Vocabulary Level F Unit 14

amenable – adj. willing to follow advice or authority; liable to be held responsible Ex: The class was amenable to the substitute teacher’s requests because she bribed them with candy.

berate – v. to scold sharply Ex: When the classroom teacher returned the next day, she berated the class for extorting candy from the substitute.

carnage – n. large-scale slaughter or loss of life Ex: After the stern lecture, the classroom carnage consisted of exhausted, down-trodden students and an angry, frustrated teacher.

credulous – adj. too ready to believe, easily deceived Ex: The credulous substitute had been fooled when the class told him that their teacher gives them food to get them to sit down and take notes.

criterion – n. a rule, test; a standard for judgment or evaluation Ex: The teacher reminded her class that her criterion for receiving candy was far more than good behavior; it was perfect vocabulary quiz scores!

deplete – v. to use up as a result of spending or consumption; to diminish greatly Ex: If teachers rewarded students just for following the basic rules, they would deplete their own money quickly.

expatiate – v. to expand on, write/talk at length or in detail; to move about freely Ex: The teacher expatiated her point by providing students with a breakdown of how much money she spends on them throughout the school year.

extraneous – adj. present but not essential, irrelevant

inception – n. the beginning, start, earliest stage of some process Ex: However, the teacher regaled the class with the history of rewarding positive behavior, beginning with its inception -Pavlov’s drooling dogs.

infirmity – n. a weakness or ailment Ex: She even went so far as to refer to the students’ bribery attempts as an infirmity in their generation’s moral fiber.

jejune – adj. lacking in interest or substance; immature, juvenile Ex: The students’ jejune act of attempting to blackmail the substitute teacher angered their parents when they found out.

obdurate – adj. stubborn, unyielding Ex: The students’ were obdurate in their argument that the substitute offered the candy to them, and they did not extort it.

potpourri – n. a collection of diverse or miscellaneous items, a general mixture Ex: The students provided a potpourri of excuses attesting to their innocence.

precocious – adj. showing unusually early development Ex: The students were convinced that their precocious status made them immune from punishment for petty crimes.

sadistic – adj. delighting in cruelty Ex: The class accused the teacher of having a sadistic side when the punishment she gave them was to each write a 500-word apology to the substitute for their behavior.

sententious – adj. given to use of maxims or adages; saying much in few words, pithy Ex: Ultimately, the teacher advised the students to remember the sententious notion that actions speak louder than words.

supplicate – v. to beg earnestly and humbly Ex: The students supplicated for a reprieve, but the teacher was merciless.

surfeit – n. an excess or overindulgence, as in eating or drinking Ex: As it turns out, the students suffered such bad stomachaches from their surfeit of junk food that many were absent from school the following day.

tortuous – adj. winding, twisted, crooked; highly involved, complex; devious Ex: The students’ tortuous plan to hide the truth from the teacher had failed.

turgid – adj. swollen, bloated, filled to excess; over decorated or excessive in language Ex: The candy bribe failed to lead to any behavioral changes; instead, it resulted in turgid tummies and turgid apologetic letters.