Vocabulary List #7

aberration - (noun) an optical phenomenon resulting from the failure of a lens or mirror to produce a good image; a disorder in one's mental state; a state or condition markedly different from the norm
-Often times, magicians use abberation to amaze the crowd and start to get their attention.

Ad hoc- (adverb) for the special purpose or end presently under consideration
-We had no choice but to ad hoc the event because of the horrible weather we have been having for the past five days.

bane - (noun) something causes misery or death
-Cancer was a bane for my grandmother and she had no choice but to live her very best until the horrid disease ate her life.

bathos - (noun) triteness or triviality of style; a change from a serious subject to a disappointing one; insincere pathos
-The story had a dramatic seen of bathos where no one in the audience saw it coming.

cantankerous - (adj.) having a difficult and contrary disposition; stubbornly obstructive and unwilling to cooperate
-There is always someone who is cantankerous in your group that will bring up issues and make things harder for everyone.

casuistry - (noun) moral philosophy based on the application of general ethical principles to resolve moral dilemmas; argumentation that is specious or excessively subtle and intended to be misleading
-The novel we read for the class had many details informing readers about casuistry.

de facto - (noun) in fact; in reality
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depredation - (noun) an act of plundering and pillaging and marauding; (usually plural) a destructive action
-The evil in any movie or story usually makes a depredation before the actual attack.


empathy - (noun) understanding and entering into another's feelings
-It is hard to make an empathy to someone you have just met but it is a possibility that you can understand just a small part of their lives or their feelings.

harbinger - (noun) an indication of the approach of something or someone; verb foreshadow or presage
-Readers were able to easily make a harbinger when the prince was back in town, he would meet the pretty new girl who everyone was talking about.

hedonism - (noun) an ethical system that evaluates the pursuit of pleasure as the highest good; the pursuit of pleasure as a matter of ethical principle
-Not everyone will believe or think that hedonism is right because everyone has different views of what pleasure is.

lackluster - (adj.) lacking luster or shine; lacking brilliance or vitality
-The old car that has been sitting in the garage for more than a decade is very lackluster.

malcontent - (adj.) discontented as toward authority; noun a person who is discontented or disgusted
-The girl was discontented when she saw the criminal kill a person without hesitation.

mellifluous - (adj.) pleasing to the ear
-Girls often expect to hear mellifluous things by guys just like they expect them to make the first move.

nepotism - noun favoritism shown to relatives or close friends by those in power (as by giving them jobs)
-My aunt shows neptism towards me because I am one of the few that gives her the time of day.

pander - (noun) someone who procures customers for whores (in England they call a pimp a ponce); verb arrange for sexual partners for others; yield (to); give satisfaction to
-There has been many articles about panders on the newspaper.

peccadillo - (noun) a petty misdeed
-As a child, many young kids make peccadillos that are later forgiven.

piece de resistance - (noun) the most noteworthy or prized feature, aspect, event, article, etc., of a series or group; special item or attraction.
-The trophy was an obvious piece de resistance since the team had been working to win the world cup for over seven years now.

remand - (noun) the act of sending an accused person back into custody to await trial (or the continuation of the trial); verb refer (a matter or legal case) to another committee or authority or court for decision; lock up or confine, in or as in a jail
-They had to remand the criminal being accused for three different crimes because they ahd no evidence of whether he did them or not.

syndrome - (noun) a complex of concurrent things; a pattern of symptoms indicative of some disease
-As you get older, you may start gettign syndromes of different sort that become harder to manage.