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Pettey Vocab 1-9
vocab
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Lachrymose | Given to tears or weeping; causing to shed tears, mournful, lugubrious. |
| Bibulous | Fond of or inclined to drink; absorbent. |
| Aegis | Protection; patronage; sponsorship. |
| Melee | A confused struggle; a violent free-for-all; a tumultuous mingling. |
| Claque | A group of people hired to applaud a performer or performer or performance; enthusiastic or fawning admirers; an opera hat. |
| Indigenous | Originating in the country or region where found, native, inborn, inherent. |
| Deracinate | To pull up by the roots; to root out, uproot, or dislocate; to eliminiate all traces of. |
| Eleemosynary | Charitable; dependent upon or supported by charity; derived from or provided by charity. |
| Apprise | To inform of to make aware of by giving oral or written notice. |
| Lexicon | A dictionary of a language; the special vocabulary of a person, group, or subject; a compendium. |
| Vassal | A person under the protection of a feudal lord to whom he or she owes allegiance; a subordinate ir dependent; a servent; (Adj) subservient. |
| Polarize | To cause to concentrate around two conflicting or contrasting positions; To cause light to vibrate in a pattern. |
| Obfuscate | To darken or obscure; to confuse or bewilder. |
| Verisimilitude | The quality of appearing to be true, real, likely, or probable. |
| Minuscule | Very small tiny. (N.) a lowercase letter. |
| Microcosm | A miniature world or universe; a group or system viewed as the model of a larger group or system. |
| Paternalism | The policy or practice of treating or governing people in the manner of a father dealing with his children. |
| Sanguine | Having a ruddy complexion; of a naturally cheerful, confident, or optimistic outlook. |
| Purview | The range, extent, or scope of something; in law, the scope or limit of what is provided in a statue. |
| Solecism | A substandard or ungrammatical usage; a breach of etiquette; any impropriety or mistake. |
| Cozen | To Trick, to cheat, or swindle |
| Macrocosm | The universe considered as a whole; the entire complex structure of something. |
| Ancillary | Subordinate or supplementary |
| Enclave | A small, narrow space between things or parts of things. |
| Bowdlerize | To remove material considered offensive (Censoring) |
| Icon | A representation or image of a sacred personage, an image or picture, a symbol. |
| Interstice | An enclosed district, region, or area inhabited by a particular group of people or having a special character. |
| Forte | A person’s strong point; what a person does best |
| Condescend | To come down or stoop voluntarily to a lower level, to deal with people in a patronizing manner. |
| Gratis | Free, without charge |
| Rapacity | Inordinate greed; the disposition to obtain one's desires by force, extortion, or plunder. |
| Virtuoso | A brilliant performer, a person with masterly skill or technique, masterly, or brilliant. |
| Mountebank | A trickster or swindler, a charlatan |
| Paean | A song of praise, joy, or triumph |
| Therapeutic | Having the power to heal or cure, beneficial. |
| Pragmatic | Concerned with practical considerations or values, dealing with actions and results rather then with abstract theory. |
| Plethora | Over fullness, superabundance, superfluity |
| Persiflage | Light hearted joking, talk, or writing |
| Schism | A formal split within a religious organization, any division or separation of a group or organization into hostile factions. |
| Quizzical | Puzzled, mocking, odd, equivocal |
| Caterwaul | To howl or screech, a harsh or noisy cry |
| Fait accompli | An accomplished and presumably irreversible act, deed, fact, or action. |
| Mirage | Something illusionary, without substance or without a basis in reality |
| Adjunct | Something added to something else as helpful or useful but not essential (a assistant or helper), a valuable quality or characteristic. |
| Hierarchy | Any system of things or people arranged or graded above one or another, in order of rank, wealth, class etc.. |
| Bellwether | The male sheep that leads the flock to the slaughterhouse, A leader as in a desperate or violent undertaking, An indicator of trends |
| Liturgy | A religious service or rite, the form of a ritual or other act of public worship. |
| Effete | Lacking in wholesome vigor or energy, worn out or exhausted, sterile or unable to produce, out of date |
| Chimerical | Absurd, wildly fantastic, impossible |
| Hidebound | Narrow minded and rigid, especially in opinions or prejudices, stubbornly and unthinkingly conservative. |
| Supine | Lying flat on ones back, listless or lethargic, apathetic or passive |
| Morass | A patch of low, soft, wet ground; a swamp; A confusing situation in which one is entrapped. |
| Vignette | A short description or sketch, a picture or illustration with edges that gradually shade off. |
| Proselyte | A convert, Disciple |
| Ribald | Irrelevantly, mocking, coarse, vulgar, or indecent in language. |
| Oblivious | Forgetful, un aware |
| Raillery | Good humored ridicule, teasing. |
| Poltroon | A base coward. |
| Quassi | Resembling but not actually being, seemingly but not actually or completely, partly, somewhat or to some degree. |
| Noisome | Offensive or disgusting; foul smelling; harmful or injurious. |
| Gamut | An entire range or series |
| Derring-Do | Valor or heroism; daring deeds or exploits |
| Affinity | A natural attraction to a person, thing, or activity, a relationship, connection |
| Corollary | A proposition that follows from one already proven; a natural consequence or result; resultant or consequent. |
| Bilious | Peevish or irritable; sickeningly unpleasant. |
| Folderol | Foolish talk, ideas or procedures, nonsense; a trifle. |
| Cognate | Closely related in origin, essential nature, or function (N) Such a person or thing. |
| Elixir | Potion once though capable of curing all ills and maintaing life indefinitely; a panacea; a sweet liquid used as a vehicle in medicines. |
| Cul-de-sac | A blind alley or dead end street; any situation in which further progress is impossible, an impasse. |
| Divination | That art or act of predicting the future or discovering hidden knowledge. |
| Risible | Pertaining to laughter; able or inclines to laugh; laughable. |
| Hoi Polloi | The common people the masses |
| Obloquy | Public abuse indicating strong disapproval or censure; the disgrace resulting from such treatment. |
| Symptomatic | Typical or characteristic; being or concerned with a symptom of a disease. |
| Volte-Face | An about-face; a complete reversal. |
| Ineffable | Not expressible in words; too great or to scared to be uttered. |
| Mnemonic | Relating to or designed to assist the memory; (N) A device to aid the memory. |
| Lucubration | Laborious study or thought, especially at night; the result of such work. |
| Parameter | A determining or characteristic element; a factor that shapes the total outcome; a limit boundary. |
| Pundit | A learned person; one who gives authoritative opinions. |
| Homily | A sermon stressing moral principles; a tedious moralizing lecture or discourse. |
| Aficionado | An enthusiastic and usually expert follower or fan. |
| Foray | A quick raid especially for plunder; a venture into some field of endeavor; to make such a raid. |
| Insouciant | Blithely indifferent or unconcerned; carefree; happy-go-lucky. |
| Browbeat | To intimidate by a stern or overbearing manner; to bully. |
| Emolument | Profit derived from an office or position or from employment; a fee or salary. |
| Immure | To enclose or confine within walls; to imprison; to seclude or isolate. |
| Commensurate | Equal in size, extent, duration, or importance; proportionate; measurable by the same standards. |
| Diaphanous | Very sheer and light; almost completely transparent. |
| Genre | A type, class, or variety, especially a distinctive category of literary composition; a style of painting in which everyday scenes are realistically depicted. |
| Sacrosanct | Very sacred or holy; inviolable; set apart or immune from questioning or attack. |
| Vicissitude | A change, variation. or alteration; successive or changing phases or conditions. |
| Matrix | A mold surrounding the situation or enviorment. |
| Systemic | Of or pertaining to the entire body; relating to a system or systems. |
| Obsequies | Funeral rite or ceremonies. |
| Tendentious | Intended to promote a particular point of view, doctrine, or cause, biased or partisan. |
| Persona | A character in a novel or play; the outward character or role that a person assumes. |
| Prurient | Having lustful desires or interests; tending to arouse sexual desires. |
| Philippic | A bitter verbal attack. |
| Panache | A confident and stylish manner, dash; a strikingly elaborate or colorful display. |
| Internecine | Mutually destructive, characterized by great slaughter. |
| Abortive | Failing to accomplish an intended aim or purpose. |
| In medias res | In or into the middle of a plot. |
| Maladroit | Lacking skill or dexterity, lacking tact. |
| Maudlin | Excessively sentimental. |
| Bruit | To spread news. |
| Ensconce | To settle comfortably and firmly in position. |
| Iconoclastic | Attacking or seeking to overthrow popular or traditional beliefs. |
| Contumelious | Insolent or rude in speech. |
| Dictum | A short saying. |
| Waggish | Fond of making jokes . |
| Prescience | Knowledge of events or actions before they happen. |
| Saturnalian | Characterized by riotous or unrestrained revelry. |
| Portentous | Foreshadowing an event to come. |
| Salubrious | Conducive to health or well being; wholesome. |
| Touchstone | A means of testing worth. |
| Modulate | to change or vary the intensity or pitch. |
| Quid Pro Quo | Something given in exchange or return for something else. |
| Vitiate | To weaken, debase, or corrupt; To impair the value or quality of. |
| Traumatic | So shocking to the emotions as to cause lasting and substantial psychological damage. |
| Gambol | To jump or skip about playfully |
| Ambivalent | Having opposite and conflicting feelings about someone or something. |
| Eclat | Dazzling or conspicious success or acclaim; great brilliance. |
| Abeyance | A state of being temporarily inactive, suspended, or set a side. |
| Imbue | To soak or stain thoroughly, to fill the mind. |
| Carte Blanche | Full freedom or authority to act at ones own discretion. |
| Fastidious | Overly demanding or hard to please; excessively careful in regard to details; easily disgusted. |
| Cataclysm | A sudden violent, or devastating upheaval, a surging flood, deluge. |
| Beleaguer | To set upon from all sides, to surround with an army; to trouble, harass. |
| Debauch | To corrupt morally seduce; to indulge in dissipation, an act or occasion of dissipation or vice. |
| Lampoon | A malicious satire, to satirize, ridicule. |
| Savoir Faire | The ability to say and do the right thing in any situation. |
| Queasy | Nauseated or uneasy; causing nausea or uneasiness; troubled. |
| Inchoate | Just beginning.; not fully shaped or formed. |
| Picaresque | Involving or characteristic of clever rogues or adventures. |
| Opt | To make a choice or decision. |
| Refractory | Stubborn; hard or difficult to manage; not responsive to treatment or cure. |
| Philistine | Lacking in, hostile to, or smugly indifferent to cultural and artistic values or refinements. |
| Nemesis | An agent or force inflicting vengeance or punishment; retribution itself, an unbeatable rival. |
| Malleable | Capable of being formed into different shapes; capable of being altered, adapted, or influenced. |
| Ad Hoc | For this specific purpose, improvised with respect. |
| Depredation | The act of preying on or plunder. |
| Harbinger | A forerunner, Herald. |
| De Facto | Actually existing or in effect, although not legally required or sanctioned, In reality. |
| Aberration | A departure from what is proper, right, expected, or normal; a lapse from a sound mental state. |
| Empathy | A sympathetic understanding of or identification with the feelings, thoughts, or attitude of someone or something else. |
| Bathos | The intrusion of commonplace of trite material into a context whose tone is lofty or elevated; grossly insincere, or exaggerated sentimentally. The lowest phase, anticlimax, comedown. |
| Bane | The source or cause of fatal injury, death, destruction, or ruin; death or ruin itself; poison. |
| Cantankerous | Ill-tempered, quarrelsome; difficult to get along or deal with. |
| Casuistry | The determination of right and wrong in questions of conduct or conscience by the application of general ethical principles, specious argument. |
| Pecadillio | A minor sin or offense; short coming |
| Syndrome | A group of symptoms or signs that collectively characterize or indicate a disease, disorder, abnormality. |
| Nepotism | Undue favoritism to or excessive patronage of ones relatives. |
| Hedonism | The belief that the attainment of pleasure is lifes chief aim. Pursuit of Happiness |
| Piece De Resistance | The principal dish of a meal; the principal event, incident, or item, outstanding accomplishment. |
| Remend | To send or order back, in law to send back to jail or to a lower court. |
| Pander | To cater to or provide satisfaction for the low tastes or vices of others |
| Mellifluous | Flowing sweetly or smoothly |
| Lackluster | Lacking brilliance or vitality, dull. |
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