LEVEL G Vocab Unit 6

Abject (Adj) – Degraded; base, contemptible, cringing, servile; complete and unrelieved. In history class, we are learning about the abject lives of families during the Great Depression.

Agnostic (N) – One who believes that nothing can be known about God; a skeptic (Adj) – Without faith, skeptical When Susan was explaining how the earth was created, her friend did not understand because of her agnostic beliefs.

Complicity (N) – Involvement in wrongdoing; the state of being an accomplice When security watched the tape, they noticed a man helping the robber, so they charged him with complicity.

Derelict (N) – Someone or something that is abandoned or neglected; (Adj) – Left abandoned; neglectful of duty I felt so bad for the derelict puppy I saw wandering around the streets, so I took him home.

Diatribe (N) – A bitter and prolonged verbal attack Just because you don’t like me, does not mean you have to throw diatribes at me every time you see me.

Effigy (N) – A crude image of a despised person Tom hated his history teacher, so he drew an effigy of her, but he got caught and was sent to his home office.

Equity (N) – The state or quality of being just, fair, or impartial; fair and equal treatment; something that is fair; the money value of a property above and beyond any mortgage or other claim. Martin Luther King, Jr., fought for equity for his fellow African Americans.

Inane (Adj) – Silly, empty of meaning or value While standing out in the rain, the reporter made an inane comment announcing that rain was coming.

Indictment (N) – The act of accusing; a formal Accusation During the test, the teacher made an indictment of Henry; he was cheating off of Sally’s paper.

Indubitable (Adj) – Certain, not to be doubted or denied Even though we missed school days due to Super Storm Sandy, it is indubitable that seniors will still graduate on Tuesday, June 18.

Intermittent (Adj) – Stopping and beginning again, Sporadic I was getting very annoyed when I had only intermittent reception on my TV during the storm.

Moot (Adj) – Open to discussion and debate, unresolved; (V) – To bring up for discussion; (N) – A hypothetical law case argued by students Your argument is a moot point because there is no way she is changing her mind.

Motif (N) – A principal idea, feature, theme, or element; a repeated or dominant figure in a design In the novel Moby-Dick the “whiteness of the whale” is a motif that occurs throughout the novel.

Neophyte (N) – A new convert, beginner, novice When I first started my job, many people called me a neophyte because I did not know anything.

Perspicacity (N) – Keenness in observing and understanding To accumulate perspicacity, you must pay attention in school, work hard, and ask questions.  These people don’t have perspicacity

Plenary (Adj) – Complete in all aspects or essentials; absolute; attended by all qualified members The vice president had plenary power while the president was in the hospital undergoing surgery.

Surveillance (N) – A watch kept over a person, careful, close, and disciplined observation If you try stealing at the mall, surveillance will catch you, and you will be in trouble.

Sylvan (Adj) – Pertaining to or characteristic of forests, living or located in a forest, wooded, woody I’ve always hated camping and prefer the comfort of a Hilton to dirty, sylvan surroundings.

Testy (Adj) – Easily irritated, characterized by impatience and exasperation The teacher was very testy today, because nobody did well on the chemistry test.

Travesty (N) – A grotesque or grossly inferior imitation; a disguise, especially the clothing of the opposite sex (V) – to ridicule by imitating in a broad or burlesque fashion Many movies today are travesties of the original books because they are inaccurate, badly produced, or do not contain correct information.