a scar or birthmark; 2. A mark of disgrace or infamy; a stain or reproach, as on one's reputation |
| pejorative | tending to make or become worse; belittling; tending to disparage or belittle. |
| impede | To obstruct, retard, interfere with, or slow the progress of; hinder |
| garrulous | excessively talkative in a rambling, roundabout manner, esp. about trivial matters, |
| herculean | 1. requiring the great strength of a Hercules; hence very difficult, dangerous or hard to perform 2. Having enormous strength, courage, or size. 3. (initial capital letter) of or pertaining to Hercules or his labors |
| appellation | 1. a name, title, or designation. The act of naming. 2, A geographical name (as of a region, village, or vineyard) under which a winegrower is authorized to identify and market wine |
| cynical | negative or pessimistic; showing contempt for accepted standards of honesty or morality by one's actions, esp. by actions that exploit the scruples of others; bitterly or sneeringly distrustful, contemptuous, or pessimistic |
| galvanize | 1. to stimulate or shock by or as if by a electric current. 2. to stimulate or treat (muscles or nerves) with induced direct current (distinguished from faradize). 3. to startle into sudden activity; stimulate (as in a crowd). 4. to coat (metal, esp. iron or steel) with zinc |
| expedite | to free from entanglements; to carry out promptly or speed up the process of. |
| disquietude | worried unease; anxiety |
| bowdlerize | to edit (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable; to expurgate (a book) prudishly |
| bower | a shaded, leafy recess; an arbor. a rustic cottage; a country retreat; a woman's private chamber in a medieval castle |
| ostracize | 1. to exclude, by general consent, from a group - such as from society, friendship, conversation, privileges, etc. 2. to banish (a person) from his or her native country; expatriate |
| lethargy | 1. Abnormal drowsiness. 2. The quality or state of being lazy, sluggish, inactive, or indifferent. |
| aver | to affirm positively as true; to assert or affirm with confidence; declare in a positive or peremptory manner; to allege as a fact. |
| dilatory | tending to delay, procrastinate, or postpone; intended to cause delay, gain time, or defer decision |
| stoic | 1. one who is seemingly indifferent to or unaffected by joy, grief, pleasure, or pain. 2. of or pertaining to the school of philosophy founded by Zeno, who taught that people should be free from passion, unmoved by joy or grief, and submit without complaint to unavoidable necessity. |
| pander | to act as a go-between or liaison in amorous intrigues; function as a procurer. |
| infernal | of or relating to a lower world of the dead; of or relating to hell or a nether world. |
| scintillating | brilliantly clever; animated, vivacious; marked by high spirits or excitement |
| insouciant | lighthearted and unconcerned; free of cares and anxiety |
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