Term
acrimonious
-- She whirled to face me when I spoke, and her answer startled me by its ACRIMONIOUS bluntness |
|
Definition
| (adj.) stinging, bitter in temper or tone |
|
|
Term
bovine
--After I told him what had happened, he sat there with a BOVINE expression and said nothing. |
|
Definition
| (adj.) resembling a cow or ox; sluggish, unresponsive |
|
|
Term
consternation
--His father looked at the mess with CONSTERNATION, hardly knowing what to say first. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
corpulent
--Though she had grown CORPULENT with the years, the opera singer's voice and her way with a song were the same. |
|
Definition
| (adj.) fat; having a large, bulky body. |
|
|
Term
disavow
--The suspect stubbornly continued to DISAVOW any part in the kidnapping plot. |
|
Definition
| (v.) to deny responsibility for or connection with |
|
|
Term
dispassionate
--Being a neighbor but not quite a family friend, he was called in to give a DISPASSIONATE view of out plan. |
|
Definition
| (adj.) impartial; calm, free from emotion |
|
|
Term
dissension
--The political party was torn by DISSENSION and finally split into two wings. |
|
Definition
| (n.) disagreement, sharp difference of opinion |
|
|
Term
dissipate
--As chairman he is fair and open, but he DISSIPATES his energies on trivial things. |
|
Definition
| (v.) to cause to disappear; to scatter, dispel; to spend foolishly, squander; to be extravagant in pursuit of pleasure |
|
|
Term
expurgate
--According to the unwritten law of journalism, the editor alone has the right to EXPURGATE the article. |
|
Definition
| (v.) to remove objectionable passages or words from a written text; to cleanse, purify |
|
|
Term
gauntlet
--In the Middle Ages, a knight threw down his GAUNTLET as a challenge, and another knight picked it up only if he accepted. |
|
Definition
| (n.) an armored or protective glove; a challenge; two lines of men armed with weapons with which to beat a person forced to run between them; an ordeal |
|
|
Term
hypothetical
--Science is not based on HYPOTHETICAL assumptions, but on proven facts. |
|
Definition
| (adj.) based on an assumption or guess; used as a provisional or tentative idea to guide or direct investigation |
|
|
Term
ignoble
--Most people will agree that a noble purpose does not justify IGNOBLE means. |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
impugn
--You can IMPUGN the senator's facts, but you cannot accuse her of concealing her intentions. |
|
Definition
| (v.) to call into question; to attack as false |
|
|
Term
intemperate
--Experience taught her to control her INTEMPERATE outbursts of anger. |
|
Definition
| (adj.) immoderate, lacking in self-control; inclement |
|
|
Term
odium
--Those eager to heap ODIUM on the fallen tyrant learned that he had escaped in the night. |
|
Definition
| (n.) hatred, contempt; disgrace or infamy resulting from hateful conduct |
|
|
Term
perfidy
--Rulers in Shakespeare's plays often find themselves armed against enemies but not against the PERFIDY of their friends. |
|
Definition
| (n.) faithlessness, treachery |
|
|
Term
relegate
--Even if they RELEGATE him to a mere clerical job, he is determined to make his presence felt. |
|
Definition
| (v.) to place in a lower position; to assign, refer, turn over; to banish |
|
|
Term
squeamish
--If I am called SQUEAMISH for disliking the horror movie, what do we call those who say they liked it? |
|
Definition
| (adj.) inclined to nausea; easily shocked or upset; excessively fastidious or refined |
|
|
Term
subservient
--The officers were taught to be respectful of but not blindly SUBSERVIENT to their superior's wishes. |
|
Definition
| (adj.) subordinate in capacity or role; submissively obedient; serving to promote some end |
|
|
Term
susceptible
--The trouble with being SUSCEPTIBLE to flattery is that you can never be sure that the flatterer is sincere. |
|
Definition
| (adj.) open to; easily influenced; lacking in resistance |
|
|
