1. Monday, 8/24/15 1.Delineate (v) to describe in words; to sketch. In his speech, the mayor delineated the city’s new tax laws. 2. Abasement (n.) humiliation; degradation. Jennifer hoped to avoid the abasement of a public trial. 3.Abstruse (adj.) Difficult to understand Many students find physics to be an abstruse subject.

2. Wed., 8/26/15 4.Aggrandizement (n.) growth in power The agreement signed between the two superpowers contributed to the aggrandizement of each. 5.Credulous (adj.) gullible; ready to believe anything The credulous kindergartener believed the older kids’ stories about the teacher keeping a paddle in her desk. 6.Apocryphal (adj.) counterfeit; of doubtful authenticity Gerald’s story about his whereabouts the night of the crime proved to be apocryphal.

3. Wed., 8/26/15 7.Assuage (v.) to calm or soothe; to satisfy Many people use aloe vera to help assuage the pain of a burn. 8. Bilk (v.)to cheat; defraud Ponzi schemes have been used to bilk millions of Americans of their savings 9.Ensconce (v.) to establish firmly in position Once Carolyn was ensconced as CEO, no one dared challenge her authority.

4. Tues., 9/1/15 10.Blasphemy (n.) speech which offends religious sentiments. In the Middle Ages, blasphemy was punishable by death. 11.Bombast (n.) Speech too pompous for an occasion After an hour of listening to the professor’s bombast, many audience members left. 12. Bombastic (adj.) inflated; pretentious Writing bombastic prose will not earn you a good grade in English 101.

5. Wed., 9/2/15 13. Catharsis (n.) an emotional purification or relief Telling his lawyer about his crimes proved to be a catharsis for Kevin. 14. Chimerical (adj.) absurd; wildly fanciful The zoo keeper had created a chimerical plan to communicate with animals. 15.Clemency (n.) mercy; mildness The queen treated the traitors with clemency.

6. Wed., 9/3/15 16. Absolution (n.) forgiveness; pardon; release After being granted absolution by the new ruler, the political prisoners were allowed to return home. 17. Cache (n.) a hiding place; the thing hidden there. Luckily, the bears never discovered our cache of food. 18. Abstemious (adj.) self denying; refraining from indulging Maggie gained seven pounds while on vacation, but her more abstemious spouse didn’t gain any weight.

7. Tuesday, 9/8/15 19. Blighted (adj.) damaged; destroyed; ruined The farmer didn’t even try to harvest his blighted wheat crop. 20.Conciliatory (adj.) tending to soothe or reconcile After an argument, John is usually the first to make a conciliatory gesture. 21. Covert (adj.) hidden; undercover The CIA planned a covert operation to depose the dictator.

8. Tues., 9/15/15 22.Reprehensible (adj.) shameful; very bad After his reprehensible actions in the playoff game, he was kicked off the team. 23.Enunciation (n) clear pronunciation I would have received 100% on my speech if my enunciation would have been better. 24.Innocuous (adj.) harmless Sarah’s phobia of snakes led her to kill all of them she encountered, even the innocuous bull snake.