ERWC Vocabulary List Five

Blather Verb To talk on and on about nothing important Blathers, blathered, blathering To talk on and on about nothing important I could take no more of his blathering, so I got up and left.

Harrowing Adjective Deeply disturbing or frightening Going to Wal-Mart on Black Friday can be a harrowing experience.

circumspect Adjective Cautious, careful, avoiding errors Literally means “look around” (Circum- around, spect- look) He took a moment and gave a circumspect response when she asked who was texting him.

disavow Verb To strongly deny something Biggie disavowed having anything to do with Tupac’s death.

impassive Adjective Showing little or no emotion Marshawn Lynch, running back for the Raiders, is notoriously impassive during interviews.

laconic Adjective Using few words/soft-spoken Because he was generally laconic, everyone paid attention when he finally spoke up.

vilify Verb To portray as bad or evil Vilifies, vilified, vilifying To portray as bad or evil The politician vilified his opponent by claiming that he punched babies.

pompous Adjective Arrogant/full of oneself He made a pompous speech about how amazing he was.

Proliferation (of) Noun A rapid increase in numbers or amount Usually in conjunction with “of” A rapid increase in numbers or amount The proliferation of smartphones has seemingly led to a proliferation of dumb people.

Admonish Verb To warn firmly (against or about something) I admonished my friend not to try to hug the panda, but he was brash and did anyway.

counterintuitive Adjective “The opposite of what you would expect” Some couples are counterintuitive when you look at them because one person is far more attractive than the other.

dubious Adjective Sketchy/suspicious/of uncertain meaning Dr. Oz made some dubious claims about vitamins, which got him in trouble.

disdain Noun “An attitude that someone or something is beneath you” Disdainful: Adj. (Think of Draco Malfoy’s attitude) He cast a disdainful glance in my direction, so I flipped him off.

Compunction Noun A feeling of guilt or remorse Martin Shkreli showed no compunction for jacking up the price of vital medications.

Counterargument Create a response that begins with the following point: Our thesis: It is OK to keep animals in captivity. Some people, like Adam Jensen, argue that scientists who want to do research on animals should observe them in their natural habitat instead of in captivity. Now acknowledge and redirect: How it that kind of a good idea? Then… Why is it also good, or even better, to observe them in captivity? Why might it even be necessary to observe them in captivity?

Counterargument Some people, like Adam Jensen, argue that scientists who want to do research on animals should observe them in their natural habitat instead of in captivity. Jensen raises a fair point; however, while observing animals in the wild is certainly valuable, scientists are often able to learn much more from a captive animal because they are easier to track than in nature. In addition, it is these large animals in captivity that help generate the money for scientists to do their research on animals in the wild (“How Zoos…”). The research that is done in natural environments can be done because the captive animals help provide the funds to do so.

Before we begin writing Fill in the blanks in this conversation with a partner: “I am (opposed to/in favor of) the stop and frisk program.” One reason is… For example… Another reason is… For example Those who disagree with me might say… But…