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(v.)
to humiliate, degrade
(After being overthrown and abased, the deposed
leader offered to bow down to his conqueror.) |
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| (v.) to stop, block abruptly (Edna’s boss balked at her request for another raise.) |
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(n.) tremendous noise, disharmonious sound (The elementary school
Orchestra created a cacophony at the recital.) |
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(adj.) intimidating, causing one to lose courage (He kept delaying the
Daunting act of asking for a promotion.) |
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(adj.) extremely lively, enthusiastic (She became ebullient upon receiving an
Acceptance letter from her first-choice college.) |
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(v.) to make up, invent (When I arrived an hour late to class, I fabricated some
Excuse about my car breaking down on the way to school.) |
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(adj.) gaudy, in bad taste (Mrs. Watson has poor taste and covers every object in
Her house with a garish gold lame.) |
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(adj.) unoriginal, trite (A girl can only hear “I love you” so many times
Before it begins to sound hackneyed and meaningless.) |
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(n.) one who attacks common beliefs or institutions (Jane goes to one protest
After another, but she seems to be an iconoclast rather than an activist with a
Progressive agenda.) |
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(adj.) extremely joyful, happy (The crowd was jubilant when the firefighter
Carried the woman from the flaming building.) |
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(n.) the solemn sound of a bell, often indicating a death (Echoing throughout our
Village, the funeral knell made the stormy day even grimmer.) |
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(n.) a cut, tear (Because he fell off his bike into a rosebush, the paperboy’s skin
Was covered with lacerations.) |
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(n.) a destructive whirlpool which rapidly sucks in objects (Little did the
Explorers know that as they turned the next bend of the calm river a vicious
Maelstrom would catch their boat.) |
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(n.) the lowest point of something (My day was boring, but the nadir came when
I accidentally spilled a bowl of spaghetti on my head.) |
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(adj.) unyielding to persuasion or moral influences (The obdurate old man
Refused to take pity on the kittens.) |
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(adj.) soothing (The chemistry professor’s pacific demeanor helped the class
Remain calm after the experiment exploded.) |
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(n.) a difficult situation (We’d all like to avoid the kind of military quagmire
Characterized by the Vietnam War.) |
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(v.) to scold, protest (The professor railed against the injustice of the college’s tenure
Policy.) |
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(adj.) sickeningly sweet (Tom’s saccharine manner, although intended to
Make him popular, actually repelled his classmates.) |
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(adj.) expressed without words (I interpreted my parents’ refusal to talk as a tacit
Acceptance of my request.) |
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(adj.) existing everywhere, widespread (It seems that everyone in the United
States has a television. The technology is ubiquitous here.) |
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(v.) to fluctuate, hesitate (I prefer a definite answer, but my boss kept
Vacillating between the distinct options available to us.) |
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(v.) to roll oneself indolently; to become or remain helpless (My roommate
Can’t get over her breakup with her boyfriend and now just wallows in self-pity.) |
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| (v.) to join, link (We yoked together the logs by tying a string around them.) |
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(adj.) fervent, filled with eagerness in pursuit of something (If he were any
More zealous about getting his promotion, he’d practically live at the office.) |
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