1. Vocabulary Week 9

2. Truncate (verb)  To shorten by chopping off the end  He had to truncate his speech because he went over the hour time limit.  The wood cutters truncated the logs so they would fit on the truck.

3. Baneful/Baleful (adjective)  Causing woe (sadness), destructive, deadly  The baleful fire destroyed the entire town.  People who drive fast in the snow can be baneful.

4. Circumspect (adjective)  Prudent, cautious, careful  You must be circumspect around new dogs to make sure you do not get bitten.  I was circumspect when I walked up to the scary old house.

5. Admonish (verb)  To warn or caution in counsel  My father always admonished me to not eat yellow snow.  The teacher admonished the students for not turning in their work on time.

6. Tantamount (adjective)  Of equal value or significance  For some people in PETA, wearing fur is tantamount to killing the animal yourself.  For some students, having to do homework is tantamount to torture in the dungeon.

7. Neologism (noun)  A new word or phrase, a new usage of a word  The word “totes” is a neologism of the word “totally.”  “Thanksgivukkah” is a neologism created this year because Hanukkah was on Thanksgiving.

8. Respite (noun)  A brief period of rest  The three day weekend offered me a respite.  Santa Claus needs a respite after he delivers toys on Christmas Eve.

9. Capitulate (verb)  To surrender, give up, or give in  The students finally capitulated and started turning their homework in on time.  Parents should not capitulate and buy their screaming toddlers anything they want at the store.

10. Aphorism (noun)  A concise statement of principle or truth  One aphorism my dad always says is “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.”  A 2 + B 2 = C 2 is an aphorism in math.

11. Confute (verb)  To prove wrong, to refute decisively, to point out error  It is hard to confute the fact that winter is now here.  Galileo confuted the theory that the earth was flat.