Vocabulary Week 1

Front 1

Acrid
Adjective

NYT:
1. Last winter I spent some time in the passenger seat of a GT9-R prototype. Low temperatures and the threat of snow flurries made driving the car especially tricky, and the acrid smell of burnt rubber filled the cabin. Daniel Schimmeyer, workshop manager for 9ff (and one of the few employees entrusted with driving the car), told me at the time that the car’s rear tires were spinning due to the cold weather.

2. The acrid controversy over the cartoons blossomed in early 2006, but still the corrosion lingers.

Back 1

1 : sharp and harsh or unpleasantly pungent in taste or odor : irritating

2 : deeply or violently bitter : acrimonious <an acrid denunciation>

synonyms: see caustic
— acrid·i·ty \a-'kri-də-tē, ə-\ noun
— ac·rid·ly \ˈa-krəd-lē\ adverb
— ac·rid·ness noun

Front 2

Boorish
adjective

NYT:
1. His legion of friends and the institutions for whom he worked looked the other way at boorish and abusive behavior.
2. The bass Kristinn Sigmundsson is a suitably boorish and vocally booming Baron Ochs.
3. In the Cougar fantasy, in the figure of a woman who uses her younger mate to puff up her vanity and enhance her sense of power and control, you find all the most cartoonish aspects of boorish middle-aged masculinity. I’m sure we can generate better fantasies for ourselves.

Back 2

boor·ish·ly: adverb
boor·ish·ness: noun
synonyms boorish, churlish, loutish, clownish mean uncouth in manners or appearance.
boorish implies rudeness of manner due to insensitiveness to others' feelings and unwillingness to be agreeable <a drunk's boorish behavior>.
churlish suggests surliness, unresponsiveness, and ungraciousness <churlish remarks>. loutish implies bodily awkwardness together with stupidity <a loutish oaf>.
clownish suggests ill-bred awkwardness, ignorance or stupidity, ungainliness, and often a propensity for absurd antics <an adolescent's clownish conduct>.

Front 3

Epistle
noun
NYT:
1. I have only one handwritten epistle from my grandfather, and it begins with this: “Ordinarily I would use a typewriter for legibility if for nothing else, but Grandmother Lawson is asleep and the clatter of the typewriter would disturb her.
2. A traditional Christian liturgy — including the Lord’s Prayer and readings from a Gospel and an Epistle — takes places amid a series of intense, almost incantatory performances of Coltrane compositions.

Back 3

1. capitalized a : one of the letters adopted as books of the New Testament b : a liturgical lection usually from one of the New Testament Epistles
2. a : letter; especially : a formal or elegant letter b : a composition in the form of a letter

Front 4

Heresy

noun

Back 4

1 a : adherence to a religious opinion contrary to church dogma
b : denial of a revealed truth by a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church
c : an opinion or doctrine contrary to church dogma
2 a : dissent or deviation from a dominant theory, opinion, or practice b : an opinion, doctrine, or practice contrary to the truth or to generally accepted beliefs
NYT:
1.Offshore Haven Considers a Heresy: Taxation
2. Jazz and metal are both diversifying at a fantastic rate, feeding on their old modes and languages, combining them and breaking them down. (In both, the fans have become more suspicious of genre heresy than the musicians.)

Front 5

Lance

noun & verb

Back 5

noun:
1 : a steel-tipped spear carried by mounted knights or light cavalry
2 : any of various sharp objects suggestive of a lance: as a : lancet b : a spear used for killing whales or fish
3 : lancer 1b
Verb:
transitive verb 1 a : to pierce with or as if with a lance b : to open with or as if with a lancet <lance a boil>
2 : to throw forward : hurlintransitive verb : to move forward quickly
NYT:

Front 6

Poignant

adjective

Back 6

evoking a keen sense of sadness or regret : a poignant reminder of the passing of time. See note at moving .
• keenly felt : the sensation of being back at home was most poignant in the winter.
• archaic sharp or pungent in taste or smell.
DERIVATIVES
poignance noun
poignancy |-yənsē| noun
poignantly |-yəntlē| adverb
NYT:
For Dutch soccer fans, this year’s commemoration is particularly poignant because it will honor Hartog Hollander, known as Han, a Dutch Jew who died in the Holocaust.

Front 7

acrophobia

noun

Back 7

extreme or irrational fear of heights.
DERIVATIVES
acrophobic adjective & noun

NYT:

My ACROPHOBIA prevents me from sitting in the upper deck at Yankee Stadium. .... It also helps that I suffer from ACROPHOBIA.

Front 8

bourgeois

adjective

Back 8

of or characteristic of the middle class, typically with reference to its perceived materialistic values or conventional attitudes : a rich, bored, bourgeois family | these views will shock the bourgeois critics.
• (in Marxist contexts) upholding the interests of capitalism; not communist : bourgeois society took for granted the sanctity of property.
noun ( pl. same)
a bourgeois person : a self-confessed and proud bourgeois.
NYT:
Despite a bourgeois family background that might have made him a political target, Mr. Hu earned a spot at Qinghua University in Beijing through his academic performance and received a degree in hydrologic engineering.

Front 9

debility
noun

Back 9

physical weakness, esp. as a result of illness.
NYT:
Lorraine’s mother, Kay, seems to be coping quite well with her husband’s debility, although he requires constant care.

Front 10

epistolary

adjective

Back 10

relating to or denoting the writing of letters or literary works in the form of letters : an epistolary novel.

NYT:
Write an epistolary story — a story that is told only through letters. You may wish to have Barack Obama or another member of his family as one of the characters.

Front 11

hiatus

noun

Back 11

a pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process : there was a brief hiatus in the war with France.
• Prosody & Grammar a break between two vowels coming together but not in the same syllable, as in the ear and cooperate.

NYT:
But after a flood of reports of marital infidelities linking him to multiple women, Woods has taken a hiatus from the sport to rebuild his personal life.

Front 12

obscure
adjective & Verb

Back 12

not discovered or known about; uncertain : his origins and parentage are obscure.
• not clearly expressed or easily understood : obscure references to Proust.
• not important or well known : an obscure religious sect.
• hard to make out or define; vague : figurative I feel an obscure resentment.
• (of a color) not sharply defined; dim or dingy.
verb [ trans. ]
keep from being seen; conceal: gray clouds obscure the sun.
• make unclear and difficult to understand : the debate has become obscured by conflicting ideological perspectives.
• overshadow : none of this should obscure the skill, experience, and perseverance of the workers.
DERIVATIVES: obscuration: noun, obscurely adverb
NYT: PGA Tour's Focus on the Future Obscured by Present Problem: Woods

Front 13

resplendent

adjective

Back 13

attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous : she was resplendent in a sea-green dress. See note at bright .
DERIVATIVES
resplendence noun
resplendency noun
resplendently adverb
NYT:
And the apparent luxury -- dining car resplendent with white linen and crystal, sleeping car for Ms. Rowling and the entourage from Bloomsbury, her British publisher -- is not quite the magical ride of the novels.

Front 14

acuity

noun

Back 14

sharpness or keenness of thought, vision, or hearing : intellectual acuity | visual acuity.
NYT:
When he sticks to talking closely about “Psycho” and Hitchcock’s vision, however, Mr. Thomson is at his best, goading the reader to rethink that movie and its influence, while demonstrating the wit, acuity and daunting knowledge of cinema that have made his “Biographical Dictionary of Film” a classic reference work.

Front 15

braggart

noun

Back 15

a person who boasts about achievements or possessions : [as adj. ] braggart men.

NYT:
He is not a boaster or braggart by nature,

Front 16

debunk

verb

Back 16

expose the falseness or hollowness of (a myth, idea, or belief) : the magazine that debunks claims of the paranormal.
• reduce the inflated reputation of (someone), esp. by ridicule : comedy takes delight in debunking heroes.
DERIVATIVES
debunker noun
debunkery noun
NYT:
In this lesson, students identify and debunk some of the myths surrounding H1N1 flu, or swine flu, and the new vaccine for it.

Front 17

hidebound

adjective

Back 17

unwilling or unable to change because of tradition or convention : you are hidebound by your petty laws.
• (of cattle) with their skin clinging close to their back and ribs as a result of bad feeding.
• (of a tree) having the bark so tightly adherent as to impede growth.
NYT:
Much about ballet is bad and is worth rubbishing; much about it is artistically tawdry and hidebound in bad tradition;

Front 18

languish

verb

Back 18

1 (of a person or other living thing) lose or lack vitality; grow weak or feeble : plants may appear to be languishing simply because they are dormant.
• fail to make progress or be successful : many Japanese works still languish unrecognized in Europe.
• archaic pine with love or grief : she still languished after Richard.
• archaic assume or display a sentimentally tender or melancholy expression or tone : when a visitor comes in, she smiles and languishes.
2 suffer from being forced to remain in an unpleasant place or situation : he has been languishing in a Mexican jail since 1974.
NYT:
1...and prices could continue to languish at the current low levels.
2. Sadly, the transplant establishment insists that sick people languish on dialysis for years or die waiting for a kidney.

Front 19

obsequious

adjective

Back 19

obedient or attentive to an excessive or servile degree : they were served by obsequious waiters.
DERIVATIVES
obsequiously adverb
obsequiousness noun
NYT:
Frankly, I find the obsequious attitude of some members of the White House staff toward Mr. Jackson’s attendants, and the fawning posture they would have the President of the United States adopt, more than a little embarrassing.

Front 20

restorative

adjective

Back 20

having the ability to restore health, strength, or a feeling of well-being : the restorative power of long walks.
• Surgery & Dentistry relating to or concerned with the restoration of form or function to a damaged tooth or other part of the body.
noun
something, esp. a medicine or drink, that restores health, strength, or well-being.
DERIVATIVES
restoratively adverb
NYT:
Mario Cuomo, who rushed home from Albany after losing governorship, says city is 'restorative' place to get new start

Front 21

brawny

adjective

Back 21

1. physically strong; muscular.
2 : being swollen and hard
DERIVATIVES
brawniness noun
NYT:
1. Instead, the room has a brawny simplicity, with reclaimed wood and raw concrete.
2. Sandwiches are careful compositions of bright and brawny flavors.

Front 22

decathlon

noun

Back 22

noun
an athletic event taking place over two days, in which each competitor takes part in the same prescribed ten events (100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter dash, 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and 1,500-meter run).
DERIVATIVES
decathlete noun
NYT:

Front 23

larceny

noun

Back 23

theft of personal property. See also grand larceny , petty larceny .
DERIVATIVES
larcener noun; larcenist noun; larcenous adjectiv
NYT:
Grand larceny, Dec. 11: Someone hacks woman’s PIN and withdraws $720 from her bank account.

* Grand larceny, Dec. 14: Woman waiting for bus near Pathmark is jostled in a crowd. Discovers on bus that her wallet, containing $250 cash, is missing.

Front 24

ponderous

Back 24

slow and clumsy because of great weight : her footsteps were heavy and ponderous. See note at heavy .
• dull, laborious, or excessively solemn : Liz could hardly restrain herself from finishing all his ponderous sentences.
DERIVATIVES
ponderosity noun; ponderously adverb; ponderousness noun
NYT:
The scandal of “Antichrist” is not that it is grisly or upsetting but that it is so ponderous, so conceptually thin and so dull.

Front 25

timorous

adjective

Back 25

showing or suffering from nervousness, fear, or a lack of confidence : a timorous voice.
DERIVATIVES
timorously adverb
timorousness noun

NYT:
One reason that airports have bars, and that flight attendants ply passengers with beer, wine and cocktails, is that flight industry higher-ups are well aware that a drink or two can calm the nerves of timorous fliers,

Front 26

Err

verb [ intrans. ] formal

Back 26

be mistaken or incorrect; make a mistake : the judge had erred in ruling that the evidence was inadmissible.
• [often as adj. ] ( erring) sin; do wrong : the erring brother who had wrecked his life.
PHRASES
err on the right side act so that the least harmful of possible mistakes or errors in is the most likely to occur.
err on the side of display more rather than less of (a specified quality) in one's actions : it is better to err on the side of caution.
to err is human, to forgive divine proverb it is human nature to make mistakes oneself while finding it hard to forgive others.

Front 27

Hinder

verb [ trans. ]

Back 27

create difficulties for (someone or something), resulting in delay or obstruction : various family stalemates were hindering communication.

NYT:
Terror Attempt May Hinder Plans to Close Guantánamo

Front 28

Largess

noun

Back 28

generosity in bestowing money or gifts upon others : dispensing his money with such largesse.
• money or gifts given generously : the distribution of largesse to the local population.
NYT:
Be wary of accepting government largess. It doesn’t come free.”

Front 29

Histrionic

adjective

Back 29

overly theatrical or melodramatic in character or style : a histrionic outburst.
• formal of or concerning actors or acting : histrionic talents.
• Psychiatry denoting a personality disorder marked by shallow, volatile emotions, and attention-seeking behavior.
noun
1 ( histrionics) exaggerated dramatic behavior designed to attract attention : discussions around the issue have been based as much in histrionics as in history.
• dramatic performance; theater.
2 archaic an actor.
NYT:
IT is no particular reflection upon the people in Hollywood or upon the histrionic abilities of Americans as a whole to note that some of the finest acting currently to be seen on local screens is being done in a trio of Britishmade pictures that have arrived in the past few weeks.

Front 30

Obstreperous

adjective

Back 30

noisy and difficult to control: : the boy is cocky and obstreperous. See note at vociferous .
DERIVATIVES
obstreperously adverb
obstreperousness noun
NYT:
Acting Mayor Bernard S. Deutsch chided Park Commissioner Robert Moses yesterday for his "obstreperous" tactics in the aldermanic relief investigation, but decided to withhold formal action on complaints against Mr. Moses until Mayor La Guardia returns next week.

Front 31

Titter

verb [ intrans. ]

Back 31

give a short, half-suppressed laugh; giggle : her stutter caused the children to titter.
noun
a short, half-suppressed laugh.
NYT:
‘DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE MORGANS?’ There are barely enough titter-worthy one-liners in Marc Lawrence’s good-natured romantic comedy about high-achieving New Yorkers transplanted to Wyoming to prevent it from sinking under the weight of its clichés.

Front 32

broach

verb

Back 32

1 raise (a sensitive or difficult subject) for discussion : he broached the subject he had been avoiding all evening.
2 pierce (a cask) to draw liquor.
• open and start using the contents of (a bottle or other container).
3 [ intrans. ] (of a fish or sea mammal) rise through the water and break the surface : the salmon broach, then fall to slap the water.
NYT:
Medical schools spend more time on end-of-life issues than they did in the past, and the greater willingness of younger doctors to broach the subject may reflect that change.

Front 33

Hoary

adjective

Back 33

1 grayish-white : hoary cobwebs.
• (of a person) having gray or white hair; aged : a hoary old fellow with a face of white stubble.
• [ attrib. ] used in names of animals and plants covered with whitish fur or short hairs, e.g., hoary bat, hoary cress.
2 old and trite : that hoary American notion that bigger is better.
NYT:
Even Gloria Steinem makes an appearance, with a reprint of her hoary 1978 classic, “If Men Could Menstruate.”

Front 34

Obtuse

adjective

Back 34

1 annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand : he wondered if the doctor was being deliberately obtuse. See note at stupid .
• difficult to understand : some of the lyrics are a bit obtuse.
2 (of an angle) more than 90° and less than 180°.
• not sharp-pointed or sharp-edged; blunt.
NYT:
The Army’s high command, and the Joint Chiefs above them, were too weak-kneed or obtuse to demand adequate resources for medical care — just as they were too fearful for their own careers to demand adequate troops to fight the Iraq war to begin with.

Front 35

Portent

noun

Back 35

1 a sign or warning that something, esp. something momentous or calamitous, is likely to happen : they believed that wild birds in the house were portents of death | JFK’s political debut was a portent of the fame to come.
• future significance : an omen of grave portent for the tribe.
2 archaic an exceptional or wonderful person or thing : what portent can be greater than a pious notary?
NYT:
But Puritans also fasted whenever a comet, an evil portent, appeared in the sky;

Front 36

Tome

noun

Back 36

noun chiefly humorous
a book, esp. a large, heavy, scholarly one : a weighty tome.
combining form
1 denoting an instrument for cutting : microtome.
2 denoting a section or segment : myotome.
NYT:
The most definitive tome on fish sounds was published in 1973 by the auspiciously named Marie Poland Fish and William H. Mowbray.

Front 37

Brusque

adjective

Back 37

*adjective: abrupt, rough, rude, coarse, gruff, curt, harsh, blunt
If you describe a person or their behaviour as brusque, you mean that they deal with things, or say things, quickly and shortly, so that they seem to be rude. ADJ ADJ-GRADED

DERIVATIVES
brusquely adverb
brusqueness noun
brusquerie noun ( archaic).

If you describe a person or their behaviour as brusque, you mean that they deal with things, or say things, quickly and shortly, so that they seem to be rude.
Synonym: abrupt
1. The doctors are brusque and busy.
2. They received a characteristically brusque reply from him.
3. brusquely adverb: `It's only a sprain,' Paula said brusquely.

Front 38

Defoliate

Verb

Back 38

remove leaves from (a tree, plant, or area of land), for agricultural purposes or as a military tactic : the area was defoliated and napalmed many times.
DERIVATIVES
defoliation | noun

Dioxin was the ingredient in Agent Orange, used to defoliate Vietnam
NYT:

Front 39

Espouse

verb [ trans. ]

Back 39

1 adopt or support (a cause, belief, or way of life) : she espoused communism.
2 archaic marry : Edward had espoused the Lady Grey.
• ( be espoused to) (of a woman) be engaged to (a particular man).
DERIVATIVES
espouser noun

Front 40

Obviate

verb [ trans. ]

Back 40

remove (a need or difficulty) : the Venetian blinds obviated the need for curtains.
• avoid; prevent : a parachute can be used to obviate disaster.
DERIVATIVES
obviation noun
obviator noun

NYT:

Front 41

Poseur

noun
another term for poser.

Poser

Noun

Back 41

a person who acts in an affected manner in order to impress others.

NYT:
A guide describes several named, local breaks running from Westhampton to the far East End. It includes Ditch Plains — warning that the spot has “more wanna-be posers than you’ll ever see,’’ with no reference to the magazine’s above-mentioned fashion shoot there.