According to the folks at Houghton Mifflin, every high school grad should be familiar with the words in the list below. I’m not surprised that I was unfamiliar with the word abstemious given its meaning, and moiety is now part of my vocabulary.
If you’re a Simpsons fan, the word chicanery should be familiar to you (“Oh, Mr. Homer…What has reduced you to such cheap chicanery?”). If you remember your Phil Hartman-era SNL, you might recall his use of the word jejune (“Compulsion” by Calvin Kleen). Monty Python fans will have run into a form of expurgate (the bookstore skit), lugubrious appears in both Lou Reed lyrics (The Original Wrapper) and an old Zippy the Pinhead comic strip and I recall the word sanguine being used in an 80’s-era X-Men comic.
Here’s a collection of interesting memes, pictures, an cartoons floating around the internet that I…
Tap to see the source. This is yesterday’s daily New Yorker cartoon, created by Brendan…
C’mon, let it not be Asians this time. Last time was pretty bad. Here’s the…
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Poppies thrive in overturned soil, which is why they bloom in battlefields. I’m in the…
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Abjure (#1 on the list) should be familiar to Dungeons and Dragons gamer geeks -- it's a prominent "school" of magic.
sanguine, along with fascination, is one of my fav words of all time! surprised?
Abjure – (v) to renounce under oath, to shun
abrogate – (v) to repeal or abolish
abstemious – (adj) abstaining from wine, sparing in diet, temperate
acumen – (n) quickness of perception or discernment
antebellum – (adj) a period prior to a war; in US, before Civil War
auspicious – (adj) a good omen, fortunate
belie – (v) to give a false representation of something
Bellicose – (adj) warlike in nature, aggressive, hostile
bowdlerize – (v) to remove parts considered offensive
chicanery – (n) deception by use of trickery
chromosome – part of cell that contains DNA
churlish – (adj) rude, vulgar, difficult to work with
Circumlocution – (n) a roundabout way of speaking, using more words than necessary
circumnavigate – (v) to travel completely around something
Deciduous – (adj) trees that lose their leaves in winter
deleterious – (adj) harmful, noxious
diffident – (adj) lacking confidence, timid, bashful, modest
enervate – (v) to reduce strength, debilitate
enfranchise – (v) to give the right to vote, to set free
epiphany – (n) an illuminating discovery resulting in personal feeling of elation
equinox – (n) when the Sun is over the equator
euro – (n) monetary unit of the European Union
evanescent – (adj) tending to vanish like vapor
expurgate – (v) to edit out offensive, incorrect, or useless information, to cleanse, to purge
facetious – (adj) treating serious issues with deliberately inappropriate humor
fatuous – (adj) obnoxiously stupid, vacantly silly
feckless – (adj) lacking purpose, without skill, ineffective
fiduciary – (n) one who holds a thing in trust for another, a trustee
filibuster – (n) long, irrelevant speeches to delay the making of a decision
gamete – (n) a reproductive cell that has only half the usual number of chromosomes (egg or sperm)
gauche (adj) awkward or lacking in social graces, bumbling
gerrymander - (v) to divide a geographic area into voting districts to give unfair advantage to one party in an election
hegemony – (n) domination or authority over another, especially over a society or nation
hemoglobin – (n) substance in red blood cells that transports oxygen
homogeneous – (adj) uniform composition throughout
hubris – (n) excessive pride or arrogance
hypotenuse – (n) the side of a right triangle opposite the right angle
impeach – (v) to hinder, to bring legal proceeding against a public official, saying they should be removed from office
incognito – (adj) in disguise
incontrovertible – (adj) cannot be denied or disputed
inculcate – (v) to teach by repeated instruction, to induce understanding or a particular sentiment in people
infrastructure – (n) underlying base or foundation in an organization or system
interpolate – (v) to estimate value of a function between two points
irony – (n) a statement that means the opposite of what it says
jejune – (adj) empty or void of substance
kinetic – (adj) relating to motion
kowtow – (v) to kneel and bow low enough to touch one’s forehead to the ground
laissez faire – (adj) economic term which refers to an economy in which the government allows the free markets to make the decisions
lexicon – (n) a dictionary
loquacious – (adj) talkative or chatty
Lugubrious – (adj) overly gloomy, mournful, or dismal
metamorphosis – (n) a transformation
mitosis – (n) the division of a cell nucleus into two identical halves
moiety – (n) half, a share or portion
nanotechnology – (n) the science of machines that are very small
nihilism – (n) extreme skepticism, maintaining that nothing has a real existence, the rejection of all moral principles
nomenclature – (n) a system or arrangement of names
nonsectarian – (adj) not restricted to one sect or school or party
notarize – (v) to attest something as genuine
obsequious – (adj) fawning or subservient, excessively eager to please or to obey all instructions
oligarchy – (n) government controlled by a few, usually the wealthy
omnipotent – (adj) all-powerful
orthography – (n) the study of correct spelling
oxidize – (v) to combine with oxygen
parabola – (n) the locus of a point equidistant from a point and a line
paradigm – (n) an example serving as a model or pattern
parameter – (n) an arbitrary constant whose value characterized a member of a system
pecuniary – (adj) relating to money
photosynthesis – (n) the process by which plants generate carbohydrates and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water using light as a source of energy
plagiarize – (v) to use and pass off as one’s own someone else’s writing or speech
plasma – (n) a component of blood that assists in clotting and injury repair
polymer – a long molecule consisting of a chain of identical parts
precipitous – (adj) steep
quasar – (n) starlike objects thought to be the most distant and most luminous objects in the universe
quotidian – (adj) daily, common, ordinary, or trivial
recapitulate – (v) to summarize or repeat in concise form
reciprocal – (adj) an action or feeling done or felt by two people toward each other
reparation – (n) a payment of time, effort, or money to undue past transgressions
respiration – (n) the process of inhaling and exhaling
sanguine – (adj) cheerfully optimistic, hopeful, or confident, blood-red
soliloquy – (n) a speech by a character to himself to reveal his thoughts to the audience
subjugate – (v) to forcibly impose obedience or servitude
suffragist – (n) a person who promotes the right to vote
supercilious – (adj) arrogantly superior, showing contemptuous indifference
tautology – (n) redundant use of words
taxonomy – (n) the science of finding, describing, classifying, and naming organisms
tectonic – (adj) having a strong and widespread impact
tempestuous – (adj) relating to a tempest, stormy
thermodynamics – (n) the science of the conversions between heat and other forms of energy
totalitarian – (adj) a system of government where the people have virtually no authority and the state wields absolute control
unctuous – (adj) oily, greasy, profusely and unpleasantly polite and insincerely earnest
usurp – (v) to seize power from another, usually by illegitimate means
vacuous – (adj) showing a lack of thought or intelligence, vacant
vehement – (adj) showing strong feeling, passionate, forceful, or intense
vortex – (n) a whirlwind or whirlpool in the form of a spiral or column
winnow – (v) to free or separate grain or the like from chaff or refuse matter, usually using the air, to free of unwanted or inferior elements
wrought – (adj) to bring to pass, having been worked or prepared somehow
xenophobe – (n) one who fears that which is unknown, one who fears people who are different from oneself, especially in the case of foreign people
yeoman – (n) an official providing honorable service in a royal household, one that performs great and loyal service
ziggurat – (n) a temple tower of the ancient Mesopotamian valley