Vocabulary Lesson 3

VOCABULARY LESSON 3

Abstruse to vilify

ABSTRUSE adj.--Difficult to understand; unclear;

concealed

Einstein’s theories were so abstruse they were esoteric.

AFFABLE Adj.--Friendly; courteous; amiable Someone with an affable nature is not

likely to have anger management issues.

AUDACITY noun--Excessive boldness; daring;

brashness I can’t believe you have the audacity to

talk back to your mother like that! Obama ran for President on the slogan

“the audacity of hope.”

CONTRITEAdj--Extremely apologetic;

remorsefulTiger was contrite when the

news of his affairs went public.

CREDULOUS Adj-Gullible; believing almost anything Small children can be extremely

credulous; it is easy to fool them.

DEPRAVITY Noun--Moral corruption; a wicked or

perverse act The criminal was completely depraved;

he videotaped himself butchering his victims and sent the tapes to the victims’ families.

DEPRECATE Verb--To express disapproval; belittle

Candy is always so negative; she deprecates others all the time.

DIDACTIC Adj--An instructive approach; teaching Even when chatting with friends, the

teacher could not break the habit of talking in a didactic manner.

DORMANT Adj--Inactive; sleeping The trees went into a dormant stage

during the winter.

ENIGMATIC Mysterious; puzzling

It is better to be considered a bit enigmatic than banal.

ERUDITE Scholarly; extremely smart

The erudite professor was known to give esoteric lectures.

EXOTIC Foreign; unfamiliar

Her exotic eyes had all the guys wondering about her ethnicity.

FUSE To mix or join; usually by melting She was able to fuse together the wires

in order to deprogram the computer.

IMMUTABLEAdj--Not changing; opposite of

capriciousHis faith in God was immutable;

no one or nothing could shake his resolve.

INCORRIGIBLE Adj.--Incapable of being reformed or

improved The jury agreed that the young boy who

had been recruited in a gang since he was seven was incorrigible.

LOATHE Verb---To hate or detest

I loathe eating my Grandma’s chili; it is so bland.

MITIGATE To alleviate or make less severe

The judge considered the boy’s cruel upbringing as a mitigating circumstance before sentencing him to nine months in prison.

NULLIFY Verb--To negate; cause not to be

in effect

After I realized I had joined the gym for life, I wanted to nullify the contract.

PACIFISTIC Adj--Opposed to war or use of force

Many people assumed the President would be pacifistic and were surprised he supported the war in Afghanistan.

PRETENTIOUS Adj--Self-important; making an

extravagant, outward show of something; ostentatious

The country mouse was put off by the city mouse’s pretentious ways.

PROLOGUE Noun--Introductory remarks in a speech,

play, literary work; introductory action

In the prologue to Beowulf, the author mentions The Hero’s Journey.

RECANT Verb--To withdraw, retract, or repudiate

a statement

He recanted his testimony after he realized how damaging it would be to his family.

SERVILE Adj--Subservient; slavish; obsequious Their religion taught that women should

be servile to men.

TREPIDATION Noun--Fear, trembling; agitation

Many students have feel trepidation toward the SAT exams.

VILIFY verb--To malign or defame; deprecate;

disparage

The exchange student was vilified by the clique of mean girls for having dated one of the girls’ former boyfriends.