Vocabulary List #8

1. Vocabulary List #8 701. privy – secretly aware; in the know (“privy to”) 702. levity– lightness (physically); lack of seriousness in conduct 703. plagiaristic – stealing others’ work and calling it one’s own plagiarism 704. abortive – not successful; not carried to completion 705. epigram– a concise witty saying 706. fractiousness– irritability; tending to be cross or peevish 707. paternal– pertaining to father 708. claret – a deep red Bordeaux wine 709. extemporize– to improvise; to do or utter without previous preparation 710. rotogravure – a process of printing pictures from etched cylindrical plates

2. Vocabulary List #8 711. wag – a sporting wit or joker; a “wise guy” 712. crepe-de-chine – a black crepe used for mourning, sometimes made of heavy silk 713. pessimist– one who consistently believes the worst or looks at the dark side of things 714. ectoplasm– external layer of protoplasm in a cell; an emanation from a medium which causes objects at a distance to move 715. mincing – speaking or moving with affected daintiness 716. oculist – a specialist in eye diseases 717. homogeneity – a state of being all of one type 718. hors d’ oeuvre– a before dinner snack 719. vacuous– empty, stupid insane 720. vinous– pertaining to wine; given to drinking wine

3. Vocabulary List #8 721. elicit – to draw out or to draw forth; to evoke 722. olfactory– pertaining to the sense of smell 723. beaux (pl of beau)– boyfriends 724. feudal – pertaining to the system of homage by vassal to lord in the Middle Ages 725. nebulous– not clear, vague 726. spectroscopic – pertaining to spectrums produced by special machines 727. obstetrical – pertaining to the art of assisting women in delivering babies 728. distraught– beset with mental conflict; crazed; kind of disturbed 729. demoniac– devilish; pertaining to demons 730. silhouette – a shadow

4. Vocabulary List #8 731. insidious– full of plots; wily, sly, treacherous 732. meretricious – alluring by false show; gaudy; deceitfully ornamental 733. conceit – a concept or thought; a notion (a bit archaic) 734. turgid – inflated, swollen; pompous; vainly o0stentatious; bonbastic 735. euphemism– a nice way of saying something unpleasant 736. dilatory– characterized by procrastination; given to delay; slow; tardy 737. caravansary– a large hotel or inn 738. libertine – a person loose in morals; free and free-thinking 739. prig – an irritatingly self-sufficient or punctilious person 740. presumptuous–overbold; taking too much for granted

5. Vocabulary List #8 741. grail– a cup; the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper 742. benediction– a blessing 743. fortuitous – happening by chance or accident 744. amorphous – having no definite shape or form 745. protégé– one under the protection or tutorship or another 746. adventitious– not inherent but coming about accidentally; not essentially inherent 747. pasquinade– a lampoon posted in a public place 748. addenda – a list of things 749. transitory– fleeting, not long-last; transient; ephemeral 750. pander – to minister to the evil passions of another

6. Vocabulary List #8 751. aesthetic– pertaining to art or beauty 752. orgiastic – pertaining to wild celebrations or orgies 753. anarchist– one who advocates the overthrow of all government 754. sultry – hot and muggy; sweltering 755. banshee – a female spirit wailing to announce someone’s death 756. grippe– a cold or flu 757. premonition– a feeling that something bad will happen; a foreboding 758. pince-nez– glasses that clip onto the nose 759. brothel – a house of ill-repute 760. trull – a prostitute or trollop

7. Vocabulary List #8 761. trollop – a sexually promiscuous woman; a slattern 762. beatitude – a state of blessedness 763. fresco– painting done in plaster on a wall 764. heinous – extremely evil; hateful; hatefully bad; outrageously offensive 765. protuberance– a bulge; something that sticks out 766. synchronous– occurring simultaneously 767. lichens – organisms, composed of a type of fungus or algae, growing on a rock or bark 768. phantasmagoria– a succession of weird scenes in one’s imagination; a kind of hallucination 769. exhalation– a breathing out 770. titillation– a tickling; a process of exciting pleasurably

8. Vocabulary List #8 771. patriarchal – pertaining to a father leader or a large family or tribe 772. involute – involved or intricate; curling in on itself like a shell 773. inure – to get used to something hard or painful; to harden 774. epitome– the highest example of 775. quondam– at one time formerly 776. corroborate– to back up with evidence 777. sloth– extreme laziness 778. sycophant– a cringing flatterer; a “kiss up” 779. piebald – mottled; of different colors especially white or black (like a horse or other animal) 780. lineaments – outlines, features or contour of a body or face

9. Vocabulary List #8 781. contingency– a possibility, a possible occurrence 782. oleograph– a kind of lithograph that resembles an oil painting 783. caricature – a comic exaggeration 784. mercurial – inconstant; unstable, volatile; unpredictable 785. luminous – shining; bright, intelligent, intelligible 786. alliteration– a repetition of consonant sounds (in a somer seson when swift was the sonne) 787. potentate– a monarch wielding great power 788. intangible – unable to be touched 789. flotsam– floating wreckage 790. chide (chidden) – to scold

10. Vocabulary List #8 791. filigree – delicate lace-like ornamental work or interwoven gold or silver wire 792. table d’ hote– a meal for which one pays a single price (opp. of a la carte) 793. cordial– a liqueur; a very sweet alcoholic beverage 794. extravasate– to force out of the proper vessel (e.g. blood); to erupt in liquid from a vent (e.g. lava) 795. chromatic– pertaining to color; pertaining to the tones of a certain scale 796. convexity – a curving outward 797. tempestuous – stormy; turbulent 798. ghoul – a person who robs graves and feeds on corpses 799. sublimate – to redirect a primitive emotion to a socially acceptable end 800. girth – circumference; the distance around