Vocab #3

accolade - noun a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction; an award

• The kindergarten teacher gives her students accolades when they don’t color past the lines.

acerbity - noun a sharp sour taste; a rough and bitter manner; adj expressing harsh or sharp criticism in a clever way

• The professor drew poop in his students work as an acerbic way of showing distaste for the work.

attrition - noun a wearing down to weaken or destroy; process of gradually reducing the strength or effectiveness of someone or something through sustained attack or pressure.

• Gunning the car causes the wheels to attrition.

bromide - noun a drug that makes a person calm; a statement that is intended to make people feel happier or calmer but that is not original or effective

• The coach’s speech was nothing but a bromide, saying the same thing about teamwork  over and over again.

chauvinist - noun a person displaying aggressive or exaggerated patriotism.

• The neighbor is a chauvinist, often wearing outfits with the color pattern: red, white, and blue.

chronic - adj. being long-lasting and recurrent or characterized by long suffering; constant

• Runner’s often times get chronic knee pains due to the amount of pressure put on them.

expound - verb add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing

• The doctor, trying to calm the patient, expounded the low rate of death.  

factionalism - the existence of or conflict between groups within a larger group

• Factional interest was the cause of the Civil War.

immaculate - adj. completely neat and clean; free from stain or blemish; without fault or error

• Her outfit was immaculate; not a single crease was present and everything went well together.

imprecation - noun the act of calling down a curse that invokes evil (and usually serves as an insult); a slanderous accusation

• The witch yelled her imprecations at the passerby.  

ineluctable - adj. impossible to avoid or evade:"inescapable conclusion"

• His ex-girlfriend was ineluctable; wherever he went, she was always right there.

mercurial - adj. liable to sudden unpredictable change

• She is mercurial, often forgetting her current task in order to do a completely new one.

palliate - verb provide physical relief, as from pain; lessen or to try to lessen the seriousness or extent of

• Putting a cool cloth on a fever-ridden person usually palliates the heat.

protocol - noun code of correct conduct; forms of ceremony and etiquette observed by diplomats and heads of state; (computer science) rules determining the format and transmission of data

• The guards had to follow the protocol in order to keep everything safe and sound.

resplendent - adj. having great beauty and splendor

• The boy was resplendent with his suit and tie.

stigmatize - verb mark with a stigma or stigmata; to accuse or condemn or openly or formally or brand as disgraceful

• The owner stigmatized her dog after it ran around the house with its dirty paws.

sub rosa - noun happening or done in secret

• The affair was sub rosa so as not to attract the attention of the husband.

vainglory - noun outspoken conceit

• Narcissus had great vainglory; so much in fact that it led to his death.

vestige - noun an indication that something has been present; a trace of something that is disappearing or no longer exists

• The Mayans left behind great vestige of their once thriving civilization.

volition - noun the act of making a choice; the capability of conscious choice and decision and intention

• Everyone has the volition to do something instead of wasting away.