Monday, October 22, 2012

Vocabulary List 9 Remix

Traumatic: emotionally disturbing or distressing; relating to or causing psychological trauma
Touchstone: a standard or criterion by which something is judged or recognized 
Saturnalia: the ancient Roman festival of Saturn in December; an occasion of wild revelry
Quid pro quo: a favor or advantage granted in return for something

Prescience: the power to foresee the future
Abortive: failing to produce the intended result
Internecine: destructive to both sides in a conflict
Maladroit: ineffective or bungling; clumsy
Maudlin: self-pitying or tearfully sentimental, often through drunkenness 
Modulate: exert a modifying or controlling influence on
Portentous: of or like a portent; done in a pompously or overly solemn manner
Bruit: spread a report or rumor widely
Dictum: a formal pronouncement from an authoritative source; a short statement that expresses a general truth or principle
Ensconce: establish or settle
Iconoclastic: characterized by attack on established beliefs or institutions 
In medias res: a narrative that begins somewhere in the middle of a story rather than the beginning 
Contumelious: scornful and insulting behavior
Salubrious: health-giving, healthy; pleasant, not run-down

Vitiate: spoil or impair the quality or efficiency of; destroy or impair the legal validity of.
Waggish: humorous in a playful, mischievous, or facetious manner

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