Vocabulary Week 1

Cacophony The cacophony produced by city traffic at midday was distracting to the students taking their final exam in the nearby classroom. Def.- noun -harsh discordance of sound; dissonance; a discordant and meaningless mixture of sounds; example- a cacophony of hoots, cackles, and wails.

futile Attempting to force-feed the sick horse was futile. Def. - adjective - incapable of producing any result; ineffective; useless; not successful

melancholy Marissa was in a melancholy mood all day because her pet hamster had died. The feeling at the funeral home was melancholy. Def. – noun / adjective - a gloomy state of mind, esp. when habitual or prolonged; depression.

arduous Climbing Mt. Everest was an arduous task for the inexperienced climbers. Def. - adjective - requiring great exertion; laborious; difficult: an arduous undertaking. requiring or using much energy and vigor; strenuous: making an arduous effort. hard to endure; full of hardships; severe: an arduous winter.

inundated Craig was inundated with homework after only three days of school. The theater was inundated with requests for tickets. Def.- verb - to flood; cover or overspread with water; deluge. to overwhelm: To overwhelm as if with a flood; swamp:

scrutinize The detectives scrutinized the crime scene before questioning the witnesses. The coach has come under the scrutiny of the press after the team’s third loss in row. Def. - verb- to examine in detail with careful or critical attention. To examine or observe with great care; inspect critically. to look at critically or searchingly, or in minute detail;

ambivalent I am always ambivalent about going to Washington D.C.; I love the trip, but I will miss my family. Def.- noun - uncertainty or fluctuation, esp. when caused by inability to make a choice or by a simultaneous desire to say or do two opposite or conflicting things.

ostracize His friends ostracized him after his father's arrest. Def- verb - to exclude, by general consent, from society, friendship, conversation, privileges, etc.: to banish.

ruminate He was found in the park, ruminating over the difficult choice he had to make. Def. - verb - to chew the cud, as a ruminant. to meditate or muse; ponder, think; To turn a matter over and over in the mind.

incredulous Being a level-headed young man, Eric was incredulous of stories about flying saucers. Def. - adjective - not credulous; disinclined or indisposed to believe; skeptical. indicating or showing unbelief: an incredulous smile. Skeptical; disbelieving

succumb Because I am on a diet, I refused to succumb to eating the cookies. Try not to succumb to peer pressure. Def - verb - to give way to superior force; yield: give up or give in.

juxtaposition The twins were sleeping juxtaposition in the crib. Def. - noun - an act or instance of placing close together or side by side, esp. for comparison or contrast. the state of being close together or side by side.

facade Somehow they managed to maintain a facade of wealth even though they had lost their life’s savings in the stock market. Def. - noun – 1. the front of a building, esp. an imposing or decorative one. 2. a superficial appearance or illusion of something