1. Vocabulary List 7b Yay for expanding our ability to articulate thoughts

2. agnostic (ag NOS tik) – O one who believes it is impossible to know whether or not God exists O Synonyms: unbeliever, doubter, questioner, skeptic (SKEP tik)

3. agnostic O coined by T.H. Huxley (1825-1895) from Gk. agnostos "unknown, unknowable," from a- "not" + gnostos "(to be) known" O Sometimes said to be a reference to Paul's mention of the altar to "the Unknown God," but according to Huxley, it was coined with reference to the early Church movement known as Gnosticism

4. nepotism (NEP uh tiz um) O favoritism to relatives in giving jobs and offices O Synonyms: favoritism, patronage (PAY truh nij, PA truh nij)

5. nepotism O 1662, nepotismo, (nepote "nephew) O Originally, privileges granted to a pope's "nephew" which was a euphemism for his natural son.

6. enigmatic (en ig MAT ik) O puzzling, mysterious, perplexing O Synonyms: mystifying, baffling, bewildering, obscure, cryptic (KRIP tik)

7. enigmatic O From Greek ainigma (riddle) O One of the most famous Greek riddles is that of the Sphinx: O What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening. O If travelers didn’t know, she’d eat them.

8. blatant (BLAYT unt) O completely obvious, often offensively so; shameless O Synonyms: clear, outstanding, prominent, conspicuous (kon SPIK yoo us)

9. blatant O blatant beast, coined by Edmund Spenser in "The Faerie Queen" to describe a thousand- tongued monster representing slander; probably suggested by L. blatire "to babble.“ O It entered general use 1650s, as "noisy in an offensive and vulgar way;" the sense of "obvious, glaringly conspicuous" is from 1889.

10. nebulous (NEB yuh lus) O unclear, hazy, indistinct O Synonyms: fuzzy, murky, imprecise, confused, vague (VAYG)

11. nebulous O Latin nebulosus "cloudy, misty, foggy," from nebula

12. Roots O Viv – to live O Vivacious, revive O Tact – to touch O Contact, tactile O Punct – to sting O puncture O Grad – step O Gradual, graduate O Graph – to write O Telegraph, graphite