Vocabulary List #7: 10/17/97
adulation | excessive flattery or admiration |
allegation | positive assertion; charge |
ameliorate | to make better; improve |
carafe | a bottle with flaring lip used to hold water and beverages |
comatose | characterized by lethargic inertness; torpid in coma |
conclave | a private meeting or secret assembly; gathering, convention |
concomitant | accompanying, especially in a subordinate way, lateral connection |
dotage | a state or period of senile decay |
epigram | a concise poem dealing with a single thought or event |
impermeable | not permitting passage through its substance |
jeopardize | to expose to danger |
juxtaposition | act of placing two or more things side by side |
lacerate | to cut or tear away |
ludicrous | amusing or laughable through obvious absurdity |
mollify | to sooth in temper or disposition |
obnoxious | meddlesome; disgustingly objectionable; highly offensive |
officious | dutiful, obliging; meddlesome |
patrimony | anything derived from one's father or ancestor |
paucity | smallness of number; fewness |
precarious | dependent on chance circumstances |
proverbial | something commonly spoken of which has become a proverb |
reticent | inclined to be silent or uncommunicative in speech |
scintillate | to emit quick flashes as if throwing sparks |
sedulous | involving/accomplished with careful perseverance; diligent in pursuit |
servile | of or befitting a slave or a menial position |
tantamount | equivalent in value; significance of effect |
ubiquitous | existing or being everywhere at the same time |
vicissitude | quality or state of being changeable |
whet | to make keen or more acute |
writhe | to twist into coils or folds |