Vocab List #9

Abortive: failing to produce the intended result

  The outcome of the lab was abortive due to the miscalculations before.

Bruit: spread a report or rumor widely
  Some people in high school are known for how the bruit about anyone and everyone.

 

Contumelious: scornful and insulting behavior
  The most irritating thing is when a person acts contumelious toward you even when you did nothing wrong.

 

Dictum: a formal pronouncement from an authoritative source; a short statement that expresses a

general truth or principle
  In the end of the novel, the author had a short section for a dictum.

 

Ensconce: establish or settle
  We immediately ensconced before the conflict got any bigger.

 

Iconoclastic: characterized by attack on established beliefs or institutions

  The two memebers had an iconoclastic arguement on whose idea will prevail throughout the whole year.

In medias res: a narrative that begins somewhere in the middle of a story rather than the beginning
  The novel we read in class was in medias res.

 

Internecine: destructive to both sides in a conflict
  The source of power that caused the two sides into war ended up being internecine.

 

Maladroit: ineffective or bungling; clumsy

  Many people have told me I am maladroit.

Maudlin: self-pitying or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness
  My friend's mother often is on the kitchen counter with a drink in her hand as she maudlins about how hard and horrible her job is.

 

Modulate: exert a modifying or controlling influence on
  The leader of the group was very modulate and convincing.

 

Portentous: of or like a portent; done in a pompously or overly solemn manner
  He was portentous and didn't say much to object what his wife was saying.

 

Prescience: the power to foresee the future

  As a child, you wish you had prescience.

Quid pro quo: a favor or advantage granted in return for something
  The young boy had a soft heart and often did good deeds and later in his life, he was offered many quid pro quo that made him successful in the long run.

 

Salubrious: health-giving, healthy; pleasant, not run-down
  The young couple was overwhelmed with joy when their baby was salubrious.

 

Saturnalia: the ancient Roman festival of Saturn in December; an occasion of wild revelry
  We tried to reenact a saturnalia in our history class.

 

Touchstone: a standard or criterion by which something is judged or recognized
  It is important to overcome the touchstone in order to become a better and improved human being.

 

Traumatic: emotionally disturbing or distressing; relating to or causing psychological trauma
  The accident was so traumatic, the girl could not sit in a car without becoming emotional.

 

Vitiate: spoil or impair the quality or efficiency of; destroy or impair the legal validity of.
  It is against the law to vitiate any law made for the equality of the people.

 

Waggish: humorous in a playful, mischievous, or facetious manner
  The character was waggish and often made jokes to cheer everyone up.