So's y' neva hoid of Moiety Mouse??
Posted on 07/23/2007 7:30:03 PM PDT by Constitutionalist Conservative
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abjure
abrogate abstemious acumen antebellum auspicious belie bellicose bowdlerize chicanery chromosome churlish circumlocution circumnavigate deciduous deleterious diffident enervate enfranchise epiphany equinox euro evanescent expurgate facetious fatuous feckless fiduciary filibuster gamete gauche gerrymander hegemony hemoglobin homogeneous hubris hypotenuse impeach incognito incontrovertible inculcate infrastructure interpolate irony jejune kinetic kowtow laissez faire lexicon loquacious |
lugubrious
metamorphosis mitosis moiety nanotechnology nihilism nomenclature nonsectarian notarize obsequious oligarchy omnipotent orthography oxidize parabola paradigm parameter pecuniary photosynthesis plagiarize plasma polymer precipitous quasar quotidian recapitulate reciprocal reparation respiration sanguine soliloquy subjugate suffragist supercilious tautology taxonomy tectonic tempestuous thermodynamics totalitarian unctuous usurp vacuous vehement vortex winnow wrought xenophobe yeoman ziggurat |
I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a divorce client who only wanted half. They might settle for that, but they usually want it all.
You can also do that with the Google Toolbar.
Type “define: your word here”
Where’s “Roll Tide!”?
SAT’s 100 Most Commonly-Used Vocabulary Words
Extensive reading is the best way to develop your command of tough vocabulary. But getting familiar with the appropriate level of vocabulary can also be extremely helpful. To help you get a handle on those ten-cent words, Kaplan has analyzed the top 100 SAT vocabulary words of all time.
1.abbreviate — (v) to shorten, abridge
2.abstinence — (n) the act of refraining from
pleasurable activity, e.g., eating or drinking
3.adulation — (n) high praise
4.adversity — (n) misfortune, an unfavorable turn of events
5.aesthetic — (adj) pertaining to beauty or the arts
6.amicable — (adj) friendly, agreeable
7.anachronistic — (adj) out-of-date, not attributed to the correct historical period
8.anecdote — (n) short, usually funny account of an event
9.anonymous — (adj) nameless, without a disclosed identity
10.antagonist — (n) foe, opponent, adversary
11.arid — (adj) extremely dry or deathly boring
12.assiduous — (adj) persistent, hard-working
13.asylum — (n) sanctuary, shelter, place of refuge
14.benevolent — (adj) friendly and helpful
15.camaraderie — (n) trust, sociability amongst friends
16.censure — (v) to criticize harshly
17.circuitous — (adj) indirect, taking the longest route
18.clairvoyant — (adj) exceptionally insightful, able to foresee the future
19.collaborate — (v) to cooperate, work together
20.compassion — (n) sympathy, helpfulness or mercy
21.compromise — (v) to settle a dispute by terms
agreeable to both sides
22.condescending — (adj) possessing an attitude of superiority, patronizing
23.conditional — (adj) depending on a condition, e.g., in a contract
24.conformist — (n) person who complies with
accepted rules and customs
25.congregation — (n) a crowd of people, an assembly
26.convergence — (n) the state of separate elements joining or coming together
27.deleterious — (adj) harmful, destructive, detrimental
28.demagogue — (n) leader, rabble-rouser, usually
appealing to emotion or prejudice
29.digression — (n) the act of turning aside, straying
from the main point, esp. in a speech or argument
30.diligent — (adj) careful and hard-working
31.discredit — (v) to harm the reputation of, dishonor or disgrace
32.disdain — (v) to regard with scorn or contempt
33.divergent — (adj) separating, moving in different directions from a particular point
34.empathy — (n) identification with the feelings of others
35.emulate — (v) to imitate, follow an example
36.enervating — (adj) weakening, tiring
37.enhance — (v) to improve, bring to a greater level of intensity
38.ephemeral — (adj) momentary, transient, fleeting
39.evanescent — (adj) quickly fading, short-lived, esp. an image
40.exasperation — (n) irritation, frustration
41.exemplary — (adj) outstanding, an example to others
42.extenuating — (adj) excusing, lessening the seriousness of guilt or crime, e.g., of mitigating factors
43.florid — (adj) red-colored, flushed; gaudy, ornate
44.fortuitous — (adj) happening by luck, fortunate
45.frugal — (adj) thrifty, cheap
46.hackneyed — (adj) cliched, worn out by overuse
47.haughty — (adj) arrogant and condescending
48.hedonist — (n) person who pursues pleasure as a goal
49.hypothesis — (n) assumption, theory requiring proof
50.impetuous — (adj) rash, impulsive, acting without thinking
51.impute — (v) to attribute an action to particular person or group
52.incompatible — (adj) opposed in nature, not able to live or work together
53.inconsequential — (adj) unimportant, trivial
54.inevitable — (adj) certain, unavoidable
55.integrity — (n) decency, honesty, wholeness
56.intrepid — (adj) fearless, adventurous
57.intuitive — (adj) instinctive, untaught
58.jubilation — (n) joy, celebration, exultation
59.lobbyist — (n) person who seeks to influence political events
60.longevity — (n) long life
61.mundane — (adj) ordinary, commonplace
62.nonchalant — (adj) calm, casual, seeming unexcited
63.novice — (n) apprentice, beginner
64.opulent — (adj) wealthy
65.orator — (n) lecturer, speaker
66.ostentatious — (adj) showy, displaying wealth
67.parched — (adj) dried up, shriveled
68.perfidious — (adj) faithless, disloyal, untrustworthy
69.precocious — (adj) unusually advanced or talented at an early age
70.pretentious — (adj) pretending to be important, intelligent or cultured
71.procrastinate — (v) to unnecessarily delay, postpone, put off
72.prosaic — (adj) relating to prose; dull, commonplace
73.prosperity — (n) wealth or success
74.provocative — (adj) tending to provoke a response,
e.g., anger or disagreement
75.prudent — (adj) careful, cautious
76.querulous — (adj) complaining, irritable
77.rancorous — (adj) bitter, hateful
78.reclusive — (adj) preferring to live in isolation
79.reconciliation — (n) the act of agreement after a
quarrel, the resolution of a dispute
80.renovation — (n) repair, making something new again
81.resilient — (adj) quick to recover, bounce back
82.restrained — (adj) controlled, repressed, restricted
83.reverence — (n) worship, profound respect
84.sagacity — (n) wisdom
85.scrutinize — (v) to observe carefully
86.spontaneity — (n) impulsive action, unplanned events
87.spurious — (adj) lacking authenticity, false
88.submissive — (adj) tending to meekness, to submit to the will of others
89.substantiate — (v) to verify, confirm, provide supporting evidence
90.subtle — (adj) hard to detect or describe; perceptive
91.superficial — (adj) shallow, lacking in depth
92.superfluous — (adj) extra, more than enough, redundant
93.suppress — (v) to end an activity, e.g., to prevent the dissemination of information
94.surreptitious — (adj) secret, stealthy
95.tactful — (adj) considerate, skillful in acting to avoid offense to others
96.tenacious — (adj) determined, keeping a firm grip on
97.transient — (adj) temporary, short-lived, fleeting
98.venerable — (adj) respected because of age
99.vindicate — (v) to clear from blame or suspicion
100.wary — (adj) careful, cautious
Or to sound like a pompous ass.
Where’s “Roll Tide!”?
Notice that they include mitosis (somatic cell division), but not the much more important and complex meiosis (sex-cell division).
I must remember to use ziggurat in my speech today! An absolute must!!
When was the last time anyone used the word unctuous?
abstemious
jejune
lugubrious
moiety
quotidian
Well now that William F. Buckley is no longer on the air, you don't hear it as much, that's for sure. :-)
I used it in a letter two weeks ago.
So's y' neva hoid of Moiety Mouse??
Kowtowing can be hard work. Everytime I do it, I need a ziggurat break!
I totally agree. Some words on the list are pretty obnoxious and don’t have much value in the real world.
Are you serious ?
Yep.
chicanery: Females working in a fish processing plant.
diffident: Not that dent.
fatuous: Self description of overweight people.
filibuster: Person who breaks wild young female horses.
homogeneous: Really smart gay guy.
hypotenuse: Cooking pot being used that normally is kept on top shelf.
jejune: Sixth month of the year for stutterers.
laissez faire: Country festival for the lethargic.
nanotechnology: Technology from Mork’s planet.
parabola: Two bolas.
paradigm: 20 cents.
parameter: 6.56167979 feet
quasar: An old TV
sanguine: Wine made from beach material.
supercilious: The act of being really, really, really silly.
tautology: The study of tight stomachs.
taxonomy: What the government puts on you.
tectonic: Something you drink to help get through boring technical manuals.
usurp: Happens right before you burp.
vortex: German hooker in Houston.
yeoman: Phrase used to get your friends attention.
ziggurat: German cigarette.
moiety - a half, or a part, portion or share
quotidian - daily
These I did not know. I’ve gotten along quite nicely without them, though.
I’ve known a lot of people who used obscure words properly butpronounced them wrong. I gently corrected them. Sometimes, they were embarrassed. But to me, there’s no shame in that — it means that they used and understood words no one used around them. That’s a mark of being well-read. But they only used those words aloud among friends — better to know the pronunciations before you bust them out in a meeting. Online dictionaries are great for that.
These lists are always arbitrary, and this one is no exception. It’s a nice mix, though — words like nanotechnology and polymer are ones any citizen needs to know to keep up with technology and its moral and ethical issues. Some of the words are worth knowing just because they bring more flavor and poetry to language; “lugubrious” is much more evocative than “bummed out,” and “obsequious” is much richer than “brown-nosed,” though they’re synonyms.
To me, lists like this have value beyond the specific words chosen. It’s like when the American Film Institute ranks movies (or movie quotes, movie songs, etc.). People discuss and debate rich words and old movies. They talk about them. They care about them. The list as a monolith is far less important than its function in sparking discussion.
Because a lot of my interests are in science, history and politics, there are some words I would put on the list: truth, fact, theory, hypothesis, and how they differ; correlation and causation, and how they differ; manumission, evident, apparent, rebuttable, presumptive, and I’ll probably think of some others.
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