Vocab Unit 2

Ameliorate verb to improve, make better, correct a flaw or shortcoming She attempted to ameliorate the situation between her friends by having them both come over to her house to talk.

Aplomb noun poise, assurance, great self-confidence; perpendicularity The presidential candidate expressed his extreme beliefs with aplomb and a smug look, certain that others would side with him.

Bombastic adjective pompous or overblown in language; full of high sounding words intended to conceal lack of ideas Her bombastic speech was full of fluff and had no true substance or research to back up her claims, thus resulting in a failing score from her professor.

Callow adjective without experience; immature, not fully developed; lacking sophistication and poise; without feathers His callow behavior was better suited for a five-year-old, not a professional business man. During his performance review he threw a tantrum and hurled a chair at his supervisor.

Curtail Verb to cut short, bring to a halt or end sooner than expected; to reduce We had to curtail our vacation and go home early because there was a storm approaching.

Drivel Noun - saliva or mucus flowing from the mouth or nose; foolish, aimless talk or thinking; nonsense While chaperoning her son’s first grade field trip, the mother was forced to listen to all of the children’s drivel as they spoke about topics from french fries to flowers in a span of two hours. Verb - to let saliva flow from the mouth; to utter nonsense or childish twaddle; to waste or fritter away foolishly The two teenage girls continued to drivel about the Kardashians instead of studying for their test the next day.

Epitome noun a summary, condensed account; an instance that represents a larger reality Her flared jeans, choker necklace, jelly sandals, and scrunchies were the epitome of 90’s fashion.

Exhort verb to urge strongly, advise earnestly The parents attempted to exhort their children to get a job so they would not spend all of their time playing video games.

Infringe verb to violate, trespass, go beyond recognized bounds Cara’s little sister infringed on her privacy whenever she snuck into Cara’s room and read her diary.

Ingratiate verb to make oneself agreeable and thus gain favor or acceptance by others (sometimes used in a critical derogatory sense) The new student attempted to ingratiate herself into the popular group by complimenting all of their clothes and doing their homework.

Interloper noun one who moves in where he or she is not wanted or has no right to be; an intruder Although they had invited Great Aunt Edna to stay for a couple of nights, the family began to view her as an interloper when she overstayed her welcome by a week.

Intrinsic adjective belonging to someone or something by its very nature, essential, inherent; originating in a bodily organ or part The blanket held great intrinsic value to me because my grandmother made it for me when I was born.

Inveigh verb to make a violent attack in words, express strong disapproval As we get closer to the election, it seems as though more and more people inveigh their opinions on Facebook and Twitter.

Lassitude noun a weariness of body or mind, lack of energy The student athlete suffered from lassitude due to a packed schedule of morning practice, school, afternoon practice, and homework, which left little time for sleep.

Mawkish Adjective excessively and objectionably sentimental; having a mildly sickening flavor The boy wrote a mawkish poem to his girlfriend of one week, and it freaked her out because he professed his love to her in a mushy way.

Millennium noun a period of one thousand years; a period of great joy People like to imagine what the new millennium, in the year 3000, will be like and what technological advances people will have made by then.

Mollify Verb to soften make gentle, pacify; to calm, allay (as an emotion), assuage, appease, placate; to reduce in intensity Whenever I have an upset stomach, I drink ginger ale to mollify my discomfort and make me feel less nauseous.

Occult adjective - mysterious, magical, supernatural; secret, hidden from view; not detectable by ordinary means verb - to hide, conceal, eclipse noun - matters involving the supernatural Sam and Dean dealt with occult happenings in communities around the US. Whenever they heard of an occult situation, such as demons and mysterious deaths, they would go and investigate what happened.

Onus Noun something that is heavy or burdensome (especially an unwelcome responsibility); a stigma; blame It is the onus of the doctor to deliver sad news to the family whenever a patient is not doing well.

Presentiment Noun a vague sense of approaching misfortune She couldn’t shake off her feeling of presentiment after breaking a mirror and seeing a black cat.

Profligate Adjective given over to dissipation and self-indulgence, immoral; recklessly extravagant The parents had to cut off their son from his credit cards because of his profligate shopping habits. He spent more than $10,000 in one month on shoes.

Permeate verb to spread through, penetrate, soak through He spilled his orange juice all over himself and the orange liquid permeated his sweatshirt and soaked his shirt.

Precipitate verb - to fall as moisture; to cause to bring about suddenly; to hurl down from a great height; to give distinct form to adjective - characterized by excessive haste noun - moisture; the product of an action or process It began to lightly precipitate and all of Southern California tweeted that it was pouring and they donned their rain boots and parkas. Government officials anticipate that the creation of new jobs will precipitate a rise of employment rates in the country.

Stringent adjective strict, severe, rigorously or urgently binding or compelling; sharp or bitter to taste The professor’s stringent rules about not using computers to take notes during the lecture caused many students to drop his class.

Surmise verb - to think or believe without certain supporting evidence; to conjecture or guess noun - likely idea that lacks definitive proof Since Jojo plays soccer, when she came to school with a broken leg many students could surmise that she broke it during a soccer game over the weekend.