ECAC Vocabulary 2.2.12 inculcate expurgate jejune winnow gerrymander feckless tautology plagiarize acumen churlish

inculcate (verb) in·cul·cate/inˈkəlkāt/ Instill (an attitude, idea, or habit) by persistent instruction. Synonyms: implant, instill, impress, infuse Papa Smurf inculcates the importance of community to all smurfs in the village.

Expurgate (verb) ex·pur·gate/ˈekspərˌgāt/ Remove matter thought to be objectionable or unsuitable from (a book or account). Synonyms: purge After a close reading of the history textbook, the teacher felt that a portion of the material should be expurgated due to obvious political bias.

Jejune (adjective) je·june/jiˈjo͞on/ 1.Naive, simplistic, and superficial. 2.(of ideas or writings) Dry and uninteresting. Synonyms: barren - poor - arid The jejune plot of the new novel made me question its appearance on the best seller list.

Winnow (verb) win·now/ˈwinō/ To separate or get rid of an undesirable part. Synonyms: sift – eliminate Before submitting her final essay, Chloe winnowed out all of the errors.

Gerrymander (verb) ger·ry·man·der/ˈjerēˌmandər/ Manipulate the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favor one party or class. Synonyms: manipulate - divide Due to rumors of gerrymandered districts, the citizens protested for weeks before the election. Tips: Gerrymander comes from a combination of the name of former Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry and the word salamander, the shape of a district he created during his term. He manipulated the formation of his oddly shaped electoral district to ensure his reelection http://vocabulary-vocabulary.com/dictionary/gerrymander.php

Feckless (adjective) feck·less/ˈfeklis/ 1.(of a person) Lacking in efficiency or vitality. 2.Unthinking and irresponsible. Synonyms: powerless - ineffective - helpless The new employee’s feckless behavior resulted in her dismissal.

Tautology (noun) tau·tol·o·gy/tôˈtäləjē Needless repetition of the same sense in different words. Example: Is this adequate enough? Synonym: redundancy The tautologies present throughout his writing made it less effective.

Plagiarize (verb) pla·gia·rize/ˈplājəˌrīz/ Take (the work or an idea of someone else) and pass it off as one's own. Synonyms: copy, steal Amanda was shocked to find that her original poem had been plagiarized and submitted for credit by another student.

Acumen (noun) a·cu·men/əˈkyo͞omən/ The ability to make good judgments and quick decisions, typically in a particular domain: "business acumen". Synonyms: sagacity - perspicacity - acuteness - discernment The real estate agent’s sales acumen resulted in numerous celebrity listings.

Churlish (adjective) churl·ish/ˈCHərliSH/ Rude in a mean-spirited and surly way. Synonyms: rude - boorish - coarse - uncivil - uncouth - unmannerly We had no idea that our churlish classmate who bullied everyone would one day become a guidance counselor.