Vocabulary Week seven

Flourish (noun) tangible(noun) A display or ornamental speech or language. In a soft voice, with flourishes he would have told the exact truth. Able to be perceived with any sense, but especially the sense of touch. Sometimes tangible rewards of teaching, like salary, are not what truly matter, for the intangibles also pay off.

Feign (verb) complicity (noun) Guilt as an accomplice in a crime or offense. The two executives were convicted of deceptive commercial practices and complicity in operating an illegal transportation service. To pretend or give a false appearance of; a false impression. Christopher would often feign illness to get out of English class.

Obligatory (adj.) embody (verb) Represent in bodily form. For twenty years the field had embodied all the waste that was Vietnam, all the vulgarity and horror. Required by compulsion or convention. For the most she’d held up well, and over the first two weeks she’d troop along with out complaint as we hit the obligatory tourist stops.

Solemn (adj.) earnest (adj.) Characterized by a firm belief in the validity of your opinions. When discussing the issue he looked so earnest, so sad and hurt, that it almost made me feel guilty. Dignified and somber in manner and character. During the funeral, the man’s face was dark and solemn.

Skeptic (noun) taut (adj.) Someone who habitually doubts accepted beliefs. When Amazon said in 2013 that it could soon deliver products by drone, skeptics dismissed it as a publicity stunt. Pulled or drawn tight. There was a light feeling in my head, fluttery and taut at the same time.