acumen: keen insight; shrewdness
During the zombie apocalypse, having acumen is paramount to survival.
adjudicate: to pronounce or decree by judicial sentence
Their opinions colored by bribes, they adjudicated that the freedom of speech should be made illegal.
anachronism: something that is in the wrong time
The adventurers were admiring the lush Jurassic landscape when suddenly a nuclear explosion sounded in the distance.
apocryphal: of doubtful authorship or authenticity
Over the passage of time, the famed story became apocryphal.
disparity: lack of similarity or equality; inequality
Despite superficial disparity, apples and oranges are actually quite similar.
dissimulate: to disguise or conceal under a false appearance
Only by dissimulating were they able to infiltrate the fort.
empirical: derived from or guided by experience or experiment
While lacking any authoritative knowledge on the subject, he survived by empirical assumptions alone.
flamboyant: strikingly bold or brilliant
The politician relied on poetic, if flamboyant, speeches to cover up a lack of actual content.
fulsome: offensive to good taste, especially due to excess
The seasoned artists shook their heads in disgust at the platinum plated fulsome monstrosity before them.
immolate: to sacrifice or destroy, especially by fire
Only through immolation could his message be comprehended.
imperceptible: very slight, gradual, or subtle
Time moves at an imperceptibly slow pace for elementary school students.
lackey: a servile follower
Although they pretended to be equals, it was obvious who was the leader and who was the lackey.
liaison: a contact between units of organization; or an illicit sexual relationship
The liaison with the tenuously employed liaison threatened to cause international scandal.
monolithic: characterized by massiveness, total uniformity, invulnerability
A tidal wave erupted as the monolithic structure slammed into the ocean.
mot juste: the exact, appropriate word
Diabolical? Conniving? No, not those. The mot juste was at the tip of his tongue, but eluded him.
nihilism: total rejection of established laws and institutions
The nihilist's constant lamentations about the insignificance of life were unbearable.
patrician: a person of noble or high rank; aristocrat
The patrician angled his head upward as he passed the peasants, both to avoid their stench and maximize the haughtiness of his glare.
propitiate: to make favorably inclined; appease; conciliate
In order to propitiate his superiors, the servant kept his objections to himself.
sic: to attack; or to indicate that an error in the reprinting of a text was purposely recreated
Come on, lets [sic] sic 'em!
sublimate: to divert the energy from its immediate goal to one of a more acceptable nature
Instead of flailing inanely like he intended, he sublimated his nervous energy to art. The results were unfortunate.
No comments:
Post a Comment