Vocab 7

Austere (adj) severe or stern in manner; without adornment of luxury, simple, plain; harsh or sour in flavor The austere women wore a plain black dress, had her hair in a tight bun, and was very strict.

Beneficent (adj) performing acts of kindness or charity; conferring benefits, doing good The charity was very beneficent and all of their events helped to raise awareness and money for different causes.

Cadaverous (adj) pale, gaunt, resembling a corpse The women had cadaverous makeup on to make herself look like a corpse for the haunted house.

Concoct (v) to prepare by combining ingredients, to make up (as a dish); to devise, invent, fabricate He concocted a plan to take over the world, but it was very unrealistic.

Crass (adj) coarse, unfeeling, stupid The fashion police often make crass, mean comments about the women’s dresses on the red carpet.

Debase (v) to lower in character, quality, or value; to degrade, adulterate; to cause to deteriorate The politician’s commercial debased his opponent by calling him a liar and pointing out unfavorable things about him.

Desecrate (v) to commit sacrilege upon, treat irreverently; to contaminate, pollute The students desecrated the statue in front of their rival’s school by covering it in paint.

Disconcert (v) to confuse; to disturb the composure of The red team tried to disconcert the black team during Scholar Quiz when the black team was going through the bonus round.

Grandiose (adj) grand in an impressive or stately way; absurdly exaggerated She entered the dance in a grandiose manner, by making a big entrance on the staircase and expecting everyone to look at her.

Inconsequential (adj) trifling, unimportant The toddler told the story with several inconsequential details. It took him ten minutes to get to the point of the story.

Infraction (n) a breaking of a law or obligation The police officer gave me a ticket for a couple of infractions, which included running a red light and speeding.

Mitigate (v) to make milder or softer, to moderate in force or intensity The coach tried to mitigate the pain for her player by giving her an ice pack to place on her ankle.

Pillage (v) to rob of goods by open force (as in war), plunder; (n) the act of looting During the riot, hundreds of people pillaged the town and stole goods from the stores.

Prate (v) to talk a great deal in a foolish or aimless fashion I tried to tune out my friend who continued to prate on and on about this boy she liked.

Punctilious (adj) very careful and exact, attentive to fine points of etiquette or propriety The punctilious boy told the story exactly how it happened, with every detail.

Redoubtable (adj) inspiring fear or awe; illustrious, eminent During the taekwondo tournament, my brother had to against a redoubtable opponent, who weighed 50 pounds more than him and was the national champion.

Reprove (v) to find fault with, scold, rebuke The teacher was going to reprove his students since none of them had done their homework.

Restitution (n) the act of restoring someone or something to the rightful owner or to a former state or position; making good on a loss or damage She had to pay restitution for the crime by doing community service for two months.

Stalwart (adj) strong and sturdy; brave; resolute (n) a brave, strong person; a strong supporter; one who takes an uncompromising position The stalwart troops marched bravely into war.

Vulnerable (adj) open to attack; capable of being wounded or damaged; unprotected People don’t like to feel vulnerable in front of others, so they try to hide their true feelings.